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935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
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“Agent Martinez, welcome,” the FBI director said as the woman. “Gentlemen, this is Agent Martinez, formerly NYPD detective. She’ll lead the new paranormal investigation and demonic cult oversight division. Martinez, this is your team...”
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Kyoto, Japan
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Shinji sensed the dimensional disturbance and triggered some amulets warding the area. It was school trip season, a prime time to abduct youngsters into another world. His magic levels plummeted as he charged the amulets but they absorbed tenfold more from the incoming magic from another world. He knew he was probably dooming that world to fall to the hands of whatever Maou was threatening them but kidnapping people without consent was not acceptable.
Small magical crystals condensed where the paper amulets burned. The [Paladin] reached and crushed each of them, feeling the surge of energy enter him. Looking at his Status window, he smiled as he reached another level. He spent his Stat points and increased his [Dimensional Defense] Skill with the freebie points. At least in his version of the System, he regained all Resources when he leveled up.
He missed Alice and the Wallenstein sisters but he had a duty to his country. He needed to stop the isekai from killing Japan.
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Litte Valley, Carson City, Nevada
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“You’ll stay to garrison the place,” Captain Jack Murphy said to the new Native American recruits. “I don’t need to tell it to you, but this is the army. Your orders are to follow the Shaman’s instructions and keep this sacred site from getting spoiled. We have enough stock of special silver for now, but the government marked the mine here as a strategic asset.”
The soldiers saluted the departing commander as Jack officially transferred it to the lieutenant who would oversee the heritage site turned military base. They didn’t expect another demon so soon but America wouldn’t be caught by surprise ever again.
As for Jack, he wondered if he would stay in service or ask to be discharged and return to the private security sector. He longed to stay with Catherine but their relationship became complicated after Fort Hamilton. He felt he’d lost the girl’s trust forever. Probably both of them. He felt without a clear north.
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Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
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Three girls frolicked in the pool, enjoying the warm summer. In the backyard, four wolves and one house cat played like littermates in the forested part of the estate. The Wallenstein mansion was heaven. Catriel’s brands and day trading raked in an obscene amount of money, Catherine managed the foundation and trust funds, and the SPAC shares were sold at eighty dollars each, along with the options. They’d already reinvested the money in other ventures, reinforced their participation in the private equity group, and had just crossed over the famous one-billion dollars net worth.
A movie trilogy about their “true” story was in pre-production in Hollywood. The story of twin sisters, split at birth and struggling to survive against a wicked demon cult. The overarching plot would cover all of the major events of the last two years, from Guantanamo to Doswell, Fort Hamilton and Brooklyn, and even the massacre at the Bear Mountain summer camp. The Wallenstein foundation bought the camp lodge and grounds to erect a memorial to the victims, including their mother.
Everything was fine until Catherine flinched. Alice and Catriel rushed to help her before she ended up underwater. “What’s the matter?”
“My water broke. William wants to get out,” she hissed between clenched teeth. “Oh, God. The contractions are coming.”
“Breathe!” Alice the EMT stayed with Catherine as they helped her out of the water. The wolves and Mr. Mouser approached and soon they all were in the van going to the hospital. They called Dr. Hill on the way and watched as Catherine was ushered into the delivery room. They later learned she didn’t need a C-section and birthed the baby naturally.
She emerged a proud mother, cradling William Theodore Wallenstein in her arms. Catriel looked endeared to her nephew, vowing to spoil him enough for all four grandparents he didn’t have. She felt honored when Catherine asked her if it was okay to name the baby after her previous incarnation but insisted they asked for Dahlia’s permission. Catriel was surprised and bittersweetly happy to learn that William’s former fiancée had married and already had a baby girl.
Deep inside she still regretted losing her former life but she was very happy the woman had found a new love and moved on. Dahlia deserved that.
After three days of observation, mother and son were discharged and the family returned to the Cliffs.
