Chapter 1

My name is Alec Martin McConnell, and I don’t call myself religious, although I’ve been asking anybody who may be listening to grant my wish. Not every night, but often enough. I knew, in my mind, that it was futile, but my brain wasn’t wired to listen to reason.

Subject: Welcome to Your Future, Lewis Chambers.
FROM: Clarity Academy Administration (No-Reply)
TO: L.Chambers_Scholar2026@ClarityPrep.edu

Welcome to the Spectrum of Excellence!

Congratulations, Lewis; your academic record and psychological aptitude scores have placed you in the top 2% of your cohort! At Clarity Academy, we don't just educate; we refine.

Your Digital Onboarding is Complete:

The Student-Link ID: Your Student-Link ID is your passport to the future! This ID is tied directly to your phone and your choice of wearable (Watch, Ring, or Athletic Shoe Tag) and grants you access to authorized student areas as well as cashless payment at the Student Union and Cafeteria. Ensure that your parents have thoroughly read the school’s Privacy Policy—in short we will never sell your data or spy on you! This closed loop NFC system is strictly for your convenience!

The Precision Wardrobe: Your "Scholar-Standard" attire has been sized based on your submitted scans. Remember: A clear mind begins with a clean silhouette!

Focus. Precision. Perfection: Clarity.

Where the Sunflowers Grow
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman

-10-
The First Phone Call Home

I decided not to venture into the “Eden Cafe” from the outside looking in. I could see two dozen white men in greasy overalls gathering around a few broken down tables. No doubt they were holding a fellowship breakfast for the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan. And by no means did I want to be the guest speaker or be invited to semi-weekly cross burning. I'll take my chances somewhere else.

"You're a natural..."

Sometimes…

A Suzan Donamas Story

Chapter 5

For the moment, there wasn’t much that Marilyn could do. The two inspectors were making sure that when any tiny bit of information was discovered, it was placed in context and recorded. Everything needed to be kept in eleven murder books, one for each victim, as a trial may just pick one, with the others submitted to the judge before sentencing.

Darren Carver, known in the business as Icepick, gathers a team of skilled supervillains to help with a job.

This story takes place in the Whateley universe.

https://whateley.academy/index.php/forum/index

Chapter Sixteen
Mother To The Rescue…Sort Of

“Samantha my dear”, Tichiba sought to soothe Samantha's ruffled feathers. “It’s all a moot point now. Jenna is the last daughter of the Stewart house. The curse ends here.”

“Does it?”. Samantha pulled her daughter toward her. “What about Tabitha? After I’m gone will she get a locket and a curse? Will she be the next example, the next sacrifice for the good of all witches?”

Chapter 4

The Colonel left them. Jim Dutton looked at Marilyn.

“How on earth do you know that man! He has obvious links to the secret services.”

“He came to meetings with that double murder and cold case a little while ago. There were aspects of it that had national importance, although that was never brought out in the papers. Keith Russell, in Leeds, has a contact number for him. He wasn’t involved, that time, just an interested observer.”

“He’s certainly needed now; with the way this is going.”

Chapter 3

The next morning, Marilyn sat in the rear while Hannah drove them to work, finding a space in the area for DCI parking. They went in and spent all morning in the range, with the armourer, firstly getting upgraded with their handgun use.

Although Marilyn had trained with a handgun, this was the first time she had been given the full training as a likely AFO. After that, they were shown how to use the Heckler and Koch MP5 carbine, which was a lot scarier than she had expected.

They went into the canteen for lunch. Hannah was serious.

When Samantha wants to help Jenna, she finds out her friend is the victim of a three hundred year old family curse...and a whole lot more.

To act as bodyguards for the mob witness Val, Sheila and Martin have infiltrated the strip club where she works. Martin's hard job is to sit around drinking beers, while Sheila has to wear a short skirt and high heels, while serving drinks. Preventing a mob hit is a tough job, but it's much harder to hold down a cocktail waitress job without getting fired.

Chapter 2

Marilyn went and stood on Coppergate and tried to visualise the scene. There was something wrong if the carnage was just a byproduct of a targeted hit. The Ram must have been waiting nearby, with a spotter in the Walk. If there was forward planning, the killers had to know, in advance, that the target would be there at that time, which meant a meeting had been set up.

Chapter 1

Detective Inspector Marilyn Houseman and Detective Sergeant George ‘Ginger’ Kidman walked into the murder team office, with the rest of the team stopping to look at them. Marilyn smiled and they all cheered.

“Terry Hanson got twenty-five years for each murder, consecutive, with the judge appalled at the brutality. That’s on top of the five that he got for smuggling and possession of illegal firearms. He’s unlikely to be out in our lifetime.”