Captive or Captor #8

* * * * *

It took Lowell nearly three weeks to get out of the hospital and get to the village in which shifter sanctuary was situated. Throughout it all Harry, the man who helped him conceal his true identity was very helpful. Lowell thought he could never repay the man for his kindness.

After being released from hospital, with much help from Harry, they went to the old gardener’s house. Lowell was lost. He had no money, no way to access his accounts, nowhere to stay. Hell, he didn’t even have any clothes! Harry was a life saviour. He clothed Lowell and took him in to his small apartment. Apparently the old man lived alone, having been divorced for decades and his children all grown up and having families of their own. With the gruff old man’s help Lowell managed to access his PayPal account and withdraw some of his savings by sending them to Harry’s bank account. The old gardener then took it out of his account and gave to Lowell, who now had a nice sum in cash.

Harry was also helpful in locating the village where Purr had been placed. With his help Lowell managed to buy an used motorbike and embark on a journey to find his lover. Lowell was forever grateful to whatever force was looking after him, that the investigation which resulted in Purr’s rescue had been kept quiet by the police. It made it that much easier to assume his new identity.

Lowell finally reached the small village where the sanctuary for abused shifters was supposed to be located. He hoped that the information they managed to gather was right. It wasn’t like the shifter pack advertised themselves. Protecting victims of abuse meant keeping their location quiet and Lowell and Harry had to go to a lot of effort to find out where Purr was being kept.

Lowell got of his bike, removed his helmet and looked around. He was in a parking lot of a pub in a middle of small village. Running a hand through his hair to give them some semblance of control Lowell took a deep breath. He didn’t really think it through, how he was going to find his lover and what would happen next. The only thing he knew was that he needed Purr, he needed to be close to his tiger. That need drove him here, but it also made him rush without a real plan.

Lowell sighed, shook his head and decided to go in for a pint. He hoped he’d be able to find out more about the local pack and its leader. Hopefully the man would be reasonable and Lowell would be able to convince him that he meant Purr no harm. With that in mind Lowell pushed the heavy wooden door and went into the pub.

* * * * *

“Alpha, can I have a moment?” Robert’s voice interrupted Marek’s concentration on the pack financials.

“Yes, what is it?” Marek looked up pinching the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache forming. Dealing with financial matters was the least favourite of his Alpha obligations. Robert walked in closing the door behind him. Marek thought his friend and beta looked as haggard and tired as he felt. After their mistake with Patrick they both blamed themselves. It didn’t help that the tiger shifter was still in his animal form and as feral as ever. He had to be sedated and then moved to a hastily built enclosure on pack grounds. Then they had to give him small doses of sedatives with his meals so that he didn’t hurt himself trying to escape.

“I wondered if you had any news from Anna?” Robert asked, and Marek wasn’t surprised that they had the same thing on their minds. Robert was doing all he could to find Lowell Hayes, their only chance at restoring Patrick’s sanity. Unfortunately, he had no luck in his search. It seemed that the politician’s son disappeared into thin air. Now their only hope was Anna. Marek knew if anyone could find a cure for Patrick it was his genius friend. Still, she was yet to find something useful. Marek knew, logically that medical research took time but he felt they didn’t have much time to spare. With every day the trapped tiger grew more and more restless, and the last few days he even refused to eat some of his meals. Marek was growing more concerned with every passing day.

“Unfortunately, no. And the last time I called her, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was to stop badgering her. She had to work if she was to help Patrick and if I kept calling her, she couldn’t do that.”

“I see.” Was Robert’s only answer.

“And how is your search going? Any leads?” Marek asked even though he knew, if his friend found something he’d have told him already. He wasn’t surprised when the Beta shook his head.

“Nothing. It seems that the fire damage was more extensive than we thought. It spread throughout all of the living wing of that mansion and it took fire brigade hours to put it down. Apparently they are still sorting through the mess looking for Hayes’s body.” That was more or less what Marek expected, still he grimaced, displeased.

