I have a theory that the name of the school—Alder Rayne University—has to be a hint. Alder is a type of tree (trees are often significant to inhuman things, BUT alder has another meaning; alder as in aldermen, so I’m thinking it’s the City/Town Council. They made the deal with the man in the rain, allowing the inhuman world nearly total access to the university, and it’s transient/temporary occupants in exchange for keeping to the university grounds, and leaving the town and faculty protected. That’s who I’m suspecting.

Sure they have been. The ones who died in weird ways (woman drowned in another’s tub, kids disappearing) were the ones awake. OP seems to have been kept awake by his anxiety, being 13, and terrified for the blackout.

Might want to have her give you a crash course in supernatural self-defense. Reasons being threefold: 1, she saved your behind, so buying her a beer and installing google maps on her phone would be a good way to pay her back. 2. Any encounter with the paranormal always attracts more paranormal to you. And lastly, 3. Most people who have a supernatural encounter will die from supernatural causes. Sooner rather than later, if you aren’t informed like Lilly, or protected by the Silver King. Best to figure out who/what will eat you, and who/what will help you.

He was awake. Those who are sleeping are likely taken over, and those who are awake can’t be taken. That’s why he was unsuitable. OP, run like the damn blazes are behind you, and flee for your life.

I am so glad you shared your story, and congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!! I absolutely adored it from the beginning to this excellent end. I hope you and Jackie have a long, happy, magical life of wedded bliss.

Not exactly. He looked at it, which made it real. It was just a nothing, a formless idea in the void that was harmless until viewed and known. Once known, it became corporeal. He brought a fucking eldritch tooth demon to life. Smh. Axel, this is real bad. Can Selene help? Or the doll you don’t have anymore? Cuz this thing is gonna decimate our entire plane of existence.

This!! Fiona beat the devil, but she had to literally allow an eldritch to share her body with her—after being psychologically toyed with and frightened by the devil, watching him mutilate Jacek, and Casimir is still dying. The devil is still doing his thing; he’s just leaving Fiona and the Darkwoods alone, for now. Hopefully, Aleksei will keep the woods in order, and Fi will be ok! The witch can be beaten—at this moment—but likely not without damage, and a lot of sacrifice. OP, take her ass out, and watch your back.

Ask the House to help you find Grace. Tell them The Crone is who was testing them, and she took Grace to her house that’s got appetites similar to his, but for kids like the ones he guards. I bet he knows exactly which one it is. You need to go buy the sticker sheets at Dollar Tree ASAP. Ask it to spell the answers out for you; to Dissolve only the unnecessary ones, and leave you the address, and how to kill the Crone, if it knows.

Kids. Her house likes kids, specifically. OP’s house just likes to eat, but prefers blood and food.

To Train Up a Child. I have never found anything else (and I read smutfic, fanfic, smut, gore-gasm, etc. but that awful instruction manual of how to completely abuse (both physical and psychological /emotional; everything from advocating hitting your literal days old baby with a plastic ruler or flexible tubing, to gaslighting, manipulation, slut-shaming, victim-blaming, forcing forgiveness of abusers, and sexually repressing them to the point they’ll likely have to see a sex therapist before becoming intimate—even with their spouse after marriage) your child from literally the minute they come home from the hospital. It should be piled up and lit aflame, with the awful authors tied to a stake in the center. But otherwise, I don’t believe in banning, censorship, or book-burnings. But that awful book triggered in me some major flashbacks, and genuinely horrified me to the degree I genuinely believe it should not be allowed to be sold until relabeled as either fiction, true crime, or How Not to Treat Your Children.

Woah..this is right up the Ohio River from me…Evansville is pretty much directly downstream from you. Although, to be honest, we have some of the absolute nastiest water in the US. Like, it’s been tested, and there’s all manner of weird sh*t in our little neck of the river. The local joke is that you don’t go swimming in the river, or you’ll come out with extra toes, or a tail. Purplish film on the water would be a slight improvement over the usual disgusting brown detritus and filth that permanently keeps our downtown (and also our poorer area of town—but no one seems to care about /that area/ as much as the touristy downtown area) smelling like putrid pond scum and rotting excrement. Keep us posted, I have to go take a walk by the river just to be sure. I doubt they’d tell all of us to just move—Alcoa, Sabic, GE, and Meade Johnson are all major corporations, and they’d rather us workers die than lost one second of profits.

Uh…since he described a person and not a mind-bending-entity-of-light-eyeballs-and-chains, I kinda had a nagging suspicion that your Daddio was actually talking to Nick in his ‘don’t drive the mortal completely insane’ guise. He described him almost exactly the way you did after seeing him encompassing simultaneously a football field and a human body, then putting on his ‘don’t freak out’ face for you, as you mind started to buckle after witnessing him for a brief second. And let’s not forget that Nick was once the most beautiful of all heaven’s angels. So your dad got to see a glimpse of what Lucy (less scary to call him Lucy—ignore my warped humor; I’m boiling to the brim in existential dread/horror) looked like before the Fall. Do. Not. Give. Him. The. Eldritch. Entity. He’s gonna make you bargain for Cas and Jacek. Be. VERY careful, Fiona. You know we’re here for you. Say the word. If you need quick reinforcements, I believe SomaticMonk is still hiding out somewhere on your property—just maybe alert Aleksei that he’s a friendly—and would very likely be up for a good assist. Also, I have a couple of dresses for you, and one even has pockets!! I forwarded them to the post office in *********, AK. All you have to do is call the office and have them complete the shipping. It’s paid for already, and guaranteed anonymity. stay safe out there, Girl.

OP, you’re not going to like this: you have to accept the small space and realize that you are and will be alright you’re safe, nothing is in there with you trying to get you. It’s just a smaller area than you prefer. Keep reminding yourself of this fact. Once you face this fear, the room evolves into a different form, and you’ll get a step closer to the Answer. I came back after I got my Answer—woke up in my trunk after my kidnapper got in a wreck. I won’t elaborate, but I will say I wasn’t expecting that particular answer, and I don’t like it at all, but I’ve accepted it now. I know someone who never got beyond room 1. I even heard about someone who made it through, and the Answer was a happy ending. Some do get those happy ones; some of us are still confused, and some even go mad when faced with it. Just know that when you get to it, the Answer is always final. Edit for typo/clarity

This is such a kind and gentle thing to do. They might love you, a human, but it would likely be upsetting and/or triggering to them to encounter mankind again. That poor sweet little peligot. Poor Rock Boy; poor Nails, to hear his friend and understand what’s happened to him…I would like to believe that I would side with the peligots. We have a duty to stand up for those who need our protection. I think you did the right thing, OP.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the thing Aleksei mentioned…Arkadiusz, I think..I think that’s what Nick is searching for. Time to find out what Aleksei knows about it, and maybe even let him in on your little deal with Nick the Dick. Maybe he has an idea you haven’t thought of yet. Otherwise, stay safe out there, Fiona. You’ve got a lot going on, and not enough information to properly decide what to do.

I breathed a sigh of relief he didn’t describe Jacek. I was just waiting for him to say the guy was pale and veiny with black hair. Now I’m good to go back to standing a 3-way-misandrist relationship between her, Aleksei and Jacek. :)