Chapter 3.06 – This Secret

Caleb had learned that searches were not limited. But that was all he’d learned. He rubbed his aching temples and closed his eyes, resting for a moment from the flickering images before him. How did humans look at these things all day?

Frustration was starting to get the better of him. He had not been able to find Faith; that search had only brought up definitions of the word and pictures of sunlit crosses, that tickled his memory but he couldn’t think why.

His second search, this time for ‘plasma fruit’, had yielded some unusual results, from what he gathered was an alternate universe. None of the results seemed like they had any grounding in reality, and looking at them had caused a strange feeling of self-awareness that had caused his brain to do somersaults.

Finally, searching for ‘vampire cure’ had thrown up all sorts of weird results; he was no expert, but he doubted that rubbing garlic behind his ears would help. And drinking the blood of his sire was never going to be able to happen.

Whatever the magic was that powered this machine, it wasn’t particularly impressive.

He paused in a rather strange place that may have very well offered a cure for vampirism, but he couldn’t click anything on it unless he ‘logged in’ and he had no idea what logs had to do with anything. He drummed his fingers idly on the counter, wondering what to do next.

Perhaps he’d search for Seth? Yes, that seemed like a plan, but as he moved back to the search box to type his new query, he hesitated. Would Wyatt be able to tell that he’d searched for Seth? Would Sage? Lilith’s overriding instruction rang through his mind: keep your bloody mouth shut.

As with most things his sister told him to do, Caleb wasn’t really sure why he wasn’t allowed to acknowledge the existence of other vampires. But if the last month had shown him anything, it was that he should always listen to Lilith. He hastily abandoned his search and scrolled down the screen instead, bored, passing one request to ‘log in to view’ after another, until something caught his eye:

Hot women in *your area* want to chat to you!

They do? Caleb paused. He certainly hadn’t searched for that. He felt a hit of intense pride; it was another good sign, evidence of the progress he was making since being with April. He was in control of his lust now, choosing his opportunities carefully and finding outlet safely. He was sure that if he embraced this weakness, he wouldn’t inadvertently transfer it to his beautiful, little vampire wife.

And it was going great so far; Roxie had been a lot of fun and he hadn’t killed her! Plus, he’d been sitting in front of this thing for over an hour and searching for random ladies in the area hadn’t even once crossed his mind…

But now he couldn’t think of anything else.

He tapped his foot nervously. He stared at the stove, but his eyes kept wandering back to that tempting message. There are women in here, it teased him. Women who want to chat to you. He diverted his attention back to the search bar, trying desperately to think of something, anything to type to take him away from this page, but his vocabulary only seemed to consist of two words: hot women.

Now was not the time to be lusting after women, he reminded himself. Lilith would be calling any minute.

But… if they only wanted to chat, what harm could that do?

It could be an experiment. Lilith loved an experiment. He could show her that yes, he could control himself. He could simply ‘chat’ to women. He could prove that he had changed; he wasn’t just an unthinking, heartless, womanising rat. He was in control.

Caleb confidently ran through a few polite introductions in his head as he moved the little arrow from the search bar over to the text box. He did a double-take as the words vanished on his approach to be replaced by an image. A moving image of a woman beckoning him with her finger.

He could tell from her provocative pose that she was definitely a woman, and she was definitely hot as evidenced by her scant garments, yet Caleb felt duped.

She didn’t look like she actually wanted to chat.



He had scoped the layout in their prey’s head, checking carefully for any pitfalls in his precarious plan, so Seth’s reaction was rather muted when he unlocked the front door and strutted into his new penthouse. He tossed the keys into a bowl in the hallway, chipped from a history of being subjected to this very action, and waited for Faith to catch up.

His fledgling’s response was every inch his counter. Faith’s eyes were like saucers as she’d approached the building and had almost fallen out of her head when the pair had taken the private elevator to the penthouse suite. Faith had spent ten minutes on the landing outside the apartment, fawning over the gold tiles and a statue of something abstract Seth couldn’t identify.

As she stumbled into the hallway, Seth closed the door behind her and followed her as she ran from room to room, screeching and hollering in glee.

He followed her into the bedroom where she had stopped flitting and was admiring the view from the excessive number of windows that, as well as impressive, were certainly helping to soothe Seth’s claustrophobia.

“I take it this is suitable?” Seth asked with a wry smile as he snaked his arms around Faith’s waist. She melted back into him; her smile broad but her response typical.

“It’ll do.”

It’ll do,” Seth mimicked. “There is a goddamn pool in here, Faith.”