“Did you try questioning the staff? Is it possible that the kid wasn’t there when the fire broke out? That he run away having seen the assault team, fearing consequences?” Marek knew he was grasping at straws but one had to have hope right? After all, hope dies last. But Marek knew, in his country there was another proverb about hope and he felt it might be more accurate in this situation: Hope is the mother of fools.

“Do you really think that, if what we guessed is true and Lowell was Patrick’s fated mate, that the kid would run away instead of coming after the tiger? I mean, I don’t know much about the bond and how it affects a human in a mating, but surely he would feel things similar to a shifter, right? He wouldn’t be able to just leave?” Marek sighed at Robert’s questions. The mother of fools indeed.

“I know, but I just had to ask. We need to check every possible lead, you know? There isn’t much else we can do for Patrick,” Marek explained. Robert’s sigh mirrored Marek’s own and the man looked away.

“I know, Marek. I thought the same thing. I questioned everyone who was at the scene when the fire broke out. They all said the same thing. They hadn’t seen Lowell since he closed himself in his room to write. He would spend hours upon hours in his room and everyone knew not to disturb him. Someone from the staff tried pounding on his door when the assault team arrived, but the man wouldn’t answer, and then that person got ushered away. Unfortunately, nobody on the team listened to them when they claimed Lowell was still inside.”

“Well, it’s not like they knew there was about to be fire. The only danger they could suspect was of the man escaping and he wouldn’t be able to do that closed in his room like that.” Marek had to give the men on the assault team justice. It hadn’t been the first operation they led, and Patrick the first abused shifter they rescued.

“You’re right of course,” his beta said. “But the point is, there isn’t much of a chance that Hayes survived. We need to acknowledge that and prepare for the worst.” Marek knew his friend wasn’t any happier about it than he was. He opened his mouth to say something, but a knock on his office door interrupted him.

“Come in,” he said and frowned as Fabian walked into the room uncertainly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Alpha, but there is a stranger in town asking all sorts of questions about the pack. Muriel called, she thought you should be aware of it.”

“She was right. The last thing we need is some stupid reporter trying to pry into our business. We don’t need publicity, we need to be left alone to do our job!” Marek said seething. It wasn’t the first time someone from the press tried sniffing around. The pack members and human friends in the village knew not to tell them anything.

“What do you want us to do about him, Alpha?” Fabian asked, nodding in agreement.

“Nothing, I’ll deal with him myself.” It would do him good, too. Maybe getting into a fight with some sensation hungry reporter would help relieve some of the tension and get rid of upcoming headache. “Where is he?” Marek asked striding out of the room and passing Fabian.

“Still in the pub, from what Muriel said. He’s been nursing his pint of lager for the last hour asking all kinds of questions.”

“Not very good at his job then,” Marek stated and Fabian snorted in response.

“Clearly!”

“Very well,” Marek said as he left the house, clapping Fabian’s shoulder. “Thanks for telling me. You don’t need to follow me. I’ll take my bike.” Not waiting for response Marek went in direction of the garage. He felt anticipation of a fight. It was quite some time since he got into a nice old-fashioned alteration. Ever since he became Alpha nobody was willing to go against him in any way. It was pretty sad that even a prospect of having words with a reporter was getting his blood pumping. Pretty sad indeed.

