Summary- Rebecca and Billy have been separated for 3 prolonged anguished
years. When one day Billy looks up Rebecca, he decides to let her in on a
secret about Umbrella that could affect the world. Now they must go on a
mission to destroy the monopoly that cursed their lives but what happens
when Billy finds out Rebecca is engaged? What will Rebecca think when Billy
tells her he's been getting information from a woman on the inside? Will
they make a shaky friendship become a little more or will the horrors of
the Umbrella Corporation tear the delicate balance apart?
Mute Chapter 1: Protracted Flashes
Billy looked up; the gray stone of the building encased the street below in a listless tomb. The sky's muddy quintessence showed bullets of liquid life upon the city streets; each drop of the rain searing a fresh elusive scar into his skin. The tiny pearl-like tears actually hurt, but Billy supposed, falling from a distance, the little beads of water would sting if not a little bit. The monotonous gray expanse before him seemed to stretch for miles; the silver buildings bleeding heavily into an equally silvery sky.
A loud horn blare interrupted his thoughts. A large man pressed his thick fist into the horn again warning Billy that Celtic City wasn't welcoming people to stand on the public streets. How careless of him self to do that, Billy mused. A slight smirk graced his countenance and as gracefully as a magician doing a card trick, Billy slipped his hands out of his pockets and flicked the man off.
888
Rebecca rubbed her eyes and stared at the screen again; she still hadn't finished. Three years ago she started the letter and now, three years later, the same thing was written on the screen.
"Dear Mr. Cohen,
I can't begin to express my thanks. I knew that someday, I would find you and I would be able to say what I wanted that day we parted. I just wanted to inform you ..."
She could never type it. How could she thank the man that saved her life? She always sounded so formal, so remote and distant. She sounded more like she was thanking him for the lovely package of vintage cheeses he sent, but sorry, she didn't like cheese? No, no, no. This wasn't a love letter she reminded herself again, it was just a letter of thanks.
"I just wanted to inform you of..."
A sharp and quick rapping at the door startled her. Tiredly looking at the clock, Rebecca groaned; it was only four and she was already as restless as a baby. Lethargically, she got up and looked quickly into the mirror. Her feathery brown hair was coming out of the bun she had put it in earlier. Her sea green eyes were slightly red and a gray overcast deadened her skin to the point that a zombie would probably win the title of Ms. America if she was competing. Rebecca frowned. Twenty-one and still and ugly duckling; nature was cruel.
Disregarding her appearance and instead focusing on whoever was knocking on the door, Rebecca looked through the slight crack she opened and gasped.
In the hallway was Herald, her fiancé. His short blond hair framed a rather handsome face that secreted corporeal allure. The man wasn't exactly tall by any standard but he was trim and healthy.
Fingering the ring he gave her Rebecca took a step back. "Why am I marrying him again?" She asked herself. Because he was good-looking? Because he had money? Because he was nice? Because ... he was perfect?
"Rebecca, darling. I want to come in. Open the door." He cried from outside. His whinny voice echoed incessantly in her ears, the high pitched whimpers harshly scraping against the cerebral ramparts erected in her mind.
"Hold on Herald, I'm not decent!" She stammered looking for an excuse to delay her meeting. Oh yeah... She was fully dressed. Well that posed a problem in her justification for postponement, didn't it, she thought wryly. Rebecca saw her pink robe at the end of the couch and quickly ran to throw it on, discarding her jeans and sweatshirt along the way.
"Okay!" she exclaimed opening the door with an artificial enthusiasm. Herald didn't seem to notice her obviously plastic performance.
"You're wearing that thing?" He asked as soon as he saw the robe. It had small furry creatures on it, all in pastel colors made for a baby's nursery. It was slightly oversized for Rebecca so she appeared even smaller and frailer than she already was.
A faint blush bloomed on her cheeks, but it wasn't one of embarrassment. White hot anger flared inside her veins like a forest fire consuming a dry jungle. His one flaw, Rebecca mused, was his inability to keep his trap shut. And, Rebecca added as Herald gazed lustfully at her, his perverted roaming eye.
It wasn't the first time Rebecca had seen Herald eyeing her in that fashion. In fact, numerous times he had been watching the seductive sway of other women, and right in front of her no less. Why did she put up with that? Because his other, more astounding attributes, made up for it? Was she living in some surreal fantasy? Didn't she sense a certain danger the first time she met him? She felt it the first time she met Billy, didn't she?