A week later, Oliver visited with great news. William Theodore Wallenstein’s DNA exam results led to a lawsuit where they claimed the baby’s rightful inheritance from his father’s family. The rapist DNA was stored in the police database and the match was as easy to make as it was to draw a subpoena. Sullivan & Rothman structured the inheritance as a trust with the father as the grantor and after the transfer taxes were paid, it became William’s personal irrevocable trust, just like Catherine’s. The baby’s net worth was around a hundred-fifty million dollars but his capitalist aunt vowed to double that in just a few years.
But the day to go to Wyoming to become a college freshman arrived. The Wallenstein family of four (including Alice who they considered as a third sister) and their five service animals caused a scene in the JFK as they lined up to pass the TSA inspection. Catriel and Catherine were very (in)famous and Alice’s wolves drew attention anywhere they went.
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Wyoming State College, Cheyenne, Wyoming
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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“Kya! There they are!” Theresa excitedly squealed at the sight of the freshmen arriving on campus with their petting zoo behind them. The webcam model grabbed her gorgeous roommate’s hand and ran to meet her friends. “Catherine, Catriel, Alice, little William! Welcome to Wyoming!”
Catriel hugged Theresa, planting many kisses on the tanned model. Then it was Catherine’s turn, followed by Alice. Mr. Mouser protested and was promptly picked up by the bubbly entertainer, who motorboated the feline’s belly before releasing him.
“We’re so happy to be here!” Catherine said. She breathed in and giggled, drawing animated squeals from William in the baby carrier strapped to her front. “College finally,” she sniffled.
Alice rubbed her back and blew a kiss at William. “Yes, it feels like a dream, right? I’m Alice, nice to meet you two.”
“Theresa. And this is my famous roommate, Hikari!” She hugged the embarrassed half-Japanese girl next to her. The shy girl had the perfect mix of the Mediterranean charm with Japanese cuteness and wore round bottle-bottom glasses. Alice noticed the wolves seemed drawn to her.
Catriel took a glance at Hikari and gasped. The young woman had a magical aura that would make the demon feel inappropriate and it was pure white. She’d never seen anything like that and it was even hard to use her gift on her.
Wrenching herself out of Theresa’s embrace, the girl bowed. “Hello. I’m Sandra Rinaldi. Hikari is my middle name but you may call me Sandra, like everyone else!” She hissed the end glaring at Theresa.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sandra,” Catriel answered as they shook hands. “I’m Catriel Wallenstein, this is my sister Catherine, my nephew William Theodore, and our best girl and friend Alice.”
“I know everything about you,” Sandra joked and rolled her eyes. “Theresa can’t talk about anything else but you! I’m so glad you came! I feel we’re going to be best friends.”
“We are! Theresa told me you work at the Environmental Science department and are engaged with conservation and park restoration! We have this project in Nevada, to restore heritage sites around Lake Tahoe.”
“Goodness, the tycoon is already hiring!” Theresa protested. “Or hitting on my roommate, which is equally bad.” She split the two. “Party first, business later!”
“Shouldn’t it be classes now?” Alice asked.
Theresa snorted and Sandra shook her head. “Nope,” the model said and craned her head to the side. “Ow! There goes Emily! Her cookies are magical!”
The group of women, wolves, cat, and baby turned to look at the girl Theresa singled out. She had a vending tray with several cellophane bags tied with colorful ribbons. At the word “cookies,” the gang moved to see what was going on.
Catriel was surprised once again as she scanned Emily with her gift. She too had way above-average magic and some of it seeped into her cookies. She wondered what they were adding to the water here to gather this many outliers. She nudged Alice. “Did you sense that?” she whispered and got a nod in return. Catriel gawked and Alice shrugged. She then pointed at Sandra and earned a wide-eyed nod along with a whistle from the wolf whisperer.
Catherine rushed forward and stopped in front of the shy Emily. “How much for the cookies?”
“I-its ten dollars a bag, Miss,” Emily flinched before the overbearing heiress, thinking she would be yelled at for them being too expensive. “But they are made with premium ingredients and a lot of love.”
“Oh, sorry,” Catherine placated. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry, I’m a freshman here.”
“It’s fine, Miss. Would you want some cookies!”
Catherine counted them and opened her purse. When Catriel saw she was going for the Benjamins, she grabbed her sister’s hands. She looked at the line of students forming after them, all wanting some cookies too.
