Post by alex on Jan 25, 2011 9:48:15 GMT -5
Yeah, I know. The title sucks ass.
Anyway, I figured that I should have a thread where I could put all my writing updates and little short stories and whatever I come up with. This won't be updated on a specific time, it'll probably just be updated whenever I write something. You'll find my old NaNo here, The Dark Gift and other little story ideas that I have in mind. Whenever I have the time (I am writing right now, so, probably after that) I will update with a few chapters here and there. So, welcome to Alex's writing central!
Our December End (My NaNoWriMo '10):
Prologue
Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I can really use a wish right now.
On the third day of December there was nothing in the world but destruction. That is the only way to explain it.
The surroundings were completely silent as a slim female figure stepped closer to the narrow edge in front of her. Our world had always been the most beautiful thing, because we were all connected to it on so many different levels. The beings you all called “Gods”, not even they were as majestic as the world around us.
The women watched the world from a distance, her long curls blowing behind her. She ignored the storm, the ice winds, that had traveled together with, what surely was the end of everything. Her expression was blank as she saw our world in pain; she had definitely not expected to react this way. The feelings overwhelmed her, but one emotion stood out: the loneliness. She had never felt this helpless.
Below her, the ocean devoured the land while the earth itself slowly died. Every plant, every tree, every essence of life disappeared before her very eyes. Those things that managed to not drown or get crushed as the mountains fell on top of the land were quickly being destroyed by the diseases and plagues that were spreading like an epidemic. Along with the ruins of the world we knew; the howling spirits, banished from the underworld after the death of their master, endlessly hovered above our heads. It was simply destruction.
She looked down at the pile of blood covering her feet. A blood trail leads off to the edge in front of her.
“Coward,” she spat out.
He did not even have the guts to see what he had caused. The women could not help but wonder if he had redeemed his cause worthy of the consequences? He had finally gotten his revenge; but was it enough? Had he forgiven himself for the sins he had committed? The horrible nightmares of his dead family, the nightmares that had driven him mad… were they replaced with new nightmares? It was too late to ask questions now. He was gone and he had been determined to bring the world with him.
The memories of her family stalked the edge of her mind, continuing to remind her how all of them had been destroyed by his death grip. The Gods were dead and she was left with nothing. They had never prepared for this because a God was immortal. Or so they had believed.
Kratos was dead, yet she felt as if he stood in front of her; with his sword raise, ready to strike. He would kill her, just like he killed the rest. Her death would not be directly caused by him but he put the world in this state and as she watched it die, she knew that she was going down with it. Aphrodite… the only God alive, but for how long?
All the pure Gods were gone, so there was no one to bring the world back to the condition it had been in. Aphrodite’s expression did not change as she saw a new wave hit the earth, probably killing thousands of people. It was spreading, she knew that much. The humans… they were lost. She could not save them. Her foot touched the blood again, smearing it across the ground.
“Kratos,” she mumbled. “A mortal God.”
She gasped suddenly, everything becoming clear. The Demigods.
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Starting from here, let us make a promise: you and me, let us just be honest. We are going to run, nothing can stop us not even the night that falls all around us.
Why were people screaming?
Zehra rolled over and felt her nose crush against… cold stone floor? Her eyes burst open just as she heard quiet sobs. Despite her eyes being wide open, it did not help at all because she was blindfolded.
The screams for help had faded away and now you could hear the quiet sounds, people moving positions, someone coughing and the mellow buzzing of a lonely fly.
Reality hit Zehra like a brick wall. She jerked up into a sitting position, realizing that her feet and hands were tied, making it impossible to stand up.
“Hello?” she said cautiously and then listened to her voice echo. Hello… hello… hello…
“Help!” Another voice called from a distance. It was followed by other calls for aid.
“They have been calling for hours,” another voice whispered. It was a lot closer than the other voices. “Most people have stopped screaming, but I think new people are starting to come around, hence the new screaming.”
“Where are we?” Zehra asked, her voice shaking slightly.
“I don’t know. I’m blindfolded.”
“Me too.” “So am I.” “Same here.”
Zehra turned her head automatically as voices answered her from every direction.
“Be quiet!” A panicked voice hissed. “We do not know where they are.”
“Where who are?” Zehra asked, turning her head to the left. That voice was the closest one; it was almost, if not completely, directly to her left side.
“Whoever took us—“ The person stopped mid-sentence with a gasp just as a big noise erupted through the room. It continued for many seconds, everyone in the room holding their breaths.
“You can remove their blindfolds now.”
Within a second, everything was exposed.
“Are they all awake?” The female voice asked but Zehra was not paying attention any more. Her blindfold had fallen off and slowly fell to the floor when it suddenly transformed into a snake. She watched with horror as it meandered through the crowd. Different screams caused Zehra to turn her head, finally taking in the situation.
They were in a big room with no windows. The floor was made of rock, the walls were made of rock and the ceiling, high above their heads, was made of rock. Different colored orbs floating along the walls were the only source of light. There were people both sitting and lying on the floor, just like Zehra was but she had not realized that there were so many of them. They were just teenagers and young adults but there were at least 50 of them. Each and every single one looked just as confused as Zehra felt.
“This one is still passed out,” a husky voice called from the other side of them room. Zehra turned her head again, toward the man or, what she had thought was a man. His body was covered in hair, like fur, and his pupils were not circular. They were more like a cat.
“It is a werewolf,” someone whispered; followed by many gasps. “I’ve read about them. They just exist in mythologies, how is this possible?”
Their discussion was cut short as the female voice spoke up again.
“Pick her up then, if you’d please, we really need to move on to the next room,” she said. The people around Zehra turned to look at the female who seemed to be some kind of boss and Zehra did the same, her head cocked to the side as she observed the women from a far. She was very thin and she had a glow about her, lighting up the air around her. Her hair was extremely long, down to her waist and it was pink. Not hot pink, definitely not, but it was a soft baby pink and it framed her triangular face perfectly. She smiled at them, her big green eyes lit up as long eyelashes surrounded both of them. She was the definition of a girly girl, almost too feminine. She was absolutely beautiful.
Zehra was pulled out of her thoughts as the werewolf guy passed her by, but it was not him that caught her attention. A flash of something golden made her turn her head.
“Hayley!” she screamed, not being able to control herself. She tried to stand up, only to fall down and hit the floor - hard - as she had not remembered that her hands and feet were still tied.
“Stay still. Do not be stupid and get yourself hurt,” the women said with a surprisingly soft tone.
“What is he going to do to her?” Zehra replied, her eyes focused on Hayley’s lifeless face.
“He is only carrying her in to the other room. It’s not like she can walk by herself.” With that last sentence said, the women apparently decided that the conversation was over as she turned to the big wooden door behind her. It was half-open, but Zehra could not see who was on the other side.
“Release them please,” the women said. A slight hissing sound spread across the room before the rope like objects dropped to the ground; just like the blindfolds had, before turning into snakes. This time though, no one reacted to the snakes. Instead most of them jumped to their feet, a few of them even taking a few steps toward the women.
“I would not do that if I were you,” she said with a silky voice. “We do not want to hurt you.” As she spoke the last few words, the huge door behind her slowly started to open. As it cracked open Zehra watched it, feeling the thick tension in the room. The girl in front of her, and many others, staggered backwards as the door revealed was behind it. Monsters… mythological, fake monsters used by fantasy authors all around the world. But they all walked or slithered into the room taking a place behind the women with pink hair. They were real.
