Saturday, February 1, 2014

Dark Redemption chapter 32: Psychology 101

Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and picturesque facade of the City of Redemption lies another city; a community of dark and ancient magic populated by creatures of the night. Dark Redemption is a shared-world novel based on an online role-playing game by James Crowther.

Cassandra True, a reporter for the Daily Oracle, has been offered a job with the prestigious Morning Star by owner Simon Knox. Her friend Strephon MacKenzie, who unbeknownst to her is a semi-immortal half-fae, knows that Knox is a sorcerer allied with the sinister Lord Melchior, and tried unsuccessfully to dissuade her from taking the job.

"So what did you do?" Cecilie asked, leaning over the table with greedy ears.

"What did I do? Why, walked out on him, of course!" Cassandra said, indignantly.

"Is that all?"

"Well... I also broke a carton of eggs over his head."

Cecilie giggled. "You didn't!"

"He deserved it! Can you imagine the gall of that man?"

Cecilie straightened and took a sip of her tea. "He's obviously mad about you."

"Mad, I will grant you."

"Seriously. He's clearly suffering from feelings of inadequacy due to his disability, you as much as said so. On top of that he has a big load of angst over his wife's death. So he's built up these defense mechanisms to seal off the rest of the world. But now his feelings for you are starting to overcome those defenses and so automatically responds by acting like a horse's arse."

Cassandra gave her roommate a bland stare. "This from the girl who barely passed psychology."

"I know men," Cecilie insisted. "Trust me."

"So he's either an emotional basket case or a jerk. Either way, I'm better off without him."

Cecilie arched a cynical eyebrow. "Right. And you don't have any feelings for him yourself?"

"Pul-leeze, Cecilie! He's just another in a long line of relationships that just didn't work out. I'd rather just forget all about it."

Cecilie jumped up from the table. "Then what you need, girl, is a night out."

"What?"

"A night on the town is just the thing. Have some fun; have some drinks; meet some guys. You'll forget all about Steven."

"Strephon," Cassandra corrected.

Cecilie smiled. "Ri-i-i-ght. No feelings for him at all."

Cassandra colored and reached to grab her coat. "Let's go," she said.

NEXT:  The Spirit is Willing

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