Stories

It is Sunday morning. Liam sits alone in his room, at the top of the building, and hides himself away. The world outside has suddenly become a dangerous place and he must stay away from it, and he must also remember that his name is now Leo.

This story follows Liam through one fateful Sunday and, through flashbacks, tells the story of how he came to be there.

Boy meets boy, leaves boy, meets another boy. All the usual things happen to someone with a thankfully less-than-usual life.

Being the oldest and growing up in a large family can be hard, especially when you are gay and the family is extremely homophobic. You are constantly being compared to your deceased father. A man whose stature and deeds are always increasing, as time goes by, and are held up as your goals. Anytime you reach those goals, your mother moves the goalpost further away.

You never seem to measure up. You are always being told that you are worthless and will never amount to anything since you cannot measure up to your father. It never mattered that you were a straight "A" student and that you were an athlete.

Hadrian, accompanied by his loyal guide Ouray, returns to the familiar yet unsettling town of Redwaters, North Carolina. Their journey is spurred by Fleur's distressing nightmare, which foretells a looming danger that threatens to disrupt their lives forever. Meanwhile, a magical portal transports Zain to Redwaters on the eve of his nineteenth birthday. Amnesic and with no knowledge of his extraordinary powers, the young prince meets Hadrian, Fleur, and Ouray, who try to help him find answers to his questions.

14-year-old Bryan Padilla is caught between worlds he doesn't feel connected to. Having been abandoned by their birth parents at a young age, Bryan and his younger brother, Caleb, were adopted by a family friend, Diego Padilla, and raised in a culture not of their own. Though it is the only life Caleb has ever known, Bryan inwardly struggles with his feelings about life, death, race and sexuality. Things escalate shortly after the death of his birth mother. Can Bryan come to terms with his situation as a figure from his past tries to upend his entire life?