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I'm looking for advice as the royal mail have just screwed up big time! My mum sent probate off with original will and death certificate to the probate office with signed for delivery but it has been delivered to a different address!! Looking at where it was sent it appears the place is also closed and no one is answering the number listed for the address. The signature isn't clear apart from seeing RM at the bottom which I'm assuming means the postie has just signed for it themselves. There is no other copy of the will and probate ask for the original copy anyway. Has anyone had anything like this happen before? We don't even know where to go next!

Fallen Stars
​
On wing-ed beasts, we flew above the field
Of battle fought for seven fallen stars
Between the vollies blue and grey exchanged
We saw the damage our battalion wrought
Our Colonel's voice, a rousing call to arms
Did echo through our hearts like fire's blaze
With words of courage, unity, and strength
Our spirits swelled with pride in purpose shared
Descending from the skies, I found place
Beside a lifeless steed. It's body rent
Where famished eagle, fierce and loyal, fed
Then near the creek, where once the rebels stood
A limbless form, in tattered grey, lay still
The sight recalled my brother, killed in war
And orphaned children, three, now left behind
Their laughter and their innocence a balm
To soothe the wounds that war had etched within
The Colonel's voice returned, but now it bore
A weight of shame, where once was pride alone
​
https://www.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/11y4oh3/comment/jd7les9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
https://www.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/11yfa38/comment/jd7hsw5/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

It was my Nmom's birthday this month, and Edad took her on a trip to a popular Southern destination city. Although my younger brother and I were not invited on the trip, we were still on the hook to something for her birthday a week after the fact. So we decided to cover the cost of a movie for the four of us the the Sunday after, and thought that would be what we did. Then the early morning of the day, Edad asked us if we were getting her a cake, so then we went to split the cost for that too. So the day came, it was a wonderful celebration or so I thought.
Two days later, I got a call from them asking if what we did will be the new normal for family birthday celebrations going forward. I would have said yes if we had just left it at that, but then Nmom brings up how I'd at the very least draw a picture for her even if I had no other presents to give, completely ignoring the fact that I'm out about $50 (I'm a minimum wage worker BTW) to celebrate her and that she never sent me a list of what presents she wanted as she had done in previous years. After a bunch of guilt-tripping and refusing my "I'll think about it" answer no fewer than three times, I hung up.
Called up Edad shortly thereafter, tried to work things out by saying how I would be willing to have this "invest in an experience" model be our new normal. He says Nmom isn't wanting to talk right now, then goes into his usual spiel whenever there's an issue, "You both know how to push each other's buttons" (a problem he sees no need for being solved), "Let me know when I can finish" at any moment he feels when I respond (I thought this was a conversation, not a lecture), and the classic "We're always going to be your parents.". Shortly after, he admitted that Nmom was disappointed but said nothing so as not to "ruin the celebration," claiming that I'd storm back home if that happened (which I admittedly may have, but we'd have worked it out by yesterday). Upon finding out our celebration was a lie, we decided to end this conversation.
Because of the history of this gaslighting by Nmom and Edad, I am very much considering going NC, as my past conversations and hopes for them to change were all rebutted, so my own peace of mind depends on going NC. However, Edad has a set of my apartment keys (which he has used without my permission to "check on the place," which has led to me already revoking the keys before giving them back on Nmom's insistence), and a 20-year old cat who they've surrendered to me but has been under my care for four years (they had paid all his vet bills and other expenses), so it will not be easy to go NC quietly.
Do you have any suggestions for how I can get my keys back and give their cat back with as little contact as possible?

Tldr at bottom We rent out the basement of our home, and Monday afternoon got a call for my renter that there's some flooding in the basement.
We've had a huge and very long winter of precipitation, so we thought this was your typical hydrostatic deal, which we know how to deal with.
My husband pulled up the carpet, removed the pad, remove the baseboards and started cutting out the wet drywall.
As the drywall came out he noticed something completely baffling. Sandwiched between The slab and the walls of our basement was wood. There is a perimeter of 2x8, or maybe 2x10 or 2x12, boards going around the perimeter of our house. To our understanding this is not something that is up to code ever, in any situation. And this house was built in 1962.
We are in touch with the local building inspector, to see if they can verify whether or not this was built to code. There are gaps between the boards, and this is where run off from snow melt is coming into the house.
We are struggling no rap our brains around our situation. We are hoping that since this was not an act of nature, nor are negligence as homeowners, that insurance will pick up the bill. But in addition to the flood mitigation, it appears will probably have to dig out around the perimeter of the house so that repair can be done to the foundation.
Should I contact a lawyer? Anyone have legal experience here and know how we should proceed with our insurance company to ensure that they cover it?
We have plumbers, flood mitigation currently on the job, and insurance claim started although we haven't proceeded with that yet, and the building inspector. What are we missing? This is not your typical water in the basement stuff. Thanks in advance.
Tldr; bought a house 2 years ago, definitely foundation issues, definitely not built to code at any period where housing code has existed. There is flooding, it is not stopping. What steps do we need to follow to make sure insurance covers most of this issue?

I can tell most of y'all will say yes, but hear me out:
Most crypto enthusiasts advocate for BTC as a rival to the current banking system, which seems to be falling apart after the SVB ongoing crisis. While it is true that Bitcoin can solve some problems associated with the banking system.
For example, enabling people to self-custody their money instead of the bank's fractional reserve system (where there needs to be more depositors than available reserves for withdrawal). In this instance, BTC's approach seems to be more reliable and trusted.
However, many other dynamics of BTC makes it prone to a bank run scenario. First, BTC's very low TPS of 7 makes the network get congested pretty fast, especially during times of financial crises like the Ukraine war, Covid, etc. Where people try to liquidate their rather risky investments such as stocks and crypto. This leads to a kind of “bank run” scenario where everyone rushes to transact first before the network gets entirely congested.
Second, there's BTC's fee market where wealthier people AKA whales (again in times of crises) will try to incentivize miners by paying more fees than the other transactions, making theirs go live first so they can cash out their BTC. This makes transacting nearly impossible for the average investor as fees continue to rise. This case could be similar for a politician or a wealthy individual jumping lines in a bank to withdraw money because he's “friendly” with the bank staff or has connections with bank insiders.
TLDR: Bitcoin isn't that good of a replacement for the banking system, and some cryptocurrencies e.g nano and LTC offer a better alternative because of their higher TPS and absence of the "highest bidder first" system.

Coimbatore is a bustling city in Tamil Nadu that is known for its industrial and educational institutions. The city is home to a vast number of computer users, both individuals and businesses, who rely on their computers for day-to-day operations. However, like any other electronic device, computers are prone to issues and malfunctions. That's why finding the best computer service center in Coimbatore is essential.
In this article, we will explore the top computer service centers in Coimbatore and what sets them apart.
1. Delphi Technologies
was established in the year 2004 and is today has grown as a leading ISO 9001:2015 Certified laptop and computer service center in Coimbatore, a city where IT industry is nascent compared to its textile and manufacturing industries.
With years of experience in the field of computer and laptop repair solutions, Delphi has carved a business niche and renowned as an ideal ISO 9001:2015 Certified Motherboard Chip level service provider in Coimbatore serving customers in a professional way.
Our recognition as a reliable service provider has paved way for our laurels. Our motto is pretty simple: “Everything we do revolve around our customers”. Since inception, we have served hundreds of Corporate, Institutions and Computer dealers besides end users.

Contact Details

Email : [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) Phone : + 91 - 422 - 4387740 Mobile : 98422 85357, 98421 85357
Website : https://www.delphitechnologies.co.in/
​
2. iCare Service Center
iCare Service Center is a trusted name in the field of computer repairs and maintenance. They have a team of experienced technicians who can handle all kinds of computer issues, from hardware to software. They also offer on-site services and provide free pickup and delivery of your device.
3. Micron Systems & Services Pvt Ltd
Micron Systems & Services Pvt Ltd is another top computer service center in Coimbatore. They offer a wide range of services, including computer repairs, network setup, data recovery, and virus removal. Their technicians are well-trained and can diagnose and fix issues quickly.
4. San Computech Pvt Ltd
San Computech Pvt Ltd is a well-established computer service center in Coimbatore. They have been providing services for over two decades and have a team of experts who can handle any computer-related issue. They offer a range of services, including computer repairs, AMC services, network setup, and data recovery.
5. Syscare Infotech Pvt Ltd
Syscare Infotech Pvt Ltd is a reputed computer service center that offers comprehensive repair and maintenance services for both desktops and laptops. They have a team of certified technicians who can handle all kinds of computer issues, from software to hardware.
6. RSM Technologies
RSM Technologies is a top-notch computer service center in Coimbatore that offers a range of services, including computer repairs, AMC services, network setup, and data recovery. They have a team of experts who can diagnose and fix issues quickly, ensuring that your device is up and running in no time.
Conclusion
Choosing the right computer service center in Coimbatore can be a daunting task, but with this list, you can make an informed decision. These computer service centers are known for their expertise, reliability, and quick turnaround times, making them the best in the business. So, the next time you have a computer-related issue, you know where to go!

