#the mosquito is buzzing around the lamp??

[mondaymelon]

guys is there a possibility that any of you hold interest in adoption papers 🥺🥺

[yanara126-writing]

Communion

Billie didn't like watching Daud visit shrines to the Outsider.

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Read here or on Ao3 (1026 words)

Have fun! Comments always welcome! :)

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Billie didn't like watching Daud visit shrines to the Outsider. She didn't like the feelings it stirred in her, the things it made her think. Despite this she followed him to them every time he spotted one on a mission. It was always the same. First he would slow, losing focus, until he stopped entirely. Sometimes, when the mission was time sensitive, he would shake his head and move on, eyes hard as steel, but limbs moving like through tar. As if it tore at him physically to ignore the shrine. The further away they got the more he would relax. But when the mission didn't need priority, then he would go without fail. Drawn like a moth to the lamp, despite his own insistence that the Outsider was 'rotten, black-eyed bastard'. He would curse but he would go, and Billie would follow. This time was no different.

He found the shrine quickly, hidden in a windowless room, its only entrance blocked by a bookcase. Bille watched him, herself hidden just out of sight, as he rammed his sword into the thin crack between shelf and wall and yanked. The shelf gave under his strength and the extra leverage and started to topple and fell with a crash. It nearly crushed Daud, who'd thoughtlessly stepped closer and only just avoided being buried with a quick jump. When he stepped through the hole in the wall, drawn to the unnaturally steady purple light Billie followed with a transversal. He stared at the rune, no doubt hearing its song. He'd described to her once, as a haunting tune, barely something to be called a melody, like a buzzing mosquito that isn't loud but you can't ignore it anyway. He'd scowled around his cigarette as he'd explained it, gaze far away, as if he hadn't even quite known she was there.

He stared like that too now. She said something, some inane comment about how the Outsider must smell. He merely grunted absently when normally he would have answered something equally inane. Something like how if she ever smelled him she should take a proper bath afterwards.

"I wonder when he'll talk to me." The words escaped her with an unsettling urgency, pressing out of her lungs without her consent, carrying with them an undeniable truth. The feeling roiled in her chest, quietly and uncomfortably as she watched him step closer to the shrine, completely enraptured, a dour scowl etched into his face.

Daud grabbed the rune as if it had personally underpaid him. As soon as it left the purple cushion his face went slack and his entire body slumped as if all tension in his muscles simply evaporated. The hand holding the rune swung with uncontrolled momentum, a visual so comical it felt obscene to watch. He didn't drop the rune though. He never did.

Billie watched him stand in front of the shrine, unaware and unseeing, entirely helpless, and grasped the sword in her hand tighter. The feelings churning in her chest bubbled higher, boiling her organs and making her head swim.

Jealousy. She craved the power at his finger tips, the entirety of it, not just the echo passed to her. She wanted the freedom it promised, the attention of something greater. She wanted what the old man had promised her when he'd taken her in, had made her his second, had put a blade in her hand and a dream in her head. She wanted to usurp him, to control him, to be him.

Rage. It rushed through her veins, simmered under her skin. She was angry at the old man, that he had caved, was crumbling. Six months ago had marked his decline when it should have been their highest point. The assassination of an empress. He hadn't been the unbreakable rock he should have been for years, but still he had seemed unconquerable, an unbreakable wall between her and anything that could harm her. They had been invincible. All that remained now was an old man broken by his greatest success. Vulnerable, right in front of her.

Fear. If the rage made her blood boil then the fear made it freeze in her veins. Daud's crumbling scared her. What did it mean for her? In truth she knew, had been preparing for a while now, was prepared to do what was necessary, but still it scared her. What she was going to do to the man who'd raised her, who'd given her something to live for again. Delilah had called it Billie's own fatal flaw, the weak spot she had to hide if she wanted to make it. Looking at him now, completely out of it, so easy to take down while he was speaking with his god, it shook her to the core. She tried not imagine how he would look when she was done.

When he finally broke out of it and shook his head and pocketed the rune, the biting scowl back on his craggy face, Billie stayed still, the sword back on her hip.

"You were in daze." She didn't know why she told him. It wasn't new to him or to her. "I hope it was enlightening." I never seemed to be, not in any way that helped. The last time, back when he'd come back with the name Delilah on his tongue and urgency in his movement, had brought him back to some sort of active awareness and participation, but it had only made him more obsessive in his failures. This time didn't seem to be different judging by his sour face. She craved to know what he'd learnt, for a taste of it herself. She was terrified of it.

Daud gave her no answer, his gaze gliding over her without catching. She took it at as a dismissal and transversed away, back outside the building and to the outpost on the roof. She waited up there and watched as he made his made his way through the building, one unconscious guard at a time, until Timsh was arrested. Humiliated and ruined, but alive without a scratch.

No, Billie didn't like watching Daud visit the shrines.

[eksvaized]

Part Twenty One [ Previous 〡 Next ] ︱AO3 ︱Wattpad ︱ taglist: @kingsprettyangel, @simonsslvt, @herwristsarehercanvas, @the-faceless-bride, @ghostieslove, @bbypionaa if you want to be added - let me know!

Gently, you slide your fingertip across the cold, smooth rim of the glass that is cradled in your hand. A wave of dizziness washes over you, making your head feel like it’s filled with cotton, and every time you dare to look around, the room seems to sway and spin in a disorienting dance. The film playing in the background has long been forgotten, although it continues to flicker on the screen, casting shadows and bathing the room in a pale yellow glow; the only other source of light is the warm, soft glow of the bedside lamp that Simon had switched on earlier.

When you summon the courage to shift your gaze towards Simon, you find his eyes already tethered to your form, his eyes seemingly glued to your hunched frame.

“What?” You blurt out, your words slurred slightly as you tilt your head, your eyes narrowing in an attempt to focus on him and push away the dizzying sensation clouding your thoughts.

“Nothing,” he replies, his voice an inaudible murmur in the quiet room, as his tongue glides subtly over his bottom lip in a gesture that seems almost unconscious.

You roll your eyes and Simon looks away, shifting his attention back to the screen. Yet, you can’t shake off the feeling that he isn’t really paying attention to the film at all, his mind seemingly elsewhere.

As you lay there, you feel your body sinking into the mattress like a stone in a pond, molding into the grooves of the mattress beneath you. A long, weary sigh escapes your lips. Slowly, your eyelids grow heavy. Inside your mind, tucked away in some obscure corner, there’s a persistent, nagging voice. It’s barely a whisper, but it’s there, incessantly buzzing like a tiny mosquito. Yet, you make a conscious effort to ignore it. You try not to listen to its repeated warnings, telling you that you shouldn’t be letting your guard down, that you should stop drinking, that you should inch closer to the edge of the bed and put as much distance as you possibly can between you and Simon. However, when your fingers venture out and lightly brush across the landscape of his arm and he doesn’t flinch or pull away, you continue tracing invisible lines over his warm skin.

The glass cradled in your hand begins to feel like a leaden weight, and so, with a muted sigh, you place it on your belly. Your fingertips trace up Simon’s forearm, feeling the firm muscles. When you reach the peak of his biceps, your fingers start fiddling absently with the hem of his shirt. The fabric is black. You wonder why he never wears colour. The question keeps circling your mind like a vulture over a deserted field, but you never say it loud. Even in your current drunken stupor, some sober part of your brain, buried deep inside, realizes that no matter how much you want to verbalize your thoughts, it would be wise to keep your lips sealed. Especially after your last outburst when you launched into a rant about how Simon was falling asleep on you, accusing him of being incredibly rude because he was the one who wanted to drink and spend the evening with you.

He still would look handsome in dark blue, you think.

Your head slumps to the side and your cheeks get squished on your shoulder. A moment passes before your eyes close and you fall asleep. But you don’t realise that or that you are snoring lightly, your lips parted. Your hand, still loosely holding onto a half-empty glass of liquor, hangs limply by your side. It isn’t until an unfamiliar touch tries to pry the glass away that you stir from your slumber. Your body reacts instinctively, jerking upwards in surprise, causing the remaining amber liquid to slosh out of the glass. The potent scent of the alcohol permeates the air as it stains your shirt, creating a dark, wet spot that rapidly grows in size. A groan of irritation escapes your lips as you glance down at the mess on your shirt.

Slowly lifting your gaze, your eyes meet Simon’s, finding his face shockingly close to yours. His unexpected proximity startles you, causing you to recoil involuntarily. You move back until your back hits the sturdy headboard.

“You need to change,” he says and you nod, the thought of sleeping in a dirty, alcohol-soaked shirt making you nauseous.

With a quick movement, Simon places the now-empty glass on the bedside table. Rising from his spot, he moves towards the wardrobe, his steps slow but steady. He rummages around inside, moving hangers and rustling fabric until he finds what he’s looking for. He pulls out a fresh shirt, the fabric soft and clean, and tosses it in your direction. Your reflexes are slow, dulled by the alcohol and fatigue, and the shirt lands beside you, almost as if mocking your current state.

When you attempt to grab it, your body wobbles unsteadily in the bed. The room spins around you, causing you to tumble onto your side. A defeated sigh escapes your lips as you roll onto your back, frustration washing over you like a wave.

“I can’t,” you say, your words muffled by the impending sleep that threatens to claim you. The very thought of changing your shirt seems like an insurmountable task. Your body and limbs refuse to cooperate. It feels as if your head is spinning ceaselessly, and the world around you is a blur.

Without missing a beat, Simon says, “I’ll help.” Before you have a chance to protest or insist that he leaves you alone - all you want to do is lay down and close your eyes - he gently takes your hands and pulls you into a sitting position. His actions are considerate, slow and careful, as if he’s handling something fragile, as if you were made of glass.

You dare to open the eyes. Thankfully, your bedroom is barely lit. Standing by your side, Simon remains idle for a moment before pulling the shirt over your head and tossing it on the ground. The warm air hits your bare skin. Usually, you would immediately wrap your arms around your chest, or try to turn around to limit how much Simon’s prying eyes are allowed to see, even though there is nothing left to hide. However, since you are drunk, you just sit calmly, your heavy-lidded eyes meeting his.

His touch feels nice, and you find yourself leaning into it, craving more of the warmth it brings. “Sit still,” Simon mumbles, his voice breaking the silence as you unconsciously continue swaying from side to side, not allowing him to dress you up.

“I am sitting still!” You retort, the words slipping out of your mouth in a slurred speech. You roll your eyes in faux annoyance, which only makes him shake his head and sigh. Despite his apparent exasperation, there’s a hint of amusement in his reaction as a soft chuckle rumbles in his chest and slips past his parted lips.

After numerous attempts, he finally succeeds in pulling the shirt over your head. The moment he manages to do so, he gently nudges you—it’s a silent command for you to lie down. You comply, allowing him to pull the covers up and over your body. As he does so, he takes the time to gently push the loose strands of hair that had fallen into your eyes, tucking them behind your ear.

A smile forms on your lips. It causes Simon to freeze where he stands. He knows you are drunk, and that you are really not acting like yourself. But he can’t ignore the fact that you’ve never smiled at him in that way before. More than that, the way you’re looking at him now is completely different: your eyes are filled with warmth and genuine a fondness, that he’s never seen before. The sight of you just looking at him and smiling leaves him momentarily breathless, as though he’s been plunged into the deep end of a pool..

“What’s wrong?” You can’t help but let a small pout form on your lips when Simon continues his silence. You wait for his reply, but even after your question, he doesn’t utter a single word.

His gaze, intense and unreadable, remains locked onto yours. The moment seems to stretch on forever, the silence only broken by the soft breathing of both of you. The lingering eye contact stirs a palpable tension in the room, creating an electric charge that crackles in the air. Then, shattering the quiet like a dropped glass, Simon leans down and presses a light, fleeting kiss on your forehead. The action is so subtle, so gentle, that you think you may have imagined it.

