Trucking companies with training programs

I am considering applying for a masters in law studies at asu with an emphasis in construction law. I was wondering if anyone has studied in this program, how’d it go and how did it help your career?

I wanted to thank all the ladies that helped me! I felt so much support that I was able to speak to HR and helped them to get an “investigation” going within the company. Apparently there has already been many complaints against these workers and the HR lady even said they may be able to fire one of them because she has had countless reports of bullying staff into listening to her. This sounds promising and even if my coworker isn’t fired, I’ll be happy with it being talked amongst the higher ups and kept on their radar.:,) I will update more information once it comes in🖤

Contact me to get Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator by chatting me on +44 759 388 2116 on Telegram/Whatsapp.
I have Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator course is one of the best products on how to start a marketing agency.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator includes over 50 hours of step-by-step training covering EVERY aspect of building an agency from scratch. This is almost a plug & play system with enough success stories to back it up! Signing clients, running Facebook ads, building out your team, on-boarding clients, invoicing, sales... this course has everything covered for you.
The topics inside Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator course include:

1. Agency Navigator course Core Curriculum
   
2. Custom E-Learning Platform For Agency Owners
   
3. Financial Planner, Revenue Calculator, Outreach Tracker & More Tools
   
4. Websites Templates, Funnels, Ads & More
   
5. Template Contracts, Sales Scripts, Agreements & More
   

The lessons in Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator will teach you how to:
- Starting Your Agency
- Finding Leads
- Signing Clients
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To get Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator contact me on:
Whatsapp/Telegram: +44 759 388 2116 (Telegram: multistorecourses)
Reddit DM to u/CourseAccess
Email: silverlakestore[@]yandex.com (remove the brackets)

Contact me to get Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator by chatting me on +44 759 388 2116 on Telegram/Whatsapp.
I have Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator course is one of the best products on how to start a marketing agency.
Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator includes over 50 hours of step-by-step training covering EVERY aspect of building an agency from scratch. This is almost a plug & play system with enough success stories to back it up! Signing clients, running Facebook ads, building out your team, on-boarding clients, invoicing, sales... this course has everything covered for you.
The topics inside Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator course include:

1. Agency Navigator course Core Curriculum
   
2. Custom E-Learning Platform For Agency Owners
   
3. Financial Planner, Revenue Calculator, Outreach Tracker & More Tools
   
4. Websites Templates, Funnels, Ads & More
   
5. Template Contracts, Sales Scripts, Agreements & More
   

The lessons in Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator will teach you how to:
- Starting Your Agency
- Finding Leads
- Signing Clients
- Getting Paid
- Onboarding Clients
- Managing Client Communication...
...and much, much more!
To get Iman Gadzhi - Agency Navigator contact me on:
Whatsapp/Telegram: +44 759 388 2116 (Telegram: multistorecourses)
Reddit DM to u/RequestCourseAccess
Email: silverlakestore[@]yandex.com (remove the brackets)

My bag was swiped in the train from Florence to Venice via trenitalia. I put it over my head and assumed it was fine since we were riding business class and it wasn’t crowded. Suddenly, there are a lot of people walking through our cabin. I don’t know why but I get a little suspicious. Then a women bumps her backpack into my face. At some point, they swiped my backpack from the overhead and I didn’t even notice until I got to Venice.
Inside were a white asus laptop, a Fujifilm xt30 camera, 18-55mm lens, orange case retainer, my prescription raybans and an sd card full of memories.
I know I prob won’t ever see my valuables again but I did have other less valuable trinkets in the bag like cartoon keychains and stuff.
If someone finds the bag, please kindly return it to me. I know this was my fault and I should of looped every bag around my body at all times but I obviously didn’t know that the train station was infested with thieves before and that I didn’t just had to be vigilant but had to guard my belongings aggressively 24/7.

Hi everyone! I have been calling around trying to find quotes for geothermal. 2 companies came out and said they couldn’t do it - our yard is too hilly and rocky (I don’t think they drill I think they did horizontal loop). 3 companies don’t serve our area (SW Connecticut). The last is Dandelion, who said they can do it no problem. They’ve been really great with us so far, and we have the final design and are trying to decide whether to pull the trigger and sign. Here is the quote. Note that the house is actually a main house (2400 square feet) and an apartment above the garage (1400 square feet).

