#it's also bound in some sort of nice material so it feels pleasant to touch

[an-ambivalent]

NSN: Ten [Yandere! Kim Taehyung] [Reader-Insert]

Series Title: Notice Me Noona

Synopsis:  Kim Taehyung was [Name]’s junior who just always happened to be where she was. At first, she brushed it off as a coincidence. However, soon, these coincidences became one too many, and his “small talk” felt like suffocating interrogations. It was obvious in the most discreet ways. [Name] perceived it as a small crush, and almost found the cliche concept of a junior liking a senior endearing. However, unbeknownst to her, Taehyung’s feelings were too intense to be labelled as a mere crush. It was obsession and he was TOO in love, almost to the point where he was even willing to murder just for her to notice him.

A/N: This story contains content that can make you uncomfortable. Read at your own risk.

The sky was  a shade of soft pastel blue. Cotton candy like white clouds floated in the atmosphere, and loomed over the premises underneath them. It was a bright day with the sun basking everything in its presence, and making the hue of everything look richer and brighter. The joyous weather held hope, and it made most people reminiscence about their pleasant memories filled with love and laughter. This was completely opposite from everything that Mina and Vicki felt.

It had been two years since they last saw, or heard from and about [Name]. The last time the young couple ever saw, or held their best friend was two years ago in a shopping complex, when they were comforting her after her break up with her first boyfriend.

It was a break up that they had encouraged.

It had also been two years since they saw or heard from and about [Name]’s boyfriend, Kim Taehyung. Everything simply disappeared. It was blank. There was nothing. There was nothing except for the unspoken melancholy emotions, unconfessed mourning feelings, and regrets left behind.

Vicki hated herself because she was always too pushy. Her daring and challenging words to her friends often peer pressured them into something they were obviously uncomfortable doing.  She was just too much. She regretted how she provoked [Name], and poked fun at her insecurities. She took things too far, and never stopped babbling when she should have, so she felt as if it was her fault that [Name]’s life ended the way it did.

Mina was the embodiment of the colour blue and sadness; she drowned herself in her grief and sorrow. She was an over-thinker who exaggerated everything. This was the part that she hated the most about herself, and yet, she allowed herself to inject this toxicity into [Name]. She was too overprotective of her. Whenever [Name] complained about the most minor of inconveniences, Mina would manifest her problems to an unrealistic level. She would reassure [Name] that everything she said was valid, even though something may have been [Name]’s fault. She scared [Name] from Taehyung with every little thing the [h/c] female confessed to, and due to her exaggeration, they ended up breaking up.

Maybe without their intervention, things could have worked out between [Name] and Taehyung. They could have been a happy couple who would have worked on the flaws of their relationship together. [Name] could have learned how to make Taehyung trust her and they could have discovered the meaning of their love themselves, rather than following the ideas of love everyone else ingrained in them from their own experience.

Mina and Vicki should only have been spectators. They should not have acted like judges of a show in a field they had no idea about.

If they really needed to interfere in [Name]’s life so much, both friends felt as if they should have not encouraged [Name] to date Taehyung in the first place. After all, it was always obvious that something was wrong with Taehyung and what he felt for [Name] was morbid infatuation rather than a simple crush. He was always eyeing her like some sort of starved predator gazing hungrily at its prey. Overall, everything about it felt insane.

It was bound to end in chaos.

It had been two years since [Name] [Surname] had been reported missing. There was some evidence but it led to a dead end. There was no further news, and in today’s day and age, justice never prevailed. They tried pathetically for a few weeks before they closed the case. It was the biggest middle finger in the face.

Everything was just worthless and there was nothing. No one could do anything else about it, and so, Mina and Vicki were forced to live the rest of their lives with permanent scars in their heart. There was no light in their dark tunnel of misery and regrets because they never found out, or will know what happened to their friend.

They could only make assumptions of the different scenarios about what happened to [Name] based on their actions in the past. There were countless of ‘what ifs,’ but one thing was certain. Mina and Vicki believed that whatever happened to [Name], this whole thing was all their fault.

She was lovely. Her smooth plastic-like [skin colour] skin shone under the poor yellow lighting of the room. Her soft hair that fell to the end of its length was perfectly smooth, and untangled from any knots because Taehyung brushed her hair at least ten times a day. She was dressed in satin frills.

She had become the ultimate object for his obsession.

With inimical infatuation filled in his insane gaze, Taehyung stared deeply in her dead and soulless eyes. With shaky fingers, he began to lift up her satin material dress up her thighs, and placed a sloppy and messy kiss on the corner of her lips.

It wasn’t the same. It wasn’t her, but this was all that he had left of her.

“I’m sorry Noona,” Taehyung began breathlessly, and he ran his hand up and down her thighs. “I’m sorry for becoming too angry and punishing you too harshly. I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have killed you for not returning my feelings. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so so so so sorry,” He cried, before he cupped her face with his hands.

“I promise I’ll be gentler. I’ll be a better lover this time. I won’t hurt you again, as long as you promise to be just mine and love me. You promise, right? Hahahaha, of course you do! Then, I promise to love you forever, even after death. My dear sweet [Name] noona, I will never let you go,” Taehyung said, before he connected his lips with the plastic doll’s, which looked exactly like his deceased lover.

chapter one | chapter nine | Masterpost

Trivia

1) Mina and Vicki are based on the type of friend I have observed myself to be in some circumstances, and this entire story was just based on my insecurities and self-roasting lololol.  

2) This story contains themes of domestic violence (but like toxic relationships) to some extent, and to foreshadow the themes of story, personalities of the characters or possible endings of the story, I referenced actual published texts about domestic violence.

3) I’ve talked about it several times but the abuser in  Behind Closed Doors was initially an influence on how I characterized Taehyung. It’s been months since I read that book so I don’t know if it did continue to influence his characterization towards the ending too. It’s a really good book, I highly recommend it.

4) Chapter five is titled ‘The Geranium.’ This is another reference to a text about domestic violence; there’s a short story called (as the title hints) The Geranium written by Flannery O’Connor. The actual flower Gernaium, according to this site, flowermeaning.com/geranium-flower/ have “conflicting meanings” and a lot of the meanings can be applied to the narrative of the story, and it’s characters. For example stupidity, can resonate with a lot of the characters lol. Themes of melancholy and friendship (protagonist’s lost, and her friendship between her friend’s group) and expected and unexpected meetings: expected because as readers, you expect that a yandere story will have dark themes (or that one way or another the protagonist was expected to become involved with Taehyung sooner or later). Unexpected because it didn’t necessarily had to be like that, and if proper steps are taken, then safety and security could have been achieved. It was a so and so situation, but for the sake of the plot, I wrote it the way I did.

