Hey fellow bloggers, I was just curious to know if anyone is reading this story I’m slowly working on?
If so, I’d be happy to take suggestions and criticism where it’s necessary. :)

Toby jumped in the passenger’s seat and rolled down his window. He was shaking from head to toe. What on earth was going on in this ‘sleepy little town’? It was impossible. Jas always seemed on the crazy side. Now I’m on the crazy side! Ahhh, what the hell am I going to do now? I can’t act normal, I can’t just go on with my normal routines…something is going on here!
“Toby, snap out of it! I need you to stay focused. Please don’t freak out when I need you more than anyone right now.” She reached over and rubbed his arm.
“Jasmine, I’m very sorry for not truly believing you. It all just seemed so…so…far fetched. I can’t honestly say I believe all of it, but I do know that something weird is definitely going on.” He took a deep breath and let it out. Rubbing his face he said, “It’s so weird that they were meeting in the forest. How’d you know they were going to be here?”
Jasmine smiled, shook her head and laughed. “Toby, you have so much to learn. Well, that wasn’t a surprise meeting. The council has a private meeting every Sunday in that clearing, it keeps people like my dad, out of the real good stuff. The only reason Mr. Hitchins was freaking out is because I told him I was on to him when I bought some cough drops from the Pharmacy a few days ago. He’s so jumpy.” She grinned and rolled down her window. “The other thing is, you know Mr. Appson, the tough detective for Crimson Oaks about an hour away? Well, about eight months ago, he put up tiny surveillance camera’s all over our town. It’s totally illegal, but in order to prove that they have absolutely nothing to hide, they allowed it. That my friend, is the main reason for the meeting in the woods.” She pulled up to her apartment, shut the car off and gave him a, ‘don’t say anything yet’ look.

Mrs. Lenner opened the door, “Jassy, what on earth took you so long? I was expecting you at least fifteen minutes ago.”
“Sorry mom, Toby here asked me out to lunch, I couldn’t say no to that face.” She hugged her mother than pulled Toby inside.

Sara Lenners was a shy, slim, and polite woman. She hated confrontation and waved anything negative away with a quick wave of her hand. As if nothing in the world could really be that bad.
“Honey, did everything get cleared up at the Clinic? Mrs. Tesgar mentioned a miscommunication about your daily medication.” She smiled and grabbed her purse.
“Yes, Mom, everything was perfect. I just had a minor anxiety attack and had to rush over to check, then double check with the doctors.” Jasmine smiled and grabbed two waters out of the fridge. “Mom, are you going already?”
Her mother was rummaging in her bag, as she pulled out two one hundred dollar bills, she said, “Jassy, I know just what you need. Make a warm cup of tea. Mint flavored always keeps me happy. Here’s some money. Go shopping, that always gets my blood pumping.” She hugged her daughter and walked out the door.

“Wow, does your mom always just hand out large sums of cash and order you to go shopping?” Toby said as he fell onto the couch, acting totally exhausted.
“Yes, Toby. She started doing that the year we moved here. When she found all these herbs growing in our backyard, she started experimenting with tea and mixing them together then burning them. She became superstitious, sweet, and mysterious. I think she’s a witch.” Jasmine placed the money in her wallet then turned on her laptop.
“You think your own mother is a witch?” He sounded appalled.
“Yes, Toby. But that doesn’t mean I think she’s a mean, ugly old hag. I just know she has powers and a new sense of purpose. She’s so much happier. She does a lot of good things.”
“Okay, how do you know she’s a witch?”

“About a month after we moved here and got settled into the house, my mother came rushing into my room talking about the Earth and how we must be at peace with it. She kept saying, ‘we are at one with the earth and it’s children’. It was weird but she was happy. Sometimes I would spy on her in the backyard, she was reading from a book she had found in the cupboard of the greenhouse; she was chanting and burning things, the smell was amazing and I felt so good. As those sticks burned I felt truth and beauty all around me. She picked up a glass bowl and started dumping dirt into it. She put her hand over the bowl and said, ‘Negative spirits, pass over my body, do not linger, for you are unwelcome here’. From that day on, nothing phased her. She’s been the most carefree, worry-free, charismatic woman I’ve ever known. And I need to be more like her.”

