Ah prep for my Camp NaNoWriMo project is done. Bare bones outline: check Plot idea: check Cover: check
So this is the one I am sorta writing chapters as TV episodes.
I was also told about kindle vella, which may work for this type of writing.
Anyways, it is a basic LGTBQ+ Suspense type novel.
Been done to death perhaps. But it is a story line that won’t leave my head.
James ‘Jay’ Clossen never imagined life this way. Once upon a time the dream was going pro as a quarterback. But in a blink of an eye his life changed. He joined the Marines. Came home got a Behavior Psychology degree. Became a detective in his own hometown. Now at 38, his life is in shambles. Addicted to heroin from an undercover job, one night he shoots too much. On that night his life is saved by Arcas Raska. Never would Jay think this paramedic firefighter would not only save his life, but his sanity and soul. Now there is a serial killer in town. One that seems to be obsessed with Jay. Will Jay face this challenge and come our whole, or will he finally break once and for all? Arcas may just be the key to this fork in the road. Only time will tell of Arcas will answer the cry screaming ‘SAVE ME’. And save Jay from the demons within.
I updated chapter One of Darkened Grace, which is the Short Story Damned. Enjoy.
All mortals are born with the scar of original sin. They go through their lives paying for that sin. Some fail, most fail, they give into that darkness that is burned into the soul. Others, well others, they heal that scar and become saints.
The celestial beings, however, were made to be perfect. Never sinning. Never questioning. Never evolving. Until one asked a simple question. A war started. And ended. Most celestial beings went upon their way doing what they were made to do, be perfect little angels… Then there are those who fell… Cast out. Forgotten. Damned. Those were the ones that humanity had to worry about; for if humanity forgot about the Damned, then what hope would there be to be absolved of a sin they never committed.
Hope would be found in an unlikely legion.
Hope would be found by those with Darkened Grace.
Hope would be found in those unjustly Damned…
The sun was beating down. The last days before Death would claim this land. One could smell it in the air. Death always had a particular smell. Always would. It was not rot like one would think… No, Death smelled like life. Of the fresh grass in the morning dew. For there was no life without Death. Everything must be balanced. Something many celestial beings, both angelic and fallen, still needed to learn.
A celestial being, a fallen, smelled Death. He sought out the center of the future mass destruction. It took only moments for him to learn what was going to happen. Hidden until this moment from even from him. He was the Angel of Knowledge. Or he was… He is… It was confusing even to him, he was a Fallen, but he kept his Gift from Her. Most fallen did not, in fact only his legion of Fallen had. He took in what was happening in front of him, he took in the knowledge of what was going to happen.
“Damn her,” thought the demon, with burnt reddish ochre hair and midnight blue eyes that had star dust in the pupil, as he stood looking at the ark. His skin a dark golden sepia color, which transferred quite nicely over to his true demonic form. He stood in what would one day be called a suit. He was a being of knowledge and that allowed him foresight. A lot of it. And he adored his suits already. He had a feeling he always would, there was something powerful about them. The midnight green shirt barely added any color to the black as a starless space suit. The black tie held a silver pin, of his sigil.
He tilted his head, how anybody thought God was all good had to be smoking better shit than he could get ahold of in Hell. And he had access to everything.
He turned when felt an angelic grace he had not felt since before the fall. The last angelic grace he felt in heaven. The one being he would have changed all his actions for, if his actions had not prevented this celestial being from being damned, even more than he himself had been.
Since God’s opening of Hell and this newly made demon felt a burning. He smelled acid. Sulphur. Him and the others had crashed into the Sulphur pits created for hell. He crashed into a Sulphur pit at terminal velocity. And burned. It was not a good burn; it was molten lava poured down one’s throat and ripped them apart from the inside out sort of burn. A burn so painful it had turned his pure wings to the darkest of greens, not quite black.
Not since he had stood in front of this angel and told him he was not fighting the war; it had been the last moments of the war. This angel had wanted him to fight. But this demon had known something that the Angel of Mysteries did not know.
If this demon had fought in the war, he would have been killed by Samuel’s sword. And the Angel of Mysteries would have fallen to vengeance.
Hell was not a place for the Angel of Mysteries.
Still standing in front of the Angel, God made Her choice.
He fell.
Since the very moment his existence became literally Hell, both on Earth and below. He had not felt… “Raziel,” he drawled out, the name tasting bittersweet on his tongue. “Come to finally smite me?” Part of him wished Raziel would smite him; then he would not be alive any longer to feel the ache in his chest where Her love once was present. Where the love of the angel that came up to his side once lived, bringing warmth to his logical ways.