That’s about it lol. I can’t think of anything else that is left to shared. Like with each story I complete, I thank you for reading this story despite any plot holes or poor writing it may have. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Once my stories are completed, I do not touch them again so I don’t write sequels or reveal other ends I had in mind for them since extra ideas are needed for future works. I would love to receive feedback and if you want to critique it, that’s fine but please be respectful and nice about it and know that I don’t particularly have to agree with any critiques. If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them. Once again, thank you for reading.

[truemedian]

Samsung Galaxy A51 review: Wait for a price drop

Image credit: Chris Velazco/Engadget It's not a bad phone, just a bad deal. (In the US, anyway.)

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Samsung got me. On paper, the company's Galaxy A51 appears to have everything you could want out of a $400 smartphone. A big, pretty screen. A multitude of cameras. A 4,000mAh battery. A flagship-inspired design, and a headphone jack. As an avid -- some might say rabid -- fan of ambitious midrange smartphones, I was ready for the A51 to take its place alongside other modestly priced standouts like the Pixel 3a XL and the iPhone SE. It never did.That’s not to say the Galaxy A51 is a bad phone. Samsung got a lot right here, and over a week of testing, I found it perfectly pleasant at times. Sadly, all the things the company handled well couldn't fully offset some janky, inconsistent performance: This is a $400 device that sometimes runs like a $250 one. I don’t think that's enough to make the A51 a bad smartphone, but it does make it a bad deal. Excellent design Big and beautiful AMOLED screen Flexible multi-camera system Laggy performance Camera quality is largely unremarkable Mediocre battery life Samsung’s Galaxy A51 packs a great screen, a handful of cameras, and a big battery -- what more could you ask from a mid-range smartphone? Well, more consistent performance, for one. Despite using a reasonably powerful chipset, the A51 is often plagued by slow app launches and laggy animations, to the point when it sometimes feels like a device that costs much less. Battery life wasn’t as good as we had hoped for, either. While Samsung got a lot right with the Galaxy A51, it never feels as consistently nice to use as some of truly great devices available in its price range.

Be the first to review the Galaxy A51 LTE? Your ratings help us make the buyer’s guide better for everyone. Write a review Key specs ConfigurationsThe Galaxy A51 I've been testing is a Verizon Wireless model with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. (Disclaimer: Verizon is Engadget's parent company, but it has no influence over what we say.) Sprint and AT&T also offer this version of the A51, and no matter which carrier you choose, they'll all sell you the phone outright for $399. That doesn't sound too steep, but it's worth noting that the phone can be had for less when purchased unlocked, especially if you live outside the United States. If you're serious about owning an A51, scouting out a good deal is a must: This isn't worth $400.

Chris Velazco/Engadget Image credit: Chris Velazco/Engadget Flagship styleIf there's one thing Samsung deserves credit for, it's that the A51 in no way looks like a $400 phone. With a surprisingly trim frame; an eye-catching, light-refracting finish; and some incredibly small bezels, this midrange model could easily pass for a phone that costs twice as much. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best-looking midrange smartphone out there. Just keep in mind that thanks to its display, the A51 might be a nonstarter for people with smaller hands -- it's thin but still plenty large.Of course, since this phone costs a fraction of what a flagship does, Samsung had to be judicious about balancing style and substance. Consider Samsung's choice of materials: Wrapping a phone in glass quickly makes its price tag jump, so the company used what it calls "Glasstic" for the A51's body. As the name suggests, that just means this phone has a plastic frame that sort of feels like glass if you don't scrutinize it too much. The Galaxy A51 also lacks an IP-rating for water and dust resistance, which is very common for phones in this price range. (Note: If you Google "A51 water resistance," you might see a search result from Verizon claiming the A51 is rated IP68 -- it absolutely is not.) 

Chris Velazco/Engadget The rest of the phone's design is fairly standard. There's a USB-C port that supports 15W fast charging and a combination nanoSIM/microSD card tray on the phone's right side that you can use to augment the standard 128GB of storage. If you're a music fan, you'll also appreciate the proper headphone jack Samsung squeezed into the A51, since its single speaker is pretty awful. What helps elevate the A51's design is its spacious, 6.5-inch, Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen. It's one of Samsung's Infinity-O displays which, if you're allergic to marketing BS, means there's a tiny hole cut out of the panel to accommodate a 32-megapixel front camera. It’s remarkably small and would be easy enough to overlook were it not for the shiny metallic ring surrounding it -- it's almost like Samsung wants you to keep looking at it. Thankfully, the rest of the screen is typical Samsung: Deep blacks, punchy colors, and great viewing angles considering the price. Its max brightness feels a little anemic so outdoor use can be a little tricky at times, but the display is very well-suited to binging on YouTube videos while you're sheltering at home.The screen is very often the most expensive component in a smartphone, and I'm glad that Samsung went with the display it did here. It's not just easy on the eyes; it’s a great rebuttal to devices like the iPhone SE that rely on dated designs to keep costs down. Visually, the A51 is a stunner, but as my parents always used to tell me, looks aren't everything.

Chris Velazco/Engadget Image credit: Chris Velazco/Engadget In use The frustration here begins when you go to unlock the phone. There's an optical fingerprint sensor under the display, and it's... not great. When it does work, it usually takes a while to actually recognize my thumb. Too often, though, the sensor just didn't work. Normally, you'd see a bit of green whooshing around your finger to let you know the sensor was analyzing your print, but that didn't always appear. Repeated screen cleanings didn't fix the issue, and neither did re-enrolling my fingers. For your sanity, maybe just set up a PIN or an unlock pattern instead.Once I made it in, a bigger issue became obvious pretty quickly -- the A51 is noticeably laggy at times. Switching between apps frequently felt choppy, as did thumbing through pages of apps, and even just popping back out to the home screen. You know, the stuff you do every day.To be clear, this doesn’t happen constantly, and I didn’t have much to complain about when the phone was firing on all cylinders. If you're the kind of person who just wants to watch videos and maybe send a few emails to the family, you might not even notice this momentary lag. But if you're a fan of smooth, consistent performance, be prepared for some disappointment -- stuttering animations and delayed app launches are never too far away, and it gets old pretty quickly. Gallery: Samsung Galaxy A51 review photos | 13 Photos

Exactly why the A51 runs the way it does isn't wholly clear, but part of the issue probably lies with Samsung's choice of chipset. Rather than use a Qualcomm Snapdragon like most US-bound Android phones, the company ran with its in-house Exynos 9611. From what I can tell, there's not much difference between this sliver of silicon and the Exynos 9610 Samsung started using in late 2018 -- some of the CPU cores are marginally faster and it supports a wider variety of rear cameras, but that's really it. That Samsung would splurge on a great screen and use a minor refresh of a chip that was announced a little over two years ago tells you a lot about its priorities. The funny thing is, this chipset is no slouch. It falls somewhere between the $250 Moto G Power (with a Snapdragon 665 chipset) and the $470 Pixel 3 XL (with a Snapdragon 670), which is exactly what you'd expect considering how much these phones cost. The A51 benchmarks pretty well, too -- it’s nowhere near flagship level, but well in line with other US-bound devices we’ve seen in this price range. That being the case, it seems more likely that this inconsistent performance is due to a lack of software optimization that could theoretically be fixed in a future update. (For what it’s worth, Samsung wouldn’t confirm that any such updates were in the works.)In fairness to Samsung, people contemplating a $400 smartphone probably know not to expect best-in-class performance. The bigger issue here is that it’s still a considerable sum to drop on a smartphone, and the A51's balance of performance and price just doesn’t feel right. 

