El Hijo Del Sooprbrane

Chapter 9: A Day At the Circus PROLOGUE Amanda stared forward at the party for her sister Aurora’s new fashion line. Sibling rivalry ran deep in the Night family, particularly lately. Amanda, of course, considered herself the star of the show. After all, she was most conventionally stunning and the most interesting, but her sisters smelled blood in the water after her numerous social and legal mistakes. They were all looking for ways to spin out their success out of Amanda’s misfortune. Aurora’s new line of athletic wear for young mothers was opening tonight. Despite Amanda’s desire to be anywhere else, she was trapped at the event, having to perform publicly for the big investors. ...

Chapter 8: In the Air Tonight Decades ago, Elise celebrated the first months in her new home…the second of her house of horrors bought and paid for with her salary as the beloved but aging polestar of the soap opera scene and her investment genius. After decades of living her secret double life on an LA property, it looked to everyone who “knew” her that she was downsizing to a property that would be easier for her in her advancing age. However, she and the contractors who built the home would know of the vast basement that added so much unseen space to the house. Not that it was “tiny” by any stretch of the imagination. The property spanned several acres, and in addition to the basement, it contained one crucial component that Elise wanted. She had an impressive koi pond on her last property and insisted on an even bigger and more impressive one for her new home. Nobody who helped design or build that pond would know of Elise’s sinister intentions or about those residents who would soon join the fish swimming within its barriers. At this point, that koi pond was empty of such intruders. ...

Chapter 7: Will You Still Hate Me Tomorrow? In the recent past, Amanda Night sat at her mother’s, Missy Night’s, desk and examined her manicured, black-painted nails. She was currently undergoing a more ‘goth’- influenced stage. Of course, this image was carefully manufactured, as was almost everything in her young life. Still, she enjoyed black nails, if nothing else. Missy came in, and the door slammed behind her. “You’ve really done it this time, you little brat,” she hissed and sat down. As she did so, she thrust a photograph towards her daughter, seeing it sliding on the desk before them. ...

Chapter 6: Amanda Night’s Nocturnal Nightmares Part Two: Home Sweet Home Decades ago, a young teenager named Elise Norwood (later changed by her acting teacher and agent) was a mousy teenager and a burgeoning engineering genius. This wasn’t the typical route for a woman, but Elise continued to develop her genius in her solitary, secret pursuits. She read every book she could get her hands on and was likely more intelligent and skilled than most architects and builders around her small town. She viewed everything in life as a problem she could conquer with hard work and studious contemplation. Despite her gifts, Elise did not yearn to be a scientist for a living. No, her true passion lay in the static-filled old television set she was glued to while working on her projects. As impossible as it seemed to be a scientist for a young woman like herself, it seemed even more impossible to be like the glamorous stars of stage and screen. She enjoyed imagining what their lives were like. They were beloved and catered to, and everyone craved them. It was not the life that she was used to. However, Elise was convinced that everything was a system that could be conquered with the proper process, including acting and power. She began to formulate a plan to become everything she ever desired. And when she became a star, she could finally engage in the dark desires that haunted her dreams… ...

Chapter 5: Amanda Night’s Nocturnal Nightmares Part One Inside “Babylon,” the newest and most exclusive new club in Los Angeles, Amanda Night and her companions for the night (an ever-changing group of hangers-on and socialites) were engaged in their favorite activity: putting away expensive drinks while talking dirt on anyone with the misfortune of landing in the path of their conversation. “I don’t even know why you’d care,” Amanda said about her newest target, using her put-on television voice, a mixture of a posh accent with a hint of Valley Girl stupidity and lilt. “She’s just an actress. She’s, like, destitute. Is she worth a few million at best? In a few years, she’ll be dating some reject or rich old man to keep herself in those bargain-bin, clearance-rank, designer outfits.” The ‘entourage’ laughed as the television cameraman made sure to pick up the entirety of the demeaning monologue. Secretly, they died inside as they watched the spoiled princess continue her reign of terror, knowing they’d all personally experienced her wrath. ...

Chapter 4: Daytime Viewing Habits To say the next few days were a blur for Amanda would be a bit of an understatement. Through a diabolical mixture of drug cocktails, Amanda wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Elise next visited her with a spritely kiss on the forehead, followed by a bee-like sting from a needle entering her arm. Thus started the ordeal of forced sleeping- broken up by dream-like memories of being cleaned and groomed- and mixed with nightmarish remembrances of the two women who, like herself, ended up unfortunate enough to become entangled with Elise. ...

Chapter 2: Marita’s A Memory It was early that morning when Elise’s alarm went off on her new phone. Despite her age (Elise could pass for middle aged, but was approaching the end of those years), she made sure to keep up with the technological advances of the ‘smartphone’ age, a necessity if one wanted to continue on as a quasi-celebrity and especially with her extra-curricular activities. Speaking of which, Elise picked up her phone and made sure to hit the snooze button. Though the result of that subtle, clumsy thumb-clicking was hidden below in her soundproof basement, she could almost hear it in her own brain as a sleepy smile creeped onto her face. Downstairs, she knew that the inserts in her two newest toys were receiving the linked Bluetooth signal and responding with the jolts of electricity that let them know Elise was awake. Or rather soon to be. For she’d hit the “off” button after a few more minutes of precious shut-eye where Elise would go over the events of last night over and over again in her brain. ...

Chapter 3: Kim’s Hard Goodbye Amanda struggled to move, her nose-hooked and well-gagged and hooded face faced forward as she was forced to look with her eyes pried open as Kim, the ex-stripper, who was Elise’s last captive was again paraded in front of her unblinking eyes. “Well, Amanda…today is the day I get your new home ready for you. But first I must clean it up. As you can see the last occupant left a bit of a mess.” ...