1. A 6 ton system for main house $54k
   
2. A 3 ton system for apartment $40k
   
3. Upgrading ductwork (multiple “normal” HVAC contractors said our ductwork was shit too) $9k
   
4. Remove two oil tanks $11k
   
5. Two hot water heaters $10k
   
6. New zoning control board/ additional dampers/ thermostats $4k
   

There are some other small costs added on, as well as some discounts/rebates applied. I’ve dragged them along since March so they keep “finding” additional discounts - we are up to $8k so far. Altogether cost is $110k after the discounts/rebates, which will drop to $83k after the tax credit.
The only other quote we’ve gotten is from a normal HVAC contractor who quoted us $40k for two 3 ton and 2 ton air source heat pumps (which I believe is likely too small) with electric strip aux heating and two new water heaters.
My concerns:

1. Is this a fair price for two geothermal systems?
   
2. Do we actually NEED this system? We only spent about $7k in the last year to heat (with oil) and cool the house (very old AC systems). We use our very large wood stove all winter long and have 13 acres of trees, so we were able to keep our heating costs much lower than Dandelion’s system thought we would’ve used. This makes the “payback” period much longer - even cutting 50% means $3500 a year in savings for an $83k system. Seems a bit whack. On the other hand, we have to buy SOMETHING since our AC systems have used up 8.999999 of their 9 lives.
   
3. They put that they are NOT installing aux heat to avoid me having to pay for a main panel upgrade. They said the system is sized appropriately to not need aux heat but that if we do a main panel upgrade they can add it on later for an additional cost. Is this bullshit? Do we need aux heat? We have the wood stove so in that sense we sort of already have it. On the other hand, we will have to upgrade both electrical panels to put on solar next year soooo.
   

They’ve told us at this point our credits expire today, so moving forward if we don’t sign today we will lose $8k in credits. So the question is - could another geotjermal company do this for much less, and is it worth it to go with geothermal over air source? Thank you!!

Even if you have an existing job, it is an additional job opportunity that you can easily do even in your spare time. Of course, you must have an internet connection and use a mobile or PC.
Corporate companies make this job description under "social media expertise". But me and many of my friends are doing it as social miners on the Dao Labs Social Mining platform. Of course, we all have different areas of expertise and depending on these areas, we also earn additional income by completing the tasks on the same platform. We share all these activities with our followers through our social media accounts.
We don't pay for anything. On the contrary, we get paid according to the quality of the work we do and the interaction we receive.
If you are tempted to earn 10-20 USD per week from a single platform, please leave a comment and I will try to help you as much as I can. If you want to view the official links in person, you can visit the links in my profile.

Heyo! I had some ideas for a few new oaths and wanted to share them.
Lightbearer: You have made a vow with a light keeper, and wield their strength. Through you, they are uncaged.
Requirements: 40 Charisma + vow of mastery
Obtainment: to obtain it you need to enter a lighthouse and talk to a caged lightkeeper, you then deliver a few letters to the npc's family, these letters break when you take damage. After that, you can talk to the npc to get the oath.
Progression: To progress the oath, kill monstrous bosses (such as primadon, kaido or ethiron)

Abilities:

+ 1 combat mantra, + 2 support mantras

Intangible light (mantra) - Become unhittable and heal for 3 seconds, attacking or using another mantra cancels this effect.

Sunlit flare (mantra) - Shoot a ball of light into the air, blinding people around you.

Radiant blade (mantra) - coat your weapon in light, granting you healing on hit and a chance to blind the enemy on hit.

Lightsworn dance (passive) - dodging an attack releases light around you, blinding hit enemies (30 second cooldown)

Blinding waltse (passive) - whenever you blind someone, heal a small amount.

Ingenuitor: You vow to create complex machina with your own hands, to invent more and more complex creations, to push the limit of science and engineering.
Requirements: Unbound intelligence
Obtainment: Have positive summer company rep, then talk to Gunsmith Rosen, he will give you a recipie for an item called ingenious invention, to craft it you need a sulfer bomb, 3 mindbreaking potions and an iron cog (a rare drop from mecha-sharkos). Using the item gives you the oath.
Progression: To progress the oath, make more ingenious inventions and use them.

