I had made a very impressive acquisition earlier—a wristwatch that glows in the dark. Since I left my phone at my condo, I didn’t have anything to check the time with. I could’ve bought a digital watch. Or a regular watch, and I’d just shine a flashlight on it.
But I thought this glow-in-the-dark one was really funny. I was an easily amused girl.
And the reason I needed a wa...
2025-11-10 13:23:26 +0000 UTC View Post“Kind of scary they have this technology,” I said. Especially worrisome for me, an Adumbrae. “Why do they have this stuff when the BID doesn’t? The PCM isn’t even like a megachurch, with hundreds of millions of dollars and lots of people donating money. They’re just in some parts of California. No way they made it themselves.”
“The 2Ms gave it to them,” Myra said with a ...
2025-11-08 12:44:01 +0000 UTC View PostI sidled past Myra and entered the doorway to check the Adumbrae-shoo-away machine. I mentally sighed in relief to find it squished against the wall. The Adumbrae must’ve been huge, squeezing itself in this small tunnel.
“The Adumbrae destroyed the machine,” I said, pointing at it.
“How is that possible?” Deen asked. “Did the machine fail to keep it away? Maybe we misund...
2025-11-06 12:40:41 +0000 UTC View Post“This is bullshit!” Myra rushed out of the room to follow the blood trail.
Deen went out, too. I didn’t immediately follow them, deciding to first remove the techie metal strips on Cecilia’s body. Not sure if it was worth taking this, but I wanted to give it to the Professor. We might need Dario’s help this time because that wormy mad scientist might’ve seen our faces. We lost...
2025-11-03 12:10:45 +0000 UTC View PostMy cute original body got hammered into the floor like a cartoon character, leaving behind a me-shaped hole after Deen dug it out. I wanted to fill the hole with plaster and take the molded form home. Would look great in my living room. Mom would probably find it bizarre.
I expected my original body to have regenerated any injuries caused by Illusory Eye. But my clothes were a mess, peppe...
2025-10-31 12:46:54 +0000 UTC View PostWe can share thoughts? My first instinct was to disconnect from Deen. I hated physical touch. ‘Mental touch’ was several levels more abominable. No way I’d let Deen rummage through my thoughts! Spooky Erind was different because she was an entity from another dimension; the ickiness factor of human connection wasn’t there.
(Erind! Can you hear me?) Deen’s telepathic mes...
2025-10-29 12:25:27 +0000 UTC View PostThat damn invisible pet! It was snitching on me!
Times like this reminded me of how bullshit Deen’s power was. Was the Guardian Angel telling me to transform into Blanchette? Probably not. I’d rather escape this fight than reveal the secret of Blanchette to Deen and Myra; it was too valuable a source of drama. Deen’s Guardian Angel could only mean my metal mannequin form. I...
2025-10-27 13:18:09 +0000 UTC View PostWe’re sent by Red Hood? Ah, I could see why this mad scientist would think that.
Cecilia didn’t know about artificial Corebrings, but she should know about what happened at the docks. Given that we were supposedly Adumbrae in her eyes, and Red Hood was the rumored big bad Adumbrae around here, she’d assume that we were Red Hood’s subordinates. Perhaps Red Hood in...
2025-10-25 13:08:50 +0000 UTC View PostThe fuck? The PCM wanted to cure Adumbrae? This actually aligned with being ‘Protectors of the City’ and all that. But was it really possible? And it was surprising that they had the capabilities to even attempt this in the first place. Maybe they did make the Adumbrae-shoo-away machine, which was bad news for me.
“Two people inside,” Myra whispered. “At least.” She c...
2025-10-23 13:35:22 +0000 UTC View Post“There’s really an Adumbrae here!” I exclaimed, partly with genuine surprise. Would you look at that, the rumor that Enrico shared was actually true. At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised if an Adumbrae was hiding under my bed.
They—we—were freaking everywhere in the city. La Esperanza was prime real estate for non-humans. BID super agents were also here. The next t...
