The Pens of Fate [3](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, death, alcoholism, self-harm, and depression. Reader discretion is highly advised and it is important to practice self-care during and after reading. There is foul language, substance abuse, multiple types of abuse as well. Some of the events, people, and timelines are based on true aspects of my life, so keep a clear mindset.

I will continue to write for myself, not for the people who judge based on what the cover looks like. They will miss out on what these torn pages that hold beauty written in them. 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 beauty that came out of these stories. To the angels who stood beside me while I battled the evil inside of the mirror, these books and stories will represent how you have been there for me. 

And to the younger me, who probably didn’t know that she was beautiful under the skin; 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...

V turned back to the boy with the laptop, “Please tell me, James, that you tried to stop them from going into the books,” she sighed.

James smirked and looked back at Adaline, “Even if I did, Vivienne, you and I both know that they are too stubborn to listen.”

Adaline raised an eyebrow and gave him an inquisitive expression, “Wasn’t it your idea, babe, for me to go back through my stories to improve my view of myself?”

James quickly put a finger to his lips, hiding a small smile from Vivienne, who just turned bright red. The two teens watched as the girl threw her hands in the air and the show started. Whenever Vinienne was angry or scared, one of the languages that she had learned through her linguistics hobby would come out in full force. A Filipino dialect, strong and full of what sounded pure rage to Adaline. 

“Bakit ang tanga ng best friend ko?”

Adaline smiled because the only part of that statement that they understood was the ‘best friend’. James held in his laugh as Adaline took a look over his shoulder to read text; “Why is my best friend a dumbass?” 

Adaline giggled and looked back at their friend, who was still red in the face. Adaline walked back to the taller girl and held out the way in and out of the story worlds; a small brown leather book. 

“Just watch, V,” Adaline smiled as they opened the book again… 

Ashton’s mom held him close as the snow and time seemed to slow around the chaos. The officers brought Ashton back to his mother as the ambulance had finally arrived and two paramedics came running to the back of the house. Ashton’s throat burned but he couldn’t figure out why, and he heard someone screaming but it was almost muffled as if the person was underwater. Ashton’s mom hugged him tighter and he realized that he was the one screaming. 

One of the paramedics came back to the front of the house, carrying a smaller child in his arms. The second paramedic rolled a stretcher that had a small black bag on it, and her face refused to look down at the bag. As the woman made it to the ambulance with the stretcher, the first paramedic brought the small child over to the officer and muttered to him in a hushed voice. The officer looked in shock at the small child in the man’s arms, amazed that one of the children was able to survive the cold. Ashton’s mom also looked at the boy in the man’s arms, but not with amazement. She was afraid, this child had an undeniable aura of pure evil around him and maybe she was the only one that could tell just because it was a mother's true instincts… 

Back to the Present Day

As Tina pushed Ashton, the group in the front moved to the sides of the sidewalk to let a smaller group of three pass. The one leading the trio was a goth with a feminine face but it was still not quite a girl though. They walked up to Ashton and Tina while the two who were following stayed back a little. 

“Hello Tina and Ashton, could you please come with me,” their eyes lit up as the question came out…

Tina and Ashton looked down at the six small boxes that were neatly laid out on a desk in a classroom at their school. They both could hardly believe that these strangers could break into a high school and set up a whole club room. The door was opened and on it was a poster with a serial killer wearing a baby face mask, standing in front of a cornfield. Also on the poster was the Blood Moon with lettering: The Midnight Horrors- A club for young writers. Enter at your own risk. Those last words had been made to look like blood dripping down. Standing in the center of the room, along Tina and Ashton were a group of teenagers both in the school’s uniform and out of it. The one that caught Ashton’s curiosity was a girl who was wearing a plain white mask and dressed as if she was from a small England village. 

The person who led the pair back into the building began to introduce the members in that room. Some were other students of the school while the others were from other ‘story worlds’ as Adaline put it. They then started to get to the reason behind this ‘club’... 

“So let me get this straight. A boy at our school named Ethan Eval has the Pen of Death which is a weapon that can destroy the world and worlds as we know,” said Tina who looked annoyed at what she believed to be bullshit. A boy named Zach, who was the person who set up the classroom and broke into the locked school, smirked. 

“If you don't believe the crazy shit that comes out of Addie’s mouth. A crap ton of lives are hanging in the balance, and we could be bad-ass heroes,” he exclaimed…