Far from Heaven (Chapter 3 and 4)
Since chapter 3 didn't fit on my original discussion I made a new discussion. So here it is... Oh, if you want to read the beginning of Far from Heaven then click the banner at the end and it'll take you right to the page :)
Chapter 3. Living Again
What Lauren wore to Gramps house that day
I looked at the light bulb overhead. I looked but didn't really see anything. It was a bright smudge among my worried thoughts. The number seventy-five looked like a small star.
I hadn't even bothered to call Drew, I thought suddenly. My stomach felt weak as soon as I remembered what had happened the night before. I didn't want to know what would happen to Emma, because as painful as it was, I wouldn't be able to help her. I could feel the rotten taste inside my throat. There was no antidote, no medicine that could cure her.
A ring echoed through my bathroom and out into my bedroom. I turned around. My chin was on the mattress as another ring erupted. I got up and ran towards the pearl colored door and banged my shoulder against the door. I cursed while calculating the damage. The pink skin on my cell phone glowed a bright blue. I snatched the phone off the counter and answered angrily.
"What do you want?" I hissed. The food that threatened to come out, didn't.
"Lauren!" Heavy crash. "Damn it, Lauren are you still there?"
I crossed my arms. "I'm here."
"Lauren . . . I just want you to know that Ben thinks it's time," Drew whispered, sounding more depressed than I was at the moment.
"Drew," my voice cracked. "Drew, I can't do this anymore. Emma--" I vomited. I dropped the phone as I dropped to my knees and faced the toilet. The food slipped right through, touching my chin and slipping finally into the toilet. I squeezed my eyes shut as the rotten taste filled my mouth completely. I flushed the toilet as the last of it came out. My hair was covered in vomit, I realized moments later.
"Lauren! What the hell is going on?" I heard Drew scream from within my phone.
I sat back, breathing through my mouth; not wanting to taste yesterday's food. I knew I was falling apart, but what could I do? It wasn't up to me to fix it. It was up to someone who cared enough to glue my heart back together again. But that person, I came to realize, didn't exist.
Only I could glue it back because it was my heart, my misery, my life. But how could I if I felt like I was already dead? Already gone. There was no way I would let someone in. Even if they could cure me. They would destroy what was left of me. I made that mistake once when I loved someone with all my heart and they abandoned me. I wasn't going to be that stupid again.
"Lauren! If you don't pick up I'm going to call the police. You've got five seconds. Five . . . "
I wiped my mouth with toilet paper before touching my cell. "I'm fine."
"What was that all about?" he asked, sounding tired and something else I didn't even bother to understand.
"Nothing. But . . . Drew, isn't there another way? I mean, this isn't the first time this has happened so maybe . . . "
"No, Lauren. There is no other way," Drew spat. I knew he was lying."
"Drew, Emma deserves to live. I know that there's a way out of this and I need your help. I don't know a lot about this 'werewolf business' but I know you do."
He didn't say anything until I broke the silence. "Drew! Please! I know how much you care about her. You love her, Drew, even if you try to hide it I know you love her."
"No, Lauren. You have no idea how much I love her," he whispered. I felt for the first time in my life . . . hope.
"Come on! Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'll do anything for my friend." I heard Drew's breath catch as I said the last part.
"Lauren I . . . can't. I love her with all my being, but I can't go against everyone."
"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Do you have any idea what Emma's life is going to be like after we change her? She will be pointed at by everyone. She will be a disgrace for what she did."
"I thought no one knew about werewolves," I said.
"The few who do know will be enough to make her feel ashamed," he answered.
I took a deep breath and regretted it once I tasted the vomit. "Drew, this is the only way she can live, so tell me what to do."
"Lauren, you can't possibly be serious--"
I'd lost my patience. "Drew, just tell me. Emma's running out of time," I yelled.
He sighed heavily and said nothing for a few eternal minutes. "All right. I'm in."