One monster, which Zehra recognized, was like a snake but she had an upper-body like a women. Her eyes were bright yellow, her pupils kind of like the werewolf except that they were more similar to a reptile, and her hair were a nest of snakes, acting like strands of her hair. It was Medusa.
“Come on, move into the next room.” No one moved an inch.
“Move or die,” she added. “I hate to do it, but you are no use to me if you do not cooperate.”
Zehra was one of the first people to move toward the entrance. Not because the woman’s threat scared her, but because Hayley was already in that room. Zehra had to make sure that she was okay, because she definitely hadn’t looked like it as that monster carried her away. As she entered the new room the previous room seemed like a dirty, old closet compared to it. It was fucking huge! Twenty meters to the ceiling, at least, and it had big church-like windows but the glass wasn’t painted; it was clear. Zehra couldn’t help but wonder what purpose the windows had, because outside of them there was a big wall of stone. No light could shine it, so they were obviously just for decoration. Pointless.
There were colorful orbs in this room, too; but Zehra didn’t bother checking out the rest of the surroundings; she was already kneeling down next to Hayley.
“Wake up, Hale,” she mumbled. Hayley’s eyes did not even flicker. Zehra lowered her ear above her girlfriend’s mouth, holding her own breath as she sat still for a few seconds. Finally, Hayley exhaled and Zehra couldn’t help but sigh with relief. At least she was alive.
People were moving around them now, sitting down along the walls of the room, making Zehra realize that she was sitting in the middle of the huge chamber. She carefully put her arm around Hayley’s waist, lifting her up – well, trying to. She put all her strength into that one lift, which caused blood to rush up Zehra’s head and making a rather unpleasant reminder of her own head trauma. She somehow managed to do a weird half-lift while dragging Hayley’s limp body. At least it got them moving.
When they reached the wall, close to the other people, Zehra sat down; holding Hayley in her arms.
Then, the lady started speaking again as two men, who looked more like the Hulk, closed the door to their previous prison.
“I would like to apologize—“ she started. I rolled my eyes. “If there was any other possibility to do this, we would have done it; but there is none. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to you; for the wounds you might have gotten,” she paused to glare at the werewolf, “and we promise to tend to you, until you are feeling better.”
“Who are you? What do you want from us?” Someone shouted. Zehra, and many others, turned toward the direction of the voice and saw it was one of the older kids; a guy with raven hair and dirty clothing. His voice trembled slightly, not that anyone blamed him. The humans weren’t the only ones who were staring at him, the monsters were, too.
“All in due time, child,” she replied with a soft nod. “Sit down.” It wasn’t a command. Zehra looked between the woman and the boy and there was an ear numbing silence and everyone waited for what would happen next. The lady just kept smiling sweetly at him, and the boy looked from side to side as he tried to figure out what to do. She was nice, non of them had expected it. She had walked and talked as if she truly cared about them, but there was still something eerie about her. Something was off. “As for my name, I am Aphrodite, former Goddess of the Olympus.”
If she had been expecting a gasp or a standing ovation, she was completely wrong. There was a few mumbles but that’s it.
“I just saved you from death. You should be thankful,” she added after a brief pause.
“Are you talking about that storm?” Someone in the crowd asked. Aphrodite didn’t even turn toward the person.
“That’s not a storm, child. That’s the end of the world.”
“You’re mental!” This time, Zehra knew exactly who was speaking. The kid next to her stood up, he was quite tall but skinny. Aphrodite turned to him with a sigh.
“I would not lie to you. I am telling the truth because you deserve to hear it, for once in your life.” She closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows together.
Zehra furrowed her eyebrows together as well, wishing that she could see the outside right now. She wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. It was just a storm… it couldn’t be the end of the world. Either way, she could feel her palms sweating. Was her mother okay? She turned to look at the monsters and Aphrodite. Had they hurt her?
The Dark Gift:
Chapter One:
7 Princesses:
[teaser will be here]
Green Tears:
Uncompleted First Chapter:
Anyway, I figured that I should have a thread where I could put all my writing updates and little short stories and whatever I come up with. This won't be updated on a specific time, it'll probably just be updated whenever I write something. You'll find my old NaNo here, The Dark Gift and other little story ideas that I have in mind. Whenever I have the time (I am writing right now, so, probably after that) I will update with a few chapters here and there. So, welcome to Alex's writing central!
Our December End (My NaNoWriMo '10):
Prologue
Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I can really use a wish right now.
On the third day of December there was nothing in the world but destruction. That is the only way to explain it.
The surroundings were completely silent as a slim female figure stepped closer to the narrow edge in front of her. Our world had always been the most beautiful thing, because we were all connected to it on so many different levels. The beings you all called “Gods”, not even they were as majestic as the world around us.
The women watched the world from a distance, her long curls blowing behind her. She ignored the storm, the ice winds, that had traveled together with, what surely was the end of everything. Her expression was blank as she saw our world in pain; she had definitely not expected to react this way. The feelings overwhelmed her, but one emotion stood out: the loneliness. She had never felt this helpless.
Below her, the ocean devoured the land while the earth itself slowly died. Every plant, every tree, every essence of life disappeared before her very eyes. Those things that managed to not drown or get crushed as the mountains fell on top of the land were quickly being destroyed by the diseases and plagues that were spreading like an epidemic. Along with the ruins of the world we knew; the howling spirits, banished from the underworld after the death of their master, endlessly hovered above our heads. It was simply destruction.
She looked down at the pile of blood covering her feet. A blood trail leads off to the edge in front of her.
“Coward,” she spat out.
He did not even have the guts to see what he had caused. The women could not help but wonder if he had redeemed his cause worthy of the consequences? He had finally gotten his revenge; but was it enough? Had he forgiven himself for the sins he had committed? The horrible nightmares of his dead family, the nightmares that had driven him mad… were they replaced with new nightmares? It was too late to ask questions now. He was gone and he had been determined to bring the world with him.
The memories of her family stalked the edge of her mind, continuing to remind her how all of them had been destroyed by his death grip. The Gods were dead and she was left with nothing. They had never prepared for this because a God was immortal. Or so they had believed.
Kratos was dead, yet she felt as if he stood in front of her; with his sword raise, ready to strike. He would kill her, just like he killed the rest. Her death would not be directly caused by him but he put the world in this state and as she watched it die, she knew that she was going down with it. Aphrodite… the only God alive, but for how long?
All the pure Gods were gone, so there was no one to bring the world back to the condition it had been in. Aphrodite’s expression did not change as she saw a new wave hit the earth, probably killing thousands of people. It was spreading, she knew that much. The humans… they were lost. She could not save them. Her foot touched the blood again, smearing it across the ground.
“Kratos,” she mumbled. “A mortal God.”
She gasped suddenly, everything becoming clear. The Demigods.
Chapter 1:
I want to hear you say that you will come back in the middle of the night and tell me everything is going to be alright!
“Many different kind of natural disasters are breaking out all over the world at the moment. It all started with the flooding in Greece but it was followed by numerous tsunamis all over Europe. We have been warned that the storms are spreading toward the United States so we advice everyone to stay inside their houses until it has passed. This has been Nicole Faller, reporting live from--”
Click. Johanna Emory turned off the TV before continuing a search around the room; grabbing anything she felt was needed.
“Zehra!” she called as she packed cutlery into a large purple and yellow striped suitcase which she had put on top of the kitchen table.