Chris Velazco/Engadget The Moto G Power -- a phone that costs $150 less with an older chipset -- manages to run a little more consistently. And the Pixel 3a XL? Forget about it. The difference in smoothness and the overall quality of experience between these devices skews heavily in the Pixel's favor. It’s also worth noting that all three of these phones have 4GB of RAM, so it’s not like Motorola or Google had more resources to work with here. And if you’re not married to Android, there's always the iPhone SE. It's a $400 arrow aimed at Samsung's heart and runs just as well as Apple’s most expensive smartphones. Whether it's because of a heavy touch with software, poor memory management, or something else entirely, this questionable performance makes the A51 hard to recommend for the price. I had hoped that epic battery life would've sweetened the deal here, but it doesn’t. Despite packing a pretty sizable 4,000mAh (along with a mid-range chipset and a screen that only runs at 1080p), the Galaxy A51 is only good for about one full day of use. That's not awful by any stretch, but when other mid-range phones -- like the Moto G Power -- have battery lives measured in days instead of hours, the A51 can't help but feel a little disappointing.

Chris Velazco/Engadget Image credit: Chris Velazco/Engadget Plenty of camerasAt this point, the one thing that could redeem the A51 is truly excellent camera performance. Calling the phone's trio of rear cameras "excellent" would be a stretch, but in most cases, they're good enough.And that's right, I said "trio" although there are four lenses on the A51's rear. Most of the time you'll wind up using the 48-megapixel standard wide camera which, like most other phones with pixel-rich sensors, produces smaller 12-megapixel stills by default. As usual for a Samsung phone, the results feature lots of vivid colors, though pixel-peepers will notice a surprising lack of fine details upon zooming in. That’s despite Samsung’s typical -- and almost stylized -- image processing, too. Big surprise, right? Like nearly every Samsung camera before it, this one seems tuned to deliver images that look slightly nicer than reality. These are great photos to post on Instagram, but maybe not for printing and mounting on your wall. Unfortunately, even the decently wide f/2.0 aperture doesn't help the A51's main camera much in low light -- colors tend to look a little washed out, and details get smeared into oblivion. Gallery: Samsung Galaxy A51 camera samples | 24 Photos

Meanwhile, the 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It captures a 123-degree field of view with minimal barrel distortion around the edges, and its colors are even poppier and more saturated than what you'd get out of the main camera. If you're walking around and shooting photos on a clear day, those pale blue skies will turn out a little more neon than you'd expect. Since this camera is mainly meant to capture lots of attractive, well-lit space, it's no surprise that it struggles more than the main camera does in low light.Rather than a telephoto camera (which was almost certainly too expensive for a phone like this), the A51's third sensor is a 5-megapixel affair for macro photos. I've wondered in the past who spends their time bopping around and looking for very small things to take photos of, but ever since testing the OnePlus 8 Pro, I've become one of those people. It's too bad, then, that this never produced the sort of crisp, super-tight images I was hoping for. That's partially because the camera's image processing seems to iron out some of those minute details, but also because the narrow depth of field means getting everything framed up just right can take some work.And that last lens? It's for a 5-megapixel depth sensor that Samsung uses to capture data for more bokeh-filled portraits. It does its job well. I've seen more than a few phones struggle with accurately separating the subject from its background, but the A51 handles the task without much fuss. Ultimately, no matter which camera you spend the most time with, be prepared for good -- not great -- results. If getting the best overall photo is your biggest concern, you'd still be much better off with one of Google's Pixel 3As or the iPhone SE. Samsung's real edge here doesn't lay in the quality of its images so much as the flexibility that multiple cameras provide.

Chris Velazco/Engadget Wrap-upWith the Galaxy A51, Samsung tried to bring some flagship style and features to an affordable smartphone. It wasn't completely successful, but the effort is appreciated. More than anything, what Samsung really got wrong here (in the US, at least) is the phone's price. If the Galaxy A51 cost closer to $300, as it does in certain overseas markets, Samsung's strange blend of style and stymied performance would be a lot easier to swallow. As it stands, though, the A51 never feels as consistently smooth as some of the truly great devices you can get for around $400 now. Sure, the Pixel 3a XL and the iPhone SE lack the A51’s panache, but they’re just nicer to use. And hey -- if you’re really itching for a Samsung phone and have some latitude in your budget, the slightly more powerful Galaxy A71 might be a better choice. If you can find a sweet deal -- or don't mind trading an older phone in -- the Galaxy A51 isn't a bad option. Anyone who doesn't need a phone now though should wait until Google releases its new mid-range Pixel and decide.  All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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[graysonpuzzle]

Demons Within

Note: just edited this chapter. I feel like this is the chapter that really sets up what I plan to write and the first three chapters were more fun to get to know Grayson and see her relationship with the main guys on the show start out (Sam and Dean obviously). Nothing too crazy in terms of warnings, just language, possession, some car stuff. If you read, Thanks and enjoy!

THE PUZZLE CHAPTER FOUR

----------------------

March 30th, 1996

"Grandpa. what is this?" I ask, holding up a newspaper headlining 'Local Psychic Found Dead.'

He walks over and snatches it from my hand, "Nothing, stay out of that box." I don't listen and look through all the other papers, a lot of them dating back pretty far.

"What are these?" I ask again, ignoring his previous order.

"Grayson Renee, I told you to stop looking through those."

"These are all deaths, who are these people?" I persist, my 13 year old self as curious as ever.

He lets out a long sigh, fed up with my curiosity, "Those are your late relatives, both your mom and dad's sides."

I continue flipping through the papers as he continues talking. "I just wanted to keep them all just in case." He takes the box away and leaves the room.

Later that night, before bed I try to ask him about those newspapers again. "Grandpa?"

"What, Grayson?" He asks, by his tone I can tell he's irritated by something. I walk further into the room to ask him.

"I really want to know about those papers, I barely know anything about our family, except for you and mom and dad."

"Grayson, I don't want to talk about this, and if you ask me about it again I will add another 5 miles to your morning route."

"But-"

"One more time and I'll send you off to hunt some wendigo. Stop." He knows wendigos are my least favorite, I've been scared of them since he took me on a hunt when I was 9. Ever since then he's used them as a punishment.