He murmurs, “Goodnight.”

As Simon attempts to pull away, you make a split-second decision. You reach out, your fingers wrapping around the collar of his black shirt. Before he can create any distance, you tug him back towards you. Taken by surprise, he almost topples on top of you. But his reflexes are quick. Just before you get squished beneath his weight, he plants his hands on either side of your frame, effectively suspending himself above you.

However, even in this precarious situation, you refuse to let him go. Your fingers clutch the fabric tightly, as if it’s your only lifeline. Then, slowly, almost in slow motion, you raise your head, closing the small distance between you two. Your heart beats wildly in your chest as your lips meet his in a soft kiss.

You and Simon have never kissed. You refused to allow him to do that because he has taken so much from you already without ever asking for permission. But now, things are different. As he slowly lowers himself onto you, his body weight gently pressing into you, you find yourself unconsciously tilting your head to the side. His lips, when they finally meet yours, are surprisingly soft. The scent of his perfume, deeply soaked into his shirt, fills your senses, intoxicating you more than the kiss itself.

His hands, tentative at first, begin to explore, trailing down your sides until they find a resting place on your hips. He gives them a light squeeze—a simple action that sends a jolt of electricity down your spine. You draw back for a second, inhaling deeply to steady your racing heart.

Maybe it’s the alcohol coursing through your veins, making your heart pound faster and your head spin. Or maybe it’s just been so long since you genuinely wanted to kiss someone that the sensation feels both foreign and exciting. But whatever the reason, you give in to the moment, surrendering to the gentle touch of Simon’s lips as they trail a tantalizing path from the corner of your mouth, across your jawline, and all the way down the curve of your neck.

The kiss would have continued, had you not made the inadvertent mistake of opening your eyes and breaking the moment. An intense wave of dizziness washes over you, completely overwhelming and overpowering your senses. The room, a swirling vortex of formless shapes and colors, spins with the disorienting speed, like a carousel out of control. You can feel the acrid, bitter taste of bile rising up your throat.

In panic, you press your hands against Simon’s firm chest, shoving him to the side. He falls onto the mattress beside you. A look of surprise and concern is etched on his face. You scramble out of the bed in haste, clasping a hand over your mouth to suppress the strong feeling of impending sickness. Without bothering to turn on any lights, you race out of the bedroom, your frantic footsteps echoing down the hallway.

Barely making it to the bathroom, you collapse on your knees. The impact against the cold, hard tiles makes you wince in pain.

The night ends with you hunched over the toilet, vomiting your guts out.

Simon eventually finds his way to you, but you are so lost in your own discomfort that you don’t even notice his arrival until he gently scoops up your hair and holds it out of the way for you.

When you eventually find the strength to return to the bedroom, you look ghostly pale and utterly exhausted. Simon offers you a tablet and a glass of cold water before tucking you into the bed.

As he’s about to turn off the bedside lamp, casting the room into darkness, you muster the strength to weakly raise your arm. Your fingers wrap around his wrist in a silent plea. He looks down at you, his eyes filled with concern and a hint of a question. Your voice is barely above a whisper and roughened by fatigue when you say, “Stay.”

[acapellafics]

Second place medal

I'm steadily infecting my friends YouTube feed with dsmp content and he heard the famous 'Hitting on 16' audio and all I could see was Mysterion and the Raccoon so I threw a one shot together of the boys as teens.

Another quiet night of patrolling South Park with select members of the Freedom Pals, Mysterion had recently branched off from Raccoon and friends with a few other heroes that were getting sick of his favoritism.

Tonight Mysterion was hopping from rooftop to rooftop as usual listening for Chaos or even civilian criminals, sure enough he stopped a few of Chaos' minions from dumping 'lava' in front of businesses and homes.

Feeling the phone Tupperware gave him buzz against his thigh made the vigilante duck into the shadows to answer the text, he groaned seeing that it was from the Raccoon.

'We need to talk Kenny' of course he wouldn't care about identities because to the others they were just pretending,

'You can pick the location but it has to be tonight 🦝'

Mysterion rolled his eyes checking his surroundings, his legs had carried him to the rooftop of city hall as usual. He'd done his normal parameter check and then wove through the sleepy town stopping Chaos minions as he went, he decided he could spare a few minutes.

'Fine Raccoon'

'Meet me in the alley that leads to Raisins in 5 minutes' he put his cell away and braced his legs before using trees and rooftops to return to Main Street where he waited perched on a street lamp for the portly 'Superhero' to meet him at their rendezvous point.

"Stupid Kenny making me come to this shithole alley" The Raccoon grumbled as he approached the designated rendezvous point failing to notice the vigilante on his perch,

"I'm here, come on out so we can talk!" He called out, arms crossed.

Mysterion rolled his eyes hopping down as lithe as ever watching the other boy jump hearing his combat boots hit the sidewalk,

"A serious hero would have checked their surroundings before entering a dark alley" he reprimanded his old 'leader' as he entered the alley looking down at the shorter boy.

"I'm totally a serious hero Kenny" the Raccoon growled out, the vigilante's expression made him take at least half a step back and his tail slid between his legs.

"If you were as serious as you say you are you wouldn't throw around my identity like it means nothing" Mysterion growled looming over the Raccoon watching him cower back a little,

"You'd treat me like an equal not an underling"

"I didn't treat you like an underling Ke-Mysterion" the Raccoon hissed his ears pointing back,

"I'm the leader of Raccoon and friends. I seriously treated you all fair, you're just butthurt you didn't have as many movies or shows as some of the others but it has to be that way" he argued defensively.

"You treated everyone like they're below you, you know that my powers are real and you act like it's just a fucking game but it's not" Mysterion growled out feeling his cape angrily billow in the wind,

"You talk down to all of us and throw slurs at Human Kite on the daily. Do you know why he decided to stay with your group?" He asked.

"Because he knows the Freedom Pals is fucking lame" the Raccoon stated smugly crossing his arms,

"And our franchise plan makes way better sense" he smirked.

"No it's because of a very specific phrase I drilled into him before you chased half of us out" Mysterion growled lowly not fond of hearing the Raccoon shit talk his new team,

"Keep your friends close…and your enemies closer he's not stupid and knows exactly the kind of bullshit you'd pull if he left, he could have joined us and left you with just Fast pass, Mosquito, Captain Diabetes, and Super Craig but he knew damn well you'd personally make his life Hell so he stayed" he knew he was right and so did the Raccoon but he sure as Hell didn't want to admit it.

"God damn it Kenny! This is just a fucking game!" The Raccoon's shout reverberated around the cluttered alley,

"Come on you poor piece of crap! Do you want your share of the money from the franchise or not?! God! Kenny you forget yourself, you're not a hero, you're just some poor kid from the ghetto" his rage at being abandoned by his best friend boiled over and he lightly jabbed the vigilante's chest with a clawed finger.

Mysterion glared daggers at the fat boy in the Raccoon costume and smacked his hand away with a fast flick of his wrist listening to the plastic claws fall off and click on the sidewalk, he watched surprise flash through heterochromic eyes as the Raccoon backed away from him.

"Oh yeah 'Kenny you forget yourself'" Mysterion dropped the lower voice using a higher pitch to mock the Raccoon,

"Eric you forget where you stand next to me, you are in my shadow act like it." He loomed over the quivering 'hero' as he stepped around him getting ready to head back to the freedom pals school for the gifted and talented,

"Maybe it's no coincidence that every single idea you've had has failed under your guidance, you're a walking second place medal." A thick silence enveloped the two before Mysterion continued back to report his patrol findings.

The Raccoon stood there shocked to his very core as Mysterion's words sank in and cut him deeper than any weapon,

'You're a walking second place medal.' Mysterion's voice bounced around his mind as he trudged home not even acknowledging his mom's greeting as he went to his room changing mindlessly into his pajamas and crawling into bed.

[dryas-glacialis]

all flies are part of the order Diptera, which, alongside the commonly recognised Muscidae, also includes families like mosquitoes (Culicidae) and the flightless parasitic keds (Hippoboscidae), as well as nearly 190 other families. around 125,000 species within Diptera have been formally described, but estimates say there are as many as a million species worldwide. a Quoran’s calculations based on available data say there are around 136,000,000,000,000,000 individual flies on earth—those are quadrillions, by the way. 

houseflies, Musca domestica, live everywhere that humans do, including the arctic. female individuals of the species are typically larger in size than their male counterparts, and their eyes are further apart, while in male flies they nearly touch. aside from the well-known and recognised compound eyes of a fly, most fly species, including the housefly, have three ocelli, “simple eyes”, on the top of their head, which detect motion and light. flies perceive time differently than humans and see things in slow motion, about four times slower than us, and they can calculate the speed and trajectory of the approaching object, helping them escape—to capture them, you need cunning. in comparison, a turtle, for example, sees things twice the speed of humans. this has to do with the flicker fusion treshold of each species. 

flies have only one pair of wings (as do all dipterans; the name of the order is derived from the Greek δι-, ‘two’, and πτερόν, ‘wing’—two wings)—their hindwings have evolved into halteres, little balancing organs that help them sense their movements and maneuver in the air. 

the taste receptors of flies are located in their feet, allowing them to taste food by walking on it and make sure it’s safe to eat. this is also why they clean their feet so often! flies have two claws on each foot and adhesive pads (culvilli) between them, which help them walk on walls and ceiling. when landing, flies use their two front legs to absorb the shock wave, and only then land their last four legs. 

female flies usually mate only once and then reject male advances—they are able to save the sperm for later use. they lay eggs, about a hundred at once, in warm and moist environments; either food waste, feces, or carrion. 

the eggs hatch withing a day. the larvae then pupate after only a few days, but those days are ecologically significant: they help clean our planet of corpses and all sorts of other junk. their developmental stage can also be used to estimate the carcass’ time of death. 

after another few days, the flies emerge as adults. to tear open the pupal case, they inflate a pouch (the ptilinum) on their head and force their way out. they take less than a day to reach sexual maturity. flies’ courting behaviours include bumping into each other, flapping their wings, buzzing, and tapping and stroking each other. 

flies have a great appetite, and they spend the majority of their days in search for food. their diet consists mostly of feces and carrion, but they can also eat rotting fruit and sugary substances. they cannot exactly eat solid foods, but to make their lives easier, they can soften them with their saliva and drink them up. this is what people mean when they say flies “throw up” on food. 

rather than just fly around aimlessly, flies also explore their environment and seek out new stimulation. to navigate, flies make use of many external cues; light, movement, smell, air pressure, and temperature. because they use the sun to navigate, indoor lighting might make them disoriented and cause them to start circling lamps—this behaviour is known as positive phototaxis. they might also be attracted to lamps for the heat they produce. classical conditioning occurs in flies, meaning they can learn to associate neutral stimulus with a response on their part, such as associating the smell of food with hunger. they can also learn from the consequences of their actions and adjust their behaviour accordingly. 

at night, they sleep. outdoors they may rest in trees or shrubs, or they might crawl into long grass. indoors they often prefer ceilings. flies’ sleep patterns are not understood well, but it is known that they have at least two distinct stages, similar to those observed in mammals. though they otherwise don’t live long, flies can hibernate over the winter and arise in the spring to lay their eggs. 

adult houseflies can live up to a month. as they age, they become weaker and more vulnerable to diseases. they can also die from extreme temperatures, hunger or thirst, or physical injuries caused by collisions or predation. when exhausted or injured, a fly might fall on it’s back—a position it can get trapped in. alternatively, they might assume that position when they’re nearing death, as a result of failing nervous system and reduced coordination, as well as the weakness of their legs. 