Then, Zehra Emory entered the room. She was an average, very tired, looking teenager with her frizzy auburn hair falling down to her shoulders. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she skipped down the stairs with a bored expression on her face. It would have seemed like any other morning if it had not been for the way she was moving. It was a quickened, if not slightly panicked, march into the kitchen. She dumped a bunch of stuff into another suitcase, including a tooth brush, tooth paste, iPod and a notepad.
“Are you almost done packing?” Johanna asked her daughter before closing the suitcase and putting it in front of the entrance, where it joined two other similar suitcases.
“Almost,” Zehra replied. “I am going over to Hayley quickly though, I will be back in a few minutes.” Zehra had not expected her mother to react that way she did, so when her she grabbed Zehra’s arm a surprised expression spread across her face.
“I have no idea how fast the storm is spreading, we can’t waste any time,” her mother said seriously, but her voice cracked a little. She was terrified.
“Wasting time?” Zehra looked at her mother with a shocked expression, her jaw dropped. “I am not wasting time. I am going to make sure that they are leaving, too, because I am not leaving without her.”
Her mother opened her mouth to protest again but Zehra had already run out the door, slamming it behind her. Leaving Hayley here was not an option… leaving without knowing what is going to happen to her; was not an option.
As Zehra reached outside, she was surprised by lack of… cold. It was December after all, yet the weather was… well, she was not sure how to describe it. Everything was so quiet. Not even the normal sounds of cars and airplanes reached her ears. It was like the entire Earth was holding its breath and every living creature joining in, as they waited; but for what?
Zehra did not have the energy or the time to worry about that right now. She hurried toward her car, climbing in to the driver seat and exhaling slowly as she fumbled with the keys. Her hands were shaking out of control and Zehra furrowed her eyebrows together as she tried keep them steady long enough to get the keys in to the damn ignition.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered before swearing loudly as the keychain slipped out of her sweaty palms and on to the car’s carpet. She extended her arm down toward the floor, as far as she could manage. She did not know why she was being all jittery. She was not scared of many things, but natural disasters of all sorts terrified Zehra to her very core. Just the thoughts of Mother Earth striking back... you were basically screwed.
Finally, her fingers touched the cold steel and she quickly grabbed it, shifting her weight back to the regular position. She hastily managed to put the keys in correctly this time, sighing as she heard the familiar roar of the engine. When she leaned back in her chair she noticed something golden fall on to her chair. With a raised eyebrow, she picked it up again and identifying it as a golden necklace. At the end of it, there was a golden heart. It was definitely cheesy, but she remembered thinking that it was one of those objects that you had to purchase once in your life. Not only did you had to purchase it, you also had to give it to that special someone.
She wished that it had gone as cliché as she had planned, but of course, just to piss you off, things never go as you have planned! Zehra put the necklace in the glove compartment and closed it firmly. She did not want to think of their fight, especially not right now.
It did not matter how pure, good or perfect you are; you will eventually hurt someone. You may intend to do so, but your words always find a way to touch a nerve with someone. The most horrible thing was when your hurt someone you cared about. Thankfully, all that shit disappeared when things got serious; this was one of those situations. Everything was forgotten and forgiven, because you knew that it was not important.
A fifteen minute drive later and Zehra pulled in to Hayley’s driveway.
“Hayley!” she shouted, almost jumping out of the car. She barely had any time to look around for her until Hayley came jogging around a corner, carrying a beige, expensive suitcase. With a gasp, she noticed Zehra and immediately dropped the suitcase, letting it fall to the ground.
Two big steps and their arms were around the other.
“Are you packed? Please tell me you are packed,” Zehra repeated quickly. Zehra let her hand entwine with the golden hair and the panic she felt slowly, but surely, faded.
“Yes, yes, we have just finished up the last two rooms,” Hayley replied, sounding a little bit more calm than Zehra, though they clutched on to each other with equal desperation.
“We are going to my grandma who lives in the mountains,” Zehra explained. “You need to follow us because if there is any safe place from that storm; it is in that house. Trust me.”
“I trust you.”
There was a long silence as they just looked at each other. Only the sound of voices from inside the house managed to pull them back to reality.
“Go back home and start driving, call me with the directions and we will join you there,” Hayley said, her childish voice filled with authority.
“Are you kidding?” Zehra’s eyebrows raised in confusion. “We will drive back here and we will drive up there together.” Zehra heard her own voice and it wasn’t as strong as she would have liked; especially not reaching the same bossy tone as Hayley. It was like their roles had changed, Hayley was always the childish one while Zehra got to job as the mature and responsible one.
“No, you would just be wasting time. You are already wasting time just by coming here!” Hayley said, raising her voice slightly. Then she sighed. “I just cannot believe your mother let you out of the house. The storm is really freaking my parents out. My mother is going insane, I swear.” A small smirk spread across her lips as she tried to put some humor into this serious situation forced upon them.
“I kind of ran off,” Zehra admitted. “I had to make sure that you were okay, especially after the way we parted last Friday.” Hayley reached up to gently stroke Zehra’s cheek.
“That was terribly stupid thing to do. You should listen to your mom more,” Hayley mumbled, and then her voice changed into a mere whisper. “But I am glad that you came.”
She leaned forward, their lips meeting for just a moment before embracing one and another again. Zehra closed her eyes, making the most out of it before she had to leave. They held each other gently but firmly and as they stood there, in the middle of the lawn outside the house.
Then Hayley started to whisper into Zehra’s ear. They both recognized the song.
“Some people laugh, some people cry
Some people live, some people die
Some people run, right into the fire
Some people hide their every desire
But we are the lovers
If you do not believe me
Then just look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies...”
Her voice slowly drifted off, but they still stood in the same position.
“I never understood your obsession with that band,” Zehra said after a few moments of silence. They both laughed, letting go of each other.
“You need to go now.”
“I know. I love you.”
Hayley smiled. “I know.”
With that, Zehra walked back to her car and Hayley walked back into the house. Zehra was not sure what to believe now. Every authority on TV was trying to calm people down, telling them it was nothing serious. Maybe they were right. But you know what they say: a picture says a thousand words and the pictures they had all seen of the damage around the world said one word: Danger.
Zehra reached behind her to the back seat of the car, grabbing a CD that she had thrown back there many weeks before. She put the CD in the CD player and picked track number four. With a deep sigh, she listened to the rest of the song, imagining that it was Hayley who was singing to her.
Some people fight, some people fall
Others pretend they do not care at all
If you want to fight I will stand right beside you
The day that you fall I will be right behind you
To pick up the pieces
If you do not believe me
Just look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
Another year over, and we are still together
It is not always easy, but I am here forever
We are the lovers
I know you believe me
When you look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
Hey
And we are the lovers
I know you believe me
When you look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
Oh-oh-woah
Woah
Another year over, and we are still together
It is not always easy, but I am here forever
Yeah we are the lovers, I know you believe me
When you look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
'cause the heart never lies
Because the heart never lies.
She put it on repeat, playing it over and over again as she drove home. When she parked the car in the small driveway, she hoped that her mother was not too upset. She knew that she probably would be, if Zehra had kids she would be pissed if they just ran off as a terrible storm got closer and closer to them.
“Mom, I’m sorry,” she said as she opened the door. “Mom?”
She raised her eyebrows as she looked inside. It was too dark. Zehra hesitated, not sure what to do. A few seconds went by and there was still no answer, just more darkness and mind numbing silence. As a few more seconds passed Zehra took five firm steps in to the house, walking straight toward a lamp. As she pressed the light switch, a glow spread around the room. Zehra sighed with relief.
