A Monster University Story: Draco and Flora

Draco/Flora
A Monster University Story
All Rights Reserved 
Triggers: Murder, Sex, Blood, Curses, It is a Halloween Story

            ‘Walking into Griffin sleeping with that woman hurt me. I may have been a bit rash in my curse. However, I didn’t anticipate it curing myself as well. The last hundred plus years we have been living in this cycle of living for twenty years and then reborn and murdered. But for some reason I can never forgive him. He tells me every time he was being disowned to marry me. That he was drunk and thought it was me. So why do I always use him? Abuse him? Curse him? Never forgive him? Why never forgive him and free us both? Why can’t we stop this cycle of reincarnation and murder? He spends the first five years of my new life as a damn ugly bird and I am spoiled and loved. And then as I continue to grow up he lives his life. But he always lives with the fact I cursed him and he killed me. Maybe this time will be different… Then again most likely not. How is it we can’t walk away from each other? After all we are soulless monsters, and how can someone without a soul love?’
            “Flora…” The name fell off Draco’s lips in a sigh. It was 2021 and he had the next thirteen years to live his life, then two years to win the woman who cursed him. Why did he still love her so? He found her diary this time. He always thought that she got her memories when he told her. But this diary he found in her old things, that Bo had collected for him, proved she always knew. Always. He felt a fury boil in his blood. He took a deep breath. She was six. She was six. He had to keep telling himself. And he may be a monster but he didn’t hurt kids. Even a witch. He took another breath. Nothing he could do. He sighed. They were still in Grand Rapids Prairie, Bo and Beth had adopted a pair of twins four years ago. Frank and Lucas still were connected at the hip as they raised Frank’s daughter Sophie, who was now five, oddly enough she had been born of werewolf so Lucas had taken her in as pack heiress. Sam, even had a gal now. SAM! A brain eating zombie! Maybe it was time to move on. Take the fact he would be a bird for five years then he could live his life for fifteen years. It was time to move on once and for all. He felt a flash of cold as he thought those words.
            Flora looked up from the book her new parents had given her. A shiver went down her back. What was that? Did it have something to do with Draco? He would be human once more. She frowned. She moved over to the phone and rank Bo’s number. “Bo?”
            “Flora. Are you going to drop this con you don’t remember from the moment you turn five?” Bo drawled over the phone.
            Flora sighed. “I felt something. Draco, he is… He is still among us, yes?”
            Bo sighed. “Yes, Flora. He just had me set him up as a student, he is going to finish his degree and do something for these fifteen years. I think you felt his final acceptance of your curse.”
            “He is moving on?” Something in her voice broke.
            “I believe so. He is actually dating.”
            Flora slammed down the phone. “Screw this.” She moved quickly to her room. “A quick potion and I will be aged to twenty. I will confront him. He wasn’t ever supposed to give into his punishment! He wasn’t supposed to move on! He is mine!” She screamed as she gathered everything and with a quick slit of the throats of her ‘parents’ she disappeared.
            Draco was actually trying to pay attention in his class, but was just so bored. He was three hundred thirty five years old. He was friends with Vincent Van Gogh! He partied with some of the best musicians. He was a hit Musician! He sighed, he missed the eighties and classic rock, and for sure being able to tour with a band. Hell, he missed the swinging twenties! He missed the hippies, the rebels! He let out a loud sigh; he just missed the past period. But he was moving on, he had to for his own sanity. He couldn’t love Flora anymore. It was toxic. He couldn’t hold on to the only one he ever loved. He may have had his fair share of sex, but only Flora ever held his heart. Even a soulless being like him could feel love. After all he was once a mortal with a soul. He sighed again.
            A girl next to him smiled. “You seemed bored.”
            “have done all this before.” He waved his hand toward the professor. “The class just didn’t’ transfer.” Draco smoothly lied. He looked at her. The opposite of Flora, Tall, blonde, blue-eyed. “Draco.” He held out a hand.
            She smiled and took his hand. “Jane.”
            “Pleased to meet you, Jane. Want to go and get a coffee?” He gave her a charming smile.
            Later that night Draco stood outside on the deck, smoking a cigarette, looking out into the dark, focusing on nothing. Jane was naked and sprawled out in his bed. He took another drag when he heard her voice.
            “Well, Griffin, at least your taste hasn’t approved.” She drawled.
            “Flora.” He flicked his cigarette away.
            “Not shocked?” She frowned.
            “You messed up. I got one of your dairies. You remember and can age yourself, it seems.”
            Flora smiled. “I felt you accept the curse. I felt you give up.”
            “You don’t love me, Flora.” He offered her a smoke.
            She took the cigarette. “I do. I loved you so much as to give up my soul to curse you!” She lite the smoke and conjured a seat. “I do still love you.”
            “Then why this/” Draco asked as he knelt in front of her. “Why do this to both of us? We are monsters, yes, no denying that fact, but we were once mortal, we do love. What is in the remnants of our souls, those pieces of soul still inside of us, they allow us to love. We could be together Flora. Forever. All you have to do is cancel the curse.”
            Flora broke down. “Then you would become mortal again!” She cried out.
            Draco took her hands. “There are many ways to stop that. You are the strongest witch I know. There is a way to modify the curse so I ain’t a damn bird for five years.”
            Flora looked at him. “I don’t know, Griffin. I barely know what I did to curse us to begin with all those centuries ago.”
            Draco looked at her. “How about this? You remove the curse and then curse me with immortality?”
            Flora frowned and winkled her nose. “That could work, but the timing would have to be perfect and we would need a blood sacrifice.”
            Draco looked into his bedroom where his naked conquest laid. “What about her?” He nodded his head toward Jane.
            Flora sneered towards the naked blonde. ‘She will work as the catalyst to release you from your curse. We need another to curse you again.”
            Draco nodded. “Give me two hours; there is Jo’s bar she can help get another sacrifice. I work there as a bartender to give the illusion of being a poor college kid. And the free whiskey is always good.”
            Flora rolled her eyes. “You always did like your drink, Griffin.”
            “Draco. I have to go by Draco, for now.”
            “Fine. I will try and remember. Now go get me a blood sacrifice.” She took his head in her hands and kissed him for the first time since she cursed him over three centuries prior.
            Draco broke the kiss. He went and moved into the room, and put on a shirt, pants, and shoes, he kissed her head and left.
            Flora sneered at the naked woman. “That bed will have to be burnt with the slut.” She sneered at the body, using a spell to keep the woman asleep.
            Draco got to the bar. “Jo, there any expendables around?”
            Jo raised an eyebrow but tilted her head toward a group of drunken sorority girls. Draco nodded his thanks and slide over to them with a few pitchers of beer.
            An hour later he had two girls on his arms and headed back toward his apartment. The curse would soon be over, and he would finally have Flora back in his heart.
            Flora had the alter set up with the black and red candles, the woman was naked and awake, trying to get free. He walked in then; Flora rolled her eyes as she knocked the two sluts out with a spell. “Two?”
            “Eh, can’t say no to twins.” He smirked.
            Flora hit him over the head with a piece of parchment. “Clean off. It is time to do this. Lay under the alter after you tie the other two up.”
            “Yes Mistress!” Draco mock saluted. He striped the women and tied them down and then laid under the alter.
            Flora moved over to them and started to chant, a reversal spell, as she cut the throat of Jane. The blood ran down the alter, mixing with the spices and herbs she had laid out with the candles, mixing with the wax, and ran down and over Draco, as the blood washed away the curse he became visible once more. He gasped as he felt the curse lift, as heat spread through his body. He felt his mortal heart start beating once more! He gasped and gulped the air into his now living lungs.
            Flora saw this and changed her chant into a new curse, and slit the throats of the twins, allowing their life blood to flow and run down over Draco and into his mouth, giving to him the magic and life of their souls.
            Draco had no choice but to swallow the blood, to accept their life force, to accept the curse given to him, he felt as the curse changed, as his heart slowed once more, as his soul once more became tattered remains of a mortal soul. But as he flicked between visibility and invisibility he felt the ability to control this curse. Allowing him to never be a bird again. Allow him, most important of all, to be immortal. He laid there as the blood soaked into his very being, he allowed it to disappear into his body.
            He only stood once he felt no more blood. He smirked and grabbed Flora to him and kissed her hard. “Marry me, my flower.” He demanded.
            “Of course, my Griffin.” She kissed him and dragged him into the guest bedroom.
            The next morning Draco stood on the deck in a robe, smoking a cigarette, calling Tony as Flora took the master bedroom’s bed and burned it out back. He smiled as he rolled her eyes at her obvious glee to cast the bodies and bed on fire. But he was happy.
            Extremely happy. Today started a new chapter in his undead life. The best chapters he had a feeling. He reached up and wiped a drop of blood off his cheek, he sucked it off his finger. He smirked, yes, a new undead life, with the love of his life…
           
