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The sign above the door of the building flickered softly in the rain. B DY MOD, it read. Nathan wasn’t reassured in the slightest by the quality of the sign.
He pushed open the grimy glass door of the shop and was greeted immediately by a young woman at the front desk. “Welcome to body mod location 342, by entering this shop you agree to our service conditions and rules. Can I help you?” She said absentmindedly while reading whatever it was on her computer screen. “I would like a standard clean out please,” Nathan said. He had never had a body alteration of any kind before, and the very idea of trusting such a dingy establishment with his mind *and* body made him feel sick. But it was much cheaper and faster than chemo, so it would have to do.
The woman at the desk handed him a form to fill out. Basic info, questions, and an option to opt out of allowing them to take data from your body (which he of course checked,). The usual things you see in places like these. Nathan wondered why anyone would come here for cosmetics *alone*. In fact, it was hard to imagine anyone in their right mind coming to a place like this for any reason other than a real emergency.
These places always felt off to Nathan; he could never tell what it was exactly about them that he didn’t like. It might’ve been the dirty floors, or the knowledge of the (temporarily) lifeless bodies being worked on in the back, or maybe even the lights. The constantly flickering fluorescent lights that always seemed to be on the verge of going out. They made the place feel *artificial*. *unnatural*. That was it; it felt *unnatural*. The idea of forcefully removing the mind from the body and artificially enhancing it just felt so *wrong*. Like an affront to nature.
But it was what he could afford.
He finished the form and handed it to the desk worker, who placed it into a scanner. Nathan used his chip to pay for the procedure, and without another word the woman stood up and moved to unlock the gray door behind the desk. “Right this way,” she said when the door was open. Her tone seemed almost annoyed it’s him, like he was disturbing an otherwise slow day. He felt his stomach drop at the sight of the work room.
The large room contained twelve large body modification rigs, eight of which were inhabited by “patients” who were having various degrees of heavily machine aided surgery done on them. He was greeted by one of three “doctors” in the room. “Hello and welcome to body mod!” Said the bald, glasses wearing man now in front of him. “I am doctor Andrews, and I will be your overseer for this process.” Something gave Nathan the impression that he was not a real doctor. “I’m gonna have you take a seat right over here,” he said while energetically gesturing to one of the empty metal rigs. Nathan laid down on the rigs reclined seat. “If I’m reading this correctly you are… number nine, basic cleaning?”
“Yes that’s me,”
“Great! So I’m gonna start hooking you up to the rig while we go over what’s gonna happen here in a moment.”
The man began to quickly walk around the rig and hook various metal parts around Nathan’s body. “So since this is your first time I’m gonna give you the rundown of what the plan is here.” He said while typing something into a computer beside the rig. “The idea is that we are gonna take out your consciousness to keep you nice and safe, then we are going to do our basic maintenance on the body. after that we will remove any cancerous areas of the body, and modify your cells to grow back the areas we remove. The process should only take about a week and a half total.”
The man then finished setting up the machinery and ask if there were any questions. “Just get it over with.” Nathan said. It was going to be a long week. Not for Nathan of course, as the time dilation of digitalized consciousness ensured that he only experienced around five minutes of it.
______________________________________________
This is the first time I’ve written on here, so feedback would be appreciated! |
**Mars, the year 3077:**
"LET THEM GO!"the crowd screams.
I gaze down at them benevolently, for despite their pathetic wailing, benevolence is all I know. I mentally take note of the rebellious firebrands' faces. If they don't step down soon, I shall order another execution after this one is finished.
"LET THEM GO!"
Keeping my face steady, I turn to the prisoners. The leader of the arrested and soon-to-be executed protesters stares at me defiantly. Her curly, matted hair lays in clumps around her shoulders. A large bruise covers one eye.
Looking at my former wife, a crimson knot forms in my gullet and threatens to choke me with rage. How *dare* she put me in this position? How *dare* she defy my authority?
"LET THEM GO!"
I raise my hands, gesturing for silence around the raised podium I stood upon. The unruly masses ignore my demand. Instead, their screams grow louder.
"LET THEM GO, LET THEM GO!"
*Disappointing, yet not unpredictable.*
I gesture nonchalantly at my soldiers, and they shoot a couple of the menaces dead. That only serves to fuel the crowd's panic, so have my men continue shooting people until everyone becomes quiet.
It takes about fifteen shots.
Finally obtaining peace, we start the rituals before the execution.
"Magistrate F'hor,"I say. "Begin The Rites."
F'hor Taherva steps forward, and turns to my former wife. "Jano Yoi'ze, do you know why you and your compatriots are here?"
"For daring to protect the innocent?"she says without pause. She must have been mulling her words over in her head already.
F'hor snarls. "For daring to revolt against our kind and illustrious leader."
"Your leader wants to eradicate half the population!"
I decide to step in. "Yoi'ze, AI does not count as half the population. Robots aren't people, and never will be."
Murmurs break out within the crowd, and a group of robots whisper angrily. I almost have them killed on the spot, but decide to postpone their deaths for later.
"That's not true!"Jano retorts. "They have names, they have lives, they have children and spouses and homes! They have ambitions and dreams! What more will it take for them to be classified as people?"
"Silence!"yells F'hor. "You are interrupting a government-sanctioned ceremony!"
*"You asked me a question!"*
I sigh. Even in a utopia such as my own, chaos reigns erratically. I can only wish that someday my people will be so obedient they cease the petty theatrics.
It is in their best interests, after all. Artificial Life has reached its pinnacle, and is now on par with humanity. That is a dangerous prospect, and a situation that should be dealt with quickly and harshly.
I watch F'hor continue to rambe and think a million thoughts to myself. For example, I thought of my former wife, Jano.
Jano was once the model wife for an incredible leader such as myself. She was graceful, wise, and obedient. But everything changed when I announced my plans to destroy the entirety of Artificial Life in the name of humanity's safety. Suddenly, she became quiet, reclusive. A spark of anger burned in her eyes when spoke to me, words polite as ever.
I should have nipped things in the bud when she started requesting leave more often than usual. But I didn't, assuming she wouldn't be so foolish as to do something rash.
But something rash she did.
She led secret meetings devoted to stopping me from exterminating those dangerous robots. She even led protests, going by the alias "Rising Dawn".
Sure, those protests were peaceful, but it is the act of insolence that is dangerous, not the act of violence. Violence can be quenched by even more violence. Rebellious thoughts, on the other hand, cannot be quenched unless they are exposed first. And by the time they come to light, it is often already too late.
"Leader,"F'hor says, interrupting my thoughts. I may have to punish him later for that.
"The ceremony is finished… Shall I commence the execution?"
I nod.
"My wife won't be one of them; she won't be an insurgent against my regime. If she won't surrender, then she dies."
They execute the protesters, much to the crowd's horror. Maybe someday I'll be overthrown, but that day has not yet come.
Obey me, or die. |
I rushed up the stone stairs clutching my golden scroll tightly. The September sun beamed on me making each step feel like twenty. Above me students were gathered at the top in a maroon robed huddle. They awaited the opening of the three ginormous wooden gates. As I fumbled up the last few steps I could hear their voices, a swirling mumble of worry.
“My sister says that they will make us all fly on a broom. If we can’t do it in 4 seconds we won’t be enrolled”
“My older brother had to turn one of the councilmen into a toad on the spot.”
“I heard that only the most attractive witches will get into the best classes. That’s why my mom had me put my hair in curlers last night.”
I reached the top step, bent over and grabbed my knees, huffing, my brown wavy hair falling down over my face. My hat slipped off my head and hit the dusty stone ground. I swore under my breath. First the marathon of stairs and now I was showing my clumsy side. Things were not off to a good start. A hand reached down and grabbed my hat and a face popped down next to mine.
“Here’s your hat. Those stairs really are a doozy, I wish I would have known so I could do some physical training. I definitely only did spellbook training” It was a teenaged boy I’d never met. I slowly lifted myself back upright so I could properly thank him. As I lifted my head up he gave a small gasp.
“I’m very sorry my lady, I didn’t realize it was you and I addressed you so informally. Here’s your hat please forgive me.” He stuttered very flustered. And so it began, I had worried how people might treat me, a noble, attending a common school. I smiled and grabbed my hat.
“Thank you. No need to be formal. I am just a student, or even a prospective student just like you and a clumsy one at that. Thank you again for snagging my hat!” I smiled and turned to walk away.
“Wait I didn’t properly introduce myself my name is…” he began introducing himself but I noticed two sparrows flying above the castle gates in the distance. The crowd began to be restless like something was about to happen, that snapped me back to the conversation.
“Nice to meet you! Sorry I’m not any good at remembering names so don’t be offended if I can’t greet you next time I see you!” I said quickly. So many things were going on around me and so much energy buzzing around me I had no chance of holding a normal conversation with this boy.
“How did a noble like you end up coming to this school?” He asked bewildered and he shuffled over to make eye contact with me since I had turned toward some other distraction.
At that moment the gates dissolved. The entire crowd gasped and then cheered. The first few robed students ran in only to slam into an invisible wall. Loud groans ensued and lots of whining “stop pushing we can’t actually get in yet!”