“Only a small one,” Faith teased. “Besides, you know I can’t swim.”

“All the more reason to get in,” he joked. “One less pain in my neck.”

“Don’t pretend that you wouldn’t miss me,” Faith hit back. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be sobbing in a forest afraid of your own shadow. You owe me.”

He raised an eyebrow, spun her to face him and gestured around the room. “I owe you?”

Faith smiled devilishly. “It’s a step up from the cabin, I suppose.”

“You can see the whole city from here.”

“Only because there are no curtains,” she pointed out, lifting the peak of his hat. “Half a pool and no curtains. The view is great… for the neighbours.”

Seth stifled a laugh, glancing at the balconies visible in the distance. He didn’t need to spot the distant glint of a telescope to know that the previous occupant of this apartment was a exhibitionist. Oh, what people would do for a thrill.

Faith followed his gaze and smiled back at him. “You like the sound of that don’t you? You dirty old man.” She inclined her head towards the bed; that familiar impish glint in her eyes telling him that she was game.

“Five minutes,” he muttered, rolling his eyes. “We’ve been here five minutes.”

“What can I say?” Faith purred, dragging her fingernails along the back of his neck prompting him to shudder. “My body is hard-wired to respond when it sees a passably attractive man next to a bed.”

“Or any remotely flat surface,” Seth joked. “Or any man, for that matter.”

Far from her usual rebuff, mock outrage or even genuine outrage, Faith’s manner changed. She growled, grabbing a fistful of Seth’s hair and clamping her nails firmly into his scalp.  

“Are you mocking me, boy?” she asked.

For a moment, Seth had no words. No reaction. Frozen on the spot as a thousand grisly, similar events flashed before his eyes.

No, ma’am.  

He cleared his throat, shoved her away, focused through the smoke to see Faith grinning at him. “Don’t call me that,” he managed.

“Call you what?” Faith asked. “A passably attractive man? OK, Mr. Sensitive.”

“No,” he said with irritation. “Don’t call me boy.”

The fledgling blinked at him; her own face as annoyed as his. “I didn’t,” she replied, flummoxed. “Bloody hell, don’t tell me you’re deaf as well as fucking mental.” She walked over to the bed and threw herself on to it. Seth watched her, expecting her to disappear into a billowing cloud of plush pillows but instead heard a distinctive crack.

“Oof,” she groaned, rubbing her bottom. “That’s firm.”

Still confused by Faith’s changing demeanour, Seth stood at the foot of the bed scanning her face as she thumped the bed into submission. She writhed on the sheets, making exaggerated noises of pleasure even as she grimaced. She appeared as immature as she ever did.

Had he misheard?

Was he, as she so eloquently put it, fucking mental?

He sensed her body still and she fell silent, gazing up at him, biting her lip, making him realise he’d been staring at her. Or rather, through her, but that nuance didn’t appear to register in her lustful haze.

“See something you like?” she cooed, kicking off her shoes in a manner that would have been seductive, had the second one not circled back and knocked over a vase. He laughed.

“I do,” he admitted before he could edit himself, much to her satisfaction and his chagrin. Faith licked her teeth and patted the bed beside her, an invitation.

“Good,” she purred. It’s about time.



Lilith was taking the long way back to the village. The morning sun burned her retinas and made her skin feel tight and dry, but she preferred feeling like the early stages of a raisin to being in Sage’s company. Part of her wanted to rush back; to be there when Sage landed, to intervene when Melinda asked a hundred questions and to lie through her teeth when the girl no doubt told Sage all about Seth and that he definitely had a long and complicated history with the Vatores.

But the other part of her was so exhausted by it all. Her intentions were good so how had things gone so badly? She considered diverting completely off course, finding a nice spot to lie down where she could surrender herself to the sun. It would probably take a week or so before she completely dried to ash, and hell knows how many bugs and critters would have bothered her by that point. Not to mention how bored she’d be, waiting for the end to come.

She dragged her feet a little further, spiralling steadily closer to the walled village square. In three hundred years, the paths had barely changed; a labyrinth of dirt tracks, broken signage and endless shrubbery, that had caused many a traveller over the years to lose their way. Travellers who saw no threat from the young woman who would conveniently appear to guide them, and who would greet her with a smile.

Hunting in Forgotten Hollow had never been the same. Nobody went to Forgotten Hollow to explore, no one got lost travelling through it; humans and vampires alike throughout time immemorial had gone there for one reason and one reason only – to disappear. They would roll their dead eyes in Lilith’s direction and simply submit to fate.