           

Monster University: Zoe And Aeron

Rachael / Zoe /Aeron
Monster University
All Rights Reserved
“These are my words. My stories. Read them. Understand them. And watch for the monsters hidden within our society. If you are reading this. You know my story. A girl who died too young. Her genetic condition taking her quickly as she left her final piece of work in a safety deposit box to finish. These are my last words. I know when I leave this bank I will die. Be aware of the people around you. You never know which may hide a monster within. And if you are brave enough, strong enough, powerful enough… Please finish what I wanted to start and destroy them all…”
Zoe read these words. She read the will. She read everything. She and her twin were the only ones that came after all. She was sixteen and just graduated high school. She had gone on a trip to Europe with her friends to be told that her sister was killed. Killed an alley and left to rot like a common rat. She didn’t understand why. Why someone would do that to her sister? Now she knew. Her sister stuck her nose in things that did not concern her.
Aeron looked at Zoe. He snorted. “She was always to nosey for her own good. Her cure was staring her in her face and she instead chose to anger gods. They may be monsters but they found the key to living with curses and actually living.”
Zoe nodded. “I wonder if they would turn us. Make us immortal. In exchange for destroying this of course.”
“We shouldn’t blackmail the monsters, Zoe.” He looked at the list of names. “But this Bo may be our best bet to check and see if they would change us.”
Three weeks later they stood in front of a law office: Robert Jingles, Attorney at Law. “Do you think this is the right move?” Zoe asked Aeron.
Aeron nodded. He looked at his twin. They had been born at the exact same moment. Their parents had a strange sense of humor, his name meant death and Zoe’s meant life; maybe they were destined to discover this world at the loss of their sister. Their sister was the last person who treated them as a child. Even their parents have given them their independence since they were thirteen. They still needed their parents, but the last time they saw their parents was to get their new credit cards and go ‘kiss, kiss’ to the cheek French style and they all went their separate ways. Aeron and Zoe going to Europe and their parents went to only God knows where. They never told their parents that two years ago they were diagnosed with a different genetic terminal disorder, which lead them to find out that their parents had them conceived artificially. Huntington’s. They had no symptoms now but they would as they got older. Their family blood was just bad it seemed. Well, the family karma. Being diagnosed with this was early but not unheard of in this day and age. He knew this was a way to stop everything and get to live. He and Zoe didn’t care about having biological kids or not, they didn’t want spread their bad genes. Marrying right now was not in any type of plans, they were only sixteen. He didn’t verbally answer but he knocked on the door.
Bo looked up from his papers. He liked living in this town. He and Beth were close and after the last few months they had moved into together and were planning marriage. But like Frank had been, he was always missing something. Don’t get him wrong, Frank was very much his son, and Sophie very much like his granddaughter, but things were always missing. The raising and finishing of a child. And Beth felt it as well. He looked up because of the knock. He frowned as nobody was scheduled for today. He saw a couple of teens. “Can I be of assistance?”
Aeron nodded. “May we come in?”
Zoe smiled and looked around in delight at all the law books. She was fascinated by the law and so looked around and kept reaching out to touch but stopped herself.
Bo closed the door and looked at the teens. “How can I help?”
Zoe handed him the will and the manuscript to him. “We want immortality. Not to blackmail you guys or anything, we are never going to publish this, but maybe you can make it a television show script or something and sell it the studios or something.”
“We have Huntington’s.” Aeron stated. “We don’t want to die like that. Not young like this.”
Zoe nodded. “Aeron wanted to be a surgeon and I wanted to be a lawyer, but our illness prevents living. That is why we want to have you help us exist. To be able to live in way. Please?”
Bo looked at them. “How old are you?”
“Sixteen.” They stated together.
Bo sat down. He could have a son like him with Beth’s talent. A daughter like his Beth with his talent. “You like music? Art?”
Aeron laughed. “I live for the sciences, medicine, mental sciences, social sciences and the like.” He smiled.
“I love music, I can play the sax, flute, clarinet, violin, guitar, piano and the drums. I love art. I took a lot of Art History classes for and Art classes. I am going for a double major, English and Art History while being pre-law.” Zoe responded.
Bo nodded. “Let me make a couple of calls and I will get back to you. Until then go and stay at your hotel.”
Both nodded and went to say goodbye, Zoe didn’t want to leave. Aeron wasn’t much better but they could wait a day or two before choosing their next move. After all they would not die the way their illness would have them die.
Bo called Beth and Frank and had them come to the office. It was time for a family meeting. Of course, he knew Frank would bring someone else to the meeting as well. But family was family.
Two days later Bo, Beth, Frank, Sophie, and Frank’s growth named Lucas, knocked on the hotel door of the twins.
Zoe and Aeron looked at the door and swallowed. No matter how ‘independent’ they were, they were only sixteen and a couple of kids. But this was a ticket to a life, to a cure, part curse part blessing. Aeron went to the door and let the group in. “Hello.” He stated and sat down next to Zoe. A sense of family of rightness came over the both of them as soon as the group sat down around them.
Bo smiled. “This is my fiancé, Elizabeth Frankenstein, Beth. Our son Franklin Victor Frankenstein, his daughter Sophie Elizabeth Frankenstein. And this is Frank’s best friend’ he sent a glare at Beth’s snort. “Lucas Richardson.”
Zoe blinked. “Shit! The stores really were real!”
Aeron swallowed. “Werewolf?”
“Yeah,” Lucas smirked. “Alpha one. And this is my pack!” He then grew serious. “And I won’t let anything happen to them.” He flashed his elongated teeth at them.
Frank smacked him in the back of his head. “Behave. They are going to be my siblings, if everything goes right. But with my mom’s and my minds I don’t see how this won’t go right. Just have to do a blood test for the final calculation.”