"Sorry," I say and walk out of the kitchen.

"Grayson," he starts and I think hes about to say something to make me feel better but then he says, "Don't forget to get up early for that extra 5 miles." Why was I surprised?

January 7th, 2007

After days of searching and searching, I finally find something that might help me figure out why I'm being targeted by Mindy in one of the old boxes my grandpa keeps my moms things in. The address is attached to the name Rita, and its the only address in all of Mom's things, so it must be important.

I find the address in a small town only a couple hours away. At first I'm not sure if its right, because the address on the paper matches one outside of a psychic reading place, but then I realize that's not out of the ordinary for my job.

I park across the street and cross the road to the small shop. I walk in to find bright colored beads on the door and even more vibrant curtains hanging everywhere. The bell on top of the door rings and I stop to take in the place.

"Hello?" I call. I move further into the colorful mess and almost trip on a rug, "Is anyone here?"

There's a single doorway with another set of beads hanging from the frame, I look over my shoulder and keep walking. The hall is very narrow with only three doors. I walk into the first room on the right and see a crystal ball in the middle of the room. I walk to it and put my hand on it.

"Grayson, dont touch that," A woman's voice says behind me.

I jump and turn around to face a curvy dark woman, who I'm guessing is Rita.

"Sorry. Are you- Rita?" I ask, putting my hands in my back pockets.

"Yes." She replies simply.

"Wait how do you know my name?" I ask.

"How do you know mine?" She counters.

"I was looking in my moms stuff and your name and this address were circled, I was wondering if you could help me," I explain.

"Oh, that demon told you to look up your history, of course I can help you!"

"How do you know-"

"Did you read the sign outside? I'm a psychic, and I've been keeping my mind on you lately." Well that's not creepy.

"Did you know my mom, Elizabeth Reed?" I ask and she gestures for me to sit in a plush chair by the crystal ball.

"Yeah, she was a good friend of mine, she is the one that wanted me to keep an eye on you for her if something happened." And something did happen, but why am I meeting her just now then?

"Because your stubborn grandpa wouldn't let me near you!" she huffs, " Lets just get to business. Give me your hands." I do and she closes her eyes.

"How will this help me?"

"Shh."

I stop talking and sit in silence while she does whatever shes doing.

"You are so brave, but hot headed and my- very impulsive, so much that you've almost gotten yourself killed many times. But you are also very strategic and analytical. That's it, you let your feelings get the best of you. Now lets look at whats ahead for you- Ooh! Some attractive young men, and- oh my god-"

"What? What is it?"

Her eyes snap towards me and she speaks, "It's like a puzzle that came without all the pieces. Listen to me now: You are almost put together, but the last piece you've been looking for will come at a very high price. You've been solving this puzzle without even knowing it. Putting it all together on your own, but this last, most important piece you will need help with. I will emphasize that this piece...it will cost you greatly."

"Wha- what are you-?" I start, confused.

"I'm sorry, but these visions come so fast and short, but just enough so I can sort it out."

"So what do you mean by puzzle? Am I going to die?" I ask.

"Well, everyone's gonna die!" She laughs, "But, my vision wasn't very pleasant. I think it means that your time is coming a little sooner than planned. And the puzzle pieces I saw symbolize you putting yourself together."

"I didn't know I was broken," I say solemnly and look to the floor. She notices and changes the subject.

"Want to try me?" She asks, and I'm utterly confused.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Try reading me, it doesn't have to be the future, just look at me and tell me what you know." She urges.

I take a deep breath and look at her, Grandpa did teach me how to tell when people were lying. Maybe that's similar.

"I think, you know a lot of hunters, but aren't one. Um...that you...like...cats?" I suck.

She laughs, "your Grandpa spent so much time training you physically and mentally, but he couldn't take some of it to teach you to read people? God that man was crazy."

"I didn't know being a psychic was something you could learn," I state.

"It's not, but anyone can learn body language, I mean those analysis people in the FBI can do it, so why can't you?"

I give her an awkward look, "how do you know about my training?"

"Well, first off I knew your grandpa, and second, just reading you I can tell you've been through a lot, both physically and mentally. I'm guessing he worked you to death."

"Well he-"

"Don't be modest dear, if you saw other hunters I've met, their skills would seem like child's play compared to yours. He worked you hard and for a long time, how old were you?"

"When he started training me? About 7 or 8." I reply. I think she's just trying to be nice, there are tons of hunters that are better than me.

"I'm not trying to be nice, I mean it. There's maybe a dozen other hunters I know that have the same amount of abilities you do, and fewer that use the ones they have correctly."

I talk to Rita for hours, about anything and everything that comes up. For some reason I feel really comfortable around her, which is weird because it takes me a long time to warm up to people, but I just want to hug her and bake her some cookies.

Around 8 at night I finally ask about my family, see if she knows anything.

"I was wondering when you'd ask," she takes In a breath like she's about to tell a long story. I scrunch my legs up on the couch next to me and sip the hot chocolate she made me.

"You come from a very long line of powerful people. And I mean, powerful. I think you are related to some amazons, demons, witches, psychics, monsters, prophets, men of letters members, and of course, a very long line of hunters."

"Ok wait what? What the hell is men of letters and aren't amazons like goddesses? I thought they killed the father of their kid and took it away." This is a head rush, how the hell is it possible to have that much in my blood?

"Well actually, I think the Amazon broke away from tradition and took the baby, then raised it and eventually the Amazon blood thinned over generations. So don't worry, I don't think you have any weird powers of theirs," Rita assures me.

"I still don't understand why this demon- Mindy- is after me, she says it's because of my family and because she thinks I'll get in the way of plans she has or something."

"I don't understand either, but honestly, who wouldn't be threatened by a hunter with all that history behind her name? With that kind of blood you're bound to be powerful."

"But why did she kill my parents and my grandma and-" I start but she interrupts me.

"Maybe these plans she's talking about have something directly to do with your family, a contract or something," she guesses and sets her coffee cup on the table.

I look at the time on my phone, it's almost 9, if I want to get home I need to leave and start on the two hour drive. I look at Rita, not sure how to politely say I need to leave.

"It's alright, I understand, just keep in touch with me okay sweetie?" She hugs me and walks me out the door.

I walk out to the street and she calls out from the door, "I want you to have this!" She tosses me a bracelet and I catch it in my hand, "just to keep me with you, I'll protect you even when I'm not there."

"Thanks Rita!" I call out and get into my car. She walks back into her shop and I examine the bracelet. It's a thin purple material and has beads with markings I don't recognize, I'll ask her about them next time I talk to her. I put the bracelet on my right wrist and start the car.

