A Excerpt From A New Project Of Mine, Thoughts? Steven I paused the music playing through my headphones and rooted around in the pockets of the jacket wrapped round me for my keys. Amongst the sweet wrappers and screwed up homework assignments my fingers stumbled across the cold metal; opening the door I stepped inside. My head was pounding. Kicking my shoes off I called out to Mum and Lexi; no answer. Strange, I had thought someone would've been home; there was only one car on the drive, maybe they went out together? Even stranger... my mum and sister had been at each others throats for weeks, they couldn't sit in the same room as each other, much less go out for the afternoon. Making my way through the kitchen to the medicine cabinet my thoughts were with what had happened today at school, it had been a strange day, it seemed such a blur, my head had been hurting ever since I woke up. There seemed to be a fuzz around the days events, like I hadn't quite been in touch with reality all day. Finding the headache tablets I poured myself a glass of water and gulped them down, hopefully that would help. Making my way over to the fridge I noticed a pile of creased up washing on the dining table; at that moment I knew something was wrong. It was a Thursday, Mum always did the ironing on a Thursday; she had the day off every week. Why not today? My mum was a real creature of habit, something really serious must have happened for her not to have got it done. I called her mobile, no answer. Lexi's mobile; no answer. I hoped they were okay, I had a bad feeling nestling in the pit of my stomach. I was starting to worry. I decided I would give it an hour or two and see if anyone turned up, if not i'd call Dad or Grandma, maybe they would know what was going on. Opening the fridge I pulled the milk out and made myself some cereal, all of a sudden I was starving; I couldn't remember eating that day. It was just after i'd swallowed the first mouthful that it started. That was when it happened. That was the moment all hell broke loose. I remember seeing the kitchen window smashing across the kitchen floor, I remember hearing other similar sounds coming from all over the house. Smashes as glass broke, crashes as doors flew open. The thundering noise of what seemed like hundreds of pairs of boots stamping around the house. Bodies appeared, too many too count; all dressed in black, waving guns around. They looked like a SWAT team, why would a SWAT team be in my house?! The butt of a gun cracked straight across my jaw, sending me sprawling across the floor, men piled on top of me, shouting. Guns were pointed at me viciously from all angles. I couldn't make out what they were saying; I was panicking. I was scared. I felt the cold bite of steel as a pair of handcuffs were snapped round my wrists, far too tight; the pain was intense. I was roughly pulled to my feet, arms grabbed me all over and all of a sudden I was being dragged out my house. Terrified tears rolled down my face as I screamed and screamed at my captors but anything I said was ignored, my pleas had fallen on deaf ears. Next thing I knew I was being harshly shoved into the back of a police van, the doors slammed behind me like a hurricane had got hold of them. I was left there alone, sobbing silently as the van began to pull away.... What had I done?!

The Merchant The storms were on their way. The air hot and heavy as the cackle of lightning sounded out around the Merchant and his men; it was getting closer. A brief lapse of the clouds allowed for a ray of moonlight to shine down and illuminate the area, a sorry sight for anyones eyes. Deep gouges in the earth filled with rainwater criss-crossed the terrain, granite and marble strewn across the place by the terrible winds that had plagued these lands throughout the last moons. Ahead of his men the Merchant came to a halt and looked out across the desolate place. He had once vowed to never return here; but there was no choice. A sadness filled his cold metallic eyes as memories came flooding back to him, memories of happiness, excitement and joy. Memories and emotions that had no place in the new #life he had created. Composing himself he carries on, balancing himself on the hard ridges of mud when possible and wading through the muddy water when not. He was heading towards the treeline, the silhouette of which loomed above him. As he got closer, his men traipsing sluggishly behind him the sound of a babys wail pierced the air around him; his tight lips curled up into a half smile. He had found what he had come for. Allowing his men to catch up to him the Merchant pointed to a yet undamaged patch of land, not far from where they were stood. "Make camp there for the night, secure everything to the ground and wait for my return!" The barked orders seemed to remove the drowsiness of his men and they set off in the other direction, marching with a new found energy at the prospect of finally being able to rest for the night. For a moment the Merchant watched his men and then turned and set back off towards his destination; his heart was heavy. This would be the last time he would see his crew of loyal workers and friends, they did not know it but he did. The storms would arrive tonight and with them the beasts that revelled in such atrocity; they would not survive the night. The baby's wail sliced through the air again, spurring him on towards it. It would be just him and the boy now. There was no other way.

Would You Read On? Love and intimacy come hand in hand together, where you find one you will often find the other, where one is missing from the other you will often find the relationship will crumble. Intimacy is a massive part of love, having that one person you can reach out to touch whenever you want to or need to, physically or mentally, and knowing that they will reach back to you no matter what because they are as much a part of you as you are of them. Some people will never find love, some will fall in love multiple times, some will lose hope and settle for second best whilst others, the really lucky ones, will find their soulmate early on and be together until death do they part. Do I believe that every person is born with a soulmate? No. But do I believe that every person has a soulmate? Yes, for as every human soul grows and develops into the person they were born to become so does someone else, whether they be complete opposites or the same as each other your other half in this world does exist, and when they turn up into your #life you will know. What follows is a tale of all of these people, the joy, the heartbreak, the grief, the happiness, the violence and the miraculous. Come with me ladies and gentlemen, let me take you back to where it all began....