Affordable pet friendly apartments near me | | How to deal with people encouraging you to drink?

I went out for the first time since I got sober (almost two months ago) tonight. A couple of friends came to my place to watch a hockey game and we went to play pool at a bar afterwards.
I told them I was abstaining from alcohol for the foreseeable future and they were all understanding and chill about it except this one guy (who happens to be an alcoholic as far as I know) who insisted that I could learn moderation like he did (he did not). He went on and on about how I should be able to just find a drink I enjoy and relax without feeling the need to binge.
It didn’t matter that I tried explaining to him how many times I tried moderation to no avail, and that I’d honestly rather be sober than just slightly drunk because I crave the next drink too much to have a good time. He straight up said “if you’re uncomfortable after drinking a beer then you’re just uncomfortable with yourself”. I was a bit exasperated at that point but played it nice and changed the subject and the night went on.
A bit later, we all went home and this guy said he was going to another bar but was coming to mine first to pick up the beers he left there earlier. Fine. When we got to my apartment he jumped back on the subject of my drinking, which he seems to care a lot about for some reason. He says “you should try drinking just one or two beers one night and see if you can do that. If you can, then you don’t have a drinking problem and you don’t have to stop”. I thanked him for the great suggestion and hinted that I was tired and wanted to go to bed.
Then he pulls out a beer from his case and says “I’m leaving this beer here for you and I want you to drink it”. I tell him “I don’t want your beer, man, I’ll just pour it out”.
“It’s just a beer, promise me you’ll drink it”
When he said this, a switch flipped in my head or something but I got really angry and I told him it was my right not to drink if I want and that he was being a huge asshole. He started acting apologetic but I couldn’t stand him anymore so I told him to leave. He wouldn’t, so I yelled at him to leave. He still didn’t leave so I opened the door, dragged him out and shut it behind him.
Then I came to this sub, lol. I feel bad for the way I acted at the end because I’m usually not a confrontational person at all and this is probably the most aggressive I’ve been with someone. And the worst part is, I think he was genuinely convinced he was trying to help me, however delusional that may be.
How do you fine people of this sub deal with negative peer pressure?
Sorry for the long post, I guess I needed to vent and process what happened. Thanks for reading!
IWNDWYT

I wanted to update you all on my current situation, since I've received so much support and worried DMs.
(OG post: https://www.reddit.com/dryalcoholics/comments/11zvwb9/just_got_fired_i_live_in_staff_accommodations_i/ )
I decided to not fight my employer's decision, but negotiated for a longer stay in my current apartment which is owned by the company I worked for. I still have to leave in two days, but it gave me some time to at least calm down and plan a little.
I've been feeling awful since I received the news that I lost my job and home, but it was a decision from head office and not direct management, so my coworkers have been incredibly supportive and helpful. The town where I reside is a very small, tight-knit community, there's only about 30 of us living here. Last night, my roommate invited our friends over for a sober boardgames night. It was simply amazing and I was shocked by how much people care for me and how upset they are about me having to leave. I had to talk people out of quitting in solidarity. I own my fuck up and they should not face unemployment because I do.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am from Canada and live approximately 5000 kms away from home. I moved from the east coast (Montréal) to western Alberta a year ago. The only people I know here live in this tiny town, so I have nowhere to take refuge and regroup.
Losing my job is one thing, losing my home is just horrible. I'm gonna put a spoiler filter here so you can read if you decide to, but TW for>! abuse, DV, SA, violence and home fire.!<
I have a long history of losing my home. I am F30 and this is the sixth time that I have HAD to move, instead of making the choice to.
- From birth to the age of 14, I lived in the same appartment. My dad and I had to move because our downstairs neighboor tried to break in and threatened to kill me every day during 2 years
- After we moved, my dad's drug addiction got worst, his suicidal ideations too. Not long after, my abusive uncle moved in with us. A few months after, I moved in with my older boyfriend because I was terrified and I was trying to keep myself mentally and physically safe
- 2 weeks before I turned 19, my older boyfriend, who was also abusive, kicked me out. I was estranged from my family so I ended up in the streets for almost a year
- Eventually, I managed to rent a place. It took time but I made it a home. Sadly, 2 years late, there was a home invasion at my apartment. A stranger forced his way in one night and held me captive for over 48 hours. He held me at gunpoint and raped me over the course of two days, then robbed me of most things I owned (even food and clothes) before leaving
- I obviously had to move out after. I found another apartment and managed to feel kinda safe and made it a home after a few years. It was my nest, my difficultly built safe place.
- After 8 years living there, I was woken up one night by a fire. I barely made it out alive. I lost everything I have ever possessed. EVERYTHING, except the clothes on my back and one of my two cats. I made it out alive, but I lost the safe living space I worked so hard to build.
- Last year, I moved all the way accross the country to try and rebuild myself. I found in this tiny town community, support, and the feeling of home. Now, I'm losing that again.
Having to leave is a terrible ptsd trigger but fortunately, my adrenaline kicked in and I'm sort of managing.
I started drinking har 10 years ago to deal with the home invasion, and it finally caught up to me.
I found a place to stay at, with friends I lived and worked with last year. They're welcoming me with open arms. My struggle at the moment is to find a way there because they moved 10 hours away, in British Colombia, and I don't drive. The closest major city to me is 3 hours away.
Anyway, I still need love, support and encouragement.
Thanks for reading me <3

Starting a relationship
So I met this woman tonight, friend of a friend, she's my perfect woman, smart, blue eyes and amazing humour. Got her number later in the evening but don't know how long or what to say. Nearly bottled asking her out for a drink/meal but I did in nervous, anxiety ridden broken English and she said yes. Haven't had a relationship in over 7 years aside from some short term absolutely mental escapades. She's a few years older, I'm 28, she's 32/33 with a son(doesn't bother me). I know one night isn't much to go on but haven't spoken to someone like the way I did since my ex,but without the toxicity manipulation. Don't know what to do, I'm at a mental age where I need/feel/want someone to connect to.
Tl;Dr Single 7years, connected with someone properly, potential date. Perfect woman, everything about her makes me want to be better

I just got my apartment lease renewal. I've been in the same place for 12 years. Last year, the owners sold the building so now we have new owners and management. In those 12 years my rent was only raised a total of $200 and all bills were paid. For most of those 12 years, we even had free cable. The free cable stopped a couple of years ago but bills were still paid. Totally doable for this single mom raising a very gifted, intelligent young lady (who is now in college $).
I just got my lease renewal. My rent will go up $243 literally overnight. There is my rent and an additional $49 worth of stupid fees that I have to pay EVERY month. Oh, but guess what? Now I have to pay all my utilities. Mhm, My super old (1972) complex that isn't at all energy efficient, I get the pay water, gas, and electric now.
I'm guessing the total difference between what I'm currently paying and what I will be paying come May 1st is going to be $500 more a month. At least.
The worst, most frustrating part? I'm in the cheapest apartments in my area. Trust me, I looked. I was open to moving!
I seriously don't know how I'm going to get by. I'm already just barely eeking by. I have no family to share a place with. All of my friends are partiers and drink and so drugs. I don't do either, at all. My daughter goes to college about 45 minutes away so she needs her own room on the weekends - not that a 1 bedroom is really that much cheaper.
I make "too much money" (whatever the hell that is!!!) For ANY kind of assistance.
I'm 50 years old and I have a decent job. But this society isn't made for single moms (or dads).
For the first time in my adult life, I truly don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know how we're going to get by.
I'm already exhausted most of the time thanks to menopause, work, life... A second job would suck out all of my energy. It looks like that's what I'm going to have to do, though. I guess. I don't know.
I'm just so frustrated and worried right now. I just needed to vent. Thanks for allowing me this venue to do so.