“Just take a left on Fir street and keep going ’til you hit the edge of the woods.” Jasmine said as she rummaged through her bag, locating her sunglasses. Turning to face Toby she asked, “Why aren’t you asking the most important question? Ya know, the one where I tell you ‘you’ll just have to see when we get there’…I know you’re curious.”
“Jas, every second with you is a surprise. Why would today be any different?” Toby gave her a sly grin and turned left on Fir.

It was about a mile drive to the edge of the forest. Why Orzone had a road that led straight to the edge of the forest was a mystery all its own. Left on Fir was the ultimate ‘dead end’. He circled the dead end and parked by a post facing his car toward town thinking that would look less suspicious.
“Okay Jasmine, why on Earth are we here?” He was pacing around, nervous, anxious, and feeling totally stupid. He should have just drove her straight to her apartment. He should have followed his ‘strict’ orders. Hopefully this wouldn’t take too long and no one would have to find out.
“Toby, Toby, Toby.” Jasmine giggled and turned her gaze toward the path leading into the woods. “Follow me if you want to live.” She said, beckoning him with a long, seductive finger.

They walked down the overgrown path for about fifteen minutes then Jasmine took a sharp right and left the path. He was about to object to leaving the path, neither one of them knew what laid beyond the route. A bear could be anywhere, it’d be harder to see a snake now, there were probably ticks everywhere. Oh man, he thought, this really was a bad idea. Suddenly Jasmine put her hand up, making him stop suddenly. Putting her right index finger against her lips, she used her left one to point into the clearing that was about ten feet away. He assumed they were in danger, a bear, a mountain lion…something was stalking them. However, what he did see was definitely not a dangerous animal, but if they were seen, they could or would be in serious trouble.

There were five people in the clearing. All wore a black shirt and black pants. It was the Orzone city council. Each one of them was sitting on a big boulder in a large, yet private, circle.
“Are we about ready to get this over with? I mean the real reason we came here? Beth has trumpet practice and I’ve been forced to take her.” a skinny, nervous man whispered. His name was Ben Hitchins. He was the local pharmacist.
“Don’t worry Benny, you’ll make it to the trumpet practice, scouts honor.” This was Mr. Dan Frester, he was the supervisor at the Mental Health Clinic.
“Why did you call this emergency meeting, Rhonda?” Ben asked, not meeting Rhonda’s eyes.
Rhonda Baley was the chief of police. A huge, bulky woman, she never had a problem with anyone in the town. Everyone was too scared to get on her bad side.
Baley looked at all the men and frowned trying to find the right words, “As you all know, Bill Lenners is becoming more involved with our affairs. He is very trustworthy. The only problem we have to figure out is that damned daughter of his. Jasmine Lenners knows too much information. It’s good that Frington and Tesgar have kept her on that medication, it makes her very unaware. Plus they tell me she’s convinced that she is in fact mentally unstable.”
“Well, Rhonda, give yourself a nice hard pat on the back. You’ve succeeded in something awfully hateful yet again.” This was Bob Moore, the Mayor. He hated everything about this town. It was full of dark secrets that his family helped pass down from generation to generation reaching back to the 1800′s. The oldest male in his family would each become the mayor of Orzone, until they of course had a son of their own. It was a fucking disgrace, according to Bob.
Rhonda ignored Bob, and spoke to the only man in the circle who seemed to be emanating with power, “Hank, what do you advise?”
Hank Prowler was the town’s Coroner and funeral director. He dealt with all the odd deaths and the odd burials. He was the final man that could cover up anything, really.
Hank cleared his throat and said, “Rhonda, I’m speechless at this point. I figured you could influence anyone at this point. However, it seems that the only thing we can really do is recruit the girl.”