Abilities:

+1 Wildcard mantra

Summer sentry (mantra) - place down a sentry turret that shoots at enemies, it only works if you have bullets in your inventory (also works with true ether bullets)

Cluster bomb (passive) - gain the ability to create Cluster bombs with sulfer bombs and umbral obsidian, these bombs give a defence debuff to whoever they hit, and apply bleed.

Icebreaker bomb (passive) - gain the ability to create icebreaker bombs with sulfer bombs and 3 frigid prisms, these bombs apply chilled, and negates jumping.

Neuron potion (passive) - gain the ability to create Neuron potions with 2 urchins, and 3 bluecaps. These potions increase your potency by 10% for 1 minute.

Landmine (passive) - gain the ability to create landmines with sulfer bombs and iron. When used, they are planted in the ground until stepped upon, then they will explode.

Inspiration (passive) - gain 25 potency

Bloodripper: You swear yourself to the ministry, to act as it's first line of offence, wielding the power of the 2nd prophet you destroy your enemies with your own blood.
Requirements: 15 willpower, 15 intelligence, 15 fortitude
Obtainment: Have positive ministry reputation, beat chaser and talk to the 2nd prophet, who will offer to "change" you, if you don't have a full blood bar, he will end up killing you, but if you do have a full blood bar, you get the oath.
Progression: To progress the oath kill multiple level 20 players.

Abilities:

+3 combat mantras

Dreadseeker (mantra) - shoot out several bolts of blood from your body, dealing damage to all enemies around you, and applying bleed to both yourself and anyone you hit.

Bloodied burst (mantra) - deal a high amount of damage to anyone around you who is bleeding.

Blood rage (mantra) - gain a large damage boost and restore health and blood on hit, however, your blood bar constantly drains until at 50%

Hemomancy (passive) - Mantras cost less ether to use, but consume a portion of your blood bar, additionally, landing a mantra causes you to gain back the blood that it cost.

Sacrificial artery (passive) - whenever you take bleed damage, gain a damage buff.

Vein eater (passive) - hitting an enemy who is bleeding deals extra damage and restores some blood.

I am going to define capitalism as private property with free markets.
Lets take the example of a small community. There are hunters and tool makers. There are ten people. 2 of them are spear makers, and 8 of them are hunters. In a capitalist system, the capital, the spears would be owned by the makers. They would then sell these to the hunters in exchange for a cut of the food.
Lets expand this community. At a large scale all thats happening is that 5 people group together to make a deal. One of them will make a spear and the other 4 will be hunters and return food. The hope is that for each party they get more then they invested. The hunters invest 8 hours and know that even if they don't return enough to make up for themselves someone else will. Now the worse the hunter, the less they will make as they are less valuable. This creates a system in which the best hunters get the most and best spears and the worst are freed up to do other things.
During a vast surplus, hunters are demanding higher meat wages and better compensation. BlackSpear decides to raise wages as there competition is doing the same. This makes the spear makers upset, and they realize they need to find a way to make spears cheaper and better. Thus they use their surplus to feed people that research better ways to make meat. Lets say these people discover iron. They have just created two new industries for the worst spear makers and the worst hunters. The worst spear makers can be focused on making pixies and the worst hunters can focus on mining the materials.
As time goes on, and the corporations that make iron expand. Now iron is a scarce resource and thus he needs to expand the business to other areas, so one of the pickax makers decides to start insuring the hunts. He says if the hunters don't return any meat he will pay in exchange the spear makers pay a premium. Lets say he calls this company IronCondor. This insurance company needs to be able to guarantee they can buy a certain amount of a good in the future, so bamn you just added a futures and options market. The average person wants to be able to guarantee liquidity, so babm you just created a market maker. People want to be able to get the best price, so then you just created a broker. All of these jobs are created because there are problems, that needed to be solved, and the other jobs were not as good as this one for whoever took it.
This has just created a complex adaptive system based off of 3 groups. Workers, Finances, and owners. Every individual is acting on their own. Some are good, others are evil, but as a whole they create a complex system that breathes and lives.
The owners and finances work together to create a system where capital can be disturbed to the best workers and freeing everyone else up to being able to do jobs that provide the most value to society, and allowing everyone to get to a job where they provide the most value for society. The workers with the financiers create a system in which they determine what commodities are being made and how much the owners has to give to the workers.
None of these groups talk to each other directly, and when they do people don't like it and tend to get mad and want these people to be sent to jail.

