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.
The life of Cassandra True, a reporter recently hired
by the Morning Star, has lately been engulfed in the supernatural, ranging from
werewolves to a ghost to a deranged witch and her faerie minions. Perhaps the most mysterious is her new
acquaintance, Strephon, whom she has just discovered has even deeper secrets
than she imagined. But now she has
discovered that her roommate, Cecily, has become involved with vampires.
Cecily did not roll into the
flat, giddy and exhausted, until the far side of 3:00 am. She did not expect to see Cassandra sitting
on the couch waiting for her.
“You shouldn’t have waited
up,” Cecily said.
“I know.” Cassandra’s reply was dangerously quiet. Cecily realized that they were about to have
that conversation which begins “Cecily,
we have to talk.” She had been
dreading that conversation for days, and especially did not want to have it
now; not when she was so tired and after the night had otherwise gone so well.
“I suppose you went to the
Cyba-Netsu,” Cassandra continued. “Did
you have fun?”
“Yah.” Cecily could guess by the careful way
Cassandra phrased the question that it was a trap. What the hell. Get it over with.
Cassandra just gave her a
hard, long look, like she was trying to nerve herself to say something. Then she said it. “I was wondering. I know when you donate blood at the Red
Cross, they give you donuts afterwards.
What do you get at the Cyba-Netsu?”
Cecily’s hand darted to the
scarf around her neck. The accusation
veiled in the sarcastic remark felt like a slap in the face. Sandy didn’t usually do sarcasm, at least not
very well. Cassandra’s face reddened,
but she kept her relentless gaze on Cecily, daring her to deny it.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then show me your neck.”
Damn! Why did Sandy always have to make things
difficult? She didn’t want to have to
deal with this! She just wanted to crawl
into bed. Cecily felt herself growing
angry. She pulled off the scarf
defiantly and let it flutter to the floor.
“There! Are you happy?”
Cassandra bit her lip and
stared at the puncture marks on Cecily’s neck.
Any moment now, it would come:
the disapproval; the anger; the judgment; the disappointment. Well let it come.
“I’ve been worried about
you.” Cassandra’s voice was low, but it
was still a reproach. “I wish you had
told me.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
The two glared at each other
for a moment. At least Cecily glared;
she couldn’t tell exactly what Cassandra was thinking.
Finally Cassandra looked
away. “That’s too bad, because I have a
problem.” God, here it comes, she’s going to bring up the rent again, Cecily
thought. “You see, I just found out why
Strephon’s been lying to me, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’d like to ask a friend I can trust for
advice, but I’m not sure if I can trust her if she won’t trust me.”
Cecily wasn’t expecting
that. All the anger, all the
defensiveness, all the self-righteous mind-your-own-business-ness she had been
building up just oozed out of her. She
was tired. She just couldn’t maintain
it.
She sat down on the couch
next to her. Cassandra’s eyes were moist
with tears, but she was trying not to show it.
Cecily put her arm around her.
“Sandy, we have to talk.”
NEXT: Heart to Heart
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