I smiled. "So what do we do first?" I asked as I got up from the bathroom floor.
"We have to go to a lake north of here. But not until there's a full moon. That's when our powers are at its peak because of the bloodsu--I mean vampires that rise."
"But the next full moon isn't for another twenty-six days! We don't have that much time! We need to do it tonight because I know Emma isn't going to wait that long."
He sighed sounding defeated by what I had said. "I know, you're right, but she won't have the strength to finish the transformation."
"It's the only shot we have, Drew. She can't wait for the next full moon. She'll die before that and you know it." I gripped the phone harder, waiting.
"Even if she does survive, she'll be a vampire. There is no way to reverse that. Do you understand, Lauren? Emma will be a vampire, and I don't know if that's what she wants."
"We can ask her. I could--"
"No," he said seriously.
"Fine, then we'll just go ahead and do what we have to do without her approval. But if she later asks why we didn't tell her first I'm going to point my finger at you," I informed.
"Are you threatening me?" Drew asked in a mocking tone, although he can barely hide the worry in his voice.
"No. I'm just telling you what will happen in your near future after this."
"Lauren, we can't. Half the pack is guarding her. And she isn't very happy when someone is near her," he whispered. Agony hung from every word.
"Drew, we have to decide. We can't keep going back and forth like this."
"All right then. We'll change her tomorrow night--"
"But--"
"I need time to prepare, Lauren." He said it like he needed to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
"Okay then. I'll meet you here, at my house, tomorrow night . . . unless--"
"I need you to come to my house instead. Now." Somehow I knew that we needed more help, and that meant talking to Ben.
"You're hiding something, aren't you? And why do I have to go to your house?" I asked accusingly.
"I'll tell you when you get here." I heard the click. I snapped the phone shut.
What? I stood up and quickly washed my face and brushed my teeth, twice. I didn't know what he was hiding, but I still needed to go. Emma's life was something I couldn't question. I rushed out into my room and open the door to my huge walk-in closet. I grabbed a sweater and a clean T-shirt and changed as quickly as possible. As soon as I was fully dressed I quietly opened my bedroom door and tip-toed downstairs. Gran would awake at the smallest sound. I made it downstairs and was about to make a run for it when I heard someone call my name.
"Lauren, is that you?" I knew immediately it was Gran. She was seated on a brown leather couch in the living room. Her face was beginning to show signs of age. Her face was wrinkly. But her blue crystal eyes shined like when she was my age. She has been my mom since my real mom left. A sharp and precise sting punched me in the gut. They no longer matter, I told myself. They're no longer here. And with a tidal wave of pure agony I thought, they no longer love you.
"Lauren, what's wrong? Why did you flinch?" Gran asked, concerned.
"Gran, how long have you known?" I know she has to know something about werewolves. She was once married to Ben, my grandfather.
"Know what?" she asked, but in the depths of her eyes she knew what I was talking about. I stared at her, daring her to deny it. She sighed in defeat. "Who told you?"
"That doesn't matter. It's not important. What does matter is that Emma got bitten by one of those vampires and she may die or live the rest of her life insane. Now, I need you to help me reverse her werewolf state." Gran looked like I had asked her to wear a bathing suit to my wedding.
"No. It's . . . not possible," Gran sighed. I crossed my arms.
"Yes, it is."
"But without--"
"A full moon. I know you don't need one. Drew knows a way to change her." I regretted almost immediately when I spoke Drew's name. I felt like a traitor.
"Lauren, the only way that will happen is if seven members of the pack agree to this. Emma needs energy and the pack will give it to her by being there when you change her. But that won't happen because we believe strongly in staying this way."
"What! No . . . You're lying!"
"Alas, I am not. She will die before the transformation even begins because she isn't strong enough. All the spirits of the past werewolves will take her powers away. That's why she needs seven members to give up some of their strength to help her through this."