2025-10-21 13:34:38 +0000 UTC View Post(Author’s Notes: Thank you for the feedback on the previous chapter. 5.3 wasn’t up to standard. I’ve heavily edited 5.3 and moved its latter half to this chapter. For those who have read the older version of 5.3, it might be best to reread it before reading 5.4. And I have edited twice, so some might have read the partially fixed version. I’m very sorry for this!)
Oho! 2025-10-17 12:34:54 +0000 UTC View Post
The entrance to the bunker system that Overdrive had told me about was around a fifteen-minute ride from Enrico’s place. It was near an abandoned train station that used to be a stop when Marsh Row was thriving. The train lines had since been diverted closer to the business districts, and a new station had been built—this was where I usually jumped off when visiting Marsh Row. I hadn’t pa...
2025-10-15 13:53:00 +0000 UTC View Post“I didn’t expect my visitors to be ninja ladies.” Enrico was quite tall and oddly V-shaped, with very broad shoulders and an extremely thin waist. He carried himself like a male model and dressed the part, too. Though I bet that most of what he wore were fake luxury items.
“Ninja ladies? Ah, cause we’re wearing masks,” Myra said. “Makes us more conspicuous, doesn’t it? But...
2025-10-13 13:18:19 +0000 UTC View PostI was waiting for Book 1 to finish on RR/SH to post this. Come hang out at RR/SH to celebrate the public completion of Book 1.
After 142 days since public release and 69 chapters (nice), we reach the end of Book 1 of REND on RR and SH. It’s been quite a journey over these past months, and I’m thankful that you’re here supporting REND. Do I put [BOOK ONE COMPLETED] in the title like ...
2025-10-10 08:43:39 +0000 UTC View Post“Just two girl pals strolling through the mall,” I sang in the tune of a familiar song. “Hoping no one is following them.”
It was the afternoon of the day after my Marsh Row field trip. Actually, it was the same day, given that I got home at almost three in the morning. I didn’t get much sleep because I was too excited about all the unraveling drama that I started. Just thinking...
2025-10-09 12:58:04 +0000 UTC View PostThey all stared at me after I spoke, and did nothing else. Their expressions weren’t one of shock but of confusion. They might’ve thought they’d heard differently. I could hear the sound of crickets. Or that could be a creaking bed outside, caused by someone jumping up and down on it to relive their childhood.
“Yes… A Purple Bloom,” I slowly repeated. “Just like the one in M...
2025-10-06 14:39:39 +0000 UTC View PostCaptain Gesmund of the Silver Order Sentinel was an imposing man, standing a couple of inches shy of seven feet. He had a wiry mesh of a beard, as if he glued a dozen shower poufs to his face. Wouldn’t it be better to shave it a bit? It would be quite itchy and hot having that much facial hair sealed inside a full-face helmet.
He looked down at me with beady eyes that were too small for...
2025-10-06 00:27:52 +0000 UTC View Post“Rumors are rumors,” Clarisse said in a sing-song tone as she continued to examine the wound. She wiped away the slime with bits of my dress that she readily tore without asking permission. What the hell was wrong with here? She went on, “The militant monastery was abuzz with these rumors when we left. Rumors are no longer rumors if they’re true, aren’t they? So, is it true?...
2025-10-05 10:07:48 +0000 UTC View PostQueenpin! I asserted in my head. I didn’t even know where the word kingpin came from. Nowadays, it commonly referred to bosses of criminal organizations and such, but I had a feeling that wasn’t its original usage.
The compound had three squat buildings inside that I could make out, illuminated by dim, yellowing lightbulbs stringed up here and there. And there were several ve...
2025-10-03 14:43:23 +0000 UTC View PostThe pickup truck bounced over potholes as we made our way to Overdrive’s new hideout. From there, Tattoo Sleeves’ group would head to a sort of clinic that serviced the not-so-lawful people of Marsh Row. I sure hoped we’d get there with this clunky truck; its deformed chassis and warped door creaked as we wobbled along the uneven road.
Where the fuck are we? I wondered, squ...