I met him a little more than 6 months ago. Back then, we were just co-workers at our local pool and did not think much of each other. After we began texting on social media, I started to have a little crush on him. I did not take it seriously, I thought he was just for fun and that I would probably move on from him quickly. But, then, we proceeded to text almost every single day.
One night, we met up at a high school football game and everything changed there. Most of the people behind us on the bleachers were getting high on some drugs, and that made me really uncomfortable. He noticed that I was not used to this sort of environment (I do online school), so he suggested that we leave the bleachers and walk around the outside of the field together. As we walked together, side-by-side, I was beginning to feel safety in his presence, physically and emotionally. The way in which he talked to me in a gentle manner, and how he listened to everything I said with intent made me realize that he is different. It was after that night that I asked myself what love is. I thought that, maybe, I am not feeling love, but just a really really strong crush. How could I actually love someone at my young age?
Months passed and my feelings for him became more intense. He was always on my mind, I was constantly wondering what he was doing, I wanted to make sure that he is alright, not texting him for even one day felt unnatural, and I craved him to be near me at all times. The crazy part about all of this is that we never even kissed or did anything intimate like that. The most we ever did was hold hands.
I admire his independence and bravery, and this may sound silly but he reminds me of a prince. He treated me like his princess at all times. I have never thought these things about any other guy before.
The whole time we had been talking, he knew about my strict parents and how I could probably never tell them about him, but he never showed that he was hurt by that fact. He just told me multiple times that I am the most beautiful thing that ever came into his life, and that any time he gets to see me or be near me is "worth it". He had insisted on buying me gifts for Christmas and Valentine's Day (my birthday) even when I told him that his presence is enough for me. One time, I had bought food for myself and he gave me some of his money to make up for the price, and this shocked me. He has always been so good to me, even while he knew that I could not do as many things for him.
Some events have happened that are making it difficult for us to continue our relationship, and it is not because his behavior toward me changed or anything like that. It is because I cannot tell my parents about him - they do not have a good view of teen relationships at all. I had to end things because I know he deserves much better than what I can offer. He has never hurt me. In fact, he has fought with his parents many times because of how strongly he feels for me. He never gave up on me. When I told him we have to stop talking, he told me he will still love me with a full heart, which made me sob. I know I am a coward for not fighting for our relationship like he has done, but I cannot afford to lose my parents' trust. I had to end it because he is the most beautiful, pure-hearted, caring person I have ever met, and just the thought of hurting him with all my annoying complications makes me feel beyond guilty.
I always believed that loving someone meant that everything is happy and perfect and dreamy. But I think my perception was flawed.
I have never loved someone so strongly as I love him, but I had to let him go for his and my sake.

My boyfriend (26) me (24) and our baby (7months) recently moved out of his dads house because he was being badly abused. They got into arguments almost every single day and would have bruises and marks all over from being thrown around and choked in the house. His friends said we could live with them so we packed up and left to live with them. However, my boyfriend got into an argument with one of them and she is kicking us out in June. He works as a mc Donald’s manager and I recently got a job there as well to try to help with income. He can’t save much of anything at all because they all go towards bills at his dads house which our in my boyfriends name because his dads past bills or too high for him to ever pay off with disability. His dad also said we had to get our two cats from his house but our friends don’t want anymore cats in the house. His dad is giving us one week to get the pets. My boyfriend is insistent on picking them up and being homeless. We have no savings and both of our debit cards won’t work for some reason as we found out tonight when I tried to buy toilet paper. I don’t know what to do or where we will go. I want us to get an apartment but we can’t do that in a week with the pets situation. Even if we stayed here until June I don’t even know if we could save that much. There are very few housing options in the area and calling 211 was no help at all. I don’t know what’s going to happen to us. My boyfriend is very stressed because so many bad things have happened in the two months we have been staying here so for. Both of our grandmas are dying, debit cards don’t work for error reasons, my tire has dry rot, my car constantly overheats for unknown reasons, and we heard that cps got called on us and even though our baby is fine and the happiest little girl always and so good I am still so scared because of past trauma of dealing with them as a child. We are very stressed and scared and sad and getting kicked out I don’t know where we can turn to for help. All of his family lives in a different state besides his dad and my family lives pretty far away as well and don’t have any rooms available at there places to stay at. So I think we might be screwed. We live in a small town so there are no shelters or anywhere to go and even if we went somewhere like that they probably won’t take pets going anywhere else and he refuses to give them up because he has lost so much in his life like family and past pets never getting to say goodbye etc. it’s been a long day and sorry for the long post but if you made it this far thanks for reading just needed to type out all of my thoughts.

Hello! I joined this subreddit since I’ve been baiting a scammer for about a couple of weeks now, but I’m still really unsure as to what the scam is.
The story is that they messaged me claiming to want to be with me and how they’re willing to pay me for it without ever wanting nudes/other sexual favours. They DM’d me on instagram with a script along the lines of “Hi,I came across your profile,honestly I find you really attractive,and I'd really love to be friends. I’d literally Do or pay anything just to make this work. Text me back if you're interested. “
I haven’t given them any of my information and everything they have of me is on my public Instagram page, which truthfully only includes my face and friends, I don’t tag locations ever. You can’t easily find my country or city through my tagged photos as I manually go through them and hide the ones that have any information as to where I could be. The only way to even know is to go on my friends accounts and find their location as they all tend to be far less concerned about these things, and my friends live quite a far distance from me anyways.
Even down to the name they refer to me as is a very very obscure nickname of mine that isn’t at all close to my actual name and that’s the one I have on my page. Now, at the time when we met my bank account was temporarily in the negatives and I sent a cropped screenshot of just my balance [not even including what bank I used] and used this “broke teenager” narrative. My banks interface is really generic so you genuinely can’t tell. They asked for my phone number too but I lied to them saying I can’t afford to sustain a phone number- truthfully that is just because I don’t want them to have my number to sell to other scammers. So I’ve been really pushing for this idea that I can barely afford to live right now.
This scammer was playing the long game it seems as it has been two weeks of them essentially waiting for me to respond when I remember that they exist. They’re trying to build momentum to when they “send me money” but they’re now mentioning two government websites that don’t deal with transactions beyond tax returns, insisting they are going to be sending me money through the tax office. I’ve lived in my country for my entire life, I’ve dealt with both these websites as they are generally used by people in my country to store information such as addresses and licenses, banking info, and other sensitive informations.
I initially thought it was an identity theft scam but after lying and telling them that I don’t have these accounts set up- they’re asking me what other accounts I might have? I genuinely don’t know what this scam is anymore, this person has the assumption that I am a broke teenager with less than $0 in the bank account and barely any information that they can steal.
I don’t plan on sending anything, even down to any hobbies I might have or names of my pets, I just want to know what the scam COULD be at this point. If anyone has experienced a similar scam and has seen the full extent of it, or even has a theory, please let me know!