This story needs to be told. Those who have suffered must understand why. It’s not as simple as some have made it to be, which is why it needs to come from the person most responsible… me.
It began when I was least expecting it. But then don’t things always seem to happen that way?
***
“I’m tellin' ya, doc, people just don’t understand,” Frederick said while rocking back and forth in the chair.
“What exactly don’t they understand?” I said, trying to look more relaxed than I felt.
“There’s just something that takes over. You can’t stop it.”
“Impulse control?”
“What’s that mean?” Frederick said, struggling against his straight jacket, trying to get comfortable.
“It means that when you want to do something, you try your hardest not to. It means you try to control or suppress the urge to do things you know are bad.”
Frederick’s mouth lolled open. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“Why would I want to do that?”
I suppressed the urge to sigh.
“Because that’s what people do,” I said. “They think about doing bad things, but then they control themselves and don’t do them because those things are wrong and could hurt other people.”
“Hurting people is wrong?” he said.
“Yes, Frederick, hurting people is wrong.”
He shook his head as if he were trying to shake away a fly that was annoying him.
“Why?”
“Why is hurting people wrong?”
“No, why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re saying I’m bad,” he said trying to rise from his chair. “You’re saying I didn’t need to hurt those people. That I’m a bad person.”
I got up from my chair and started backing toward the heavy metal door.
“I’m not bad!” he yelled at me. “You’re bad!”
I knocked on the door and the orderly opened it as Frederick got to his feet.
I slipped through the door as it slammed shut from the impact of his body slamming into it.
“Bad, bad, bad,” he screamed.
“Badbadbadbadbadbadbadbad!”
Spit flew from his mouth landing on the small observation window with metal grates embedded in it.
“You ok, doc,” the orderly said, startling me.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”
I turned and walked down the white hallway, hoping the orderly wouldn’t notice the quickness in my step. I ignored the sound of Frederick beating on the door. I ignored all the sounds I heard. I just wanted to get away.
It was a long walk to my office, through many security gates. At each one, the nurse buzzed me through and gave me an acknowledging look that used to be a smile.
I suppose this place gets to everyone eventually.
I finally reached my office, closed and locked the door behind me, and collapsed into my chair. I breathed out a sigh of relief at reaching relative safety. I turned and looked out my window to the beautiful flowers blooming on the trees in the courtyard. I looked up at the tree stretching toward the sky.
I remember when they planted those.
I turned back to my center, my means of solace, the only thing that mattered in this cruel, unfair world. I picked up the picture of my lovely wife and smiled. She was the one who kept me sane all these years. She kept me seeing the best in people. Or at least trying. Sometimes there was no good to see—especially in my patients.
It takes a special kind of doctor to care for the mental needs of those who have done heinous things that are so bad they don’t even bother sending them to prison. They send them to me.
I’m like the dumpster for the dregs of society. Just drop them in the asylum and forget about them.
I kissed my wife and set her back on the bare desk, then turned on my computer and added notes from today’s session. There was never a recommendation for release. Once patients came here the only way they left was in a body bag. There was no curing them, only trying to make them docile until they left.
Oh, there were experiments. That was a large part of how we were funded. Companies would pay for certain tests to be done. Some might call it torture, but we called it research.
I finished typing my notes and leaned back in my seat. The diplomas and degrees stared down from their perches on the bare walls, mocking me. Demanding why I hadn’t gotten a better job.
As usual, I didn’t have an answer.
My office suddenly felt stuffy. I closed down my computer and left. Driving down the packed freeway, all I could think about was collapsing on the couch beside my lovely Elizabeth. Not telling her about my day until she dragged it out of me, then listening to her encourage me to help those who have been left in my care, because I’m the only hope they have.
Traffic was bumper to bumper and not helping my overall opinion of humanity much. Especially when a car that was swerving from lane to lane, nearly sideswiped me. It kept going on in front of me, nearly hitting several other cars.
The driver and passenger seemed to be having a disagreement about how to drive the car and it looked like it was about to come to blows.
Fortunately, they were soon out of sight, and someone else’s problem.
For the next few miles, I kept watching the side of the road waiting to see the offending car sitting in a ditch. However, they surprised me. They must’ve turned off to go terrorize some neighborhood streets with their reckless driving.
I hummed to myself, not wanting to have whatever dreck was on the radio forced on me.
When I was nearly to my exit, my phone rang. I immediately recognized the number as work. I contemplated answering it for a moment, then thought better of it. There had never been a time when work called with good news. And I was in no mood for bad news.
I hummed a little louder, trying to drown out the sound of the ring before it finally stopped.
The closer I got to home the less I thought about work and the more I thought about Elizabeth. Until I turned off at my exit, I had nearly forgotten work altogether. Maybe I would take tomorrow off and go do something with my wife. We hadn’t been out for a while. The weather had been lovely and I know she would adore a walk down by the lake.
My thoughts were interrupted when I turned down our driveway and saw a car in front of the house. It wasn’t quite in the driveway, it was sitting at an angle halfway in the front yard.
I parked my car and slowly got out. Something struck me about this car, but I hadn’t figured out what. I approached the driver’s side to have words with the person still sitting at the wheel.
“Excuse me,” I said staying a few steps back from the driver’s door.
He didn’t answer me.
“Excuse me,” I said a little louder.
Still no answer.
I tapped on the window and he ignored me.
I opened the door.
“Okay, look… “ I said.
But it was I who would do the looking. The man fell out of the car, thudding on the grass. The inside of the car was covered in blood. I looked down and the man’s throat had been cut.
“Oh my God!” I said jumping back.
I watched to see if the man was breathing, but the way his neck was bent at an unnatural angle against my yard told me everything I needed to know.
I glanced through the car but didn’t see the passenger.
It was then my eyes drifted to my front door.
It was open.
I stepped through the shrubs and up onto the porch, walking in a daze. The surrealness of the moment had yet to sink in. I was going inside to check on my wife and make sure everything was ok.
It didn’t strike me as anything more than that.
‘Oh, she just left the door open, that’s all.’
My mind kept trying to tell me that. I wanted desperately to believe it. Even though she had never been that careless during the entire time we’d been married. I had pushed aside all reason and common sense in favor of pure denial.
Everything was going to be ok. With Elizabeth, everything was always ok. She could literally light up a room with her positivity. She was the best person I ever knew. I have no idea how I got so lucky as to know her, let alone be her husband.
I floated in through my front door on my cloud of denial and looked for my wife.
It didn’t take me long to find her.
There was one wall of the living room she was constantly redecorating. She always said it looked bare and empty no matter what she did with it.
She was hanging from that wall, naked, her beautiful body desecrated by slices and rips. Her throat had been slit and blood still poured from it.
I ran to her.
Tried to take her down.
Screamed her name.
And then it was my turn to scream.
I looked down and saw a knife blade sticking out from my abdomen. It was part of the cutlery set I had gotten for Elizabeth three Christmases ago.
I screamed as I slowly turned to face my attacker.
“What’s up, doc?” Frederick said wearing a maniacal grin.
The shock had punched a hole in my reasoning. I saw him standing there, but I couldn’t accept it any more than I could accept my beautiful wife strung up like a macabre painting hanging on our living room wall.
My eyes tried to focus on his face. To make me recognize him as a threat.
“How’s that impulse control workin’ for ya, doc?”
He ripped the knife out of my back.
The pain, along with his arrogance woke me from my shock-induced stupor.
“Now do you understand?” he said, as he shoved the knife into my belly.
I did understand. I understood at that moment that I was already as dead as my wife. I knew that this piece of human garbage had taken something beautiful from this world. I knew I had to do something about it before there was nothing I could do. Before my body succumbed to injuries and I was unable.
I grabbed him by the throat. He tried to laugh, but my grip was fueled by desperation.
He tried to free himself but couldn’t. He began stabbing me over and over. I refused to release him. I carried him by his neck over to the kitchen counter and began bashing his head off the marble.
I was rewarded with spots of his blood. I knew at least I had made him bleed and that made me smile. His eyes grew wide as my grin grew maniacal. I smashed him repeatedly, crushing him against the sink, breaking the faucet, and causing water to spray into the air.
His eyelids fluttered as he lost his grip on the knife.
He was nearly gone. I would take him with me and that would be my parting gift to the world, removing something so evil.
Suddenly, my body wouldn’t obey commands. My grip loosened. I tried to tighten it, but I had lost all control. I looked down and I was standing in a pool of my own blood.
His eyes fluttered open and he coughed.
‘Nonononononono!’ I thought. ‘He can’t live. He can’t win. I had him.’
He stood as I sank to the floor.
“Looks like maybe you do understand, doc,” he said from what seemed like miles away. “Too bad you won’t be around to discuss it. We could have a session and evaluate how it makes you feel.”
His foot came down on my spine. I felt a crack. He started kicking me in the side repeatedly. Splashing water and blood on me as I felt my ribs crack.
I fought with everything I had.
My body didn’t even twitch.
‘Nooooo!,’ I screamed. ‘It can’t end like this.’
I heard a sizzling sound and then there was darkness.
***
I could feel movement.
Wasn’t I dead?
Was this what happened after?
It was still dark.
‘Hello?’ I tried to say.
Nothing. Just the sensation of movement.
Am I in a body bag? Am I on my way to the morgue or the grave? Please don’t let me be buried alive.
But I’m not alive, am I?
I don’t feel any pain. That’s a good thing, but not a good sign. The last thing I remember was lots of pain.
Suddenly there’s light and my movement stops.
I look up from the floor of a house I don’t recognize.
‘Where the hell am I?’
I’m on the floor next to a wall, looking up at an electrical outlet. Nothing around me seems familiar. I try to stand but it feels weird. It isn’t difficult, and there’s still no pain, it just carries an odd sensation with it. Like my body is just relearning things. Just like when I was a toddler. I teeter back and forth as I rise, but eventually, I’m upright.
My first few steps are tentative, but after that, I gain confidence with each stride.
Aside from the strange surroundings, there’s a sensation, like ants crawling all over me.
I pass a bathroom and glance inside. The reflection in the mirror draws me back. I slowly approach it, seeing something unique and terrifying.
It looks like someone drew an outline of a human form using a lightning bolt. The electricity shimmers and crackles as it races around the empty form of the being.
I wonder if it will hurt me.
Not sure if I want to test the limits of my newfound lack of pain, I hesitantly reach for this creature. It reaches for me at the same time. I’m mesmerized by this mutual curiosity.
My hand is about to touch the electric pulse shaped like its hand. I tremble with anticipation and fear as we touch.
Surprisingly, I don’t feel any pain. I don’t feel anything except a hard surface.
I move my hand back and forth. The creature does the same. I make quicker movements, and so does it.
Finally, out of frustration, I reach back and strike at the creature.
My hand strikes the hard surface and it splinters. There are now multiple creatures staring back at me.
I step back and come to the horrible realization.
I am the creature.
***
One month later…
“And police have been unable to find any credible leads in the string of brutal killings that began shortly after the patient escaped from the mental hospital last month,” the handsome anchorman stated from behind his desk. “They are asking people to call in if they know the whereabouts of Frederick Winston, now known as, ‘The Mangler’.”
“In other news, the Larsan Electric Company has issued a statement that the recent power surges are no cause for alarm. These surges seem to be random in people's homes and certain businesses. An LEC spokesman stated that there appears to be no pattern to the surges and that so far no one has reported them causing any harm. LEC is tracking down the problem and should have it under control soon.”
The anchorman shifted in his seat and turned to another camera.
“And on a lighter note, with Halloween months away, it seems that reports of ghosts are on the rise,” he said, wearing a half grin. “Several area residents have reported what they call a ghostlike figure, outlined in light, visiting them. Reports vary as to the duration and location of the visits, but they do seem to have a few things in common. The visits are usually short. In fact, most people say that if they blink the figure is gone. No one has reported the ghost doing any harm. And it seems like anyone within close proximity feels a tingling sensation and their hair standing on end.”
