The Darkness Taipei By Frank Fasano Book One in The Darkness and Prequel to the Seven Deadly Sins Series Introduction: Caveat Lector, I say this because some books are dangerous. Most works can be picked up and put down leaving you unchanged. I can make you no such promise. In my humble opinion, every truly fascinating manuscript will give you answers, even if the questions were unknown to you. Knowledge, true knowledge, is not a charming collection of factoids to be regurgitated on demand or request. I have come to believe that learning is a process that shakes you to the very foundation of your being. There are many secrets that give you a glimpse into the other worlds. But be warned - once you have opened your mind to the darker possibilities, it will never again be closed. This Pandora’s Box has no lid, no hinges, and no lock. The only way to see what is contained within is to smash it to bits. This is my attempt to document the events that transpired and it is my humble offering to you, the reader. So Caveat Lector - Reader Beware - or you may receive your own invitation to the dance. Call me Tòmas. This is my name, even though most people either fail to ask for it or just forget it all together. The story, on the other hand, is not mine. Regardless, I have decided to tell it. My name may find mention before this tale reaches its conclusion; we’ll just have to wait and see. As I write these words the dawn has broken, the sun is shining bright, and hope is easy to find in your heart. The blackest night has passed and the shadows of malevolence have grown thin. The evils of the world have retreated once again into the depths awaiting darkness’s cold caress. Hope also springs new with the first light of morning; regrettably it is often slain with the setting of the sun. Our lives can be magnificent journeys if we remove the limitations of our own misconceptions. On the other hand, this is a very dangerous endeavor. Our misconceptions of the world are our anchor, and our shield. They hold us back from seeing what the world really contains; they also protect us from what we may not be prepared to confront. Confronting the unknown can be the most important part of this magnificent journey we know as life. In the immensity of time, a human life is as a journey of a drop of rain, plummeting to the earth. To eternity, our lives are but a moment, an hour, or a day; but then again, so much can happen in just a day… Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius (Original Source Unknown) Whom the gods would destroy, they first drive mad.

A Penny Saved A Standalone Darkbend novel by Frank Fasano Chapter One Angels in Armani It was the kind of night that makes you wish that you called in sick. Especially when you are working mostly for tips. Even more so if the tips you are getting are more of the kind that jingle than the kind that fold. It is not easy being a single girl in the darkest place you can imagine. I would call Bourbon Jimmies a dive, however, I would be afraid that the dives I know would take offense at that unfair comparison, then wait for me in a dark alley with a baseball bat. My top three tips for drinking at Jimmies are One don't use the bathroom unless you absolutely have to, then if you really must hover. Two never get the meatloaf or the tuna melt, or anything off of the hot menu. On second thought you probably should avoid the cold menu as well. A very safe bet is don't eat here, three make sure you check to see if your glass is clean, if it looks clean be careful because you probably pissed someone off so they probably spat in it then used a rag to spread it around. The owner only had three rules, One it only takes one person to run a bar. His second rule was that you never needed to spend any money on a place like this. If he could not fix it on a Monday morning then it wasn’t needed. The third final rule not to mention the most important rule that Jimmy had was that never make a drink with fricken umbrella in it. So, when someone walks into Jimmies on a pair of shoes that cost more than I make in a week wearing a suit that cost more than my distressed classic Ford, he is either in the wrong place and in trouble or he is in the right place to be trouble. Let me just say, lord he looks like the kind of man your mother would have warned you about if she had a much better imagination, had a life time subscription to Cosmopolitan not to mention wrote Sex and the City/Slash fan fiction. I could not help but sigh as I let a few fantasies about him start to moisten my dry daydream life. Mostly the one with him reaching his strong forceful hand over a tight, firm buttocks, softly caressing then pulling out a big thick hard wallet than leaving an ample, well-deserved tip. Oh baby, that one really gets all my juices flowing. I gave him my patent 150-watt smile as he came up to the bar. He gave the lipstick red seat of the bar stool an apprehensive look then showed true grit not bolting for the door. Instead he drew out an honest to goodness monogrammed handkerchief wiping the stool off before he sat down. I could not make out the actual letters, however, it looked to be made of real linen or even silk. I saw him eye the bar warily but before he could bolt for the door, I reached under the bar pulling out the most clean-ish bar rag available. I gave the bar a thorough wiping down, mostly I turned the greasy streaks into greasy swirls. I made a good show of it, more than worth the price of admittances. As he looked up at me, I turned up my smile by another 10 watts. If I wasn't careful I would either blow out my facial muscles or go too far over then end up with a serial killer grimace. You know like Heath Ledger in that movie where he wears more make-up than my whore of a sister, Vanity. Okay, she isn't really a whore, she is just a raging coquette not to mention a witch. I'm not joking about the last part, she is a witch, she even writes books about it. WOW, sorry I just got my sibling rivalry issues all over the screen. It really isn't her fault that mother named her Vanity Pride naming me Penny Pride. So, way to go mom, good job setting the bar low for me! Vanity’s actually pretty good to me especially if this guy doesn’t drop some Benjamins, she will probably be paying my rent this month. That may be only fair as she not only got the better name also the Boob Fairy was also much more generous with her, but she also has witch thing going for her. I do not want you to think I'm spiteful towards her because I'm not, I am really, really not. I’m not spiteful towards my sister, I'm not spiteful to my sister. I'm really not spiteful to my perfect sister, Vanity. That is my mantra, if I keep saying it then it must be true. I must have chanted it to myself a l

Chapter Three A Grim Prognosis They were allowed to remain outside the room and it was nearly noon before mayhem in Uncle Mikes room quieted. More cops had shown up some on duty but most off, hospital and Odium security had wisely overlooked the minor violation of hospital policy. After all this time had passed with no word on his condition morale was low and the expected prognosis seemed grim. A young doctor walked over to the group that were drinking stale coffee and taking turns wearing holes in the linoleum. Are you the patient’s family, there was a general consensus of agreement. The young man seemed skeptical but was unwilling to argue the point with the more than twenty burly men most in uniform who already looked less than happy HIPAA be damned. He said Mr. O’Brian had a cardiac episode and his heart stopped, his wounds are significant. We managed to stabilize him for the time being, the next forty-eight hours are crucial. He is now in a chemically induced coma if he responds well and he stabilizes further he will need at least six more surgeries to repair all the damage. There is a foreign substance in his wounds and it seems to be causing a toxic reaction our other fear is that it will inhibit his body’s natural ability to heal. We cleaned the wounds surgically removed and even tried cauterization to neutralize this substance.