Long post. Also, sorry for short sentences, I am awfully tired as I spent nearly an hour with this whole situation at midnight.
Ok, so: driving home can get dangerous because of deer. I rarely like to take the backroads as if I get into an accident, it may take a long while for anyone to come across me.
This night I was physically tired and did not feel like going the highway, so I decided to go through the backroad in high alert for any stupid deer who would like to die tonight. I was not on alert for dogs, and yet.. that's what I found. Two dogs, roaming the road, staring at me.
I quickly pulled over and managed to coaxe one over to me. Checked her tags, animal hospital tag. Called the hospital hoping maybe it's 24 hrs? Nope. Disconnected. I want to preface that this dog was sooo sweet and was literally circling my car begging to get in! A second car pulled over and helped me declutter my backseat and she hopped right in and sat down, literally perfectly obedient. Surprised me because she was a husky! Her other friend was more skittish and definitely vocal, and though I managed to get to rub her belly I couldn't get my hand around her tie to see if maybe owner phone number was on.
So only option is to go to the house nearby. It's... rundown. Lots of cars everywhere, trash of all sorts (machinery, auto parts, child toys, and yes, potentially harmful debris like wires and just general... unorganized trash). In a rickety garage I spot two cages open and upon getting closer, faintly see paw print in mud. Ok, so, probably the owner.
I'd like to note that the first dog has been sleeping in my car as I spent 20 minutes trying to coaxe her friend to trust me until I lost sight of her deeper in the mess.
I knock on the door. There's another dog inside, and he looked like he had cataracts and was pretty old. He wakes up the owner thankfully as I'm writing a note about finding the first dog and to contact me as I'm going to keep her overnight for safety.
Owner comes out, I apologize and explain the situation. Oh. The owner knows. He says they roam the road freely at night. Even though it's a backroad, it's a speed limit of 55 MPH and has many curves-- even right before his house where I found the dogs.
I go ahead and let the first sweetie out of my car and she's actually.. reluctant. But she gets out, stands, then comes back to me and I pet her some more. Tell her she's so cute but she should go sleep in the garage. And then I got home, and now I'm here wondering if this is really something to be concerned over? The dogs do look fairly young, but the tags not so much, so it suggests they've made it this long, and they don't necessarily look malnourished..? But gosh! Is this really safe for them?
I'd just like advice if I should drop this or.. what else could I even do? As much as I'd love to take the sweetie home with me, that's dognapping haha

Hi, my brother gave me this idea to invest in a franchise business. He wanted to franchise a food stall business, but he couldn’t afford to take a loan since he just took out a car loan. So, I said that I can take out a loan and do business with him. I got excited since my money could go into an investment instead to senseless things. He said that the franchise package fee is ₱350,000 but of course we need some leeway if ever something happens, so I’m thinking of applying a loan for ₱550k.
There are 2 things I need financial advices with:

I currently earn 50k/month net salary, have 70k savings. But I pay rent, utility bills, food, and pet expenses that rounds up in total of 27k. I checked the loan terms and it will be 22k per month. With my financial capacity and capability, should I proceed with it? If not, what should I do to be prepared in this type of investment?
Being new to food franchise business, what are the things I should prepare and avoid? For anyone who has food franchise business, what are the things you wish you knew when you were starting out?

I really want to do something out of my money, since saving them in a bank won’t cut it. Hope you can help me!

Hi. Sorry if I'm being dramatic. I hope to have an open discussion on the topic and will use myself as an example. In another thread another user expressed how they were annoyed with all the arm chair self diagnoses on here who are taking up the place from the real autistic people. I have to say that I recognize the problem. Well the thing is. I think I am one of these arm chair self diagnosers. I have good relationship. I have kids who are doing good. I have friends and I have a good job. But all of these are also a daily struggle which I attribute to me being autistic. I really don't want to make people who suffer worse than I do feel bad. So should I leave?
A bit more context. Most of my life I've been happy. I've been fortunate enough to live with privileges that has enabled me to live well with my oddities and quirks. However with work and family life it's all started falling apart. For at least four years I've been struggling with depression and stress. I hardly ever see my friends. I struggle to answer them when they try to contact me. They seem to like me - sinse they keep trying to get in touch and they express concern about me. But I don't know why and I feel guilty for treating them like I do. Perhaps a third to half of my friends have been diagnosed as NDs or show very clear traits, and we share interests. I suspect this explains a lot. At my job I suspect most of my colleagues kind of despise me. I don't know how they or my bosses rate my work (although when I ask, they always tell me it's great). And the struggle with executive functioning is intense. I feel like I procrastinate SO much, but somehow I apparently manage to do enough. On the surface I think most people would say that I have a great career and that I am competent. My family life is complicated. I am always told that I have wonderful kids. I do think they are wonderful as well. Our eldest daughter (not mine biologically) is the only one in our family with an actual autism diagnosis. We are quite certain that our oldest son is also autistic and that our youngest daughter is also heavily masking some sort of asd or adhd. Only our youngest doest strike us as ND. But he's only 2 so let's see. We also suspect my wife to have an asd. This means that everyone of us are struggling. Everyday all the time. To fit in. And to try to make sense of it all. Outwards we all mostly appear to function. But from the inside it all appears paper thin. About to burst. And takes so much energy and worry. All of this means that for the longest time I have had very little time for recharging. My possibilities for engaging in my (special) interests have been severely limited and the constant force of obligations have been draining me (same obviously goes for my wife). Through my youth I was always able to maintain a social life. Mostly through especially interests or through alcohol, but also with with a quite extreme need for recharging alone. None of this is a possibility anymore. This has led to me being burned out for three to four years or more with no means of restitution. But while I feel horrible and hopeless I also recognize that my place on the spectrum is a very privileged one. Most of my life I've been doing well enough to hardly realize that I wasn't just a bit odd and un-normal. Both my doctor and a therapist I talked to recognize that ASD could be my problem, but are also very clear that I would never get an diagnosis.
So I feel I'm stuck in between. I feel I need help. But I'm not going to get it from "the system". And I get it - I totally do - if all of those of you who struggle way more than I do - feel like I'm getting a free ride. I just don't know where else to go.
I guess my question is. Can there be room for us "sub-clinicals". A room where we don't take up all the space. Or would it be best if we found somewhere else?

While I plan to now start reading the manga, I thought it'd be nice to look at what S1 gave to anime-only viewers and it'll be interesting to see how my view of S1 and beyond might change when comparing it to the manga.
Overall it was a good experience, and although the animation has been heavily criticised it didn't ruin the experience at all for me, as well as really nice fluent animation at some points imo such as Bachira's solo goal vs Team V. I think the animation was good enough to where the other aspects still make for an enjoyable story and I don't think many people would have dropped the series just because of it.
Favorite Goal - Nagi's second goal against Team Z. It's also the best goal imo, followed by Rin's halfway goal, Bachira's solo run vs Team V and Nagi's third goal which I think is physically impossible but I digress. Nagi as a character has so much more talent than anyone else in Blue Lock and he has shown much more initiative when separated from Reo. I expect Nagi to be one of the best players by the time the U-20 big match rolls around.
One thing I think the series did well - I think one thing the series did well was having a decent balance between 'real' football and 'anime' football. In some cases it's realistic enough to notice (like the Team Y match was very realistic), but it's also cool enough to make it seem exciting for the anime fans and not the football fans. Although the scores in a 90 minute match would probably be higher if it was all strikers because goalie skill level is way off the mark I think with the premise the show was given it gets a pass.
One thing I think the series could do better - Apart from animation because that has been talked about endlessly, I dislike how the series makes instinctual players seem inferior. Plenty of strikers irl are likely move more on feel rather than plotting every possibility out in their head like Isagi or Rin. Isagi's ability to smell a goal is good enough on it's own and could be very useful, but he had to evolve past that for some reason. Bachira and Nagi operating on instincts were treated the same way even though they had plenty of other 'improvements' they could make.
What the series makes me look forward to - I'm very much looking forward to obviously seeing the 30odd people that we don't know yet, some of them will probably be irrelevant though. I'm also looking forward to see who will play goalkeeper (Aryu?) and defenders as we don't have too many standouts there yet. (Tokimitsu and Raichi are the only players I think would do better on defence than offence).
What I'm not looking forward to - The series trying to continue to make Barou and his playstyle look viable and his rivalry with Isagi lead to them both evolving. Irl Barou isn't getting on the field at all, and I'd really want an arc where he learns to pass but I don't think it's going to happen soon.
What I'm curious about - What end of the spectrum Aomori's Messi will end up on (failed prodigy vs ace-in-the-hole), how Shidou plays (I know he is very good thanks to manga reader friend), how the cast reacts to Kunigami and especially the 3rd clear team considering that they are probably the best characters that we don't know yet.

