Chapter One

I try to struggle to my feet. It’s useless. Chris straddles me, laughing at my attempt to get free.

“C’mon, little brother. What’d I teach you?”

“Please...” The knee gouging into my spine makes it hard to breathe. “Stop.”

“Don’t be a sissy. Fight my ass! Be a man!”

A swat to the back of my head knocks my face into the worn, dog-scented carpet. I will myself not to cry. “Don’t. Please.”

Double
A Short Story (or a Pocket Novel for holiday reading?)
By Maryanne Peters

Chapter 1

“I understand that you may have known Ivan Sergeivich Molonovsky,” said the man they simply knew as Grozny – the man in charge of deployments.

“We were not close, but I remember him,” said Kiril. It was a lie. He had known Ivan well. They trained together because the two of them were the smallest in the whole intake. But the rumor was that Ivan had betrayed the Soviet Union, and it was best to deny any association.

“Tammy, I love what that magical wreath did to me.” Sara loved her new elven body as she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror.

“I’m glad you like your new body because I hate what it did to me.” Tammy walks up and stands next to Sara.

The magic from the ancient Christmas wreath they found had changed both. Where Sara was turned into a five-foot-six-inch busty, curvy female elf, she was turned into a female elf who resembled Judy from the Tim Allen Santa Claus movies.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

The group struggles with what to do next, getting only more questions with each answer.

Chapter 11

“Lyra is gone. I don’t know where she went or… or how to get her back.” I say my voice trembling.

Cameron has feet in both worlds and continues to navigate what she ultimately wants next. Revelations about the transplant and not being able to return to her former self exactly as she was are news she wasn't expecting. And the question of Garrett may finally be put to rest...

South Pacific Island:
Cheshire spots a group of men torturing a group of people. Two of the prisoners were women in their mid-twenties and the smaller woman that was in between them looked to be a teenager. All three women were stripped naked and secured to giant Xs made of bamboo.

Their bodies had numerous cut marks where blood was dripping out of them. Their hand were nailed to the bamboo and so were their feet as well. She could smell their scent from her hiding spot and could tell they had been like that for several days.

"Mum I can't possibly do this. " Alex she told her quietly, horror evident in his voice. His mother standing next to him in their little combined kitchen and dinning room, snorted in rye amusement.

Looking Back from the Future
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

Back in 1999 when I was just 25 years old, I decided that I would enter the new millennium as somebody else. People make New Year’s resolutions every year, but I thought that a New Millenium resolution needed to be dramatic. I made sure that it was.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

Artemis and the others head down under the city to find the key and uncover more than they ever expected…

Update 1 fixed formatting

Chapter 10

After getting separated from the others me Kaida and Lorien step further into the passage, the air growing colder and heavier with each step.

The mediation looms, but Brad is that moth drawn to the flame that Sara is. There's worry she could fade away though, to make things easier on him. And Jenny is a concern to all, though she has some lessons for her dad to learn and maybe has a surprise planned for him.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

The group begins their search for the key while Artemis struggles to accept her feelings.

Update 1 fixed wording and improved clarity

Chapter 9

A voice pulls me from the haze of sleep, soft and hesitant.

“Artemis?”

Alma Mater
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Oliver Furness came to me in 1898 – I remember that it was the year that the Spanish American War ended. He had a scholarship to the University, or thought he had. He saw that my boarding house and health clinic offered lower rates for “students with refined manners” and considered that described him well enough. He was a slightly built young man, seemingly ready to study, as I had been at the same age.

Cameron is thrust back into the role of "Captain" and it's not a role she's interested in assuming as quickly as she's required to take it on. It's yet another transformation, not a physical one, but a mental shift that will challenge her perception of self as a woman now. Adding to her troubles the Planetary Guild has some hoops for her and those held captive to jump through. She'll be told the true nature of the Exhibit Housing facility and it will shake her to her core. She'll wrestle with whether she should telling the others, but one slip on a small ship could jeopardize her command.

WARNING: The true nature of the Exhibit Housing is revealed in this chapter and it might be a bit disturbing to read. I can assure you the contents of this chapter do not dwell on that disclosure much and are only included to explain the 'why' humans were being held - which in the scope of the story is necessary. I tried very hard to not make this uglier than necessary. Can you skip this chapter and pick up knowing what's going on in the next one and not miss much? Eh, maybe, maybe not. There are pieces of the puzzle in every chapter and why they were held is a piece that gives their captivity scope - it isn't the story though. Please consider this warning as I do not EVER want to purposely cause anyone distress while trying to entertain. Thank you - Rachel M. Moore

The Little Brother
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

In all this transgender shit, nobody talks about people like me. Nobody talks about the little brother.

Imagine that you have an older brother that you always looked up to, a sportsman and a musician and a popular guy at school, somebody a little brother would want to be, and then he tells you he wants to be a girl. That is what Josh did. I could not believe it. None of us could. Our parents were in shock too.

A group of people wake up in video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

Update 1 fixed spelling and grammar errors and added chapter to title.

Update 2 changed wording and certain elements for consistency with future chapters

Chapter 1