The only thing worse than feeding from the world-weary husk of a human, was living with a vampire who had just fed from one.

Lilith approached the riverside and gazed out over the twinkling surface allowing the sounds of the flowing water to rinse her mind of yet more dark thoughts and weighing up her options.

She would head back to the apartment; face the music. Sage would no doubt want to interrogate Melinda without Lilith present, befriending the girl in that sickly-sweet, sly way she did and wheedling out what she knew, but perhaps there was some time. Sage was all about her family, both biological and spiritual. April being a relative and being unwell could possibly override any desire to wring Melinda. And while Sage tended to April, perhaps Lilith could convince Melinda to stay quiet, too; convince her that omission was in everyone’s best interests. After all, Melinda knew better than most how family bonds meant nothing to the will of the curse.

Lilith pulled the head off a flower and threw it into the water. Sage wouldn’t try to keep Lilith at the apartment indefinitely – she wasn’t that foolish – but she was unlikely to let Caleb go, bound as he was, to April.  Lilith would have to trick Sage to let Caleb leave the apartment; her brother could flee in a heartbeat with April over his shoulder given half a chance, but of course Sage wouldn’t give him half a chance. She’d rather blow up a bloody house in broad daylight than lose her insurance.

Sage might be confident in her ability to blindside the coven, but Lilith knew that eventually, she would be forced to prove that she was the formidable vampire hunter she pretended to be. Which was laughable when one considered that there was only one vampire Sage Harper had ever been trying to find and, almost three centuries after her vow to her mother to do so, she was no closer to finding her father.

And so that will remain, Lilith thought as she approached the town walls.

This secret is going to the grave.

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26 thoughts on “Chapter 3.06 – This Secret

  1. Alright! First off, I got here from the home page, but the chapter index doesn´t seem to link to this one yet?

    Anyway. …pssssh. Two things about Caleb. Firstly, him trying to prove how he is in control while he is very obviously not is kind of funny. He really isn´t even aware of it, is he? Second, I´m pretty sure trying to keep this whole thing for himself is a bad idea. I wonder how likely it is that him doing that is exactly the reason why April doesn´t even wanna kiss him right now. Especially after Lilith described a bond that has been left to merge naturally, I feel like trying to force a polarization is about the worst thing you can do.
    Also – whoa, there. Interesting to think about if “alternate realities” is Caleb´s way to think about fantasy and made up stuff, or if the description is actually pretty fitting. The mysterious mention of a feeling of self-awareness makes me think maybe the more literal meaning is applicable in which case that would be really cool.

    …and I think I´m immediately angry at Faith again. I´m only unsure as to which level of angry would be suitable. The fact that she is so enthusiastic about the apartment is kind of natural. That she won´t find it in herself to acknowledge that, even though she can´t really hide it at all… well, that really spoils the cheer, even though I guess I get that too. She´s just trying not to show a weakness, it´s hard to stop being that way. The fact that she tries to play the “you owe me” angle… well,t hat puts her right back into bitchy territory, even though Seth plays that game too, so he can´t really complain, I guess. But. There is a big, big exclamation mark above my head that jumped up the moment Faith denied calling Seth “boy.” *narrows eyes* Did she decide to do that when she saw Seth´s reaction to it? Is she actively trying to make him think he´s going crazy? Like he would be lost without her? Because if she is… well, it would suddenly be very debatable which one of them plays dirtier, wouldn´t it? Even without the bias I openly admit to. 😉

    Oh-ho. Reminiscing about the good old days, Lilith? About the times when you weren´t actively starving yourself? Careful, there…
    Also. Is Lilith trying to tell me Sage is actually not a hunter at all? Or… may it be that she did… “dispose” of vapires she found while not actively trying to?
    And I´m very baffled by this secret. Like… it seems Lilith had some dealing with the rogues. That the rogues are the reason why she is trying to keep the secret, but that´s not any sort of an answer. Did she promise she would to the leader, for whatever reason? I´m so confused? XD

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    1. Thanks! Have fixed it.

      Caleb is totally in control. Totally. Yep. Oh yeah, it’s a bad idea. Every idea he has is a bad one. I hope this doesn’t burst your bubble too much, but there is no alternate reality – in the story anyway. It’s confusing enough as it is with the alternate memories. Caleb saw what I saw when I searched for ‘plasma fruit’ – lots of posts about the Sims 4.

      Ooh, so much anger. Faith is definitely a tough one but you’re spot on; she doesn’t want to show a weakness and that leads to a whole lot of front being put up. Ah, how a scene can turn. Who is gaslighting who?

