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Chapter Nineteen
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2022-04-15 06:53:05Red poked her head up from under the covers, barely able to make out the annoying red numbers on her digital clock.
"Crap," she muttered. "Time to get up." 'Time to go deal with the dead,' she thought. Then the lump next to her began to shift and turn. 'I don't want to wake her,' Red thought, 'but I don't want her to come around and not know where I am.' So she reached over and turned on the light.
Jane's face was so peaceful as it pressed against the pillow. Red hadn't seen her that much at peace. Even when she had been spending a lot of her time unconscious after almost being killed (the act that had brought her to the Den in the first place), she had been restless. 'I'm just so comfortable,' she thought to herself. But it was time to get up. She slowly worked her way out of bed and started grabbing clothes.
"What . . . what time is it?" Jane asked groggily, opening one eye and noticing that it was annoying light in the room.
"Almost five in the afterno
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Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty
---------- ------------ An hour later . . . ---------- ------------ There was an air of unease around the central table and the adjoining bleachers as everyone settled in for the meeting. Jane sat quietly towards the back of the aluminum steps, planning on being a silent spectator of the proceedings. She was watching Red who was still in consultation with Tarloh as well as the shadow demon known as Johan. Jane hadn't spent much time with that particular trans-dimensional traveler, but Mindy and Anya assured her that he was a class act. "Okay people," Tarloh boomed, his voice as intimidating as his six-and-a-half-foot frame, "let's settle down. First things first. We lost six of our own yesterday, and there will be a service for them an hour after the meeting ends. So nobody goes running off. Now, we need to discuss what happened. The Hellspawn got too close and knew us too well. As many of you know, there are two ways this probably happened. The first is that they've been spying
Last Updated : 2022-04-25Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty One
Topside . . . Robbie had tried keeping things light, but Mindy had been pretty sour all evening. So Robbie and Chris had fallen back together and the redneck wereboar was trying to convince his counterpart why tractor pulls should be an Olympic sport. Jane was still in a mental gloom of her own, thinking back to the funeral service for the fallen Strays. It was the first time she had heard their names, and that was important to her. 'No one should die without someone remembering their name,' she thought. Mindy stormed out a personnel door of Springfield Memorial Hospital with a scowl on her face and a bag in her hand. "I hate flirting with orderlies," she practically spat. "You've got to let them get to second base before they'll take you to the supply room for a quickie. At least then," she added, "I get to knock them out." "Did you . . ." Jane started. "Yeah, I got everything on the list. That's all I'm good for apparently," Mindy bitched. She didn't notice Jane shirk away. Jan
Last Updated : 2022-04-27Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty Two
---------- ------------------ A little while later . . . ---------- ------------------ Jane couldn't believe how late it had gotten. She was sitting on Red's bed in a pair of flannel pajamas (with footys) that Mindy had finagled from their stores. Mindy had apologized for about an hour before she and Jane made peace with each other. Jane had donated almost all of her money to the Strays coffers, except for about twenty dollars, plus enough to buy Red a gift. She had picked up a candle that gave off three different scents as it burned its way down, all of them floral. "God, that's so stupid," she muttered. She hadn't bought a gift for anyone in a long time, and never for someone she was trying to form an intimate relationship with. "What's stupid?" Jane jumped, her braided hair swirling around and rearing up like eight individual snakes until Jane actually saw Red standing in the doorway. When she began to relax, her extra appendages relaxed. "My . . . uhm . . . I bought somethi
Last Updated : 2022-04-28Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty Two
---------------- ------------ Out in the Den . . . ---------------- ------------ Mindy was sitting on the edge of the lower platform, her feet dangling over the tracks as she gnawed on a bit of beef jerky. She heard and smelled someone approached from behind her, but she didn't turn to look. She was still feeling fairly annoyed at herself. "Want to talk about it?" Robbie asked, having a seat next to her. "Or would you rather mope some more?" Arthur added, sitting on the other side. There's nothing someone wallowing in self-degradation hates as much as someone else making fun of them for it. "Kiss off," Mindy muttered. "I think that means she wants to mope," Robbie said, leaning forward and looking at Arthur. It was Arthur's turn to lean forward. "But she did actually speak, which means she may want to talk about it, but in a hostile way." "Mope," Robbie reiterated. "Talk," Arthur countered. "Mope!" "Talk!" "Thumb wrestle to see who's right?" "Jolly good idea!" Both men e
Last Updated : 2022-05-01Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty Three
Jane was sitting by herself, trying very hard to get some food down before the night's activities. She could barely tie her shoes without having an emotional crisis, but she was supposed to go out into the world on her first "mission" to gather information. She felt good that she was going to have some "muscle" in the form of Chris, who wasn't in on the tracking party due to his lack of stealth. He actually had a really great nose when morphed out, but he was also a little slow on the trail. But Chris was as good in a fight as anyone in the Strays, and Red wasn't going to leave Jane unprotected. Mindy was getting pulled into the hunting party, so it would be Jane, Chris, Robbie and Anya that night. "Hey Jane," Mindy said, plopping down beside the younger woman. "Howdy," Jane replied, concentrating on her sandwich. Mindy just stared at her friend for a moment. "So, still mad at me?" Jane looked over at her, obviously confused. "Why would I be mad at you?" "For being a bitch yester