“Maybe I should be visited instead of my next hairdresser’s appointment,” the attractive woman anchor said with a laugh.
“Schedule me a visit too,” the male anchor said smiling. “And that’s our news for the evening, good night.”
Jimmy switched the channel.
“Gimme a break,” he said to the TV. “Ghosts? Who’s playing what? This’s some marketing scheme to sell Halloween crap. Like that stunt they pulled a few years back with the clowns hanging around the schools to promote that stupid movie.”
He switched off the TV and rolled over in his bed.
It wasn’t long before his breathing slowed. But before sleep could take him, he noticed a glow in the hallway. He didn’t remember leaving any lights on when he came to bed. Living alone had its advantages. If he heard someone in his apartment, he knew they weren’t supposed to be there. He slowly reached over to the bedstand and pulled out his Glock 9mm handgun, then held it close and listened.
He watched as the glow moved. It seemed like someone was looking around. But for what? He didn’t really have anything aside from his TV, phone, and video games. If anyone wanted those, they would be in a world of hurt. He had been lucky to get this apartment. If he was honest with himself, it cost more than he could afford, but when he had the chance he took it. It was too bad the opening came because the person who lived there before him was one of The Mangler’s victims. That’s probably why he was able to rent the place so quickly and get the price down to where he could almost afford it.
Maybe the glow was one of the street people who were stupid enough to see if there was an empty apartment to claim. That wasn’t gonna fly either. Jimmy had jumped on this apartment to get away from the dingy rat hole he used live in on the other side of town. And there was no way he’d let some bum come in here and take what was his.
The glow crept closer. He could feel the hairs on his arms raise. There was a sound too. It wasn’t loud, almost felt more than heard. A soft crackle, like electricity when it sparked.
The sensory input was almost too much for Jimmy to take. He pointed the gun in the direction of the glow and saw the barrel was shaking. His resolve, that he could deal with anyone as long as he had his gun, was beginning to fade.
The glow became so bright that it finally took form.
Jimmy’s eyes widened. It was the form of a person, just like the news had said.
It seemed to look around the room, then settle its gaze on the bed. Jimmy began to sweat as it approached and stared into his eyes.
It was the oddest thing, staring into what should be eyes, but nothing was there. The flashes of mini lightning bolts formed shapes that looked almost human, but it was just an outline, there was nothing inside what should be the body.
He shoved the shaking gun out from under the blanket and pointed it at the glowing figure.
The figure noted the presence of the gun, then continued to advance.
“S… stop,” Jimmy said. “I’m w… warning you.”
The figure ignored the warning.
Jimmy squeezed the trigger, setting off a deafening shot that went right through the face of the figure.
It acted as though nothing had happened, continuing to advance. The ringing in Jimmy’s ears made all sound seem muffled.
The figure stopped two inches from Jimmy’s face.
“Mangler… “ it said, sounding less like a voice and more like a transmission over an old staticky radio.
“I… I’m not the Mangler,” he said. “The person who used to live here was killed by him.”
It seemed to ponder this for a moment.
“Find Mangler… “ it said.
“I d… don’t know where to find him.”
It moved an inch closer. As the flashes of electricity arced, licked hungrily at Jimmy’s face.
“Find… him… “
“Ok, ok, I’ll find him,” Jimmy said, feeling the heat from the electricity.
The figure seemed to consider that for a moment then backed away. It moved toward the bedroom wall. Then, like someone had turned on a vacuum, it was sucked into an electrical outlet and disappeared.
Jimmy laid back in bed, breathing hard. His eyes darted left and right all around the room. But the only evidence of the figure that remained was the bullet hole in his bedroom wall.
***
The trips through the electrical conduits had become easier. There were still times when I came out someplace I didn’t intend to, but I was usually able to recover quickly and get to where I wanted to go.
But where did I want to go? At first, I wandered around, lost in this new form I found myself trapped inside. It was only after I had overheard a news report about the serial killer they called The Mangler that I gained my purpose.
Of course, Frederick was going to keep killing. Of course, they weren’t going to be able to catch him. He’d been inside away from his victims before and he didn’t like it. Not being able to torture and kill innocents was like a normal person not being able to breathe. Not that I know much about normal or breathing anymore.
I suppose on some level I should thank him. I thought about it for a long time and the only thing that makes any kind of sense is when we were fighting, somehow the water and blood I was laying in got splashed into the electrical socket. Instead of killing me, it bonded with me, making me able to become the electrical current. To ride it like a wave to wherever I wanted.
I became faster than any person ever was. And yet, I wasn’t a person anymore. I have no idea how I retained my consciousness, let alone my memory. But somehow…
I justify it by the old adage, ‘I think therefore I am.’
My life has become an endless hunt for the person who destroyed me, the person I must destroy. I don’t even know what I’ll do when I find him. But I will find him. I will stop him. This time, I won’t fail. I’ll end him like I should’ve before.
I owe it to the people he’s tortured and killed since my failure. Most of all, I owe it to my wife. I know she wouldn’t approve of my bloodlust. She would say there must be some other option. But if she would be able to see her dead body hanging naked from our living room wall, I think she just might change her mind.
My thoughts are interrupted as I arrive at my next destination, another victim’s house. I’m not sure what I’ll find that the police haven’t, but I have to try. Maybe I can pick up his scent somehow. A plan almost assuredly doomed to failure since I lost all sense of smell in the transformation.
I’m surprised though that I can still see and hear. I suppose waves of light and sound somehow intersect with my electrical body and it senses them. I don’t question it. I’ve learned to just go with it.
On the plus side, I don’t have to worry about eating, drinking, or using the bathroom. I guess there’s an upside to everything. Elizabeth would be so proud of me.
I arrive at the room where the victim was murdered. Looking around there’s still blood everywhere, along with evidence markers where they took pictures.
The sheer amount of blood tells me he took his time. He desecrated this girl in her own room. Her parents must’ve been out because there’s no way they didn’t hear the struggle. There were books on the floor, a chair overturned, and blood everywhere. The room was a disaster. It looked like she fought him. I wish she would’ve succeeded where I had failed.
But then, I wish I hadn’t failed, and this girl was still alive.
There’s nothing I can do now except find him and end him.
Finding him was proving more difficult than I thought. I had unlimited access to anywhere with electricity, but I couldn’t use a computer or a GPS. I was limited to transportation only through electricity. Granted that still made me the fastest being alive. I say being because I don’t think I qualify as human anymore. But I was limited to traveling to a place and then trying to find out where I was and if he was there.
If he knew I was searching for him all he would have to do is live the rest of his days in a cabin in the woods with no electricity. I’d never be able to reach him.
I believe two things worked in my favor with that theory.
First, I don’t think he’s that smart, and second, I don’t think he knows I’m looking for him. I believe that surviving our fight only further empowered him to kill. When someone feels invincible, they’re bound to make a mistake.
An officer walked into the room and I ducked back into an outlet. I was able to hang on where I was and watch from inside the outlet without being transported somewhere else.
The officer looked startled and stared at the empty air that I had just vacated. She looked like she was unsure if she trusted what her eyes had seen in the instant before I vanished.
She slowly stepped over to the corner and bent down to peer into the outlet. For a moment I wondered if she could see me, and what exactly she would see. But then her radio squawked calling her to another scene. When I heard the voice on the radio say the address and that they might have the killer cornered, I didn’t waste any time.
It was maybe fifteen seconds until I was across town at the address I’d heard. There was a lot of screaming and crying going on. I came out of the outlet and saw blood on the floor beside a body that wasn’t moving.
There was a girl being beaten by a man with his back to me. He turned to take another swing and I knew my search was over.
“My psychiatrist used to tell me I needed to work on my impulse control,” he said calmly as he slapped her. “I think I’m doing pretty good. I’ve been here ten whole minutes and you’re still alive.”
I shot across the room and knocked him to the floor. He jumped back up and looked around for what had hit him.
“What the hell?”
I saw the fear in his eyes when he saw me. I know Elizabeth would’ve been ashamed, of me, but I was enjoying his anxiety. After all he had done to me and so many others, I drank it in like an elixir.
He started edging toward the door. I was there in a heartbeat. His eyes darted back and forth between where I used to be and where I now stood. The panic in his eyes doubled.
I wanted to make him suffer, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake I’d made before and let him escape with his life.
I lashed out with a bolt that used to be my arm. The energy slashed through his shirt and fried a hole in his shoulder.
He screamed in pain and horror as he looked at the smoking hole in his skin. He tried to run but in an instant, I was there in front of him firing another bolt and searing the skin across his waist to his jeans.
His screams of pain and rage were only matched by the feral desperation in his eyes.
Not knowing what do to, he went with the familiar. Attack the innocent. He grabbed the girl who had been crawling away from the scene.
He grabbed her again and held her in front of him like a human shield.
What a waste of skin.
I fired a bolt into a ceiling light beside me which ricocheted and hit him full force in the leg, nearly severing it.
He went down like a ton of bricks, trying to hold on to his hostage, but she was fighting to get away from him. She broke free and he crumpled to the floor.
“What do you want?” he screamed at me.
With everything that is within me, I wanted to tell him who I was, what he had taken from me, and what I was about to take from him.
But I didn’t want to give the satisfaction. I wanted to give him only uncertainty and fear to cling to.
I could feel the seconds ticking away. I knew I had to make the most of this opportunity or he would get away again. And after this, I might never find him.
I unleashed every ounce of energy at him. I couldn’t even see him, he was only a smoking pillar of frying skin.
Just then, the police burst through the door.
“FREE… “ the first officer started then the shock of what he was seeing stole the rest of the word from his mouth.
He stood there, mouth agape when the female officer stepped in behind him. She looked at me and her wide eyes narrowed as she put two and two together and recognized me from the last crime scene.
I had no reason to fear. I didn’t know if I could even be harmed in my current state. But when you see that blue uniform burst through a door with a gun aimed at you, all rational thought takes a vacation.
I dove for the outlet and was gone. I didn’t even care where I was going. I knew I had done what I wanted to. The monster was destroyed.
Something felt different. Was it pride at finishing my crusade? Was it shame knowing Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted me to do it?
I don’t know but there was something else. It was like there was added weight to my existence. I guess you can have a conscious in whatever you’d call this existence.
I appeared in the place that made the most sense, ironically. It was my old home. The one where everything I loved died, including me. It was where I took on this unintended new existence.
Is that why I felt this extra weight? Was it some cathartic aftereffect of my search for revenge that was finally over?
I looked around the charred debris of what used to be my home. In my mind's eye, I didn’t see the burned-out shell of what was left. I saw it as it was when we first moved in. When Elizabeth and I started decorating. When the interior was finally finished and I turned to her and said, “For now.” Knowing she would decide to change everything at some time in the future when she was bored, just like all women seem to do.
I remember getting a paintbrush across the mouth for that comment. I smiled remembering kissing her with my freshly painted mouth and ending up in the bedroom.
As I turned toward where I’d entered the house, my smile quickly faded. For some reason, I was still connected to the outlet. That had never happened before.
Another curiosity arose when I noticed the color of my electrical body was now tinged purple. It had always been blue before.
The tail of what had yet to come out of the outlet was red. As I pulled and it came the rest of the way out, it merged with me and turned purple.
“What the hell?” I heard someone say.
I whipped around but no one was there.
“Where am I?” the voice said.
“Who are you?” I said to the air.
There was a long silence.
“Doc?” the voice said.
As far as I knew it wasn’t possible for my spine to turn to ice, since I no longer had a spine, but the feeling seemed the same.
“Frederick?” I said.
“What happened?” he said. “This crazy electric thing attacked me and now… wait a minute. How am I talking to you? You died months ago.”
My shock gave way to utter despair. My enemy was now part of me.