Beth rolled her eyes as Lucas stood down. “Yes, dears, we have decided to bring you into the family. However, since you are teens the rituals will be a bit different. We will take some blood to see what Monster you will become. What is the best with your illness and such, nothing large.” She took out her doctor bag.
Aeron was at her side and looking into the bag. “What all do you carry? Are you a doctor? What kind of doctor? Do you carry an old fashioned bag as well?”
Beth smiled, “I am a surgeon in this town. I do plastic surgery as well. Frank and I are the go to the for the medical reasons among our clan, so to say. I mean there are packs and clans of different monsters. We really are the only mixed clan. Though Marie Leveau is a bitch, who should be destroyed, she is sadly part of our clan.” Beth winkled her nose.
“So this group Rachel wrote about is the clan and even though she is hated in the end you would help her, it is okay to hate her?” Zoe asked, as Beth took her and Aeron’s blood.
“Yes.” Beth smiled. “Bo and Frank says it makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense!” Zoe exclaimed. “She is an evil bitch but she is our clan bitch and nobody messes with one of our clan.” She said as she let Beth take the sample and hand it over to Frank.
Aeron lost interest. “Yeah, yeah. Marie bitch, but our clan. Frank how does this chemical work?” He asked as Frank dropped some onto the blood.
“It checks your DNE to see if you are compatible for the Monster Process, we think would work best. You see, we think you will do well as a skeleton man, much like Bo, that way we can replace your organs and skin every few decades and we can drain you this time ridding you of the disease and give you a mix of mostly blood mixed from the marrow of Bo and my mother. We think Zoe would be good to be a ‘Stein, like mother and I, which would be replacements of all parts but heads every so often. It will involve a complicated procedure but in the end it will be worth it.” Frank held the samples up. “After all then mom and Bo will stop stealing my kid every other night.”
Lucas laughed, “he panics all the time when Sophie isn’t home and we live with Cameron who won’t have an interest in her until she is legal age, and a budding Incubus.”
Beth sighed. “Drake still taking lessons from Vlad?”
Bo nodded. “Good thing too, his whole emo, depressed, days are so totally the 90’s.”
Frank and Lucas laughed. They laughed loud. Lucas fell on the floor laughing. Zoe and Aeron titled their heads. “What is so funny?” They asked together.
“Drake is a Dracul and the original Emo.” Frank explained between gasping breaths.
Aeron and Zoe looked at each other and laughed. It felt like a family. They were happy. They leaned against Bo and Beth. They couldn’t wait to start their new life.
The night of the rituals came. Frank and Beth had set up an operating center in Beth’s basement. A basement built with the dirt from Frankenstein Castle. Zoe’s process was first.
Beth drained half of her blood and half of Bo’s blood mixed with the cells of the marrow. They did the same again after getting a transfusion in preparation for Aeron’s procedure.
            Frank smiled at Zoe. “Now I am going to put you to sleep and remove your head. From there I will wake you up. We will reattach your head as we give your body a full transfusion, then we will send the bolts of electricity through your new bolts. I made them small and easily hidden, if you want to hide them.”
            Zoe smiled as she fell asleep. “Wanna be like my big brother…” She whispered as the world went black.
            The world came back in a blast of white light and she was in pain. She watched as Frank bolted her head back to her body. There was a river of blood on the floor. She couldn’t move her body. Beth looked at her and smiled.
            “Just a jolt and your new life will begin. You changed a bit, that was the point after all.”
            Frank smiled. “You got purple streaks in your hair and yoru skin is a light green and your eyes are now purple. You are gorgeous sis. Now bite down.” He put a strap of leather in her mouth.
            Zoe did as she was told as Beth slammed the power switch and watched as the lightning hit the rod. Thank goodness that tonight was a story might. After three bolts of lightning and blowing three quarters of the generators Beth turned the machine off. And they stood there, their breaths held, waiting for Zoe.
            Zoe blinked. Frank too the leather strap out of her mouth. “Sis?”
            Zoe looked up. She took a deep breath and moved to sit up. It was weird not having a heartbeat, but she smiled. She stood up and hugged Beth and Bo with a whispered mom and dad. She then turned and hugged Frank and Aeron. “Amazing.” She looked at Aeron. “Your turn!”
            Aeron smiled. “Let’s get this show on the road!”
            Beth smiled. “Hop up!”
            Aeron lay down. “Let’s go!”
            Beth smiled. “Now Frank is going to knock you out. I am going to remove your skeleton, and replace your blood and your marrow. During that transfusion of marrow, we will be inserting a concoction of milk thistle, hemlock, belladonna, lily pads, and Adrenaline. You will wake and get yoru bearings. Then we will put your meat suit back on.”
            Aeron nodded. “Cool!”
            Frank smiled and spoke, “see you on the other side!” He administered the anesthesia.
            When Aeron came to he felt naked. He moved to stand up. He looked down and saw nothing but bones. He jumped back in shock. He looked at the others. “What?”
            Bo smiled. “Feel a bit naked?” At Aeron’s nod he laughed. “You get used to it. Let’s walk around a bit.” He held out a hand to help him.
            Aeron saw the blood and stuff on the ground, but paid it no never mind, because he was starting a new life.
            Bo helped him get his bearings for a while, before Frank and Bo grabbed the meat suit. “Changed a bit.” Bo stated.
Aeron smiled. He knew it was a chance, and he was happy, his eyes became golden and his hair turned black. “Awesome.”
            Bo smiled and helped Frank correct and connect Aeron’s original and first meat suit. There you go, son.” Bo stated.
            Aeron looked at him and with a great big smile, he jumped on Bo and hugged him. “Thanks dad.”
            Bo smiled. He had already got Kristoff to take care of the papers and the bio parents. Aeron and Zoe had been told but there was no love lost.
“Welcome Home! Life and Death are yours forever! You are one of us! You are FAMILY!” Beth yelled as she toasted to their new life.