I looked at her, tears threatening to come out. I knew that they would never give in even if I bowed down to them. "Gran, please. You have to help her. She's my friend."
She closed her eyes as she answered. "I'm sorry, Lauren, I can't."
This time tears came out, flooding down my cheeks like a waterfall. "Helen, I have been alone almost all of my miserable life and now that I have a friend who knows what I'm going through you're taking her away from me without even fighting! You don't even love me as much as you said you did, because if you did you would help me at least a little," I exclaimed even though I was drowning on my tears. Gran looked at me with sorrow and a hint of defeat.
"What do you want me to do, Lauren?" she asked, almost in a mocking voice.
I wiped away the tears that were on my cheek. "I need you to convince them to help Emma," I said in a determined voice. Gran looked at me and read my expression. My hands were in tight fists at my sides and my eyes stared at her, without flinching from her gaze. She finally gave me an answer.
"Let's go. We have little time." With that she got up from the chair and she and I walked towards the door and out into the dark.
We walked in silence as we approached the car. I opened the door to the driver's seat as Gran opened the door to her seat. But before either one of us got in, she spoke.
"This is going to be a hard battle, Lauren. We might win or we might not, but I want you to know that I'll try my hardest to save Emma." With a small nod on my part we got in and drove to Ben's house, where Emma's fate would be decided. As well as mine.
Chapter 4. Decisions to be Made
Ben's house was unusually crowded and that made me even more nervous than before. There were mostly men, in their late forties or fifties. As soon as I entered a scowl was plastered on every face. I glared back at each pair of eyes that met my eyes. Although most looked down some held my gaze until I looked away. There only seemed to be elder people except for the more recent werewolf descendants; Drew's pack. Drew was seated next to Ben, my grandfather. But as soon as Gran entered he froze. He didn't even seem to be breathing. Gran looked shocked but didn't freeze like Ben. I didn't exactly know why. What did they expect, dancing lions in dresses and expensive necklaces?
Drew waved at me through the crowd. I nodded in his direction and walked towards him. He lead the way into the small kitchen. It was painted a bright orange. The sink and the stove were both a milk white. In the center was a small circle table with only four chairs.
"Gran told me about--"
"I'm sorry, but we can't do this alone. Emma--" As he said her name he looked like he would fall to pieces. He had purple bruises under his eyes and his hair was unusually messy, "won't last long without the energy of seven werewolves. And I'm the only werewolf who'll do it. I know Anthony, Steve, Chris, and maybe Sam will give up their energy too but only if Ben gives them his consent."
"But we need seven and we only have five."
"I'm pretty sure that after the elders give their consent and Ben agrees then they will all ask to be picked." He sounded confident about that but not about the part about getting everyone to agree.
"Then all we have to do is convince Ben and the elders to say yes?" I asked only halfheartedly.
"It's not going to be that easy. Ben doesn't exactly believe that this is the best way to handle the situation, so he called the rest of the pack so they could voice their opinions," he explained in a measured voice.
"The rest of the pack? How many are there of you people?"
"Let's just say they're the 'retired' vampire hunters, okay." He had just finished his sentence when Ben walked in.
"We are ready." He turned to Drew, trying not to look in my direction. "We have decided not to give our consent. Emma will be burned alive, to purify her soul before entering heaven. She has vampire blood and that must be extinguished." He spoke without emotion. Like if he was talking about the weather. Ninety percent chance of death.
"WHAT!" I heard myself yell. Drew didn't seem to have reacted yet so I did. "YOU'RE GOING TO BURN HER! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU--"
"Lauren, I beg you that you keep your voice down. There are very important people here tonight and I wish that they leave tonight with a good thought from us."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was trying to make an impression, to retired werewolves who looked like they were in their late fifties. He was willing to burn Emma just to impress once-great werewolves?
By that time Gran had walked in, looking determined in a way I had never seen her before.