Hello, I am searching for a church for my wife and I to attend. We would prefer something south of Dayton, a cool-laid back Christian church, maybe with a younger crowd. Also would be cool to be apart of a church that has a good community and does events and such. Also with a fun youth group for our son.
We are new to church and have only been a handful of times. Any recommendations/advice is helpful! Thank you!

This story needs to be told. Those who have suffered must understand why. It’s not as simple as some have made it to be, which is why it needs to come from the person most responsible… me.
It began when I was least expecting it. But then don’t things always seem to happen that way?
***
“I’m tellin' ya, doc, people just don’t understand,” Frederick said while rocking back and forth in the chair.
“What exactly don’t they understand?” I said, trying to look more relaxed than I felt.
“There’s just something that takes over. You can’t stop it.”
“Impulse control?”
“What’s that mean?” Frederick said, struggling against his straight jacket, trying to get comfortable.
“It means that when you want to do something, you try your hardest not to. It means you try to control or suppress the urge to do things you know are bad.”
Frederick’s mouth lolled open. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“Why would I want to do that?”
I suppressed the urge to sigh.
“Because that’s what people do,” I said. “They think about doing bad things, but then they control themselves and don’t do them because those things are wrong and could hurt other people.”
“Hurting people is wrong?” he said.
“Yes, Frederick, hurting people is wrong.”
He shook his head as if he were trying to shake away a fly that was annoying him.
“Why?”
“Why is hurting people wrong?”
“No, why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re saying I’m bad,” he said trying to rise from his chair. “You’re saying I didn’t need to hurt those people. That I’m a bad person.”
I got up from my chair and started backing toward the heavy metal door.
“I’m not bad!” he yelled at me. “You’re bad!”
I knocked on the door and the orderly opened it as Frederick got to his feet.
I slipped through the door as it slammed shut from the impact of his body slamming into it.
“Bad, bad, bad,” he screamed.
“Badbadbadbadbadbadbadbad!”
Spit flew from his mouth landing on the small observation window with metal grates embedded in it.
“You ok, doc,” the orderly said, startling me.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”
I turned and walked down the white hallway, hoping the orderly wouldn’t notice the quickness in my step. I ignored the sound of Frederick beating on the door. I ignored all the sounds I heard. I just wanted to get away.
It was a long walk to my office, through many security gates. At each one, the nurse buzzed me through and gave me an acknowledging look that used to be a smile.
I suppose this place gets to everyone eventually.
I finally reached my office, closed and locked the door behind me, and collapsed into my chair. I breathed out a sigh of relief at reaching relative safety. I turned and looked out my window to the beautiful flowers blooming on the trees in the courtyard. I looked up at the tree stretching toward the sky.
I remember when they planted those.
I turned back to my center, my means of solace, the only thing that mattered in this cruel, unfair world. I picked up the picture of my lovely wife and smiled. She was the one who kept me sane all these years. She kept me seeing the best in people. Or at least trying. Sometimes there was no good to see—especially in my patients.
It takes a special kind of doctor to care for the mental needs of those who have done heinous things that are so bad they don’t even bother sending them to prison. They send them to me.
I’m like the dumpster for the dregs of society. Just drop them in the asylum and forget about them.
I kissed my wife and set her back on the bare desk, then turned on my computer and added notes from today’s session. There was never a recommendation for release. Once patients came here the only way they left was in a body bag. There was no curing them, only trying to make them docile until they left.
Oh, there were experiments. That was a large part of how we were funded. Companies would pay for certain tests to be done. Some might call it torture, but we called it research.
I finished typing my notes and leaned back in my seat. The diplomas and degrees stared down from their perches on the bare walls, mocking me. Demanding why I hadn’t gotten a better job.
As usual, I didn’t have an answer.
My office suddenly felt stuffy. I closed down my computer and left. Driving down the packed freeway, all I could think about was collapsing on the couch beside my lovely Elizabeth. Not telling her about my day until she dragged it out of me, then listening to her encourage me to help those who have been left in my care, because I’m the only hope they have.
Traffic was bumper to bumper and not helping my overall opinion of humanity much. Especially when a car that was swerving from lane to lane, nearly sideswiped me. It kept going on in front of me, nearly hitting several other cars.
The driver and passenger seemed to be having a disagreement about how to drive the car and it looked like it was about to come to blows.
Fortunately, they were soon out of sight, and someone else’s problem.
For the next few miles, I kept watching the side of the road waiting to see the offending car sitting in a ditch. However, they surprised me. They must’ve turned off to go terrorize some neighborhood streets with their reckless driving.
I hummed to myself, not wanting to have whatever dreck was on the radio forced on me.
When I was nearly to my exit, my phone rang. I immediately recognized the number as work. I contemplated answering it for a moment, then thought better of it. There had never been a time when work called with good news. And I was in no mood for bad news.
I hummed a little louder, trying to drown out the sound of the ring before it finally stopped.
The closer I got to home the less I thought about work and the more I thought about Elizabeth. Until I turned off at my exit, I had nearly forgotten work altogether. Maybe I would take tomorrow off and go do something with my wife. We hadn’t been out for a while. The weather had been lovely and I know she would adore a walk down by the lake.
My thoughts were interrupted when I turned down our driveway and saw a car in front of the house. It wasn’t quite in the driveway, it was sitting at an angle halfway in the front yard.
I parked my car and slowly got out. Something struck me about this car, but I hadn’t figured out what. I approached the driver’s side to have words with the person still sitting at the wheel.
“Excuse me,” I said staying a few steps back from the driver’s door.
He didn’t answer me.
“Excuse me,” I said a little louder.
Still no answer.
I tapped on the window and he ignored me.
I opened the door.
“Okay, look… “ I said.
But it was I who would do the looking. The man fell out of the car, thudding on the grass. The inside of the car was covered in blood. I looked down and the man’s throat had been cut.
“Oh my God!” I said jumping back.
I watched to see if the man was breathing, but the way his neck was bent at an unnatural angle against my yard told me everything I needed to know.
I glanced through the car but didn’t see the passenger.
It was then my eyes drifted to my front door.
It was open.
I stepped through the shrubs and up onto the porch, walking in a daze. The surrealness of the moment had yet to sink in. I was going inside to check on my wife and make sure everything was ok.
It didn’t strike me as anything more than that.
‘Oh, she just left the door open, that’s all.’
My mind kept trying to tell me that. I wanted desperately to believe it. Even though she had never been that careless during the entire time we’d been married. I had pushed aside all reason and common sense in favor of pure denial.
Everything was going to be ok. With Elizabeth, everything was always ok. She could literally light up a room with her positivity. She was the best person I ever knew. I have no idea how I got so lucky as to know her, let alone be her husband.
I floated in through my front door on my cloud of denial and looked for my wife.
It didn’t take me long to find her.
There was one wall of the living room she was constantly redecorating. She always said it looked bare and empty no matter what she did with it.
She was hanging from that wall, naked, her beautiful body desecrated by slices and rips. Her throat had been slit and blood still poured from it.
I ran to her.
Tried to take her down.
Screamed her name.
And then it was my turn to scream.
I looked down and saw a knife blade sticking out from my abdomen. It was part of the cutlery set I had gotten for Elizabeth three Christmases ago.
I screamed as I slowly turned to face my attacker.
“What’s up, doc?” Frederick said wearing a maniacal grin.
The shock had punched a hole in my reasoning. I saw him standing there, but I couldn’t accept it any more than I could accept my beautiful wife strung up like a macabre painting hanging on our living room wall.
My eyes tried to focus on his face. To make me recognize him as a threat.
“How’s that impulse control workin’ for ya, doc?”
He ripped the knife out of my back.
The pain, along with his arrogance woke me from my shock-induced stupor.
“Now do you understand?” he said, as he shoved the knife into my belly.
I did understand. I understood at that moment that I was already as dead as my wife. I knew that this piece of human garbage had taken something beautiful from this world. I knew I had to do something about it before there was nothing I could do. Before my body succumbed to injuries and I was unable.