“Mom?” she called out again, not sure if she really expected an answer. Her mother would have heard her by now. Zehra cursed under her breath before walking into the kitchen. Still no sign of her.
At the edge of Zehra’s mind she knew that something was wrong. She felt like she was in one of those horror movie when the character hear a noise and all they say “Is someone there?”, causing the blood thirsty murderer to pop out right behind them.
There was a reason why the characters acted like that and it wasn’t only because of cliché writing. It was also because people are stupid in those kinds of situations, mostly because everyone has the same “It will never happen to me” mentality. Then when it does happen to them, they are, most definitely, screwed.
“This is stupid,” Zehra murmured as she returned into the living room.
SLAM.
She watched it happen before she even realized what was happening. The front door slammed shut and the second the information reached Zehra’s brain, everything went black.
“Mommy…” Zehra begun, her covers pulled up to her chin. She was three years old, well technically three and a half and her big blue eyes looked at her mother in awe. There had been a long silence as Johanna had just finished reading the Beauty and the Beast for the third time that night.
“Yes, hunny?” Her mother sat on the edge of her bed, resting the story book on her lap.
“Can you leave the light on?” Her mother smiled, letting a chuckle escape her lips.
“Is that what you want?”
Zehra nodded before covering her head with her red and white striped duvet cover.
“Okay then, but only if you give mommy a big good night kiss!”
Zehra giggled before jumping out from under the cover, on to her mother’s lap.
“Big kiss!” Zehra repeated, kissing her mother quickly before running back to her place on the small bed. Her mother laughed before standing up and walking toward the door. She turned off the ceiling lamp before switching on the small lamp that stood in the corner of the room.
“Is this good?” she asked. Zehra nodded. “All right. Good night, sweetie. I love you.”
“I love you, mommy.” The door closed and her eyelids got heavier and heavier… and heavier.
Lightning! Thunderous roaring! Zehra opened her eyes, shaking. Why were there so many noises? More thunder. Then everything was dark. She screamed. The screams mixed together with the storm outside her window. The door opened quickly and Zehra’s mother rushing in.
“Everything is okay; it was just the power that went out. It is okay.” She embraced her daughter, wiping the tears off her tiny, freckled filled face.
This time her mother could not make the darkness go away; she could not comfort her daughter the way she used to.
Zehra screamed, stumbling backwards on top of some kind of furniture. Then she froze. She did not even breathe. She just waited. She felt that something was out there. Zehra carefully tried to locate where she was, feeling the texture of the furniture with her hand. It was glass. The sofa table. It must be. Zehra held her breath as she slowly moved her hand backwards, searching for it. Her fingers finally found it, the envelope opener. She grasped it quickly and held it firmly in her hand. She needed a weapon.
Then, out of nowhere, something hit her head. Before Zehra had any time to react, she fell to floor. Then the darkness was replaced with a new darkness.
“Many different kind of natural disasters are breaking out all over the world at the moment. It all started with the flooding in Greece but it was followed by numerous tsunamis all over Europe. We have been warned that the storms are spreading toward the United States so we advice everyone to stay inside their houses until it has passed. This has been Nicole Faller, reporting live from--”
Click. Johanna Emory turned off the TV before continuing a search around the room; grabbing anything she felt was needed.
“Zehra!” she called as she packed cutlery into a large purple and yellow striped suitcase which she had put on top of the kitchen table.
Then, Zehra Emory entered the room. She was an average, very tired, looking teenager with her frizzy auburn hair falling down to her shoulders. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she skipped down the stairs with a bored expression on her face. It would have seemed like any other morning if it had not been for the way she was moving. It was a quickened, if not slightly panicked, march into the kitchen. She dumped a bunch of stuff into another suitcase, including a tooth brush, tooth paste, iPod and a notepad.
“Are you almost done packing?” Johanna asked her daughter before closing the suitcase and putting it in front of the entrance, where it joined two other similar suitcases.
“Almost,” Zehra replied. “I am going over to Hayley quickly though, I will be back in a few minutes.” Zehra had not expected her mother to react that way she did, so when her she grabbed Zehra’s arm a surprised expression spread across her face.
“I have no idea how fast the storm is spreading, we can’t waste any time,” her mother said seriously, but her voice cracked a little. She was terrified.
“Wasting time?” Zehra looked at her mother with a shocked expression, her jaw dropped. “I am not wasting time. I am going to make sure that they are leaving, too, because I am not leaving without her.”
Her mother opened her mouth to protest again but Zehra had already run out the door, slamming it behind her. Leaving Hayley here was not an option… leaving without knowing what is going to happen to her; was not an option.
As Zehra reached outside, she was surprised by lack of… cold. It was December after all, yet the weather was… well, she was not sure how to describe it. Everything was so quiet. Not even the normal sounds of cars and airplanes reached her ears. It was like the entire Earth was holding its breath and every living creature joining in, as they waited; but for what?
Zehra did not have the energy or the time to worry about that right now. She hurried toward her car, climbing in to the driver seat and exhaling slowly as she fumbled with the keys. Her hands were shaking out of control and Zehra furrowed her eyebrows together as she tried keep them steady long enough to get the keys in to the damn ignition.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered before swearing loudly as the keychain slipped out of her sweaty palms and on to the car’s carpet. She extended her arm down toward the floor, as far as she could manage. She did not know why she was being all jittery. She was not scared of many things, but natural disasters of all sorts terrified Zehra to her very core. Just the thoughts of Mother Earth striking back... you were basically screwed.
Finally, her fingers touched the cold steel and she quickly grabbed it, shifting her weight back to the regular position. She hastily managed to put the keys in correctly this time, sighing as she heard the familiar roar of the engine. When she leaned back in her chair she noticed something golden fall on to her chair. With a raised eyebrow, she picked it up again and identifying it as a golden necklace. At the end of it, there was a golden heart. It was definitely cheesy, but she remembered thinking that it was one of those objects that you had to purchase once in your life. Not only did you had to purchase it, you also had to give it to that special someone.
She wished that it had gone as cliché as she had planned, but of course, just to piss you off, things never go as you have planned! Zehra put the necklace in the glove compartment and closed it firmly. She did not want to think of their fight, especially not right now.
It did not matter how pure, good or perfect you are; you will eventually hurt someone. You may intend to do so, but your words always find a way to touch a nerve with someone. The most horrible thing was when your hurt someone you cared about. Thankfully, all that shit disappeared when things got serious; this was one of those situations. Everything was forgotten and forgiven, because you knew that it was not important.
A fifteen minute drive later and Zehra pulled in to Hayley’s driveway.
“Hayley!” she shouted, almost jumping out of the car. She barely had any time to look around for her until Hayley came jogging around a corner, carrying a beige, expensive suitcase. With a gasp, she noticed Zehra and immediately dropped the suitcase, letting it fall to the ground.
Two big steps and their arms were around the other.
“Are you packed? Please tell me you are packed,” Zehra repeated quickly. Zehra let her hand entwine with the golden hair and the panic she felt slowly, but surely, faded.
“Yes, yes, we have just finished up the last two rooms,” Hayley replied, sounding a little bit more calm than Zehra, though they clutched on to each other with equal desperation.
“We are going to my grandma who lives in the mountains,” Zehra explained. “You need to follow us because if there is any safe place from that storm; it is in that house. Trust me.”