2025-10-01 13:24:00 +0000 UTC View PostI scrambled up the slope while yelling my lungs out. Speaking of lungs, I wasn’t winded by the physical exertion and shouting at the same time. The pain in my head continued to subside as my vision became sharper. The green glow covering my dirty arms meant I was healing faster than normal—and my normal was already faster than the average person. Was this because I was in a fight a...
2025-09-30 05:29:11 +0000 UTC View PostI jumped down the building behind the group hunting Teflon. I fixed my hoodie, tightened my gloves, and made sure that my black face mask was secured before walking towards the trucks. There was an online store selling face masks with designs, and one of them had this cool monster mouth full of fangs. Very tempting to buy it, but also very easy to uncover my identity by tracing the purchase. 2025-09-29 13:37:08 +0000 UTC View Post
(Author Notes: This is an ExD chapter. I decided to place a note on top of ExD chapters so that the preview in the email notification hopefully won’t show the weird lines outright, just in case someone else is looking at your screen while you check emails.)
Amber Deen Leska
Amber Deen watched Blanchette sitting cross-legged on the bed in front of her.
Blanch...
2025-09-28 06:43:41 +0000 UTC View Post(Author’s Notes: This is an Erind x Deen side story chapter. If you’re interested in this series, which is a spin-off of the Prior Cycle, you can read from the start of the collection. We’ll have another ExD chapter after this. I’m making this note for new patrons who are unaware of ExD.)
Amber Deen Leska
“Blanchette…” Amber Deen’s heart raced as...
2025-09-27 10:21:18 +0000 UTC View PostI leaned back in my seat, calming my breathing so Ramello wouldn’t notice that I was bothered. I reined in my racing brain. Process everything slowly.
It couldn’t be Tower Cop’s actual intention to turn me into an informant. Spying on possible Adumbrae? Ramello was right—Tower Cop wouldn’t endanger a cute and innocent girl like me in that way. Which means that Tower Cop d...
2025-09-26 09:27:10 +0000 UTC View PostFuuuudge cake! Myra was snooping around Marsh Row! Why couldn’t she just accept that Kelsey was gone? If I had a sister, and she refused to return home, I’d just ignore her. That was her life.
And who told Myra about Red Hood? Overdrive’s group? Teflon’s group? Could be anyone, really. The legend of Red Hood had spread after the bodies of the two guys I had killed were fo...
2025-09-24 14:55:37 +0000 UTC View Post“Abandoning…” I repeated. “Like, they’re just leaving La Esperanza? What about their clients? I thought the Adumbrae rich people needed maintenance to stay in their human forms.”
I also wondered how he got this intel. The Professor must have other people lurking in the city. Could also be a mole in the 2Ms’ organization.
“They’re merely moving their operations to t...
2025-09-22 11:50:06 +0000 UTC View PostWeeee! I couldn’t help but grin at the ridiculousness of the situation. The threat of death and the thrill of possibly crashing made my blood boil with excitement. Maybe this was the warrior’s fire that Wonderwerk mentioned. I hugged the wagon floor as I reached out to grab Melphor, stopping him from getting thrown off.
“Lady’s Glove!” Melphor feebly shouted. He despera...
2025-09-21 10:05:07 +0000 UTC View PostShort hair also looks good on me, I thought, examining my blurry reflection on the blade of Lorwin’s knife. To be fair, I’d look good in any hairstyle. Though I wouldn’t try shaving my head to prove a point.
“Emery, dearest!” The other Emery’s mom hugged me tightly. My cut hair, which she had secured to her head with a piece of cloth, tickled my nose. “We...
2025-09-20 13:24:38 +0000 UTC View Post“Hi there, Erind.” Everett, or Emcee if we were on a mission, sat straight on the beanbag and saluted me. His strong Mediterranean features broke into a friendly smile.
I mentally rolled my eyes when I noticed his tight-fitting dark clothes. Trying to impress Deen with his muscles as usual? Did he manage to get bonus points by showing off during the docks mission? His natural olive-to...
2025-09-19 12:01:08 +0000 UTC View Post