We did everything with him. Started training right away as a puppy. Tried a million kinds of treats since he wouldn’t take a majority of them. Worked to desensitize him to everything in the book. Brushed him daily. Took him to the groomers. Spent thousands of dollars and countless hours on training. Tried Prozac with some success but not nearly enough. And yet, here we are.
God, so love this little dog. He’s so fun and cuddly and affectionate 95% of the time. The other 5% I’m terrified of him (despite him being 10 lbs). It’s like a switch flips in his brain and he can no longer control himself. He’s not there- he’s in this crazy aggression mode for no reason (or a very slight reason). My phone falls? Time to be aggressive and bite anyone who dares come near. I brush something from the couch when I think he isn’t around? He’s sprinting to bite me. I smooth out my sheets? I can’t move for 30 minutes otherwise I’ll be attacked. He’s decided biting is his only option despite us doing our best to respect his signals. He will no longer allow brushing. We cant predictably or reliably leash him. We can’t blow our noses. All because of that 5%. I just can’t take it anymore.
Our vet today said there isn’t much else we can do for him and talked about surrendering to a rescue. I’m at a loss. I just want the dog I trained. I hate that his brain does this. I’m just so sad.

Anyone else have problems with ticketmaster today. Error 401 code kept on showing up when I tried to finalize my purchase. I called head office and they blocked the sale of 2 PIT tickets for me because of the technical issues. I paid with an Apple Card ($450), they said the brand new loaded card wasn't valid and they need another $450 loaded on another new card to activate the barcodes for my tickets won't work. Now they have $900 and I have no tickets. What a stupid company sometimes. Did anyone manage to snag Pit tickets for the Chicago show?

⭐️sign up ⭐️enter a challenge & wait for approval (I did the favorite food challenge and posted a plate I ordered at a restaurant, was a video clip btw!)
✨you’ll receive your giftcard within 24hrs, keep an eye out for your email 📧
Join me on Hyype Space to Enter Challenges and Win Prizes: https://www.hyype.space/invite/ce0e2aca423b

I'm working on creating a pair of field phones for a training I'm putting on at work. I purchased two v-tech corded phones (had difficulty finding old phones to repurpose, unfortunately) and wired in 9 volts of batteries and a 300 ohm resistor. They work great. You can talk over the phones like normal.
I am looking to add an audible signal that one phone is calling the other. Making the ringer work would be much more complicated and with higher voltage requirements, I understand. I'm able to find a connection that is powered only under the correct circumstances at about 5.5v. It will light up a red LED but doesn't seem to have enough current to power a piezo buzzer. I'm having difficulty even getting a current reading with a multimeter, it's so low.
My question is - can I use a capacitor in some fashion to "pulse" the piezo buzzer?
I tried to search the internet, but I may be using the wrong terms because I wasn't having luck. I'm a novice with electronics and I apologize if this question is simple. Thank you in advance.

So I wasn't able to watch the newest episode yet, but I saw that it was about Lego again. So I thought it be important to say something LEGO SUUUUUUCKS Like I mean the company, not the bricks, I myself looove the bricks more than anything, but Lego is just so overpriced and honestly their quality also decreased a lot. For example the Republic gunship, at Lego it is 400€(I'm from Germany so idk how much that is in us money) and then you compare that with for example the Republic gunship from Mould King, which is 281€ on yourwobb.com, I'm sure you can get it somewhere else even cheaper, but yourwobb.com is my go to website for alt bricks since they offer free shipping on everything. And at first it might not seem like that big of a difference, but then you look at the pieces and Lego has around 3300 pieces, but the Mould King one has over 8000!!! And now you might think oh well the quality probably isn't that great, but no Mould King uses Gobricks bricks, which are imo even better than what Lego makes atm. Like it just makes me kinda angry how dumb Lego things their customers are and in recent years their prices have just exploded to the max. The only thing that Lego still has are licensed products and obviously brands like Mould King don't have that, but yeah there also are so many great unlicensed products out there too. And one other thing with Lego is, even if you decide to pay the "premium Lego price", they still try everything to keep costs as low as possible, be it hiding all types of different unnecessary colours inside their sets or just saving away all the motors and stuff like that, or also just using as less bricks as possible. Let's take modular buildings for example Lego modulars are expensive, but only the ground floor is entirely tiled, they are too cheap for adding tiling to the other floors, now one of my favourite sets, the museum by mork, it has 4 floors and all of them are tiled and super detailed and I only paid a fraction of what I would have to pay for a Lego set. And one final example than I'll stop writing I recently got a train from mould king and it was 80€ for 2400 pieces which isn't the cheapest, buttttt I got so many extras, like lighting kit, a motor, a lithium battery pack and even a fucking steamer, like the train can go Choo Choo and make steam. At Lego I would have to pay extra for all of these things So yeah take the yellow pill, escape the Lego world and just see that there are soooo many better products out there I would start by looking through yourwobb.com, but there are many other sites which I don't know the names off atm