Monster University Part II

Monster University Part II starts today

Here is a rough schedule!

Monster University
Zoe & Aeron SURPRISE
Vampire: Drake – Dracula
Vampire: Ian – Dracula’s Grandfather Vlad
Frankenstien: Frank
Bride of Frankenstien: Elizabeth, now Beth
Werewolf: Lucas
Creature of the Black Lagoon: Bleu
Creature of the Black Lagoon: Tony
Mummy: Cameron,
Mummy: Naome,
Dr. Jeykell Mr. Hyde:.  Henry now goes as Gabriel, when Edward is out he goes as John
Headless Horseman: Ajit,
Headless Horseman: Ewan, was Ewen,
Invisable Man: was Griffin, now, Draco,
The Phantom of the Opera: Erik,
Dorian Gray: Darin,
Skeleton Man: Bo
Marie LaVeau: Kat,
Succubus: Jo, Jo’s Pool Hall, Bar in town. 
Zombie: Samuel,
Ghoul: Gus
Scarecrow: Hal,
Van Helsing: Abe Van Helsing Jr. 
Shadow Man: Sebastian
Voodoo Priest: Jacques Paris husband of Marie Laveau,
Warlock: Kristoff, Bloody Mary: Mia
Ghosts: Villisca Ax Murder:  Katherine Moore, Kitty now, and Lena Stillinger, now Lila, and Ina Mae, now Ida,
Boogeyman: Caliban
Banshee :Morgan
Lady of the Lake:  Viv,
Homunculus: Jon;
Fallen Angel: Alyssa
Leprechaun: Sherman
Demon: Raven

Meet the Cast of Insomnia Café:

Meet the Cast of Insomnia Café:
All Rights Reserved

The Villain: Daniel Brent
 
The Hero: Ryan Heron
 
The Assassin: Allie Baya
 
The Fire Fighter: Phoenix Caden
 
The Mob Boss: Sean O’ Doyle 
 
The Detective: Patrick O’ Malley
 
The Hunter: Artemis Bendis
 
The Vampire: Ralph Serkan
 
The Con Man: Samuel Thompson 
 
The FBI Agent: Aliya Lowe 
 
Lucifer: Lucifer 
 

The Owner AKA Switzerland: Vevila Baxter 
 

Insomnia Café: Chapter Three: The First Hero

Insomnia Café

  All Rights Reserved

 

