John Richardson sat down in his office with a sigh.  He liked this room, it was his personal study, the one location in the house that that bitch never followed him around.  Honestly the first year and a half hadn't been that bad, sure she moaned and bitched but what did he expect from a woman.

Speaking of women there was that teacher sara, she was getting on his nerves.  He had been trying to get her to spend some quality time with him for the past year or so, and had no success.  He even thought that perhaps she was a lesbian, but now, she had been pining over that kid.

A kid.

Not him, the man so many teachers and students had fallen for.   He smiled when he thought about them all.  They were his, whether they had a man or not was irrelevant, when he called they came running.

All except that one.

She had gone and attempted to have a date with that kid, he had seen the entire thing, he had even read the note she had left there.

As if he was going to allow that.

He had thought that one a lesson for hunting his prey, and if it happened again then he would have to get, well more confrontational. He smiled when he thought about the state he had left that little shack the boy called a shop in.

There wasn't even anything good in there, only what $ 200 in the register?

Well that was a lie.

He had found those…

They looked to be made out of solid gold, he was surprised to find such nice objects in that little store.  Picking one up he turned it around in his hands and stared at it, it was a bracelet with interesting archaic writing on it.  He had picked it up several times and looked at it, and each time he did he grew more and more interested in it.

The light reflected off it unlike anything he had ever seen, even in the dark of his office it was shining brightly, like it was producing its own light.

It was alluring.

Why not try it on? He might look good in it, but then again he looked good in practically everything.

With a shrug he slipped it on his wrist.

And immediately wished he hadn't .  The bracelet tightened down clamping onto him and changing its size like it was a living creature. “What the-”  he started to say before the burning started.

It was like the bracelet had just been forged, the markings on it glowed a bright red and started to spin in circles, not that he saw it as he writhed around on the floor and clawed at his arm in a desperate attempt to get the thing off.

An inhuman scream escaped his lips as markings started to crawl up his arm, his veins turning black for a second before pulsing a bright gold.  He rolled there trying everything to get the burning bracelet off of his arm, but to no avail. After a few minutes of the most excruciating pain he had ever felt it stopped.

Stolen novel; please report.

He lay there on the carpet drenched in sweat, breathing heavily and unable to muster the strength to even lift his head.  Slowly strength returned to him, and he reached up and grabbed the edge of the desk to pull himself up.  

Gripping the table he began pulling himself up, only to fall again.  He looked in shock at the computer desk.  There was a hand size section tore out of it, he looked down at his hand and found that the remains of that section of the table were still in his hand, burned away to a fine ash.

He looked in horror at his arm and hand, both of which were now covered in an archaic language which almost looked like it was tattooed on him. “What the fuck is going on?”   he screamed.

[Dan’s Apartment]

Dan sighed as he leaned back into the chair.

“So you are telling me I need to get the windows repaired out of pocket and then call you guys to get reimbursed?”  he asked, a dull headache spreading through his head as he finally got the answer he had been searching for for the last hour or so.

He was on the phone with the insurance company, and apparently his shop was covered against such major forms of vandalism, however the initial cost of some items would require him to pay them himself and then wait for a reimbursement for the company.

Which was an issue, since  he was low on cash at the moment.

Thank God for credit cards.

“Yes sure, unfortunately your policy explicitly states that -”

“Ok, Ok I got it.”  Dan said, interrupting the insurance rep. “So i'll get it handled and then we can go from there.”

“Ok, please be sure and fill out the customer service survey when you get the chance.”

“Sure, sure.”  he said dismissively, he wasn't going to fill it out.

“Have a nice day.”

“You to.”

Dan hung up the phone and closed his eyes, he had one of the world's largest headaches, why was talking to the insurance company always so difficult, all he needed was a simple yes or no, but instead he got the whole spiel about this and that.

They were fucking him up the ass and they didn't even have the courtesy to do a reacharound.

This is why he hated insurance, bunch of neer fraudulent assholes.

He was just about to get up when he heard the doorbell ring.   Huh, that's odd, no one ever really visited him here at his apartment.  Getting up he went to the door and opened it.

Outside the hall was a FedEx driver with several large packages. “Mr. Rhodri?”  he asked looking at Dan.

“Thats me.”  Dan answered.

“Sign here please.”  the FedEx man said, handing over the handheld and stylis. “Thats a lot of packages you have there, decided to do some online shopping huh?”

“Uh, no, I haven't ordered anything online...”  he said, looking at the stack of boxes the poor man had to drag up to the third floor.

“Huh,”  the man shrugged his shoulders and took back the pinpad. “Well have a nice day.”  he said, turning around and leaving Dan staring at the boxes in the hallway.

Five of them, there were five.

After some struggling he pulled them all into the room and shut the door. Taking a hammer out of  the junk drawer in the kitchen where he kept all of his tools he popped off the lid of the first box and was treated to a familiar sight.

Inside there was a sea of packing peanuts and a small note.

I heard what happened to your shop, it is truly a tragedy. So many items of importance lost due to another’s ignorance and anger. I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits.  Inside these packages are some items I believe will do well in your shop.  Don't worry, these ones aren't as exciting as the last one.

A thankful customer

Dan read through the letters contents, he could almost hear the man, whoever he was laughing during the last line of the letter.

“Amani!”  he called out, and she peaked out of the bathroom when he called.

She was soaking wet from the shower and was wearing no clothes when she stepped out. “Yes Dan?”  she asked.  He stared at her in all her naked glory and forgot to ask his question for a second.

Shaking his head he regained his train of thought. “Do you know who sent your bottle to my store?” he asked, pointedly not looking at anything but her eyes.

“Can't say I do,” she said, shaking her head, her long black hair splattering water on the linoleum floor.  “When I was in there I was unaware of anything going on outside it. Was there anything else you needed?”

“Nope,” Dan said.

“I am going to go back to my shower then.” she said and turned around, only to slip and fall with a loud crash due to the slickness of the floor. “Ahhhhh,” she moaned as she held her head.

Dan got up quickly and practically ran to her side, in his haste to see if she was ok he also fell on the slick linoleum, and landed directly on top of her. Opening his eyes he found his face near her crotch and his near her face, in a near perfect sixty nine position.  Looking back he saw her face turn a deep amber color and she smiled slightly.

“Someone is a little aggressive.”  she said in a shy voice.