Humanity

            Bernie opened his eyes slowly, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. The smell of human waste flooded his nostrils and he jerked upright, his eyes quickly scanning the sewer tunnel around him for any signs of danger.

Stage 5. Acceptance

            Steven woke up face down on a pile of what looked like flattened cardboard boxes, and when he lifted his head he noticed that he was staring out of the doors of an open trash compactor.

The Ware house

            Timeaus’ hands were shaking so badly that he couldn’t keep the desk from rattling beneath them. He pulled them back and pressed them together in his lap, trying to focus on the folder of information that Achan had just set on his desk.

            “How bad is it?”

...into the fire

            Timeaus’ hands were shaking so badly that he couldn’t keep the desk from rattling beneath them. He pulled them back and pressed them together in his lap, trying to focus on the folder of information that Achan had just set on his desk.

            “How bad is it?”

into the mess

            The order to move out came at two the next morning, and when Christie was shaken roughly awake from where she had dozed off on the backseat of a Humvee, she found herself staring into the familiar, yet unwelcome face of Chevalier. He looked much improved from when she had seen him the night before, but that was a bit like saying that a car wreck looked better with the mangled corpses removed.

and now....

The votes have been tallied and we have our contest winners!
but you'll have to click after the break to see just who they are....

Origins...

            From where he lay on the ground, Roland could see carrion birds circling, nimble as angels on the evening breeze. His eyes tracked them intently, and, despite the small trickle of blood that ran from the corners of his mouth, he managed a smile. 

Chapter Twenty Seven

                  David awoke in the hospital with an intravenous tube in his arm and his limbs restrained. Groggily he became aware of his surroundings. He could also see the silhouette of a uniformed policeman through the vertical glass window that every hospital room door seemed to have. Greta was sitting in the bedside chair, her eyes bloodshot and tired.

Roland is hungry

            The buildings shuddered as they began to collapse, the fire eating away at their foundations quicker and cleaner than any termite. Main street was illuminated as brightly as the noon sun, the light a much more beautiful amber than the hated ball of plasma had ever produced, and it was enough to make Dinah tremble from head to toe.

Steven's Adventure

            Steven found himself on the main street of Liberty Cross without much of an idea of where he was headed or what he should do. It had been a good four hours since he had last seen Bernie, and he had begun to accept that he probably wouldn’t see him again.

            The city looked about how he had expected it to, and in his overwhelmed, terrified mind he kept repeating the reports from a local physician named Dr. Wagner that he’d familiarized himself with like a mantra.

Contest!

First Official Pumpkin Productions Contest Rules
Applications: Monday, June 9th- Monday, July 7th
Ruling: July 16th

Official Rules
Take a picture of yourself reading a book in a bizarre place. Examples include reading a book in a boxing ring, deep sea diving, while fighting crime, et cetera (don’t use those, those are ours). The photo will be judged on a scale of one to ten by composition, style, lighting, creativity and originality with a total possible perfect score of fifty points. Entrees can be individual or group, however if it is a group piece that must be stated upon submission.

Christie Come to Town

            Christie had never been on a sanctioned field assignment before, and she had to admit that it was a lot more reassuring to be going into a potentially dangerous situation with a group of armed agents.

Hey man, nice shot

            The houses were quiet. They had been the last holdouts, the last beacons of light in the otherwise penetrating and profound darkness. Now, the lights had gone out, the doors hung open off of their hinges like open mouths and the screams that had punctuated the last few nights fell eerily quiet.

Director Franks had stomach ulcers

            Director Franks had stomach ulcers, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Dyspepsia, migraines, anxiety and his hair had gone white prematurely before falling out completely. He had always been a thin man, but since taking the job as Director of the FBI, he had lost a significant amount of weight due to his lack of sleep and the amount of stress that was put upon him. However, according to Fawn Carpenter, his secretary who had been there since J. Edgar Hoover was instated, he was actually holding up better than most of the Directors who had sat in his chair.

5th State of Affairs

            The CDC had carefully set up a base of operations just outside of Liberty Cross consisting of four large tents that were specially designed to be antimicrobial. The operatives on call were all armed to the teeth with tools to kill germs: they all wore sealed suits, carried heavy duty sanitizer and scrubbed down at every opportunity in order to combat disease on almost every level. What they hadn’t counted on combating, however, was Mordecai.

Chapter Twenty Six

            For years, Billy had been arranging his files into neatly organized folders and he programmed quick links so that all David had to do was click on the name of the victim or a link to a particular website.

            David typed in “Robert Cosworth” and the search came back with over one million possible references. The assistant helped David refine his search to “Robert Cosworth, Virginia Beach,” and sixteen articles emerged that discussed the man’s testimony in the Richland case. David continued to scroll downwards until the third page where he clicked on a headline that reported the death of Hailey Cosworth.