Captive or Captor #7

Marek became suddenly aware of silence behind him and he turned to look at Patrick. Cold shivers of dread run along his spine as he saw Patrick’s feral gaze fixed on Robert.
“My Master is not dead.” The words were quiet, barely more than a whisper yet they were still more a growl than real words. Marek suddenly remembered where he’d seen such a stare. It was in a documentary about tigers. That was how a tiger looked just before pouncing on his prey. And Marek had a really bad feeling Robert was about to become prey. Marek’s friend had to have no self preservation whatsoever because he continued spouting off the same stupid shit.
“Sure he is. There was a fire and police thinks he burned in it. Got what he deserved in my opinion.” Marek watched it as if in slow motion. He turned to Patrick, opened his mouth to try to calm the situation, reason with the shifter, but it was to late. There was no reasoning with the beast that suddenly took over.
“Master!” The howl turned into a growl, then a roar as Patrick’s body contorted and twisted taking on a full tiger form for the first time. The roar was full of roar and anguish and Marek had a sudden thought that they made a huge mistake. Patrick became a tiger in a matter of seconds, the fastest shift Marek had ever seen, and he stood up, his tail swishing behind him. Marek caught a glimpse of feral animal eyes and was suddenly certain that they indeed horribly misjudged the situation. Marek used his superior speed to run out the room, knocking his friend aside and locking the door behind him. He was just milliseconds faster than a huge body of tiger who hit the door and started clawing at the piece of wood separating them.
“What the fuck?!” Robert shouted scrambling up from the floor. “What crawled up the crazy fucker’s ass?” Robert asked dusting off his jeans and scowling at the door. Marek tried very hard to keep onto his patience.
“Stop talking and grab that dresser from over there.” He tipped his head to the side indicating the piece of furniture decorating the hallway. Robert kept scowling but obeyed and in a matter of seconds had the dresser pushed against the door letting Marek step back. The tiger kept at the door for a few more minutes, then sounds of a room being demolished could be heard. Marek relaxed marginally and stepped back from where he kept the dresser pushed against the wooden door. Without a word he turned and pulled his mobile from his pocket. He went into his contact list and scrolled through it as he marched down the hall, Robert hot on his heals.
“Seriously, Marek, what’s with the kid and huge temper tantrum?” the oblivious man asked. Marek gritted his teeth but held back his anger. It wasn’t Robert’s fault. Well, at least not all of it. They misread the situation and Patrick was now paying for it. If only they tried to talk to him a bit harder. Pressed the kid for information earlier. But it was of no use now. They had to deal with the situation they had on hand now, and they had to do it ASAP.
“It’s not a temper tantrum, Robert. The kid just turned for the first time and it hadn’t gone well. First shift is never easy on anyone, but this is not all. I suspect Patrick has just gone feral.” Marek said still scrolling through his contacts. Where was the stupid number when he needed it?
“Gone feral?” Robert’s voice was dubious. “But it only happens to a shifter who had lost his bonded fated mate, the kid didn’t... oh!” Yeah, it seemed that lightbulb finally went off in the man’s head.
“Yeah, oh! He was constantly asking about this master. Defending him. Just now, he was angry that we took him and he wasn’t there to protect the guy from his father.” Marek gritted through his teeth as he finally found the right number and dialled it.
“You think...” Robert didn’t finish but he didn’t have to. In the light of circumstances the situation seemed pretty obvious now.
“That this Lowell Hayes is Patrick’s fate mate, that they bonded and the whole keeping-Patrick-prisoner was more to keep the kid safe from Hayes’s father than anything else? Yeah, that’s what I think!” Marek’s voice was full of anger at their incompetence. Robert went to speak again, probably to ask what they were going to do, but Marek waved him off as someone finally picked up the damn phone.
“Anna?” he asked and hearing confirmation he switched to his native tongue. “I need your help. We’ve got a serious situation with a young shifter who’s gone feral. Yeah, just now,” he answered her question then continued “But here’s the thing. He’s the one who was stuck mid-shift, the one we talked about? Yeah,” he answered another question, then, “No, we don’t know for sure his mate is dead. He’s presumed to be dead but no body has been found. No, I don’t fucking know how to do that!” Marek noticed they reached the front living room and some of the people gathered there were looking pretty uneasy. “Hold on!” He said to Anna then addressed the gathered shifters. “We’ve got a feral shifter on first floor. Two of you go guard the door, two more go outside and stand under the window. You know which one.” He snapped and people went to obey his command. They were enforcers of his pride-pack and knew their duties even if they didn’t need to do them often.
“Sir?” a hesitant voice spoke from the back of the room. Marek looked and saw Fabian, young enforcer who joined the pride after his parents disowned him for being gay. Fabian looked wary and Marek made a real effort to seem calmer. He didn’t blame Fabian for his reluctance. It was a well known fact that Marek reverted to cursing in his native tongue when the situation was really dire or if he was truly enraged. Or if he watched matches of Polish football team on the telly. That was his secret weakness.
“What is it Fabian?” He asked in the calmest, most encouraging voice he could manage.
“Is it... Is it Patrick, Sir? Is he feral?” the young man asked and swallowed. Marek noticed a real concern in the young man’s voice.
“Yes, unfortunately. It seems that we haven’t been given all the information and the man Patrick called his Master was indeed his fated mate.”
Fabian frowned before asking another question.
“But then why wouldn’t he call him that? Why would he call the man his Master?”
“Who knows?” Marek sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It is possible, if Patrick hadn’t been brought up among shifters, that he didn’t know this Lowell was his mate, didn’t know what a mate is. But if he felt the connection he needed to give it a label and chose one that was familiar to him.” Marek shrugged. “We might never know. Right now it is important that we try and help him. Try and bring him back from the feral state he’s in.”
“Is that even possible?” another one f the enforcers, guards, whatever you wanted to call them, asked.
“I’m not sure. But I’m on the phone with a specialist now, and she might know more. She’s been studying the phenomenon of shifters ferality for years now. If anyone can help Patrick it’s Anna. Now, I want two of you to go grab dart guns and go join the two groups guarding Patrick’s room.” He finished and went back to his call. “Yes Anna. Yes, I’m sorry, had to speak to my guards. No...” as he went to his office and continued the conversation he hoped that Anna could help Patrick. It would be too cruel that the poor shifter who suffered so much went feral without experiencing some real life. Marek finished his phone call with Anna, reassured that she’ll come as soon as possible and he went to call his contacts on the police. As he dialled the familiar number, he hoped against hope that Lowell Hayes was alive and could be found quickly. That was the only person who could get to Patrick in his feral state.

