First off, a little background information. As a writer, I'm still very much in the infant stages of what I hope will one day resemble a career.  I'm not merely talking skill level or number of publications, but also in terms of maturity and level of commitment.  I'm hovering at the edge of trying to make time for writing on a full-time basis, reluctantly  holding back for fear of financial obligations and practicality. Cherry Estates was a challenge for me to attempt

(click here for previous part) Blackout at Cherry Estates:  Part VIII It was darker up there, impossibly so.  Everything natural would say that it should be no more or less pitch black than the rest of the building, yet somehow the third floor conveyed an altogether unsettling feeling that threw nature right out the door. Ashley didn't know what she expected to find up there.  Monsters?  Witches?  A portal into Hell itself?  But there could be no going

(click here for previous part) Blackout at Cherry Estates:  Part VII "Make yourselves at home," Travis said, quietly shutting the door behind them.  His apartment was right at the end of the hall on the second floor, outside the staircase where they had found the stretched layer of material that Ashley sincerely hoped wasn't flesh.  Where they had lost Michael. Ashley worriedly regarded Catherine as they bundled into the tight entryway.  She had turned mute, arms