Raziel came to his side, letting his fingers brush against Vapula’s. One would think he was another demon, but this being was all angel. Even if he did not look the part of the Fallen. He was thin, tall, and walked with a swagger. He wore skintight torn black jeans, leather boots, a black tee, and a black leather jacket. This Angel of Mystery had access to as much knowledge as the Fallen of Knowledge. He was attached to his look, what would be in the future known as a Rock Star looks. Raziel held a smirk on his lips, his hair was long and dark brown, almost black with shades of scarlet that could be seen in the sun, with a nice tight beard to match. His skin was a warm ochre brown that balanced his hair and eyes quite well. His eyes at first glance were nothing too exciting, brown. But when one looked, it was like honey coffee. The deepest of browns. Coffee that had honey and chocolate mixed into it, with a bit of cream to lighten the deep, strong richness of the black. “Nah, Vapula, decided heaven is a bag full of dicks. I just haven’t done anything Fall worthy. And I am supposed to oversee putting up the promise not to do this shite again.” The Fallen could feel the pain that shot through the Angel at the thought of what was going to happen. Yet, he was there to give hope at the end of the disaster.
Vapula should have guessed the man would choose what would become a Scottish accent to talk in, as it went completely against his looks, but Vapula knew Raziel would change his accent many times, after all Raziel existed for mystery and change. He was as fluid as water, as air, only thing that never changed was the fact he stayed a He. Which shocked Vapula greatly when he first met him. Most angels that crave change, crave different were fluid in their genders. But not Raziel. He shook his head of the thoughts about this Angel. He flicked his eyes towards Raziel but still looked out at the ark and Noah. Anger was in both their eyes at the fact even children would die today. Just so She could call it a lesson not to sleep with angels. “That used to be enough in the old days,” Vapula responded, but did not move as he watched the children. Only a few where half angel, half human, but all would pay for the price of an Angel’s sin.
“Why do so many have to pay for the sins of the few?” Raziel asked, as he watched the hell fire enter Vapula’s eyes.
“It has always been that way, Angel. In this case, I hear she forgave some of them if they never had another child with mortals again. Others I heard Fell.”
“Yes, that is true. Never again has she sentenced anybody to fall for once sin, since the Opening.” Raziel was internally furious about this fact. Only thing Vapula did was refuse to fight and kill the other angels. At least, that was all he had been told. Raziel always felt there was another reason that Vapula fell. One day he hoped the being he loved, even if he was now a Fallen, would confide in him the true reasons.
“Is it rude of me to call our creator a monstrous bitch? And what are you putting up?” Vapula wanted to get Raziel away from the topic, he felt the righteous anger in the angel flare, and if Raziel gave into anger… Vapula shuddered, his Angel of Mystery did not belong in Hell.
“And you wonder why you fell.” Raziel smirked then to get away from the topic of THE FALL, “My colors. She is calling it a Rainbow.”
“I don’t wonder about anything, I know exactly why I fell, Raziel. I was born in holy water but forged in the fires of hell. A rainbow? Really? Is that the color you finally decided on?”
“You very well know I couldn’t choose one.” He clapped his hands to show a mini rainbow. “One day it will symbolize more than this promise not to drown anybody again. One day it will be a sign of solidarity. It will be a sign of love and pride. It will show the world that people are done hiding, that people are proud to be themselves, that they will fight for that right to be who they truly are in their life. She may have made humanity in her image, and as that is the case, and humanity makes mistakes, it can be said She can make mistakes. She promised me this would symbolize Love. I may dress in black, but I adore the colors, they make up life. The virtues, and the sins.” He sent the rainbow back into non-existence and turned to Vapula, he had to ask, it was eating at him. “And why did you fall?” Nobody ever answered him, Heaven kept no record, and even the being of secrets he was, he did not know why this being of knowledge, his best friend, his everything, had fallen. For the excuse of refusing to fight, just did not make sense! Cerviel, Requel, and even Anael, all refused to fight, and they were created to be the warriors as Principalities!
“Ask another time, Darling,” Vapula drawled and turned away, he would not discuss that with Raziel at this time. Maybe never. “Now, I got work to do, and don’t you have some humans and Nephilim to drown? Make sure to accidentally wipe out the bunnies, minions of the devil they are, Darling” With that Vapula sunk into the ground as the memories of their friendship and more assaulted him. Especially when it was not something he could not have any longer.