(I know I’m posting it in multiple subs, I just want someone to give me some advice. Everyone I know is confused on the matter and none of them wanna tell me that I’m probably gonna get killed) So I (18m) have a cousin (19f) and she’s friends with Randy (19m) well in 2019 Randy convinced this 6ft2 18 year old named Joe that I needed to die, so Joe finds me and I came very very close to dying, Joe took off because he thought I was dead and they were all online posting about it making jokes and then they all got really pissed when they found out I survived. And last year my cousins boyfriend cheated on her so I helped her break into his apartment to get her stuff back, then move it all to a storage unit, then to her parents house and didn’t even accept gas money, and I even caught her cheating ex in a gas station and he took off before I could even get a word in so I’ve been nothing but good to my family especially that cousin. (This has no relevance, just shows my loyalty to family)
So my cousin is still hanging out with Randy which I didn’t say anything about but made it clear he can’t come to my house because last summer he was here and told a couple people he was gonna call Joe and that Joe was ready to kill me until my uncle on the other side of the family heard and lost his shit. But my cousin, my best friend, my other cousin (this cousin is dating my best friend) were all hanging out and according to my best friend Randy was bragging about his involvement with me almost dying, saying I deserve to die and admitting that he’s still gonna get me killed and my cousin said nothing and acted like it was normal, my friend couldn’t say anything because he didn’t want to cause issues with my other cousin (his girlfriend) but I’m mad now
I told my parents and they don’t seem to know what to say anymore, my dad just told me if anyone shows up trying to do anything to me he’ll handle it
I don’t know what to do or say though, I haven’t brought it up to my cousin because my best friend told me not to, but at this point I’m at a loss for words, I don’t wanna die and as of recently I’ve been sticking to myself but these guys can’t handle that they just want me dead

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Journal of Camille Lambert - April 14th

When the fires finally died, there was almost nothing left of Puriysk. Just about every building was scorched and blackened. Most of the tents had been destroyed too, with only a tattered handful remaining on the far side of town.

Driving through the ruins felt almost like driving through a corpse. Everything was so dead… and yet despite the recent fire, I could already see new life growing on the ashes. Small flowers with petals that seemed to shimmer like distant stars. They were both beautiful and unsettling at the same time, although I noticed Dr. Di Cesare… or Gretchen, I suppose… looking down at them with quiet apprehension as we passed.

“We should visit what remains of my lab first,” She said. “I had some equipment that should offer suitable protection against any airborne toxins. Atmospheric saturation should currently be low, but best practices recommend not to take any unnecessary risks!”
“Sister, we’re way past best practices right now,” Nina replied sardonically. “Exactly how often were you dealing with this shit if you’ve got ‘suitable protection’ just on hand?”
“Often enough,” Gretchen replied. “Not in some years though… decades, really. I keep it now as a precaution. When studying pocket realities, one can never be too prepared. The Rosen Prince exists in far more than you could possibly imagine.”

“And now you’ve gone and brought it here,” Nina replied.
“While I understand you disapprove of my course of action, I stand by that the choice I made last night was the one with the highest probability of a favorable outcome.”
“‘Favorable outcome.’” Nina repeated, before giving a sigh of exasperation. “Whatever you say. I figure that one way or the other, this is gonna end with one of us saying ‘I Told You So’ and I hope to God it’s you.”
“As do I…” Gretchen admitted.

We pulled up on what was left of Gretchen’s RV. The roof had been completely peeled off and the entire front end was smashed, but it seemed like the lab portion was still somewhat intact… somewhat.

Gretchen got out of the car, pausing to survey the state of her lab. For a moment I thought that she almost looked upset, but if she felt anything at all she buried it quickly and pushed ahead.
“We’ll be out here,” Nina said. “Don’t take too long.”
“I’ll help you look,” I said, getting out of the car as well and following Gretchen into the ruined RV. She was already going through some of the drawers when I joined her inside.

Despite everything, the lab part of the RV was almost in good condition. Almost. Papers had been strewn all over the floor and scattered everywhere among shards of broken glass. I heard something crack under my shoe and looked down to see a framed photograph on the floor. I reached down to pick it up. The photograph depicted a group of women, around 14 of them, I think. I recognized one in the corner as Gretchen. I wondered if this was her family.

I looked up at her, to see her pausing at one particular drawer, before taking out a series of respirator masks.
“Elastomeric respirators. Good for keeping out paint, dust, and spores. Small particles that can harm the lungs. I’ve found they reduce spore exposure by over 90%. Not foolproof, but helpful.”
She counted four out of the selection she had, before putting one on and handing the rest off to me. I set the photo down to take them and put one of the masks on myself. As I did, Gretchen took a bone handled knife out of her coat.

“I do have one further precaution that I use… where would you like to be scarred?”
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, taking a step back. Gretchen tilted her head to the side slightly, before realizing that I didn’t understand whatever the hell she was talking about.

“As a precaution, I think it would be wise to mark a rune into your flesh. It won’t necessarily protect you against the Rosen Prince, but it will guarantee you die before it takes control of you… here, let me show you…”
She slid off her coat and gingerly hung it over a chair. I could see the revolver resting in a shoulder holster she wore underneath. She rolled up the sleeve of her shirt. Above the Aquarius tattoo on her wrist, I could see several runes scarred into her arm.

“Scarification is a deep form of magic. Not for the faint of heart, but deeply effective. This one here…” She pointed at one about halfway up her forearm. “It’s a curse. Were I ever to be infected by the Rosen Prince, it would drain my life away, killing me before I could be fully claimed by it. Personally, I think it’s the merciful alternative. Assimilation into the hive mind technically does not kill you, but it is not a fate I would wish on most. Everything you were, everything you are lost within an ocean of voices so that you no longer remain because you and It are now one and the same.”

“Are you going to do that to Nina and Dom too?” I asked warily.
“I already did Nina this morning. And I’ll offer it to Dominic before we depart. I can not force you to accept this… the spell does not work unless you do it yourself. However I do recommend it.”
I stared at the knife for a moment, before grimacing and rolling up my sleeve.
“Just show me what to do…” I said.

Gretchen nodded and beckoned me over to the chair. She knelt by my side and helped me guide the knife.
“It only needs to be a shallow wound. Enough to draw blood and leave a lasting mark,” She said. As the knife pierced my arm, I winced in pain.
“Very good! Now, let me guide you…” She placed a hand over mine. “Look at my rune. We’ll copy it exactly.”