“I trust you.”
There was a long silence as they just looked at each other. Only the sound of voices from inside the house managed to pull them back to reality.
“Go back home and start driving, call me with the directions and we will join you there,” Hayley said, her childish voice filled with authority.
“Are you kidding?” Zehra’s eyebrows raised in confusion. “We will drive back here and we will drive up there together.” Zehra heard her own voice and it wasn’t as strong as she would have liked; especially not reaching the same bossy tone as Hayley. It was like their roles had changed, Hayley was always the childish one while Zehra got to job as the mature and responsible one.
“No, you would just be wasting time. You are already wasting time just by coming here!” Hayley said, raising her voice slightly. Then she sighed. “I just cannot believe your mother let you out of the house. The storm is really freaking my parents out. My mother is going insane, I swear.” A small smirk spread across her lips as she tried to put some humor into this serious situation forced upon them.
“I kind of ran off,” Zehra admitted. “I had to make sure that you were okay, especially after the way we parted last Friday.” Hayley reached up to gently stroke Zehra’s cheek.
“That was terribly stupid thing to do. You should listen to your mom more,” Hayley mumbled, and then her voice changed into a mere whisper. “But I am glad that you came.”
She leaned forward, their lips meeting for just a moment before embracing one and another again. Zehra closed her eyes, making the most out of it before she had to leave. They held each other gently but firmly and as they stood there, in the middle of the lawn outside the house.
Then Hayley started to whisper into Zehra’s ear. They both recognized the song.
“Some people laugh, some people cry
Some people live, some people die
Some people run, right into the fire
Some people hide their every desire
But we are the lovers
If you do not believe me
Then just look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies...”
Her voice slowly drifted off, but they still stood in the same position.
“I never understood your obsession with that band,” Zehra said after a few moments of silence. They both laughed, letting go of each other.
“You need to go now.”
“I know. I love you.”
Hayley smiled. “I know.”
With that, Zehra walked back to her car and Hayley walked back into the house. Zehra was not sure what to believe now. Every authority on TV was trying to calm people down, telling them it was nothing serious. Maybe they were right. But you know what they say: a picture says a thousand words and the pictures they had all seen of the damage around the world said one word: Danger.
Zehra reached behind her to the back seat of the car, grabbing a CD that she had thrown back there many weeks before. She put the CD in the CD player and picked track number four. With a deep sigh, she listened to the rest of the song, imagining that it was Hayley who was singing to her.
Some people fight, some people fall
Others pretend they do not care at all
If you want to fight I will stand right beside you
The day that you fall I will be right behind you
To pick up the pieces
If you do not believe me
Just look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
Another year over, and we are still together
It is not always easy, but I am here forever
We are the lovers
I know you believe me
When you look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
Hey
And we are the lovers
I know you believe me
When you look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
Oh-oh-woah
Woah
Another year over, and we are still together
It is not always easy, but I am here forever
Yeah we are the lovers, I know you believe me
When you look into my eyes
'cause the heart never lies
'cause the heart never lies
Because the heart never lies.
She put it on repeat, playing it over and over again as she drove home. When she parked the car in the small driveway, she hoped that her mother was not too upset. She knew that she probably would be, if Zehra had kids she would be pissed if they just ran off as a terrible storm got closer and closer to them.
“Mom, I’m sorry,” she said as she opened the door. “Mom?”
She raised her eyebrows as she looked inside. It was too dark. Zehra hesitated, not sure what to do. A few seconds went by and there was still no answer, just more darkness and mind numbing silence. As a few more seconds passed Zehra took five firm steps in to the house, walking straight toward a lamp. As she pressed the light switch, a glow spread around the room. Zehra sighed with relief.
“Mom?” she called out again, not sure if she really expected an answer. Her mother would have heard her by now. Zehra cursed under her breath before walking into the kitchen. Still no sign of her.
At the edge of Zehra’s mind she knew that something was wrong. She felt like she was in one of those horror movie when the character hear a noise and all they say “Is someone there?”, causing the blood thirsty murderer to pop out right behind them.
There was a reason why the characters acted like that and it wasn’t only because of cliché writing. It was also because people are stupid in those kinds of situations, mostly because everyone has the same “It will never happen to me” mentality. Then when it does happen to them, they are, most definitely, screwed.
“This is stupid,” Zehra murmured as she returned into the living room.
SLAM.
She watched it happen before she even realized what was happening. The front door slammed shut and the second the information reached Zehra’s brain, everything went black.
“Mommy…” Zehra begun, her covers pulled up to her chin. She was three years old, well technically three and a half and her big blue eyes looked at her mother in awe. There had been a long silence as Johanna had just finished reading the Beauty and the Beast for the third time that night.
“Yes, hunny?” Her mother sat on the edge of her bed, resting the story book on her lap.
“Can you leave the light on?” Her mother smiled, letting a chuckle escape her lips.
“Is that what you want?”
Zehra nodded before covering her head with her red and white striped duvet cover.
“Okay then, but only if you give mommy a big good night kiss!”
Zehra giggled before jumping out from under the cover, on to her mother’s lap.
“Big kiss!” Zehra repeated, kissing her mother quickly before running back to her place on the small bed. Her mother laughed before standing up and walking toward the door. She turned off the ceiling lamp before switching on the small lamp that stood in the corner of the room.
“Is this good?” she asked. Zehra nodded. “All right. Good night, sweetie. I love you.”
“I love you, mommy.” The door closed and her eyelids got heavier and heavier… and heavier.
Lightning! Thunderous roaring! Zehra opened her eyes, shaking. Why were there so many noises? More thunder. Then everything was dark. She screamed. The screams mixed together with the storm outside her window. The door opened quickly and Zehra’s mother rushing in.
“Everything is okay; it was just the power that went out. It is okay.” She embraced her daughter, wiping the tears off her tiny, freckled filled face.
This time her mother could not make the darkness go away; she could not comfort her daughter the way she used to.
Zehra screamed, stumbling backwards on top of some kind of furniture. Then she froze. She did not even breathe. She just waited. She felt that something was out there. Zehra carefully tried to locate where she was, feeling the texture of the furniture with her hand. It was glass. The sofa table. It must be. Zehra held her breath as she slowly moved her hand backwards, searching for it. Her fingers finally found it, the envelope opener. She grasped it quickly and held it firmly in her hand. She needed a weapon.
Then, out of nowhere, something hit her head. Before Zehra had any time to react, she fell to floor. Then the darkness was replaced with a new darkness.
Chapter 2:
Starting from here, let us make a promise: you and me, let us just be honest. We are going to run, nothing can stop us not even the night that falls all around us.
Why were people screaming?
Zehra rolled over and felt her nose crush against… cold stone floor? Her eyes burst open just as she heard quiet sobs. Despite her eyes being wide open, it did not help at all because she was blindfolded.
The screams for help had faded away and now you could hear the quiet sounds, people moving positions, someone coughing and the mellow buzzing of a lonely fly.
Reality hit Zehra like a brick wall. She jerked up into a sitting position, realizing that her feet and hands were tied, making it impossible to stand up.
“Hello?” she said cautiously and then listened to her voice echo. Hello… hello… hello…
“Help!” Another voice called from a distance. It was followed by other calls for aid.
“They have been calling for hours,” another voice whispered. It was a lot closer than the other voices. “Most people have stopped screaming, but I think new people are starting to come around, hence the new screaming.”
