GHOSTS IN QUICKSILVER
‘Ghosts in Quicksilver’ is an urban fantasy detective noir following 17-year-old Jamal as she tries to solve the first case she’s ever been offered – a missing-persons case that she already knows is a murder mystery. It soon spins out of her control and out of her hands, as it’s made abundantly clear that not only is she not the only freak in Ottawa – she’s far from the biggest or the baddest.
This webnovel is part of the Alkimia Fables universe; read about it here.
General warnings: ‘Ghosts in Quicksilver’ will contain violence, dead bodies, scenes alluding to sexual violence, and in-depth discussions of physical, emotional and sexual violence and abuse. Additionally, on a thematic level, it touches on both internalized and structural racism, cultural separation/alienation, “third culture”/diaspora feelings, prison justice and mental health stigma. No explicit sexual scenes will be written for this story.
Support Ghosts in Quicksilver on Patreon here!
Chapters
BOOK ONE: SALT
(Book One can also be bought in print here, downloaded as a PDF/EPUB/MOBI here, or read on AO3 here.)
Chapter One: The Vanishing of Mr. Chaudhury
Chapter Two: Dearly Reluctant Departed
Chapter Three: Unknown Variables
Chapter Four: The Lebreton Dead
Chapter Five: Green Eyed Monster
Chapter Six: Thinking Loudly
Chapter Seven: Pretending to be Normal
Chapter Eight: The Stranger
Chapter Nine: Once More For Clarity
Chapter Ten: The Back and Forth
INTERLUDE ONE: Nach Vorn
Chapter Eleven: A Little Fucked Up
Chapter Twelve: Avoiding the Question
Chapter Thirteen: Chasing the Threads
Chapter Fourteen: Thief
Chapter Fifteen: Ophis
Chapter Sixteen: The Girl in the Empty Classroom
Chapter Seventeen: Strangers Like Me
Chapter Eighteen: God’s Children
Chapter Nineteen: Honour the Dead
Chapter Twenty: Heartbeats Between the Match and the Fire
BOOK TWO: SULFUR
(Book Two can also be bought in print here, downloaded as an EPUB/PDF/MOBI here, or read on AO3 here.)
Chapter One: A River In Egypt
Chapter Two: Bleedover
Chapter Three: Be Gay Do Crimes
Chapter Four: Behind Closed Doors
Chapter Five: Action-Reaction
Chapter Six: Cognitive Dissonance
Chapter Seven: Quicksilver
Chapter Eight: Dreams of Falling
Chapter Nine: Shelter Me
Chapter Ten: …With Good Intentions
INTERLUDE TWO: WECHSELBALG
Chapter Eleven: The Road To Hell…
Chapter Twelve: Partitions
Chapter Thirteen: Heavy the Heads
Chapter Fourteen: The Enemy in the Mirror
Chapter Fifteen: Ultraviolet
Chapter Sixteen: Sympathy for the Devil
Chapter Seventeen: Bad Medicine
Chapter Eighteen: What Big Teeth You Have
Chapter Nineteen: What We Owe To Each Other
Chapter Twenty: The Forest Between The Trees
BOOK THREE: MERCURY
Chapter One: Fractured Shadows (August 8th, 2022)
Chapter Two: Turn of the Screw (August 22nd)
Chapter Three: In The Valley of the Shadow of Death
AFTER THE RAIN AND RUIN
‘After the Rain and Ruin’ is a weekly-updating Patreon serial following Willow and Cassandra prior to the events of GIQ. [Currently on temporary hiatus.]
Subscribe to the Patreon here!
TRIGGER WARNINGS: After the Rain and Ruin is a very, very dark story. So, a non-exhaustive list of expected trigger warnings: incest/sibling sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, drug abuse/overdose, death, murder, body horror, severe injuries, gun violence, delusions/hallucinations/unreality, difficult family relationships, unsafe/risky sex work, self-harm and attempted suicide. While some chapters will have trigger warnings for some things, because of the brevity of the chapters, I’ve mostly tried to put them here and let the chapters operate on their own.
