She sat up with a start. She looked at him with eyes quivering in exhaustion. ‘Oh, please tell me you didn’t go through with it?’ she asked him, her voice pleading and trembling in grief and fear. She looked like a child that couldn’t find her mommy.‘I…I couldn’t…’ he answered her, ‘Only for your sake.’She pulled him towards her and embraced him, thanking him repeatedly.‘What exactly do you remember, Samantha, from what you’ve been through?’ he asked her hoping she would not get too curious about the absurd things that had happened between him and the Flicker.‘Well..,’ she released her hold on him, ‘…I remember Fred kidnapping me and taking me to the forest, but before that, I called Simon but he didn’t seem interested. I tried begging Fred to control himself. I don’t know, I think he lost his mind. He was talking about destiny and the fu

Brendan shifted on his bench to see behind him and saw Samantha walking towards their table. Simon and Owen stood up. ‘Come on, Simon please!’ Brendan begged him. ‘She’s turned a new leaf.’ ‘Yeah, right…’ Simon grunted before picking up his tray. ‘If a person had a photo of the devil in one hand and a photo of Samantha in the other, they wouldn’t tell them apart. They’re absolutely identical; she is the devil in person.’ ‘Now that’s being heartless,’ Brendan said watching them move to a table behind him. This time Samantha did not sit in front of him but at his side. ‘Hi,’ they both greeted each other.  They sat for a while in silence. Brendan noticed that she had not collected food from the food counter. ‘Aren’t you hungry?’ he asked her. ‘No, I’m okay actually,’ she answered him. They sat again in silence for about twenty seconds. ‘About the money,’ he broke the silence, ‘Simon’s dad will be delivering it

It lifted him higher from the ground, tightening its grip. With all its force it threw its right fist and punched him in the chest, sending him flying across the corridor.The spectators opened a wide gap which Brendan flew through, breaking through the wall and slamming into a tree a large distance from the broken wall.Students and teachers were fighting to get through the exit made on the wall. The monster too was moving slowly towards that same exit. All the students and teachers stood far from Brendan and this giant monster, some on the left and others on the right; watching though, to see how it would end.Brendan sluggishly got up and felt a slight cramp in his lower back, the same part that had slammed into the tree.The monster wiped the blood flowing from its nostrils again with the back of its hand, smearing the blood all over its mouth like a toddler eating chocolate.Brendan stood up straight and looked directly at the monster. He felt feelings rise insid

His eyes widened in surprise. To be honest, he was actually expecting more. Somewhere around twelve zeros…at least. He tried to hide his shock. ‘Did you put it in an account then?’ he asked her.‘Are you forgetting that our safest bank is in ashes?’ she reminded him.‘Oh, right..,’ he scratched his head, remembering the Flicker’s destruction. ‘Just deliver it back to my house then.’‘You think it’s safe?’ she asked him in precaution.‘It will be fine,’ he said smiling.‘Fine, then…I’ll swing it by your house this afternoon.’She folded her arms behind her back, ‘So…are you still coming?’ she asked him.‘For dinner? Tonight? Of course I am.’She broadened her smile, ‘See you then.’He nodded in response.She scampered off into the crowd.Brendan started looking for Ow

Brendan only had two pairs of jeans. He grabbed one and a clean blue t-shirt and he put them on, then he left his room. Samantha had promised to bring the money back in that afternoon so he went to check in the attic. The money was there, arranged in neat one hundred gem piles but he never heard anyone knock though. Ignoring this, he took one two hundred gem note from one of the piles and left the house.He passed by a flower shop and bought a bouquet of flowers. So many drawback thoughts were telling him that going to Samantha’s house was a very bad idea. Regardless of these thoughts, he rang the bell gate anyway. A few seconds after he had rung the bell, two big pit-bulldogs rushed towards the gate, barking mad at him. Both were the same size but one was brown and the other was black. He did not remember seeing them the last time he was there. Soon enough, the front door of the mansion opened. Samantha came out jogging. ‘Killer! Lieutenant! Back to you