I grabbed him by the throat. He tried to laugh, but my grip was fueled by desperation.
He tried to free himself but couldn’t. He began stabbing me over and over. I refused to release him. I carried him by his neck over to the kitchen counter and began bashing his head off the marble.
I was rewarded with spots of his blood. I knew at least I had made him bleed and that made me smile. His eyes grew wide as my grin grew maniacal. I smashed him repeatedly, crushing him against the sink, breaking the faucet, and causing water to spray into the air.
His eyelids fluttered as he lost his grip on the knife.
He was nearly gone. I would take him with me and that would be my parting gift to the world, removing something so evil.
Suddenly, my body wouldn’t obey commands. My grip loosened. I tried to tighten it, but I had lost all control. I looked down and I was standing in a pool of my own blood.
His eyes fluttered open and he coughed.
‘Nonononononono!’ I thought. ‘He can’t live. He can’t win. I had him.’
He stood as I sank to the floor.
“Looks like maybe you do understand, doc,” he said from what seemed like miles away. “Too bad you won’t be around to discuss it. We could have a session and evaluate how it makes you feel.”
His foot came down on my spine. I felt a crack. He started kicking me in the side repeatedly. Splashing water and blood on me as I felt my ribs crack.
I fought with everything I had.
My body didn’t even twitch.
‘Nooooo!,’ I screamed. ‘It can’t end like this.’
I heard a sizzling sound and then there was darkness.
***
I could feel movement.
Wasn’t I dead?
Was this what happened after?
It was still dark.
‘Hello?’ I tried to say.
Nothing. Just the sensation of movement.
Am I in a body bag? Am I on my way to the morgue or the grave? Please don’t let me be buried alive.
But I’m not alive, am I?
I don’t feel any pain. That’s a good thing, but not a good sign. The last thing I remember was lots of pain.
Suddenly there’s light and my movement stops.
I look up from the floor of a house I don’t recognize.
‘Where the hell am I?’
I’m on the floor next to a wall, looking up at an electrical outlet. Nothing around me seems familiar. I try to stand but it feels weird. It isn’t difficult, and there’s still no pain, it just carries an odd sensation with it. Like my body is just relearning things. Just like when I was a toddler. I teeter back and forth as I rise, but eventually, I’m upright.
My first few steps are tentative, but after that, I gain confidence with each stride.
Aside from the strange surroundings, there’s a sensation, like ants crawling all over me.
I pass a bathroom and glance inside. The reflection in the mirror draws me back. I slowly approach it, seeing something unique and terrifying.
It looks like someone drew an outline of a human form using a lightning bolt. The electricity shimmers and crackles as it races around the empty form of the being.
I wonder if it will hurt me.
Not sure if I want to test the limits of my newfound lack of pain, I hesitantly reach for this creature. It reaches for me at the same time. I’m mesmerized by this mutual curiosity.
My hand is about to touch the electric pulse shaped like its hand. I tremble with anticipation and fear as we touch.
Surprisingly, I don’t feel any pain. I don’t feel anything except a hard surface.
I move my hand back and forth. The creature does the same. I make quicker movements, and so does it.
Finally, out of frustration, I reach back and strike at the creature.
My hand strikes the hard surface and it splinters. There are now multiple creatures staring back at me.
I step back and come to the horrible realization.
I am the creature.
***
One month later…
“And police have been unable to find any credible leads in the string of brutal killings that began shortly after the patient escaped from the mental hospital last month,” the handsome anchorman stated from behind his desk. “They are asking people to call in if they know the whereabouts of Frederick Winston, now known as, ‘The Mangler’.”
“In other news, the Larsan Electric Company has issued a statement that the recent power surges are no cause for alarm. These surges seem to be random in people's homes and certain businesses. An LEC spokesman stated that there appears to be no pattern to the surges and that so far no one has reported them causing any harm. LEC is tracking down the problem and should have it under control soon.”
The anchorman shifted in his seat and turned to another camera.
“And on a lighter note, with Halloween months away, it seems that reports of ghosts are on the rise,” he said, wearing a half grin. “Several area residents have reported what they call a ghostlike figure, outlined in light, visiting them. Reports vary as to the duration and location of the visits, but they do seem to have a few things in common. The visits are usually short. In fact, most people say that if they blink the figure is gone. No one has reported the ghost doing any harm. And it seems like anyone within close proximity feels a tingling sensation and their hair standing on end.”
“Maybe I should be visited instead of my next hairdresser’s appointment,” the attractive woman anchor said with a laugh.
“Schedule me a visit too,” the male anchor said smiling. “And that’s our news for the evening, good night.”
Jimmy switched the channel.
“Gimme a break,” he said to the TV. “Ghosts? Who’s playing what? This’s some marketing scheme to sell Halloween crap. Like that stunt they pulled a few years back with the clowns hanging around the schools to promote that stupid movie.”
He switched off the TV and rolled over in his bed.
It wasn’t long before his breathing slowed. But before sleep could take him, he noticed a glow in the hallway. He didn’t remember leaving any lights on when he came to bed. Living alone had its advantages. If he heard someone in his apartment, he knew they weren’t supposed to be there. He slowly reached over to the bedstand and pulled out his Glock 9mm handgun, then held it close and listened.
He watched as the glow moved. It seemed like someone was looking around. But for what? He didn’t really have anything aside from his TV, phone, and video games. If anyone wanted those, they would be in a world of hurt. He had been lucky to get this apartment. If he was honest with himself, it cost more than he could afford, but when he had the chance he took it. It was too bad the opening came because the person who lived there before him was one of The Mangler’s victims. That’s probably why he was able to rent the place so quickly and get the price down to where he could almost afford it.
Maybe the glow was one of the street people who were stupid enough to see if there was an empty apartment to claim. That wasn’t gonna fly either. Jimmy had jumped on this apartment to get away from the dingy rat hole he used live in on the other side of town. And there was no way he’d let some bum come in here and take what was his.
The glow crept closer. He could feel the hairs on his arms raise. There was a sound too. It wasn’t loud, almost felt more than heard. A soft crackle, like electricity when it sparked.
The sensory input was almost too much for Jimmy to take. He pointed the gun in the direction of the glow and saw the barrel was shaking. His resolve, that he could deal with anyone as long as he had his gun, was beginning to fade.
The glow became so bright that it finally took form.
Jimmy’s eyes widened. It was the form of a person, just like the news had said.
It seemed to look around the room, then settle its gaze on the bed. Jimmy began to sweat as it approached and stared into his eyes.
It was the oddest thing, staring into what should be eyes, but nothing was there. The flashes of mini lightning bolts formed shapes that looked almost human, but it was just an outline, there was nothing inside what should be the body.
He shoved the shaking gun out from under the blanket and pointed it at the glowing figure.
The figure noted the presence of the gun, then continued to advance.
“S… stop,” Jimmy said. “I’m w… warning you.”
The figure ignored the warning.
Jimmy squeezed the trigger, setting off a deafening shot that went right through the face of the figure.
It acted as though nothing had happened, continuing to advance. The ringing in Jimmy’s ears made all sound seem muffled.
The figure stopped two inches from Jimmy’s face.
“Mangler… “ it said, sounding less like a voice and more like a transmission over an old staticky radio.
“I… I’m not the Mangler,” he said. “The person who used to live here was killed by him.”
It seemed to ponder this for a moment.
“Find Mangler… “ it said.
“I d… don’t know where to find him.”
It moved an inch closer. As the flashes of electricity arced, licked hungrily at Jimmy’s face.
“Find… him… “
“Ok, ok, I’ll find him,” Jimmy said, feeling the heat from the electricity.
The figure seemed to consider that for a moment then backed away. It moved toward the bedroom wall. Then, like someone had turned on a vacuum, it was sucked into an electrical outlet and disappeared.
Jimmy laid back in bed, breathing hard. His eyes darted left and right all around the room. But the only evidence of the figure that remained was the bullet hole in his bedroom wall.
***
The trips through the electrical conduits had become easier. There were still times when I came out someplace I didn’t intend to, but I was usually able to recover quickly and get to where I wanted to go.
But where did I want to go? At first, I wandered around, lost in this new form I found myself trapped inside. It was only after I had overheard a news report about the serial killer they called The Mangler that I gained my purpose.