Coming face to face with people in suits always makes me hyper-aware of how badly I dress. Since I knew I was going to meet up with Mary Markov today, I intentionally put some more effort into my appearance. I picked out a pressed shirt to wear over my leggings. Since it was far too big for me, I threw my wide yellow belt into the mix. Thus satisfied, I called up Elijah Carter and asked whether he wanted to come along. He agreed readily enough so I had him pick me up and drive us over to Mary's office. It was nowhere near the hospital and not in the vicinity of her news channel headquarters either. It was located in a slate gray concrete building that was quite confusing to look at.
No outside observer could have mistaken it for a residential house, for there was hardly a less homely or comfortable place imaginable. It was utterly repellent in its rough, dreary nature. It couldn't have belonged to some kind of business either, though. There were no marked parking spaces for employees, no signs or advertisements. Altogether, it reminded me of something out of a cheap or unfinished video game.
"Sketchy," Eli remarked, eyeing the slab of concrete with a similar lack of enthusiasm. "Looks almost abandoned. How weirdly fitting for a semi-secret government operation."
I nodded. The warm air had taken me by surprise and I found the weight of my jacket suffocating, so I took it off to leave in the car. "What is it?" I asked, noticing the way Elijah squinted at my outfit.
"What are you wearing?"
"Clothes."
"You don't say." He snorted. "Looking kinda funny there, Shirley."
"I look professional," I corrected him.
"I suppose." He grinned to himself. "Depends on the profession, though."
We rang the bell and a highly official-looking security guard let us in through the heavy double doors after confirming that Mary Markov was expecting us. He gave the necessary directions, sending us down several flights of stairs. The better part of the building was in fact underground, like with an iceberg. Eli made a remark about how it'd be safer if outsiders weren’t allowed to roam the place by themselves. It seems to be a habit of his to vaguely analyze and point out flaws in the structures of government institutions. Then again, maybe it's just flaws in general he's fascinated with.
Upon arriving outside Mary's office, we were called inside to find her sitting behind her desk. She lifted her head, giving us a polite, if cold, smile. "Good morning. You're on time. Wonderful."
"Would you please give me an honest appraisal of my outfit?" I asked.
The newsreader frowned in confusion, her eyes briefly roaming my form. "You put effort into your appearance today," she concluded. "It's appreciated."
"Wait, what do you mean today?" I inquired.
"Note also how she did not actually answer your question," Elijah added.
I huffed, flinging myself into one of the chairs in front of Mary's desk. Eli sat down beside me, folding his hands in his lap and leaning back. "Thanks for letting me come with Shirley," he told her.
"Naturally. I assume you're her emotional support human." Mary Markov's lips curled slightly. "At any rate, you had contact with the Collective yourself, so this does concern you. As far as I'm concerned, it can't hurt having an ex-cop in the mix, anyways. Despite the regrettable reasons you had for leaving the force."
Elijah's brows lowered, the muscle in his pronounced jaw twitching. "How do you know about that?"
Mary looked innocent. "It's very important that I'm fully informed, of course. Don't worry. We don't need to go into it, and I don't judge you, either. The effect the incident at that highschool had on you is completely understandable."
"I didn't ask for your assessment." My friend's voice had sharpened. "Can we move on from this?"
"Of course." If the sudden shift in tone had rattled the agent, she wasn't letting it on. Sifting through the neat stack of papers on her desk, she pulled out a thin brown file which she slid over to me. "Miss Shirley, you remember the female member of the Collective we took into custody? She has already been questioned by the local police. Unfortunately, I don't have the authority to lead such an interrogation, but I was present for it and I want you to have this transcript."
I perked up and began leafing through the folder.
"You may take that with you to read in peace," Mary told me. "But don't expect too much, lest you'll be sorely disappointed. The girl hardly said anything at all. The most helpful information she gave us was a name she kept referencing. Jewel. At first, we thought it was a sort of code word, but it seems to be what the other person she was with calls themself."
“Jewel,” I echoed.