[tragicatny]

[PRP] The Black Lagoon

Core Character: Katelynn Elvira Quintana

Type: Angst / Comfort

Word Count: 4.2k

⚠️ TW: Depression, Self-Harming, Dissociation, Panic Attack, Weed

Thank you for reading! <3

-𖦹 𖦹 𖦹—𖦹 𖦹 𖦹—𖦹 𖦹 𖦹—𖦹 𖦹 𖦹—𖦹 𖦹 𖦹—𖦹 𖦹 𖦹-

June 21, 2011 / 11:28PM:

Usually it felt better to breathe in the cool night air.

The smell was fresh, as if the rain from a few hours ago had cleansed the clinical day and washed away the stuffy heaviness. Normally, it triggered that gentle, pleasant tingle in her stomach, but tonight, anything that was actually real still seemed too far away to enjoy.

Kate's hands were shaking a little. Her attempt to insert the key into the keyhole of her front door failed a few times until she finally managed it and, with a frantic flick of her wrist, risked breaking the key in two.

Suddenly she was overcome by a fear that she might turn her back on someone on the porch. She froze instantly, afraid to turn around, but forced herself to look over her shoulder and realized with relief that her mind had played a trick on her. 

Her eyes surveyed the neighborhood as she fumbled in her jacket pocket for her phone. She had wrapped her headphones around the device, and cursed herself for it as she unrolled them again.

The buzzing of the lamp that lit Kate from behind next to the front door began to grow louder as the seconds ticked by. Two mosquitoes had already gathered around it, humming harmoniously as if they wanted to join in with it's sound. Kate imagined that as they tried to get closer to the light, they'd be grilled like she had seen in the movie Grown Ups.

Maybe it was the same for her.

She put the plugs in her ears and buried her hands deep in her pockets, where her fingertips came into contact with a lighter and small pointy things she couldn't quite identify.

Finally she clenched her jaw and walked down the small flight of steps to her front garden.

As Kate walked down the street, her heart was still pounding hard in her chest. She could feel the pressure against her ribs as if it were a living thing trying to break free from her body. She clutched her chest and thought about stopping to take a breath, but then she thought of Richard Ramirez and all the young women he had victimized and decided to keep walking.

As she walked on, the pounding in her chest grew louder. It seemed as if it was trying to get her attention, trying to remind her that something was wrong. Her legs suddenly felt foreign, as if from a body that was no longer entirely hers. She forced herself to lift her head and look straight ahead, to fix her gaze on the familiar houses, but they seemed strangely distorted, as if the world around her was slowly melting away.

Her thoughts began to drift away, inexorably to the night before her admission. What she remembered most was the pain - or at least what she thought was pain at the time. She knew it hurt, after all, that was all she had thought about back then. Besides, she always panicked when she thought of the sharp pain she had felt when she let the blade slide through her soft flesh. But still, in contrast to her memory, she believed it was almost painless, less worrying than the obsessive trembling of her legs, which annoyed her mightily.

It prevented her from cutting properly.

But when she thought of the sight of her fat, or the blood. Oh my God, all that blood. It never seemed to stop bleeding, Jesus Christ.

And yet she hadn't stopped. She probably would have bled herself to the last drop if it hadn't been for the thing with the door and her brother. Really funny actually, she could have sworn she'd locked it.

Kate kept walking. Meanwhile, the music from her headphones filled her ears, but The Cure's "Lovesong", a great song in Kate's opinion, sounded like a distant noise. The melody blurred with her memories and became an oppressive echo in her head, drawing her deeper and deeper into the darkness of her psyche.

Involuntarily, Kate slowed her steps. The footsteps in front of her lost focus, the lanterns bent grotesquely in her perception, and it felt as if she was no longer completely here, as if she had been torn out of her reality for good. Everything suddenly seemed like a strange scene created by an artificial intelligence - and her body, her mind - she could barely connect them.

Kate could feel her surroundings drifting away from her. It was as if she was standing behind a shard of glass and had to watch as someone else walked down the street in her body.

"What... am I really here?" she asked herself, although she could no longer grasp the answer. It was as if she was slowly slipping away into the distance, unable to regain control of her own reality.

She closed her eyes for a moment in an attempt to push the images from her mind. The memories seemed to hang like shadows over her face and she felt as if she was falling into an abyss. Kate only wanted to escape for a brief moment, but the darkness seemed to catch up with her, forcing her to think about what happened on the night of June 12th.

The pressure in her chest grew stronger, the thing inside her seemed to scream even louder and more desperately. Suddenly she heard footsteps that seemed to be getting closer and closer, and a familiar voice cut through the fog of her thoughts.

"Kate! Hey, Kate!" someone called out. The voice sounded like a ray of light breaking through the gray cloud cover that had settled over Kate's mind after a storm. But the words still seemed distorted, as if they were being spoken through water.

Kate opened her eyes with a start and looked ahead as she was overcome by an impulse that seemed to tear open the layers of her mind like a bolt of lightning.

"BOO!" Connie shouted as she leaned over Kate's shoulder and bellowed in her ear. As if Connie had pulled her back to reality with an invisible thread, the shock catapulted Kate back among the living.

"Oh, fuck me, Connie!" Kate gasped and felt her chest, which was still throbbing like crazy. But this time it was different. It was alive, present.

Her heartbeat began to calm down and the pressure in her chest eased. She blinked, as if waking from a long, dream-like sleep.

"Are you all right?" Connie asked. Her smile twisted into a worried expression, and if Kate had been in a state of normalcy, she would have noticed that Connie instantly felt bad for scaring her like that.

For a brief moment, Kate felt like a different person, as if the thick fog that had enveloped her had lifted. The familiar sounds of cars in the distance, The Cure and the pleasant air became clear and distinct again. She looked around and scanned the neighborhood; the familiar houses, as well as the streetlights and dirty sidewalks were just as they should be. Her legs felt steady, as if she could take each step with confidence, the surrealistic haze actually seemed to be lifting.

"Mmm, I think so," she replied, her voice still a little shaky, but the shock had given her a boost. And she was grateful that it finally seemed to be over.

An unusually shy smile flitted across her face.

"Where are Kai and Sean?" she asked.  

"Waiting for us at the lake," Connie replied. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and checked whether one of them had sent her a message, at least that's what Kate assumed. She put it back in her pocket.

"Why?" Kate replied. Sean and Kai usually didn't let the girls wander the streets alone, at least not at this time of day. Kate thought of Gary Ridgway this time.

"They've got my location, it's okay. Besides, the lake isn't far," Connie grabbed Kate's hand before continuing.

"I mean, I'm just saying. After watching a homeless man shoot heroin into his head on the McKannon's doorstep the other day, I don't know what I'd have to be more afraid of; Mr. Loughty when I'm of age or the way they'll find my body once I see him again."

"I think you'll be on the same page with Loughty and the pusher," Connie replied and Kate grinned slightly. Connie let go of her hand momentarily to reach in her handbag for the packet of cigars - Camel Crush, she liked the little ball on the filter.

"You want one?" Connie held a cigarette in front of her and put it in her own mouth as Kate shook her head. She carefully put the box back in her bag and fetched a pretty pink lighter.

Meanwhile, Kate looked to the side and carefully watched a black cat climbing down a tree. It was half-lit by a streetlight, Kate could almost just make out its sweet green eyes in the darkness.

"Does Jim know you're out?" Connie asked from the side.

"I left him a note on my bed in case he checks on me," Kate replied. That's what she usually did, because if she wrote him a message on her phone, he'd know for sure that she was gone, maybe even while she was out. He might worry.

Like that he'd know if he wanted to check on her at night, especially after the incident. Or not at all, she threw the note away as soon as she got home.

And If she didn't, he'd know just as well that something was wrong. So it's whatever.

Connie took a deep drag from her cigarette and glanced at Kate. Kate had buried her hands in her jacket pockets and was looking ahead as her steps moved in step with Connie's. She had taken her eyes off the cat by now, leaving her further and further behind with each step.

"I didn't wanna go straight to the boys," Connie began. Her voice was softer than usual. Kate felt the back of her neck tense. "I thought... I wanted to talk to you first. You know, about the hospital...and what happened there."

Kate closed her eyes for a moment and quickly opened them again as the familiar pressure in her chest seemed to return.

'Mmm,' she mumbled without looking at Connie. She knew where she was going with this, but the thought of talking about it made her skin prickle as if she'd been squeezed into a too-tight garment.

(Like a straitjacket)

Connie took another drag and blew the smoke into the cool night air. "It's just... I was worried. The others too, of course, but I thought it would be more comfortable for you if we talked alone first." She paused, as if waiting for Kate to say something. But Kate remained silent.

"Ray said it was bad." Connie's voice was a little more insistent now, almost cautious. "I mean, you were away for a week. And now you're back, and I'm just scared that you're still not-."

"I'm okay, Connie," Kate interrupted quickly, her words coming out hastily and sounding too sharp, even to her own ears. She closed her eyes, took a shallow breath and forced a smile onto her face. "It wasn't a big deal. I just don't wanna talk about it, alright?"

Connie's brow furrowed, but she nodded slowly. "Okay," she said quietly, although it was clear that she wasn't happy with that outcome. She took one last drag of her cigarette before throwing it on the floor and squeezing it with her heel.

For a moment there was silence again, only the soft whirring of the streetlights and the rustling of the wind in the trees could be heard. Kate let her gaze wander and fixed on a few bats flying past, fluttering against the pale illumination of the lamps. The girls had left the road a while ago and were now in front of a small wooded area.

"The black lagoon is just up ahead," Connie finally said, pointing to the silhouette of a lake between the trees and some bushes. It was as usual - black.

A few years ago, the black lagoon was infested with an abundance of algae, which made the water appear darker, almost black, hence the name, as it was also pretty deep.

There was also something mystical about the lake in Kate's eyes, especially when it was foggy.

"Good," she murmured as she poked over branches and leaves. "I hope someone has brought something to drink. I forgot to drink earlier."

Connie gave a short laugh, albeit without her usual lightness. She let Kate go ahead, her eyes on her for a moment before she reached for the pack of cigarettes in her pocket again.

The smell of damp moss and earth mingled together in Kate's nose as she could see the spark of a lit cigarette between the trees on the bank.

She heard two people sitting on the bank, having a quiet conversation, which died away when Kate approached them with a loud step.

"Hey?" asked one of the voices. Kate, with Connie behind her back, was instantly illuminated by a cell phone as they were now only a few steps away.

"Hey," he repeated, this time much more relaxed.

Sean stood up from the stone he was sitting on and moved towards the girls with his arms open. The tension in Kate's chest seemed to ease.

"I see you're back," Sean said, looking down at Kate.

"Yep," Kate replied, smiling at him. She took a few steps forward, over to Kai. He was also sitting on a stone, facing forward.

"Hi Kate," he greeted her and stubbed out his cigarette on his stone.

"Hi Kai," Kate replied and tousled his hair.

Connie had taken off her jacket and placed it on one of the stones, which seemed big enough to sit on, to avoid a bunion inflammation when sitting down. Kate, on the other hand, sat down on the ground between Connie and Sean.

"It's a bit dark in here, isn't it?" Connie said.

"I'd brought a lamp, but Kai wanted me to leave it off"

"How stupid is that? Kate and I wouldn't have had to look for you in the dark then."

"Didn't you send me a message from your phone like five minutes ago?“

"My phone just died"

"You could've met up with us right from the start"

"You know...why I didn't want to," Connie replied a little intimidated and looked down at Kate, which was okay as it was dark enough that she hadn't seen.

Sean hadn't said anything for a few seconds. He knew he was walking on eggshells and didn't want to take his chances. He took the camper light out of his backpack, turned it on and set it in the center.

The lake lay calmly, its water dark and still, only the faint moonlight reflected on the surface. That night, the water was as black as ink, almost as if it was swallowing up the light.

Connie checked her watch. "Why didn't Eric come?" she asked.