      You have a bias? You should’ve said. 😉

      Dying here. 😆 You’re so keen to get Lilith back on that slippery slope, ain’t you? But hey, she thinks about the past a lot, doesn’t she? Maybe she’s considering it. Yes, Lilith is telling you exactly that; Sage is not all that she seems.

      Lilith had some sort of deal with the rogues, but don’t expect her to disclose that, at least not yet. Wouldn’t be a secret if we outright told you, would it?

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      1. You´re most welcome!

        Awh, poor Caleb. It´s kind of horrible, when I think about it, being stuck forever without the ability to learn to function independently. I mean, I know it happens to people too, for other reasons. But for Caleb to have been made this way makes it worse. Silas, you jerk. -.-
        Nah, no bubble bursting. XD It´s a fun way to say it, anyway. XDD

        Ye-p. I get why Faith´s being kinda desperate, really. I mean, it´s not like she /isn´t/ in danger of loosing any attention she can get from Seth – her concerns seem valid enough. The fact that the way she goes about trying to deal with it makes me want to punch her in the face… well, honestly, that´s my personal point of view talking. *wide shrug*

        *grinning* Do I even have to be keen? I mean, without her precious surgery waste and with her mind powers almost gone, is there really any way for her to avoid getting back on that slope? Maybe so long as she stays with Sage, but then she´s the one keen on not sticking to that solution… the way I see it, in this situation, the only thing left for me is to get my popcorn and keep an eye out for the tells. ;D
        Oh wow, well now. That would… probably not go over well then, if the coven was to find out. :O Then again, if Sage inherited a lot of Seth´s bluffing skills… maybe that isn´t that much of a threat. If not though… then I guess that´s another wildfire on the horizon.

        Oh, sorry. Those were very much rhetorical questions. XD Of course I would not expect to be just told. Tee-hee… but you know, Lilith… secrets do have this nasty habit of surfacing /eventually/… often at precisely the worst possible moment. …just sayin.´ *hums innocently*

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        1. Yeah, Silas, you jerk. Hey, if you feel like punching any character in the face, you feel free to.

          Lol at surgery waste. Yes, what is Lilith going to do to survive now? Probably go and start a new surgery, in a new town, maybe with a new name and forget this whole thing happened? Or will she finally pursue this fruit? Go mad and feed off random townies? Decisions, decisions. Enjoy your popcorn.

          A wildfire? Secrets resurfacing? nah, all smooth sailing from here, surely. 😉

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          1. I might. I would threaten throwing some garlic at her but, eh… I´d rather have some hash browns. I´m sure I can find a few leftover potatoes somewhere around here. ;p

            …and leave Caleb with Sage? That goes both for a new practice /and/ a hunt for the fruit unless, of course, Sage could be /motivated/ to find the bloody thing. If she even can at all. When it comes to Sage, I´m with Lils on the “no, thank you” boat. …which gives me a new perspective on the whole secret thing, thinking about it like this. Sage /is/ bad news. Maybe this whole thing /would/ be better left buried. …but then, it´s not just about Sage anymore, is it. There´s Wyatt, too. …!!! Yeah, actually. Now it kinda occurred to me that… There´s Wyatt and then there´s April who is Seth´s descendant and somehow vampy married to, what… his kinda adoptive son? I mean, Seth and Lils were a thing long enough, weren´t they? When Caleb was growing up? Pffft, the fates sure have a wicked sense of humor. XDD

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            1. It’s actually been surprisingly quiet on the potato front. But mmm, hash browns…

              Lilith can quit Caleb any time she wants, she tells me. Especially if she knows that he’s safely tucked up somewhere, unable to cause any trouble. Therefore, she has absolutely no excuse not to go looking for this fabled fruit if Caleb’s trapped with being looked after by Sage. I’m sure Lil’ll be strapping on her rucksack and heading out on her mission very soon.

              No, you’re right. This is bigger than Sage/Seth. Now there is a whole family tree to consider, if Lilith is so bothered. Oh, Seth; you were so close to finding your actual family, you were sitting right across a table from one of them who was totally willing to get to know you, and you completely discounted her.
              Haha, yeah don’t think too deeply about the dynamics of the vampire’s non-blood relationships. Seriously, my game has been played for so long now that I have reached a point where almost everyone is at least loosely related; trying to find someone to marry, vampirically or otherwise, is a minefield. 😆

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              1. Oookay, I´ll be rooting for Lils on her quest, then. ;D

                Hehe, yeah. I guess Caleb and April might get their heads hurt a little if they ever figure it out, but vampire relationships are just… different anyway, aren´t they, what with the fact they can´t have children of their own.

