Temple_GD_

[REND] 7.1 - Inhuman Besties

The pain was gone, but I remained bowed to the floor. My hand covered my chest and the artificial Core embedded into it. I could feel my self-inflicted wound heal around the small Core, flesh wriggling as it reformed itself.

This stupid, low...

[REND] 6.6 - Hero Wannabes, At Your Service

Amber Deen Leska

Amber Deen clenched her teeth. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as the stress piled.

What was that nonsense about being heroes? As if it couldn’t be more obvious that Dario said it just to convi...

[REND] 6.5 - Hero Wannabes, At Your Service

“So… are you guys with the Bureau of Interdimensional Defense?” I asked. Whatever story Dario would give, it wouldn’t be the truth. Not the complete truth, anyway.

“Not really,” Dario said. “We're under a different organization...

[REND] 6.4 - Hero Wannabes, At Your Service

“An artificial Core?” A few days ago, I was only concerned with law school, sweet treats, and movies. Now, there was bullshit like artificial Adumbrae and artificial Corebrings.

Was someone playing a prank on me? I wouldn’t be surprise...

[REND] 6.3 Hero Wannabes, At Your Service

Amber Deen Leska

Amber Deen was jolted awake by a sharp smell up her nose. It was like bleach, some strong cleaning product. She coughed and rubbed her nose, her mind spinning as she came to. Her eyelids were heavy as she op...

[REND] 6.2 - Hero Wannabes, At Your Service

Since Myra wasn’t human and was hanging out with other non-humans, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that her sister, Kelsey, was superpowered too. If so, it must’ve been Kelsey who fought the mutant on the train. Couldn’t have been too...

[REND] 6.1 - Hero Wannabes, At Your Service

“You’re here to save me—us?” I really needed to see the movie script because I had no idea what was going on. This guy must be with those attacking the place. But who were they?

Ski Mask—the numbing headache impaired my nickname-ge...

[REND] 5.6 - A Monster Among Monsters

My claws—I had freaking claws—breached the surface.

“What the hell is the?” That was my prey. My ears were still underground, but I heard him loud and clear. Not just his voice, but also his heartbeat began to hasten in fear...

[REND] 5.5 - A Monster Among Monsters

Well, she wasn’t exactly me. I am me!

This must be some Adumbrae mind trick to make me lower my guard or something. Not sure if it was working because she looked like a spooky version of me. Uncanny and odd. I didn’t feel any co...

[REND] 5.4 - A Monster Among Monsters

I pulled Deen back before Purple Mohawk’s fist connected with her face. Deen was too shocked to react. Purple Mohawk yanked out his arm and tore away the front part of our cage.

“You bitches think you’ve got me ensnared by your scheme?...

[REND] 5.3 - A Monster Among Monsters

“Yes, I’ll eat this brain,” Purple Mohawk replied, displaying a wild smile with perfect teeth. He scooped out a clump of brain with his knife—the mutant’s head wriggled a bit; I couldn’t be sure if it was still alive—and plopped the ...

[REND] 5.2 A Monster Among Monsters

Bruised Lover warily checked the floor of his cage with the tip of his foot. It had hardened. He exited his cage, stretching his arms and legs. “I’m not going down without a fight, you traitor to humanity,” he said. “If I win, if I take do...

[REND] 5.1 - A Monster Among Monsters

“I’m Mr. Firio, your host for the day.” Purple Mohawk walked forward, his boots splatting across the gore. “That won’t work, blondie,” he said, pointing at Deen’s phone, which she had gotten from her pocket. “I personally think tha...

[REND] 4.3 - A Memorial to Remember

Straight for five minutes. Then, left. Right, straight, another right after two minutes. I think we got on the flyover. Were we stopping for a red light? Didn’t we have another red light back there? This shouldn’t be the flyover near my condo....

[REND] 4.2 - A Memorial to Remember

My rowdy cousins, sons of Aunt Jemma, had a favorite expression—shriveling balls. They kept saying those stupid words when we rode a roller coaster. I had no idea how that’d feel like given I had no such body parts, but I could guess.