“Sadly enough, that’s all we have. We’ve never provided our services to anyone of their physical description. There are a couple clues, but they don’t amount to anything helpful. There’s the fact that you met them at a convenience store with relatively high prices. Maybe I’m just grasping at straws, but that could indicate a cushy financial situation. On top of that, the store is rather far away from here, so they might be an out-of-towner. They also might be able to influence the way others perceive them, considering the way they seemed to hypnotize you in the woods merely by holding eye contact.”
“How come they couldn’t do anything to Frank Preston?”
Mary Markov twinkled at me. “They couldn’t? Huh. That rather intrigues the philosopher in me. Jewel works through eye contact and it is said that the eyes are the window to the soul.” She cocked her head at me.
“Are you saying Blondie doesn’t have a soul?” Eli asked, raising a skeptical brow. “Is this one of those Plato-Schopenhauer-whatevers?”
The newsreader shrugged artfully, watching my reaction. “We could discuss this for hours on end. I only meant to draw attention to the implied distinction between an organically born entity and a being who was originally an inanimate object.”
“I beg your pardon?” I said slowly.
“Oh, nevermind; that’s neither here nor there.” Her tone told me that she did, in fact, consider it to be both here and there. Not wanting to go further into this with her, I made a mental note to ask Frankie later.
“There’s more,” I added, trying to gently prepare her for what I was about to say. “I want to get Kit Sutton back.”
Mary’s lips thinned. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t mean for the town to get flooded in the process. I think we can find a solution to help her, if we work together. I’m convinced we can figure something out, but I don’t believe in abandoning her anymore. Which is essentially what we’re doing if we leave her to her fate.”
“You do realize what you’re asking of me? Your former roommate isn’t some kind of minor water spirit. Her father appears to hold tremendous power over the seas, or at the very least our part of it. He has countless similarly dangerous individuals at his service so he might be considered a ruler of sorts, if not a deity.”
“So Kit’s the little mermaid, basically?” Elijah asked, equal parts joking and genuinely intrigued.
Mary grinned an actual, amused grin. “I must ask you to take this seriously, Mr Carter.”
“I am!” he chuckled, raising his hands. “I swear.”
“Anyways, Miss Shirley, the point you make is an individualistic one, but I see why you’re invested in the girl’s fate. I want to help, I do… But we need to proceed with caution. If you can suggest to me some kind of sensible approach, then I’ll do what I can. That’s all the promises I can make at the moment.”
I thanked her and got up, Eli following me as I headed for the door. “Miss Shirley,” Mary called out and I stopped, turning back around to face her. “If you like my style, we could perhaps meet up to go shopping sometime? I could show you some quality stores. It wouldn’t be anytime soon since I’m currently swamped, but I figure—well, just in case you might like to.”
I nodded. “That sounds pleasant enough.”
She smiled brightly and waved us out the door. “Excellent. I’ll be in touch.”
Back inside the car, I tossed the file onto the backseat to read later. “Would you like to go to the beach?” I suggested.
“Why not. Wait, is this for a stroll and ice cream or do you want to kickstart the mermaid-rescue-operation?”
“I can’t see why it shouldn’t be both,” I replied comfortably. “We’ll need to take your flashlight, though.”
"You know I don't like getting myself into trouble unless it's paid."
"Yes, but you also find me endearing and want to protect me from danger, which you can only do by accompanying me."
"You're a terrifying tentacle beast from another dimension. I don't know that I'm all that scared for your safety," he grunted.
I gave him an affronted look. "You have now hurt my feelings."
"Have I?"
"Plenty, but I'll forgive you if you come with me."
Elijah Carter sighed deeply but started driving anyway. I let my arm dangle out of the open window, allowing the warming spring air to wash over my skin. The closer we got to the shore, the stronger the scent of salt mixed into the breeze. The cries of seagulls became audible over the sounds of the road and the streaming wind and was finally joined by the crashing of waves when we pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. Taking along the heavy duty flashlight he always kept in the passenger seat footwell, I led Eli to the mouth of the cave, explaining what Nettie and I had seen along the way. He looked commendably calm, simply turning on the torch and entering alongside me.