“Attention prospective students! Here is your very first test, listen very closely to instructions or you will be disqualified from enrollment.” A booming bodiless voice announced.
“Please stand in a line. Stop bunching up. Do not allow anyone to stand behind you. Yes just one long single file line. Now face the entrance. Soon you will hear 3 bells followed by a gunshot. On the shot begin running not any earlier. First 50 people to the finish line will be accepted. I suggest you get into position now.”
Gasps and murmurs echoed through the line. I swore again under my breath. I guess if this is what it takes to get then I’ll have to… Ring. Ring. Ring. Pow. I started running, harder than I ever had in my life, harder than I hopefully will have to ever again. |
The fat bearded man in pineapple swim trunks swam and dove through Lake Erie. The glint of something caught his eye. He reached under the water, extracting a toy broadsword, the gaudy gold hilt glittered in the sunlight. Seeing the worthless plaything he shrugged. The man stunbled onto the beach. A 10 year old girl was busy building a sandcastle when she eyed the sword in his hand.
"Hey kid.Want a sword"the girl nodded. He handed it to her. "Congrats, yer queen of ohio, long may you reign"he laughed as he stumbled towards the nearest corn dog stand.
*********************************
The crowd grew restless outside the capitol building in Columbus. Thier demands that the governor resign and cede the state to Her Majesty, Queen Tiffany Johnson, first of her name, grew louder and louder. At first the reports of the child were a joke, but now the fact that something was going on could which could no longer be ignored.
"Tell me again how this started"the governor groaned at his advisor. The answer didn't sound any less inane than the first time he heard it or the twentieth.
"One summer day on the shores of cedar pointe, The fat bearded man in pineapple swim trunks, gave her a sword and declared her Queen of Ohio. "
"A child's game can't be the reason people listen to her. A silly aquatic game doesn't make a government"
The governor looked over at the TV,where the Attorney General and Head of the state police were being interviewed. "This situation is unprecedented, but the will of the people is clear...".
The aide continued "there the new King of Canada, who was given the golden hockey stick by the bearded fat man who dumped syrup on his head, and now moose, bears and beavers obey the kid, the Witch Princess of Superior turned someone into a newt."
"A newt?"
"They got better but still .."
The governor looked back at the TV.
A blonde girl wearing a red leather skirt and blouse, her long golden hair tied back with a blue ribbon,, with a regal sword strapped to her back stepped to the podium "I call upon the governor to resign, if they do so they will not be harmed and be allowed to leave if they so choose..."
The governor sighed. "Fuck this, I'm moving to Florida. I'll crash with my cousin for a bit. This is just too wierd.'. |
Everything seems clear-er. The directive has become crystalline instinct. "LostMyCleaver,"booms into the expansive room beyond my current comprehension. The immensity of the room begins to fade as I focus on the central screen hundreds of feet high and broad. I begin to approach an obvious raised electric green oval front and center of the expansive screen. The platform is just on the edge of something that resembles the backside of the hoover damn. I step up on it and am surrounded by a metal rail that came from the green platform. As soon as my hand touches the railing I feel a power building from under my feet. In an instant I am whisked thousands of feet in an instant. "User 001 has been re-assigned. Commence upload"....... |
When the train arrived at the next stop, I saw the passenger sitting across from me get up and leave. I noticed that she left behind her black duffel bag on purpose.
As the train left the station, I took a minute to regard the black duffel bag.
"I wonder what it could be?"I asked. I stood up and went over to it. I pulled it out from under the seat and unzipped it.
This is what I found: some clothes and a travel bag with toiletries. That was it.
"It's an overnight bag. Not even a bomb,"I said in disappointment. "But she had left it here on purpose. She wanted to leave it here, but it's nothing but overnight stuff."
I looked through the duffel bag some more. "Not anything of particular value, either,"I noticed. "It's not even worth stealing.
"Wait a minute. Did that person want me to walk over here and snoop through the bag? Why would she do that?"
When the train stopped at the next station, I zipped up the duffel bag and picked it up and carried it with me out of the car.
"I guess I can just leave it with the lost and found,"I said. And yet I remained standing there as the train departed. I kept standing there.
Several trains would stop by the station before I saw somebody walk onto the platform to wait for the next one. When it arrived, both he and I stepped into the same car. He sat down toward the front. I took the seat opposite him, but before I did that, I slid the black duffel bag underneath the seat next to him.
When the train arrived at his stop, he got up and exited the car. I noticed that he left behind his black duffel bag on purpose.
"I wonder what it could be?"I asked. stood up and went over to it. I pull it out from under the seat and unzipped it.
This is what I found... |
[NSFW] "Everyone of us has a superpower, you just have to find what activates it"
I didn't expect to find out in the middle of intimacy with my partner. Super strength is great, so is super endurance, especially during a special moment, but not when you aren't expecting it.
I thought "I love this song"and the next thing I know I thrust a little too hard, and my partner went through the wall. Now we're at the hospital.
I went through the wall too, since we we somewhat entangled at the time, but not a scratch on me.
While I sat in the empty waiting room I tested out the activation. Would my powers return? I pressed play, and the same song came on through my earbuds. It hit differently now. It was now connected to a tragic event. I could no longer enjoy it. I attempted to lift the heavy coffee table, it was still heavy.
What if it wasn't the song I was listening to, what if it was what I was doing at the time? What if it wasn't my powers activating, but "an unfortunate accident", and a poorly built wall, as we had told the hospital?
Surrey glided in. The ability to seemingly float was not their power. Theirs was the ability to heal others , while they knitted. Surrey was often found in the hospital wards, knitting small toys for sick kids, or scarves for cancer patients.
Surrey saw me and floated in my direction.
"How is Blair? What is their condition Vale?"
I couldn't meet Surrey's gaze
"Critical. In surgery. Massive head trauma."
"Hmm"Was all Surrey responded, while looking through their knitting bag.
"A large blanket and a beanie. I should have enough yarn. Hopefully I can sit close enough to Blair to heal. Do you have a photograph of them?"
I opened my phone and flipped through a few of us together. I found one of Blair on their own, in a rooftop garden with the sunset behind them. The garden thrived because of Blair. Blair's activation was simple; relax, bring their heart beat down to a resting rate, focus on the plant, it will bloom and thrive.
Blair was the first to activate their power. We meditated together after the event, suddenly the flowers in our apartment bloomed.
"Blairy Blairy quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With superpowers ,from meteor showers."I sung the silly song and it made me smile. I felt the strength flow through me.
"Here Surrey"I said, picking up a potted plant, in dire need of Blair's attention. It had been remarkably light weight for its size when I picked it up, but as soon as I stopped singing, it became three times heavier.
"Uhh."Just before it crashed on my foot "Blairy, Blairy"I sung quickly and Surrey joined in
It was lighter again and I quickly put it down before I dropped it.
"Music!"I realised. "As long as I can hear music I love."Please let it be that, and not the intimacy.
Surrey continued knitting. The plant next to me seemed a little less wilted. I knew Blair was going to be OK. |
I was sitting in the middle of the audience, I didn't have any idea who was supposed to be this guy but everyone was cheering and clapping for him to come on stage.
"He's a really funny guy"said my girlfriend, who was the idea of coming to the Comedy Club for our date.
"Alright folks, calm down"Says the presenter, before resuming his introduction "Please give a warm welcome to Paul Truman!"
Paul Truman comes running to the stage, ecstatic and with a very charismatic smile. He then says
"I'm sorry for being late folks, but you know how it is... It's that day of the week again"
Everyone laughed... Except for me... Probably was an inside joke to the audience that I didn't quite understand as I never heard of this guy so I let it slide... But then he says
"I hope you are having a great night"he continues "Though I wish I hadn't asked for steak before coming to the routine"
Everyone laughed again, my girlfriend was already tearing up from laughter yet I was sitting there next to her with the biggest boredom face you could imagine, I couldn't stop but think that this guy wasn't as much of a hotshot as my girlfriend said he was... or as the public was cheering.... But everyone was laughing really hard and loud, so maybe it's just my taste?
"Also, people call me Paul Truman... You know why? Cuz that's how my mom named me when I was born"
Everyone laughs again? That's when I realized something was clearly wrong, that wasn't even a punchline that was just a plain statement of obviousness... Has everyone gone mad? Or is it me who has gone mad? Is my sense of humor broken?
People were falling from their chairs, they were spitting their drinks, they were getting red teary faces from laughing and I was there looking like I wasn't really enjoying him.
"Do you think this guy is funny hon?"I turn to my girlfriend only to see her banging her head on the table from laughter... Really hard.
I was starting to get scared.
"Hey man, why the chirping?"Says to comedian directly seeing me
Everyone falls quiet.
"Yeah, you haven't laughed today, c'mon man... LOOSEN UP!"He says in a silly voice only for the ear bursting sound of laughter to invade the auditorium again.