“Where are we?” Zehra asked, her voice shaking slightly.
“I don’t know. I’m blindfolded.”
“Me too.” “So am I.” “Same here.”
Zehra turned her head automatically as voices answered her from every direction.
“Be quiet!” A panicked voice hissed. “We do not know where they are.”
“Where who are?” Zehra asked, turning her head to the left. That voice was the closest one; it was almost, if not completely, directly to her left side.
“Whoever took us—“ The person stopped mid-sentence with a gasp just as a big noise erupted through the room. It continued for many seconds, everyone in the room holding their breaths.
“You can remove their blindfolds now.”
Within a second, everything was exposed.
“Are they all awake?” The female voice asked but Zehra was not paying attention any more. Her blindfold had fallen off and slowly fell to the floor when it suddenly transformed into a snake. She watched with horror as it meandered through the crowd. Different screams caused Zehra to turn her head, finally taking in the situation.
They were in a big room with no windows. The floor was made of rock, the walls were made of rock and the ceiling, high above their heads, was made of rock. Different colored orbs floating along the walls were the only source of light. There were people both sitting and lying on the floor, just like Zehra was but she had not realized that there were so many of them. They were just teenagers and young adults but there were at least 50 of them. Each and every single one looked just as confused as Zehra felt.
“This one is still passed out,” a husky voice called from the other side of them room. Zehra turned her head again, toward the man or, what she had thought was a man. His body was covered in hair, like fur, and his pupils were not circular. They were more like a cat.
“It is a werewolf,” someone whispered; followed by many gasps. “I’ve read about them. They just exist in mythologies, how is this possible?”
Their discussion was cut short as the female voice spoke up again.
“Pick her up then, if you’d please, we really need to move on to the next room,” she said. The people around Zehra turned to look at the female who seemed to be some kind of boss and Zehra did the same, her head cocked to the side as she observed the women from a far. She was very thin and she had a glow about her, lighting up the air around her. Her hair was extremely long, down to her waist and it was pink. Not hot pink, definitely not, but it was a soft baby pink and it framed her triangular face perfectly. She smiled at them, her big green eyes lit up as long eyelashes surrounded both of them. She was the definition of a girly girl, almost too feminine. She was absolutely beautiful.
Zehra was pulled out of her thoughts as the werewolf guy passed her by, but it was not him that caught her attention. A flash of something golden made her turn her head.
“Hayley!” she screamed, not being able to control herself. She tried to stand up, only to fall down and hit the floor - hard - as she had not remembered that her hands and feet were still tied.
“Stay still. Do not be stupid and get yourself hurt,” the women said with a surprisingly soft tone.
“What is he going to do to her?” Zehra replied, her eyes focused on Hayley’s lifeless face.
“He is only carrying her in to the other room. It’s not like she can walk by herself.” With that last sentence said, the women apparently decided that the conversation was over as she turned to the big wooden door behind her. It was half-open, but Zehra could not see who was on the other side.
“Release them please,” the women said. A slight hissing sound spread across the room before the rope like objects dropped to the ground; just like the blindfolds had, before turning into snakes. This time though, no one reacted to the snakes. Instead most of them jumped to their feet, a few of them even taking a few steps toward the women.
“I would not do that if I were you,” she said with a silky voice. “We do not want to hurt you.” As she spoke the last few words, the huge door behind her slowly started to open. As it cracked open Zehra watched it, feeling the thick tension in the room. The girl in front of her, and many others, staggered backwards as the door revealed was behind it. Monsters… mythological, fake monsters used by fantasy authors all around the world. But they all walked or slithered into the room taking a place behind the women with pink hair. They were real.
One monster, which Zehra recognized, was like a snake but she had an upper-body like a women. Her eyes were bright yellow, her pupils kind of like the werewolf except that they were more similar to a reptile, and her hair were a nest of snakes, acting like strands of her hair. It was Medusa.
“Come on, move into the next room.” No one moved an inch.
“Move or die,” she added. “I hate to do it, but you are no use to me if you do not cooperate.”
Zehra was one of the first people to move toward the entrance. Not because the woman’s threat scared her, but because Hayley was already in that room. Zehra had to make sure that she was okay, because she definitely hadn’t looked like it as that monster carried her away. As she entered the new room the previous room seemed like a dirty, old closet compared to it. It was fucking huge! Twenty meters to the ceiling, at least, and it had big church-like windows but the glass wasn’t painted; it was clear. Zehra couldn’t help but wonder what purpose the windows had, because outside of them there was a big wall of stone. No light could shine it, so they were obviously just for decoration. Pointless.
There were colorful orbs in this room, too; but Zehra didn’t bother checking out the rest of the surroundings; she was already kneeling down next to Hayley.
“Wake up, Hale,” she mumbled. Hayley’s eyes did not even flicker. Zehra lowered her ear above her girlfriend’s mouth, holding her own breath as she sat still for a few seconds. Finally, Hayley exhaled and Zehra couldn’t help but sigh with relief. At least she was alive.
People were moving around them now, sitting down along the walls of the room, making Zehra realize that she was sitting in the middle of the huge chamber. She carefully put her arm around Hayley’s waist, lifting her up – well, trying to. She put all her strength into that one lift, which caused blood to rush up Zehra’s head and making a rather unpleasant reminder of her own head trauma. She somehow managed to do a weird half-lift while dragging Hayley’s limp body. At least it got them moving.
When they reached the wall, close to the other people, Zehra sat down; holding Hayley in her arms.
Then, the lady started speaking again as two men, who looked more like the Hulk, closed the door to their previous prison.
“I would like to apologize—“ she started. I rolled my eyes. “If there was any other possibility to do this, we would have done it; but there is none. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to you; for the wounds you might have gotten,” she paused to glare at the werewolf, “and we promise to tend to you, until you are feeling better.”
“Who are you? What do you want from us?” Someone shouted. Zehra, and many others, turned toward the direction of the voice and saw it was one of the older kids; a guy with raven hair and dirty clothing. His voice trembled slightly, not that anyone blamed him. The humans weren’t the only ones who were staring at him, the monsters were, too.
“All in due time, child,” she replied with a soft nod. “Sit down.” It wasn’t a command. Zehra looked between the woman and the boy and there was an ear numbing silence and everyone waited for what would happen next. The lady just kept smiling sweetly at him, and the boy looked from side to side as he tried to figure out what to do. She was nice, non of them had expected it. She had walked and talked as if she truly cared about them, but there was still something eerie about her. Something was off. “As for my name, I am Aphrodite, former Goddess of the Olympus.”
If she had been expecting a gasp or a standing ovation, she was completely wrong. There was a few mumbles but that’s it.
“I just saved you from death. You should be thankful,” she added after a brief pause.
“Are you talking about that storm?” Someone in the crowd asked. Aphrodite didn’t even turn toward the person.
“That’s not a storm, child. That’s the end of the world.”
“You’re mental!” This time, Zehra knew exactly who was speaking. The kid next to her stood up, he was quite tall but skinny. Aphrodite turned to him with a sigh.
“I would not lie to you. I am telling the truth because you deserve to hear it, for once in your life.” She closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows together.
Zehra furrowed her eyebrows together as well, wishing that she could see the outside right now. She wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. It was just a storm… it couldn’t be the end of the world. Either way, she could feel her palms sweating. Was her mother okay? She turned to look at the monsters and Aphrodite. Had they hurt her?
