BrianM

Great end to a great story! I'm glad that Will managed to "man up" and give Troy closure and mightily impressed at how Troy handled it. I wish Troy and Jayden that most hackneyed of fairytale endings "and they all lived happily ever after". Thanks, Ron.

My goodness! That was a rather dramatic way to focus Troy's attention on Jayden. I'm so glad that it was not fatal,or any worse than it is. So not sorry to see the demise of the vile Anthony.

Hopefully the neanderthal Tom will be sent down for his efforts. One would suppose that Jake is now well and truly out, however. Perhaps Jake will listen to Sam while he is worrying himself sick about being outed.

Love the way the story is unfolding. The evils of drink spiking cannot be overstated, it was a good thing that the group with the flags did. Poor Matt, he will feel so bad about socking down that abandoned drink, but at least Andrew and Jake looked after him. I certainly hope that Jake didn't spike the drink...

Excellent beginning! Now to see what becomes of our Andrew..

Such a lovely feel-good story! Thanks, Palantir. I'd have loved to be in this environment at school, with friends like these guys.

A delightful chapter. If Pip has a brother, could you let me know, please!

<BEGIN RANT> Sorry, but Troy and Jayden are NOT throwing themselves "pity parties"! For pity's sake, they are in shock. Grow a heart people! This is not adolescent angst... it is the real thing. These guys cannot go and have a sniffle and a sulk, go home to Mummy and Daddy and be given some hot milk and everything will be fine in the morning. These guys' lives have REALLY been torn apart - to the point where they cannot be put back together in any simple way, nor will the process be short term. Fatuous comments about "pity parties" just let us know that you have missed the point. <END RANT> Having got that off my chest, I need to comment on the powerful writing which we have here. Very intense and very shocking subject matter laid out without embellishment: right in our faces. Just like the chapter with the beating. I pressed the Like button, but it took some doing. You are a brave and honest author, Ron, I salute you. Indeed! Precisely! Just about all the characters in the story have been adversely affected by this tragedy: Troy, in the most obvious way, along with his parents; the perpetrators, who have lost their freedom over a stupendously idiotic bit of chest beating machismo, along with their parasitic mother who has lost her "support structure"; Jayden, who is now homeless as a result of doing the right thing - truly no good deed goes unpunished; the ripples go ever onward even down to the shallow boyfriend, who has lost all self respect as well as the respect of his classmates. Please, please, Ronyx, don't "do a George R R Martin" and just kill everyone off to chase other plotlines!

Wonderful, gentle, heart-warming story. I loved that little clock.

Awesome job, Tim! "A hand on the hose"... LOL. Great premise and very well executed. I hope that it will expand (pun-kinda-intended) into several chapters, eventually.

Anyone other than me find it exceedingly concerning that the Academy Numero Uno and great white hope against the common foe seems to be so massively mentally unstable? Blame Daddy or whoever you want but this whole acting like a Grade-A arsehole with a god complex just can't end well.

Will just proves how shallow some people are. He was obviously in love with Troy's image, not Troy. I really hope that Jayden's aunt somehow causes him to be placed in a better situation. He sure as eggs deserves better.

I am loving the fact that our two main protagonists actually have "extras", in the sense of spooky abilities to sense trustworthiness and danger or significance. There might be some of our other friendly vampires who also have these abilities, if they were encouraged to pay attention to them. Really looking forward to the hunt for Dracula!

Poor bloody Gizmo! So much more human than many supposed human beings. He certainly knew who his tormentors were.

OK, I'm hooked!

Delightfully bizarre! Please keep going, I want to see where this ends up. Some attention needed to the formation of plural nouns-as opposed to the possessive-and the correct use of the subjunctive, however. (Your friendly neighbourhood pedant.) ((Yes, my country DOES use English spelling, mostly.))

Okay. <cue spooky music> Who shot the Sherriff - I mean the muggers?

Another big mystery! Who sent those men, and why? Great chapter but I feel so bad for Amasis and his people, being hurried out of their homes.

Whoa! I didn't see that coming.

Now I just want to go stomp the bastard! Hugs, Wolf, You so deserve them.

WOW! Amasis is just amazing. He truly understands that he has basically just stagnated underground for millenia, but he managed to keep himself sane and maintained his humanity for all that time. Now he is like a kid with a new toy and he just can't wait to be able to live in the world again. I really admire him. This is a terrific chapter. Bravo.

Aren't kids amazing creatures? One moment it is the end of the world as they know it and the next all is forgiven and they are being selfless and angelic again.

Poor Brett, I just want to hug him until he feels better. Dr Reilly seems to be one of those useless specialists who are so damn specialised that they have total tunnel vision and need a minder so that they can safely walk down the street. I'm really hoping that she doesn't get brought back to reality the very hardest way, by finding the son she ignored hanging from somewhere! Good for Mr Roberts, he's a good man.

Hooray! I am so glad that Billy and his Dad cleared the air between them. His Dad is truly cool, too, in the way he explained the situation with grandma and in the way he provided practical, matter-of-fact advice about how all boys do it and what to avoid. Hopefully Billy will pull his head out of his arse and put some energy into understanding his parents instead of taking everything as a personal affront.

GAH! Teenage angst. However I nearly split my sides at “You need to keep ice on that so the swelling will go down,”!!! Good tale, Squirrel.