Captive or Captor #6

 

* * * *

“How is Patrick?” Marek Glinski asked his beta and best friend Robert. The man shook his head in exasperation.

“No change there,” Robert answered running a hand through his hair. Marek certainly understood where the man was coming from. The whole situation was beyond frustrating.

After Marek defeated the previous alpha and became the leader of his pride-slash-pack, he decided to set it up as a sanctuary for shifters in need. Even though it was the twenty first century there was still so much prejudice and abuse among shifters and humans alike. There were kids being kicked out of their packs, prides, or whatever a certain group of shifters chose to call themselves. Some were being persecuted for their sexual orientation, some for the colour of their skin, others still for simply being different and not fitting in. Marek knew it all too well. He left his country in the hopes that England was going to be more accepting of whom he chose to love. To a point it was true. People were definitely much more open-minded here than they have been in Poland. Still you could find bigots and assholes everywhere and he had the bad luck to come to live in one’s territory. The previous alpha gave him permission to join the pack easily enough. Marek had not broadcasted his sexual preferences. He thought it was only his business whom he fucked. The previous alpha disagreed. Once he learned Marek was gay the Alpha decided to throw him out of the pack, not even giving him time to gather his belongings or finding a new place to live. Easy to say Marek disagreed with that decision. It ended in a challenge for leadership which Marek won.

That happened four years ago, and ever since he created a sanctuary for shifters escaping bad situations. He cooperated with police and some charities and over the years he’s dealt with numerous abused shifters. Patrick Peters’ situation was possibly the worst of them all.

Patrick had been rescued from being kept slave in a mansion of a very prominent politician lobbying for reducing shifter rights. From what Marek’s been told the police strike force found Patrick in a locked basement. The poor shifter had been so badly abused that he fought his rescuers when they came to take him away. They had to sedate him in order to get him out of that basement. Marek grimaced thinking about the poor kid and the life he led. It couldn’t have been easy even before he had been taken by that twisted fuck of a politician. The kid had been born with a very rare genetic condition that prevented him from shifting fully into either of his forms. To put it in easy terms Patrick was struck mid-shift. It was so rare in generally healthy shifters, that Marek haven’t even heard about it before.