"Ben I need to talk to you. Privately." She turned around without a backward glance. Gramps looked at me angrily. Possibly thinking it was my fault she was in a bad mood. He followed Gran as soon as I caught his glare. The kitchen door slammed shut behind him.
"How did you convince Helen to help us out?" Drew asked, his voice shaking slightly. I turned to face him instead of staring blankly at the door.
"I guess she knew that this was the right thing to do." Then I added, "And I know we're right about this." I crossed the small distance between Drew and I, then I took his hand in mine and gave a gentle squeeze. Drew looked like he was going to black out any second now. He needed someone to be there for him. That meant me.
"Thanks, Lauren. For backing me up on this," he whispered.
"No, thank you. For everything." I planted a small kiss on his cheek and then released my hand from his and walked away. As the kitchen door slammed shut behind me, everyone turned to glare at me. What did I ever do to them? I thought as I fought my way into the hallway, walking quickly without ever running. Gramp's room was the last room in the hall. I stood outside the closed door and tried to calm my pulsing temples. This was going to be a hard battle. And with that thought I pushed open the door and entered.
Gran was seated as far away from Ben as she could. He scowled deeply as he saw me enter. I sighed. Crap. Gran already had him in a bad mood, which would only make the convincing part of my plan a heck of a lot harder.
"This is a complot," he muttered under his breath. I stared in disbelief.
"Gran is only doing the right thing. And you know I'm right," I almost hissed. Now that comment sent a hot rage of color to Ben's cheeks.
"Lauren, do you have any idea what you're asking for?! Emma is a werewolf, and she will remain that way even if it means that she must die. You aren't a werewolf. You don't know anything about us, so you have no right to stick your nose into anything!"
"She's my best friend and I'm not going to let you kill her because of some stupid rules! You have--
"Stupid rules?" The color in his cheeks raised to a deep red.
"Listen Lauren, you won't ever understand what it means to be a werewolf. You'd never live up to be one . . . and your parents," I gasped in horror as he said the word, "knew it too." He stopped himself as he realized he had gone too far.
It took me a minute to control my emotions. I didn't want them to see what their name did to me. Not ever. Instead I concentrated on being mad. It seemed like the best way to handle this situation since they didn't give me any answers when I was in a good mood.
"What do they have to do with this?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, hoping to kill some of the pain that began to build inside me.
"Ben, don't you say a word," Gran warned as she got to her feet.
"No! You stay out of this." I turned to face her. She didn't move or say anything, so I turned my attention back to Ben.
"What happened with my parents?" I could feel my vision clouding, tears were on the way.
Ben looked to Helen, who looked at me. By the look on their faces they weren't going to reveal anything. Nothing.
By now I could feel the silent tears creep down my cheeks. I didn't make any move to wipe them away. For once I didn't want to hide my hurt. I wanted them to see how much it hurt. How in some distant way they were responsible for that hurt. The poison acid that ran through my veins. Hurt.
I limped towards the door, unable to have complete control over my legs or any part of me for that matter. The door was blocked by Ben who stood as tense as a soldier. My eyes met his and without a word spoken he stepped aside. A heavy sigh escaped my lips. With a sore hand I turned the handle and stepped out into the hallway, but before I left I had something to say. Something that had built up inside me for a long time.
"The day my parents walked out on me I thought my world would come crashing down. But I was wrong. I had, somehow, kept my world together. I kept it spinning. Then you destroyed what I had with so much effort glued back into place. It's your fault I'm hurting so much. It's all your fault."
Running through darkened woods isn't always the best idea. I tripped more than once. I got scratched by huge tree branches more than twice. I had hurt like hell more than three times.
The pain began slow and numb. But when I thought it had left, somehow giving up, it kicked in, spreading with such incredible speed that I didn't even have time to gasp in pain. I hugged a huge pine tree. Waiting. The acid that crawled its way through me all at once enjoyed every second of my misery. It loved to make me suffer, to hear me cry out in frustration.