Chapter Three: The First Hero
Ryan.
His real name! Not that annoying fake ass superhero name.
When he first came in to my café I knew he would be trouble. He had just got out of the Army. That was warning enough… He was cocky, arrogant, full of himself, the words all mean the same, but he about clubbed people on their heads with his self-righteous goodness. For sure no shades of grey with that man.
What I would find out later was that he was literally a hero.
But honestly, what is a hero? Nobody is born a hero. They are made that way.
Sometimes, it is just the choices they make that taking one event that could destroy them and turning it into a fuel for their righteousness. For their desire to save everyone. Generally, because they couldn’t save the one that meant the most to them.
One event.
That is all it takes. One event. Good or Evil. That is all it will ever take is one event to decide what side of the war you are on. Good, Evil, and those poor idiots that are in the middle, like me.
Rather the event takes seconds, days, weeks, months, or years, a hero will become a beacon of all that is good, that people forget they are human.
But sometimes…Just sometimes, it can take one person to remind them they are human. And save their soul before the pressure of being perfect gets to them.
Sometimes the villain doesn’t need to be saved; but a hero always needs to be saved.
And maybe it takes a villain to do the saving…
Especially a jealous villain.
The first meet was something else. He walked in and seemed to zero in on my ass. Or at least that is how Daniel tells it. What I remembered was a bit similar.
I had been cleaning a table, not far from Daniel; some kids dumped their hot chocolate, when I felt a hand slap my ass. I of course dropped the rag and pivoted on my heel and punched the person. I felt the pain in my knuckle but years of fighting to survive I ignored it and waited for a blow back.
None came.
The man in question held up his hand and another on his nose that I had broken. “Sorry.” He said through his nose. “I thought you were someone else.”
I heard Daniel snort. I ignored him and raised an eyebrow to the man. “Yes, because everyone is dressed like an employee here.” I rolled my eyes.
“Just saw the tight black pants actually sweetheart.”
I rolled my eyes. “No.” I stated.
Daniel laughed. “This here is Switzerland.”
“Weird name. But whatever, I am Ryan.” He held out his hand.
I handed him a box of tissue. “Clean up. And then come place your order. This here is neutral territory. Read the rules.” I pointed to a sign and moved back behind the counter.
Ryan looked to Daniel after I left; I always made sure I could hear all going on in my place. “Is she serious? And what is her real name?” I heard him ask.
Daniel shrugged, “we call her Switzerland. Not quite sure on her real name. She is a former Marine, and she never wears anything with her name on it. She is always in black pants, and an Insomnia Café tee. As for the rules, she is dead serious about them. They are like a religion here. Learn them. Or don’t come back.” Daniel pointed to the sign again. “She enforces them.”
Ryan moved to read the sign.
The Rules
They are Simple and Few
1)     This is NEUTRAL TERRITORY!
a.      Meaning: Sanctuary is given to ALL
b.       Politics, Religion, Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation, Abilities, Etc. none of that matters here. We are all beings under this roof and will be treated the same- Good, Evil, or In Between.
2)     YOU BREAK IT YOU BUY, FIX, OR REPAIR IT! END OF STORY!
3)     Three (3) Warnings  will be given before you are banned for eternity.
*I have a Witch on retainer, don’t test me!
I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE GOD, ANGEL, DEMON, DEVIL,
HERO, VILLAIN, COP, MOB, HUMAN, OR OTHER!
YOU WILL OBEY MY RULES OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!
~The Owner (AKA Switzerland)
The last part was added by Daniel when I first put up the sign. Because of a fight between a cop and some thug.
            Ryan sat down and blinked. “Other? Are all these beings real?
            Daniel sipped his tea. “Of course, we say Other here instead of Alien, some of them loathe that word.”
            Ryan looked at him. “So…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Villains, Angels, Demons, all that exists?”
            “Yep. You must be new to the city.” Daniel handed him a cup of coffee and took the refill of tea that I put on their table.
            “I am from the country. We grow up, join the military, and go back to the farm. But I didn’t want to go back, so I moved to the city. Is it just a city thing?”
            “No, but cities draw more beings as it gives off more energies. Cities tend to draw people with abilities as well, because it is easier to blend in the city. And well, Switzerland gives every sanctuary. She helps them find a place to live, to work, and to just make a life. She says she has no heart, and a black soul, but in this city she is our savior.”
            “But to give sanctuary to villains, bad guys, should she be the Marine she was and destroy them, not help them?” Ryan drained the cup of coffee. I knew I would be jumping in soon.
            Daniel blinked. “Why do you think that?”
            “Well, she is hero material, why not play the hero, I mean, all military people are heroes, why not continue that?”
So he thought himself a hero because he was in the military. He was a good man, I admit from listening to him. White and Black. Right and Wrong.
I came over with coffee. “Because I see too much gray. And I was taught to fight for everybody. The things I did in the Marines would give you nightmares Solider. So learn the rules, respect them, or don’t come back.” I walked away.
I shouldn’t have been shocked to hear that just a couple days later the man saved a little girl from getting hit by a car. It kind of ousted his ability to take a hit by a tank and still keep going. I would learn his story when he came to me asking me about a super hero outfit, or where he could go to get one.
“Why be a hero?” I asked as I looked through my contacts.