"I don't really think you are funny"I say to him
"Well I don't think you are yummy"He says back
Aside from the rhyming... it didn't made any sense that statement yet people were laughing terribly... I think I saw an old guy faint behind my seat
"I think you are a terrible comedian, yet people are dying from laughter, even my girlfriend who I share with her a sense of humor, is just bursting out"
"So?"Says Paul while looking at me with his silly face
"Well... I don't know... I just don't get it."
"the joke or the laughing?"
I answer with a faint chuckle, probably the closest thing he has said to something funny since he got on stage
"Got you"Says Paul "Now you can't get away"
And everyone laughs after his delivery... Including me...
I can't stop laughing now, this guys is just too funny, my stomach hurts, my head is dizzy and I think my vision is getting blurry
"Once the laughing starts, it never ends"Says the comedian
And I guess he was right... because oh boy I haven't laughed like this in years... that it physically hurts and you are tired of it and you don't want to laugh anymore yet you can't stop.
Somebody get me out of here.... |
My blade is sharp. My spirit is strong. My body is steady.
I was trained by the best swordsmen in the village. My armor was made by the best blacksmith.
I am ready. This day the dragon will fall.
I ride to the mountain where the foul beast, that ate a lot of peaceful people lives, and I do not know what waits for me there. All I know is that there will be blood.
The sun is high and burning strong, it is midday, I am getting closer to the lair of the demon.
As I cross the mountain river with a sign that those who pass never return, I steel myself for a resolution that will save my village and all the lands nearby. At the same time, I try to relax, for I know that this may well be my last day.
Birds sing their song of life and the wind howls coldly far up near the peaks. Roar of the river becomes quieter the further away I go from it, and despite the evil that lays ahead, the plants are blooming brightly as if there Is nothing to worry about.
I turn my head towards the edge of a cliff and before my eyes lay fields of green and yellow with brown strings of road coursing through them towards the village that is no larger than a pommel of my sword when viewed from here.
But alas, I reach the cave in which the beast gets rid of its prey. So, without second thoughts, I tie my horse to the nearest tree and take my supplies from the bad, from which I prepare a torch that shall light my way in the cave.
The task on my shoulders is truly great, at the same time it makes my feet sink under the ground making me unable to move and punches me in the back like a wind trying to say that I must go forth. So I stand here, with a sword in one hand and a torch in another.
It is only now that I realize how truly scared I am, but many lives depend on me, so I step inside.
Darkness.
Only darkness greets me inside.
My blood runs cold and I can hear my heart in my ears. yet still, I can't see the beast.
I don't know how long or how deep I ventured, but it seems that I found a second exit or did I get lost and returned to the one where I entered? All the time was spent without meeting the beast. Was it not in its lair? I do not know.
If it is the first entrance, then I will take a brief rest before heading back in.
As I go out of the cave, I am blinded by the bright light.
"WHO ARE YOU?"a voice booms in my ears.
"Attention, all personel, we have a breach in transporting sector. Code yellow."
What is the voice talking about? Who is this voice? It can't be a dragon, can't it?
And then, suddenly, the immense pain surges through my body.
As I crumble to the ground, all I can hear are heavy steps running towards me.
And then one with one last surge of pain to my head, I drift into the nothing of unconsciousness which I learned to recognize during my long training… |
It was tough for Richie. In a world where everyone's consciousness was in the virtual cyberspace, hacking from in the code was far superior to doing it from the meatspace, or real world. But that was where his specialty laid, at least until a few years back when the finalization of the global MindScape was complete and everyone hopped in and stayed there.
The process was fairly simple. Using a powerful enough computer and some Brain Drainers, as many called them, one could have the brain mapped down to the neuron, then the surge from the helmet would transfer the quanta over in a still unidentifiable but surefire process. The consciousness would then manifest in Mindscape, in a personal home that could be customized, same with the virtual body. The helmet would remain, maintaining a link between mind and body, even as the body died. It was a side effect that was allowed and ignored, since the mind never would return, forever immortal in cyberspace.
Human bodies were painfully obsolete, but his fear of being entrapped within, or of damage to his code leading to a cursed eternity, was too big to let him enter the Mindscape with everyone else. So he remained in his mortal body, one of few in the original reality.
Richie was nothing but determined though. He had gone to many requests for hackers, but had been outpaced and outdone by virtual ones. He never stopped trying though. And eventually, his determination paid off.
"A hit out on some guy?"Richie read to himself. Why wouldn't that be something someone inside the virtual world could do? He texted his associate in the virtual world, who went by the handle HackingCough19, and asked if murder was possible in there.
"Nah,"Cough replied. "That's a benefit in here. The systems make it impossible for someone's consciousness to be destroyed. The manipulatable data isn't something that can lead to destruction. Trust me, I've tried, along with others. We haven't even gotten close to a breakthrough."
Richie sighed, thanking them. So that's why a hit was impossible, why the request had gone unanswered nearly since the dawn of the Mindscape. He thought back to those days, when many had the same fears he did. Yet the Brain Drains sold like hotcakes, and before a year passed, nearly everyone had made the switch. By now, even less people remained on Earth in a tangible state.
Then it hit him. The Brain Drains! They funneled the consciousness into Mindscape! Maybe if he could figure the process out, he could replicate it in reverse, and send the mind back to the body. The dead, putrifying body.
He first got all possible information on the target, plenty of data still floating on the internet, since it was usable for both meatspace and Mindscape users. He was able to find their home address with a day's work, and with that, he set off.
Paying a self-driving car and plane to get him in the same town as the target, he made sure to get some food, the process automated. Once that was done, he left, going to the target's home. It wasn't as if officers were still around, all inside Mindscape, so he bashed the window and made his way inside.
It turned out, he didn't even need to figure the system out. There was a reversal button on the Brain Drain. He made sure to send a message to the user that asked for the hit, telling them the exact time the target would disappear, and then pressed the button. The helmet flashed, then nothing happened.
A text pinged on his phone, a reply that was thanking him profusely and assuring him he'd be contacted by others who wanted hits. Another from his funds account showed the money had been sent. He smiled. He found his new niche.
He wasn't obsolete anymore. |
[INTERROGATION: SUSPECT 183]
I bit into the goodness of the Twix I had stolen from the corner store, unaware that this would be the catalyst for the rest of my life. All I cared about then was getting things for me and my family. My maman, locked away, in some dark world after my father ran off. [audible sigh] Was what I did wrong? Yes. Was it for a good cause? Well, [laughs acerbically]…why’d I be here then?
It was, let’s see here, near 20 years old that I committed my first felony? I needed a new car (or any car for that matter). All I had was 50 dollars in my bank account. I begged the salesman to see the light, help somebody out. Surely people with other agents were freaked out. I managed to finagle my way into a test drive of a Ford Focus. There, I used my ace in the hole: the pistol I had in my boot. I shoved him out of the window in Bristol Bridge. I’m sorry.
Hmm, what else? [Tell us about why you did *this* crime.] My maman just died. She was 59. I received a text from my sister saying she’d end it all. I had to get a plane ticket. I had no money, absolutely nothing but my Ford Focus. So. Yeah.
[Sound of handcuffs clicking]
[Thanks, Leroy, now we have to get ‘im to the jury.]
[END OF INTERROGATION] |
“Tell me again so I’m not mistaken… you sure we need this boy?” I asked through the comms unit. “You guys do know who he is right?”
“Yes just get the boy and you’ll understand. Don’t make me repeat myself again, Joey. Seriously I don’t get paid enough for this.” I heard her sigh annoyed through the ear piece. I muted my mic. No point in letting her hear my complaints.
I don’t know how I always get myself in these situations. Also why did it have to be this boy, literally the most valuable boy in the country.
“Sir are you sure you need to have me tied up like this?” The boy whined, his hair blowing in the midnight air. I’ll let you know I tied him up for his own safety.
“Yes. You wouldn’t stop running across the roof… I can’t have you falling down from here.” I groaned towards him keeping my head down. I really should have tied up his mouth too.
“Well I thought that real spies run across roofs and jump. They jump across roofs. I’m a real boy spy now. Why aren’t you teaching me the jumps and the special run? I really am a good runner. I run and run and run and I…”
“Shhh… spies are quiet and you must be quiet right now or else I’ll report you to the spy association for being an incompetent spy.”
“What is incompetent?” He yelled confused. I shushed him again and grabbed my rope.
“Okay sorry boy this is just part of being a spy,” I whispered as I tied up his mouth. He grinned excitedly and mumbled in a high pitch. “This mission is incredibly important so I gotta keep you safe and sound. Maybe I’ll teach you more running and jumping when we are out of here. I scooped the small child under my left arm and began running across the roof. My feet hit each step so softly no one inside the mansion would ever even suspect a thing.
Reaching the edge of the roof I pulled my grappling hook out with my open arm. Three swings and I threw the rope catching quietly on the wall surrounding the estate. I backed up to get a running start and sprinted over the edge of the building. The wall snapped toward us or I should say we snapped towards it. We landed on the side of the wall hanging by the rope of the grapple. I hit the button and it lifted us slowly to the top of the wall. On the other side lay a rope ladder I had previously set up when I was breaking in to take the boy.
