53 Results in the "Burned Cover" category
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Varn’s bustled with activity when Erika finally pulled up to the old arcade. The cramped parking lot out back didn’t even have room for her truck. Rick’s van took one spot, a smaller SUV took another spot, and the final parking spot was occupied by Leslie’s oversized truck. She had to park behind them, blocking them all in. Erika stepped out of her truck in a fresh outfit. A simple tank with black mesh layered on top, a short pleated plaid skirt, and some chunky platform boots. A long trench…-
197.8 K • Ongoing
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Erika wasn’t exactly sure how to broach the topic of the cursed sword with Rick. She wanted to break the curse as a little good deed, as a nice little thank you for giving her a place to lie low and, since then, a place to hang out—a little return for them helping her out when she needed it. She needed to figure out something for Anna as well, for putting Leah back together after the museum, if nothing else, but breaking a curse on a sword seemed like a good starting place and a good use of her…
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197.8 K • Ongoing
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“Heya,” Erika said, forcing a smile. “Who’s this?” Daniel walked up to Erika, where she was leaning up against the side of her pickup. He wasn’t alone. At his side, a girl who reminded Erika of a younger version of herself shuffled along. Not in that she looked like a smaller version of Erika, but that she seemed to be going through a phase that Erika had once visited during her middle school years. She wore a black dress with tiny white polka dots, dyed hair in short braids that rested…
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197.8 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
15 – i – The Warrior
Jasmine Vasila looked around the old laundromat. It was a dingy, depressing little hovel. Boarded up, barred windows were covered in a thin layer of paint: spray-painted symbols, tags, and other graffiti—all related to mundane gangs. An aged For Sale sign hung from the door, peeking out from under several other posters advertising everything from garage sales to fruit stands. Hardly a respectable meeting place. One day, Jasmine reminded herself. One day and we’ll be in charge. When that day came,…-
197.8 K • Ongoing
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“Morning, Mom,” Erika said, failing to fight off a yawn. Leah, fake or not, could put on an intense glare when she wanted. “Out all weekend. No calls. Texts ignored. Do you know how worried I was?” Probably would have been a whole lot more worried if you knew what I was up to, Erika thought as she rolled her eyes. That was the wrong move. A familiar look of anger crossed Leah’s face. That pinch of her lips and that slight twist of her mouth to the side, it was exactly as it always had…
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197.8 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
14 – Focus on What Can be Done
Two days into Erika’s second research project at the H. Finch Bibliotheca, and Erika felt like she was getting the hang of using antiquated methods of information retrieval. She hadn’t wanted to admit it to Anna, but she wasn’t just unfamiliar with the card catalog, the Bibliotheca was the first real library she had ever set foot in. Her school had a library, but she honestly couldn’t recall if she had ever been inside. Books just weren’t her scene. Why go dig through physical books when all…-
197.8 K • Ongoing
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The first Wednesday of December was a particularly cold and unpleasant day. Winter in Chicago was never pleasant, but a moist, westward wind dragged down what should have been a relatively mild day as it swept over the top of the lake. Cold air wasn’t supposed to carry much moisture, and yet, Erika still felt like she was being lightly glazed over with a layer of ice. Driving her pickup in these circumstances was among her least favorite activities. It was an old junker with rear-wheel drive and next…
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197.8 K • Ongoing
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“Why didn’t you text?” “No signal in this place.” Rick did not look happy with that response. Erika wasn’t all that happy with it either. The whole reason she had come here was to get a better feel for these ghost hunters… and to help out and maybe see something interesting, she supposed. Mostly, it was for evaluation. The fact that they had been out here for almost an hour without checking in didn’t bode well. Erika wasn’t all that happy to disparage her gender, but Rick seemed…
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197.8 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
12 - Visions Through the Veil
The middle row of the minivan’s seats had been removed, resulting in Erika sitting all the way in the rear. In place of the middle seat, a few racks were bolted to the floor, able to slide around for easy access from the outside when the side doors were open. Upon the racks sat an assortment of equipment. Some were electronic items: EMF readers, motion sensors, microphones with big dishes around them, video cameras of both digital and VHS varieties, flashlights, ultraviolet lights, Geiger counters,…-
197.8 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
12 – To Value the Time We Have
Erika sat at the kitchen counter of the Walker rental house. School was out, Thanksgiving was tomorrow, which left several days without her having to worry about pretending to care. She really should just stop going—having a GED meant she wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place—but it was a decent place to meet up with Daniel, hear gossip from Kassandra, and otherwise have some amount of normalcy in her life. She certainly wasn’t getting any normalcy here. Leah—and Erika was…-
197.8 K • Ongoing
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