Jasmine pivoted and took off running back toward the road. When they both reached the car, Toby glanced at her. She was smiling.
“Why are you smiling Jas!? These people are crazy! They want you to be on the Council. It doesn’t seem like you have a choice. Rhonda wants to get rid of you, Hank wants to brainwash you! What are you going to do?” Toby was in a state of panic and Jasmine kept smiling. “What does this mean Jasmine?” He begged her to be serious.
“This, Toby, means you believe me and now I’m no longer alone in this.” She opened the driver door and started his car.

The last time that Toby Hackety laid eyes on Jasmine was a few months back when she had an ‘attack’. Supposedly she was screaming about demons, witches, warlocks, and brainwashing. Mrs. Tesgar had phoned him at two a.m. telling him some minor details and begging him to fetch the tranquilizers out of her office at the Clinic. He knew that something totally uncharacteristic was going on…it seemed to him that Tesgar felt threatened and wanted to shut Jasmine up real fast.
Five minutes later, Frington called him and told him, “your services are no longer necessary concerning Jasmine Lenner’s anxiety episode tonight.”
Maybe they were hiding something from Toby. Just maybe Jasmine did know something and they didn’t want him finding out. It was just too weird and too secretive.

Just the other night he was sweeping the main lobby at the Clinic and he overheard Frington on the phone.
“Yes sir, she’s well aware of the deal. She also has mentioned potions and spells that Lady McAllter specializes in…” Frington grunts and shifts. “No, she didn’t say this aloud to anyone. We got it out of her during her last hypnosis.” Silence. Small steps toward Frington’s filing cabinet. “Yes I have the paperwork here, sir. How should I dispose of it?” Hmm. Getting rid of the evidence, are we? “Okay, sir, first thing tomorrow morning I’ll burn it. Yes Sir. Thank you, sir.”

Frington came rushing out of his office and Toby almost ran straight into the waste basket.
“Sorry to frighten you young man, I’m just in quite a hurry. Too much business on my 32nd wedding anniversary.” He nodded his head in Toby’s direction and walked out the Clinic doors.

So, maybe Jasmine wasn’t crazy after all. Maybe there was some sort of truth behind her blabbing. Behind her so called, anxiety. One thing was for sure, he couldn’t deny her anything. He’d put up with what she talked about every day for the rest of his life, if it meant she would be there with him. He was in love with her.

“Toby…snap out of it. I’ve got to be somewhere and fast!” Jasmine was leaning over him, he must have fallen asleep or started daydreaming.
“Okay Jas, to your place right?” Oh, God. Why must he always be so nervous and so stupid!?
“No. Not to my place just yet.” She grinned and he knew they were headed somewhere morbidly insane so Jasmine could continue playing detective.

I feel the light on my face. The sick, twisted, fluorescent lights of the Clinic. In about two seconds the dream team will come in and tell me that I haven’t been taking my anxiety medication, which happens to contain bits of psychitzophrenic meds, to keep me mellow. It’s good to be friends with the interns here. They can’t keep anything from me. Especially Toby Hackety, he’s had this huge crush on me ever since I moved here.
“Jasmine, why haven’t you been taking your medication?” says, lunatic doctor number one, aka Mrs. Tesgar. “Jasmine, you realize that every time you miss one dose you retract back to your former self. You don’t understand why you’re changing, it’s all about the amount of hormones your body makes and your body doesn’t make quite enough.”
“This medicine is designed to help stabilize your condition Miss. Lenner, please stick with it so you can keep yourself out of trouble.” adds Mr. Frington an ‘honorably discharged’ marine. Rumor has it he saved a number of men and women, never once got shot or wounded by the enemy…then he gets shot by one of his men who panicked and automatically pulled the trigger. Boy, I bet he was rather pissed that day.
“Doctors, I’m sorry I stopped taking it. I missed two lousy days. I thought it was fucking up my birth control and frankly I’d rather be completely insane than pregnant.” she said, giving them one of her best innocent smiles.
Mrs. Tesgar pats Jasmine on the back, “Honey, I told you last December that this medication isn’t going to interfere with any other medication you take. Including antibiotics.”
Jasmine throws her head back and grins, pleasantly delighted, “Oh, well bless my soul! I was just confusing myself now wasn’t I? Well now, if you two fine Doctors don’t mind, I’ll just be headed home.” Hopefully this will work. Last time she was here they only kept her for twelve freaking hours!