All because he had stabbed Michael to save Samuel…
Tony was already passing out sugary drinks. Etain shuddered. She hated what too much sugar did to her. So, she passed and went and grabbed a cup of tea. She discovered teas in Asia a long time ago. Before most countries did. She adored tea. She loved coffee more, but tea settled something in her soul. She also grabbed a candy cane. She loved these things. She loved to suck them into a pointed tip. They came out in mass in the early nineteen hundreds. But since the sixteen hundreds candy makers had made sweet candy sticks. The pointed tip would be perfect to poke people when they annoyed her. She smirked as she took the candy cane out of her mouth and looked at the pointed tip, before poking Tony.
“Hey! Stop that!” Tony glared at her.
“No. It is fun.”
“Will you grow up?”
“I am grown. Wanna see how grown?” Etain smirked, she would not sleep with him, but teasing was fun. Teasing is what friends did.
“You don’t have the right parts for me.”
Etain laughed. “Oh, and Gabby does?” She smirked as continued to fashion her sugary weapon.
“Hey! Don’t bring me into this childish game!”
“Says a grown man who became an archaeologists because he lost his favorite babble when he was robbing graves before he became a big evil villain.” Etain looked at him with a smirk. She then poked him with the candy cane.
Gabriel started and glared. “Only you would make a weapon out of a candy cane.”
“Would you three please behave?” Catriona sighed, “seriously, Arc, stop causing pain. What did Tony and Gabe do?”
“He is Tony. Enough said. I mean he wears his underwear outside his pants. And Gabby is a bad guy like me.”
“Hey! That was the fashion for superheroes at the time! I would change my outfit now!” Tony yelled, as Gabe yelled, “retired bad guy!”
“Good, I won’t be seen with you in that old outfit.”
“Will you three stop acting like children and behave?”
“Yes, mom.” They all sang song.
William cleared his throat, getting everybody’s attention, “okay! So, first Arc wants to say something. Then she will get to ask the first question.”
Etain raised an eyebrow from where she was lounging against some pillows with Catriona next to her. “I am making an announcement saying that I am awesome? Powerful? Queen of Evil? Cute as hell? Which is where you all have said I came from?”
“Arc.”
Etain rolled her eyes. “So, my shrink over there says to face my past, I must remember who I am, and by that, I mean allow that you all know my actual name. I am Etain, Daughter of Brien.”
“O’Brien… You used that all the time.” Tony laughed, “you hid your name in your fake name!”
“Eh, it was a way to keep up the lie I sprung from nothing. But by doing that, I realized I gave the man power. That I am nothing more than something owned by him. So, I am Etain. I have no last name. I belong to nobody.”
The others nodded had similar issues with the times they were born. “Okay, so, Etain, what is your first question?” Tony asked as he plopped down with a bottle of wine, filling Catriona’s glass and his own, offering Etain.
Etain shook her head at the offer. She tilted her head and then smirked. “Who was everybody’s first love? I can answer first, I was in a poly amorous relationship. My wife to be was named Bridgid. My husband to be was named Drest. I had been having sex with Bridgid since I was twelve. About four months in, Drest caught us. We asked him to join. I adored being taken by both of them. I was planning the final steps of my marriage ceremony when my world was turned upside down. The opposing forces killed them.” They did not get to know everything right now.
While Tony was talking about some guy Catriona froze. Her first love? While Etain was sitting right there? Etain was opening up bit by bit, and it wa great. But Catriona could not help but get jealous when she joked with the others. Catriona always worried that she would pick someone else to date when she got well. And now Catriona had to tell Etain the story of her first love? That may set Etain off. She may just go back in time to them. After all, her first love story did not end well.
“Earth to Cat?” Etain placed a hand upon her’s. “You okay, Cat?”
“Just fine.”
“It is your turn.”
Catriona swallowed, “you must promise me something Etain.”
“Anything.”
“I am serious.”
“I am too. Anything you want. Anything.”
“You cannot lose control. You cannot let your powers go.”
Etain frowned, why would a first love story need that promise. “Okay…”
“Etain.”
“Okay, I promise. I said anything.”
“You can’t travel time, can you?”
Etain snorted, “nobody can but the crazy man in a blue box.”
“That is a television show.”
“There is a reason whoever created us made sure none of us had the power to go back in time. We can be super fast, we can fly, but none of us can change the past. No matter how much we wish we could sometimes. Everything happens for a reason. You told me that. You told me that many times through the years.”
Catriona nodded and sighed, “his name was Paul.”