“Why do this?” He waved his hand. It was three in the morning; cops, homeless, late shift workers, Daniel, and anybody who just didn’t want to be at home were all about the café. “You take care of them. You pretend you don’t have a heart, but…” He waved his hand around.
I chuckled. “Fine. Tit for Tat.” I poured him a coffee. “I will tell you why I did this…” I waved my hand around. “And you tell me why the hero drive?”
Ryan rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I guess it started when I was a teen.” He started his story.
Ryan was fourteen, high school. He went to the Catholic High School. It was the closest thing to private and his mama, God rest her soul, wanted him to have every advantage the rich kids did in their small farming state. He worked the farm before and after school, but he wasn’t very athletic or muscular. He was a bit of runt actually. He and his twin walked to school every day and walked home every afternoon. It was a three mile trip.
There was a group of older boys who would always yell and throw things at them. Ryan would try to protect, Charli, mostly taking the hits instead of allowing the items to hit her.
The bullying continues. It always does. He and his sister are the only people of color in the high school. They are one of the few families of color in the town. They are from a poor farming family. Majority of the kids they go to school are rich and privileged. The students get away with the bullying. Some of it becoming physical; more than once Ryan goes home with a black eye, when he fights back he is punished. So he takes the hits. Protecting Charli. Always protecting Charli.
It was coming on harvest season, and with their father sick, Ryan made the choice to skip school. He had asked that Charli called in as well, but she had an AP test that morning and she needed to go to school. Ryan walked her to school, he told her to wait until he came to pick her up. He asked her to wait. And he went back home to start the harvest.
Ryan spent the day in the field. He had lost track of time. He was startled from his work when he heard sirens. He looked at his watch and cursed. It was a quarter until four! He took off running. Praying that the sirens had nothing to do with his sister. Praying she waited for him even if he was late. He prayed to a God that he had no doubt in.  Until the moment he came upon the ambulance and the police cars.
He came to a stop and saw his sister on a gurney. “CHARLI!” he yelled.
The police officer stopped him. “Son, let the EMTs do their job. She was hurt bad, son.”
Ryan looked up and saw it was Officer Williams. He always was kind to him and Charli. “Sir…” He choked back a sob. “What…Who…”
Williams rubbed the back of his neck. “The Miller and Richards boys. They attacked her, sexually assaulted her. The widow down the road heard her screaming and called the cops, but we were too late to save her the worst. They beat her up pretty badly too. Go on with your sister. We got the boys.”
Ryan closed his eyes and took a breath. He had to be strong for Charli. He moved and jumped into the ambulance and grabbed Charli’s hand. “I am so sorry baby girl. I am so, so sorry.”
Charli’s face was all bruised she looked up to see Ryan and started to cry. She curled into him.
Ryan swore he would never be too weak to protect his sister again. He stayed with her in the hospital. He took an after school job to pay for the medical care. For her mental health care. He thought with the therapist she was getting better. One day, about four months after the attack, she stated she wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t going to go to school.
Ryan kissed her head. “Get some sleep. I will be late after school, Coach Fox has agreed to train me.”
Charli looked up him and smiled. “I love you Ryan.” She kissed his hand. “Never forget that, promise.”
Ryan was confused. “Of course. I love you too, baby girl.”
Charli accepted another kiss to the head, and let him leave.
Ryan went through the school day. He got out of classes to meet Coach Fox and the Coach was talking to Officer Williams. “Officer? Coach?”
Williams and Fox looked at him with expressions of pure grief. “Ryan, let’s sit down son.” Williams stated.
“What is going on? Is something wrong with my dad? With Charli?” So many horrible things were going through his head.
“Son, we got a call to your house about fifteen minutes ago. Son, there is no easy way to say this… Charli is gone, son. She left you a letter.” Williams handed over the letter in an evidence bag.
‘My Dearest Brother,
            This has nothing to do with you. And all to do with me and my mind. My mind was shattered. I couldn’t keep faking getting better, not even for you. I couldn’t live with the shame, pain, dirtiness , I felt from the attack. I timed it so dad would find me. I didn’t want you to find me. You have done so much trying to protect me. But you couldn’t protect me from my own demons. I want you to never blame yourself. I want you to live. I want you to be happy. I wish I could have fought harder, but the demons were stronger. I am sorry. I love you.
Your baby sister,
Charli♥’
Ryan dropped the letter and pushed his seat back. He took deep breathes. His sister was gone. Killed herself, because he couldn’t protect her. He didn’t remember the calling of his name, he didn’t remember much but his chest getting tight, and then blackness.
“I woke up in the hospital.” Ryan shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee. “I swore never again would someone under my protection have to face demons like that. I know I can’t save everyone, but I can try. From there I trained, and pushed myself. I had a growth spurt, and then joined the Army. When an chemical accident when I was eighteen made it so I was basically unbreakable, I knew I would be able to help people one day. Become the hero.” He looked at her. “So, why this?”
“To remember, I wasn’t always so jaded.” I answered. “To honor the man who taught me to bake. To remember that there is a part of me that only a bringer of pain and death.” I answered, I laid my hand over his. “It only took a moment for you to find your calling, Ryan. Don’t let any moment after ever change you.” I topped off his coffee and squeezed his hand, and walked away.

