"Give me ten days, and I can give you ten reasons not to die." Evan paused. "And if I can't change your mind by then, you can go jump off that cliff."

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION After Ryan and his best friend are whisked away to a top-secret wizard school, they'll discover immortal demons, new powers, acceptance, and love. ***** After they are brutally assaulted by a gang of bullies, high school outcasts Ryan and Alison decide to perform a vengeance spell on their tormentors. But when the spell only triggers a mild earthquake, they find themselves whisked away by the Marduk Institute, a mysterious organization claiming to be a school for wizards. However, there's more afoot at the Institute than meets the eye. With their old lives gone, Ryan and Alison begin to learn that a little love can go a long way in a desperate situation, but what will happen in our magical coming-of-age love story when an unstoppable foe begins stalking Ryan in his dreams? [Content warning: This original edition of IAGW was pre-sensitivity read, so the story contains instances of violence against LGBT and some homophobic and transphobic language.]

Sometimes when you need to face your dragons, it's not always in the way you'd expect.

"I finally forced myself to move. I dropped the flashlight and ran. I ran with barely a thought, adrenaline surged through my veins and powered me forward. The trees began their ominous muttering once again. This time I was certain they were speaking. I could even make out some of the words. "Trapped." "Running." "No escape." But still, I ran." Life advice from a certain Rowan Archer: Never walk alone at night in a forest you've never been to. Silence of the Trees is a 2677 word story written for the ESU-Roly Sussex Short Story Award of 2016. To my surprise, it won the 2nd place in the secondary student's competition, which means people like it, apparently. Also to my surprise is the fact that it's due to be published in mid-2017 in the 2016 edition of the ESU's "A Collection of Short Stories". If you want to check out the ESU, and I recommend you do, the link to their Australian website (the one with the competition) is here: http://www.esu.org.au/ Although this short story is finished and I'm not updating it anymore, you are more than welcome to critique it. Happy reading.