“Toby’s out in the parking lot, he’ll take you directly home. I’ve already phoned your mother, she’ll be waiting at your apartment for you.” Mrs. Tesgar smiled. “So, I trust that everything is okay now and you don’t need Dr. Frington or myself anymore today?”
“Nope. Fit as a fiddle.” Jasmine blurted, than ran out the front doors.
That was the weirdest visit to the clinic she’d ever had. They didn’t restrain her, didn’t mention her other visits or Mrs. Tesgar’s visits to her apartment, which was definitely more than five times. It’s as if they were starting over. Or maybe they were trying out some new psychotherapy tricks to try and pin her down and get her ‘well’ again. Whatever the case, she wasn’t being fooled. I just know that something totally creepy is going on. Can’t figure it out now, Mom’s waiting at my place and I have to try and get her to understand me and what I know about this damn town. That won’t be hard at all. Who was she kidding?

Here’s where it all began. My name’s Jasmine Lenners, I’m 22 years old and I hate the town of Orzone. My family and I moved here about 5 years ago. They wanted to ‘get out of the crazy city’, so they packed me and my 2 kid brothers across the state, away from the beach and into the forest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice here; it’s quiet, there’s always fresh air, a very pretty lake, and a million fields to frolick in, plus we’re kept nice and secret like by the surrounding woods. Orzone has the perfect community set-up. Everyone knows their neighbors and everyone gets along. Except when they know too much. Especially when the elite members of the city council leak too much information about what’s really going on in this quaint town.
My dad, Bill Lenner, he was a top dog lawyer back in the city. Ivy League grad, honors and the dean shaking his hand first after graduation…blah blah blah. He had many job offers, so many cases and made a shit load of money. However, only in his right mind does he decide to move to Orzone and become a full time attorney for the town’s affairs when dealing with the state, county, and it’s neighboring towns(which happen to be about an hour or so away). Basically he came here to Orzone to bail the council members out of a very sticky legal situation. Anyway, that’s how I know there’s something strange going on here. This is my second time here at the Mental Health Clinic, my parents toss me in here everytime I start ‘rambling’ about the whole town being brainwashed by crazy witches. In a couple days I’ll be let out on good, or normal, behavior and then I’ll keep trying to figure this town out.

You must wake up! You can’t keep having these strange dreams. Why isn’t my alarm going off? Ugh. What’s happening to me?
Jasmine Lenners is a patient at the Orzone Mental Health Clinic in the small town of Orzone, located in the northern most area of California. It’s a little town of around, one thousand or so… Rumor has it that this town has been under a dark cloud of black magic. No one will leave the house at night, no one will skip merrily through the surrounding forests, and not one soul will leave the town. The last person to leave Orzone landed herself in the Mental Health Clinic.

That leads us to the story of Jasmine Lenners. The girl who tried to escape. The rebel of little Orzone. The young woman who wanted to, “Get the hell out of this lame town”…

Here I am, starting another blog. I have a fine feeling that this one will be kept up. For now I’ll just have to say I’m very excited to re-visit BookTalk.org and see that so many changes have been made. It’s breezy and welcoming. :)
I’m currently happy and ecstatic about all things Book. haha.
Let us all be friends!