His glacier blue eyes gazed acidly upon her and his skin glowed a primordial Greek-like bronze under the train's amber lights. His gun was pointed right at her, all signs indicating he was extremely dangerous. But, that was a different kind of danger, a kind she could get used to. His rough manner of handling things and absolute indifference to pain was... What was it? What was it that attracted women to Billy so easily?
No... Rebecca wasn't attracted in a sexual sort of way but she was captured eternally by his steely attitude.
She made a friend in him in one night and lost him just as quickly.
Herald was... Dangerous, yes. She felt it. But the kind of danger that made a woman shiver with disgust. How could she not tell the difference? Didn't she see it from the start?
"Hello?"
"What?" Rebecca asked dreamily as she suddenly realized that she was standing in the middle of her apartment, not on that abandoned train.
"I've been saying your name for the past thirty seconds."
"Oh..." She said absently turning toward the kitchen. Now, she thought, now she would break it up. How could she continue living this lie? How long could she put up with his antics and ignore the feeling that something just wasn't... right in him? "Listen, Herald. I have to tell you something..." She began hollowly as she began to take a pot out of the cabinets. Make some tea, she thought. Time would go by faster...
"Rebecca..." Herald said softly. She looked up and was immediately startled by his strange gaze. Rebecca put the small pot down on the stove.
"What?" She asked vacantly, her eyes roaming around the room as if the answer to his silent inquiry lay hidden in the kitchen.
"You look," He began huskily as he moved closer to her, "very," he paused dramatically and eyed her with an unquestionable desire. "Very, sexy."
"Herald... I can't. You know I can't. I have to do something now, stop interrupting. I have to..."
"Make love to me."
"Excuse me?" Rebecca asked her eyes gazing questioningly at the man before her. Her hands paused in midair, unconsciously protecting herself.
"You heard me. I'm tired of waiting. We've been playing this game for so long... So very long. You never show skin, even when we're at the beach I have to fight just for you to take your shorts off and even then, you still wear an oversized shirt. You rarely kiss me or touch me. I thought that by getting you to marry me you would finally spread you legs but I guess I was wrong. Well not anymore, I'm your husband and we're having sex."
What the hell?
"Whoa... Take a step back. I don't have to do anything I don't want to, especially have sex with some horny ... asshole!" She stammered heatedly. "That's it Herald, the wedding is off and I want you out of my house now. I've been delaying this decision for too long. We're just not right for each other."
"Oh..." He laughed bitterly. "Aren't you forgetting that I'm a man and men have needs? What are you, a virgin?"
Rebecca flinched.
"Oh god..." Herald laughed and then continued. "No wonder..." He grabbed both of her arms suddenly and threw her against the wall. "Well I have special methods when I deal with virgins." He breathed. Herald planted his hot, oily lips on her face and pressed a knee in between her legs. Rebecca cried out in unmistakable remonstration but her scream was pathetically muffled in his mouth. She could feel his oppressive tongue sweep in every fissure it could possibly fit.
How could she get out? The door... She had to make it to the door. Rebecca needed a weapon. Her gun was in the bedroom but... The pot! Rebecca barely slipped her arm out of Herald's iron clasp. Her hand feebly searched for the pot on the stove and as soon as her fingers clasped the handle she brought it down hard upon his head. Herald reeled back into the wall like a braying stallion and slumped against it lazily. The pan fell with a sickeningly flat metallic thud that rang out into the room with a biting edge. Rebecca ran toward the door but Herald quickly retaliated and tackled her to the ground.
"Get off of me!" She hissed angrily, clawing at his face. He ignored her struggling and protest, flipped her over, and pinned her to the floor. She flailed and bucked but Herald was much stronger and easily deflected her attacks. He used one hand to pin both of hers down and used the other the undo the tie on her robe.
She screamed as loud and as hard as she could but it felt useless. She had bought this artist studio two years ago and the cement ramparts absorbed sound easily. Few other people could afford to live in the building, partially due to the fact that it was located in the more expensive part of town. The next tenant was two floors up, he would never hear her.
Herald flung open the robe and stopped for a split second to admire her bra.
"Still wearing cotton? What are we, in kindergarten?" He spat caustically.