A sudden punch in the gut made me cry out. A high pitched scream erupted from between my closed lips. I fell to the ground, rolling, wanting it to stop. A sharp sting on my wrist hit me next. I was dying. If not, this was as close as anyone could get.
I laid face down on the cold, hard floor. The pain was gone, almost anyway. But somehow I could still feel the pain. The angry buzz of the acid that coursed through my veins without stop. Searing pain. I grunted and sat up.
Silence. Well, at least I have that, peace. I began to shake off the grass and stray leaves when I heard thunder. Thunder? I looked up at the sky, it was clear and sunny. I heard it again, this time . . . closer. What?
I placed my palm on the ground and felt vibrations of something. What could possibly make that much noise? The sound could be heard clearly now. It was the sound of a something running. Its steps shook the earth, one after another. A herd of . . . what? I got up, turned around, and ran. Whatever they were . . . there was more than one.
I had no idea where I was headed, but I knew that I needed to get away as fast as possible. The trees loomed enormously before me, all threatening to pop up and cause me to crash into them. A green landscape with no difference in its colors except the solid brown ground under my feet was the only thing I saw for miles.
I stopped running, suddenly. I came to realize that I didn't have the slightest idea where I was. The trees that once seemed to join together were now separated. One huge pine after another as far as the eye could see. I am so screwed. I took an involuntary step forward and froze.
A high pitched howl split the silence that had surrounded me, then without warning I began to run. At that moment I realized what had made those thundering sounds . . . werewolves. I had never seen them face to face but I remembered when Drew pulled me out of the trunk and, a bit faint, I saw them.
The pack was leaning anxiously over someone's body who was on the floor, looking a lot like Emma. The body never stirred. If it hadn't been for the fast movement of her chest I would have thought that she was dead. Her skin was a chalky color. Ghostly looking, a corpse. But before I could utter a word I was lost again. Fainted.
Now I knew that memory was after I fainted in Emma's living room which was where the vampire supposedly bit me.
No, that can't be right. I'd had to be awake . . . but I was awake. I gasped. Emma didn't come back to her senses until after 24 hours later. She had been bitten too. That vampire never bit me, I came to realize. They lied to me. But why? Why had they lied to me . . . about that?
I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize that a huge branch loomed dangerously close to my head until it was too late. My head collided with the branch. My entire body fell back, into the grass, with a hard and painful thud. My head felt like it had a heart beat. . . .
* * *
I sat up and groaned in dismay. I had passed out. The sky overhead was dark and stars blinked high above me. It had to be, at least, late afternoon. But, most importantly, where the hell am I?
I brought my gaze to what lay ahead of me and a gasp escaped my lips before I knew about it. Everything in front of me was covered in darkness. The only thing I could see clearly was a few feet in front of me, which wasn't much. How could I have been so stupid? For crying out loud, that branch was big enough to be seen ten feet away.
A wave of pain began to spread throughout my head and I, by instinct, touched it. To my surprise it was . . . wet. I looked at my fingers and they were covered in--black stuff? The strong smell of metal suggested that it wasn't black stuff but blood.
"Oh that's just perfect," I said sourly as I got to my feet. "Not only am I lost--" I was interrupted mid-rant by a shout.
"Lauren, there you are!" Drew screamed at the top of his lungs.
Oh, no. "Drew . . . is . . . is that you?" I squinted, looking ever so closely at the large wolf crouching before me.
Not only did Drew talk but he was now cursing colorfully. How could he talk if a wolf's mouth wasn't intended for speech? I didn't get to ask that question because suddenly he began to move violently from side to side. Growling and snarling in pain.
"Drew! What is it?! What's wrong?" I shrieked. The wolf I supposed was Drew began to . . . shrink. Oh, God! But a sudden burst of light blinded me, causing me to spin around, trying to block out the brilliance that was too bright for my eyes.