Last Updated : 2022-05-02Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty Four
----------- ------------------- Up on the rooftops . . . ----------- ------------------- Jane was peeking over the edge of an apartment complex at two familiar-looking forms, dressed in black suits, white shirts, gloves, and sunglasses with shaven heads. Jane could steel feel the cracking of her ribs when she had been hit by one of these things, and she grew almost nauseous as she remembered ripping one apart down in the Den, then beating another into a fine paste. One of them handed a small back to a young black man they were talking to, who handed them some money and then walked away. Jane wanted to go after the young man, telling him what an idiot he was for throwing his life away. 'Who are you to judge?' she asked of herself. 'You spent just as much time hiding from the pain of living . . . you just didn't use narcotics.' The two hellspawn grumbled between themselves for a minute and then headed down a side street before climbing into a luxury car with dark windows. Jane wishe
Last Updated : 2022-05-09Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty Five
------------ -------------------Several hours later . . .------------ -------------------Jane was practicing manipulating her Talent, swinging around the Den and perfecting fine manipulation skills with her hair when the hunting party returned. They were dirty, some of them seemed to have been cut and were bleeding, and all of them seemed pissed as hell.And the most pissed off of them was quite obviously Red. Jane found it harder than she imagined not to run over and hold the beautiful warrior in her arms, but good sense told her this wasn't the time. So she approached with caution.But while Jane was a whisper, Tarloh arrived with a bellow. "What the hell happened?" he asked.Red was almost growling. "Apparently, we got too close. We followed Jane's lead and were roaming the woods East of town. We saw power lines leading off, but no one knew of any business out in that area. We decided to investigate, and apparently, we tripped an alarm. We wound up in a fight, but they didn't se
Last Updated : 2022-05-11Midnight Strays Chapter Twenty Six
---------------- ----------------------- In another part of the Den . . . ---------------- ----------------------- "Hey big guy," Anya said, wandering over to Chris as the big redneck was sitting down for a midnight snack of beef jerky and Dr. Pepper. "Hello Miss Anya ma'am," the lycanthrope replied, standing up as she approached the plastic picnic bench he was using. Anya knew that if it was physically possible, Chris probably would have wandered around and pulled her chair out for her. "Mind if I join you?" "Not at all," he said. "Did you want me tuh get ya somethin' from storage?" "That's all right," she replied, holding up a banana and a bottle of water. "I'm not up for anything much heavier than this right now," she added. "Nervous?" "Not really. A little I guess. Tarloh's pretty worked up." Anya peeled her banana very slowly. "He won't say what he thinks it is that we're up against, and that's making it worse." "The boss knows what he's doin'," Chris replied. He was wat
Last Updated : 2022-05-16
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Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Nine ( ENDING)
--------------- -------------Six months later . . .--------------- -------------Jane leaned the broom up against one of the front windows of the Kwik-R Stop where she worked. It was a warm summer night, so she was able to clean up the parking lot without a jacket. She paused and ran her finger over her name pin, which was now done up in faux gold rather than the regular white plastic."Assistant manager," she muttered happily. The promotion only meant an extra dollar an hour, but it was still special for her. She had done a good job, and she had been rewarded. Of course, it also meant extra responsibility, but she didn't mind. It was good honest work. She still worked nights, but never alone. Her company insisted on having at least two people on graveyards. Her coworker for the evening was a pimply-faced college student named Earl, trying to save some extra money over the summer. He was a nice kid. He had tried hitting on Jane for a while befor
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Eight
------- --------------------A few hours later . . .------- --------------------The celebration was somewhat muted considering the circumstances. They had just narrowly averted an apocalypse of biblical proportions. Raptors and Strays mingled in the new Den engaged in numerous conversations. Most of them were genuinely pleased that there would be many more tomorrows for all of them. But not everyone was feeling relieved. Anya hadn't spoken to anyone since the battle. Neither had Red. She had collapsed shortly after Chaos had been banished. Fighting an Elder God, even in your head, was apparently an exhausting process.Jane and Robbie had been hovering over Red until she came too. Arthur had been called in to check on her, and several other allies followed along. Red had defied a god . . . they all wanted to know how."You okay?" Jane whispered when Red stared up at her, one eye beautiful green and the other eerie and red."No,"
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Seven
---------- -----------------------A few hours later . . .---------- -----------------------The crowd walked or glided in silence. Walking to the gates of Armageddon seemed to have a sobering effect. Lothar was staring deep into the Heaven's Eye. He'd wanted to be part of an adventure. He was beginning to wish he had nothing to do with it.Croc and Anya walked next to each other. Chris hadn't spoken to either of them since the accusation earlier, and it was eating Anya up. But she didn't know how to approach him, so she decided to wait until after this was all over.Red walked hand in hand with Jane. Red was almost ashamed to admit to herself that she felt relieved. She was just along for the ride on this one, and she had meant what she said. They would win or lose in a matter of moments. No more waiting and then, one way or the other, she would get some rest.Jane wanted to kiss the warrior goddess she had become so dependent