"Ethan Brook's birthday. I guess he's celebrating in," Kai replied from the side, not looking at any of his friends.

,,What about Kate? It's her birthday tomorrow too. Why is he missing his best friend's birthday to celebrate...Brooks'?" Connie raised an eyebrow and seemed more upset about that than Kate was.

"It's okay, Connie. It's not like I had a party," Kate replied, playing with the little stones scattered around her. That didn't bother Kate much either. Not because she hadn't been looking forward to that, but because she was used to dealing with disappointment. Besides, the loss of Eric's presence was also something she greeted with a superficial indifference. He just wasn't reliable enough for her to be surprised.

,,Still! You would have had one. Bad enough you had to blow it off cause' you had to go to hospital...I think he could at least show up for the alternative." Connie looked at her watch again and threw a small stone over to Sean, who looked confused for a moment, but then seemed to understand and turned his attention back to his backpack. Or rather, what was hidden underneath it.

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "That doesn't bother me..."

,,Still. Especially during times like this, he could make more of an effort. Mochou couldn't either, but she had a valid excuse. Her family's visiting. She has to share her bed with her cousin, so she's not allowed out after 9," Connie said, looking at her watch again. She grinned and squatted down in front of Kate.

"Happy birthday!" she smiled and hugged her friend tightly. Sean lifted a small platform onto his lap and had Kai give him a lighter to light something on it.

Kate smiled, feeling happy for the longest time. Especially when the thing Sean ominously pulled out from under his backpack, turned out to be cake he now put on top of her lap.

It was a chocolate cake that had been decorated with icing and sprinkles around the edges. Kate read the inscription; "Happy Birthday, Kate!".

"Mochou and I baked it this morning. I hope you like it," said Connie, looking at Kate expectantly.

In the meantime, Kai had sat down on the stone Connie sat own before and looked down at the two girls.

"Happy birthday," he said, nipping Kate's ear with his fingers. Kate gave way playfully and looked up at him.

"You gonna sing for me?"

"Put out your candles first"

Kate smiled and looked down at her cake. She thought about what to wish for and when she couldn't come up with anything, she half-heartedly thought of something and tried to blow out all the candles at the same time.

Connie began to applaud happily.

Kate felt her heart start to pound again as a wave of joy built up inside her. It was as if the darkness that had surrounded her was pushed back for a moment.

"You did great!" Connie said, pulling Kate back into a hug. Kate's heart beat a little faster with joy as she wrapped her arms around Connie's body and pulled her closer. When she looked up again, she saw Kai rummaging around in a small plastic bag and began to grin wider.

She leaned back and watched Kai with a hint of anticipation as he went about his business. Sean and Connie slowly noticed too that Kai had started to roll the weed in the plastic bag into two joints.

Kai grinned as he held the first one out to Kate.

"Come on, birthday girl first if she wants"

Sean looked from Kai over to Kate.

"Oh man, of course she does," he said as he took the lighter he had borrowed from Kai and held it out to Kate. With a deft flick of his thumb, he lit the fire while Kate put the joint in her mouth, leaned forward and held it over the fire. She took a drag and was greeted in an instant by the familiar, yet truly disgusting pungent taste of the smoke. She waited a second until she took a deep breath as a feeling of floating spread through her.

-

00:45AM

"Kate...can I...can I crash at your place tonight?" Connie murmured softly into the silence. She gave Kate a quick sideways glance, not really expecting her to answer. She knew her well enough to know that she stopped talking after smoking pot. Sometimes she really did feel like Kate was slipping into another universe.

The girls were walking down Elm Grove Road, about 5 minutes from Kate's house. Kai and Sean had taken them part of the way, but then went the other one. Connie held the cake box with the pitted cake loosely in her right hand.

Kate still didn't answer. Connie waited a moment longer when she felt she had to justify herself and added hastily: "You know my mom. She told me weed makes you crave greasy food and I should stay away from it". Connie laughed briefly, a soundless laugh that almost disappeared the moment she kicked an empty Coke can on the ground.

Her eyes fixed on the treetops above their heads, rustling a little in the gentle night breeze. She sighed.

"I don't want her to think I've stuffed myself"

Kate walks silently beside her. Her gaze was directed into the distance and she barely noticed what Connie was saying, as if she only perceived the weight of Connie's words as a distant echo. The grass drew her deep into itself, softening and stretching her perception, as if every movement slid through water. It also seemed to her that the air had become a little heavier, somehow peaceful. Also, she perceived every sound - the wind, the rustling in the trees and the movement of her footsteps - so intensely that she could physically feel them.

However, Kate did understood the big picture, though, and thus nodded slowly. She handed Connie her own cell phone so she can text her mom.

The path ahead was lit by the streetlights, and although the trees carried shadows that could seem sinister, they were very reassuring to Kate in that moment. The rhythm of their footsteps almost lulled her into a meditative state, like a gentle mantra guiding her into a wordless silence. She realizes that Connie is speaking next to her, but the words only reach her in a blur. Instead, she concentrates on the feel of her shoes as she walks across the floor and the cool air that feels like a whisper in her lungs.

The houses appeared side by side, disappearing with each step forward, first the LaPlante's house, then the Diaz', the Caddels.... Every time one disappeared from their view, a new one appeared. That was.. interesting. The streets were empty, with only the occasional faint glimmer of light behind a window.

For Kate, everything blurs into a silent panorama of shadow and moonlight. She senses Connie's proximity, a reassuring presence, and though she doesn't want to make a peep, she had a feeling Connie would know what she was thinking.

The girls turned onto Willow Bend Avenue and marched for another 2 minutes when they stopped in front of the Quintana's property. Kate looked up at the building like she did hours ago, and it didn't seem as menacing and foreign to her as it had back then. 

She hobbled up the small staircase with Connie in tow, and leaned forward to put that cursed little key in that door slot, but again, she couldn't. She tried again, and tried again. Kate tried a few more times, poking the tip next to it again and again, until Connie took it aside and tried it herself. She also missed a few times, and thus the girls bent over the front door like two idiots, taking it in turns to try and get the key into the hole for two minutes straight while the other one looked around nervously in case anyone had followed them.

Until Connie finally managed.

The house was empty, not surprising considering the time of day. Jim was already asleep, almost certainly. Ray probably was too, or he wasn't home.

The two of them crept quietly up the stairs into Kate's room. The stairs creaked a little, and the images she saw in the corner of her eye with the help of a flashlight she had taken from the shelf, seemed eerie in the semi-darkness.

Once in the room, her head felt heavy and she felt the soft roar of the effect still running through her body. The walls seemed closer than usual, but she was too tired to worry about it. As soon as the door was closed, Kate slipped out of her clothes and pulled on a large T-shirt and dropped into bed without hesitation, suddenly feeling as soft and warm as a large, gentle pillow already enveloping her. The note tickled under her leg and she put it aside. 

From her half-closed eyelids, she watched Connie slowly undoing her hair. She was concentrating so hard on undoing both braids that it was almost hypnotizing. Kate's eyes followed as Connie took a hairbrush - Kate's hairbrush - and gently ran it through the blonde strands, over and over again, almost like a ritual.

Connie moved towards Kate's wardrobe and also picked up a large T-shirt, pulled it over her head and finally laid down next to her in bed, very carefully, almost like a fleeting touch. She murmured softly, "Thank you... for letting me sleep here," and then, after a short pause, like a gentle echo, "I'm glad you're still here," and with that Connie turned off the small lamp on the bedside table.

The words swam through Kate's tired mind, somewhere deep in the warmth that surrounds her. Maybe she murmured something back, maybe not - she doesn't know. The images, the colors and the warmth mingle, and before she knew it, she is was gone, drawn down into a deep, dreamless sleep.

@strawbzbunnie

[mozzguardorder]

Mozz Guard Reviews: Should You Buy Mozz Guard Mosquito Zapper?

Mosquitoes are the ultimate fun-spoilers for outdoor enthusiasts, and they're more than just a bother. Fortunately, there are many options on the market to address this buzzing issue; one particularly notable one is the Mozz Guard mosquito zapper.You may expect to be fully bug and mosquito free with this portable anti-mosquito bulb. Mozz Guard makes the promise that it can eradicate mosquitoes both indoors and outdoors.

Because Mozz Guard is small and lightweight, you may carry it with you wherever you go. With its rechargeable battery, it can fend off mosquitoes and other flying insects for up to 14 hours before needing to be recharged. It is the ideal travel companion because to its lightweight, compact, and USB-rechargeable qualities. Additionally, it makes moving around the house for all-night protection simple and convenient.

Most significantly, Mozz Guard is the safest mosquito zapper in the US and is safe to use around children and pets because it doesn't contain any toxic or dangerous chemicals. The safest and most natural method of protecting your family from mosquito bites and the ensuing health risks is using Mozz Guard. No harmful ingredients that could irritate your nasal passages, cause a rash on your youngster, or harm your pet are used in the creation of Mozz Guard. Toxin-filled insect sprays are more harmful than beneficial, experts have cautioned. It's only safe to use Mozz Guard!

Mozz Guard is a relatively new product on the American market, but it has already had a big impact, earning a five-star rating from customers. With an amazing average rating of 4.9 out of 5.0, the feedback for Mozz Guard has been overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that it is the best and most dependable chemical-free bug zapper available in the United States. It is offered with free shipping and discounts of up to 50% off on the company's official website.

🟢 Product Name: Mozz Guard

🟢 Any Side Effect: No

🟢 Effective: Yes

🟢 Availability: Buy From Official Website (Get Up to 75% Discount)

🟢 Ratting : ★★★★✰ 4.9/5

Mozz Guard: What Is It?

Mozz Guard is an inventive insect repellent with 2000 volts of power and other amazing cutting-edge technologies that destroy mosquitoes instantaneously. Without the use of harmful chemicals, this potent anti-mosquito light attracts, traps, and eliminates a wide variety of insects including mosquitoes.

Without requiring installation, Mozz Guard Reviews is a risk-free and totally safe mosquito repellent that you may use both inside and outside of your house for a minimal amount of money and work. With the Mozz Guard unit's cylinder-shaped design, which attracts insects from all directions and 360 degrees, you can be sure that no mosquito or bug remains in your yard. For optimal performance, place the Mozz Guard in the center of your yard or in a corner of a room.

According to every review, Mozz Guard's strong rechargeable battery allows it to function without requiring an outlet to be plugged in. It has a long battery life—more than 14 hours—which is remarkable for a gadget of this kind. device functions by drawing hundreds of mosquitoes with its potent UV lamp, then zapping them to death. This surpasses all prior bug-killing devices created.

Mozz Guard: Special Features

ADVANCED UV TECHNOLOGY: Compared to other products on the market, Mozz Guard attracts five times as many mosquitoes thanks to its exclusive UV technology.

UP TO 15-20 FEET COVERAGE - Mozz Guard protects you, your loved ones, and friends against annoying mosquito bites in a variety of settings, including living rooms, gardens, and lakeside camping areas.

VERY EASY TO USE -It only needs to be plugged in to be recharged, then you can carry it anywhere and it will start catching mosquitoes right away, keeping you hassle-free.

STURDY, COMPACT DESIGN: This item blends in with any room's corner and is small enough and light enough to bring on any camping trip without adding extra weight to your load.

HOURS OF WIRELESS POWER: Although it is remarkably successful at driving away mosquitoes from huge areas, it uses very little electricity and can operate without a plug for up to 14 hours.

RECHARGABLE: You can recharge the Zapper whenever you'd like thanks to the micro USB charger that comes with it. Because of this, you may unwind and feel at ease knowing that the uncomfortable and biting insects won't bother you.

RESISTANT TO SHOCK: The zapper core is surrounded by 7mm micro-plastic bars, which protect kids and pets safe. Moreover, the material's resistance to deterioration due to physical harm prolongs its longevity.