                Also, thinking more about this whole thing, I guess it might be possible that Seth accidentally hurt Angeline… but I feel it more likely that Kitty did out of jealousy. Which would´ve made Seth blame himself anyway, more likely than not, but…
                And as for the hints. Oh… shoot. Yeah. Something tells me Faith and Angeline don´t exactly have much in common now, do they. And if this goes the way I think it does… then it doesn´t even matter much if it´s Faith actively causing this on purpose or if it´s all in Seth´s head, he´s in huuuuge trouble, anyway. OwO

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                1. Ooh, another theory. I think I’ll start a ‘what happened to Angeline?’ theory list. So, Seth killed her, accidentally or otherwise, Seth hurt her and now Kitty killed her out of jealousy. No one thinks she’s alive then? Oh.

                  Faith and Angeline do not have a lot in common, no. Do you think you’ve got it? 🤭😇

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                  1. I mean… Sage is super old even for a witch. We can hardly expect her mum to still be alive, even if nothing bad happened to her, ech? Unless “killed by vampires” reads “turned” which… is another possibility, I guess, no matter how unlikely (because who would and why? A person who liked her would know she´d make a rubbish vamp and not do that to her, and a person who hated her would want her out of the way, gone and forgotten.)

                    I think I may have gotten at least as far as “what Seth´s corruption is.” Or, from the other side, why Kathryn chose him, out of all the food. I can almost imagine her going “this… I can work with this.” Honestly, I should have realized earlier, he drops hints constantly. XD

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                    1. Well, Melinda ended up as a vampire and she’s pretty rubbish at it, so never say never.

                      They do all drop hints constantly. I’m surprised no one has it by now but maybe they do, and they’re just being super stealthy. 🤔

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  2. Did Caleb get The Sims 4 game results when searching for the plasma fruit keyword? 😏 That would totally explain his utter confusion.
    I’m starting to secretly will Lilith to stop trying to stay in control and just let things happen. It’s impossible to stop a torrent. She would be less wound up too if she let events unfold the way the universe obviously want them to.
    The last picture of Caleb was priceless.
    I can’t imagine what a meeting between Seth and Sage would look like. Maybe it would be less climactic than we think. Or it could be Seth’s ultimate undoing which I might actually enjoy.

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    1. Ha! He did. He saw exactly what I saw when I did all those searches. Exactly what I saw. 😐
      Ooh, another one willing Lilith to relinquish control. But would she be less wound up or more knowing that the universe was making decisions for her?

      Rooting for Seth’s ultimate undoing, how very dark of you. Lilith has successfully kept Sage and Seth apart this long, would take some major fuck up to change that now.

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  3. I laughed so hard at Caleb’s attempts to search the internet 😂 of COURSE he’d end up at hot women wanting to chat, lol. Just because you hadn’t thought of it before doesn’t mean you can control yourself now, Caleb. And lust isn’t a weakness that you should keep away from April at all costs but let’s not open that can of worms and just focus on the hot women that are definitely real and interested, yes 🤣 Underneath it all I’m mildly horrified that, despite all that April is going through (slowly wasting away, the whole disaster of trying to be taken out of the house), Caleb isn’t really noticing what a bad state she is in. If the roles were reversed, I wonder if their bond would let April know what was happening to him? Would it be the same amount of “sorta noticing but not really”, or would it be much more intense on the bride’s side? Clearly I am in a rambly mood, wooo!

    Faith looking like a child on Christmas morning in their new penthouse and trying to mask how gleefully happy she is with “it’ll do” is almost cute. Almost. There’s been a weird parallel between her and Caleb for a while now – he is “trying” not to but “can’t help himself”, and she does have self-control, I think, but is trying her darndest to get as much as she can anyway.

    Gah, and there’s the part that still baffles me even after reading the chapter for the third time. What just happened there? Did Faith actually say that, or did Seth imagine her saying that? If Seth actually imagined it, then geez, what if he starts hallucinating things from his past more often? I’m almost hoping that he imagined it, though, because the alternative is that Faith did say it, and is now gaslighting him into thinking he’s crazy. Which… seems so far out of left field for her. I feel like I’m missing something. Gah, these two are so confusing 🤔😂