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Six
------------ -------------- Outside . . .------------ --------------Jane had no taste for battle. It piled up on her tongue and dripped from her mouth as bile. Yet she found herself suspended from two large trees, looking down at a pack of rat-like beings called . . . she thought Anya had called them caval. Their participation in this was also strange, as they were a race of scavengers. Something powerful had driven them to fight. Sometimes, Jane heard wings and cries from above as the Raptors fought for control of the heavens.She saw one of the rear caval vanish into nothingness. Croc had grabbed another victim and drawn it into his dimensional rift. The group turned and one of them was leveled by a float club. 'There's Anya,' Jane thought. She grimaced. It was her turn. Magical braids wielding heavy branches descended from on high, bludgeoning the unsuspecting creatures into a fine state of unconsciousness. 'They'll never get to Red,' she to
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Five
--------- ---------------A week later . . .--------- ---------------Robbie and Natasha were both cranky as hell by the time the Strays arrived at the slaughterhouse. They had gotten a message on Natasha's cell phone on where to go, but then her battery went dead so they couldn't call back. They had returned the car, taken cabs out to the nearest gas station and then hiked back in. Lothar got help carrying the heavy magical jewel all the way. His magical battle had taken a lot out of him. That, and not having ever been to this new Den before, prevented him from teleporting."They're back!" came a cry from a window as the weary travelers approached. Talia and Tarloh came sauntering out and embraced their friends, happy to see them all still alive. Robbie explained that the Raptors would be joining them that evening when darkness allowed them easier passage through the skies."This is big," Natasha said, "and they wanted to be here for it
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Four
--------- ---------------------Inside the building . . .--------- ---------------------"You didn't have to be quite so mean," Talia chortled."Yes I did!" Tarloh shouted, then got himself back under control. With a sigh, "If I didn't nip her path to martyrdom in the bud, she would've finally convinced herself that she really was useless and probably left the Strays to go on some damn fool . . . she would've tried to go and save the world by herself. I don't know if she or the Strays would've survived that. Especially not right now.""You really think she would've left?" Anya asked."The only thing that would've stopped her was Jane," Talia said, gripping Tarloh's hand. She knew he had been right. "I should've seen it coming. She's been on the verge of breaking down since she got back and found out what Robbie had done. Between dealing with him, dealing with Jane's problems and still trying to do her regular duties of keep ever
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Three
--------- -----------------------Twelve hours later . . .--------- -----------------------Red had only had a hangover once before in her life. She remembered suddenly why she didn't drink. But last time, she was pretty sure that the only symptoms had been nausea and a headache. This time, her entire body ached as if . . ."Wait," she mumbled. "I WAS in a fight." Bits and pieces of her night on the town were coming back to her."Red?" came a voice at the end of the bed. Jane had been reading and had fallen asleep again in a chair next to the bed. The younger girl quickly moved to Red's side."What did you do? What happened? What . . .""Red?" This time it was Talia at the mouth of the cave. "Good God girl, what the hell did you do last night?""I . . . went patrolling," Red said."By yourself?!" Talia said. "Dammit, that's just the kind of dumb-ass stunt your brother would pull!""I had
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty Two
------------ ------------------Back in Springfield . . .------------ ------------------Red was sitting back in the cave that she and Jane were going to share. She couldn't believe that the Strays actually owned the land they now stood on. Anya's career was on the verge of exploding (in a good way) again. A supermodel apparently rising from the dead had gotten some peoples' attention. Talia was also talking about going back to work as a crisis counselor to help make some money, and Jane was currently interviewing for a cashier's job at the closest gas station to where the slaughterhouse was located.She was looking around, trying to figure out how to make the cave more habitable and wondering if Jane might be more comfortable in the main building. But there was plenty of room for a bed and she knew she could build up the front and . . ."What am I doing?" she muttered. She was playing house . . . she was becoming the woman who stayed at
Midnight Strays Chapter Fifty One
". . . shit!" Robbie shouted. He, the Strays and the Raptors were fighting for their lives in the jungles of South America trying to capture a magical jewel called the Heaven's Eye from a maniacal shaman. The adversary conjured up a set of massive earth golems to aid his followers in the defense of the jewel, and all hell had broken loose. Robbie found himself lying on his back, scrambling to get out of the way of the descending foot of a golem before it crushed him like an insect.'If I let that thing step on me, Red will have my hide,' he thought absently. Then he felt hands on his shoulders and was pulled out of the way just before the foot came down."I'm not explaining to your sister that I let you get killed," Natasha said as she helped Robbie to his feet. She looked pissed. The Strays and Raptors were generally too fast for the golems but the golems were too tough to be readily destroyed. Most of the shaman's followers had been incapacitated or had run off,