As soon as the light dimmed and then disappeared I ran towards the spot I last saw Drew-wolf. But before I got close enough to touch him I heard an earsplitting laugh. A laugh that could only come from one person, a teenage boy. Drew was grinning from ear to ear, complete with dimples and a wicked wink thrown my way. I was furious for crying out like that and for his carelessness.
I shoved him hard, hoping to crack his head in half for making fun of me.
"Drew! You idiot!" I couldn't hide the relief and I guess he figured that out too because that irritating smirk wouldn't leave his face.
"Ah, Lauren! You do care." He shook away the stray leaves that managed to cling onto his body. "Okay, now that we have formally made fun of each other, can we go home now?"
Now I had to roll my eyes. "Really, Drew? What did you think I was doing? I wanted to be alone!" A wide grin began to take shape across my face. "But now I just want to go home."
"You can say that again." He began to shift, moving from side to side but not so violently this time. Then came the bright light. So bright and so pure I had to look away. When I opened my eyes I saw that Drew was now a wolf. He had fur covering his entire body but the shape was more human then wolf. And he was standing on two legs, waiting.
"Drew, why are you--"
"Standing on two legs?" he finished for me smoothly. "Because I don't think you know what you've got yourself into." Without warning he scooped me up into his arms and onto his back and began to run.
"Oh, God! Oh, no!" He ducked just as soon as a huge tree began to loom dangerously in front of us. He ran at top speed, probably trying to show off his werewolf abilities or, more likely, trying to scare me.
"Drew! Look out!" Just a little off into the night was a dark void, which I suspected could be a cliff. I don't want to die! Well, maybe not now.
Drew took a sharp turn, almost tossing me into oblivion while he was at it, but I held on for dear life while he laughed manically.
"Don't you just love the speed?! The freedom?" Without waiting for an answer he leaped into the air, making me smack right into his arched back.
"Ow! That hurt!" But he sped away into the woods without a word of apology.
"Drew, you--"
"No time to talk now!" With that he ran into the cover of the trees with me yelling after him. And for once in my life I felt truly and incredibly . . . free.
To read Chapter 5. A New Beginning click the link!
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To read Chapter 6. Forbidden Change click the link!
http://www.thetwilightsaga.com/group/fanfiction/forum/topics/far-fr...
To read Chapter 7. Reasons to Live click the link!
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on -
if you just read the chapter and want to know where the rest of the story is at just tell me and i'll give you the link to the other part. it's titled "far from heaven". if you search for it, it's on the third page. for some reason it never takes you to the page that's titled that way...anyway thanks :)
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on
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ok, as the prologue says lauren is in love with a vampire but i know that you all think i'm a werewolf and i am. so why did you write a story about a vampire-human love story? because it's more dangerous with a vampire than with a werewolf and i didn't really have a choice. lauren's parents are vampires and the battle is between vampires not werewolves so yeah. hope that clears that a bit.
if you have any questions about the story just leave me a comment or a message. -
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on
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thanks kathryn! i'll post more soon. hey...what do you think about the preface?
♥♥ The werewolf girl ♥♥ -
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Permalink Reply by Bella&Edward4Eternity on -
Wow i really like this story when are you going to post more
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on
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soon, i'm almost done :)
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on
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what's confusing? tell me and i'll try my best to explain . . .
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Permalink Reply by Allie on -
i love it
it was so amazing
what is going to happen next
why did they lie to her, i so want to know -
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on
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wait and see :)
but i can give u a hint: werewolves don't like to mix with vampires and they will do whatever is in their power to prevent a close relationship . . . -
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Permalink Reply by ♥*Thɛ σηε & oηℓy: Mяs. βαяηεs*♥ on
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i posted more of the chapter...
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth the vampire on -
OMG!!! I truly love youre story in the future when its in book form I can asure you that I will have one oh and youre a great writer cant wait until you post more and you have to keep me informed when you post more hope its very soon oh I cant wait =)
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