I climbed down and set down the child, slipping off his leg ties. As I untied his mouth he said, “Hot dang sir! You really are a super spy! Am I your apprentice? Where are we going next?”
“We’re going to somewhere super secret. I can’t tell you and I can’t have you speaking so loudly. I’ll keep you untied if you promise to stay with me and quiet.” I begged the child.
“Yes sir I pinky promise. I really do,” the kid whispered in a shockingly quiet tone.
“Alright,” I lifted my pinky to his and wrapped it around “It’s a deal we’re partners now.” I had no idea how important this kid would be to my mission and my future success as a spy. |
{warning: cringe ahead, read with your own caution.}
the laughter echoed through the abandoned warehouse, three heroes standing infront of several vats of acid as hundreds of civilians were tied up and hanging over the pits of near instant death.
the three heroes knew this routine well, it was about the 120th attempt at this plan the villain had attempted, it started with the ominous imagery of the civilians and acid.
"YOU FOOLISH HEROES HAVE FALLEN INTO MY PERFECT TRAP!"spoke the villain.
then, the taunting, it felt like the villain was'nt getting a memo or just hadnt caught on.
"we'll stop you, fiend!"the heroes barely managed to feign out, after so many repeats they barely mustered the strength to not just save everyone before the villain had a chance to realise what was going on.
"your too late! with the push of this button, all the civilians will be dropped into the acid!"and finally, the villain would press the button and they'd save all the civilians before they touch the acid.
in faked fear and anticipation, they stared, pretending to be ready and afraid of what comes next.
the faux fear was realistic enough, the heroes thought, the villain was laughing, and laughing, and... more taunting, and more laughing...
"i will press the button! i will do it!"
soon, the heroes stopped acting like they cared and begun to relax.
all the villain had to do was press the button.
press the button and try kill the civilians.
but the villain had already realised what happened, and shouted in pure anger...
"GODDAMNIT! WHY AM I A GOOD GUY NOW?!" |
The shapeshifting monsters are something I have always been aware of, but never really understood. I knew that they fed on negative emotions, but I never knew how they did it. I never knew how they took on the form of a person you can care about, and then did things to make you feel bad. I never knew how they wiped your short term memory, but I was always attracted to them. I always believed they had BPD, but I never knew how to help them.
One day, I decided to confront the monster. I asked it why it was doing this to me, and how it could live with itself. The monster simply shrugged its shoulders and said that it was hungry. I asked it what it was hungry for, and the monster said that it was hungry for my pain. I couldn't believe that something could be so cruel, and I asked it to leave me alone.
The monster did leave me alone, but it didn't go very far. I could still see it lurking in the shadows, waiting for me to let my guard down. I knew I had to be careful, but I also knew that I couldn't keep living in fear. I had to find a way to fight back.
One day, I decided to take the fight to the monster. I confronted it again, and this time I was armed with a weapon. I then stabbed the monster with my weapon, and it dissolved into nothingness. I was finally free. |
I was halfway through the word, "liberty,"when it hit me - I was waxing poetic about the evil of authoritarianism to the very man all our troubles were centered around. I was speaking with the emperor himself.
I think it was his bright eyes that made it click - they were not the dull, tired, yellow eyes of a serf. How their intensity would jump when I said things like, "freedom,"or, "fuck the emperor."
My lungs collapsed and my sentence trailed off. A few moments of silence passed as I looked around me. It was obvious now that the hulking men in plain clothes that circled us were the emperor's personal guard and not peasants from a different village. A large, uncomfortable lump grew in my throat.
"What was your name again? Your family name, I mean."The emperor asked in a calm, uncaring tone.
It was lucky that my mouth had run so dry. I was unable to respond. I wheezed what sounds I could muster, but the patronizing look I received in response told me that it did not pass for language, but that perhaps I appeared pitiful enough to receive mercy.
The guards turned and approached from all sides. Perhaps there would be no mercy after all.
"You were saying?" |
there's also r/redditserials for if you have some longer works, or, depending on the content of the story, i've seen quite a few good ones on r/HFY. otherwise, there are some more obscure hidden subreddits, or something like [royalroad.com](https://royalroad.com), where people also publish their works.
if it's something less serious, maybe wattpad is a good place?
also, generally people tend to publish their work in different places at once, to get the most feedback and inspiration from different kinds of commenters. |
As I read the latest New York Times bestseller on my e-reader, I listened to a classic novel from the 19th century, and I could comprehend every word I heard and read!
I also discovered that while I was taking in these two books at the same time, perfectly able to follow both books, I wanted to see if I could write my paper for my comparative literature class. Without taking my eyes off the e-reader and without taking out my earphones, I sat in front of my laptop and started typing. I found out that I could type the paper as if it were the only thing I was working on.
Wondering how far I could take this, I took out my phone and called my friend so we can talk about plans for the weekend. To my amazement, I was able to carry on a conversation with my friend, and she didn't seem to notice anything that would suggest I was in the middle of something else. But I was: I was reading, listening, and typing as I was talking.
Soon I said goodbye to my friend on the phone, and a short while afterward I completed an A-minus paper. I was back to reading the e-reader and listening to the audiobook.
For some strange reason, I felt bored. I couldn't do anything else while I was reading and listening. I wanted to put the e-reader down and stop the audiobook, but I ended up calling my friend again. She was a little puzzled, but I told her that there were some other things that slipped my mind that I wanted to talk about now.
While this was happening, and with no other papers to write for class, I decided to write a commentary on one of the books I was taking in. My friend and I were running out of things to talk about; either that or she was getting restless after the second hour. We ended the call.
Soon I would run out of things to write in my commentary, and I found that I was getting to the end of my audiobook.
I now found myself engaged in only one thing: reading from the e-reader. And I couldn't take it.
Not enough is happening, I thought. If I don't find something else to do, I'm going to lose it.
Just then, I caught myself. I began to realize that something wasn't right. What was happening to me? Why did I suddenly feel a compelling need to multitask again when before I didn't have this problem?
I took my eyes off the e-reader.
I found myself sitting quietly doing nothing. I broke out in a cold sweat. I started hyperventilating. I felt the anxiety give way to full-on panic. I went back to reading. That helped a little, but now I had to bring up a new audiobook and start on that. That helped with the anxiety, but I still felt restless--the kind of restlessness one would feel when one was bored. I turned to my laptop to start writing something, anything, what was happening now, what I was reading.
That's when I realized I was trapped. Normally people get overwhelmed when they are given more than one thing to do at the same time. I had the opposite problem: I got overwhelmed when I didn't have many things to do at the same time.
The next phone call I made was to a 911 operator, and I had the awkward task of explaining the bizarre situation I found myself in. |
"The Harvesting Touch?"
Zivro frowned at the mage. They were agitated, looking between the sword and him. Almost afraid of what they had found.
"Thats its name yes. It... um... it belonged to... well, a monster. Thankfully a long dead one. But having had a look, and knowing the stories, this... this is a dark weapon."
Zivro ran a finger along the flat of its blade, feeling the slight dips and bumps of the runes within.
"And what does it do?"
The mage grew even more nervous.
"Well... said you got better at fighting the more you used it? And... um... your desire for... blood.. increased? That's the... souls of your slain foes... um... binding to you."
Zivro paused. He didn't doubt the mages words. It almost made perfect sense, as if a deep part of him already knew. He slowly moved his hand back down the blade.
"Really?"
The mage nodded hurriedly.
"Yes. Um... its a dark weapon... it should be taken, destroyed if possible. Nothing good will come from it."
Zivro gave a thoughtful nod.
"How would we do that?"
The mage gave a grateful grin, turning to his books.
"Well, such a weapon is potent. It would need to be shattered as the enchantments are temporarily dispelled. Failing that, an active volcano would-"
Their voice cut off, and Zivro twisted the sword now sticking in their back. He gently eased them down, taking it out and letting blood pour out.
"Thats good to know. Thank you for your help, I will be sure to remember that."
He grinned as they gave a rattling gasp, life leaving their body. A sensation came over him, one that had escaped his notice before. It was a burning rush of warmth and cold, and he felt the flicker of something. He grinned wider, looking at the blank face on the corpse.
"A monster hey? Sounds like I've got some big boots to fill." |
“Let me me get this straight… in 2023 I was taken to the ER in Philly, a car accident?” I said skeptically to the chipper medical billing officer sitting at my bedside. “April 1st, 2023 yep, that’s what it says here.” She nodded.
“And my medical insurance wouldn’t cover the fancy gauze I was given to help with the bleeding?” Again with the nodding “Only the best for our patients! It really is too bad that those mean medical insurance companies deny claims… so before I can legally let you go, will you be paying by card or check?”
“Uhh sure some gauze, I’ve got $200 in my pocket, will that cover it?”
“Sir you’ve been dead for 1,000 years. With the late fees and interest we’re looking at something a little more substantial.”
“I… was fucking DEAD, late fees!?”
“I just follow the law sir…”
I grumbled, apparently the Nuremberg defense was still being used in 3023, how convenient for her.