The Dark Gift:
Chapter One:
It was one of those winter days when you didn’t know what time it was because it was always dark. Though usually it didn’t matter if it was dark or not because the thick layer of snow covering everything in sight worked like a spotlight. Even though it was in the middle of December there still wasn’t any snow in sight. People were spending an awful lot of time in their lamp-lit homes in an attempt to lift the dark veil that had attached itself to [insert city here].
It was just after noon as a man turned around the corner on to [city's] town square with a dazzling smile on his face. Other than him there was only two other people at the square and they were hurrying home, wrapped tightly in huge winter jackets, keeping their eyes locked down at the ground.
This man was not interested in cuddling up with a thick coat that made him look like a Michelin man, no, he was sporting a pair of faded jeans, black converse and a purple shirt along with a black denim jacket. This man didn’t often get an opportunity to go outside before 7 PM. Even during the winter he would only leave his home after four o’clock.
So with a thrilling sensation he walked around the square, not because he thought it was particularly exciting, but because he could. His internal celebration was cut short when a figure emerged from the shadows and lunged at him. The man swung his arm around to push the figure to the side but the arm just hit him in the chest while the figure tackled him to the ground.
“I trusted you, I trusted you!” The figure spat out the words as terrifying hissing noises was heard from its throat. The man didn’t and couldn’t reply because he was still startled by the fact that he wasn’t able to push, whoever it was, off him or fight back. He was pinned to the cold ground and alarms went off in his head: danger, danger.
As the immobile state let off he ripped the figure’s fingers off his throat and used his adrenaline kick to literally kick the figure off him and as he watched his attacker hit a wall a few meters away the man got up on his feet and stalked closer to the figure. He had no other intention but to kill it but he at least wanted to know who had the nerve to sucker-punch him like that. The man grabbed a hold of the figure’s neck and dragged him in to the less dark part of the square and threw him on the ground.
“You left me to die. You killed me!” The last sentence was screamed in rage and it left an ear-numbing silence after it. The man stared at the figure’s face as the light reflected on him.
“You aren’t dead,” he replied, crouching defensively. His mind was playing a prank on him.
“Aren’t I, Ivan?” The figure hissed as he revealed a pair of fangs. The entire scene would petrify anyone. The man lying on the ground was covered in dirt; his clothes were ripped in every possible way. Both dried and fresh blood was smeared over his face, neck and hands. His eyes were brown, just like Ivan’s.
“How could you do this to me?” The man got up in less than a second. His hands were balled into fists and his expression was beyond furious. They stood face to face as they crouched down, ready to attack. “To your own brother!” He cried.
“Anthony…” Ivan shook his head slightly. The thought of his little brother turning into a vampire himself was unthinkable, not because he felt bad but because the idea hadn’t even crossed his mind. Ivan had been weak and wounded, too, after he had been turned, he hadn’t been able to control himself. Sure, it was a bummer that he had to kill his own brother but he was glad that it was Anthony who died and not himself. Though, he obviously wasn't dead now.
“Say something!” Anthony looked at him in disbelief as if he had expected Ivan to fall down on his knees and pray for his forgiveness or at least show some sign of remorse.
“Accept it, Anthony. Have fun with your new immortality. Either that or I can finish you off for good because I am not going to take this shit. If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t mean for you to turn into a vampire.”
“Yeah, yeah, that makes me feel so much better,” Anthony replied harshly. “You only care about yourself.”
“Of course I do!” Ivan threw his arms in the air before letting them fall to his side. “I’m not mortal anymore, I don’t have to follow any of those moral rules because I can’t live like mortals can! I wasn’t going to go through the troubles of becoming a vampire just to die because you, my brother, happened to be the one who I could use to safe myself.”
For a moment they both stood still and stared at each other. Ivan took Anthony’s silence as a sign of defeat while Anthony just wondered if Ivan knew how fucked up it all sounded.
”Stop whining,” Ivan added as if he was ending the conversation.
”Theresa.”
”Theresa?”
”What am I going to do about her, huh? Maybe we can’t all be selfish you stupid—” Anthony pushed Ivan violently which caused him to stagger but not fall. ”Oh God Theresa… she’s going to think I died or worse… think I left her.”
”Okay, so you’ll leave your fiancée behind, that’s one bad thing. She was beautiful that on, but slightly out of your league.”
”Could have a serious conversation for once? You may not feel bad about leaving anyone behind but I looked forward to growing old with her.” As a couple of kids ran past them, laughing and smiling, Anthony lowered his voice but the sorrow in his eyes was still there. ”Hell, even death didn’t seem so bad when she was there! Now I’m going to end up alone and she’s going to believe I didn’t love her anymore and then I’ll have to watch her die while I’m forever youthful. So yeah, this vampire bullshit sounds like a real treat to someone like you, someone who didn’t have a life.”
”When you get over your little PMS, come find because soon you’ll realize that your precious Theresa can’t help you and that I’m your only hope. So bugger off you pathetic little—” Smack. Anthony rushed toward his brother and thrust his fist toward Ivan’s cheekbone. Ivan’s head turned as a cause of the punch but no other part of his body acknowledge the punch.
”Mature,” Ivan spat out as Anthony turned around and walked around the corner and out of Ivan’s life - for now.
It was just after noon as a man turned around the corner on to [city's] town square with a dazzling smile on his face. Other than him there was only two other people at the square and they were hurrying home, wrapped tightly in huge winter jackets, keeping their eyes locked down at the ground.
This man was not interested in cuddling up with a thick coat that made him look like a Michelin man, no, he was sporting a pair of faded jeans, black converse and a purple shirt along with a black denim jacket. This man didn’t often get an opportunity to go outside before 7 PM. Even during the winter he would only leave his home after four o’clock.
So with a thrilling sensation he walked around the square, not because he thought it was particularly exciting, but because he could. His internal celebration was cut short when a figure emerged from the shadows and lunged at him. The man swung his arm around to push the figure to the side but the arm just hit him in the chest while the figure tackled him to the ground.
“I trusted you, I trusted you!” The figure spat out the words as terrifying hissing noises was heard from its throat. The man didn’t and couldn’t reply because he was still startled by the fact that he wasn’t able to push, whoever it was, off him or fight back. He was pinned to the cold ground and alarms went off in his head: danger, danger.
As the immobile state let off he ripped the figure’s fingers off his throat and used his adrenaline kick to literally kick the figure off him and as he watched his attacker hit a wall a few meters away the man got up on his feet and stalked closer to the figure. He had no other intention but to kill it but he at least wanted to know who had the nerve to sucker-punch him like that. The man grabbed a hold of the figure’s neck and dragged him in to the less dark part of the square and threw him on the ground.
“You left me to die. You killed me!” The last sentence was screamed in rage and it left an ear-numbing silence after it. The man stared at the figure’s face as the light reflected on him.
“You aren’t dead,” he replied, crouching defensively. His mind was playing a prank on him.
“Aren’t I, Ivan?” The figure hissed as he revealed a pair of fangs. The entire scene would petrify anyone. The man lying on the ground was covered in dirt; his clothes were ripped in every possible way. Both dried and fresh blood was smeared over his face, neck and hands. His eyes were brown, just like Ivan’s.
“How could you do this to me?” The man got up in less than a second. His hands were balled into fists and his expression was beyond furious. They stood face to face as they crouched down, ready to attack. “To your own brother!” He cried.