The tunnels were just as damp, dim and quiet as the last time. Before long, we had reached the spacious canyon room with the lake at the bottom. "I want to go across and see if there's anything important in the rest of the grotto back there," I reminded him. "Please hold on to your bearings."
"I'm not repeating your mistakes," he replied gamely. "What do you think? This oughta be connected to the ocean somehow." He let the beam of the torch roam the mirror-like surface of the lake. It seemed almost deceptively quiet. My eyes followed the lengthy stone ledge. Eli stepped close, and after receiving a nod of approval, he grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me onto the rocky protrusion. I straightened up, instantly pressing my back against the wall. A wave of nausea hit me as I glanced at the water below. "Chill," Elijah muttered, climbing after me with ease. "Nothing will happen. You're not gonna fall."
I merely shook my head. "You didn't see what's down there."
"And I won't, because we'll be careful," he answered steadfastly.
I started walking, the warm light of the torch upon my back, illuminating the path ahead. The shelf narrowed as we reached the end. I swiftly clambered down, relieved to place my feet on wider, solid ground once more. Now looking over the lake from the other side, it had an entirely different feel to it. It seemed darker somehow, but also less big—I attributed it to the change in perspective. We were standing in a cramped little nook with two passageways leading off into separate directions behind us. Elijah Carter eyed them pensively. “Which do you reckon?”
I pursed my lips. “The right one. Because it’s right.”
“Makes sense.”
We proceeded into the passage, the tight space pushing us closer together. He had to duck his head, uncomfortably hunching his shoulders, and for once, I was grateful for my own short stature. The corridor seemed to go on forever. The darkness and silence created a feel of unnatural solitude, and for more than once, I got the distinct impression that I must have jumped dimensions again. It was as though Elijah and I were enclosed in some kind of bubble, cut off from everything outside; a place where time was a foreign concept and the only sun was our flashlight. Needless to say, I was distinctly uneasy. I allowed myself to lean back, brushing against Eli’s chest whenever I could. Eventually, I cleared my throat.
“Could you touch me?”
“What?”
“Just so I still know you’re there.”
His palm came to rest on my shoulder, his thumb digging into one of the tense, painfully rigid muscles of my upper back, forcing it to soften. “Good?”
“Yes, thank you.”
He hummed. “You’re scared.”
“Yes.”
“Me, too.”
This caused my resolve to falter. “Maybe we should turn around after all,” I said quietly. “Who knows how much longer—”
“Look.”
I perked up. Before us, the tunnel grew wider, opening into a large, spacious room. We picked up our pace, tackling the remaining distance in a light jog, and finally found ourselves standing in another hall. The beam of light traveled the floor and high walls, revealing a sight that took our breath away. We were standing in front of another lake, only slightly smaller than the last. The water glittered in violet hues and strange, pale plants climbed up the walls, some of them looking rather like starfish. Multiple rocky protrusions formed an almost complete bridge across its middle. With a bit of light climbing, we'd undoubtedly be able to get to the other side. Wordlessly, Elijah Carter swung himself up onto the platform closest to the edge of the water, pulling me up after him. The flashlight switched hands a couple times as we maneuvered ourselves along.
Soon, we reached the middle of the lake. I risked a glance at the water below. All was still and perfectly quiet. Eli was about to take on the next rock when suddenly, I felt something heavy and gooey drip onto my head from above. I flinched, then slowly pointed the torch up to the ceiling. My stomach dropped. My throat had turned paper-dry, and I frantically tugged on Eli’s arm. He tipped his head back, following my pointing finger. His eyes blew wide and his face fell.
There was a creature clinging to the high walls, its pale, enormous body describing a streamline curve as it pressed itself against the hollowed stone. The closest thing I can compare it to would be a sort of olm, except probably a hundred times larger. Its snout looked large enough to swallow either of us whole. It hung open, secreting a thick fluid that slowly dripped down to hit the rocks or create ripples upon the water. Its blind eyes seemed to be trained on us, and I could spot tiny, sharp teeth lining its maw. It wasn’t moving, not even an inch, but somehow, I knew it was aware of us.
