The Pens of Fate [14](Saga remastered) {Jun.27, 2023}

Note from the Author

This book contains and mentions sensitive material relating to mental illnesses, several personality disorders, suicide, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder, murder, gore/violence, death, alcoholism, self-harm, depression and many others. Reader discretion is highly advised and it is important to practice self-care during and after reading. Some of the events, people, and timelines are based on true aspects of my life, so keep a clear mindset.

To my inner angels who kept fighting against the demons of my mind, I want to thank you for it. And to those inner monsters of mine, thank you for being my inspiration for the nightmares that came out of these stories. To the angels who stood beside me while I battled the evil inside of under my own skin that I kept covered, these books and stories will represent how you have been there for me. 

And to the younger me, who probably didn’t know that they were main character in their own grand tale; you were going to do great things. Don't you ever look back and question the choices that lead you to the me that I have become...

Zach sat down at his desk, looking at the broken Devil’s Pen. It was cracked open and laying in the dirt after Adaline disappeared. The black ink poured out like blood back then and now it was drained completely dry. Zach tapped his knee, lost in thought. “Where are you, Addie?” he sighed as he stood to open a portal to search another world. Before he could step through, the nerves in his hands started to burn and then go numb. Zach could feel the cough coming as he quickly covered his mouth. When Zach looked down at his hands, his thoughts stopped in their tracks. He had coughed up black blood...

Coraline watched her prey walking home through the mask’s eye cut outs; the prey was a young woman with long black hair. The woman couldn’t be more than a few years older than Coraline. Coraline watched the woman step onto a house front steps, to reach into her bag to get a set of keys, then Coraline made her move...

The next morning, Tina, Liz, and Bonnie were on their way to school when Ethan ran towards them. Ethan looked out of breath as he bent down to catch his breath, “You guys need to see this.” Tina and Liz had explained to Bonnie with steady hands. Ethan led the way to one of the most crowded places that Tina had ever seen. There were police cars outside trying to keep the crowd of onlookers. Murmurs rose in the crowd, “Glenda Foster is missing.” As more details rose out of the crowd, Tina felt a hand tap her shoulder. She turned around to see Zach and James were standing behind them. Zach’s eyes widened as he spoke, “Adaline is still here in this world; they never left.” 

The group stood in the club room where they looked down at some old notebooks with worried expressions on their faces. Zach just stared with a blank expression, “Adaline is not just alive but also stuck in between the lines of every story world. And the news get worse, Glenda is the first of ten kidnappings that will happen in all the worlds.” Ethan held up his hands, “Wait, so what is going to happen to Glenda and what do you mean the first of ten kidnappings?!” James stood up and walked over to the window as he continued, “Adaline has been trying to tell us something; everyone from our world who both knew about the Pens and had a tie to Adaline has been having strange dreams about a story world graveyard. There were masked figures and a dark figure whose back was always turned, but we know that it is Adaline.” Bonnie’s eyes widened as he tried to get his hands to stop shaking so he could say something. Cody looked up at Bonnie, “What’s wrong?” he signed as Bonnie started to sign the words, “I have been having nightmares about a place like that, but there was a green-eyed girl standing there,” with tumbling fingers... 

That’s the thing about this city, the green-eyed girl thought sourly as she looked down at her chess game, blood has been spilled and no one cares. Well, now that will change. The girl reached for her pawn to move it forward but stopped. Her left arm burned and moments of time coursed through her veins. Images of the strange goth filled her mind. The brown-eyes stared hallowly at her as they sat in a completely white room, in front of a chessboard exactly like hers. The stranger moved their pawn forward with a blank expression on their face. The green-eyed girl looked around her dark room, “Very well, miss. I’ll play your game.” She smiled as she moved her pawn, ``Whoever you are, I hope you make a worthy opponent.” ...

Zach looked at Ethan, “Your eyes changed after Adaline tackled you, so maybe theirs did too.” Cody and Liz stood by the door, both lost in their own thoughts. Simon looked out the window, off to the horizon, “So, where is this graveyard?” Zach ruffled through the old notebooks as he explained, “Addie built all worlds on their old poems and dreams. Each poem had some external and internal resources within them; that could be music, some of their old memories, TV shows, or even books.” Zach pulled out one notebook that was full of poems as he continued, “One of their poems was about Alice in Wonderland and how she got lost in her creativity. Listen to this,” Zach held out the book and began to read… 

“I’m lost in my own little magical world; going deeper into the white rabbit’s hole. I sit with the Mad Hatter, sipping tea till the pain and sadness goes away. I painted the Queen’s roses red with my broken heart. Alice betrayed me and now I am the Queen of Hearts.” 

Once Zach finished reading there was silence. Ethan had a confessed expression on his face, “What does Wonderland have to do with a graveyard?” Grace put her face into her palm and sighed, “The graveyard is Wonderland, but what is a place full of pain and sadness?” Arthor raised an eyebrow, “I don’t think that’s the right place, because Addie had an idea for a story in there as well. See?” He took the book and started to flip through the pages, “Here it is,” he said as he started to read out loud as well… 

“This house was the home of a witch who fell in love with a young boy who lived in the town. The two kept their love hidden because the townsfolk were evil and feared witchcraft. The witch was caught with the boy by the boy’s wicked twin sister who wanted her brother dead. The witch was burned in the middle of the town while her lover watched in pain. He was to be killed as well. The cemetery in the backyard is dedicated to them.” 

Cody and Liz looked up, remembering where they were. Liz walked over to Arthor, “That might be the place to go.” Zach looked at the group, “We can divide into teams and go to each place while a third team stays here to look for Glenda.” Zach, Tina, and Ethan decide to go to Wonderland while Arthor, Liz, and Cody go to the witch’s house. The rest of the group go help the search party by the nearby river. Zach looked at Ethan as Tina walked through the portal first, “You better help me find Adaline, or I will kill you.” Ethan pulled out the Pen of Death from his jean pocket and nodded, “They saved me and now I actually have a chance to be a father; I own them a lot.” Zach’s eyes narrowed, “Yeah, you do.” The two stepped through the portal together.