Catriona was twenty. She had just met the most wonderful being. He had a minor power, so he stayed and lived a normal life. He believed that women were equal. It was a radical thought during this time. He started to court her. He would come and visit and they would just talk. They talked about books. They talked about the new university, Oxford. They talked about education for both men and women. They talked languages. And he was so sweet. He stated he understood she had no desire for sex. He kept his touches light and friendly. A kiss to a cheek. A brush of lips. Catriona fell slowly in love. She found herself on his arm whenever they went out. Happy and content. Perhaps one day they could marry.
It all changed one night. Catriona had come back from a battle with Arc. And had just wanted to lie down and sleep. It was late when there was banging on her door. She opened the door to find Paul. “Paul?”
“You tease! I have been patient this whole year. Now, you are going to put out.”
Panic filled Catriona. He hit her and ripped at her clothes. But before he could complete his crime, a rage filled Catriona and she let loose her powers. There on the floor was a puddle of Paul. Catriona blinked before she bent over and threw up. She ran to the only place she ran safe, her mother’s.
“So, my first love ended up being that man that almost stole what is only mine to give.” Catriona finished her story and saw Etain standing up. “Etain…”
“I need a moment.” Etain moved and went outside. She took deep calming breaths. Why did people have to be so evil? Honestly, for all the death and destruction she had caused, she never took a person’s will away. The right to say yes or no. She took deep breaths, trying to keep her promise to Catriona. She turned when a twig snapped. “Catriona.”
“Etain, are you okay?”
“Your question about time travel makes sense now. But I am fine. Are you?”
“Yes. I was able to work through it a long time ago, Etain. To me it is just a bad memory.”
Etain nodded, “just so you know, if I could travel through time, I would have killed him the moment he knocked on your door.”
“I know.”
“Let’s get back before they think we are either killing each other or having sex.”
Catriona laughed, “is that what the bets are on?”
“If it makes you feel better, all but Timothy think we will have sex and never fight again. Timmy thinks we have a big knock out battle brewing first.”
“And what do you think?”
Etain smirked, “I adore you, I can’t deny that. But you will push while I am on this therapy path. And I push back.”
Catriona nodded, “good. Push if you need too. It sets boundaries. Though, I got to ask something.”
“Shoot.”
“When you talked about ropes that final battle?”
“Have you ever been tied up during sex?”
“No. It doesn’t seem like something I would like.”
“Would you like it if it was you tying me up?”
An image of a naked Etain laying on their bed, tied down by silken ropes flashed through her mind, and a blush came to her cheeks. “Umm…”
“I will take that as a, maybe. One day we can find out.” Etain laughed as she left a flustered Catriona in the yard as she made her way back to the group.
Catriona took deep breaths, “that woman does it on purpose. I swear.” She muttered as she made her way back.
They went corporate and used their powers for fear in their world. Superheroes went into the shadows. Many died.
Doctor Arc got the Villains of the world together.
Hundreds of years later, Etain AKA Doctor Arc, finds out something so wrong she can’t let the corruption, even as much evil as she is, continue.
Etain is beaten and left for dead when she stands against her corporation.
She goes to the only hero that is left.
She is a Villain who needs a hero.
The hero once known as Earth Phoenix now just goes by her name her father gave her hundreds of years ago, Catriona.
When the villains one, she moved to a small city, opened a bakery, lives her extended life in peace.
Until one day she finds the villain on her doorstep.
The Queen Villain is asking Catriona to save the world.
Will She answer the call once again?
Excerpt:
Chapter One: In The Beginning
There was Darkness.
Humanity didn’t just evolve into the normal beings that make up the vast majority of the world’s population. It is said that some were said to be touched by God’s divine grace.
That grace gave birth to the heroes and the villains.
In reality, it was a chromosomal anomaly.
But one many exploited.
Chaos reigned.
And it was glorious.
For life without chaos is like a superhero without a cause.
There used to be a time where superheros reigned over and protected the lands.
They reigned in the chaos.
They brought order.
They were loved.
For millennia.
Until the villains became corporate.
For hundreds, thousands even, of years it was the typical bad guy blows something up, steals something, does something super villain-y, and the hero would come in and save the day. Very basic. Exceptionally ordinary. Citizens worshiped the heroes and hated the villains. The superheros, however, knew the chaos the villains caused gave them a cause and a reason to exist.
One villain loathed it. She hated the whole… flamboyance… of her… evilness.
Etain.
Also known as Doctor Arc.
And with that, she vowed to change the way the world work.
She was tired of the hero always winning.
She was tired of the hero lording over her.
Her arch-nemesis, who had the stupid ass name of Earth Phoenix. It was so not her real name.
Back then they protected their real name. But since Phoenix was her number one enemy, she knew her real name. Catriona. But she never gave it up.
Kris Charles - Author 