Of course, Frederick was going to keep killing. Of course, they weren’t going to be able to catch him. He’d been inside away from his victims before and he didn’t like it. Not being able to torture and kill innocents was like a normal person not being able to breathe. Not that I know much about normal or breathing anymore.
I suppose on some level I should thank him. I thought about it for a long time and the only thing that makes any kind of sense is when we were fighting, somehow the water and blood I was laying in got splashed into the electrical socket. Instead of killing me, it bonded with me, making me able to become the electrical current. To ride it like a wave to wherever I wanted.
I became faster than any person ever was. And yet, I wasn’t a person anymore. I have no idea how I retained my consciousness, let alone my memory. But somehow…
I justify it by the old adage, ‘I think therefore I am.’
My life has become an endless hunt for the person who destroyed me, the person I must destroy. I don’t even know what I’ll do when I find him. But I will find him. I will stop him. This time, I won’t fail. I’ll end him like I should’ve before.
I owe it to the people he’s tortured and killed since my failure. Most of all, I owe it to my wife. I know she wouldn’t approve of my bloodlust. She would say there must be some other option. But if she would be able to see her dead body hanging naked from our living room wall, I think she just might change her mind.
My thoughts are interrupted as I arrive at my next destination, another victim’s house. I’m not sure what I’ll find that the police haven’t, but I have to try. Maybe I can pick up his scent somehow. A plan almost assuredly doomed to failure since I lost all sense of smell in the transformation.
I’m surprised though that I can still see and hear. I suppose waves of light and sound somehow intersect with my electrical body and it senses them. I don’t question it. I’ve learned to just go with it.
On the plus side, I don’t have to worry about eating, drinking, or using the bathroom. I guess there’s an upside to everything. Elizabeth would be so proud of me.
I arrive at the room where the victim was murdered. Looking around there’s still blood everywhere, along with evidence markers where they took pictures.
The sheer amount of blood tells me he took his time. He desecrated this girl in her own room. Her parents must’ve been out because there’s no way they didn’t hear the struggle. There were books on the floor, a chair overturned, and blood everywhere. The room was a disaster. It looked like she fought him. I wish she would’ve succeeded where I had failed.
But then, I wish I hadn’t failed, and this girl was still alive.
There’s nothing I can do now except find him and end him.
Finding him was proving more difficult than I thought. I had unlimited access to anywhere with electricity, but I couldn’t use a computer or a GPS. I was limited to transportation only through electricity. Granted that still made me the fastest being alive. I say being because I don’t think I qualify as human anymore. But I was limited to traveling to a place and then trying to find out where I was and if he was there.
If he knew I was searching for him all he would have to do is live the rest of his days in a cabin in the woods with no electricity. I’d never be able to reach him.
I believe two things worked in my favor with that theory.
First, I don’t think he’s that smart, and second, I don’t think he knows I’m looking for him. I believe that surviving our fight only further empowered him to kill. When someone feels invincible, they’re bound to make a mistake.
An officer walked into the room and I ducked back into an outlet. I was able to hang on where I was and watch from inside the outlet without being transported somewhere else.
The officer looked startled and stared at the empty air that I had just vacated. She looked like she was unsure if she trusted what her eyes had seen in the instant before I vanished.
She slowly stepped over to the corner and bent down to peer into the outlet. For a moment I wondered if she could see me, and what exactly she would see. But then her radio squawked calling her to another scene. When I heard the voice on the radio say the address and that they might have the killer cornered, I didn’t waste any time.
It was maybe fifteen seconds until I was across town at the address I’d heard. There was a lot of screaming and crying going on. I came out of the outlet and saw blood on the floor beside a body that wasn’t moving.
There was a girl being beaten by a man with his back to me. He turned to take another swing and I knew my search was over.
“My psychiatrist used to tell me I needed to work on my impulse control,” he said calmly as he slapped her. “I think I’m doing pretty good. I’ve been here ten whole minutes and you’re still alive.”
I shot across the room and knocked him to the floor. He jumped back up and looked around for what had hit him.
“What the hell?”
I saw the fear in his eyes when he saw me. I know Elizabeth would’ve been ashamed, of me, but I was enjoying his anxiety. After all he had done to me and so many others, I drank it in like an elixir.
He started edging toward the door. I was there in a heartbeat. His eyes darted back and forth between where I used to be and where I now stood. The panic in his eyes doubled.
I wanted to make him suffer, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake I’d made before and let him escape with his life.
I lashed out with a bolt that used to be my arm. The energy slashed through his shirt and fried a hole in his shoulder.
He screamed in pain and horror as he looked at the smoking hole in his skin. He tried to run but in an instant, I was there in front of him firing another bolt and searing the skin across his waist to his jeans.
His screams of pain and rage were only matched by the feral desperation in his eyes.
Not knowing what do to, he went with the familiar. Attack the innocent. He grabbed the girl who had been crawling away from the scene.
He grabbed her again and held her in front of him like a human shield.
What a waste of skin.
I fired a bolt into a ceiling light beside me which ricocheted and hit him full force in the leg, nearly severing it.
He went down like a ton of bricks, trying to hold on to his hostage, but she was fighting to get away from him. She broke free and he crumpled to the floor.
“What do you want?” he screamed at me.
With everything that is within me, I wanted to tell him who I was, what he had taken from me, and what I was about to take from him.
But I didn’t want to give the satisfaction. I wanted to give him only uncertainty and fear to cling to.
I could feel the seconds ticking away. I knew I had to make the most of this opportunity or he would get away again. And after this, I might never find him.
I unleashed every ounce of energy at him. I couldn’t even see him, he was only a smoking pillar of frying skin.
Just then, the police burst through the door.
“FREE… “ the first officer started then the shock of what he was seeing stole the rest of the word from his mouth.
He stood there, mouth agape when the female officer stepped in behind him. She looked at me and her wide eyes narrowed as she put two and two together and recognized me from the last crime scene.
I had no reason to fear. I didn’t know if I could even be harmed in my current state. But when you see that blue uniform burst through a door with a gun aimed at you, all rational thought takes a vacation.
I dove for the outlet and was gone. I didn’t even care where I was going. I knew I had done what I wanted to. The monster was destroyed.
Something felt different. Was it pride at finishing my crusade? Was it shame knowing Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted me to do it?
I don’t know but there was something else. It was like there was added weight to my existence. I guess you can have a conscious in whatever you’d call this existence.
I appeared in the place that made the most sense, ironically. It was my old home. The one where everything I loved died, including me. It was where I took on this unintended new existence.
Is that why I felt this extra weight? Was it some cathartic aftereffect of my search for revenge that was finally over?
I looked around the charred debris of what used to be my home. In my mind's eye, I didn’t see the burned-out shell of what was left. I saw it as it was when we first moved in. When Elizabeth and I started decorating. When the interior was finally finished and I turned to her and said, “For now.” Knowing she would decide to change everything at some time in the future when she was bored, just like all women seem to do.
I remember getting a paintbrush across the mouth for that comment. I smiled remembering kissing her with my freshly painted mouth and ending up in the bedroom.
As I turned toward where I’d entered the house, my smile quickly faded. For some reason, I was still connected to the outlet. That had never happened before.
Another curiosity arose when I noticed the color of my electrical body was now tinged purple. It had always been blue before.
The tail of what had yet to come out of the outlet was red. As I pulled and it came the rest of the way out, it merged with me and turned purple.
“What the hell?” I heard someone say.
I whipped around but no one was there.
“Where am I?” the voice said.
“Who are you?” I said to the air.
There was a long silence.
“Doc?” the voice said.
As far as I knew it wasn’t possible for my spine to turn to ice, since I no longer had a spine, but the feeling seemed the same.
“Frederick?” I said.
“What happened?” he said. “This crazy electric thing attacked me and now… wait a minute. How am I talking to you? You died months ago.”
My shock gave way to utter despair. My enemy was now part of me.