Marek sighed as he walked to Patrick’s room. He needed to try and talk some sense into the kid. It seemed that Patrick had been brainwashed by the man he called Master. Marek had no idea what exactly had happened to the kid because Patrick wasn’t really talking to them. He refused after their initial conversation. Marek had no idea what had gone wrong but after that first day the kid avoided any kind of interaction with anyone in the alpha house where he was housed. Marek shook of his thoughts as he reached the kid’s bedroom door and knocked. Not waiting for invitation – he knew it wasn’t coming – he entered.

Patrick sat in a chair near the window and looked out of it – a pose he could be found in whenever someone visited. He didn’t turn when he heard Marek come in. Marek held back a sigh and spoke.

“Hello, Patrick, how are you today?” He asked in his heavily accented voice. He knew his accent must have sounded rough to Patrick because the kid couldn’t stop a little frown. Marek smiled at this little victory.

“Robert told me you never left your room, Patrick. Why is that? You know you need to learn and adjust to the outside world. You can’t spend your entire life in this room. Don’t you want to live a full life? Be a true member of this pride?” Surprisingly that got a reaction from the young shifter. Marek truly did not expect that. Patrick turned on his chair and glared at Marek.

“I will not be a member of your pride! My Master will come for me, you’ll see! And then we’ll leave and make a life for ourselves somewhere. We will have a pride of our own, just the two of us!” Patrick’s voice was full of conviction and Marek felt his heart squeeze a little. What had they done to the boy that he wanted to be with this Master so badly? It was the worst case of Stockholm syndrome one could imagine.

“Now, Patrick, you know that is not true. What this Master did to you, keeping you prisoner like that, it was wrong. He had no right keeping you in that basement. We explained it to you.” Marek tried for a calm tone. Obviously it had no effect as the young man’s feline features contorted in anger.

“Don’t you dare insult my Master!” Patrick shouted and jumped to his feet reminding Marek just how tall and muscular he was. It was easy to forget and treat him more like an abused kid when he was seating looking out the window all day. Right now there was no denying that this shifter was a grown man. A big, strong, grown man with deadly claws extending from his fingers. “You know nothing about my Master! He did all he could to protect me, but you people had to come and take me from him, you had no right! Now he has no one to protect him from his bastard father! I should be there with him!” Now we’re getting somewhere!

“What do you mean protect him from his father? Just who is the man you call your master?” Marek asked hoping Patrick would answer. And he wasn’t disappointed.

“My Master is Lowell Hayes, son of the politician Sir Iain Hayes.” Patrick said with proud in his voice and Marek couldn’t help but blurt out.

“Shit!” This was so not good. Marek knew the politician tried to wiggle out of the charges he was facing by claiming that whatever happened in that mansion had been the fault of his son, Lowell. Sir Iain claimed that he sent his son to live there in solitude because the man was unbalanced. Now it seemed like he might have been telling truth. Only a sick fucker would keep a shifter slave in his basement. The problem was, Lowell was nowhere to be found and with the fire damage to the house there was a suspicion he might be dead, killed in the fire. Marek’s thoughts were racing but it seemed Patrick picked up on his unease.

“What is it?” The younger shifter growled and his eyes shone dangerously. It was obvious his more feral nature was coming to the fore. “You know something about my Master! Tell me!” The rumble of a growl grew deeper, more dangerous. Even being a strong alpha type Marek couldn’t hold back his apprehension.

“I told you Patrick, this man is not your Master, he had no right...” Marek started straining for this calming tone but failed as a loud roar of a sound escaped Patrick.

“Tell me!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Marek heard from the door and turned to see Robert. His best friend was a good beta and a good man but patience wasn’t his forte. Marek tried to prevent the train wreck he could see happening, tried to stop the man from talking but he was to late.