    The early stages of a raisin 😂 I’ve said this before, but I wonder why Lilith is so hell-bent on keeping Sage and Seth away from each other – and who she is protecting by doing that. Seth? Sage? Herself? Or someone else? We know that Seth asked her to erase his memory of either Bob or Angeline (maybe even Sage, come to think of it – she has green eyes, too). Did Seth drain Angeline and is Sage trying to find him for revenge? Did they meet and is she trying to find him to reunite family/help him? But Sage was actively not helping with developing a cure in the past, wasn’t she? There’s so many hints and I don’t know which are the real ones and which are the red herrings. Let’s hope this secret does not, in fact, go to the grave, because I need to know 😂

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    1. Of course! But Caleb didn’t search for it and she is real because he can see her (snort) and she does want to speak to him, so he’s totally in control, don’t you know? That’s definitely how it works. Yup. Plus, as well as not ever using the internet unsupervised (for this very reason) he has been told repeatedly that his lust is terrible weakness and only brings trouble, so as messed up as we know his thinking is, he genuinely does think that’s true and that he’s doing the right thing by April. Of course, he’s not completely acknowledging what this is doing to April, but that’s not his fault; those images were just hallucinations from all those weird substances he took. Every time I try and explain Caleb’s logic, I feel my brain cells fight for a minute and then give up and die. But hey, what’s the worst that can happen with him viewing a virtual woman on a borrowed laptop in Sage’s kitchen? 😇

      Still drawing parallels with Faith and Caleb, I see. And still baffled by Saith. Did Faith call him ‘boy’? This is the second time now she’s said something that was a little off-kilter for her, that immediately made him think of Kitty. Perhaps she’s getting very good at pushing his buttons or perhaps he’s pushing his own. Weird visual. Moving on. The bit you’re missing will become more obvious (and then you’ll wish you didn’t know, probably.)

      Who is she protecting? One of your guesses is correct. She’s hinted a few times at her motivations and so has Seth, if you believe him… And of course I will tell you what happened! This secret is going to the grave, she said. Just a matter of figuring out which grave she’s talking about and how soon we’ll reach it. 😁

      Apart from the GliTS, who are mental, and Caleb, who is clueless, there are no blatant mistruths, but there are loads and loads of points of misdirection. I’m gonna give you a hint to help you (and others) rule something out, because I feel your frustrations. Skip that link if you don’t want any hints because if you’re enjoying pulling your hair out, well, it’s your scalp don’t let me tell you what to do with it.

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      1. You explaining Caleb’s logic does the same to my brain cells that it does to yours, it seems. Makes me want to bang my head on the desk in groaning frustration 😂 I wonder who is going to end up prying Caleb off the laptop in the end – Wyatt, Lilith or Sage. 😂 Or maybe April, if they actually materialize in the cabin. Let’s hope they do, and don’t end up floating in the water somewhere halfway.

        I always end up regretting poking at things until they unfold (or unravel, depending on your perspective), but I always end up doing it anyway. Something tells me that this will be a spectacular ball of yarn to unravel. Maybe it even explodes.

        Ooooh, I must truly be miles off-target for you to light a homing beacon like that. No pulling hairs from my scalp (I like my hair) but I think I’ll torture my brain for a bit more first – my puzzle-loving side won’t let me give up without trying a little harder first. If I’m still lost in three chapters, I’ll come back here and probably bash my head on the desk some more by how obvious it is in hindsight.

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        1. I wonder if this is how the ‘stupid is contagious’ idea came about; that everyone around the idiot ends up destroying their own brains trying to understand. I’m attempting to describe the teleporting experience next time so you’ll find up where they end up.

          I knew it’d only be a matter of time before you were crafting more bomb-like devices in the comments! Yay! Exploding yarn! I’ll take 5! 😍 I’ll mix it in with my regular yarn and play yarn roulette. We have a fun chapter coming up in… 3 time? Where we go back in time and see what might have already exploded, but other than that, it’s all smooth sailing now. 🌼🌈 Dum de dum.

          Noooooo. Not a homing missile, just your comment seemed like a convenient place to dump a hint. I’ll move it. 😊

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  4. Well, poo. I’m caught up. Why does this always happen? Why can’t the chapters just go on forever when I need them to?
    Firstly, the “fringe” thing. I’m laughing at myself in this because every time I read fringe, I think of like 1920s flapper clothing with all the, uh, fringe on it. That or fringe describing the outer edge of something. At the beginning, it might take me three whole seconds (only a slight exaggeration) to realize you mean bangs. But now I’m giggling over how the word “bangs” could be misinterpreted. Anyway, so now imagine Broof messing with his fringe while he wears one of those dresses and you see what I have to tell myself isn’t what’s happening. Plum, language is fun.