Warm tears fell effortlessly down her downy face. The elastic hair band had broken off and sweat plastered her glossy locks to her face. Herald ripped the bra easily with one hand and threw it aside unceremoniously.
Rebecca wasn't the largest woman but for such a petite girl Herald thought she had more than ample breast. They were beautifully shaped, a B cup, maybe a C cup, he imagined broodingly. He thought about touching them but decided he could save it for later, something else occupied his attention. Rebecca reared back irately and tried to kick him away but he pinned her legs down with his own.
So this was it... this was how she was going to lose it? How different than she always imagined... Little girls dreamed of holding hands. Children dreamed of first kisses. Young teens dreamed of their first make out sessions. Young women think of who they give themselves to for the first time. She always imagined it would be in some secluded place at night where the moon hung low. It would be a pleasant meeting of bodies, of minds, and of hearts.
Herald grasped the elastic band to her panties and Rebecca waited for the sound of ripping fabric. It came and reminded her almost like a scream of pain, the worst sound in the last few treacherous minutes. Herald tossed it aside and smiled wickedly, the malevolent glimmer in his eyes blazing like the summer heat. The temptation to touch her was so great, but he had to unzip himself first. He unbuttoned his jeans and proceeded to unzip his pants when suddenly he saw her face.
She was gazing off somewhere, he imagined, where she would try not to feel him. She was pretending she was in some remote beach, he pictured vividly. Some tropical place where they serve fucking strawberry daiquiris with some souvenir placed decoratively on the top, like an umbrella. Whatever was going on between her legs was just some weird dream. Why did that infuriate him? Because she would pretend she didn't know him, didn't know the way he felt pumping inside her. She would know, he would make sure of that.
"Look at me Rebecca!" He demanded hotly. "I want you to look at me the whole time I fuck you. I want you to know I making love to you like a real man." He spat. She gazed off still, her eyes no longer filling with tears. Why was he doing this here on the cold cement? He had all night to screw her, why not just bring her somewhere softer, easier on the knees? He grabbed her hair roughly and picked her up.
Rebecca winced but bit back the cry that threatened to escape. Herald thrust her through the bedroom door and on to the bed.
"Look at me." He demanded again. Rebecca looked at him with a anesthetized visage. "Lets just lock the door and have fun shall we?" He turned around abruptly to turn the lock.
Rebecca almost couldn't believe her luck, in the slit second it took for him to turn around and lock the door she was reaching in her drawer and pulling out her gun.
"No, you dirty son of a bitch, look at me" She screamed pointing the gun at his heart. Herald turned around and gasped heavily. Where the hell did she get a gun? She worked at a fucking hospital, not a police station. "Open the door." She commanded acidly. "I said open the fucking door!" She repeated vehemently.
Herald's excitement died so brusquely it was like popping a balloon. He couldn't believe how quickly the tables turned. Rebecca closed her robe up with her free hand and wiped a few sweaty strands of hair back.
"Do it now."
Herald turned around slowly and put his hand on the knob with a stunned corollary response. But he didn't have to leave... He wasn't going to admit defeat yet. Quickly, he shot around and tackled her to the floor. Rebecca screamed, taken aback, and unthinkingly dropped the gun.
They both saw it fall with a wry ballerina-like grace that flowed in the slow motion. As soon as it hit the mattress both responded with a implacable vigilance. Herald searched madly for it among the covers but they both saw it at the same time at the edge of the bed. Rebecca reached for it and grabbed it before he could react. Herald quickly shoved her back against the headboard and Rebecca felt a dull thud and then a prickly pain jab into the back of her mind. Battle for control of the weapon began. He squeezed on the handle and turned it away but Rebecca wrestled it back toward him with a frenzied vengeance.
A sharp snap of air.
Something warm was seeping onto her belly. Blood she imagined, blood was draining from her body. She was dying, she felt weight on her body, a heavy weight that seemed to press the life out of her.
Funny... she didn't feel like a bullet had just passed through her body... Did a bullet pass through her body? No... Oh god...
"Rebecca?"
She pushed Herald off her. He was... dead... dead .... Seriously dead...
Dead. But...
"Rebecca."
She looked up stridently.
"Billy?"