“The fucker who held you is dead.” Robert snapped from the doorway his face set in a scowl. “Good riddance if you ask me! That was one sick fucker to keep you in his basement like that! World will be a better place without him!” Robert finished his diatribe and Marek fought a groan. Yep, the man did it. To be honest he only repeated aloud what Marek was thinking, but still, Marek knew not to just blurt out anything that was on his mind. Especially when dealing with an abused shifter in a delicate situation like now. That’s why he was the alpha not Robert.

Captive or Captor #5

Consciousness was slow in coming. Lowell swam in a thick dark fog, swirls of colour surrounding him from time to time. He floated closer, then further from the surface. There were moments, when he realised there was something important he was forgetting. He wasn’t supposed to be floating in this dark place, he needed to be somewhere else. But these moments came and went, thoughts fading then becoming clearer. Slowly, steadily, the fog started to clear. First it became thinner, the blackness not so complete. Lowell became aware that he wasn’t an incorporeal ghost but a man and he was lying on his back. With that came another realisation. He hurt. His chest, shoulder, head, all of it hurt. Well, of course he hurt, he remembered, he has been shot! But then there came another thought. Purr!

Lowell struggled to sit up as he opened his eyes. It looked that he was in a hospital room. Lowell quickly scanned his surroundings trying to find any clue as to what happened to him. As might be expected there was nothing. It was a hospital room. Not a private hospital – he noticed – like the one he went to as a child to have his tonsils removed. This was most definitely a public hospital. And it made Lowell think. No matter his relationship with his father, Lowell knew sir Iain would never let one of his children stay in a public hospital. It could mean the press could get to them, or that someone could accuse him of not caring or them enough. Appearances were everything for Lowell’s father. Before he could marvel about this strange situation the door to his room opened and a nurse came in. She was an older lady, with dark skin and laughing chocolate brown eyes. She smiled at him when she saw he was awake.

“Well look who finally decided to wake up.” She said and came closer. “How are you feeling, love? You’ve been unconscious for quite some time now.”

“Um, I’m fine thank you.” Lowell answered politely. He wasn’t fine obviously. His head felt as if someone was trying to drive nails from the back of his scull straight through to his eye sockets, his shoulder burned with a dull ache and when he breathed he felt as if he was inhaling shards of glass.

“I seriously doubt that, but still, you were rather lucky. I have no idea what you thought you were doing rushing into a dangerous zone like that.” The nurse shook her head as she came closer to him to take his vitals.

“A dangerous zone?” Lowell asked feigning ignorance. He knew what she meant of course but he wanted to learn more about what happened.

“Yes, there was a raid on this politician’s mansion where you worked. They somehow discovered he was keeping a shifter enslaved there. The strike force wen in to secure and retrieve the poor boy. Everyone was evacuated from the house so they could search it, but somehow a fire broke out somewhere in the main living wing. When you ran in you ran straight for that area of the house they said. They tried to stop you and when you didn’t react they shot you with a rubber bullet. Still you wouldn’t answer and went straight for the fire. You’re lucky one of the strike team got to you in time before you died of smoke inhalation!” She scolded him. Lowell’s head swirled with all the new information. The main thing that run through his brain over and over again was: It wasn’t my father. They went to save Purr, not hurt him! Suddenly he realised something. The fire! Purr could have been hurt in it!

“Did...” he started then had to clear his throat. It hurt to speak! “Did they save him? The shifter?” The woman’s expression softened and she smiled.

“Yes, they did. It wasn’t easy from what I heard. The kid’s been abused badly and fought the people who came for him. They had to sedate him to take him away. But I heard they took him to a pack that specialises in helping rescued shifters. It seems that some bastards still think it’s okay to abuse shifters just because they have a different biology than humans!” She was clearly disgusted with the idea. So was Lowell but he said nothing. He thought about Purr. His tiger must have been terrified when these people came for him. He had no contact with any other people ever since Lowell rescued him. And when they came in all guns blazing the tiger must have thought they were Lowell’s father’s people. That’s what Lowell thought and that’s what they’ve feared for a long time. But the most important part was, that Purr was safe.