OUTSTANDING VALUE - Mozz Guard will make you so delighted that you'll want to get two or three extra to gift to friends and family who also have mosquito problems. And at such a low cost, you'll have no trouble affording them.

CAST-IRON MONEY-BACK-GUARANTEE: If Mozz Guard isn't what you're looking for for any reason, bring it back for a complete refund, no questions asked, within 90 days.

How does Mozz Guard operate?

Mozz Guard is quite easy to use. A specialist's help is not required in order to operate your Mozz Guard. Use this product by following the instructions provided below to get started.

Step 1: The gadget can be placed on a level surface or hung from a high point.

Step 2: Charge your Mozz Guard by plugging in the provided USB cord.

Step 3: A "click" should sound and the light should turn on when you press the black button on top of the gadget.

Step 4: Take pleasure in a mosquito-free atmosphere

Mozz Guard: Pros

Mozz Guard is definitely something that every house should have installed this summer. It's among the most popular bug zappers. With its long-lasting, rechargeable battery and powerful mosquito-killing capabilities, this small insect zapper can handle nearly any bug issue you may come across. Let's examine a few of the advantages of the Mozz Guard.

Mozz Guard is portable and small.

gives you strong mosquito-killing ability

Durable rechargeable battery for USB devices

has a convenient hanging loop that adds to its usability.

It resists water.

There are no dangerous substances or compounds in Mozz Guard.

Mozz Guard is designed to be lightweight and hung.

It is quite simple to use.

enhanced effectiveness

includes a special first-time 50% OFF offer when you shop from the main website right now!

prompt delivery

Ninety-day money-back promise

Mozz Guard is a cutting-edge mosquito zapper that quickly eradicates mosquitoes from your area.

Mozz Guard is made to provide a powerful 360° anti-mosquito shield that will permanently get rid of bothersome, biting insects from your home.

Mozz Guard: Cons

The best location to buy is online, ideally from the manufacturer's website. While most individuals will find this easy, those without internet access can find it difficult.

Because there is a limited supply of the product, act quickly to ensure that you don't miss out.

Mozz Guard tends to sell out quickly once more.

Is The Mozz Guard A Good Investment?

Mosquitoes and other bugs are quite bothersome. Living in rural areas or near farms and dams makes the issue even worse. Because they spread diseases that might be fatal, these little bugs can be extremely dangerous to your health. Mozz Guard comes in to help you get rid of these bugs, and it is well worth the money. We completely agree with the many Mozz Guard customer reviews that state the product's effectiveness is limitless.

The ordering method for Mozz Guard is straightforward and may be done directly from the manufacturer's website. The makers of Mozz Guard let you make payments without stepping outside of your comfort zone due to its affordable price and variety of payment choices. The majority of credit/debit cards, PayPal, MasterCard, Visa Card, and other payment options are accepted. It is always safe to purchase from the manufacturer's website using your credit card details. The following price is listed on the Mozz Guard device's official website:

You can purchase one Mozz Guard for just $39

You can purchase two Mozz Guards for just $75.

It's only $107 to purchase three Mozz Guards.

Just $135 will get you four Mozz Guards.

You can get 5 Mozz Guards for just $159.

Once your payment is complete and your purchase has been validated, the manufacturers will mail your Mozz Guard. Most nations get their deliveries from manufacturers in the estimated time range, on average. To facilitate communication between you and the producers, please make sure to include the correct address and any additional billing information when paying for your Mozz Guard.

Money-back guarantee for 90 days- When making an online purchase, it's normal to be cautious. Online narratives of buyers who later regretted their purchases are common. The creators of Mozz Guard are confident that it will live up to your expectations and be incredibly useful.

They have included a 90-day money-back guarantee since they recognize that people want to be confident before making a purchase. The section below with customer reviews will demonstrate how Mozz Guard has helped many individuals avoid mosquitoes over the summer. Use the manufacturer's official website to get in touch if you wish to return an item. They will also be reachable by phone or email. The customer support agents at Mozz Guard will respond to your email right away and help you with a return.

Official Page: https://www.mid-day.com/hotspot/article/mozz-guard-reviews-is-portable-mosquito-repellent-lamp-mozzguard-a-scam-or-really-effective-499

Concluding Words About Mozz Guard Reviews

To sum up, Mozz Guard proves to be a highly regarded and practical way to keep insects, mosquitoes, and other critters at bay. It distinguishes itself as a dependable partner for consumers looking for efficiency and convenience thanks to its small size, strong 2000 mAh capacity, and favorable customer reviews. Although no product is perfect, Mozz Guard's robust construction and overwhelmingly excellent reviews confirm its credibility and make it a worthwhile investment. Unquestionably, the ultimate decision on Mozz Guard reviews is favorable, establishing it as a reliable and effective option for people in need of a genuine insect zapper.

The Mozz Guard is the most powerful mosquito repellent on the market, so if you don't want your family—especially your kids with their delicate skin—to continue being eaten alive by mosquitoes, buy one right away. All the advice you need to keep the pests away is this cutting-edge zapping technology.

The creators have established a fair price for the Mozz Guard, and a number of convenient payment alternatives make it easy to make payments without stepping outside of your comfort zone. Among the payment options are PayPal, MasterCard, Visa Card, most credit/debit cards, and others. When you buy something from a manufacturer's website, your payment information is always secure. The manufacturers will mail your Mozz Guard as soon as feasible after you complete your payment and validate your order. Most of the time, producers deliver goods to their intended nations on schedule.

The Mozz Guard is a great investment since it protects you and lets you enjoy the summer. $39.00 is a great deal because you are investing in your family's safety.

Recent Keywords: -

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[anti-bug-lamp]

🦟 Tired of pesky mosquitoes buzzing around? Here's a simple tip to banish them from your space: create a mosquito-free zone by eliminating standing water, using insect repellent, and installing screens on windows and doors. Say goodbye to those unwelcome guests!

[readingbookelf]

Bite Me - Alec Volturi

Summary: When Alec comes to visit you, he finds you covered in bumps from a mosquito. Will he find the little monster and free you from its torment?

Pairing: human!reader x Alec Volturi

Everything I’ve ever written | Join my taglist

A mosquito has been buzzing around your ears ever since you went to bed, but whenever you turn on your light you can’t seem to find the monster. It’s the second night in a row that it has tormented you. You’re covered in bumps and nowhere near evicting the little monster.

A knock on your bedroom door pulls you from your misery. When you open the door Alec is standing in front of you. Your arms immediately wrap around his neck while his wind around your waist. You let out a sigh of contentment. How you had missed him.

“I missed you,” you whisper.

“I missed you too, my love,” he answers without hesitation.

He runs his hands down your arms towards your hands to hold them in his.

“Love, what’s with all these bumps,” he asks, concern lacing his voice.

He turns on the light illuminating your whole room while he closely inspects your arms. His fingers slowly move over the bumps the mosquito has gifted you with.

“There’s this mosquito in my room and I haven’t been able to find it. Every time I put on my light to look for it, it disappears,” you answer with a deep sigh.

The man you love so dearly has the nerve to laugh at your misery.

“Alec,” you exclaim while you let your head fall on his chest.

He bundles you close into his arms and moves you towards the bed. When you crawl under the covers, you see Alec hesitating. Usually he lays above the covers because of his frigid body temperature, but now that it’s so hot outside he can perfectly join you under the covers. You pat the space next to you and hold open the covers.

“There’s no need for you to lay above the covers now,” you whisper teasingly.

That gets him moving. He crawls into bed next to you and takes you in his arms without hesitation. Your head lays in the crook of his neck while your leg lays across his, trapping him as close to your body as you can. The cold temperature of his body is actually a nice contrast from the constant heat that seems to be hanging in the house during this heatwave.

-----

You wake with a start when something jostles you. Your hand immediately reaches for your bedside lamp, illuminating the room in a soft glow. Alec is standing near the wall next to your desk. You rub the sleep from your eyes, sitting up straight.

“Alec, what’s wrong,” you ask the victorious looking vampire.

“I caught the mosquito. I’m sorry for waking you in the process, my love.”

“Really? That’s amazing. It’s alright that you woke me. I’m glad to be rid of that monster.”

You make grabby hands toward Alec so he’ll come back to bed with you.

When he crawls into bed once more, he nestles himself on your chest. Your hands immediately wind themselves through his hair softly caressing his scalp. He hums happily and burrows his face into the crook of your neck planting a soft kiss. And that’s how you fall asleep once more, Alec’s face pressed into your neck and you winding your fingers through his hair until sleep takes you.

Tags: @llamabaens-blog​

[bates--boy]

Alright, as a marine biology major who obviously had to take courses on environmental and climate changes, Peter knew he sounded a little nonsensical even in his own head, but weren’t there supposed to be global warming? Where is it? Why was he standing in the middle of the sidewalk near some alley, shivering and curling in himself despite being buried in a thick coat and tucking his hands, covered in mittens and barely heated by the hand warmers stuffed in them, underneath his arms. He wished he had written the setting for this video during the daytime, when they would at least have the sun to warm them up a bit, but nooooo, it had to be nighttime, damn near midnight to be exact, because props and tech to make it appear nighttime even during the afternoon wasn’t part of the budget, and Peter didn’t trust any editing software to give him the genuine night effects that he needed.

        He foolishly thought he could brave through this cold -- after all, it was worse on his fort, wasn’t it? Winter’s bite made harsher by the subzero temperatures of the sea that surrounded Fort Roughs, the crashing water and taunting winds amplifying the loneliness of a child who had to hunt down as many blankets as he could find because the oil for the heater and lamps were running low and God was already angry with him and sending Peter this storm, he couldn’t afford more of this wrath if he burned the Bibles for warmth--

         Peter closed his eyes and inhaled sharply, pressing his foot into the ground. Instead of the groan and whine of a steel platform ready to give at a moment’s notice, it was the wet crunch of snow beneath his costume boots. He looked all around him, at the streetlights glowing around him, at the passersby and stragglers in some form of motion or other to keep warm. The two-man team, and their equipment-handling interns, Peter and Naseem had hired to record their music video sat at the work booth they’ve set up underneath an awning, testing the video software and its connectivity to the cameras they were going to be using. Cinema graduates fresh out of university, they offered a price that Peter couldn’t refuse, especially compared to their portfolios that showed a lot of promise.

         There were the various lighting equipment switched off after being tested and the bulky van he and the recording crew rode in. Out of this van came the blessed one-point-nine meters figure, swathed in a thick bundle of clothing just like Peter, carrying disposable cups of hot chocolate with steam dancing out of the holes. Naseem, when he was near enough, smiled from behind his thick bundle of scarf and held one of the cups out to Peter, who took it and practically gulped down the beverage. He slowed down and moaned softly as the buzzing sweetness of thick and decadent hot chocolate settled on his tongue. 

         “Oh, my god, thank you,” Peter said, holding the cup close to his face.

         “Thank Sheer,” Naseem said. “She’s been obsessed with that weird coconut milk recipe. I’m surprised it tastes so good.”

         So was Peter, and after another long sip of it in this miserable cold, he was in a frame of mind to buy her a new car for this, or at least a really neat motorcycle.

        “And there’s a lot in there,” Naseem added after taking a drink. “So, I don’t have to tell you to don’t be shy, heh heh.”

         The two men shifted about in the one spot to keep warm, creating messy tracks in which pooled snow smashed into slush. In this weird dance to stave off frostbite, Naseem stood at Peter’s side, and Peter, ever the warmth mosquito, sidled just a bit closer to his costar. The closeness proved ineffective in that Peter couldn’t get warm without pressing himself into Naseem or burrowing himself in Naseem’s coat, and for however kind Naseem was, Peter was sure that even that was a line to not be crossed for the man.

          Bouncing on his toes, Peter searched for something to occupy his mind and steer it away from their current predicament. He settled on something and asked, “So... Anything from The Dramaten yet?”