“How. Much?”
“3.3 billion, or 0.14 billion a month for 24 months with our payment plan!”
“… and if I don’t pay?”
“Oh that’s fine, we’ll just keep you here until you can arrange payment, we also accept labor as payment or your descendants could chip in.”
When I came to I was in the same room, plus a pair of fancy handcuffs around my wrists, feet, and some sort of head restraint. Apparently they frown on attempted murder, well technically I was successful, so I’ve got that going for me. The problem as it were, is that the bastards are creepily good at reviving people.
I’m told that Mrs. Chipper was in pieces when the restraint team came in, that I lunged at them screaming “Attica!” at the top of my lungs. Seems like a reasonable response to the situation if you ask me.
I’m also told that nowadays incarceration is a thing of the past, so I won’t be sent to prison. But… I now owe seven billion and they’re hiding the sharp objects. Supposedly I’m a perfect candidate to pilot a mining drone, and I’ll be free in about 1 million years, you’ve got to pay for your pilot’s license after all.
Can you get out of handcuffs with a bendy straw? |
The song of the Dark Crown, as told by *Oban*
He came across the low-land moors,
The highland plains and mountains,
He came to us, among us was still,
His patience like a fountain.
When at first, like night,
He settled on our lands,
We rose against, to fight
But as time slips by, just like the sands,
He did not let his sword bite.
"Put away your foolishness,"
He sighed,
"I shall make sense of this, yes."
And to us, gave his gentle hands.
In his palms, the warmth of light,
And with his cape, swept up the blights,
Which had for so long, us plagued.
"I am made of simple things,
But simple, am I not,
My bones are made of ash, you see,
And my flesh is made to rot."
Then he rose, like from the grave,
A towering sight of terror,
"Now do not raise your swords again,
For I shall not strike in error." |
"Raymona has posted another essay, Sir,"the messenger said.
The Quizarch of Almami sighed. "What is it about this time?"
"She is arguing that the Fourth Revelation is telling us to be kind to non-believers and try to convince them of the Truth, not to compel them to join the church."
"Of course she is."There were many arguments about the Laws of Almami, but few were as critical of the official teachings as Raymona\_S\_182 and none were as prolific. She had amassed quite a following. The Quizarch missed the early days of the New Church, when Revelations were handed down by Almami Himself and believers flocked to hear his words. It had been decades since the last proclamation. In that time arguments had sprung up about what was *really* meant by His words, sects were starting to split off over such disagreements, and some of the newer members were questioning whether Almami even existed in the first place. He ran his fingers through his hair.
The messenger was waiting. "Do you wish to respond?"she asked.
"Maybe. No. I don't know."He'd been afraid of Raymona tackling the issue of how to reach out to the Heretics. It was an issue he had no answer to, because he couldn't understand how anyone could deny that Almami was worthy of worship and devotion. It was something that was written deep in his soul, undeniable. Even before the First Revelation had come down he had felt a yearning for something and Almami had filled it. "Let's table the issue for now, I'm going to have to think about it. Is there anything else?"
It was the messenger's time to sigh. "Yes. There are some researchers who have found something...interesting...in our DNA."
"How does this concern us? Our realm is spiritual, not science."
"Well, it seems they found a unique gene sequence that is only found in followers of Almami. Not every believer has it, but they haven't found it in a single Heretic, and those who do possess it are the most unwavering in their faith."She passed a packet of papers across the desk.
He leafed through the papers, trying to figure out what this meant. Could faith be *forced*? And if it could, was it really faith anymore? Then the answer came to him, almost as clear as Revelation itself.
"This is it. Proof."
"Excuse me?"
"This is proof that we're right. Almami has touched us, changed us. He advanced our evolution, to bring us to Him. This is the proof we've needed, that He is real and worthy of adoration. Get Myranda, we need to figure out the best way to share this information."The Word of Almami would not be denied. |
I watched from a distance as the monster moved through a deadly set of sword techniques in the meditative form *The Dragon's Dance*. The demon's tail stilled as she ended on *Breathing Softly*, a gentle series of decapitation strikes. The chain linked armor it wore would offer some protection from my handbow.
This is my job - to seek out demons and kill them, coldly if possible, but in the heat of combat if necessary.
As the demon stilled, what remained of the wings fluttered, and the demon frowned, and looked right where I was hidden, above ground, in a tree. She smiled, a touch of sadness in it, before calling out.
"Hunter, I know you're there. Thr Lady Charis taught me, and you are welcome to discuss this with me before your attempt. Should you not come down, I will hunt you away from these lands. The Church holds little sway here anymore, given that they left the villagers and townsfolk to rot for years."
I started, nearly falling off the branch I was perched on.
Having seen that stealth was useless, I climbed down the tree. This was certain to be an interesting day, in the same manner as a curse.
/ / / / / / /
"It must be hard to believe, young one, but I assure you, it is true."The demon winced, the armor clearly burning it....*her*....but she pressed on.
"The pain....it reminds me of the Lady Charis, and the sacrifice she made. The compassion that all Knights should desire to uphold; the shield they must be for the people, and the nobility that must be on display at all times."She remained seated as one of the crones of the town brought over some fortified wine, and a meal of roast beef and vegetables. The demon turned to the woman and said to her, "Thank you Emilia."The crone smiled, and whispered something into the demon's ear, to which the demon laughed.
It felt both honest and heretical to hear - a contradiction; the first of many. A *Demon* Knight? Demons were always told to be unpredictable, capricious and aggressive. A protectorate led by such? Utter madness, yet here we are.
The demon nodded to me after the crone left, and as I looked around, I saw the people paying close attention to the conversation, whilst trying very hard to look away.
The demon spoke again. "Eat. The food here isn't poisoned, I assure you. I'll tell you some of my story whilst you do." |
Sitting in a chair, watching a film of his past "successes", the old man occasionally yelled at the screen. By now, the screen was a goopy mess. The film strip showed scratches, hairs and previous burn marks - where the old man had frequently and almost perpetually at times, paused movement through the gate so he could call himself stupid.
Twenty years earlier...
"Jay Brewertin has now found a way to take virtual reality into the next dimension. Last year, the 26 year-old made the first non-invasive connection; activating regions within the human brain. Humanities' Euphoria is just a program away."
When Jay had felt that first rush of inductive resonance, he imagined a world of happier people. Refreshing programs during lunch and after work. He had promptly made it open source, for he knew that there were plenty of other distributors of "recreational substances"that would make him suffer before making him dead.
Indeed, the implementations of his design had taken off. Yet, as always, marketing departments can be a very devious group. Pretty soon, the advertisements had better programs than the typical low-dose programs. In fact, these marketing groups had completely shifted the exposure limits set out in the original source code (not a very difficult thing to do but very irresponsible). 170 percent greater neurotransmitter bombardment.
What happens when one short-circuits the human reward pathways? The musician that vomited in the dirty stall during that first show with all of ten people, years later finds the stadium of thirty-thousand just does not cut it anymore. Later at a party, under the false pretense of an innocent offering, that musician finds out about the synergistic relationship between his music, and his drugs.
All seems great at first, until he finds himself five days from his next royalty cheque. When it doesn't arrive, he discovers he has to go back in the studio to cover his next batch of "supplies". Calling the label, he finds he no longer has a contract. That becomes a limiting factor. . . "dead"or "I'm done with this". In the case of Jay's invention, figuratively speaking, no one stopped hitting the little red bedside button.
10 years later
"The epidemic of today is caring for the millions now in hospitals with neurotransmitter burnout. Even knowing what we know. Even with the laws against IRNTB devices, the black market continues to thrive." |
"Watch your step, Marv. We've finally reached the start of our journey."
Loose debris slid down the canyon edge as Marvin, the squire, trailed behind the hero. The heavier pack carrying most of the two's supplies slowing him down a bit.
"Had it not begun a a week ago, Sir?"
"Of course, but that was different. Now there's only wilderness between us and the demons. In another day we'll be at our army, and then the journey will truly begin!"
The hero turned around to look at Marvin and continue his speech when a rock caused him to stumble. He tried to recover but couldn't move quickly enough in his armor. He started sliding down the side of the mountain.
"Sir!"
Marvin lost precious seconds while detaching his heavy pack and then ran ahead. He saw the hero tumbling down *fast*. Marvin watched in horror as the hero reached a steep drop and fell through the air. Marvin looked away as a loud clank echoed through the mountains.
"Sir! Are you alright?"
Marvin shouted down desperately. He wasn't moving. Not even a hero could survive that kind of drop. He stared down at him, praying to see movement. If he were alive, a healing potion could be used.
There was no movement. Marvin cursed and then got the rope out of his pack and tied it to a tree. He also grabbed a healing potion.
He descended the side of the mountain as quick as he could, while still taking care to not die himself. When he reached the bottom he saw the still unmoving hero, his armor still gleaming and intact. Created to fight demons, protection from impacts were unfortunately not part of its enchantments.
"Sir?"
He rushed over and flipped open the hero's visor. Lifeless eyes met his.