I looked up at Elijah, the panic in his eyes mirroring mine. Both of us had freezed up mid-motion, not daring to take another step. My mind was running wild; I was thinking feverishly. We’d have to turn around for sure, but how? The olm was already highly alert, if we were to start scrambling back to solid ground, it would undoubtedly hear us straight away. Eli looked equal parts terrified and furious, and I could tell he was scolding himself for not thinking to check the entirety of the room before proceeding across the lake. I could understand the sentiment, we’d definitely made a grave mistake. I figured it had been the misleading beauty of the cave hall that had taken our edge off. Glancing over into the direction we’d come from, I found myself wishing to be back in the endless dark corridor. The entrance to the passage seemed miles away.
The olm lifted a three-toed foot, shifting its massive form to a lower spot on the wall. It was taking a tentative step towards us, extending its snout as its body bent into our direction. Elijah had grabbed onto my arm, his fingers clamping around it like a vice. He stayed silent and unmoving, but he held my gaze with clear, sharp eyes.
“Don’t move,” I mouthed, and he gave me a curt nod.
Slowly, I reached around to push my shirt out of the way of my unfurling tentacles. Elijah took a quiet step back to make room for my changing form, something of a resolute expression settling on his face. I opened my mouth, relieved when my teeth acted according to my will and elongated. I didn’t know to what extent I would be able to defend against this absolute giant of an amphibian, but at least it would give us a chance. I took a deep breath, trading glances with Eli once more before darting off to the side, bounding onto the platform next to our current one. Elijah followed suit, grabbing onto one of the limbs I extended to him for support. Despite the swiftness of our movements, we were anything but quiet, and the olm reacted in an instant. It slithered down from the wall, sinking into the lake below to make its way to the rocks we were standing on. As we headed for the next stone, it darted out of the water, splashing wildly as its snout breached the surface. Its jaws snapped at us, missing me by a mere foot as I jumped across the gap between the protrusions. Droplets flew as the creature dropped once more, but instead of retreating, it swam around the platform. Its massive, snake-like body was bobbing up and down as it circled us.
“Oh fuck,” Elijah breathed, his chest heaving. “Keep going! Move, move!”
I took a short running start, then flung myself onto the next rock, using my extra limbs to land safely. I then helped him cross again. The olm rose from the depths of the lake once again, and I lashed at it with one of my tentacles, hitting it on the snout and forcing it to dive underwater again. We kept working our way back towards the other side of the lake, slipping and sliding as we went. The water surrounding us seemed to hum with unrestrained energy, the white salamander’s tail whipping up waves and splashing around. We were finally getting close to solid ground again, or at least it looked like we were for a moment. That’s when the creature took a massive leap, draping itself over the final stepping stone, effectively blocking our path.
“Shit,” Eli hissed beside me as we came to a skittering halt.
I’d have to try and fight this thing. There was no way around it now. I clenched my sweat-laced palms into fist, trying to slow my rapid, shallow breaths. I can do this, I said to myself. All I’d have to do is send it back into the lake for long enough so we could run back into the tunnel. There was no way the olm would fit through the passage—once we were in there, we’d be relatively safe. I stared at the dripping, writhing animal; stared at its bared needle teeth, and the less hopeful, more realistic part of my brain told me that I would, indeed, probably not be able to do this. Just as I was contemplating the degree of our screwed-ness, an unseen someone called out from behind us. I didn’t understand a word they were saying, but I recognized the language, and more importantly, the voice.
It was bright as a bell, girlish but with a rough, warm edge. Even before I could turn to face her, I knew who it was.
The gigantic amphibian perked up at the sound, lowering its head and withdrawing into the murky depths with a splash. Elijah Carter let go of a long-held breath, dropping his shoulders before tensing up again, realization setting in. He shot me a look of utter disbelief.
“Wow,” the newcomer spoke up again, this time not in the tongue of the deep ones. “You two have to be actually crazy or something to show up here.”
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves
19: shopping cart