[FEATURED STORY] At school, they were nothing. At midnight, they were lovers. Because one minute after midnight... a rich girl and a boy who came from nothing found something they had in common. © 2014 All rights reserved | Short-Story #2 | Humour #25 |

Northanger Abbey follows seventeen-year-old Gothic novel aficionado Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath. It is Catherine's first visit there. She meets new friends, such as Isabella Thorpe, and goes to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother, the rough-mannered, slovenly John Thorpe, and by her real love interest, Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, from her reading of Ann Radcliffe's Gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, she expects to be dark, ancient and full of Gothic horrors and fantastical mystery.

He meets my gaze, and I take a step back on instinct. I want to distance myself as much as possible from his eyes. Gleaming. Predatory. Unnatural. Unfortunately, this singles me out. "You," he says, the syllable cutting through the silence like a knife. "Catch." He tosses me one of his swords, and I manage to catch it without fumbling, right on the grip, which immediately molds to my hand. He nods, raising his other one in a fighting stance. "It's okay," he says with a grin that suggests exactly the opposite. "I'll go easy on you."