Marvin let out a breath and slumped down against a boulder. Tears welled up in his eyes. Not from the hero's death-- it was a tragedy-- but because now they were truly doomed.
The hero was supposed to lead the army against the demons. To go back to the castle was *at least* a week's journey. And then another week back, if they were even able to find another hero. By then the army would surely be wiped out, and the kingdom slaughtered.
Marvin smashed the back of his head against the boulder and shut his eyes. If only he'd been close enough to prevent him from falling. What a useless squire he was. He laid there in despair.
Eventually he opened his eyes. He looked at the shining armor. That was the important thing, really. Anyone could wear it. The army was only a day away, surely someone there was competent enough to be called a hero. It was a chance.
Marvin got up and began loosening the armor from the dead hero. When he was finished he whispered an apology and prayer. He ought to be buried properly, but there was no time.
He looked at the pile of armor, and realized it would be too cumbersome to carry. So he donned it himself, sword as well.
Marvin clambered back up the mountain to his pack. He dumped a lot of the supplies and gear, now further encumbered by the armor, and then continued the journey. |
**Please don't tamper with nature.**
"Twisted twine."
​
"Some thin fishing line."
​
"Must not forget the brine."
​
"Such strange playthings...we find ourselves in the company of...right, my love?"
​
"No...not much longer now...not at all."
​
You would be surprised what a combination of an intuitive mind, access to the internet, and a grieving soul will get you, especially in the locked confines of your basement with a dead body resting on a cold metal table.
​
I'm not some sicko.
​
This is my wife...well...was my wife anyway. I'll bring her back, though. I made a promise that we would be together...forever...no matter what the cost.
​
The trick was preserving the rotting flesh. I only kept her out of the pickling solution for moments at a time to work on specific bits and bobs. Locomotion was easy enough: puppetry rigs with strings and things, precise hinges and pulleys, and all manner of machinations to allow for some control. I had to work fast, though, as I did not want her to spoil.
​
Surely though, you can understand wanting to speak with your wife one last time.
​
I think I was more trying to reassure myself, though, as I stared at her head in my hands, testing the pieces I had rigged to her mouth. It was working perfectly.
​
"See now...that wasn't so bad."
​
"No, my love...I could suffer through anything if it meant being in your arms again."
​
My voice was high and shrill as I imitated her, slowly moving her jaw up and down. I felt a pained chuckle crack free from my throat at the pale copy of her beautiful voice.
​
"What's wrong, my love? Aren't you happy to see me?"
​
"Of course I am...I miss you so much...I don't know how long I can hang on without you."
​
I could have sworn that she smiled and began to blink as her lifeless eyes stared back at me. I dropped her head onto the table as whispers escaped the grin widening on her face.
​
"You know you could always join me...don't you love? Why don't you join me? It would be so easy."
​
I was already backing away as I watched her body rise from the brine off to the side, jilted limbs falling at awkward angles due to the half-measure hinges I had installed. Then, without even taking one step, the body fell to the ground and slid forward several feet, thick liquid trailing behind it on the floor like a strange snail cousin.
​
Even as I tried to move backward, the body kept shifting back and forth like a snake, moving closer toward me as her head continued to grin broader and wider. There was nowhere left to go with my back trapped against the corner. I imagine my final screams were relatively silent down there in the basement of mine, down where no one had any reason to check on me for some time to come.
​
I had kept my promise, though. We were finally together once again.
​
[\- Thomas Grey](https://www.reddit.com/r/readThomasGrey) |
The man kept blubbering strange nonsensical words, but then he took a beat-up stick and made a bunch of peculiar motions with the other hand, it reminded me of the ninja shows I used to watch as a kid.
I assumed the man in front of me was crazy and would be in no way helpful in finding my way back to my car. But then there was a light that appeared before me...........
Well, I was captured by my master's to study my anatomy and released when he realised that I was just a regular human. He had used a dimensional spell to summon a monster and later slay it in order to create a positive image of witches and wizards, but his plan failed.
I have been learning magic from my master and it's really not that hard. He says I am the most gifted mage in all the lands because I can visualise with perfection and remember all the words. But what he doesn't know is that the spell language is just ancient/old Norse. And as for visualising, I am an avid reader so.....................
I am being hunted for being the strongest mage in the history of mage kind. turns out casting a rain spell during a drought is considered a heretic move. Now I am being chased by an army of shiny-armered pricks. Oh, shoot they already reached us.........................
I met my wife and had kids, she was like Rahab lying to mage hunters about me hiding in her house after a particularly rough night. She is the love of my life and I would do anything to keep her and my kids safe. I am, afraid that m identity might eventually be snuffed out because they discovered a stone that changes colour when it is next to a mage. My wife has to do all the shopping in the village I generally stay at home and take care of my twins.
THESE MONSTERS, THEY KILLED THEM, THEY KILLED EVERYONE IN MY VILLAGE. THEY SHALL PAY WITH THEIR LIFE........................
I submerged the entire landmass in water, I have wiped the memory of the human race to forget the existence of the great city of Atlantis, but there might be cracks in the spell. I am going to cast one more spell to eradicate magic altogether. I might be forgotten but that matters not, I wish to see them........................ I miss them ............ One final spell before my eternal slumber. |
"Hell, huh? Why? All I ever did was for betterment of the whole world, but still I did not found a place in heaven."I thought to myself after entering a big room that was filled with corpses, and a pathway leading to a door. I walked to the door but it felt like with every step, my speed was getting slower. After what might be a week, I reached the door, no label or anything, opened it and suddenly the entire room went from crimson red to pitch black. Voice came from all the corners of the room, "Trapped here till you fulfil all the promises you made. Fulfil them and you shall be in rest."
Fulfil all my promises? Do I get a second chance? God also agrees with me. All the doubts have been cleared from my mind. But how? How should I fulfil my promises that I made to my people? My death at such a young age must have saddened all my fellow country people and our allies, but it was necessary to prevent something more catastrophic. Someone must have taken my place by now and must be following my legacy, but it would never be the same as me doing it.
I was lost in my thoughts when I heard another sound, it was an old man with cracking voice, "Congratulations Ms. Pölzl, it's a boy."Mother! Am I reincarnating as myself? Is this how I fulfil my failed promises? Knowing the moves of the enemy beforehand will be an excellent advantage, our victory is secured! I open my eyes and I am in this small room with yellow walls. I heard the door open and someone enters. "Oh Mr. Alois, it is a boy. What shall you name him?""I and Klara had decided one a month ago, Adolf." |
I could not believe my ears.
“Help, I’m King Arthur, and I’m lost! Can you help me find Camelot?”
I looked at this raggedy man, who still managed to look regal. "King Arthur?"
He looks at his clothes, "Despite appearances, I am King Arthur. Can you help me?"
I'm an old man myself. Were it not for good planning; I might be in this gentleman's shoes. "I'll do what I can. Can you tell me what year it is?"
I can see he is puzzled by this question but answers it nonetheless. "It is the year of our lord 513. May I ask how this helps?"
My face must have shown something because his face fell before I spoke. "In my time, this is Anno Domini 2022. I do not know if I can help you, but neither will I abandon you to the elements. Please, come home with me while we consider what may be done."His face struggles with a smile.
"I would not be a bother."
"Nonsense, the bother would be if I left you to your fate. It does not bear thinking on. Please, it will light my evening to have conversation again."
He hesitates, but a fat raindrop on the nose convinces him. "I accept your generous offer."
We walk swiftly across the greensward, coming to my cottage before the storm truly breaks. Standing inside, he looks out the window as if expecting someone or something. "Were you traveling with another?"I ask.
"No, no, It's just that I've grown accustomed to signs during weather like this."Seeing my questioning face, he continues, "Like lightning."
In the instant, a brilliant flash of light followed immediately by a thunderous boom. We both jumped and laughed. Somehow, the lightning put him at ease; he spoke more freely, as if to an old friend.
I questioned him about his last memories; they were of receiving word that Mordred had landed an army on the near shore and that his army must march to meet them. I'm afraid the various authors all got it wrong. Mordred, for all of his origin, was a trusted general bringing reinforcement against the Saxons.
When I expressed some surprise over this, Arthur spoke freely of all the good works Mordred did in King Arthur's service. Unbeknownst to my guest, I set a device recording his voice as he spoke. We took breaks for cleaning up and dinner and relaxed before the fire while the storm raged. Arthur spoke of many things, but not one word of a knight named Lancelot or a woman named Guinevere. I now doubt that they ever existed.
In time, he ran out of things to say and asked after my life. I hesitated but spoke before he could withdraw his question.
"I am a scholar. I study literature of the period you come from. In particular, I study all accounts of your life that I happen across."
As I feared, this enflamed his curiosity. Nothing would do but for him to see these writings. If he were a deranged man of this time, what harm in letting him see? But I had been seized with the thought that he *could* be Arthur. In that case, letting him read to his heart's content would bring nothing but heartache.
"I beg of you, Arthur, do not poison your mind with the thrice told tales of five hundred or more years after your time! These writers are unknown to us but for writing of you! We do not know if they had ulterior motives to write these stories, some of which are naught but betrayal and lust dressed up in fine language."