“We’d like two bags of cookies for each of us, is that possible, Emily?” Catriel asked politely.
Emily opened a bright smile. “Sure, I made an extra batch today! That would be… a hundred dollars!”
Catherine was about to chuckle but Catriel glared her down. She fetched two hundred dollar bills, folding them to hide the denomination. She pressed them against Emily’s hand. “Here you go, and a tip for you. I’m sure your cookies are as magical as Theresa here claimed.”
Theresa grinned and wiggled her fingers at the cookie vendor.
“I guarantee them, Miss...” Emily fished for a name.
“I'm Catherine Wallenstein, pleased to meet you.”
Emily blushed as she recognized the name. Soon the girls let the other students buy their definitely magical cookies and walked around campus as Theresa and Sandra showed them the facilities and places of interest.
“Damn, these cookies are so good they basically want to jump in my mouth,” Theresa said. “it must be good not having to worry about getting fat,” She eyed the sisters with envy.
“Did you see she had one shaped like a little man?” Alice asked. Catriel nodded. She too had noticed that one, bigger than the others and alone in his cellophane bag, hidden at the end of the tray. It was the most magical of all cookies and didn’t seem to be for sale. It was probably something Emily baked for herself.
“I want to hire her to bake for myself. Does she sell cookies to pay for her tuition?” Catherine asked.
“Leave her alone,” Catriel warned. “She seemed very proud of her work.”
“Geez, what’s wrong in wanting to become an equity partner on her bakery? With her skills, she can rival any bakery in this country,” the heiress said as she popped another cookie in her mouth.
The students started to file into the buildings. “Sorry guys, I have class now,” Sandra excused herself. “Theresa doesn’t and she will chaperone you around. Catherine, thank you so much for the cookies!”
“What class is it now again?” Theresa asked.
Sandra pointed at one of the buildings, “Second-Order logic with Professor Wyxnos.”
Theresa pretended to retch, “Ugh, that guy is so stuck up. Seriously, he has an enormous god complex.” She opened her arms as wide as they went to show how much.
Sandra giggled and nodded, “You tell me. But I need the credits or my next semester will be ruined. Cya, girls. How about we go grab some Starbucks after class?”
“Sounds like a date,” Catriel said and Catherine elbowed her. Alice laughed and William squealed to demanded attention.
“A date it is!” Sandra waved and winked from behind her glasses. “I gotta go or I’ll be tardy!”
They watched the Italo-Japanese-American girl jog toward her class. Theresa waved, then put her fists akimbo against her hips. “So, what are we bitches going to do now? Wanna see the boy’s lacrosse team train? We can cheer on them.”
“I have to breastfeed William in a few minutes, why don’t we find a quiet place to do it?” Catherine stated as she pushed her chest forward. Now that she was lactating, her boobs matched her sister’s in size. She even made a point of “borrowing” Catriel’s bras, much to the gender-bent girl’s delight. She didn't mind spoiling her sister a bit.
“Okay. Let’s do it,” Theresa said as she spun around, thinking. “There’s a nursing room… over there!”
The women, Mr. Mouser, and wolves went in search of a safe place to nurse a baby.
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Final Words:
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MDW: Thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it! Here it goes, the first story I write from start to finish!
Now, a little self-promotion if you allow me.
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See Alice's life in another world in my first ever webnovel! (In hiatus)
Shinji, the tragic hero who died on the first mission is featured in How to Kidnap your Princess. (Kind of finished but the extension is in hiatus)
Follow Sandra Rinaldi as she is kidnapped by salty Mesopotamian deities into a dying word in Decompose! (in hiatus)
Are Emily's cookies really magical? You bet. She'll feature in upcoming novels, "Cookie Max: Beyond the Cheddardome" and "The Patissier Princess and the Cookie Knight" (There's a crappy draft of the former in the Incubator [it's tragedy] and the latter is only planned).
How big of a God Complex does Wyxnos have? Maybe Big enough to put a stain In Loki's Honor. (ongoing)
The Wallenstein sisters and the whole gang will return in "The Returner Wars", somewhere in the near future.