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NOTE: These stories are
intended for a mature audience.

Four Visitors 2010
By
Rick Silva

There is a war going on around us, a shadowy conflict fought in the woods and farms and country roads of little towns that we hardly notice as anything more than an exit number, food, gas, lodging. We drive past the battle-scarred fields, and we read the casualties in the obituaries and crime sections of the local papers, oblivious to anything more than what we're supposed to know. Dansmouth, Rhode Island is on the front lines, its citizens sleepwalking through the conflict as they perform the rituals of winter holidays, spring planting, summer clambakes, and the high school football season. It's a nice little all-American small town, a good place to raise your kids. And a good place to fight a war.

With the beginning of the New Year, Dansmouth is going to receive four visitors. And guided by the hands of strangers, a few of Dansmouth's citizens will start to see the patterns around them. They will start to hear the echoes of the conflict that is raging out in the back roads and in the  farmers' fields. They'll begin to notice the little details that are just slightly out of place. As the actions of four strangers ripple through the fabric of the town, they will begin to wake up.

For a few of Dansmouth's citizens, the long sleep is coming to an end. But the nightmare is only beginning.

01 - Singularity, Part One - Una Blanco is new in town, a senior in high school, a star basketball player, and a girl who's willing to make a stand for what is right. She also has a tendency of burning out lightbulbs when she walks into a room. Nick Lorem wants nothing to do with Una Blanco, but Nick's girlfriend has struck up a friendship with Una. And Nick's brother has just arrived back in town with an interest in Una as well. A government interest. The kind of interest that ends with people in jail. Or dead.

02 - Singularity, Part Two - Alex Lorem is on a mission. He's tracking a mysterious girl with paranormal abilities, and the trail has led him right back to his own home town. With his goal in sight, Alex is not about to let anything get in his way. Not the incompetence of his partner or the welfare of any civilian bystanders. Not even if one of those civilians is Alex's own brother.

03 - Singularity, Part Three - Five lives converge in an old farmhouse by the powerlines where an art studio and a garden become the setting for a bloody confrontation that will pit brother against brother. Una Blanco came to town to deliver a message, but when tragedy strikes, Una is forced to choose the most unlikely recipient for her cryptic warning.

04 - Duality, Part One - Nick Lorem would rather forget all about the strange events of the past weeks, but he can't seem to escape the feeling that things have somehow changed. His friends have started to notice too, and Nick finds himself the subject of suspicion and scrutiny while has ex-girlfriend watches for signs of the coming of the second visitor to the town of Dansmouth, Rhode Island.

05 ? Duality, Part Two - A sale of the artwork that John Crowell left behind is quickly growing into a big event in the little town of Danforth, Rhode Island, and Tina Cronin is eager to help with the planning and organizing. Nick Lorem gets a visit from the Chief of Police, who's decided to give Nick a little lesson in the difference between good and bad cops.

06 - Duality, Part Three - Tina Cronin risks her life to save John Crowell's artwork from enemies who want to make sure all of the dead artist's secrets are reduced to ashes. And Nick Lorem is finally forced to decide whose side he is going to be on in the coming confrontation, as the second visitor leaves his mark on the town of Danforth.

07 - Trinity, Part One - It's Senior Prom night at Danforth High. Tina Cronin and Nick Lorem are looking forward to a fun-filled evening of dancing and socializing. Instead they are in for an eerie encounter on a deserted stretch of road and the beginning of a night that the town of Danforth will never forget.

08 - Trinity, Part Two - Nick Lorem and Tina Cronin search for their missing friends amidst a bizarre encounter with otherworldly forces. As the third visitor arrives on the scene, Nick and Tina must make a decision to face the unknown and help guide a lost soul home.

Image by Rick Silva, Copyright 2010