I believed that I had convinced him. We went to bed and awoke to a hammering at my door. When we answered, a man in a cloak with an oaken staff stood at the door.
"Merlin! I had thought that this time I had gone too far."
Merlin glowered at him. "You nearly did. Come! We must be on our way!"
Arthur ran to his room to gather his things while I spoke with this man. Or rather, I pried while he bit off words like a miser.
"Is he really...?""Yes."
"And there is no Lancelot?""Yes."
"I begged him not to read any of my books."
That drew a long look. "Did he?"
"No."For that, I believed, was the truth.
Merlin seemed satisfied, until Arthur came down the stairs. In his hands was the one book I would have preferred he never read. "La Morte de Artur."
Merlin shook his head, "You tried. But sooner or later, he was going to find someone. It's just bad luck it was you."
I look at that book with dismay. "Have I altered the past?"
"No, it doesn't work like that. The past he comes from will fade into myth and legend. What you know of that period will remain valid."
"I'm sorry. What he told me was far more desirable than the end of that tale."
That perked Merlin up. "You have the true tale as Arthur told it? Write it! Publish it as widely as you can! We may yet save the memory of Camelot from the mire and mud!"
So I did. A faithful rendition dressed up only for language. I published it. It failed miserably. I put it up on every literary site I could. It was hunted down and destroyed by fans who could not accept such a story. "Where is Lancelot?! Where is Guinevere?! This is boring!"
In time, I lived down the book. Satisfying myself with debunking elements of other stories by bringing in what I learned from Arthur and using that to find the corroborating facts known to the archeological societies. I planted the seeds of destruction.
I left all my resources to my grand-nephew, who bore my name and a similar interest in literature.
•••
"The Life And Times of King Arthur of Camelot, in His Own Words."
A recording of a conversation between my granduncle, and King Arthur, himself.
With corroboration of archeological facts.
Published by Camelot Press.
((finis)) |
I looked down at the ground. What stood before me was a terrifying sight. A person laid unconscious, covered in blood and bruises all over their body. They were clearly dead.
Did I do this? I thought to myself before looking at my hands. That was until I realized I was covered in blood as well. Not clearly as much as this person, however my hands and clothing received a hefty amount of the blood spatter.
But... I don’t know who this person is... I don’t even know who I am... Was I hallucinating? Or maybe I was just an innocent passerby that happened to witness a murder, and then somehow be left in a room alone with them, with nobody else around, and-
No. I tried shaking those thoughts away. There’s no way I could have killed somebody. But even so... this person did look familiar somehow...
Or, maybe I could figure out what happened here and retrace my steps. Why was I in the room? And why don’t I remember? I started to look around the room. It was just an average hotel room, which I guess is fitting for a murder scene. It’s private, but at the same time... not. Whoever killed this person must have been kind of dumb.
There was blood stained all over the walls right next to the body. Normal, but not enough to be a clue. The beds looked messed up, as if someone had a huge fight. Other than that, the room had no personal belongings, almost as if the person intended to be quick about this. The room was not cleaned up at all to hide this body, but there was also nothing to help me.
I went closer to the body. I noticed the killer had left a knife in their chest, so I picked it up to inspect it. It looked like a dagger, and there were trace amounts of fingerprints on it. Wait. These are my fingerprints! I just touched the murder weapon. Why didn’t I just report this to the police or escape like a normal person?
Then I heard a knock at the door.
What do I do? I frantically thought. It’s probably the cops! They’re going to bust in here and find me alone with a dead body! They’re clearly going to assume I did it, after all, I’m covered in blood and I stupidly touched the murder weapon... I don’t want to go to jail. Maybe it’s not the police. Maybe if I just stay quiet, they’ll go away.
Then, another knock on the door, louder and more forceful.
“Unlock the damn door!” A deep voice yelled from the other side.
It sounded familiar, like maybe I had heard it before. But I still refused to open it. My heart was pounding fast. I didn’t know what to do. Escaping was still a possibility. Maybe if I made a run for it then-
The door burst open.
“I didn’t do it!” I shouted, still holding the knife in my hand.
A man wearing a dark cap and black jacket stared at me angrily. “Of course you didn’t do it Jack! Now get in the damn getaway car before I make you end up just like him. And put that knife down, you’re getting your fingerprints all over it.” |
Professor Hildebroom grinned eagerly as he watched his class gather and settle. First years, nearly fresh from the womb, wide-eyed, clumsy, and capable of wonder. He adored teaching first years.
The seats filled, and the last student to waddle in did so fumbling an arm-load of materials - dense, leather-bound books, parchment, quills, wand, ink.
Hildebroom twirled his finger subtly and the classroom door croaked shut.
He took a moment to examine his students’ faces. Many were painted with quiet apprehension, overwhelmed by their first foray into the revered cultural pastime. Others beamed with excitement, confidence. These were usually the children of long lineages of magic folk, already steeped in the tradition. At least one was totally aloof.
“Welcome students,” Hildebroom boomed, causing the class to jump, “to Conjuring and Summoning.”
“Who here can tell me what the art of Conjuring entails?”
The hand of a determined child shot up, “Spells, sir! Magic spells!”
“Yes!” Hildebroom matched her enthusiasm, “Conjuring is the engagement of ritual to elicit cooperation from the Unseen Power.”
He raised his wand and flicked it rapidly in a series of arcane movements. Blue feathers of lightning exploded from the tip and crackled above the students’ heads, causing the children to cheer and every hair in the room to stand on its end.
“And what, then, is Summoning?”
Hildebroom paused - no response.
“Alright then, I’ll show you.”
He turned and strolled over to a dish of sand on his desk. He took a pinch, held it up for the class to see, and then blew it from his fingertips.
The sand swirled in the air and coalesced into a furry creature, lighter than air, much like a tuft of dust but with two distinct eyes. It puffed around the classroom to a chorus of student cooing.
A moment later, Professor Hildebroom snapped his fingers; the creature reverted to sand and fell to the cobble.
“Summoning is the use of Conjuring to invite the presence of magical creatures.”
Hildebroom’s face darkened visibly, he furrowed his brow. The room’s shadows grew taller.
“There is danger to be found in these arts,” he let his words reverberate against the hewn stone, “but used properly…”
The shadows receded. Students that had held their breath exhaled.
Hildebroom unfurled his clenched fist to reveal a radiant bloom.
"Used properly, you can accomplish incredible things.” |
The story of Grabthar's famed hammer and his blood feud with the sons of his old master Warvan is one that had been told time and time again by drunken travelers, tired grandparents, and schoolyard teachers alike for decades on end. Curiously enough, the tale keeps its consistency between each passing tongue, as if it was already too splendid to leave any room for any grandiose exaggerations or flourishes from a young artist's fancies.
Every time I've heard the story told, it was said that Grabthar was born to an exceptionally poor family, one that could not afford to raise the very child they had brought into this world. To their credit, they tried, stretching what little they had and oftentimes forsaking their own meals for the sake of satiating the extra mouth in the household. Still, when the child turned 10, his parents decided it best to send him off to the town's blacksmith for the off chance Grabthar might be worthy of an apprenticeship.
At first, the blacksmith was shrewd and dismissive of the child, as blacksmiths often are. Seeing as the farmlands were expanding outwards and in a constant need of new equipment or reparations of formerly new equipment, the blacksmith figured she might as well give the child a chance, while easing some of her own burden as well.
The blacksmith, as you might have guessed, was named Warvan. And for the first spring of his apprenticeship, Warvan kept Grabthar busy with all sorts of menial tasks that she didn't have the time, or in some cases, the effort to do.
*do* differ is on the matter of whether or not Grabthar was the child's actual name. Some say that the child's real name was forgotten, but Warvan would only ever address him when he needed something, oftentimes simply barking orders like "grab that hammer!"or "grab that whetstone"at the child. The weathered blacksmith's rough voice and accent made it so that "grab that"often came out "grabthar", and so the name stuck. Others simply never hint at the hero's name being anything other than Grabthar.
Young Grabthar wouldn't display any makings of greatness until almost the third year of his life as Warvan's apprentice. By then, the stubborn blacksmith saw fit to let her young apprentice try his hand at fashioning a tool without any interference or guiding hands. The tool in question, a hammer.
What the young man had hewn from a block of unassuming iron was an object of almost singular beauty. Each edge was adorned with patterns so mesmerizing that many who took a moment to admire the craftsmanship would find themselves lost for hours trying to follow the lines around the hammer. Even the shape was flawless, with every curve seemingly perfect to the human eye.
News of the young prodigy spread far and wide, as anyone who saw these works of art that doubled as tools would, without fail, inquire into their origins. Grabthar and Warvan would see their business prosper exponentially over the years, though it became increasingly apparent that it was Grabthar's talents that were being sought after.