          Naseem shook his head and kept his gaze at their hired film crew. “Nothing yet. I probably won’t hear back from them at all.”

         “Why? You think my clout’s not good enough?” Peter joked.

           The humor didn’t catch, and Naseem shook his head again. “Not that, man. I just...” He shrugged. “It feels like I’ve been running in circles chasing this one dream for so long that it isn’t gonna happen at all. I don’t wanna feel like I’ve wasted years of my life on that theatre, but I am constantly so close to stop pursuing it altogether. It’s hard to not feel like Ashira was right, you know?”

           He shrugged again and made a vague hand gesture. “I... I don’t know. Ignore me, I’m rambling.”

          Peter craned his neck to watch Naseem’s face, or what he could see of the man’s face above the top of the scarf. He then looked down at the long but fading wisp of steam from his cup. “I... I get what you mean, actually...” he said. “I had a really big dream, too, that I wanted so badly to happen that I... I was willing to lose myself and humiliate myself in order to get.”

           Naseem frowned. “What? Your family fantasy?”

          Peter shook his head. “No, not that. I mean becoming a c--”

          And he caught himself, biting down on his lip and feeling everything inside him freeze even as Naseem raised a brow at him and stared at him expectantly. Playing up the caught-with-his-pants-down sheepishness, Peter hunched tighter into himself as if trying to vanish into thin air, clutching the cup awkwardly and intensifying his focus on the thin chocolate-scented steam. Like this, he could pretend that he wasn’t trying to come up with a whole new life’s path, or analyze and try to predict how the conversation would go if he blurted out I’m an immortal deity that represents an abandoned war fort turned micronation in the middle of the British Sea. Hi, I’m Sealand!

          The conversation, he found, would have gone unfavorably, so he said, “...A cartoonist.”

         “...A cartoonist?”

          “Yeah... Yeah, a cartoonist!” Relief lit up in Peter, and he found the lie easy to latch onto, an ability to sprinkle bits of truth into his spiel. He turned fully to Naseem and freed one of his hands to gesture as he spoke. “You know, like those weekend funnies in the newspaper? I always loved those because there was so much variety! Not just jokes, but little stories that can last for years or opinions on real-world events. I learned some of my earlier knowledge about politics from the funnies.”

           Naseem was staring down into Peter’s eyes, scrutinizing him in a way that had Peter silently begging the man to believe this semi-lie. “...Why can’t you be a cartoonist?”

       Stifling a sigh of relief, Peter turned back toward the filming crew, who were now throwing their hands in the air and pointing fingers at each other; one of them stomped away to take their first pre-work cigarette break, alternating between sucking the life out of their cigarette and looking over her shoulder to see if some goddamn progress had been made with the setup. “It’s a lot of reasons.”

          Peter turned his face up and resisted the urge to turn it away as snowflakes brushed against his exposed cheeks. “Mostly, it’s because I don’t have what it takes.” He blinked away a snowflake that had caught on his eyelashes. “I mean, I tried so hard for so long to prove myself. I tried to follow the examples of the greats. I tried to develop my skills... as an artist. I studied the career for a while, tried to get my foot in the door so many times, build up my own portfolio and get work and internships. I studied for years to become the best cartoonist I can be, and it...”

          He sighed. “It didn’t work. I showed so many other, more renowned cartoon artists my work, try to prove myself as an artist with as much potential and value as they have, but, well... A lot of them pushed me away. Some were downright hostile about it, too, like ‘who’s this little asshole that thinks he can waltz in here and take what we’ve suffered for centuries--”

          “Centuries?” Naseem said. 

          Peter waved a hand, fighting his body’s urge to lock in terror at his slip-up. “You know suffering artists. Fucking dramatic, always have to overexaggerate everything. The miserable sons of bitches. But as shitty as the hostile ones are, they aren’t as bad as the... eugh, the humoring ones. The ones that...”

          Again, Peter had to reroute his train of thought as it approached the conversation that was so long ago that it should have been forgotten by now, but it was a nasty one that stuck to the back of his mind, seeking an opportunity to make an unwelcomed appearance. If Peter found it hard to explain how micronationhood work, he would have a bitch of a headache explaining to Naseem how a person could have a whole conversation with a child version of himself, who may have time traveled (or was it Peter, the adult Peter, who unwittingly crossed spans of time and space and dropped into his younger self’s timeline?) or their universes crashed into each other and they were constantly hopping between multiverse borders just to talk shit about Arthur over lunch.

          “...That see the work you put in and praise you for it, but when you get older and wise up, you realize it was all condescending bullshit. They were only patting you on the head and giving you thumbs-up and telling you to keep going because they were having a grand old chuckle about it. They didn’t really care about your ugly-ass scribbles that you’ve spent long nights and so many years working on. They only wanted to be amused. So I had quit.”

          In the following silence, Peter felt a new kind of shiver overtaking his body, a quick shudder that came and was gone just as soon. It felt like his body was trying to hold on to some poison, despite it settling into his stomach burning and acidic, before giving up and letting it go. Then came the aftershock of foolishness once it realized that releasing it was so much better, and it had held on to the poison for nothing. Still, for whatever reason Peter couldn’t understand, it left him feeling open, ready for a knife in the gut or the back.

          But no knife came. No sneer or faux sympathy. Instead, Naseem said, “Wow, I didn’t know newspaper comics would be so... cutthroat.”

         “It’s an art field,” Peter replied, wiping his mitten across his eyes to get rid of the flakes. “All of the art industry is cutthroat.”

          When he cleared his vision, Peter realized what he had done and gaped at the other man. “Oh, man, I am... so sorry. I didn’t mean to... to... bitch about old shit like that. I swear, I have a better handle on my narcissism than this.” 

           Naseem snickered. “Dude, chill, it’s okay. I didn’t want to talk about the theatre, anyway. Not this close to recording.” He looked over to the recording crew and frowned, and it was as if Peter could read his mind: if we EVER get to recording. He smiled again, raising his cup of hot chocolate to his mouth. “Besides, this is the first time I’ve ever heard you go full Brit.”

          Peter narrowed his eyes at him. “What do you--” and then he heard it, the full, soul-sucking dread of it filling his veins along with his blood.

          Whot.

         Naseem was close to having a full-on laughing fit, complete with choking on his drink, as he watched Peter’s face burn impossibly red, his eyes widening and his jaws tightening. Peter started coughing and clearing his throat, rubbing at the nub of an Adam’s apple against his skin. “Oh, my god--”

         This time, Naseem did laugh, turning his head away so he wouldn’t go spraying his drink on Peter. “Aww, Pete, don’t be embarrassed! It’s not bad!”

         Peter coughed and cleared his throat over and over. “Easy for -- koff -- for you to-- koff koff -- say!” But it didn’t stop. It won’t switch off, why won’t it stop?! “No one’s judging -- koff koff -- your goddamn -- koff -- velvety baritone!”

           “And no one’s judging your accent.” Naseem patted Peter’s back. “Seriously, stop, before you pass out. Listen, it’s... it’s delightful. What would Addie say? It’s whimsical. Very Mary... Well, Mark Poppins...? Magical.”

          “You could just say that I sound like Harry Fucking Potter and be done with it,” Peter tried to snap back, but he found that his retort had less bite in it since Naseem had unknowingly broached closely to one of Peter’s beloved obsessions: Julie Andrews.

        “Why would I ever insult you like that?” Naseem replied. This time, Peter threw his head back and laughed. Naseem looked over to the film crew, finding that one of them was waving them over, and nudged his elbow into Peter’s arm. “Hey, I think they finally fixed that damn issue they had. Ready?”

          Peter drained the rest of his lukewarm chocolate and nodded. “Ready.

--

The cameraman crouched meters away, eyes focused on the display window. The longer the two men had to stay in character to prepare for the first shot, the less the chill of the winter night gnawed into Peter’s bones even with the comfortable layers discarded in favor of the thinner costume. He knew that Naseem was feeling the same way, full of dedication for his role that the Dramaten would be foolish to not utilize in whatever plays they had. Snow cascading around them, the streetlights glowing a bleary misery, the night ahead of the two long and arduous, the two men watched their cameraman raise a hand and signal.

         Action.

        And they strutted into the scene, Attrossitty and Bet Chaker, coming to claim this warehouse they’ve staked out for one of their many international rings for the kingdom they were going to build together, the crime syndicate for Sealand.

[pestcontrolexpertservices]

The Best Ways to Get Rid of Mosquitoes

You’re more likely to have a mosquito issue in your yard than in your home itself, but having mosquitoes buzzing around during bedtime can be frustrating.

Mosquitoes buzzing around are easier to spot during the day than at night. If it’s getting late and you want to track them down before they can make a meal out of your skin, turn on a lamp, flashlight, or your smartphone, and wait for them to be attracted to the light.

Here are the top ways to repel mosquitoes that have already hunkered down in your home.

Chemical repellent Applying traditional chemical mosquito repellent will keep them from biting you. You should check out products that contain 30% to 50% DEET—the gold standard ingredient for mosquito repellent. In the past, there were some concerns that DEET was not safe to use on human skin, but reviews done by the Environmental Protection Agency have found that DEET continues to meet safety standards when used properly.

The effects of DEET typically last for up to 12 hours. Experts recommend using a repellent that’s 30% to 50% DEET for adults, and 10% to 30% for children over two months. Don’t spray repellent on infants under two months.

Fix any gaps To prevent mosquitoes from entering your home, patch any gaps in screens and doors. It won’t do any good if you go through a careful process to rid your home of mosquitoes just to invite them in again. If you can see sunlight in the space around your door, that means it isn’t properly sealed. There’s an easy fix—purchase a simple door strip.

Mosquito netting If you’re someone who likes to sleep with the windows open at night, consider getting some mosquito netting to keep yourself bite-free.

Mosquito traps There are several ways you can get a mosquito trap—order one online, buy one from the grocery store or hardware store, or even make your own. Here’s how to make your own mosquito trap:

Cut a bottle in half and flip one of the cut halves upside down. Tuck the other half into the lower half of the bottle. Boil one cup of sugar and one cup of water, then add two cups of cool water to the mixture. Let the mixture cool to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Add in a teaspoon of active, dry yeast to the mixture. Pour the mixture into the trap. Secure the trap with tape. The mosquitoes will be attracted to the sugar, get stuck, and drown. You’ll need to replace your homemade solution periodically.

Oscillating fans Mosquitoes can’t fly well against the wind. This may sound overly simple, but sometimes, simple is what you need. Turn your fan on and watch the mosquitoes scatter and ultimately give up.

Outdoor soap Some outdoor soaps are specially designed to repel mosquitoes. After you bathe with 100% natural, non-toxic soap like Skin Armour Deep Woods Outdoor soap, the scent of your sweat won’t bother you, but it will repel mosquitoes.

Essential oils Essential oils are said to repel mosquitoes, but they may not be as effective as traditional pesticides. Your best bet is an essential oil that contains lavender, lemon, or eucalyptus. Other options include lemongrass, peppermint, clove, and tee tree oil.

Preparation is simple. Simply mix a few drops of your chosen essential oil with one cup of water, pour it into a spray bottle, shake it up, and you’re done. You can spray it on your bare skin and around your home, but be careful not to spray it on any delicate fabrics.

Coconut oil and neem oil A combination of coconut oil and neem oil, mixed together well with water, can repel mosquitoes for up to half a day. Spray it on your skin as a natural repellent.

Candles Burning lavender candles, or well-known citronella, will keep mosquitoes away since they can’t stand the scent.

Garlic You can follow the essential oil spray process using garlic instead, though it won’t smell as sweet. Many people prefer the scent of eucalyptus to garlic in large doses.