To be continued
AN- Holy smitt!!! That was kind of intense... no? Ok well .... That was chapter one. Wow... That was longer than I wanted but oh well.... I hope someone will review. Constructive criticism is welcomed! I can't please everyone you know, so your thoughts are really important! Tell me what you like and what you don't like! Ok then ... Um... Yeah! Next chapter out soon! Any questions, stupid or otherwise, about me, the book, whatever! Just ask!
Mute Chapter 1: Protracted Flashes
Billy looked up; the gray stone of the building encased the street below in a listless tomb. The sky's muddy quintessence showed bullets of liquid life upon the city streets; each drop of the rain searing a fresh elusive scar into his skin. The tiny pearl-like tears actually hurt, but Billy supposed, falling from a distance, the little beads of water would sting if not a little bit. The monotonous gray expanse before him seemed to stretch for miles; the silver buildings bleeding heavily into an equally silvery sky.
A loud horn blare interrupted his thoughts. A large man pressed his thick fist into the horn again warning Billy that Celtic City wasn't welcoming people to stand on the public streets. How careless of him self to do that, Billy mused. A slight smirk graced his countenance and as gracefully as a magician doing a card trick, Billy slipped his hands out of his pockets and flicked the man off.
888
Rebecca rubbed her eyes and stared at the screen again; she still hadn't finished. Three years ago she started the letter and now, three years later, the same thing was written on the screen.
"Dear Mr. Cohen,
I can't begin to express my thanks. I knew that someday, I would find you and I would be able to say what I wanted that day we parted. I just wanted to inform you ..."
She could never type it. How could she thank the man that saved her life? She always sounded so formal, so remote and distant. She sounded more like she was thanking him for the lovely package of vintage cheeses he sent, but sorry, she didn't like cheese? No, no, no. This wasn't a love letter she reminded herself again, it was just a letter of thanks.
"I just wanted to inform you of..."
A sharp and quick rapping at the door startled her. Tiredly looking at the clock, Rebecca groaned; it was only four and she was already as restless as a baby. Lethargically, she got up and looked quickly into the mirror. Her feathery brown hair was coming out of the bun she had put it in earlier. Her sea green eyes were slightly red and a gray overcast deadened her skin to the point that a zombie would probably win the title of Ms. America if she was competing. Rebecca frowned. Twenty-one and still and ugly duckling; nature was cruel.
Disregarding her appearance and instead focusing on whoever was knocking on the door, Rebecca looked through the slight crack she opened and gasped.
In the hallway was Herald, her fiancé. His short blond hair framed a rather handsome face that secreted corporeal allure. The man wasn't exactly tall by any standard but he was trim and healthy.
Fingering the ring he gave her Rebecca took a step back. "Why am I marrying him again?" She asked herself. Because he was good-looking? Because he had money? Because he was nice? Because ... he was perfect?
"Rebecca, darling. I want to come in. Open the door." He cried from outside. His whinny voice echoed incessantly in her ears, the high pitched whimpers harshly scraping against the cerebral ramparts erected in her mind.
"Hold on Herald, I'm not decent!" She stammered looking for an excuse to delay her meeting. Oh yeah... She was fully dressed. Well that posed a problem in her justification for postponement, didn't it, she thought wryly. Rebecca saw her pink robe at the end of the couch and quickly ran to throw it on, discarding her jeans and sweatshirt along the way.
"Okay!" she exclaimed opening the door with an artificial enthusiasm. Herald didn't seem to notice her obviously plastic performance.
"You're wearing that thing?" He asked as soon as he saw the robe. It had small furry creatures on it, all in pastel colors made for a baby's nursery. It was slightly oversized for Rebecca so she appeared even smaller and frailer than she already was.
A faint blush bloomed on her cheeks, but it wasn't one of embarrassment. White hot anger flared inside her veins like a forest fire consuming a dry jungle. His one flaw, Rebecca mused, was his inability to keep his trap shut. And, Rebecca added as Herald gazed lustfully at her, his perverted roaming eye.
It wasn't the first time Rebecca had seen Herald eyeing her in that fashion. In fact, numerous times he had been watching the seductive sway of other women, and right in front of her no less. Why did she put up with that? Because his other, more astounding attributes, made up for it? Was she living in some surreal fantasy? Didn't she sense a certain danger the first time she met him? She felt it the first time she met Billy, didn't she?