“Anthony…” Ivan shook his head slightly. The thought of his little brother turning into a vampire himself was unthinkable, not because he felt bad but because the idea hadn’t even crossed his mind. Ivan had been weak and wounded, too, after he had been turned, he hadn’t been able to control himself. Sure, it was a bummer that he had to kill his own brother but he was glad that it was Anthony who died and not himself. Though, he obviously wasn't dead now.
“Say something!” Anthony looked at him in disbelief as if he had expected Ivan to fall down on his knees and pray for his forgiveness or at least show some sign of remorse.
“Accept it, Anthony. Have fun with your new immortality. Either that or I can finish you off for good because I am not going to take this shit. If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t mean for you to turn into a vampire.”
“Yeah, yeah, that makes me feel so much better,” Anthony replied harshly. “You only care about yourself.”
“Of course I do!” Ivan threw his arms in the air before letting them fall to his side. “I’m not mortal anymore, I don’t have to follow any of those moral rules because I can’t live like mortals can! I wasn’t going to go through the troubles of becoming a vampire just to die because you, my brother, happened to be the one who I could use to safe myself.”
For a moment they both stood still and stared at each other. Ivan took Anthony’s silence as a sign of defeat while Anthony just wondered if Ivan knew how fucked up it all sounded.
”Stop whining,” Ivan added as if he was ending the conversation.
”Theresa.”
”Theresa?”
”What am I going to do about her, huh? Maybe we can’t all be selfish you stupid—” Anthony pushed Ivan violently which caused him to stagger but not fall. ”Oh God Theresa… she’s going to think I died or worse… think I left her.”
”Okay, so you’ll leave your fiancée behind, that’s one bad thing. She was beautiful that on, but slightly out of your league.”
”Could have a serious conversation for once? You may not feel bad about leaving anyone behind but I looked forward to growing old with her.” As a couple of kids ran past them, laughing and smiling, Anthony lowered his voice but the sorrow in his eyes was still there. ”Hell, even death didn’t seem so bad when she was there! Now I’m going to end up alone and she’s going to believe I didn’t love her anymore and then I’ll have to watch her die while I’m forever youthful. So yeah, this vampire bullshit sounds like a real treat to someone like you, someone who didn’t have a life.”
”When you get over your little PMS, come find because soon you’ll realize that your precious Theresa can’t help you and that I’m your only hope. So bugger off you pathetic little—” Smack. Anthony rushed toward his brother and thrust his fist toward Ivan’s cheekbone. Ivan’s head turned as a cause of the punch but no other part of his body acknowledge the punch.
”Mature,” Ivan spat out as Anthony turned around and walked around the corner and out of Ivan’s life - for now.
7 Princesses:
[teaser will be here]
Green Tears:
Uncompleted First Chapter:
”Fuck.”
Blake Baxter tossed the vessel across the room with a sigh. It was no use. They had already emptied it. The vessel hit the wall and fell to the floor without making any noise. The delicate glass container was no bigger than Blake’s palm and it looked as durable as a butterfly. Yet it didn’t break or get any visible damage.
The shape had been what caught her eye. She had seen a few like it and despite them never looking the same, they were easy to spot. The glass was tinted black and it was shaped as a spiral. It had clearly been custom-made. Blake knew that there had been a soft glow inside the vessel a few minutes ago because it had still been warm. But now it was empty; and useless.
Blake stood up and glanced down at the two lifeless bodies at her feet. They must have been rich. Too bad they hadn’t known how to protect themselves.
She felt her own vessel dangle on a string around her neck. The glow was dim but it was still visible through her t-shirt. Blake pulled her hoodie shut and the small light disappeared, but the heat from the vessel still remained against her chest. She didn’t mind this. The heat was oddly comforting in the regularly cold air.
Blake's chest heaved up and down and her breaths were shallow. The adrenaline was disappearing out of her limbs and it was replaced by pure exhaustion. Maybe she would even get a few hours of sleep. A small smile appeared on Blake’s lips but she quickly replaced it with an annoyed expression. It didn’t feel right. Then again, nothing felt right anymore. She’d tried to stop caring so much after she realized that the regular rules of society didn’t apply anymore.
In the beginning, she hadn’t known anything but when she was in danger her body took over and she was able to get away. With time it got easier to make the right decision and eventually she didn’t even have to think about it. It may have felt natural now, but the old her had never disappeared completely. It was still there, pointing out how insane she’d become. Blake just had to mute that voice, because it hadn’t been right. She had managed to stay hidden for months. They hadn’t been able to catch her. Perhaps they didn’t even know that she existed, that she was still out there.
Blake couldn’t help but chuckle at her naive trail of thought. They knew, of course they did. They always knew, but she had just been able to outsmart them so far. It was a dangerous way of life, hiding in plain sight, and Blake had no idea how long it would take until they found her. All she knew was that she wouldn’t go without a fight.
Blake walked out of the room, she couldn’t bare to look at the bodies anymore. She ran her hand along the white floral wallpaper as she walked along the long corridor. Her mind was a thousand miles away as the sound of paper ripping brought her back to earth. She spun around and saw a rip in the wallpaper.
Blake Baxter tossed the vessel across the room with a sigh. It was no use. They had already emptied it. The vessel hit the wall and fell to the floor without making any noise. The delicate glass container was no bigger than Blake’s palm and it looked as durable as a butterfly. Yet it didn’t break or get any visible damage.
The shape had been what caught her eye. She had seen a few like it and despite them never looking the same, they were easy to spot. The glass was tinted black and it was shaped as a spiral. It had clearly been custom-made. Blake knew that there had been a soft glow inside the vessel a few minutes ago because it had still been warm. But now it was empty; and useless.
Blake stood up and glanced down at the two lifeless bodies at her feet. They must have been rich. Too bad they hadn’t known how to protect themselves.
She felt her own vessel dangle on a string around her neck. The glow was dim but it was still visible through her t-shirt. Blake pulled her hoodie shut and the small light disappeared, but the heat from the vessel still remained against her chest. She didn’t mind this. The heat was oddly comforting in the regularly cold air.
Blake's chest heaved up and down and her breaths were shallow. The adrenaline was disappearing out of her limbs and it was replaced by pure exhaustion. Maybe she would even get a few hours of sleep. A small smile appeared on Blake’s lips but she quickly replaced it with an annoyed expression. It didn’t feel right. Then again, nothing felt right anymore. She’d tried to stop caring so much after she realized that the regular rules of society didn’t apply anymore.
In the beginning, she hadn’t known anything but when she was in danger her body took over and she was able to get away. With time it got easier to make the right decision and eventually she didn’t even have to think about it. It may have felt natural now, but the old her had never disappeared completely. It was still there, pointing out how insane she’d become. Blake just had to mute that voice, because it hadn’t been right. She had managed to stay hidden for months. They hadn’t been able to catch her. Perhaps they didn’t even know that she existed, that she was still out there.
Blake couldn’t help but chuckle at her naive trail of thought. They knew, of course they did. They always knew, but she had just been able to outsmart them so far. It was a dangerous way of life, hiding in plain sight, and Blake had no idea how long it would take until they found her. All she knew was that she wouldn’t go without a fight.
Blake walked out of the room, she couldn’t bare to look at the bodies anymore. She ran her hand along the white floral wallpaper as she walked along the long corridor. Her mind was a thousand miles away as the sound of paper ripping brought her back to earth. She spun around and saw a rip in the wallpaper.
I'll read the others soon. 
So many! My problem is having too much ideas to write out at once, so I'm gonna try to work on focus. 