Camphor Camphor is a versatile repellent. You can either leave tablets in your room and let them evaporate, or, more effectively, burn some camphor in the room. Close all doors and windows and leave it burning for about 20 minutes. You’ll have to be outside the room, but you can supervise from a window.

Coffee grounds Simply burn some coffee grounds in a coffee tray or egg carton, and trust the smoke to repel these pests. Do this carefully in an area where it won’t cause damage or set off a fire alarm.

Sage and rosemary Burning sage and rosemary may smell delightful and soothing to you, but mosquitoes hate the scent and will steer clear.

Basil Basil is a multi-use mosquito repellent. You can place a plant on your windowsill to keep mosquitoes at bay, or even use it as a topical oil and apply it to your skin.

Lemon balm Applying lemon balm directly to the skin, especially on sensitive areas like ankles and wrists, has been shown to be effective against mosquitoes. Simply crush it up and rub it on your skin.

Listerine Listerine mouth wash may sound like a random mosquito repellent, but it contains eucalyptus oil and can help repel mosquitoes.

Bug zappers Though bug zappers can kill mosquitoes on contact, this method can get tiring if done over and over. Also, be mindful not to zap harmless insects.

[rueitae]

Ransom

Read my whumptober collection on Ao3

vampire and werewolf au

~~~~~

For the third time since he began his walk, Lance loosened the tie around his neck. Though he’s already fiddled with it twice, it still feels far too restrictive, choking him. 

Just as the trio that follows him feels equally suffocating.

He’d love nothing more than to get them off his figurative tail, but to do so risks the wrath of his oldest brother, so he has to stick with his current plan. But as he gets closer to the cafe, the anxiety in his heart grows. He bites his lip, only to hiss in pain. 

What kind of vampire bites his own lip?

“Hey, Mosquito,” a teasing voice calls from the end of the alley, shaking Lance out of his thoughts.

Pidge leans against the red brick of the cafe, a smug grin plastered on her face. 

Lance bristles, heat rushing to his cheeks, fear momentarily forgotten. “Just because you heard my mom call me that once does not mean you can use it too.”

"But that's what you are, right?” she says, kicking off from the wall and walking towards him. Her own fangs glint off the light from the street lamps. Though they serve a different purpose than his, they are just as deadly. “Annoying, always buzzing around my ear?"

A shadow in his periphery catches his attention. Like a flash of lightning, Lance remembers what he has to do. 

“Good to see you too, Pidge,” he says quickly, meeting her halfway. He takes her arm - gentlemanly, he’s a vampire not an animal - and guides her out towards the heavily populated street. “Let’s find a seat at the cafe.”

She goes along with him, though gives him a good sniff from his midsection up to his neck. “You’re scared,” she says, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t worry, my cousins don’t know where I am. They’re not gonna come and beat you up.” She grins teasingly. “Besides, they know I can take you in a fight.”

That’s exactly the problem, Lance frets. 

“You should give them a phone call, just to tell them where you are. You can even blame me,” Lance offers, quickening his pace. Almost to the street. Almost to safety. 

Pidge frowns and stops, dragging Lance backwards and facing her. “Okay, you’re acting weirder than normal. What gives?”

A flash of movement in the alleyway tells Lance he’s out of time. “Run!” he yells, yanking Pidge forward.

He doesn’t get two steps before two cloaked figures block their exit. Sharp claws dig into Lance’s arm. Pidge has finally realized she has all the reason in the world to be afraid. 

“Leave her alone!” Lance says as firmly as he can, stepping between them and Pidge. “She isn’t involved in our fight!” 

“Perhaps not,” a familiar, sinister voice says from behind. 

Lance’s blood runs cold as he turns. They’d sent Dimitri to tail him, one of the leaders of his coven. His brother was dead serious about kidnapping Pidge. 

“But she will agitate the dogs,” Dimitri continues smugly as he approaches. “And that will be plenty enough to ensure they make a mistake, and a mistake on their part means they will finally be out of our territory.”

Pidge growls. “Territory that you stole. Great Uncle Alexandre was keeping this town safe for hundreds of years while you ungrateful bloodsuckers were sleeping blissfully. He died on a pyre so your coffins wouldn’t get flushed down the river!” 

It happens so quickly even Lance with his superhuman reflexes can’t stop it. 

Dimitri snatches Pidge from his protective grasp and holds her to the alleyway wall by her neck, her legs dangling in the air and kicking against the brick. Lance moves to help her, but strong hands wrap around his arms, holding him back. 

“It has been hundreds of years since I have tasted wolf blood,” Dimitri airs. Lance’s heart skips a beat at the implication, but it breaks him more to see Pidge’s usually sharp eyes filled with fear. 

Dimitri lowers her to his eye level and leans in closer. “Let us see if the blood of a country wolf is as pure as a city one.”

“Stop! Don’t! Please!” Lance begs. 

“Let me go!” Pidge shrieks. 

Her cries are silenced to a pitiful whine when Dimitri sinks his fangs into the veins in her neck. 

Lance falls to his knees. “Don’t hurt her, please. She’s not even lived two decades.”

Dimitri takes a long, agonizing sip before removing his fangs from Pidge’s skin. She slumps over, exhausted and unconscious. Dimitri carries her easily. Lance is relieved he doesn’t suck her dry.

“What power,” he says, examining the palm of his hand. It sparkles with a green glow, the extra quintessence from Pidge that Dimitri’s body can’t contain. “You were holding out on us, Lance, trying to get the first bite out of her.”

“I wasn’t!” he hisses. “Pidge is a friend. I wouldn’t hurt her like that.”

“A friend indeed,” Dimitri says snidely. “It was your friendship that brought her to our attention. Now you’ll do your part to see that the dogs leave the city. Assuming she won’t want to rip out your heart, make sure she stays in the guest room.”

~

So hours later, that’s where Lance is - sitting by Pidge’s bedside waiting for her to wake. 

True to Dimitri’s word, it truly is one of the guest rooms. She has a large bed all to herself - a modern one with all the comforts of soft pillows and warm blankets. Pidge has no wounds other than the bite marks - which makes Lance snap part of his chair off every time he looks at them - so as long as she rests, she’ll recover.

Recover enough to go home once the ransom is paid, for the werewolves to leave the city. 

He places a cool, wet cloth over her forehead, having soaked it in the wash bin for the fifth time since being placed on caretaker duty. There’s no sense in trying to escape with her from here, not when they’re surrounded by far more ancient and more powerful of Lance’s brethren. 

He’s really screwed up this time, putting her in this situation. He should never have agreed to meet her tonight. Curse his soft heart for thinking he could warn her - just so long as he could see her again. More than blood her presence is addicting and hanging out with him seemed to make her happy - and that’s all he wants for her. 

Pidge moans and Lance sits up on alert from this first sound she’s made since arriving here. 

Lance takes her hand, desperate for more of a response from her. “Pidge?” He just wants to know if she’s okay. 

Amber eyes flutter open and find him. He can tell her brain works overtime from the puzzled expression on her face, trying to remember and figure out where she is. 

“You’re safe for now,” Lance assures her, squeezing her hand in comfort. “My brother wants you alive.”

Pidge’s eyes burst open and she bolts up, looking around wildly. “W-where am I? What did your dumb relatives do to me?”

“The basement of the Castle,” he says regretfully. “I’m so sorry Pidge. I tried to tell them not to do this. They’re��� talking with your cousins now to negotiate your release.”

Worse than seeing her still, Pidge shakes, uncertainty all about her. “O-oh. I see,” she says, not looking at him. She laughs humorlessly. “Not exactly the cool vacation I hoped for when I came to town.”

Heart breaking for her, Lance moves to sit on the bed with her, wrapping her in a hug. “I know. I’m so sorry… h-how are you feeling?”

Relief fills him when she leans back into him. “Kinda groggy still. Transforming last night for the full moon took a lot out of me to begin with.” Her small hands grab a fistfull of his suitcoat. “I hate this stupid war. When they let me go, come with me to the country. You don’t have to deal with their idiocy anymore.”

The offer of an idyllic life in the country is temping. Though he’d lose everything he loves about the city, the people, the conveniences, his family - he’d gain Pidge and we would have to pretend to be a bully towards the werewolves anymore. His mother would approve, he knows it. 

But then he wouldn’t know if he’d see her ever again.

Before he can answer, the door unlocks. In walks both Dimitri and Lance’s own brother, the leader of their entire coven. 

Pidge snarls, and if not for the strength of his arms around her, would have attacked the two most powerful vampires in the city. 

“Let me go!” she demands. “I’ve had enough of your stupid city politics. You’re all killing each other needlessly!”

Dimitri licks his lips, hands clasped neatly behind his back. “Recovered already. Werewolf regenerative abilities are truly astounding. Shall I take another bite of her, Boss?”

“Don’t even think about it,” Lance interjects before his brother can say anything. 

The Boss, as he wants to be known by these days, chuckles darkly. “I think my little brother might have a problem with you sucking more life out of his wolf. You’re right, of course, to be active so soon after losing so much blood is a feat… a very valuable one.”

“N-no,” Lance gasps, a heavy pit falling to his stomach. “Please don’t. You promised you’d let her go.”

“I promised to set her free once the werewolves pay ransom. They refuse to pay.”

Lance feels the exact moment Pidge freezes in fear, because her claws dug into his skin. His pants are ruined but he doesn’t care at all. How could they not pay to take her back? She’s family - visiting family at that!

“You can’t be serious,” Lance pleads. “At least let her leave the city if her cousins don’t care. Let her go home.”

“Not possible. The terms are set. Either the werewolves vacate the city, or the she-wolf remains with us,” his brother says business-like, before grinning devilishly. “I’m sure she’ll be quite fine in your very capable hands.”

Beside him, Pidge shakes with rage, her eyes full of tears. “I’m going to kill you,” she declares through a sob filled voice. 

“Threaten the Boss again and I’ll slap a silver collar on you like the dog you are,” Dimitri growls, taking a step forward. 

The Boss puts his hand out, bidding Dimitri to cease. “Keep her here, Lance. It will be much better for her health.”

They leave, locking the door behind them. 

Pidge shudders, a tiny whimper escaping from her lips. “What… the quiznak was that? How can anymore be so… so…”

“Cruel?” Lance supplies, and he sighs when she gives him a confused look. “Look, the more detached a vampire is from society the worse they get. My brother hasn’t seen a mortal other than to feed for at least a few centuries. He’s nuts. I know that.”

Of everything Lance expects Pidge might say or do, flopping back down onto the bed is not one of them. She doesn’t speak right away, just breathing, chest fluttering with the sobs she holds back. Lance keeps a hand on her back, lighting rubbing.

“I can’t just stay here,” she eventually says. “I might never get to leave. I do-don’t want to become a replenishing feast for your family.”

Lance has never felt so helpless. Not only can he not help her, he can’t comfort her that something like that won’t happen - because it absolutely could. He can’t even imagine how Pidge is feeling. 

So he just holds her, muttering a thousand apologies that don’t even come close to making things right.

[safaristand-blog]

The Great Method To Find Rid Of Mosquitoes On Your Property

Mosquitos are constant biters --but that does not mean that you can not do away with these. Read this information to discover the very best ways to get rid of mosquito equally at home and lawn mower. Mosquitoes are being a hassle to carriers of diseases such as Zika, West Nile, dengue, malaria, as well as more. You will find numerous tactics to receive rid of mosquito, from insecticides to natural and organic options. In the event you are uncomfortable with bug zappers, you can bring in mosquito predators. In the event you prefer to use DEET, oils that are essential can be created by you.

The Perfect Method to Find Rid of mosquitoes in Your House

You are more likely to possess a mosquitoes issue in your lawn than on your property , but having them buzzing around during bedtime could be frustrating.

Mosquitoes buzzing round are far easier to see during the day than in the nighttime. If it really is getting late and also you want to track down them before they can make a meal outside of your skin , turn onto your smartphone, flashlight, or even the lamp and wait for these to be more attracted to the light.

Here are the ways to repel the mosquito that have hunkered-down in your home.

Chemical-repellent