19 (M) Looking for a roommate to rent with in Southampton

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Throw away bcs my husband is on my main.
I (25f) been married for 6 months to a great 32m. we dated for a year and a half, I saw his mom on occasions and she was great. Now his father owns apartment blocks and instead of us looking for a place to move where we have to pay rent and bills his dad just gave him an apartment. Great deal, right? Only problem is that my in laws live in the same street, basically the house next to our block.
A little background on my mother in law (I don't speak of my father in law because he doesn't give two fucks what we do) . My MIL grew up in a very strict and conservative household, almost abusive. Ok not almost, it was abusive. Her father favored his sons over his daughter, he let them finish school, drive, bought them cars, sent them on vacations around the world.. Etc but for my MIL it was the opposite, for him a woman had to stay home and learn how to cook and clean to be a good wife. She wasn't allowed to leave the house alone, he got her out of school, no driving licence, no trips around the world, nothing. What he did was buy her anything she wished for delivered to the house. Like she had all the fanciest designer clothes and makeup. She got married to my FIL, a man her dad chose for her, and he was almost the same as her father minus the fancy stuff.
So back to now, she is supportive of her kids and her DILs, she likes us studying, working, being free, having ambitions and she'd always take our sides on that. The issue is, she is very very nosy and sometimes controlling. She looks down on people, If someone in her in laws family tries to belittle her she quickly jumps on them telling them how she used to eat the most expensive foods that they couldn't afford. Or in a conversation with them she likes to show off a lot, like "I don't think like all of you, I'm different". All she did in her dad's house was cook and sew and so she made sure to excell at those, now she makes fun of people who buy frozen food, store bought food, fast food, pastries. I feel like she has inferiority complex because she didn't finish her studies so she compensate with other things.
Now if she was like that with her in laws then I wouldn't have cared but because I live right next to her she asks about everything that's going on in my life. I've decided to take a year to stay home before looking for jobs, as my husband can provide enough for both of us right now and my MIL wants me to spend every day with her. She teaches me how to cook and bake and then if I dare buy something from the outside in my own house, like pastries or pizza,she would " jokingly " tell me how much she's disappointed in me, and how homemade stuff taste so much better, but then laugh it off and say I can do whatever I want. I had my family over once for a visit and they bought my favorite pastries so I shared some with her and she gave it away to the neighbors, sometimes she'd have a taste and tell me it was a waste of money.
She doesn't like me cooking in my house, she tells us to have lunch and dinner with her every day. I feel like sometimes when I refuse she purposely cook her son's favorite dish so we could go over. She tells me constantly how she doesn't have lunch anymore because I'm not with her and when she's alone she just can't be bothered to eat. She have no sisters nor daughters, three sons, one goes to college and then my husband and his married brother on another block next to use. She says she stays alone when the DILs arent with her and she feels lonely. She tells us to bring her sons dirty laundry to wash and iron!!! She still makes my husband's lunch box for work and won't let me do it. She just can't let them go even if they'll be living right next to her.
Another thing is that she's been keeping track of my period, pressuring me to get pregnant. I want to have kids and I'm trying to but it takes time, she makes remarks every now and then like "don't eat that, you might be pregnant"." You're tired because it's your ovulation period, you still have time to get pregnant " "did you get your period yet? " "is that a period symptom or like totally new? Could be a pregnancy symptom" and then when I get my period she gets disappointed.
She doesn't like me and her other DIL going to each other's house or having private conversations, she feels like we're plotting against her. If something doesn't go her way she gets upset. She feels young (she's 62 but acts like she's 40) she likes us to share our secrets with her. If me and the other DIL are chatting in her house she rushes over and ask us what we're talking about and to repeat it.
These are little things, I get that, but they're so frequent that they're driving me insane. I watch everything I do in my house because she can come over any minute and make remarks. I don't mind going over to hers sometimes but she makes me do a shit ton of baking and dish washing. She always acts like she knows her son best, which ok she's his mom sure but I know him too. "My son won't eat that, he doesn't like it (her son ends up eating it) " "my son doesn't like this, my son like that, my son like this with little to no sugar, my son doesn't like dry cakes, my son my son my son"
Now you'd ask, where the fuck is your husband in all of this? My husband works from 7am to 6pm. Comes home tired, just want to have dinner and chill with me. But he also loves his mom to bits and he feels bad for her because she got nobody, his dad doesn't care about anything, does his own thing. He doesn't like to upset her, if she cries to him he quickly gives in, he can't say no to her face. He says she spoiled them a lot and took really good care of them that he can't abandon her and asks me to please try to balance between the two homes. To try and please her.
I'm sorry, I wrote too much and this is like not everything that's been going on, there's still more but I'll stop here.
I have no idea what to do anymore, I feel like upsetting her would cause problems between my husband and I. We fight so little and when we do it's about our situation with her. He can't pick between us and I don't want to put him in that position either. The other DIL is going through the same situation btw, only she got a son now so she's busy with him and my MIL doesn't pressure her as long as she can have her grandkid home with her sometimes.