His glacier blue eyes gazed acidly upon her and his skin glowed a primordial Greek-like bronze under the train's amber lights. His gun was pointed right at her, all signs indicating he was extremely dangerous. But, that was a different kind of danger, a kind she could get used to. His rough manner of handling things and absolute indifference to pain was... What was it? What was it that attracted women to Billy so easily?
No... Rebecca wasn't attracted in a sexual sort of way but she was captured eternally by his steely attitude.
She made a friend in him in one night and lost him just as quickly.
Herald was... Dangerous, yes. She felt it. But the kind of danger that made a woman shiver with disgust. How could she not tell the difference? Didn't she see it from the start?
"Hello?"
"What?" Rebecca asked dreamily as she suddenly realized that she was standing in the middle of her apartment, not on that abandoned train.
"I've been saying your name for the past thirty seconds."
"Oh..." She said absently turning toward the kitchen. Now, she thought, now she would break it up. How could she continue living this lie? How long could she put up with his antics and ignore the feeling that something just wasn't... right in him? "Listen, Herald. I have to tell you something..." She began hollowly as she began to take a pot out of the cabinets. Make some tea, she thought. Time would go by faster...
"Rebecca..." Herald said softly. She looked up and was immediately startled by his strange gaze. Rebecca put the small pot down on the stove.
"What?" She asked vacantly, her eyes roaming around the room as if the answer to his silent inquiry lay hidden in the kitchen.
"You look," He began huskily as he moved closer to her, "very," he paused dramatically and eyed her with an unquestionable desire. "Very, sexy."
"Herald... I can't. You know I can't. I have to do something now, stop interrupting. I have to..."
"Make love to me."
"Excuse me?" Rebecca asked her eyes gazing questioningly at the man before her. Her hands paused in midair, unconsciously protecting herself.
"You heard me. I'm tired of waiting. We've been playing this game for so long... So very long. You never show skin, even when we're at the beach I have to fight just for you to take your shorts off and even then, you still wear an oversized shirt. You rarely kiss me or touch me. I thought that by getting you to marry me you would finally spread you legs but I guess I was wrong. Well not anymore, I'm your husband and we're having sex."
What the hell?
"Whoa... Take a step back. I don't have to do anything I don't want to, especially have sex with some horny ... asshole!" She stammered heatedly. "That's it Herald, the wedding is off and I want you out of my house now. I've been delaying this decision for too long. We're just not right for each other."
"Oh..." He laughed bitterly. "Aren't you forgetting that I'm a man and men have needs? What are you, a virgin?"
Rebecca flinched.
"Oh god..." Herald laughed and then continued. "No wonder..." He grabbed both of her arms suddenly and threw her against the wall. "Well I have special methods when I deal with virgins." He breathed. Herald planted his hot, oily lips on her face and pressed a knee in between her legs. Rebecca cried out in unmistakable remonstration but her scream was pathetically muffled in his mouth. She could feel his oppressive tongue sweep in every fissure it could possibly fit.
How could she get out? The door... She had to make it to the door. Rebecca needed a weapon. Her gun was in the bedroom but... The pot! Rebecca barely slipped her arm out of Herald's iron clasp. Her hand feebly searched for the pot on the stove and as soon as her fingers clasped the handle she brought it down hard upon his head. Herald reeled back into the wall like a braying stallion and slumped against it lazily. The pan fell with a sickeningly flat metallic thud that rang out into the room with a biting edge. Rebecca ran toward the door but Herald quickly retaliated and tackled her to the ground.
"Get off of me!" She hissed angrily, clawing at his face. He ignored her struggling and protest, flipped her over, and pinned her to the floor. She flailed and bucked but Herald was much stronger and easily deflected her attacks. He used one hand to pin both of hers down and used the other the undo the tie on her robe.
She screamed as loud and as hard as she could but it felt useless. She had bought this artist studio two years ago and the cement ramparts absorbed sound easily. Few other people could afford to live in the building, partially due to the fact that it was located in the more expensive part of town. The next tenant was two floors up, he would never hear her.
Herald flung open the robe and stopped for a split second to admire her bra.
"Still wearing cotton? What are we, in kindergarten?" He spat caustically.
Warm tears fell effortlessly down her downy face. The elastic hair band had broken off and sweat plastered her glossy locks to her face. Herald ripped the bra easily with one hand and threw it aside unceremoniously.