    So now you have me totally nervous if I’m writing some of my characters correctly. Of course, I’ve never outright said where they’re from, but yeah. PLEASE correct me if I screw it up. I’m not above going back and making a correction. A great deal of the info I get is from television and a few iffy websites, and we know how “accurate” that is. >.> Wait, not websites like what Caleb is getting ready to stumble into.

    That said, Caleb… Dude! Are you really that dense? I mean, really?
    The only way this makes sense to me is that whole ‘vampire babies don’t mature’ thing. Maybe Lilith should’ve ripped his head off after all. He is a walking time bomb. LOL I can’t wait to find out how Wyatt sees what he’s been doing. Hehe, what if Sage walks by as Wyatt’s on the puter and sees some weird, questionable stuff on a side advertising box since he’ll have cookies galore in that search engine. She’ll think it’s because of him! Oh, but wait, she’s not tech savvy enough to realize how those ads would show up. Or is she? Bah. I go off on tangents way too much.

    So April is Wyatt’s baby and Sage is Seth’s baby. LOVE THAT! *giggles* I love intrigue. Is that intrigue? Maybe I’m confusing myself again. But it makes me so happy to think about how Seth will feel if/when he finds out! XD

    Seth is just one of those characters that you love and hate at the same time. He’s the jackass, self-absorbed underdog that gives off the feeling like he thinks he’s king of the mountain. He’s definitely a favorite.

    Faith? Ugh. Honestly, she can go suck a duck. Yes, her life is/was mega effed up, but quite a bit of that was her own doing. She’s made her bed. I’m a fighter, but she has more fatalism in her than she wants to admit, I think.

    I adore Melly. She’s such a Melly. How could anyone not love Melly? It broke my heart when she attacked Chuck like that.

    I quickly lose my patience with April, but that’s no surprise. Sometimes I want to take two cymbals and bash them both into her head just to see if there’s anything rattling around in there. Wow, that was graphic. lol

    Lilith is what I like to call a bad girl cloaked in lady. She has good intentions, and she’s had a frustrating existence… but we all know what good intentions pave.

    The witchy people I’ve yet to decide upon. They’re still unknowns to me. But that was hella fun with that party in Wyatt’s room. Lilith dancing on the counter. *falls over laughing* That was fabulous. Woo! Queen Lilith! You go, girl!

    So much that I haven’t said that I know is going to come to me later. It drove me nuts how my phone treated commenting, and most of my reading was done between food deliveries as I was working. Well, “working.” Sometimes it feels like work but most of the time it’s just me riding around in my fun-to-drive car. ANYWAY (tangent again), I just wanted to say that there were SO MANY TIMES I wanted to comment but didn’t because of the stupid phone thing. (on my laptop now)

    I am so looking forward to more of this!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The chapters can’t go on forever or I’d have to rename the story ‘Eternal’. Although, that is also another band, so it’d be just as confusing for anyone googling me.

      Ooh yes, cross-pond translations. Bangs always cracks me up because bangs are, well, you know, fun-in-bed times and having that happen on your forehead seems weird. But hey, if Broof fiddling with his flapper dress does it for you, enjoy it? Eh, loads of our media and culture here is American and most Brits do use the odd American phrase in general conversation, so I don’t mind/notice it. Except for the word ‘panties’ which no one here says unless they’re sexually deviant and which makes me gag. But I’m rambling now.

      Funnily enough, my partner always told me that he found Caleb unrealistically dense, until very recently, like, two days ago recently. We’ve been watching a show that airs here called ‘Love Island’ it’s like a terrible dating show for singles where they throw a load of people in a villa and watch them fuck fall in love, and one of the guys on there is so immensely clueless about women; he is literally a dick-led car crash who screws up absolutely everything. I was taking notes and my partner was watching with me and he actually turned to me in slow motion, aglow with revelation, and said: ‘Woah. I just thought you were just mental, Snuffy, but men like Caleb really do exist!’

      I love a good tangent (as you can probably tell) so tangent away.

      Ooh, I do love it/get nervous when people declare favourites. So you are a Seth fan but you also like Melinda. Interesting.

      I mean, you apologise for not commenting and yet I’ve been reading Chain Reaction since last summer and left like, one comment. And I don’t even have phone issues, I was just too lazy to log in to blogger. 😆 Yay at your last sentence! I’m aiming for an update every Friday, but if you’re bored in the meantime, check out my reading list, if you haven’t already.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hehe. I’ve turned a few heads when I’d, like, hurt my finger and mumble ‘bugger.’ LOTS of tv. Lord knows I was raised on Monty Python, so that says a lot (about how my brain got wired).