Insomnia Café Chapter Two: The Assassin

Insomnia Café
All Rights Reserved

Chapter Two: 
The Assassin
One of my favorite regulars started coming after I got my liquor license and started serving as a full bar as well. Her name? Allison ‘Allie’ Baya. She was a known assassin that loved my place. She was an amazing woman; one would never guess she was a highly trained assassin. She was tall, with blood red and pink spiked short hair, her eyes were so dark of brown they looked black, her signature clothing was black leather pants, leather knee high boots with a six inch stiletto heel, blood red leather corset style top, and a black leather jacket. We talked about a lot of nothing, missions we both had been on, the government that denies the jobs we have done, the lovers in our past, the fact the Unions Baseball team are creations of Lucifer (he states that was all his dear ole Daddy), and how the Green Sox (the team Lucifer states was his creation) were preforming that year. One night, late at night, we were the only ones in the place and she finally told me her past.
            Allie smiled. “Well, I guess you could say I woke up from an abusive relationship…”
            Allie did what she was supposed to do, go to school, get married, but the man was abusive at best, and would kill her one day at worst. He was cheating on her. But she had been raised to be this man’s wife. She took it until the straw that broke the camel’s back came falling down.
            Her father had basically sold her to her husband. Any rebellion as a child had been met with pain. To avoid death she became what she was raised to be, a silent possession of a man.
            With each beating it broke her mind more and more. Each rape destroyed her mind bit by bit. The pain cracked her soul. But as her mind broke the need to get away grew.
            Especially when she discovered she was pregnant.
            So she started to plan. She had to be careful and plot her rebellion.
            Then one night it came to head. She didn’t want to fight. She let him say and do what he wanted, but he took offence she was no longer fighting and he started to beat her. And as she tried to protect her unborn child she knew it would end in her greatest failure. That night her mind finally fully broke along with her body.
            The man who called himself her husband had made his last mistake. As she laid in the hospital she vowed she would make sure he paid for his capital crime. She had said her last ‘I’m Sorry’ while crawling on the floor in fear and her blood.
            Allie looked at the man who had left her black and blue. Who had killed her unborn child. She picked up the axe; she lifted it above his sleeping form. And with the weight of the axe and all her power she brought it down on his neck.  She took a picture and sent it to her father who forced her to marry the man. “The King Is Dead! Long Live The Queen!” She captioned it, showing her hold his head up and a manic smile on her face.
She was found dancing with his head in his blood by the police an hour later. “It’s a party in his honor!” She yelled at them. And it was a party in honor of the son she lost.
The man who took her son’s life, the man almost broke her soul taking her son, was now dead, and paid for his crime.
But she vowed that no man would ever get the best of this Queen again!
            Allie stood in court and smiled at the female judge. “Your honor, I choose you to hear my trail. I want to make a statement.” She took a deep breath. “I was forced into the marriage by my father. He was abusive and was going to kill me. So I married his friend. But the friend was worse. I was raped on a nightly basis. He cheated on me. He beat me to an inch of my life. I had to fight for every breath I have taken in this world. They underestimated me. He beat me to an inch of my life and killed my unborn child, your honor.” Allie could see the tears start in the woman’s eyes. “So, I staged my revolution. I evolved past the meek door mat. My revolution left me bruised, broken, bloody, dying. So, I took the axe in a moment of desperation. I preformed my final act of defiance. My mind broke. I killed him. And then danced in his blood as he spilt mine and my child’s, upon the floor of my prison. Your honor, this was an act of a woman with nothing left to lose. Of a woman with a broken body and mind, but not heart or soul, a woman who needed to win her revolution or lose what little she had left of her soul. Please, forgive me your honor.”
            Less than an hour, actually it was forty-seven minutes, was all it took for the judge to deliberate and come to her verdict. Allie came out with a not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. She was free to go. She stood on the steps of the court house. The Kings that ruled her life were either now arrested in jail, or dead. And that left her, the Queen, very much alive. She smirked at the statue of justice. “No lies were told, no secrets left unturned, there are punishments that fit the crime, but I committed no crime. Look at me in all my glory, Justice, nobody will ever get this Queen.”
            Allie walked off that steps of that court house and found a league of assassins who taught her, who took her in, who built her back up. Who truly made her ‘The Queen.’
            “So that is my story.” Allie finished as she finished her Black and Tan. “I was done, and needed a clean slate. The King is Dead, but The Queen is Very Much Alive!” She cheered.
            I topped off her drink, and I raised mine to her. “GOD BLESS THE QUEEN!” I yelled as I toasted to her. Perhaps, one day, I could tell her my story.

The Rules of Insomnia Café

Insomnia Café
All Rights Reserved

Written on a board in Insomnia Café:

The Rules

They are Simple and Few

1) This is NEUTRAL TERRITORY!

a. Meaning: Sanctuary is given to ALL

b. Politics, Religion, Gender, Race, Sexual Orientation, Abilities, Etc. none of that matters here. We are all beings under this roof and will be treated the same- Good, Evil, or In Between.

2) YOU BREAK IT YOU BUY, FIX, OR REPAIR IT! END OF STORY!

3) Three (3) Warnings will be given before you are banned for eternity.

*I have a Witch on retainer, don’t test me!

I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE GOD, ANGEL, DEMON, DEVIL,

HERO, VILLAIN, COP, MOB, HUMAN, OR OTHER!

YOU WILL OBEY MY RULES OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!

~The Owner (AKA Switzerland)