Rebecca wasn't the largest woman but for such a petite girl Herald thought she had more than ample breast. They were beautifully shaped, a B cup, maybe a C cup, he imagined broodingly. He thought about touching them but decided he could save it for later, something else occupied his attention. Rebecca reared back irately and tried to kick him away but he pinned her legs down with his own.
So this was it... this was how she was going to lose it? How different than she always imagined... Little girls dreamed of holding hands. Children dreamed of first kisses. Young teens dreamed of their first make out sessions. Young women think of who they give themselves to for the first time. She always imagined it would be in some secluded place at night where the moon hung low. It would be a pleasant meeting of bodies, of minds, and of hearts.
Herald grasped the elastic band to her panties and Rebecca waited for the sound of ripping fabric. It came and reminded her almost like a scream of pain, the worst sound in the last few treacherous minutes. Herald tossed it aside and smiled wickedly, the malevolent glimmer in his eyes blazing like the summer heat. The temptation to touch her was so great, but he had to unzip himself first. He unbuttoned his jeans and proceeded to unzip his pants when suddenly he saw her face.
She was gazing off somewhere, he imagined, where she would try not to feel him. She was pretending she was in some remote beach, he pictured vividly. Some tropical place where they serve fucking strawberry daiquiris with some souvenir placed decoratively on the top, like an umbrella. Whatever was going on between her legs was just some weird dream. Why did that infuriate him? Because she would pretend she didn't know him, didn't know the way he felt pumping inside her. She would know, he would make sure of that.
"Look at me Rebecca!" He demanded hotly. "I want you to look at me the whole time I fuck you. I want you to know I making love to you like a real man." He spat. She gazed off still, her eyes no longer filling with tears. Why was he doing this here on the cold cement? He had all night to screw her, why not just bring her somewhere softer, easier on the knees? He grabbed her hair roughly and picked her up.
Rebecca winced but bit back the cry that threatened to escape. Herald thrust her through the bedroom door and on to the bed.
"Look at me." He demanded again. Rebecca looked at him with a anesthetized visage. "Lets just lock the door and have fun shall we?" He turned around abruptly to turn the lock.
Rebecca almost couldn't believe her luck, in the slit second it took for him to turn around and lock the door she was reaching in her drawer and pulling out her gun.
"No, you dirty son of a bitch, look at me" She screamed pointing the gun at his heart. Herald turned around and gasped heavily. Where the hell did she get a gun? She worked at a fucking hospital, not a police station. "Open the door." She commanded acidly. "I said open the fucking door!" She repeated vehemently.
Herald's excitement died so brusquely it was like popping a balloon. He couldn't believe how quickly the tables turned. Rebecca closed her robe up with her free hand and wiped a few sweaty strands of hair back.
"Do it now."
Herald turned around slowly and put his hand on the knob with a stunned corollary response. But he didn't have to leave... He wasn't going to admit defeat yet. Quickly, he shot around and tackled her to the floor. Rebecca screamed, taken aback, and unthinkingly dropped the gun.
They both saw it fall with a wry ballerina-like grace that flowed in the slow motion. As soon as it hit the mattress both responded with a implacable vigilance. Herald searched madly for it among the covers but they both saw it at the same time at the edge of the bed. Rebecca reached for it and grabbed it before he could react. Herald quickly shoved her back against the headboard and Rebecca felt a dull thud and then a prickly pain jab into the back of her mind. Battle for control of the weapon began. He squeezed on the handle and turned it away but Rebecca wrestled it back toward him with a frenzied vengeance.
A sharp snap of air.
Something warm was seeping onto her belly. Blood she imagined, blood was draining from her body. She was dying, she felt weight on her body, a heavy weight that seemed to press the life out of her.
Funny... she didn't feel like a bullet had just passed through her body... Did a bullet pass through her body? No... Oh god...
"Rebecca?"
She pushed Herald off her. He was... dead... dead .... Seriously dead...
Dead. But...
"Rebecca."
She looked up stridently.
"Billy?"
To be continued
AN- Holy smitt!!! That was kind of intense... no? Ok well .... That was chapter one. Wow... That was longer than I wanted but oh well.... I hope someone will review. Constructive criticism is welcomed! I can't please everyone you know, so your thoughts are really important! Tell me what you like and what you don't like! Ok then ... Um... Yeah! Next chapter out soon! Any questions, stupid or otherwise, about me, the book, whatever! Just ask!