I ...

[REND] 4.1 - A Memorial to Remember

I never imagined I’d ever kill a person and go to their memorial service. What a funny string of events that led to this situation.

If only I could’ve gone on my own instead of with Deen. I had to attend the service; I’d come off as an...

[REND] 3.3 - Those Above the Law

I had been standing for twenty minutes, staring at the board and playing a tune in my head. “Sir, no one can legally bind superhumans who can grind cities to dust. I don’t think anyone can tell them to play nice. We’re just lucky that they d...

[REND] 3.2 - Those Above the Law

Deen and I arrived in class with five minutes to spare. Professor Gallagher wasn’t in yet.

Our classmates were huddled into groups, animatedly talking as if the lecture hall were a marketplace. Some of them were watching videos. I bet thei...

[REND] 3.1 - Those Above the Law

“Hmmm… My second day as a monster.”

Back and forth, back and forth, I stirred my cup of chamomile tea as I inhaled its relaxing fumes.

Don’t hit the sides, don’t hit the sides, I continuously chanted in my head, timi...

[REND] 2.4 - New Semester, New Me

It was faint, but I was sure I was hearing footsteps. I turned the corner to the right. The sounds continued, louder. Someone was following me.

Could this be my much-anticipated attacker? I veered left, into a dark alley to embolden this ass...

Feedback for REND rewrite blurb/summary

I'll resume writing REND in a couple of days. But before that, I'm also preparing the blurb/summary of REND for the rewrite. Blurb is very important because it (along with the title and cover) attracts new readers. I'll really appreciate it if you...

[REND] 2.3 - New Semester, New Me

Little Red Riding Hood? Did he call me that because of my hoodie? Though I liked the story of Little Red Riding Hood, I hated being called ‘little.’ If I were born elsewhere, like Asia or something, my height wouldn’t be considered ...

[REND] 2.2 New Semester, New Me

“Worse than a pus-filled pimple right on my nose,” I said. “Or not. I think I’ll take this growth over a pimple like that. Could an Adumbrae get a pimple?” I didn’t know the answer, but I knew this tiny crystalline lump wasn’t the la...

[REND] 2.1 - New Semester, New Me

“Hi, Mom,” I said, answering the phone.

“Erind, dear!” The phone wasn’t on loudspeaker, yet Mom’s strong voice reverberated throughout the corridor. “Thank goodness you picked up. I couldn’t contact you; I thought something b...

ExD - 5.23.20

I giggled. “That’s quite an insane line, you know? Like, I never imagined you’d ever say something like that to me when we became friends. I never imagined we’d ever do stuff like this either.”

“Oh, shut up.” Deen pouted. “I�...

ExD - 5.23.19

(Author's Notes: We'll have a couple of ExD chapters (been a while) and two REND chapters this week. Since we'll focus on the REND launch next month, I figured we'll ramp up ExD a bit now.)

“You want to eat me?” Deen grinned as sh...

[REND] 1.4 - Crappy Monday

Technically, I did mean to hit her. I wanted her off of me. But I didn't expect I had gotten this strong. Humans were pretty frail.

I snorted. Not even a few minutes as a monster, and I’m already using the cliche line.

Grabb...

[REND] 1.3 - Crappy Monday

The lonely echoes of my footsteps through the empty stairwell kept me company. I clutched my stomach with an arm, putting pressure on the wound. My blood dripped on the steps as I gripped the rails with my other hand, almost pulling myself up. My ...

[REND] 1.2 - Crappy Monday

Everyone was paralyzed by the unexpected scene.

Except me. My singular thought was, survive!

I bid my folded bike goodbye and rushed to the next train car, shifting my backpack to the front as a shield. I weaved through the pe...

[REND] 1.1 - Crappy Monday

I, Erind Hartwell, almost died on the day I got superpowers.

Good thing I didn’t or there’d be one less cute girl on this dirtball of a planet. Or maybe… the world wasn’t so lucky that I survived. But I’m getting ahead of ...