Insomnia Café: Chapter One: The First Villain

 Insomnia Café
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One: The First Villain
            Daniel.
Well, that is his real name.
When he first came in to my café I admit even I was attracted to him. He was just my type. The opposite of what people expected from me. He was smart. Sweet. Polite. A Gentleman. Should have known he was gay.
What I would find out later was that he was a villain.
But honestly, what is a villain? Nobody is born a villain. They are made that way.
Sometimes, it is just the choices they make that seem for the greater good that turn around and bite them in the ass. 
One event.
That is all it takes. One event.
Rather the event takes seconds, days, weeks, months, or years. It just takes one event to change the hero into the villain.
But sometimes.
Just sometimes, it can take one person to save the villain and redeem them; then again…
Sometimes the villain doesn’t need to be saved…
Daniel was one of those villains that didn’t need to be saved. Yes, he was ‘evil’ but what was evil? I mean was anybody pure evil? He wasn’t. After all, I happen to know he has a soft spot for kids.
But when I first met Daniel he was just a typical customer who came in and got a cup of Earl Grey tea and sat down with his notebook and ignored the world around him.
One day as I walked over to refill his cup he asked me a question. 
“What are your thoughts on humanity?” He asked as he shipped his tea. 
“As a whole we are pretty fucked up. The general population is blind to the majority of what is going on in the world. It takes something major for them to wake up. Example that fucking man in his underwear flying around dropping things through roofs just so he can catch a ‘bad guy.’” Yes, I made the air quotation marks. “We are always in a hurry. Why? We all live. We all die. Good. Bad. All subjective.” I picked up a few scattered newspapers and magazines.  “What are your thoughts?”
“Humans are needy creatures who need constant praise and validation that they are doing right. It makes them the perfect species to dominate allowing my world domination plans to come to fruition.”
“World domination?”
“Well, yes in general. I will be ruler.”
“How about free will? Freedoms. The ability to make our own choices? I would never be subjected to a totalitarian rule.”
“I mean…. you are right people have to make their own choices and have free will…” He shrugged. “But the majority all want someone to make the choices. To give them the illusion of free will. To give them the illusion of a choice but no actual choice. And of course, you would be exempt from my total rule. You are neutral territory.  And you don’t treat me differently. You are different.”
I snorted. “Okay, Daniel. Cause any damage to my shop and you pay for it.”
Daniel smiled. “Of course, dear Switzerland.” 
“I do have a name you know?” I laughed. 
“Well, yes. But I like your code name better.”
“My code name, given by you and not the one I had for the government, is a name of a country.”
He shrugged. “What was your code name?”
I smirked. “Pray one day you don’t find out Daniel.” I walked back to my counter and back into my kitchen. 
We had conversations like this for a while. He would try to get details from me. And I would get details from him. 
“You are a genius! Why never go to college?” He asked one day when we were discussing some math for some weapon he was creating.
I just raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know if I have or not?” I asked as I turned and served a guest their coffee and doughnut.
Daniel sighed. “I hacked your file. Found you graduated from high school right before you were fifteen.”
“So?”
“I even was sixteen when I graduated and I am a certified genius with an eidetic memory!”
“So?”
“You must have a similar mind as mine!”
“Or I am a very good forger.” I stated as I turned to go into the kitchen for a moment.
“That may be but this was when you were a child! You had no reason to forge a picture of you in the paper getting your diploma!” He yelled back at me.
I came back out with a try of cookies and put them into the display case. “I will make you a deal Danny Boy. Tell me why you choose this path,” I waved my hand towards his ‘evil’ plans. “And I will tell you why I didn’t go to college.”
Daniel looked at her and tilted his head. “I will get one question a day and you will answer me truthfully.”
I nodded. After all I had a silver tongue and could bend the truth, it was an easy concession.
Daniel sighed. “It wasn’t anything big in terms of world destroying, besides my world. Really. But it was enough for me…” He shrugged. “It was fifteen years ago…”
Daniel was happy. He was thirteen and he finally had heard the words that his father was proud of him. Why? He had fought back and broke that face of the older boy who was bullying him. His father was a blue collared worker and had been an abusive drunk towards his mother and him. It was why Daniel escaped into his studies. It was why in three years he would be out of high school and able to escape for college. He was fascinated with technology and engineering and already had a few patents on a few different types of pieces of technology. One day he would own his own company. He swore it to himself.
But there was something about that pride.  It gave him a rush. He wondered what it would be like to stand up to all those hurt him. Or dare hurt his baby sister. She was only five and such a smart cute child. Soon he found himself taking martial arts classes as well, and he got himself a bit of rep of taking on the bullies. He was a ‘hero’ in his neighborhood. He used his brains and brawns. It wasn’t long before he had an outfit that would move with him but protect him from knives that the thugs carried. He was close to making it bullet proof even! He could grow up to be a hero!
He was sixteen when it all went up in flames. He had tussled with the wrong ‘bully’. That would end up being the catalyst to his change.
He had to leave for an award event and would be gone but a day. He was so excited. It was a scholarship to CTU! Charles Technology University was the best in the country for engineering! He would be able to make so many connections that his dream of having the leading company in the world for technology advancement was slowly moving forward! He had packed and kissed his sister goodbye, made sure there was food in the fridge, and made sure that bastard he had as an old man had enough beer to pass out to leave his mom and sister alone. Though the man had yet to lay a hand on his baby sister.  He left for the event; today would be the start of getting his mother and his sister away from the man that hurt them. He swore it. He promised it. And he wanted to be a man of his word. The superhero of all stories.
Daniel was on top of the world. He had gained the scholarship. He was talking to all those he needed to know in the industry. He was coming into his own. He was so happy. So, so happy. Then his world shattered. His teacher who had given his name for the award came up to him.
“Danny, we have to talk. Come on.” Mr. Hendry took him into an office. “Danny, I am so sorry, but your sister, she was attacked and killed.” He told him.
Daniel froze. He started thinking a million miles a minute. He would make sure nobody hurt anybody like his sister. “Who? And how?” He asked when he spoke. It was a deep whisper, dark and full of pain and death.
Daniel shook his head, “what followed was horrible. He told me only what the cops told him. But I hacked the files. I saw what that monster did to her. I swore nobody would be killed the way she was again. At first it started as vengeance.” He stated as he sipped his tea looking at me. “Of that I will not lie. After awhile they labeled me the villain. I killed. I didn’t care. After all, my sister couldn’t live why should others. Then that self-righteous prick started trying to tell me I was the villain, and I thought how one event broke the hero in me. I am just human after all. And though my attentions can be good, I will be cast as the villain. I started out a childhood hero, and then my moral compass was broken in the name of trying to make the world safer so nobody else’s world would be shattered like mine was that fateful day. I just kept making hard and harder choices, more questionable choices for the greater good; and in the end I realized I was the villain. I want to dominate to prevent the pain I felt, that I feel. After all, grief doesn’t end. It becomes easier to deal with daily. The wound of that pain never leaves you; it just becomes less of an open wound and more of a scar. So that is my story.”
I looked at him. “College wasn’t my place. I was nothing but a street rat, I could fight, crack shot, I may have a mind similar to yours, but it was broken a long time before I left for the military that faithful day so many years ago. Maybe, maybe, one day you will learn my story.” I filled his cup and walked back to the counter, leaving him his thoughts.