While driving down the highway I keep one hand on the wheel and play with a bracelet with my other hand. There's barely any other cars driving at this time so I go over the speed limit at about 90 mph. I drive some more and a car finally appears in front of me. They get over to the left lane and I speed up to pass them. But when I'm right next to them, they speed up too. I look over to some guy about my age smiling like a crazy person.

Nobody is around, so if he wants to race, then why not?

I slam my foot on the gas and get ahead of him. He catches up and starts driving closer to me. I try to speed away again, but he keeps up to my pace. Every second I get closer to falling off the shoulder into a ditch. I start honking my horn at him, but he smiles again and his eyes go black. I should've known better. I slam my car into his to get a spot on the road. No matter how much I try to speed away, he manages to keep up. The only option left is to slow down. I wait for the right moment and take my foot off the pedal, leaving him to keep going while I fall back.

He does half a donut and his car faces mine. I don't back off the gas and keep going forward. He starts driving towards me too. Looks like he wants to play chicken. I'll just drive straight at him until the last minute then swerve out of the way. My heart races more and more the closer I get. I let off the gas a little and get ready to dart out of the way. I turn the wheel as fast as I can but its like he read my mind and swerves his car into mine, crashing into the side of the front hood. My air bag goes out and I try to get control of the car. Before I know it, my car rolls into the ditch at the side of the highway.

I open my eyes and everything is upside down. I unbuckle my seat belt and crawl through the shattered drivers side window.

"Man, that was fun." A man's voice says, I look up and its the demon I was racing. Ha, I guess he's a speed demon.

"It'll be even more fun when I send you back to hell," I spit, standing up.

"It'll be pretty hard to exorcise yourself don't you think?" He asks, walking towards me.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Just then he opens his mouth to release a black cloud.

"Shit." I say and try to run while feeling for my anti possession necklace. I don't make it even two feet before I lose control of my own body and feel someone else in my head.

The demon walks my body into the roadhouse. It's late, and there's barely anyone there. It sits me down on one of the stools of the bar and waits there. Finally, Jo walks out from the back and looks surprised to see anyone.

"Hey Grayson, didn't think I'd see you here, do you need something?" She asks while drying out some cups with a rag.

The demon reaches into my belt for a pistol very slowly and replies, "yeah actually," he pulls it out to aim at her, "I want to see you dead."

Jo is startled and backs away, "what are you-"

In my voice, the demon cuts her off, "where's that bitch mother of yours?"

A gun clicks behind my possessed body. Ellen. "Right here. Now you put that gun down or I will shoot." They can't tell I'm possessed and watching everything, not able to stop it.

Quickly, my body turns and the handle of the pistol hits Ellen in the forehead, leaving a trace of blood in her hairline. I--the demon--hits her in the temple this time, knocking her out.

She turns her attention back to Jo, who is still unarmed behind the counter.

"Well now that she's out of the way-" the demon starts but is cut off by Jo.

"What do you want? I thought you were a hunter."

"I am. But just because we have similar jobs doesn't mean I have to like you. Ha! You'd be lucky if you're alive when I walk out of here." It states and aims the gun lower. She shoots her in the foot.

"OW YOU BITCH!" Jo yells and falls to the ground. It walks behind the bar to stand above her.

"Night night." She says and hits her with the gun like she did to Ellen.

The demon ties Ellen and Jo up to chairs with some chains. She paces around, waiting for them to wake up on their own. When they start waking, she sits down in a chair right in front of them, elbows on knees and hands on cheeks.

"I don't get it, why are you doing this?" Ellen asks. Speed Demon just laughs in her face.

"Because I can." It states simply, stealing my voice.

"You bitch, when someone finds out there's gonna be-" Jo starts.

"Gonna be what? You think I can't handle some amateur hunters? I'm in the big leagues and you're just some bitches who run a bar to serve the weak hunters I can kill with my bare hands." The words come out menacing, the demonic personality showing through.

"What about those boys you were just hunting with? The Winchester boys, Sam and Dean. Or Bobby Singer, Rachel Lance, I can list off a lot of hunters who can take you on, hon," Ellen states with a straight face, looking me dead in the eyes.

Speed Demon smiles, "listen, if you want to call them, fine. You'll be dead by the time anyone comes."

It pulls out my cellphone and calls Bobby. It rings a few times but then someone on the other end picks up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bobby, it's Grayson, I have Ellen and Jo with me and they want to talk to you." He puts the phone to Ellen's ear after turning it to speaker.

"Bobby. We need help now, we're tied up and we aren't getting out anytime soon- just- " The demon pulls the phone away and speaks to Bobby.

"So if you wanna come, were at the roadhouse, don't be long, I don't plan on staying too late." My voice states over the phone and hangs up.

"Grayson, I just don't understand why you're doing this," Ellen says, trying to look me in the eyes, not knowing that when she looks into my eyes a demon is staring back at her.

"Ellen Harvelle," My body says, then turns her head to Jo, "and Jo Harvelle. Maybe you don't understand because you're incompetent, but there's not a reason for everything."

"What are you going to do to us?" Jo asks, putting on a tough face. I feel my mouth grin wickedly.

"I'm gonna torture you a bit, maybe tell you some stories and leave your bodies here before anyone can catch me," he states, twirling a knife in my hand.

He takes the knife and holds it to Jo's throat, "or how about I just kill you right now?"

"Don't touch her!" Ellen yells and the knife is pulled from Jo's neck.

"Oh, look. Your mommy is coming to the rescue- it's funny because you're both at my mercy right now. What are you going to do Ellen? Nag me to death about how disappointed my parents would've been?" Speed Demon asks.

She walks to stand in front of Ellen, whose eyes are like daggers, "no, but maybe he can."

I feel the demon give a look of confusion as Ellen nods forward. Before my body can turn around, something hits me in the back of the head, making my whole body stumble forward almost landing on Ellen.

The demon turns me to face Bobby. "Glad you could make it. That was fast."

"I was working on something not too far from here," Bobby replies as if having normal conversation.

Without a moments notice, the demon kicks Bobby in the stomach, sending him backwards into a table. He stalks over to him and he raises a gun. My body stops, the demon acting how he thinks I would.

"What happened to that car I gave you? It's not out there," Bobby says.

"Nothing worth telling. Cut the small talk, let's get this over with so I can kill you." Just then Bobby's face gives away that he has an idea of what's going on, or he did the whole time.

"Alright you demonic asshole. Show yourself." Bobby orders and the demon acts confused, but Bobby won't back down.

He drops the act and smiles, making my eyes go black.

"That's what I thought." Bobby says and lowers his gun (thank god) knowing it would be useless and only hurt me.

"Give yourself a clap on the back, these two bitches would've gone forever without knowing," the demon says.

"What are you doing with her? There's no way this is a coincidental possession now is there?" Bobby asks.

The demon smiles again, "Bobby Singer, you just know everything now don't you? Grayson here doesn't even know about that."

