We live in a world where emotions can lift people from their sorrows as easily as drown them within. They cause you to strive for something better or hold you back, wielding control both unmeasurable and unmistakable. But what if, for some, emotions held a tangible power, if they could use the emotions of the world for their own benefit? What is the chance that someone would abuse that gift?

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This story has taken a long time to get to this point. The prologue was written for the 2009 TG Terror Contest and has been in the works ever since, with it being my primary focus of my writing since the finishing the last Manny and Maude, almost two years ago. A lot of time to invest in a single for a casual writer. A lot of opportunity to doubt whether it was worth writing or if it made sense, never-mind whether anybody would enjoy it. Even now while starting to post it, those questions remain and the answers, in my mind, tend to lean in the negative direction. Confidence in my writing remains a fragile thing.

Anyways, back to a few explanations. This world in which this story takes place (basically the real one) and the magic utilized within comes from another story, a detective novel called Twice Born, which I expect I will never complete. It involves different characters, but a couple of the groups and concepts used here would also be used in this.

I admit that while writing the prologue, I felt influenced in the direction of horror, but I can’t create in that world. You could say I am more comfortable in the horrible, which is intended in this story, which is revolves around terror.

Hopefully, some will get some enjoyment out of the story, which I expect to post in six sections, likely one every 4 or so days. It’s complete, just need to my usual level of dull lustre before posting and since it is around 50K words, I find it easier to polish and post smaller chunks.