Lowell became aware that the nurse was talking to him. He was getting tired again and he felt his eyes close of their own volition.

“Hey, no sleeping yet.” The nurse scolded him gently and Lowell forced his eyes open. “Can you tell me your name, love? The best we could get about your identity was the head gardener’s statement that you were a new employee whom they just hired, but he couldn’t recall your name or address, nothing really. We couldn’t even notify your family, they must be worried, you were out for a couple of days now.”

“No family.” Lowell mumbled fighting sleep. “I’m Lo-Logan.” He corrected himself at the last moment. He did remember the kid they hired a few days before. He didn’t show up for work so they fired him again. Lowell was sure Harry; the main gardener knew it. But Harry was a shrewd old man who noticed more than he let on. He knew how much Lowell hated living in the mansion and how he wished to start a new life. Lowell needed to thank the man for his lie. “Logan Caldwell.” He finished, giving a false name and he couldn’t fight the sleep any longer. He let himself be pulled into a dark, dreamless void again, satisfied that Purr was safe and waiting for him somewhere. Just wait for me Purr! I’ll find you, no matter what!

Guess what? Here’s my new cover! It’s Thom and Ur’s story. You met them in “The Dragon’s Bard,” remember? So yeah, as you can imagine, Ur, the dragon, is the green-haired one. Like with the cover for “The Dragon’s Bard” Harris Channing caught the atmosphere of the book perfectly.

My week

 

So it’s Wednesday already. My week off passed I-have-no-clue-when. I went to bed one day and it was the beginning of my off time, I woke up and I need to go to work today. I’ve done virtually NOTHING of what I’ve had planned. Well, ok, that’s not entirely true. I did go to the doctor’s and registered there. Lucky me, it will take only two weeks to have my registration processed, yay! (yes, it was sarcasm.) I managed to fill out the cover questionnaire and send it back, I signed the contract for the book, I wrote a few thousand words into the third book in the series. But besides that?

I know it’s my problem, obsessively thinking of all the things I should have done and I haven’t. I know I need to let go. But it’s hard to change your entire way of thinking. I’ll try to look on the bright side, I swear! So:

I went for a long walk three times this week. (It’s an accomplishment because usually I spend almost entire off week home) I did some exercising. (and can feel it in my muscles) I met with a friend who’s going out of the country soon.

Hmm, when I think about it, I did quite a lot! (for me that is )

So in this cheery mood I’ll share some pictures with you!

		Just a walk VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

About short story and Ross.

I thought I’ll tell you more about the short story and how it came into being. This story is placed in Reality Series universe and happens, chronologically after Credo Quia Absurdum – book #3 in the series. It features characters that you’d have known from first three books and introduces some new ones. It also introduces a new plotline that I’ll use in next books.

I came upon an idea for this story when on a walk one day. I was passing by a charity shop and noticed a picture of a cat on a display. I thought it would be fun to draw a cat picture myself and wondered about inspiration for it. Then I remembered a photo of my cat, Neko, I’ve taken a while ago. In this picture she looks a bit like an owl. Here, judge by yourselves:

I know my brain works in mysterious ways. There was this moment when it did this weird flip: She’s an owl, she’s a cat, an owlcat!

And thus an owlcat was born. It didn’t take long (I had about three minutes left to get back home) for my mind to provide a whole background story as to why an owlcat even existed. From there the story spun mostly out of control. While writing it I’ve been surprised by my characters times and again. Tyler was afraid of Halloween? Who knew! There were more surprises but I don’t want to give you spoilers, so I’ll keep them to myself. I will tell you though, that Ross is going to be a permanent feature in Jason, Tyler and Toby’s lives.

I’ll post the next part of the story later today, for now I’ll show you the second picture that inspired Ross’s owlcat nature. This one I drew-painted myself from a reference picture.

It’s a Great Horned owl and its expressions remind me of those of a cat. Here’s another image from Google.

But seriously Ross’s appearance and behaviour is mostly based on my cats. I’ve had quite a few cats in my life and working with Ross was really fun