"She doesn't need to know. I made a promise and I will keep it." Bobby answers, slowly creeping his way to standing position across from my possessed form.

"Wow. Such a stand up guy. I bet Grayson would love to know you were keeping that from her." Bobby creeps his hand into his back pocket, the demon barely noticing. He pulls out a flask or holy water.

He opens the lid with one hand behind his back and with one, quick and solid movement, the water splashes into my face. The scream hurts Bobby's ears as he goes to get Ellen and Jo free from their bindings. He manages to free Jo first by the time my possessed body recovers from the holy water and lunges at them. Bobby holds her off while Jo works to free her mother.

My hands grasp Bobby's arms and the force throws him to the ground on his back. Speed Demon pins him down with my knees and begins punching him until blood flows from his nose and mouth and covers the lower half of his face. When he starts choking on his own blood, it gets off of him and wipes the blood off of my hands and onto my jeans. He turns to find Ellen free and Jo missing completely.

"Try to let Jo save herself?" The demon mocks with a soft tone, keeping eye contact while moving towards the nearest table.

"Don't worry about her, come on, I can take you." Ellen challenges and the demon can't seem to resist and smiles an asshole smile.

"No problem," It states and picks up one of the chairs by the table and hits Ellen straight over the head with it, knocking her body to the ground limp.

After the blow, something hard hits my body across the back; its Jo with an old shotgun.

Demon boy sits up on my elbows and spits blood before talking, "You sneaky bitch." He wipes the blood off my face with the back of my hand and stands.

"I'll give that one to you, blondie, I didn't see that coming," my voice says gravelly.

"Too bad you won't be able to see that," Jo says and something else knocks my body off balance, Bobby. Jo grabs me and drags me behind the bar, where a devils trap was made. That's where Jo disappeared to.

They try to throw the demon in the circle, but it manages to free my right arm and and connects it to Jo's nose. He gets free and grabs Jo by the back of the neck and slams her head into the bar. He then turns to Bobby, who picked up Jo's shotgun.

"What, did you decide shes not worth saving anymore?" The demon taunts.

"Shooting someone doesn't always mean killing," Bobby replies.

"Do it, then. Make her feel pain, you're just making my job easier," the demon says with a smug smile.

"What job?"

"Well, its obvious that you know about Grayson's situation here. You know demons killing off her whole family, Mindy coming to finally end the bloodline. Shes my boss, and my job is to make Grayson suffer as much as possible before she comes for her," the demon explains.

"This has gone on long enough, your boss already took more than she bargained for. Daniel told me that much," Bobby spits.

"Are you really surprised that demons betrayed your friends family?" In one swift movement the demon kicks the shotgun out of Bobby's grip and then kicks him in the stomach.

"Well this has been fun, but I have to get going," Speed Demon says to the three hunters binded to a pole.

"Just wait, someone will find out I'm gone and will come after you and send your ass back to hell!" Bobby yells.

"Hunters come here all the time, someone will find us later and it won't be hard to find you," Ellen adds.

My demon just laughs and stares at them, "well that's the plan. I was actually thinking about going to your house Bobby."

"What could you possibly want to go to my house for?!"

"See, I'm a curious little demon and I want to see all the skeletons in your closet."

There's a beeping noise and the demon pulls my phone out of my pocket, "Look at that! Its time for me to go, bye bye!" the demon says and leaves the Roadhouse in my body.

After hearing the engine of a car roar away, Jo starts wiggling around to get out.

"What are you doing Jo?" Ellen asks.

"She left my phone in my pocket, I can feel it."

"The one closest to me?" Ellen asks.

"Yeah." Ellen reaches her tied hands towards Jo back pocket. She gets the phone and dials then puts it on speaker.

The demon uses my body to look around Bobby's house for the next couple hours. At one point it stops in front of a mirror to look at the person its occupying.

"It would be a shame if this meatsuit was wasted on another demon..if anything you should be grateful, not all demons keep their bodies this nice for so long," it says, knowing I can hear.

"Thanks for being such a nice demon," a voice says and it turns to find Bobby standing there with a gun aimed at him.

"Wanna shoot? Go ahead!"

"I bet Grayson will be so happy to find out you were keeping secrets from her and that you put a hole through her chest!"

"Who said I was going to shoot?" Bobby asks and swiftly slides to the side and Ellen comes from behind him and splashes holy water on me. My body let out a shriek in an unhuman way, and the water sizzles on my skin and burns the demon inside. Ellen keeps throwing more on whenever the previous throw wears off. Bobby yells for Jo, and she comes with another jug of holy water. Bobby pulls out some spray paint and starts drawing a devils trap on the wood floor.

Ellen begins running out of water and Jo comes closer to her mother and starts splashing the water in the my direction.

"STOP!" it screams, "I CAN KILL HER RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON'T STOP!"

Jo hesitates at this, giving the demon the opportunity it was looking for. It smacks the jug of water out of her hands and knocks her to the floor with a solid punch to the jaw.

"JO!" Ellen yells and starts towards her daughter.

Bobby grabs her by the arm to stop her, "finish the trap and I'll hold her off."

Ellen nods and takes the can of paint. Bobby stands between my body and Ellen.

"Just another old man trying to hold her back. How ironic is that?" the demon asks, playing.

"How ironic is what?" Bobby asks sourly.

"Well, I've been digging around in Grayson's head and it looks like she finally felt safe and that she wouldn't have to worry about liars once old Gramps died. Little did she know, a hunter that seemed so trustworthy was keeping secrets for him," it laughs.

"I was protecting her, it would've been even worse if she knew."

"She went to a psychic you know, one of her moms old friends. Even she didn't know--or just wouldn't tell."

Ellen finishes the trap and looks at Jo knocked out on the floor.

"Shes not dead, Harvelle," The demon states and looks past Bobby at her, "so you can stop making that ugly face."

Bobby lunges at me and knocks me to the ground. My possessed body lands beneath him. While Bobby holds me down, Ellen dashes across the room to grab the nearly empty jug of holy water. She douses me and then as the demon screams in pain, Bobby throws me into the Devils trap.

Bobby begins chanting in Latin and Ellen goes to Jo's side. My body shakes as the demon fights being evicted. At this point the demon yells anything to make Bobby stop, but he doesn't. Black smoke rises out of my mouth and leaves the house.

And my body falls to the floor.

I wake up feeling sore and tired and on someone's couch. I didn't realize how exhausting it was to be possessed. I sit up and recognize whose house I'm in--Bobby Singer's.

"Grayson?" Bobby asks.

"I'm awake," I reply and move the blanket off of my legs and go to the kitchen where Ellen and Jo are with Bobby.

"How are ya feelin?" Ellen asks.

"Sore. Tired. And a little mad." I say and cross my arms to glare at Bobby.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Bobby asks, but I have a feeling he might know what I'm talking about.