Applying compound mosquitoes repellent will keep them from making a meal of you. You should take a look at services and products which contain 30 to 50 percent DEET--that the standard ingredient for mosquitoes repellent. In earlier times there clearly were several concerns that DEET was not secure to use on human skin. However reviews accomplished from the Environmental Protection Agency are finding that when applied properly DEET has been meet safety specifications.

Fix any openings

The very first measure would be minding any openings in both screens and doors. It's not going to do some good in the event that you go by way of a careful method to clear your property of mosquito merely to encourage them . That means that it isn't correctly sealed if you are able to find sunlight in the space around your door. There's an easy fixto buy a doorway strip that is easy.

Mosquito netting

Whether you are someone who enjoys to sleep soundly with all the windows open up at nighttime, think about putting some mosquitoes netting to keep yourself bite-free.

mosquito cubes

There are many approaches that you are able to secure a mosquitoes traporder an individual online, acquire a out of the food store or hardware store, and sometimes make your DIY-style. To create your own, then cut a jar in two flip one of this trim upside down and tuck it. Clicking here: Mosquito Block reviews for more information.

Boil one cup of sugar and one cup of water, you can add 2 glasses of water that is neat. Let the mixture cool. Insert in a teaspoon of active, dry yeast, then pour the mix in to the trap. Protected the snare with tape. The mosquito will be drawn to the sugarget caught, and float. You will have to change out your alternative sometimes.

Oscillating fans

mosquitoes can't fly contrary to the wind. This might seem easy, but sometimes, simple is what you require. Turn your fan on and see the mosquito scatter and give up.

External soap

Some external soaps are specially designed to repel mosquito. You wont irritate Once you bathe including epidermis Armour Deep Woods Outdoor soap , however it is going to repel mosquitoes.

Crucial oils

Essential oils have been said to repel mosquitoes, but they could not be as efficient as pesticides. Your very best option is a vital oil containing lavender or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Options consist of things like lemongrass, peppermint, cloves, and tee tree.

Coconut oil and neem oil

A combination of neem oil along with oil, mixed with water, also can repel mosquitoes for half an day. Spray it on your skin as an all natural repellent.

Candles

Burning-lavender candles, or well-known citronella, will keep mosquito out, as they can't tolerate the scent.

[danijelmajcen-blog]

The Perfect Way To Get Rid Of Mosquito In Your Property

Mosquito are biters --however that doesn't indicate you can't do away with them. Read this guide to uncover the best ways to get rid of mosquitoes each at home and lawn mower. Mosquitos are truly being a hassle to carriers of diseases like malaria, West Nile, dengue, Zika, as well as more. There are a number of ways to receive rid of mosquitoes, from insecticides to natural and organic and natural choices. In the event you are not comfortable with insect zappers, you can entice mosquito predators. Essential oil sprays can be created by you, In the event you prefer to not use DEET.

The Perfect Method to Find Rid of mosquitoes in Your Property

You are much more inclined to possess a whole mosquito difficulty in your garden than on your residence but having them buzzing throughout during pregnancy might be frustrating.

Mosquito buzzing around are far easier to see during the day than in the night. When it's getting late and you want to track them down until they turn onto flashlight, a lamp, or even your smart phone can make dinner out of your skin and await these to be more attracted to the light.

Listed below are the ways to repel the mosquito that have already hunkered down in your home.

Chemical-repellent

Applying traditional compound mosquitoes repellent will prevent them from building a meal for you personally. You ought to take a look at products that contain 30 to 50% DEET--the golden standard ingredient for mosquito repellent. In years past there were a few concerns which DEET wasn't safe to use on skincare. However reviews have found that when utilized DEET continues to generally meet safety expectations.

Correct any gaps

The first measure is minding any openings in screens and doorways. It's not going to do any good in the event that you go to rid your home of mosquito merely to encourage them . If you may find sunlight in the space close to your doorway, so that it is not correctly sealed. There's a simple remedy --buy a door strip that is easy.

Mosquitoes netting

Whether you are somebody who enjoys to sleep soundly with the windows look at getting some mosquitoes netting to maintain your self bite-free.

mosquito cubes

There are many methods in which that you may receive a mosquitoes trap--order an individual online, acquire a out of the grocery store or hardware store, or make your DIY-style. To produce your own, cut a jar in two flip certainly one of those cut upside down and then tuck it. Click here: Mosquito Block for details.

Boil one cup of water and a single cup of sugar, you can add two glasses of great water. Enable the mixture cool. Insert in a teaspoon of dry yeast, then pour the mixture. Secure the snare . The mosquito will be drawn to the sugar, get caught, and also moan. You will have to change out your home-made solution.

Oscillating fans

mosquito can't fly properly contrary to the end. This might sound overly simple, but sometimes, easy is things you need. Twist your lover and see the mosquitoes scatter and ultimately quit.

Outdoor soap

Some soaps are all designed to repel mosquito. You will not bother When you wash such as pores and skin Armour Deep Woods Outdoor soap personally, nonetheless nevertheless, it will repel mosquito.

Essential oils

Crucial oils are said to repel mosquito, but they might not be as efficient as pesticides. Your very best option is an essential oil having lavender or oil of lemon eucalyptus. Other options include things like peppermint, lemongrass, cloves, and tree.

Coconut oil along with neem oil

A combination of neem oil and coconut oil, mixed together well with water, also may repel mosquitoes for up to half a day. Spray it upon your skin as a repellent.

Candles

Burning-lavender candles, or famous citronella, could help keep mosquitoes away, as they can't tolerate the odor.

[barfingprince-blog]

The Best Method To Get Rid Of Mosquitoes In Your Residence

Mosquitoes are constant tiny biters--however it does not mean you can not get rid of these. Read this guidebook to discover the very best methods of getting rid of mosquito equally at house and lawn mower. Mosquitos range from being a hassle to carriers of diseases like Zika, West Nile, dengue, malaria, as well as more. You'll find various techniques to get rid of mosquito, from insecticides to alternatives that are natural and organic and natural. In the event you are uncomfortable with insect zappers, you're able to entice mosquitoes predators. If you prefer to use DEET, then you can create oils that are essential.

The Perfect Way to Get Rid of mosquitoes in Your Property

You're more inclined to possess a mosquitoes dilemma in your yard than on your residence but with them buzzing around during bedtime could be frustrating.

Mosquitoes buzzing round are more easy to spot throughout your day than in the nighttime. When it is getting late and also you also wish to track down them before they turn on flashlight, the lamp, or your own smartphone can make meals out of your skin and wait for them to be interested in the lighting.

Listed here are the best ways to repel the mosquito that have already hunkered down into your residence.

Chemical repellent

Implementing conventional chemical mosquitoes repellent can keep them. You need to have a look at services and products that comprise 30 to 50 percent DEET--that the golden standard element for mosquito repellent. In the past, there were several concerns which DEET wasn't harmless to use on human skin. But reviews have found that when applied DEET continues to generally meet safety requirements.

Deal with any openings

The very first measure would be currently patching any openings in both screens and doors. It won't do any good if you go as a result of a careful method to rid your property of mosquitoes merely to encourage them . So that it is sealed if you can see sunlight at the distance close to your door. There's a simple fixto buy a doorway hanger.

Mosquitoes netting

If you're someone who enjoys to sleep soundly with the windows look at taking a few mosquito netting to maintain yourself bite-free.

mosquitoes cubes

There are numerous means by which in which that you can get yourself a mosquitoes lure order an individual on the web, purchase a from the food shop or hardware store, and make your DIY-style. To generate your own, cut a bottle in halfflip certainly one of the trim half down and then tuck it. Going here: Mosquito Block reviews for details.

Boil one cup of plain water and one cup of sugar, then add 2 cups of water. Let the mixture cool for approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Add in a tsp of active, dry yeast, then pour the mix into the trap. Secure the trap. The mosquitoes will likely be attracted towards the sugars get trapped, and moan. You'll have to change out your homemade solution.

Oscillating-fans

mosquitoes can not fly against the end. This may sound straightforward, but easy is things you demand. Twist your lover and see the mosquito scatter and ultimately stop trying.

External soap

Some external soaps have been specially designed to repel mosquito. When you bathe with natural soap you will not irritate , but it is going to repel mosquitoes.

Crucial oils

Crucial oils have been thought to repel mosquitoes, nevertheless they may possibly well perhaps not be as effective as pesticides. Your very best option is a critical oil having oil or lavender of eucalyptus oil. Alternatives include things like cloves, peppermint, lemongrass, and tree.

Coconut oil along with neem oil

A blend of coconut oil and neem oil, mixed with water, also can repel mosquito for as much as half a day. Spray it on your skin as a organic repellent.

Candles

Burning-lavender candles, or citronella, will keep mosquito off, as they can not endure the odor.

[jessiewre]

Day 21

Sat 25th Jan

Early brekkie again (god this is becoming a habit) and shower time, ready for a bus to Kigali.

The shower was great at this place, really going to miss it, because it actually turned the room into a bath by not draining at all which was such super duper fun. And don’t forget the smell of drains.

Anyway - I was excited about going to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. I’d heard some good things about cool art galleries and cafes and fancied a bit more vibe.

Phil was wellllll keen to get going too, but I was trying to download loads of Netflix films just after breakfast, so my priorities were different, I was pretty casual about it. Then the receptionist was like ‘Ah it’s Saturday, so there won’t be any buses till at least 11am’. That was like 1.5 hours away so it so Phil was pretty gutted and I was absolutely fine with it.

By the time we got to the bus station, managed to just about find a person to open their shop for us to sell us a bottle of water, then got a bus at 11:30am, and to be honest we were both relieved to be on the road. We got the recommended Ritco Bus, a nice big bus - better than the little tin cans we’d been travelling in around Uganda etc.

HOWEVER - the journey that we’d been told was 2 hours turned out to be 4 and a half hours. Omg we were sooooo hungry. All the street sellers at the windows when we stopped were setting meat on a stick, or meat samosas, or sweetcorn that you could see everyone touching before they chose one. No thank you.

Eventually Phil spotted a guy selling sweetcorn that hadn’t been opened yet - result! - so he bought two for 10p each. Well, there was a reason for this bargain basement pricing. This sweetcorn must have been cooked for about 3 weeks, as it was the DRIEST food I have eaten in a very long time. It wasn’t gross, it was just SO bland and SO DRY. And you may or may not but when it comes to food I am Dryphobic.

But I was so hungry, that I nibbled away at it for the next half an hour just to keep me from going crazy hallucinating about crisps and dips. Phil managed to finish a good half of his one too which I couldn’t believe. He’s come a long way since ketchup sandwiches.

Finally reached Kigali at 4pm and got bodas to our hostel - Mamba Rwanda Hostel. Checked into it despite the moody unfriendly girls on reception and the room was large and basic. Bit bed, mosquito net - but the unloved white wash walls were crying out for some art. We were buzzing to notice a lamp in the corner - until the sun set and we tried to turn it on.

There was no bulb in there, was there.

The manager - Desire - did go out and buy us one though after I asked him to. He tried to be like ‘Oh this is a lamp I just got today from the manager’s house’ and I was like ‘Ok cool, please get a bulb for it - thanks!’.

We headed out of the hostel to Lavana, some pizza place nearby, to get some late afternoon munch. Had a nice enough margarita pizza and a feta spinach pastry thing. Went back to the hotel and chilled out but Phil was not feeling 100% so he went for a lie down in the room.

Turned into him actually just going to bed. At 7:30pm.

So both ended up having a super early night as I followed at about 8:30pm.

How on earth do people have jobs and kids I honestly do not know.