I turned out gay, but I don’t know about my childhood classmate. I feel like there’s always an unspoken rule between us. I just want to meet with him to jerk off because I’m not into the anal stuff. We used to be in the same group of friends but were never close. We have tried in a few occasions but were never successful, but I always felt like it’s a secret between us two.
In 6th grade, he always talked about comparing and showing his dick to me. During a camp, while everyone was gone, he showed me the outline of his penis. Then a girl came back to our cabin. We stopped.
On the last day of 6th grade, when I asked the teacher to use the bathroom. He told the teacher that he wanted to go with me. I knew instantly what he meant. He was hard when we walked to the bathroom. We went to the urinals and we were both nervous. People kept coming in and out. He went inside the toilet to play with himself to get hard, while I was soft in the urinal. Someone came in and we both just awkwardly left.
In 8th grade, one time when he and I happened to walk before everyone to the locker, he asked if I wanted to see his penis. I nervously told him that I did. When we got to the locker, he pulled down his shorts and was in his boxers. He was starting to touch his penis and someone walked in. We didn’t talk much in middle school, so it was interesting that we both still remembered what we were both interested in.
In 9th grade, one time during class, he came to talk to me about pussies. I got hard but didn’t show it to him. He told me to just focus on pussy then he later said he will show me his penis sometimes. We never had the privacy since there were always people around us.
It never happened. My family moved to the other side of town and I transferred high school. I went to college and left for many years. I am 23 now and back in town.
I haven’t contacted him for a long time. We don’t follow each other on social media. Would it be weird for me to message him? If so, how do I initiate and see if he’s still interested? Honestly, he is not the kind that would hang with me one on one since we don’t have anything in common. We just used to be in a big group of friends. He’s way cooler. Now, we both can rent a room if needed. It’s weird that he hasn’t dated since middle school. It’s a conservative town so I wonder if he is stuck with dealing with his curiosity or if it was just a phase for him.

I noticed that I have been manifesting my dream life unconsciously for awhile. Now I’m living in apartment that look like pins I saved in Pinterest, I got many things I liked on instagram and living abroad but in the city I haven’t planned to. However, I tried to manifest living in the different cities and my soulmate. I did scripting and visual board, but it didn’t come to fruition yet.
Do you guys have similar experiences? Please feel free to share what’s working or not working for you.

This could be an utterly stupid question but I just want to clear up some confusion more than anything. We got stall standing tickets for Hozier in Birmingham, or so it says stall stand on ticketmaster. When downloaded to Google Wallet its showing as seat numbers. I have been to this venue multiple times before and have never known them to do seating (apart from in the balcony). Is there a chance it could be seated or is it just something on Google wallets end (eg. they need to display a number on the ticket due to its format)?

I have the flight scheduled this weekend, got all visa, paperwork and accommodation sorted already. Even have bank accounts and mobile number in my destination country.
My work isn't dependent of my location. The only reason I'm moving out is because of my mental health (ADHD, Anxiety, MDD, AvPD). The more I stay here the more I feel like I wanna kill myself. Despite living here all my life, I could barely call anyone a friend. I don't even remember the last time I went out to spend time (either with myself or someone else).
Add the constant marriage pressure and emotional blackmail from my family just because I'm unmarried and 27M, it just worsens every day. Been on therapy on medication for about two years now. But I don't think anything is ever gonna change if I don't take the initiative.
When I started the process of moving out, since my brother has been WFH for a while now, I assumed he can take care of my mother while I can try and deal with my own issues first. Now, a couple of weeks before my scheduled flight, he says he's moving out to a different city as his work demands and has even rented an apartment there.
Now if I leave, I'll be leaving my mom alone here. There'll be no one to take care of her here. I feel selfish and guilty already because in everyone's eyes I've no reason to move out, whereas my brother has a valid reason (work). If I stay here, my mental health is just gonna get worse and I will never be able to get away from this environment, I might end up killing myself sooner than later.
I was so excited and looking forward to a new beginning. But now, it's all in shambles. I have never hated myself more

These last few years my depression has only gotten worse, no matter what I try. My fiancée snaps at me when I try to make sure she isn’t going to hurt herself, my PTSD flares up every time something goes wrong. I don’t feel like I can work anymore but I have to because I have to look after my fiancée who’s got BPD and bring in the money to afford food and rent.
I don’t feel like I can look after myself. Insomnia has been a bitch for me for years, it’s only gotten worse in the last year. I like to maintain I’m doing well, but honestly I almost took some pills last night and locked myself in the bathroom. I don’t want to be here anymore. But I don’t feel like I can talk about it, because my partner always has something for their own on when I’m feeling low.
I just bottle, I guess. I want to talk, I see a therapist, but, all the progress I make feels like it get reversed constantly. I haven’t felt this low in years and it’s hard to maintain a ‘it’ll get better’ outlook like this. When? When will this get better?
I’ve been bullied at work, punished for my disability at work, I’ve suffered through a narcissistic abusive mother and a father who just stood idly by. I’ve had an ex SA me and cheat on me. I’ve had friends lie and manipulate me, taking advantage of me. I don’t have a single family member I can trust anymore.
The only thing keeping me going is my dog, he’s only 11 months. I love him so much. I never want to lose him.
The desire to leave and go to work and never come back is so strong. It’s so, so overpowering that I feel like shaking. I don’t want to feel like this. I don’t want my PTSD to flare up every time something goes wrong, I don’t want my depression to spiral in turn, I just want to be healthy again. I miss the competent me.
My fiancée has a lot going on, I always understand that. I just sometimes don’t feel like the same empathy I give her for her conditions gets extended to me…I feel like I’m just here for her. Outside of that, I just kinda float in existence.
I always used to joke that my name means happy or lucky, but I haven’t felt it once. I’m very unlucky. Happiness is so difficult for me to get. I’m tired.
I will try to stay around. I always have done. I’ve survived all my worst days so far, right? That what I say. I just wanted to vent and someone understand me for once.

The situation is complex, so please bear with me because I could really use some advice.
So I (23F) met a girl (22F) thru my friends (a couple – let's call them Annie and John). My friends (24F & 27M) and I met through an app for a 3some. That was about a year ago; we hit it off so well that we've been in contact almost daily eversince.
Annie met the girl at a Halloween party; they made out and planned a date. On the date, Annie told her that she had a boyfriend, John, and they would like to have a 3some with her. The girl was glad actually, cause she never was with a girl before.
So they have been meeting with her since last Halloween but never actually had the 3some. The reason is – the girl always, at some point, starts crying. She confided in them that she had sex just a few times with a guy, which wasn't consensual… They were very understanding and tried a few times to get through her sexual trauma together with different approaches. With little to no success tho.
This month, Annie and John got invited to a sex-positive party. None of us was ever at any sex party or anything like that. But alas, they asked me if I wanna go, and we decided to try just for fun. They also invited the girl to go, so I went with her and Annie and John went as a couple. We instantly liked each other, made out and almost did even more. But I got too tired, and the party got too crazy. Last Friday, she texted me that she'd like to see me again. So she came to my city; I gave her a town tour and had no expectations. But a few hours before she had to return, she initiated a pretty heavy makeout session. After a few days, I texted her I'll be in her city and if she wanted, she could also give me a tour which she accepted. Now – this will be the first time when we will have a room where to go – I'll be renting an airbnb.
I am pretty sure she will want to try to hook up, and now, here is the problem. The last time we saw each other, she also confessed to me that she was raped and had a problem doing anything more than making out. She said she basically views herself as a virgin. I have zero issues with that, I am patient, and I would say I have enough experience to make it pleasant for her.
Now, do you have any tips on how to approach this? For example, I had an idea to tell her that I'll only move my hands the way she moves hers on my body – so I'd prevent doing anything she might not like.
Or maybe leave our clothes on?
Or make it look like we're about to have sex and stop at the last minute and spoon her until she initiates more?
I honestly don't know; of course, I'll ask her what she wants me to do or not do or if she has any other preferences. Still, I don't think she can answer me honestly – she often overthinks and is constantly concerned about other people's feelings and thoughts. She might feel like she owes me something, when Im renting the room and all that.
Also, when we were at the party, we all had a bit of MDMA – do you think I should offer her some again to relax? Or maybe at least some CBD?
I'll be glad for any pointers. Thanks for reading!
TLDR: a girl who was raped wants me to have sex with her; how can I make stuff easy for her and support her?

I'm NOT a co-signer.
Me and 2 other roommates lived in a dump house capreit apartment for years before transferring our lease to 3 other people. It's important to note we all had our own individual leases for our rooms. No single person was responsible for the lease of the entire apartment.
Well - our new tenants skipped town (building was infested with every kind of pest) and never made a rent payment. Capreit took us to "court" where because we didn't keep documents showing the lease was transferred (young, naive student at the time), and they hadn't received a payment from the other tenants, that no "business relationship" existed with those tenants and the previous tenants were to be held responsible for rent. Firstly, wtf. Always get a photocopy of your lease, lesson learned.
Randomly (yesterday) 6 years later, a debt collector contacted me trying to collect $3.8k. It appears on my credit report for that full amount, even though this is the total sum of what is owed by 3 individual parties.
By the way, the actual debt amount is $2.2k but they included "interest over past 6 years". After a short discussion, the collector offered to settle for $1750.
However - I am not responsible for the other lease holders?!? I expressed this and said only a third of that would be mine to pay and collector said "in situations with 3 or more people, we assign the debt to one person and make them responsible for paying". They know the other tenants were international students who went back to their respective countries, with no reasonable way of contacting them.
Does that have any legal standing?
Cherry on top, I just started looking for new apartments and this shows up fresh on credit report. Rip.