I nodded before trying to do just that, gritting my teeth in pain and trying not to scream. Gretchen guided my hand, but I held the knife and I was the one who pushed it into my skin… it wasn’t the worst pain I’d ever felt. But it came very close and I didn’t last long before I had to stop, sucking in air as if that might numb the pain as I felt tears filling my eyes.
“How the hell do you do this to yourself?” I gasped.
“The rewards are worth the pain,” Gretchen replied. “See this?” She pointed to another rune on her arm, “It’s an elemental brand. It’s how I was able to control the fire, last night. And this…” She pointed to another one, “This one allows for limited spatial manipulation. It took me three tries to get it right. Each time I had to carve away the old skin and heal it to begin anew.”

I flinched at the thought of it and she cracked a small smile that I think was meant to be reassuring.
“Oh, I assure you that’s nothing,” She said brushing past her long stringy hair and leaning forward so I could see the back of her neck, exposing a far more complicated rune.

“This here? That’s an attribution spell. It’s one of the hardest to get right, but once you’ve done it, it keeps you safe.”
“Yeah… howso?” I asked.
“If someone were to pull a gun and shoot me now, I would feel no pain. The wound would manifest on their body instead. Given the fact that he was able to obtain the heart of an Old Fae, it’s possible that Calhoun bears a similar mark. Most powerful witches do. My sisters, for example. Long ago, we each learned this rune and one by one, we carved it into the backs of our necks as a means to ensure our survival. It’s useful… although not foolproof. Stab me, and I feel no pain. Throw me on to a knife and… well… ” She shrugged. “Of course, my little spell would do nothing to protect me from this…”

She took the revolver out of her holster and showed it to me.
“There’s no magic in existence that would save you from Malvian Ice. I modified this gun to amplify it’s properties. To ensure every shot was lethal. But the bullets?” She opened the cylinder and took one out. It looked almost like a regular bullet, although the tip seemed crystalline and had a pinkish shine to it.
“They don’t need the gun to be effective. Put this in the heart of Calhoun… and there is no magic, no God, nothing in existence that could offer him salvation. This bullet… this is Death herself. Absolute, inescapable, and final.”

She reached over and gently pressed the bullet into my hand.
“You should carry it. The other three bullets may be needed elsewhere. It would be wise to save one.”
“You’re the one with the gun, why don’t you take it?” I asked.
“At heart, I am a scientist not a fighter.” Gretchen said. “I can use this weapon, but as of right now I only carry it for safekeeping. I suspect Valentine may get more use out of it than I will. She would certainly be the better shot… although given her demeanor and what lies ahead of us, I do not want to risk the possibility that she might use all four of our remaining bullets before we reached Calhoun. Therefore… I entrust you with this.”

I looked down at the bullet in my hand, before giving a half nod,
“I’ll keep it close,” I promised.
“Excellent! Now… you’re halfway done. Shall we finish the rest?”
I looked down at the bleeding rune on my arm and nodded slowly. Gretchen showed me her rune again, and I pressed the knife back into my skin.

The cut was already throbbing with pain… and maybe that was why finishing the rune was easier than starting it was.
“Excellent work,” Gretchen said. “You may have a future as a witch someday… perhaps.” She stared down at the blood on my arm thoughtfully, before tearing her attention away.

“You’re a vampire, right?” I asked. “When’s the last time you…”
“Three hours prior to yesterdays incident,” She replied, standing up again. “Strictly speaking I only need to feed once every few days, once per week at minimum. Biting you will not be necessary… although I will admit, your blood does smell…nice. I personally prefer an older male specimen, maintained in reasonable health however just because one likes merlot doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a good rosé. But I digress. You need your strength and I have other provisions to ensure I make do.”

She walked over to the far side of the lab and opened a cabinet, rifling around in it for a few minutes before taking out what looked like a wine bottle.
“A little side project some of my sisters entertain. Hardly a full meal… but the wine masks the taste of stale blood. I was saving it for a special occasion. But, it will suffice for now.” She pulled the cork and took a drink from the bottle, before going through the cabinet again and coming back with a white first aid kid.
“Let me wrap that wound for you, at least until the bleeding stops,” She said. I gingerly held out my arm and let her work. It didn’t take long.

Outside, I could hear the car horn honking impatiently. Gretchen ignored it, gently cleaning my wound.
“There we go…” She said gently, “All set. Bring the masks outside, I’ll join you momentarily.”

I nodded and got up to leave. Looking back, I noticed her standing over the photograph I’d picked up earlier. She stared down at it, before taking the picture out of the broken frame and slipping it into her pocket before finally taking her wine bottle and following me out.

***

The tents on the far side of town were still mostly intact, although seeing them abandoned still felt a little surreal. The shimmering flowers grew along the ground, and among them I could see creeping red weeds sprawling across the ground. Those weeds had even started to grow over some of the tents.

Nina regarded them with unease, before checking to ensure her mask was on right and going in to investigate. She held her rifle at the ready the whole while.
“Fuck… how the hell do you do this to yourself?” I heard Dom seethe from behind me and looked back to see Gretchen helping him scar himself.
“In time, you learn to accept the pain,” She said. “Now breathe. We’re nearly done.”

Dom looked up at me as Gretchen guided his hand. I went over to put a hand on his shoulder and stay with him through the pain.
“There… there… now we’re done,” Gretchen crooned. “Let me wrap that for you. You did well.”
“Christ…” Dom panted, “All this over some fucking flowers?”
“Those flowers have ended Universes and brought entire civilizations to their knees,” Gretchen warned. “There is no caution you cannot take with them.”

Dom looked over toward some of the glowing flowers. I noticed Nina was giving them a wide berth.
“If they’re that dangerous, why even summon them?” He asked.
“I had four bullets, and more than four approaching targets. Even the more offensive spells at my disposal would not have offered sufficient protection. We were in a dire situation. I needed something that would serve as both a formidable distraction and that could reverse our fortunes. I made a judgment call. The Pocket Reality I opened has been claimed by the Rosen Prince for some time. I’ve done some research there before and I imagine he’s been waiting for my return ever since. I suspected that the moment I gave him a door, he would come scampering… and he did not disappoint. His infection will spread rapidly, but so long as we use the correct precautions, we should be fine. I can not say the same for Calhoun’s local militia and his Nightwalkers, on the other hand. I doubt they are equipped to deal with him.”

“No shit, they aren’t…” Dom murmured, “I gotta ask, what exactly happens if this thing reaches Calhoun before we do?”
Gretchen frowned.
“Hard to say,” She admitted as she finished bandaging Dom’s scar. “I don’t have enough data to be certain. But…”

“But?” I asked.
“Last night, McClellan said something I found… interesting. He mentioned that there were other towns ‘ripe for the picking’ out there and then said something about Calhoun getting the rest of the 5000 souls he needed. I’ve been trying to figure out what he meant by that.”
“Did you come up with anything?” Dom asked.
“Unfortunately, I did,” She admitted. “I don’t suppose Nina has told you two where your Nightwalkers come from, did she?”
“Something about another pocket. She called it The Midnight Grove,” I said. Gretchen nodded.

“Correct. Now… the entity that controls the Midnight Grove, The Lugal. It is known for making deals. Offer it souls and it can be bargained with. And with 5000 souls… well, in theory, the rewards would be great.”
“In theory?” Dom asked.
“There’s a very good reason the wise don’t deal with the Lugal. Whatever he offers you shall inevitably corrupt you, until you are little more than just another of the shambling, mindless beasts who wander his domain. Personally, I’ve found that you can get a better deal elsewhere. But that’s neither here nor there. The future state of Calhoun’s soul is really not important to us. If he completes his deal, then killing him becomes significantly harder… and I have little doubt that he has the means to complete his deal.”