        Ew! I don’t like reality tv shows, mostly because I know plenty of people who worked on those sets and how SO MUCH STUFF is encouraged/suggested/staged by the producers. If you’re seeing shots from two different angles going back and forth, mega fake.

        Don’t worry about me declaring favorites. I’ve learned my lesson in the past when I’ve fallen in love with so many of Froot’s characters only for them to die three chapters later. What I mean is I try not to get too shocked.

        Oh! Then you’ll be happy to hear I’m transferring everything over to WordPress. The link is on the Blogger chapters tab. I still have a ways to go because I’m doing it the slow way so that I can make sure it’s formatted like I like. (and I admit to minor tweaking to stop being so ‘telly’)

        I have a few things to read. I’m rereading Mercuryfoam’s B2W and plan to catch up on some of Pammiechick’s stuff. But I’ll still check out the list. Thanks!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. A brain raised on Monty Python sounds like a great brain to me!

          I don’t like these reality shows either, but my research takes me to odd places and this one has something I need. And no, thankfully it’s not relationship advice or character profiling, that was just a fun bonus. I much prefer when my research takes me into the realms of serial killer psychological profiles, but hey – I can’t do that every chapter. 😉😁

          I am happy to hear you’re transferring everything to WordPress! I did that too but when I only had a handful of chapters. Doing it for all your generations? Ouch. Damn. Good luck!

          Liked by 2 people

  5. None of what you show me with Caleb comes as the big surprise.
    He is so bad at interpreting his own abilities and intentions. Really bad 😖

    Faith and Seth continue their compulsive mutual play. We will see how it goes and whether the big city is really as good at letting people disappear as it has a reputation for.
    A viewer with a giant pair of binoculars facing their bedroom, could give cause for concern. Maybe not?

    The one who’s really giving me worries right now is Lilith. First, it seems that the loss of her millennium-old house has aroused her suicidal thoughts.
    Next, I learn that she has a secret so devastating that she wants to take it with her in death. 😬

    It seems to me that at some point she has made a pact with the devil …. but why? 🤔

    Liked by 1 person

    1. One day, Caleb may learn. Today is not that day.

      I would be concerned about a voyeur peering into my window, especially if I was wanted in connection with the disappearance of a famous person and taken to running about killing people and moving into their homes, but is Faith? Seth is generally not one for sharing his secrets, though.

      Ah, Lilith. She hated that house and its memories, but maybe now she’s realising that memories are all she really has. ” at some point she has made a pact with the devil” It appears that at some point, she may have done exactly that. And why does anyone make a deal? The other party has something they want to have, and they have something they’re willing to give…

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I think I laughed at Caleb finding “hot women who want to chat” on the internet for a full five minutes. Of course, that idiot would end up going down a porn rabbit hole hahahahaha. It does make me wonder if this does work to keep him occupied I wonder why Lilith didn’t employ it sooner? She could’ve just invested in good wifi and this whole thing would have never happened.

    I do want to punch him in the face every time he talks about cheating on April as if it’s somehow helping her. Everyone in this story is selfish, but with Caleb, it’s so blatant.

    Now, is my baby Seth going crazy? Maybe. But I still like my theory that somehow Faith and Angeline are linked,

    In other news: Lilith, honey, girl, get it together. She is clearly exhausted and yet, even now when she can unburden herself, she can’t help but try to maintain control. I don’t know what the secret is (IS SAGE SETH’S DAUGHTER?!?!?!?!?!?!) but I think it’s worse trying to keep it under wraps.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. You already have the answer to this I see, but there’s a very, very good reason why Lilith didn’t just get her brother hooked on porn and leave him to wear his wrist out in a dungeon somewhere. Wow, that got graphic, fast. Sorry about that.

      I like the ‘Faith and Angeline are linked’ theory, too. It’s on my ‘reader’s theories’ chalkboard… but is it on the ‘how did they guess this?!’ side or the ‘HAHAHA WTF’ side…?

      Sage is Seth and Angeline’s daughter, yeah. Um, surprise? 😆

      Liked by 2 people

      1. oh my lands. The more I think about it, the worse it is. Okay, maybe everyone really does need to shut up and make sure Seth never finds out because…ummm…I mean he is my favorite but he is not stable.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Seth is totally stable and in control; he says it all the time!
          He’s also really good at letting things go, so I’m sure the fact that he now remembers Angeline but has no closure won’t in any way lead him further down a path towards destruction, either. All fine.

          Liked by 2 people

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