"I might've forgotten most of it, but I think I heard some stuff I wasn't supposed to. How could you not tell me that you knew what was happening to me?"

Ellen and Jo walk out of the room and leave Bobby and I alone.

"Your grandpa thought it was the best way to protect you, and I agreed with him."

"Are you kidding me?! How in the hell would that protect me?!" I yell.

"The less you knew, the easier it kept you hidden from that demon."

"Oh that's bullshit. There is nothing worse than ignorance, and that's what you made me: ignorant. Maybe if I knew what was going on, I could've done something about it!"

"There's nothing you could've-"

"I'm not even talking about grandpa, I'm talking about everyone! MY PARENTS. MY GRANDMOTHER. NINA. CAMERON. AND WHO KNOWS WHO DIED BECAUSE THEY WERE CLOSE TO ME! SO YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO HIDE THIS FROM ME!"

"Fine," he says and backs up to lean on the counter, "A long time ago, one of your ancestors a few generations back made a deal."

A shiver runs across my body and it must've been visible, since he stops. I nod to let him continue the story.

"Well, he made a deal, not some crossroads deal. A big one. He wanted to make the strongest and best of hunters, he wanted to mix in psychics, witches, Amazons, and anything else to make the perfect hunter; he basically asked for all the strengths of those things to go to his family, but without the monstrosities that came with it."

"I saw my moms friend Rita right before that bastard possessed me, she said that those kinds of people were all in my family."

"See, he wanted his family to be successful, but not necessarily himself. The demon that gave him the deal made it so that his kids and their kids would marry someone that wasn't the average hunter. I think his son married a witch, so his grandson could do magic, but wasn't fully a monster that others would hunt. That just kept repeating with different creatures."

"But I don't see how that would affect me that much, if it was only on one parents side," I add.

"That's another thing, one part of the deal was that one half of the family would be that way,and the other would be pure bred hunters, so that one day there will be an ultimate hunter at the end of the two lines. But you're --however many greats-- grandpa was stupid, and didn't really listen or didn't care about the demons conditions," Bobby explains, "That demon made it so that he could kill everyone involved with no problem."

"So what, he made a deal to make our family great, just so they can die whenever?" I ask.

"Well, your grandparents on your moms side managed to stay safe for a while, but as you know, it didn't last that long. Daniel told me all this when he thought they were coming after you two."

"Wait so I'm supposed to be some sort of super hunter?"

"That's what Daniel thought, since he married a medium, and then his daughter married the son of all that monster lineage."

I don't even know how to process this. So I'm some sort of demon made super hunter that my ancestor got my whole family killed for? I go to sit back on the couch, almost out of breath from all this new information that was with Bobby this whole time.

"So what about Mindy? Is she the demon that made the deal? Is that why she wants to kill me?"

"No. She just works for the demon that did it."

"Well if his deal was to make-- to make me, then shouldn't I be able to live?"

"That's the complicated part, Daniel knew that the two bloodlines finally met to make you, but he didn't know what was supposed to happen after that."

"That doesn't explain why this Mindy chick is gunning for me, why can't I live? Cant they just let me live since they reached the end of it?"

"My guess is that you're a threat. That demon went through quite a bit for one deal, too much to just get to kill all those people. He must have something else that he wants."

I run my hand through my hair, my head spinning. Just then Jo enters.

"Yeah, he wants her dead," Jo says, and looks at me, "and hes going to kill everyone that gets in the way."

[cjostrander]

Art of Anarchy: The Madness

Hello everyone, Today i am going to take a brief break from my anniversary reviews and instead tackle a newer one that had me somewhat interested due to their addition of Scott Stapp (Creed) as the new vocalist replacing Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver) due to his passing. I was excited to see him get back into music scene aside from his solo work. I will let you know beforehand that the music has a natural change in musical style; though is still dramatically more complicated than Creed. Scott Stapp’s voice is also a bit different due to the band’s heavy handed production style which i have noted as a bit overdone for him. On certain songs his voice (infused with heavy Autotune) will sound like a mix of Myles Kennedy (ironically Alter Bridge), Brent Smith (Shinedown), and his own unique Creed style. This seems intended for the most part so it’s a deteriorating vocal ability on Scott’s part; just a heavy production intent. Well let’s get started and see how this album does.

Echo of a Scream: The album starts off with a moderate dose of electronica and leads into a steadily melodic guitar opening that is rather soothing. Scott enters rather fluidly with a highly groovy style; which resonates nicely with the bass section underneath him. He gets his powerful delivery during the chorus segment but it still sounds rather new in direction for him. I will give the lyrics props due to the fact that they give him a very catchy rhythm during the casual verses. I do like that segment more than chorus but it is still a nice way to open up the album and answer whether or not he is a good fit for the band. The solo towards the end is full of aggressive rhythm and melodic yet chaotic guitar riffs. It takes up a nice segment of the song and helps to justify the more supportive nature of them during the prior portion of the song. Going by this song; it’s not a bad sound for the band and while it does flirt with having a generic rock sound (think Trapt’s later album Reborn); it sticks out nicely and seems to be a surprisingly smooth fit for Scott Stapp’s powerful style. It’s drastically different from that angsty style of Scott Weiland but if the band’s first album never existed i’m sure this album would get a high degree of praise overall. Look at this album as sort of being a new band in tone because their first album was remarkable and hard to beat all around. 8.5/10

1000 Degrees: This one is a personal favorite and starts off with a pumping bass riff, aggression fueling guitar riff, and marching style drum beat. Scott opens up sounding very much like Brent Smith on this song but it manages to work very well. We approach the chorus quickly and Scott bellows out an aggressive delivery that is beyond motivating and would be a perfect piece to see them doing live. The instrumentals do a stellar job of giving Scott ample lift and stick out nicely on their own when focused on. The lyrics continue to be pretty good and Scott’s soothing melodic moments help to draw extra strength from them before the chorus returns yet again to get the listener banging his head. Another solo arrives to give off a quick melodic tone reminiscent of Megadeth’s more recent material. This song is a big highlight and should be a single due to how strong it showcases the band’s strengths together as well as some of that hidden potential we all knew Scott had if he would venture into a more aggressive rock tone as opposed to the mellow artsy style of “Human Clay”. I did see Creed perform that album live and its decent but i’m still a fan of their first (My Own Prison for its grungey melodies) and Weathered (for it’s powerful ballad direction). Full Circle was another good album but did get rather sluggish towards the end. Anyways so far so good! 10/10