“How?” I asked.
“When Mr. Durand first reached out to me about joining this operation, there was some discussion on how Ben Calhoun was able to enter and leave this pocket reality. At the time, I’d theorized that he had established a permanent means of doing so. It would not be that difficult… the correct runes on certain doors would likely suffice and would permit him to come and go as he pleased. We theorized that he had set up such doors in other towns he may have been interested in. I had hoped we may be able to find one such door. I even went so far as to look for small towns in the United States that had similarities with the ones we already knew existed in this pocket, that just so happened to have a resident there by the name of Ben Calhoun.”

“And what did you find?” I asked.
“Hundreds in the United States alone,” She said. “Enough so that exploring my theory further was not an option… however considering what McClellan said about ‘other towns ripe for the picking’ however I can not help but wonder if my theory is correct. McClellan said that Calhoun needed 5000 souls. To that end, I’ve put together a rough estimate of how many more he might need based on the estimated body count from his… actions… in the other towns.”

I felt my stomach sink a little bit.
“Between Rankin Mills, Bakersfield, and Thompson Falls, I estimate casualties of 1500, 2000, and 500 respectively for a sum of 4000 give or take. Puriysk had approximately a thousand people living in it… had we not intervened, Calhoun would have had his 5000 souls. And if I’m right about him having doorways to other towns, then I think I know how he might try and make up the deficit.”
“So he’s going to try and bring another town into the pocket…” I said quietly, before the rest of the realization hit me. “And if the Rosen Prince takes Calhoun, it could use any of those doors to get out of here!”

Gretchen nodded.
“It may not even need to take Calhoun,” She said. “All it would need to do is make it to Parsons and fine a door. Those outside would have no means of identifying where it would show up, delaying their ability to form an effective response and at minimum, resulting in further loss of life.”
“Jesus Christ…” Dom said under his breath, “You knew this and you still let that thing out?”

“As I said, I made a judgment call,” Gretchen said. “If we get to Parsons first, we can eliminate Calhoun and render all of this null and void. Kill Calhoun, and there is no pocket reality. No pocket reality means no Rosen Prince and if I am correct about those doorways…”
“That’s how we get out,” I said. Again, she nodded.

“You can be upset with me for what I did last night… I agree, it was a reckless move and not one that I made lightly. But I traded certain death for a ticking clock and an effective distraction. I stand by that decision, whatever the consequences.”
Dom just sighed and shook his head.
“Well… like Nina said, I guess. This is gonna end with somebody saying ‘I told you so’ and we better fucking hope that it’s you.”
With that, he went off to follow Nina toward the tents.

We spent the better part of an hour going through what was left from the FRB’s supplies and even some of the things we did find weren’t exactly useable. One tent which had been used as something of a mess hall was completely overgrown with those glowing flowers, leaving any food in there practically inedible. Most of what we found that we could use was guns and ammo.

“Trust me, we’re gonna need this shit,” Nina said as she opened the combination padlocks to the gun lockers. She tossed them aside and pulled the locker open, sorting through the contents before finding something and handing it to me. It had the body of a pistol, but with a stock and a sight.
“Kel-Tec CP33. Should be good for you,” She said before reaching for something else. She admired it for a moment, before setting her current rifle aside.
“Holy shit… I knew they were bringing in some heavy shit, but God Damn!”

“What is it?” Dom asked, watching as she took out something that looked like a bigger, smoother version of the rifle she already had
“It’s an AA-12… I’ve never actually gotten to fire one of these before. Should be fun! Hey Dom, you want one too? They’ve got a few in here!”
“What’s it do?” He asked.
“It’s a full auto shotgun with 20 shell drum mag. Basically - it turns anyone you don’t like into ground beef. Should be useful against the Rosen Prince…” She got down, checking a lower shelf and taking out boxes of ammo.

“Let’s see… I heard Milo mention something about Dragons Breath rounds. He thought they’d be effective against the Nightwalkers. Lemme just… oh fuck yes!”
She held up a box of shotgun shells, grinning from ear to ear.

“Thank you, Milo! Gretchen, think you can help us curse these?”
“I should be able to,” She said, going over to take the box from Nina. She sorted through a few other boxes of bullets on the lower shelf, before sliding one over to me.

“Try these out,” She said. “Lemme know if you want something different. We’ve still got a lot out here.”
I nodded before picking up the box. I set it down on a table, took the magazine out of the gun Nina had given me, and loaded it up just the way she’d shown me before. Then I went outside to give it a test run.

As I stepped out, I looked over toward the ruins of Puriysk. I could see one charred building that had once been an apartment, now overgrown with red vines and glowing flowers that made the ruins twinkle in the most surreal way. In a sense, the building almost looked infected. The vines seemed more like cancerous growths than real plant life. Looking at it, I was reminded of the state that Bakersfield had been in… and I was reminded of the corpse of my mother, her eyes half open in death. The memory made my stomach turn.

I raised the gun up toward the distant building, knowing that if I shot at it I couldn’t kill what was ahead of me, but hoping it might make me feel better. I pulled the trigger, firing into the void.

“Hello?” A distant voice called, making me pause. “Hello, is someone there?”
“Hello?” I called back, lowering the gun and trying to follow the voice.
“Hello?!”
Up ahead, I could see a man stumbling past a few of the tents. Judging by his uniform, he’d been part of the FRB.

“Oh thank God…” He said, “Thank God I thought I was the only one left!”
“So did we!” I said. I noticed that the name on his uniform read - ‘Gideon’. I looked back toward the tent that Nina and the others were in.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, “We’ve got Dr. Di Cesare with us, I think I saw some spare masks in her lab too. We can get you one!”
“Masks?” Gideon asked, “Why? What’s going on here?”
“I’ll let Dr. Di Cesare explain, come on.”

I gestured for him to follow me into the tent. As I turned to go in, I saw Nina coming out.
“I’m hearing voices out here…” She said, before noticing Gideon. Gretchen came out behind her, eyes narrowing slightly.
“We’ve got another survivor,” I said and Nina looked over at Gideon with a raised eyebrow.
“Shit, really?” She asked, although didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic about it. She glanced over at Gretchen who was on top of Gideon almost immediately.

“Fascinating, how did you survive the night?” She asked, already poking and prodding at him. From the corner of my eye, I could see Dom coming out of the tent, holding the shotgun Nina had given him.
“I… I just stayed out of the fire!” Gideon said, “I let the monsters fight each other! I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t get to the trucks before they left and then the radio went silent… what are you doing?”

Gretchen held him by the chin and leaned in to sniff at his neck.
“Did you know a vampire's sense of smell is over ten thousand times more accurate than a regular human's?” She asked, her voice as calm as ever. “It enables us to detect imperfections in the blood and avoid drinking anything that might be adverse to our health… and right now, I can smell the spores in yours.”

Gideon locked eyes with her, looking panicked for a moment before his lips slowly began to curl into a knowing rictus grin.
“You were always so astute, Gretchen…”

I saw his skull split apart suddenly, revealing rows upon rows of teeth inside. He tried to bite down on her head, but Gretchen seemed to be expecting that. I saw the ground beneath her shift, pulling her back a few feet.

