As I read your story, I could visualize every scene and emotion so clearly it felt cinematic. That inspired me to ask: what if we turned it into a comic? I'm a professional digital artist and I take commissions. If you're interested feel free to contact me on Discord: avenia_draws

In Homer's "The Odyssey,"  Ulysses had been similarly limited in his two choices; either Scylla or Charybdis.

English translation:  emo-crap runs downhill.

Something tells me he's gonna help her put the "naughty" in "nautical."

Very solid depiction of a lopsided relation between two damaged indyviduals. Olivia's actions are despicable, no matter what her past experiences might have been. She completely disregards Andy's humanity and treats him with casual cruelty. Traumatic events are catalysts and bring forth our true selves; only a truly vile person would condemn another the way she did.

Andy is (probably) less at fault for his current predicament, as seeking help and being honest about basic facts is a rational stance when faced with unexplainable phenomenon. He found some resolve, but will it be enough to change anything?

So, the little guy was overcompensating, too?  By being too submissive out of the mistaken belief that he'd been too controlling with Tiffany? 

So, on one side, we have Andy.  Gilted at the altar by a female commitment-phobe.(too often considered a male monopoly) named Tiffany.   And, on the other, we have Olivia.  Whose recent desertion by her domineering unfaithful ex-boyfriend has left her feeling understandably bitter and over-compensatory.*

And what brought them together?  A strange object on the beach.  Could it have been some kind of extra-terrestrial, A.I. space probe that crashed to Earth on the southern California coast in pre-Columbian times?  What Giorgio Tsoukalos might call the "ancient astronaut version of a genie in a bottle?"

Only the subsequent posting of chapter ten (the same number as the amount of points I just awarded this story) might answer that for us.   See you then.

*English translation: once bitten/thrice-shy!

WOW! Great story so far, this last chapter is fantastic. I look forwards to see where you go with it.

Damn that was a nice little twist there in the end that I wasn’t expecting. Enjoying the story a lot so far and really wanna see how these characters play out since they both seem a bit ‘fractured’ on the inside.

Wow, I hope the two of them kiss and cuddle, and that Andy is allowed to sleep between Olivia's breasts at night and that she lets him cuddle on top of her belly.