Written and Re-Written – Amy Hodges-Laurenzo
Written and Re-Written – Amy Hodges-Laurenzo
As with the World of Shadow, events didn’t quite happen as with the time line in which the supernatural only existed in myth and lore.
One such event…the American Civil War.
At the settlement of the colonies, Daemon Thorne actually landed with his forces in Salem, Massachusetts.
The Chronostone in the hands of the former paladin, allowed him to write the country’s guidelines. The slave trade had been kept only unto the vampires for feeding, as well as other supernaturals that required humans for some sort of food. It only extended to a few of the human mega rich and never became a large scale situation.
Around the 1800s, through some re-writes, America did become a force in the world and built in power. They had become independent…though Emily Ro did manipulate the War of 1812.
Defeated by the empowered human servant to Daemon Thorne, George Washington, Emily Ro’s forces went into hiding until 1860.
Emily Ro tried to make unrest among the young nation, only to have it all erased and re-written once again by the Vampire God with the Chronostone…Daemon Thorne would have none of it. He made it so the civil war never happened…erasing it from the timeline.
Remembering the time that got re-written, Emily Roe abandoned her original thought. Instead the Magi performed an experiment on a pair that she recruited. Their names…Hiram Ulysses Grant and Robert Edward Lee…around the summer of the new 1863.
Emily Ro told them that they would bond with Fire Elemental to become Magi…she bonded them with something far worse…
East of St. Louis…
The Silver Lake Rest Stop.
The sun had been down for a little over an hour.
A pair of motor cycle riders pulled up near a black BMW.
The two rode on Harley Davidson Fat Boys and had been journeying down I-70, headed west. Brothers that welcomed the piss stop.
Both men had brown hair and eyes. Their facial features also told their kinship.
The older of the two men, sported a goatee. He also stood about six feet tall. His choice in attire included a denim jacket with sleeves ripped off. He wore black biker pants along with a black and red ‘Tribute to Night’ band t-shirt, and biker boots as well.
The slightly younger of the two men looked to be clean shaving. His height ranged close to his brother at five feet and eleven inches. he wore all black; jacket, boots, pants, and shirt.
The older one ran to the restroom. “Damn bladder! I swear that I got a mouse bladder by accident!”
“Well, hurry the fuck up, Chuck! I want to get to the hotel tonight! The concert is tomorrow, but the parties start now!”
“You, shut the fuck up! You are a punk, Bubba!” Chuck slammed a fist against the door and entered.
Bubba bounced about and practiced shadow boxing. He didn’t have anything else he could do while he waited on Chuck to drain his lizard.
Both men happened to be shifters of the Bobcat variety. They had been fans of the ‘Tribute to Night’ for a decade and opted to chase the band for their All Hallows Eve Tour.
Bubba got a little too excited. His fist struck and dented the driver’s side wheel fender on the BMW.
“WHAT THE FUCK!”
Bubba stiffened and turned toward the voice.
He only stood about five feet and eight inches in height. His short kept hair, beard, and mustache looked brown. His dark brown eyes looked crazy and wide. The man wore a crimson red shirt with black slacks and tennis shoes. In his hand resided a half eaten Dreamsicle ice cream bar. “You Hit My Car!”
“So what, chump.”
“So…what?” The shorter of the two, tossed the ice cream in the closest trash can and walked toward the one that stood a little taller.
Bubba didn’t act intimidated. he made a gesture to his crotch. “Suck it human bitch.”
A slight taller man noticed what went on and slid into the bathroom.
The one who enjoyed ice cream a moment earlier…his eyes narrowed down as he came within two feet of the Bobcat Bubba. “Bobcat Bitch, I ain’t been human since 1863.”
On the year, his eyes turned a demon red.
That made Bubba worry. he took a pugilistic stance. his fists clenched and flexed his elbows. “I’m gonna fuck you up, small fry.”
The smaller man thrust his right hand forward and an unseen force snatched up Bubba. As the man closed his fist, the in air suspended man began to constrict on himself.
Bubba screamed like a girl, as his bones turned into powder
The smaller man grabbed Bubba’s arm and breathed in.
The Bobcat’s body shriveled as his very life energy drained into the man. Before he consumed him entirely, the smaller man took Bubba’s keys and wallet. Only then did he collapse into dust.
Moments earlier in the men’s room…
Chuck used the Urinal as a man about five feet and ten inches came in.
This man had short black hair and brown eyes. He seemed clean shaving for the moment. He wore camouflage forest pants and jacket with a blue shirt. Unlike his friend in the BMW, he wore combat boots.
When Bubba screamed outside, Chuck zipped up and started toward the door.
The second man caught hold of him in a rear choke type maneuver and also inhaled.
This man began to do the same as the unknown man outside. He drained the life out of the older. “No Demon cat concert for you two.”
Like his partner, he took Chuck’s keys and wallet before killing Chuck.
With the problem passed, Ulysses Grant stopped to examine the dent. “That dumb mother…”
“You know, to hear a Military General cuss and swear is unbecoming, Ulysses.”
“Oh fuck off, Lee.”
Ulysses Grant and Robert Lee.
The experiments had out lived the witch doctor of Emily Ro. She had trained these two men to tap into the beyond and summon forth elements. At the last moment, she replaced two fire elemental types with demonic versions. The two men bonded with Demonic Souls and now live as Hell Magi.
Supernaturals hate to see them coming.
“The bathroom tailless cat was named Chuck Cooper.”, Lee said as he went through the wallet, “from the looks of things, they are fan boys of Tribute to Night. The cat had a season pass on him , $600, and an American Express card…don’t leave home without it.” Lee laughed.
Ulysses stood up and opened the wallet of his BMW’s attacker. “This punk was Bubba Cooper. Same season pass, $1,000, and a Discover card. $1600, you think that will fix my car?”
Lee tsked at him, “We will get the fender fixed. Sheesh. Besides, you know the real reason we are here.”
Ulysses took a breath, “The Royal Shifter are on their way home to Slide Mountain. Shane Corbin asked us to intercept. They are traveling down I-70 east.” He nodded to the interstate to the north of them.
“They sat that the Shifter Queen is some sort of Ghost type Wolf”, commented Lee, “That is supposed to be the Wolf and Fae.”
Sensing something, Ulysses walked toward the Interstate.
A moment later, Lee felt it too and followed.
The black McClarn F1 cruised along at about a hundred miles an hour. About eighty miles back, the eighteen wheeler.
After a dinner stop in west St. Louis, Aurora yawned and fell asleep. Richter didn’t mind.
Her body had been in overdrive due to the shifting, but also the baby. Any energy regeneration worked now.
Suddenly, Aurora bolted up right. Her eyes appeared dark blue.
“Aurora?”
She didn’t speak…
She didn’t have time to say anything.
The McClaren F1 popped skyward…
Aurora moved toward her mate.
The vehicle struck the ground and exploded.
Two men stood on the East side of the Interstate…
The Magi Hellions had struck hard.
Tomorrow’s Light is coming soon. this will be book 1 in the World of Shadow Series. I welcome you back to the World of Shadow, the same world as the Chronicle of Blood and Shadow. The thing is, that story is a little of the history of this series. The stories in this series will feature the world and how it marched on without the God and Goddess that had decided to go into seclusion. This one begins 13 years later… Meet Aurora…a little girl born during what her name implies. Only she had been born to wolves, without one, but has eyes that see the future. Even who her mate happens to be will throw her world into a tail spin, but she is meant for great things. So dive into the world and see what occurred in this alternate reality…after New York froze over…
© 2025 – Amy Hodges-Laurenzo