Nina raised her shotgun and fired at Gideon before he could make another move. A column of sparks flashed out of her gun, setting Gideon’s body alight. He howled in pain and as he did I saw his body changing. The skin and flesh on his hands peeled back turning his fingers into claws. An inhuman screech escaped him as he lunged for Nina, only to be blown back by another flaming blast from her shotgun and sent crashing to the ground in a twitching, screaming pile of burning flesh.
Nina let out a shuddering, almost orgasmic sigh.
“I love you,” She said to the gun.

Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, a chorus of inhuman screams echoed through the air around us, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
“That doesn't sound good…” Dom said.
“Oh, it’s not. He makes that sound when he’s hungry,” Gretchen ‘assured’ us. “We should leave.”

She motioned with her hand, beckoning some of the fire off the burning remains of ‘Gideon’ and allowing them to form into a ball in her hand.
“But we’ve got supplies here!” Nina said, “We’re not getting through Parsons without them!”
“And he’s got the bodies from last night.”

Almost on cue, several shapes rounded one of the tents a few feet away. Gretchen casually let loose the ball of fire she’d taken, sending it flying toward one of the creatures racing toward us.
“Then we’ll just bring the car here, load up and leave!” Nina said. “Dom, keep them out of the tent, Cam, grab everything you can carry!”
“I have to state for the record that this is an ill advised-”
“Just shut up and help me get to the goddamn car!” Nina snapped, cutting Gretchen off before raising her gun to unleash hell upon the creatures that came for us.

I wasted no time running straight for the tent. Nina had opened a few of the lockers and had been going through the contents. She’d set aside the dragon's breath rounds, and I figured those were probably the ones she was looking to bring. She’d opened up a metal ammo box and had already been setting the shells inside. I didn’t really have the time to set them up in order the way she’d been doing, but I did have time to carelessly dump them in there like an idiot.

I could see the flashes from outside as Dom fired at some of the Rosen and judging by the sounds he made, I couldn’t tell if he was having fun, terrified for his life, or both.

I grabbed a second ammo box, hastily dumping the remaining shells in there. I didn’t count them and hoped to God that it would be enough, then I grabbed another box of the .22 ammo that my gun used, stuffed that in my pocket, and closed up the boxes. I figured it was as good enough.
“Let’s go!” I yelled to Dom, grabbing both boxes by the handles. They were heavier than they looked, but I did what I could to tough it out.

He fired a few more rounds at some of the passing Rosen, bathing them in sparks that caught their bodies alight and sent the ones near them scurrying away. From what I could see, no two were exactly the same. Some of the smaller ones, who looked as if they’d once been human either wore tattered FRB uniforms or the loose ensemble of the Sheriff’s Boys. Although most had discarded their clothes entirely, embracing the monster that now puppeteered them. Their heads opened like flowers, and some even had the same shimmering petals as the glowing flowers that dotted the ruins. Many had those same flowers blooming on their skin, only in their center were sickly yellow eyes. They loped about on all fours like wild dogs, howling and shrieking all the while, trying to escape the flames that bathed them but never quite giving up their single minded pursuit.

A few of them ran for me, although Dom dealt with those quickly, washing them in columns of fire with every pull of his trigger. Together we retreated back toward the car. In the chaos, it was hard to keep track of events. There were just so many… too many to count. I left the shooting to Dominic, my only focus was on staying out of his way and reaching the car.

I could see flames rising up into the sky a few feet away and knew that Gretchen and Nina were still fighting. We were getting closer to them. A fresh column of fire tore through one of the nearby tents, burning it away almost completely along with the Rosen who were unlucky enough to be caught in its path.

As we rounded that tent, I saw Nina hastily backing toward the SUV, unloading her last few rounds into the advancing crowd of Rosen and buying herself enough time to get inside.

Gretchen was doing the same, pulling the fire from the burning corpses and forming burning walls between her and the living. Behind the horde, I could see one twisted figure standing atop one of the tents, watching her with a single yellow eye.

“A RIPE NEW WORLD TO USHER IN TO SPRING EVERLASTING!” A voice howled through the chaos. I think it came from the thing that watched Gretchen. “How kind of you, Gretchen Di Cesare… an apology for your many insults? Or a failure. The newest of many?”

She didn’t humor the Rosen Prince with a response, or at least not a verbal one. A tendril of flames shot out of the wall she’d summoned, to engulf the thing that had spoken to her. Killing it, did nothing to stop the voice, which seemed to come from everywhere at once now.

“Shall you outrun me again, Child? Or do I at last claim you as my own?”
Gretchen just turned, and pulled open the car door, getting in as Nina keyed the engine. The wall of flames pivoted, cutting violently across the path before the car and burning anything there before quickly parting. Nina hit the gas and sped toward us, while Gretchen’s trail of fire followed.

I saw the Rosen shrink back as the car and the fire drew near. We took the opportunity while it was there. Dom pulled one of the doors open for me and I hefted the ammo boxes inside, looking back to watch him dive in behind me. We didn’t even get a chance to close the door before Nina was driving again. Gretchen rolled down the window and pulled the fires from behind us forward, launching them in front of the car to burn away the Rosen in our path. As she did, I could hear the demonic laughter of the Rosen Prince in the distance.
“RUN IF YOU MUST, DEAR CHILD! FOR I ALREADY AWAIT YOU!”

I looked out the back window to see that the Rosen had already given up chasing us. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. Judging by the look on Gretchen’s face, it wasn’t.
“We need to move, quickly,” She said. “Dominic, you can get us to Parsons, correct?”
“I think I should,” He said. “I’m sorry, did that thing just say it was already waiting for us, did it already get to Parsons?”

“I suppose we’ll find out shortly…” Gretchen admitted. “If so… we should still have time. The Rosen Prince shouldn’t have the biomass to launch a particularly large assault right now. He’ll need more bodies… but I still suggest we move, the clock is ticking.”

Nina pulled the car onto the road leading out of Puriysk, watching the rearview mirror anxiously as she did. The mists of the forest swallowed us up as we left Puriysk behind. All that remained now was ahead of us, at the end of the road.

So I (18m) have a cousin (19f) and she’s friends with Randy (19m) well in 2019 Randy convinced this 6ft2 18 year old named Joe that I needed to die, so Joe finds me and I came very very close to dying, Joe took off because he thought I was dead and they were all online posting about it making jokes and then they all got really pissed when they found out I survived. And last year my cousins boyfriend cheated on her so I helped her break into his apartment to get her stuff back, then move it all to a storage unit, then to her parents house and didn’t even accept gas money, and I even caught her cheating ex in a gas station and he took off before I could even get a word in so I’ve been nothing but good to my family especially that cousin. (This has no relevance, just shows my loyalty to family)
So my cousin is still hanging out with Randy which I didn’t say anything about but made it clear he can’t come to my house because last summer he was here and told a couple people he was gonna call Joe and that Joe was ready to kill me until my uncle on the other side of the family heard and lost his shit. But my cousin, my best friend, my other cousin (this cousin is dating my best friend) were all hanging out and according to my best friend Randy was bragging about his involvement with me almost dying, saying I deserve to die and admitting that he’s still gonna get me killed and my cousin said nothing and acted like it was normal, my friend couldn’t say anything because he didn’t want to cause issues with my other cousin (his girlfriend) but I’m mad now
I told my parents and they don’t seem to know what to say anymore, my dad just told me if anyone shows up trying to do anything to me he’ll handle it
I don’t know what to do or say though, I haven’t brought it up to my cousin because my best friend told me not to, but at this point I’m at a loss for words, I don’t wanna die and as of recently I’ve been sticking to myself but these guys can’t handle that they just want me dead