No Surrender: Now this song screams trademark Creed in its guitar opening. It has a soothing echo in its melody and the drums slowly ease their way in with the bass before Scott enters. His more familiar delivery is smooth and takes its time in delivering some rather decent lyrics. The chorus features more of Scott’s aggressively powerful vocals and infuses his more simplistic lyrics with enough strength to maintain interest on the listener’s part. There are some interesting strings in the background that add a little extra complexity to the mix for the listener to ponder over. The solo is less in your face this time and focuses more so on slow moving melodies that reach for a more therapeutic tone. It’s an alright but is an example of familiar Creed elements and is as a result a more generic offering than the previous few songs. 7/10

The Madness (single): This is the single with a good music video and is another of the album’s strong tracks. It begins with some motivationally energetic guitar melodies; basic drum patterns and a hidden but raw rhythm section. Scott enters with a nice delivery and utilizes his smooth voice to recite some balanced lyrics with a high degree of power. The chorus matches the song in strength and makes effective use of Scott’s power level. The instrumentals do a solid job of supporting him and as expected will offer him enough cheerful adrenaline to pick up the listener’s impression of this band and Scott’s presence as a whole. The ending makes an interesting use of layered vocal effects and it joins together to create a clever atmosphere of chaos; that is fittingly reflective of the song title and it’s lyrics.  This is another pretty good piece that was smart to choose as a lead single due to its focus on being more aggressive but balanced than expected for Scott Stapp. if they don’t pick 1000 degrees as another single i’ll be shocked but you know they are bound to pick one of the more ballad-centric songs next if they have a good enough promotion deal. 8.5/10

Won’t Let You Down: The guitars start with a nicely melodic and rhythmic opening before Scott joins in with some lively high notes on his part. The lyrics are consistently strong and the chorus brings forth more of Scott’s Creed-era ballad melodies. The instrumentals keep up a supportive nature but are still very present in the mixing overall. Their loudness can arguably smother Scott at times but it’s so close that you almost have to want it to be smothered in order to really be able to say ha ha. The solo on this one is very nice and tackles more of their softer melodies. It is a good complement to the overall nature of the song and should do a fair job of helping to turn this song into another song that is decent (may not be a standout); but isn’t hard to sit through by any means. That’ll conclude the first half of the album and onto the second. 8/10

Changed Man: This one continues the soft motivational emotion of the previous song and as a result begins with soft guitar riffs and a fast entry by Scott. He enters with a rather impressive degree of emotion in his voice that actually lifts the song in a pleasant way and reinforces the lyrics with a good degree of strength. The chorus has a high degree of blissful melody and honest pleading on Scott’s part. You could possibly relate this song to his meltdown a few years ago and in that aspect; it gives this song a nice degree of retrospect.The instrumentals are very well balanced for giving him space when needed without risking him being along; and that extra level of melodic push to make his moments of urgency pull of successfully. This will probably be the ballad single they pick for their album since it would be good live; and would provide plenty of ideas for a potential music video.  The backing harmonies towards the end are another nice touch that further reinforce this song as being one of the album’s finer moments. 9/10

A Light in Me: The one starts with an aggressive yet generic sounding rock opening. Scott enters with an angsty style which is new on this album. He has a nice rumble in his voice and gradually builds the song’s ambition once the chorus surfaces. Scott uses his powerful high notes to an effective extent and helps to keep his lyrics from being harmed by their simplistic moments. The supportive nature of the instrumentals are smart on this song and the guitar solo actually proves reminiscent of Mark Tremonti’s style and as a result is a smoother fit with Scott than expected. This would probably be another decent live piece for them too. 8/10

Somber: The guitars begin rather soft with a nice melody to them and Scott enters with a nicely clean vocal style free of over polishing. He crafts some interesting high notes during his casual verses and manages to deliver a rather complex level of substance in his lyrics. The chorus is finely balanced and features perfect spacing on Scott’s part and ideal support from the rest of the band. I could see this one being another possibility for their ballad single due to how smooth the song flows. It is the longest song on the album but passes by very pleasantly. It demonstrates a high level of compatibility between the band and Scott that Creed clearly hasn’t had in years. It actually makes me question at times whether it is better to just scrap Creed altogether. Full Circle has proved that they can put out some solid songs together but Alter Bridge right now is the strongest they’ve ever been  and this band is proving to be smart fit for Scott; even if it isn’t quite his usual style. It’s refreshing overall and is proving to be a nice feel-good album for when you are in the mood for more easygoing rock; but aren’t willing to go full generic style. 9/10

Dancing with the Devil: The guitars begin on a more old school bar rock tone and Scott uses a much more raw style than he’s perhaps ever used. It has a much more rough sound than expected but still features the band experimenting with what they can do with Scott’s voice. The drums show off a decent bash for once on this album which i did note since they were spectacular on their first album. The guitars have a nice jam element to them but are more focused in the background than normal. The backing vocals have a catchy harmony to them that would resonate rather smoothly with a live setting. The solo is pretty good and reinforces its jam nature as a result. I was actually questioning whether i would like it based on the ending; but it is actually pretty good and reminds me somewhat of Godsmack at times. I can’t quite place it but i know the backing vocals are reminiscent of Sully’s voice to a degree. 8.5/10

Afterburn: This closing track starts with an aggressive guitar rumble and a computer manipulated vocal opening from Scott that is actually interesting and resonates well with the more energetic drum patters.Scott uses a clearly polished delivery to produce some decent high notes and the guitars/drums do a solid job of providing a more technical but soothing support to ensure that the more electronic elements of this song don’t bloat it. The chorus is a bit short but infuses the song with a nice degree of climatic power; which i’m sure would be pulled up smoothly live and helps to justify this piece as a decent choice for your final experience on this album. The solo is very strong and features fast thrash style melodies, pounding drum beats, and a revd up rhythm/bass segment in the background that speeds everything up to a nice high point before Scott enters to recite the chorus one last time before closing the album. 9/10

Overall album rating: 8.6/10

Well, this came surprisingly shy of matching their first album’s score (8.7) and can perhaps be seen as a rare instance of a band reinventing itself after losing a singer and coming off strong. It’s also the highest score i have given an album that Scott Stapp has sung on; so that alone says that Scott has a very good thing going with this band. Hopefully he sticks with it and doesn’t bring forth any drama that will force him out. He’s gotta remember that it is technically a side project (Disturbed and Ron Thal’s solo work) and it isn’t going to be a major focus i assume. They are recording in a timely manner as a beginning career band would (2 years) but who knows. They are also touring finally so we shall see how they turn out. The side project issue is probably the biggest reason why Creed isn’t active this around and is why i can possibly see drama unfolding with Scott didn’t learn from his prior health scare last time. I doubt they will be performing their first album since Scott Weiland’s angtsy echo in his voice was highly important to the overall sound of the album. We shall see soon enough but be sure to check out this album. It is a nice surprise and could potentially prove to be your favorite album of the year. So far nothing else is sticking out highly unless the Linkin Park one proves to be a big surprise. Enjoy your day everyone!

*Reviewer’s Pick*