About AtRaR:
It’s March 2013, and Cassandra Angevin has just shown up at her estranged twin sister’s door smelling of smoke and walking on a broken ankle. It’s happened bit by bit, but now everybody in their family is dead… except for them. They’re all the other has left.
Learning how to like each other is easier said than done, though. The weight of their history is more than any one person can bear, but their ghosts have teeth, and kindness is easier from strangers than it is from someone you used to love.
01. PROLOGOS: HOUSE OF TANTALUS
stories begin and end with scripts ˑ do you miss me ˑ the watchman
(Untitled 1 – Keane)
PART ONE: ATREIDES
1.1 – Cassandra: Two Halves
the unbelieved prediction ˑ the unforeseen future ˑ the unexpected inevitable
(Alteration – Watchdog Reset)
1.2 – Calypso: Lessons for 21st Century Nobility
children should be seen not heard ˑ what is love without fear ˑ what is fear without love
(Honeythief – Halou)
1.3 – Cassandra: A Room Of One’s Own
a gap a thousand words too wide ˑ over and out and stop ˑ a settling
(Losing the Light – Explosions in the Sky)
1.4 – Cassandra: Two Pieces
in which we are more than reflections ˑ the past is the present is the past is forever ˑ we can’t all be hayley mills
(Taikatalvi (Instrumental) – Nightwish)
1.5 – Willow: Anglerfish
willow meets avery ˑ small hours of the morning ˑ taxis flock to the byward market
(The Dead Guy I Found Frozen Behind Westcoast Video – Hot Sugar)
1.6 – Willow: Ten Minutes
Familiarity breeds ˑ phantom limb feelings ˑ a silence unbroken
(Black Lines – 1 Mile North)
1.7 – Cassandra: Blood in the Water
I could have been braver ˑ I could have been smarter ˑ lock it up and forget why it matters
(Depraved Heart Murder at Sanitarium Square – Repo! The Genetic Opera)
1.8 – Cassandra: And Then There Were None
survivor’s guilt ˑ never never call me brave ˑ nobody wants this
(Endless Forms Most Beautiful – Trevor Yuile)
1.9 – Willow: The Shadow You Cast
jason, named for the argonauts ˑ the firstborn and second gone ˑ in which we give you more credit than you’ve ever deserved
(Bratja – Michiru Oshima)
1.10 – Cassandra: Sure
In which we hide from consequences ˑ tell me the truth ˑ cassandra should be leaving
(Derse Dreamers – Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri)
1.11 – Willow: Angelus
willow loses three days of her life ˑ feat. mania’s sense of dramatic timing ˑ going into the light is harder than it sounds
(Stress – Justice)
1.12 – Avery: Capitol After Midnight
second meeting ˑ an urban quietude ˑ remember this
(Jean-Michel Blais – blind (CRi remix)
1.13 – Cassandra: Levitations
high in the sky or deep in the ocean ˑ the chrysalis metamorphic ˑ would you like to see a magic trick?
(Lapis Philosophorum (Piano Solo) – Akira Senju)
1.14 – Alexander: Little Monster
a ghost too scared for a grave ˑ only the good die young ˑ what innocence? fuck you.
(We Meet Helena – Trevor Yuile)
1.15 – Willow: Ghost in the Neurons
gunshot victims ˑ do you believe in ghosts (sometimes) ˑ the bullet he swallowed
(The Winter Soldier – Henry Jackman)
1.16 – Willow: Easy to Die
after the eclipse and before the flood ˑ history makes all outcomes certain ˑ suicide isn’t painless.
(Imagoró by The Creatures)
1.17 – Cassandra: Irreal
We are dreaming. we are dreaming. we are dreaming ˑ what you cannot feel cannot hurt you ˑ what cannot touch you cannot sting
(Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, by Arvo Pärt, Angèle Dubeau and La Pietà)
1.18 – Ceann: The Watcher
the once-exiled rider ˑ all roads are pathways ˑ what will you trade
(Brian Boru’s March by Loreena McKennit)
1.19 – Willow: Princess, Knight, Dragon
fairy tales have no room for me ˑ jay like the bird, willow like the tree ˑ other girls get their jewels
(Dancing by Jeff Russo)
Elliott Dunstan 