Hey folks, I could really use some advice: my (28M) girlfriend (28F) and I have been together for nearly two years, and things have been pretty great. We moved in together six months ago, and it feels like we've grown really close since then. But now, there's this new (and basically our first) major issue: my girlfriend wants to join a small group pilates class that her ex-boyfriend (30M) is teaching.
They were together for a few years before we met and stayed friends after breaking up. I like the guy well enough and they've only seen each other 3-4 times since their breakup. She's adamant that she has no romantic feelings for him, but she's really keen on joining his class because he teaches a pilates method that she's super into and says it's hard to find instructors as good as him. She says she plans on paying for the class just like anyone else.
I trust my girlfriend, but I can't shake this feeling of skepticism about her taking a class from her ex. I feel bad for even having these thoughts, knowing she can make her own choices and maintain friendships, but my gut feeling is super off about it. She also told me that he broke up with his new girlfriend about six months ago, so he's now single.
I know my concerns might come from my own insecurities, and I don't want to impose my feelings on her. But I'm struggling with how to handle this. I don't want to seem controlling or unreasonable.
So, I'm reaching out to you all for some advice on how to deal with this. Should I just let it go and trust her, or should I voice my concerns? And if so, how can I bring it up without sounding accusatory or controlling? I also don't want to voice my concerns and dissuade her from doing something that she would find super beneficial to her health.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts or experiences you guys can share. Thanks a bunch!

And I needed someone else besides me to know it. My divorce became final about two weeks ago. He threw mine and my kids things into a storage unit without any order or care because he already has someone else and didn't want me around what used to be our home. Today I got to see our dog for the last time. I can't afford to house myself and my kids so they have to stay with my older sister. I don't get to see them every day anymore the way I used to. I miss their voices and just having them be at home with me. Their biological father died 7 years before.
I am just working and living with my dad, trying to save money. My family is not a close knit one. So my dad basically just houses me. He doesn't really talk to me or notice how much pain I am in. He knows more about the bartenders down the road than he does about me. I have two siblings and the three of us don't really talk or hang out. My mother passed away years ago and she was really the glue for us all i guess. I have no real friends that I didn't share with my husband and I have abandoned social media because I am not prepared to see him with someone else. I am afraid it is someone I know and trusted. I am just alone and traumatized.
I work and come to bed with not a soul to speak to about how much pain I am in. Because absolutely no one gives a shit.

Putting it simply I’m being accused of sexual assault. A girl I dated in 7th grade has started telling people I forced myself on her (I’m weak as fuck considering I’m almost 6’0) her best friend at the time has told me she KNOWS I’m innocent considering when I “sexually assaulted” my ex she was literally right beside us. Before this whole thing happened she had coke to ME and broke up with me I told I respected her opinion and I understand and it’s all chill. Only reason I was even near her was cuz the friend I mentioned as she and couple others enjoyed hanging out. Now my ex has started spouting nonsense. I could be wrong but I suspect it’s cuz I’ve recently told a girl I liked her (call her T for now) which T knows the girl is a liar but if it goes father than just rumors what should I do? Edit: when this happened I was about 13 in 7th into 8th summer break. I’m now 15 9th grade

I don’t know if this is the appropriate place to vent how much I’m hurt, but it’s been nearly 4 months and even now I think about it. The relationship started online, me a Brit and her an American girl, I had been speaking to her for a nearly a year and had no intention of trying to get closer other then friends since she was in a relationship with a girl at the time, I just wanted to be her friend as she was so likeminded to me, I felt extremely happy in a time where I really didn’t have much going for me.
But one day her now Ex who was abusive and hurtful dumped her, I still had no intention of getting together and we didn’t for a couple months but I tried my best to support her and we grew closer. Maybe I was just a rebound, I don’t know but she eventually admitted her feelings, I had no idea what to say or do, and told her to wait longer to see if it really was her feelings or just wanting to have love again.
Long story short, we got together, and had been together for 4 years, seeing eachother irl quite a few times too, I was madly in love with her. But December came and it was quite possibly the worst month of my life, my cat had been hit by a car, family got into accidents which meant going to the hospital, friends of mine for nearly a decade exposed as creeps and now breaking away from them, I felt like I was losing everything but she cheered me up and I tried my best to not overwhelm her with my problems so I tied my tongue to make sure our conversations were as cheery as ever.
However, New Year’s Day came, my last message to her was “happy new year, I love you so much” and then it was gone, every trace of her gone, I tried multiple different websites to try speak with her but I got nothing, things deleted, she just disappeared, her friends began to block me and I just couldn’t understand why, I was heartbroken, if she didn’t love me anymore I just wanted to be friends like we used to, she clearly didn’t feel the same.
So now 4 months later, I stare at my phone wondering if I should try message again, but I get sick to my stomach knowing nothing will come of it, I wanna move on, she just felt too perfect for me to give up so I struggle to do it. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve cried so much over one person, and I bet she hasn’t even had a passing thought about me since to just cast me aside so easily. I get tired of blaming myself yet I can’t help but keep thinking it is my fault, that there’s something I could’ve done.
Once again I don’t know if this is the right place to vent, but I just needed to get this off my chest and see what other people might think.

I, 14 female, used to be one of a three person friend group. I say used to because I decided not to be friends about a year ago or so. We (me, friend 1, and friend 2) used to sit at lunch together and I would usually be late. The conversation was usually about 1 and 2, and how they were doing. Sometimes they would talk to me, but most of the time I felt like a third wheel. One day I got to lunch earlier than normal, and they were talking about “one-night-stands”. At the time I had no idea what that was. I started to ask them what it was and they said it was hard to explain. Friend 1 got up a few seconds later and told one of her friends something and they started laughing. I didn’t know why it happened, but I had a feeling that it was because I didn’t know what 1 and 2 were talking about. I asked a few more times over lunch, yet I never got my answer and they started talking about something else. After lunch I walked over to the other friend and asked what a “one-night-stand” was and she kinda giggled and walked away. I feel I should say that this wasn’t the first incident like this. There were other comments or words that I didn’t know the meaning of and 1 and 2 deliberately wouldn’t tell me. Back to the story, I forgot about it for a while, until I was at my Bestie’s house (about a month later) and decided to ask her what it was. She explained the whole thing to me, without hesitation. I guess it was kind of awkward to explain, but was very simple as well. I asked 1 and 2 about it the next day and they basically told me that I was being dramatic and I should’ve known what a “one-night-stand” was. I decided enough was enough and I told them that I was tired of being the third wheel and I was done with them. I was thinking that I was going to sit at a different table for a few days, but it’s been a whole year.

I am starting to feel guilty about blocking them out. They look like great friends, just the two of them. They hold hands, smile more, try to be apart of the class more, and they even mess with each other’s things. All things neither of them did with me. And now I’m wondering if I should have gotten over it, if I could be the one smiling and messing with them. And I’m also wondering if I am the Bad Apple.

I (27 M) had just started to become friends with one of my apartment neighbors (Mid 20’s M). We hit it off good and found out we share some hobbies. So when we traded phone numbers, he asked me what I drink. At first I assumed he was bringing beers over so I just said bring over whatever you like.
When he came over to my place to hang out he brought over an energy drink sold by an MLM. He also vaguely explained his “side income” by pretty much saying he was someone who wanted to “help people out,” or something like that.
I’m questioning what I should do with this guy? I feel like keeping it a buck and tell him I know what he’s doing, but then again I don’t know what his response will be when i call him out. Should I talk to him about it and ask him why, or just brush off his sale attempts, or just ghost him?