Christie chats with Chevalier

(the video is not safe for work, at least Ozzy's riling the crowd isn't, but that's okay because we do love Ozzy- the managment)

            Christie sat down behind her computer and instantly cradled her aching head in her hands, thankful that Agent Thomas was under the impression that she was at home and not hiding in the basement after hours hard at work. The machine whirred slightly as it started up and just as she opened her eyes to begin reviewing the data from ARC when she suddenly froze, all of her instincts screaming at her that she was not alone.

Chapter Twenty Five

            David’s eyes scanned the pier as he searched for Robert Cosworth.  He was hoping that his five hour drive from Philadelphia wasn’t a waste of time and that the information in the police data base was accurate. Near the farthest point from the shore, David spotted a man in a floppy hat, a fishing vest, and sandals casting off the pier.

            “I wouldn’t have taken you for a fisherman, Robert.”

Steven & Bernie ( or odd couple's outing)

            Steven stretched and accidentally elbowed Christie in the ribs. She sputtered awake with an indignant glare and he laughed and scooped her up into his arms, “I’m so sorry! I’m not used to having someone in bed with me.”

Chapter Twenty Four

“The dungeon” was a place where substandard or disciplined police officers were sent when they ran afoul of their superiors or openly expressed their discontent with the real crime television shows. The cramped and dingy space occupied by these detectives had become a point of pride. They had their own space and answered to very few. If a bright light was shown on these men they would have recognized that they’re structure resembled that of an organized crime family. It was to the dungeon David went when he was truly frustrated with a case.

Le Minuit Chambre

            Le Minuit Chambre was more silent and tomb-like than usual, and the many servants of the Countess walked the hallways with terror in their step. For the few humans who served the dark lady, the feeling of deep consternation and scopaesthesia was simply the lay of the land, and yet since the visitor from abroad had appeared at the Countess’ side, the feelings had grown into a cacophony of dread.

Danielle

            Danielle was walking back down the long hallways of the hospital, her mind far away as she did so. It was the eve of her death all those years ago and despite her youthful appearance she was beginning to feel quite old.

Out of the Bayou

            Tisiphone looked up expectantly as Ixchel walked out to the living room of the small house that she’d been waiting in for the past few hours. The living room had a wide closet that connected via iron stairs to the system of disused sewer tunnels that functioned as the Ge-Rouge’s daytime travel network, and it was through this door that the fierce, tattooed revenant had emerged just as the last few rays of the sun had melted into the calm grey of dusk.

Liberty Cross

            Roland stepped out of the eighteen-wheeler and waved to the burly man with a terrible case of gout who had picked him up a few hours back. The man leaned towards the empty passenger’s seat and grumbled, “You sure you want to be dropped off here?”

            The vampire in the Hawaiian shirt glanced over his shoulder towards the rusted and nearly unrecognizable sign on the side of the road. The lights of the truck illuminated only a small portion of it, but Roland could easily make out the words “Welcome to Liberty Cross.”

Timeaus and Chevalier

            Achan met Timeaus at the door of the office, and before the latter had even opened his mouth to say hello, his second in command snarled, “Our French visitor is upstairs.”

FBI (XXX)

Nope not safe for work, not safe at all- the management

FBI and the CDC sitting in a tree

       I honestly don’t know what I’m looking at,” Christie said as she glowered over Taylor Caussyn’s shoulder at the spreadsheet that her Deputy Director was typing away at, “Which is really pathetic, considering that I was the one who wrote this program.”

Ol' Papa

            Timeaus stared at the crumbling mausoleum in front of him and looked over at Ol’ Papa. The vampire king of the Bayou titled his head to gaze back front under the brim of his hat and he grinned at him, “You aren’t afraid of dead people, are you?”

Dinah

            Roland stood at the edge of the Mississippi River, his vision blurring slightly as the thousands of tons of water surged past him lazily. It had been many decades since he had crossed over the river, and even though he had hitchhiked to Cape Girardeau from Las Vegas, he now stood paralyzed in front of the great twisting snake of water.

Chevalier is pissed

            Chevalier awoke on a low couch inside what looked like a corporate lounge with a panoramic window that overlooked the lights of the city. He sat bolt upright, and fought to steady the surge of madness that tore through his psyche, a hideous reminder of the toll that traveling across the ocean had taken on him.

Chevalier Arrives

            It was unnaturally cold for early fall, and even though the sun had set hours ago, the inside of the hanger was illuminated as brightly as a field at a football stadium.  Christie folded her arms across her chest and scowled, noting as she looked at her watch that even though she’d arrived at nine the plane had yet to appear three hours later.

Trouble in Vamp town

            Timaeus stared at the video that had been linked into an email for him from the very last person that he’d been expecting to hear from. Despite the distance between them and the years they’d spent away from each other, Timeaus half expected to feel the rasp of metal-tipped fingernails on his throat.

The Friendly Ghost

Danielle Marroquin skipped down the hallway of the Sacred Heart Hospital of Minneapolis, seemingly unaware of how frail she really was. Her once round, rosy cheeks were sunken and hollow, the skin pulled tight across her bones and deathly pale, her wide, laughing eyes the only thing still bright and vibrant about her.