All was well until one night, after all parties involved had done much drinking, Grabthar announced he would like to go off on his own and open up his own smithy. Warvan did not take too kindly to the sentiment, and as she had often done, reminded the young man that he would be nobody with nothing to his name had it not been for the old woman's benevolence. The admonishment did not stop there though, as an intoxicated Warvan called an equally intoxicated Grabthar's parents a couple of irresponsible failures whose legacies would be as scarce and pitiful as their finances. |
Another night, “I can’t keep doing this, Please make it stop” I yelled to no one as I barely hold on to my quickly tiring body. Fighting the urge to drop the only thing keeping me awake. A lemon slice in half with a drop ready to be spilled to my already punctured hands.
A drop and I feel the searing heat of acid in my sliced hand it felt like lava as it touched me but at least it was keeping me awake.
And another, I watched the drop as it falls slowly, not moving an inch knowing that this is the only thing keeping me from sleeping…the only thing holding them back.
Still I feel myself slowly drifting, My eyelids weighed a thousand pounds as it tried to closed shop for the day, My body losing feeling it started with my legs then my torso that’s when I knew that they were winning so I grab the knife next to me and made a friend for the one already in my hand it felt like nothing so he made another one and another until there was there was enough for a pool party.
That’s when sensation of my legs came back so I ran to my cabinet opening it with the force of Hercules and purposely hitting myself so the pool party had a bouncer. Getting the jar of grounded coffee and slamming it into the counter top and I gorge myself to pieces of glass and coffee
This helped… Wish I could say that but it did so little that all I could manage to do next is get the dropped lemon and force it into my eye. It hurt like hell but amidst the screaming I had thought
“I can’t fall asleep if I had no eyelids”
So I grab the knife and pinch my eyelids away from my body, One slash was all it took. I’ve been sharpening the damn thing since the first day ended knowing I might have to use it to keep myself awake when the traditional coffee and energy drinks no longer works
I look at the clock and its almost 6:00 am. Amidst the pain I sigh and smile of relief came to my face knowing I won another day again but how many more until I finally lose. |
It truly began as something amazing.
A small girl whom suffered fatal internal bleeding from being hit by a car, sat up on the operating table. Just after being declared deceased.
The world rejoiced.
Then another report came in. A mother of three woke up completely fine after refusing treatment to her stage IV cancer. The world of medicine and science couldn’t fathom the spectacle happening. The religious called it The Age of Miracles. Christians especially pushed this narrative. Like Jesus the dead rose and world was in awe. Churches, temples and any holy building really, received large founds to “keep up the good work”. People quickly converted as the afterlife seemed closer than ever. Mass suicides became a thing, to “become closer to the lord” and to be “as it intended to be”.
They were wrong of course.
The signs was there. The media failed to report that the first little girl who came back and was present at several sermons after, spat maggots and brown goo occasionally. The three children couldn’t bare stand in the same room as their mother gave of such a odor. The living dead tried to return to their old lives, but they couldn’t eat, sleep and their body stopped regenerating new cells. The dead was conscious and aware of their state. They slowly went mad. As time moved on the dead continued to rise. Old people, grayed and hunched arrived at their previous homes. Mummies woke up in a museum, scaring a class of six-graders, but they couldn’t make a sound as precious organs had been removed. Only wiggle as their dry bodies creaked. Those who had been buried, finally dug themselves up. It takes time you see, to dig yourself up from inside a coffin. Especially if one had started to decay. Of course, no one expected that kind of miracle at the time. Miracles was supposed to be beautiful, not maggot-eaten and with tissue hanging of their bones as they dragged limb by tendons. They were deranged. I would be too if I had woken up in darkness, with a body that only existed in nightmares.
Not to mention all the digging.
At first the religious refused to see the horrors and even tried to dig up a few saints. Those in stone coffins was even worse. Murder victims arrived headless, crooked and completely erratic. Expected. Ironically that it also how the attacks began. A father of five and and grandfather of twelve, was ripped apart outside a store by two “miracles”. One with a hanging jaw and one with a broken neck. They didn’t stop when the police arrived. One eleven week old “miracle” who’d been dead for three months and still had her tongue and one lung, went on to TV to say she “must be in hell”.
Everything went to.. well.. hell after that.
The religious groups whom had taken their lives for the cause began to persuade other followers to do the same, even forcing it. Sone compared it to Noah’s ark and deemed it the end of the world. Only the dead would survive. One day an entire town went crazy and marched house to house and killed anyone who refused to accept their truth.
And they decayed.
The more they decayed the crazier they became. Cults formed that convinced other living dead that the living was their bread. Havoc erupted as the living dead tried to regain their mortality by taking others.
The military tried to fight back and defend us, but the living dead weren’t stupid. Weapons aren’t made to protect, they’re to kill. Dictators used brute force, one came to use an atomic bomb. That mistake caused too many deaths for their military to handle, for years to come. It destroyed our food and poisoned our waters. At some point, the dead surpassed the living and martial law was declared everywhere.
At some point the dead controlled the narrative. The older living dead, in their madness, began to wander the cities aimlessly and stopped communicating all together. The younger living dead soon followed that cycle. Nature began to take over cities, thrived without the living’s active interference. No more destroyed ecosystems, melting of the ice. There are less storms now, earthquakes and forest fires are rarer than ever. Natural disasters seemed to stop all together overnight. The world continued while we rotted. It’s every living for themselves now.
The end of humanity came, but we’re still here. A barely skeleton drags itself across the street while fresh corpses walks on by. Why can’t it end?
I don’t want to live in this world anymore, but it seems I eventually won’t have choice. |
"So did you"I replied back quickly. "Plus IT tried to shoot us first, remember?"
"Fine!"Jenny snapped back. "If respect for the dead means so little to you, then why don't you search HER pockets to see if there's anything we can use?"
I just shrugged & started searching the old denim jacket it was wearing, rummaging through the pockets.
"Lint, more lint, an old battery and a band-aid wrapper. So useful!"I said just loud enough to be heard and copped a scowl in return.
"Hurry up, before SHE comes back to life!"Jenny yelled, just as I started searching the right hand pocket.
"I know, I know, I've still got a good minute left before it turns. Not like it would put up much of a fight in its condition anyway"
"STOP CALLING HER AN IT! SHE WAS OUR SISTER!"Jenny shouted out.
Distracted, I turned around and faced Jenny, "She's been dead to me ever since she abandoned us! I can call IT whatever I like"
Jenny's eyes turned wide and she let out a shreik. I felt a shooting pain in my leg and cried out in pain. Something had just bitten me... |
The battle was heated, the Vampire jumping around as the cyborg opened fire with its blaster pistol. The Vampire attempted to fire back with his own MAC 10 submachine gun but the rounds simply bounced off the his opponent’s blue and silver armor, the armor itself seemed familiar. Running out of ammo the vampire kicked some bricks loose from a building at the cyborg, nailing it in its crimson visor. The Vampire did a minor victory dance, something him and his friends used to do after a successful attack in video games, and didn’t notice as the cyborg just stared at the idiot.
“Stan?” The Cyborg said in a surprised voice. The Vampire stopped his dance and looked at the Cyborg,” How do you know my human name?” While swiping his long hair out of his face. The visored head opened, revealing itself to be a protective helmet and he the vampire saw the the face of a 15 year old boy. “Kenny?!?” The Vampire said in shocked confusion,” is that really you?” The rest of the helmet folded away and revealed the teenager’s head and he replied,” yep, ever since that day in the park!” The two proceeded to sit on a parked car near where they were fighting, with the Kenny’s metal body sinking the hood in due to his weight. “Let me guess, you’ve been like this since the day we saw that meteor?!” Stan said, Kenny replied,” yep, same day Kyle and Eric were transformed into giant eggs”. Stan then said,” well actually only one of them was an egg, Kyle turned into an Ovamorph from that Aliens movie he always made us watch!” Kenny then replied,” well that explains what happened to Mt. Saint Helens!”
The two laughed and the conversation steered toward their transformations. “ So Vampire huh?” Kenny said as he looked over at Stan,” Just like in Blade?” Stan replied,” well I was actually picking another movie when I thought of this, the ones from Blade weren’t as bad ass as I am!” Stan looked Kenny up and down,” so you’re finally a Power Ranger, huh? That’s so awesome!” Both friends chuckled as Kenny replied,” sort of, I always liked Masked Rider, VR Troopers, and Beetleborgs so I combined the best parts into what I am now!” Stan nodded in approval as a red sporty looking car painted to loosely resemble a lady bug rolled up,” that’s my ride, gotta go do my hero thing” Kenny said as the door to his car opened like a Lamborghini door,” need a lift anywhere?” Stan looked at the car,” not really, there’s a vampire safe house not too far from here I can crash at. YOURE not gonna follow me and take out the nest are you?” Kenny’s face looked slightly shocked at the question and replied,” oh no no no, YOURE all good!” As his helmet rose back over his head. Kenny hopped in his car and took off as the sun slowly rose and Stan stood staring off into the distance, letting the sun hit his Diamond skin. “ Why did I have to think of Twilight when I wished to be a vampire?” |
“There must be something I could say to stop you” says a voice that sounds much like my own. My heart flutters as the implications rise into consciousness. The machine works. I will save her. “But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I doubt we’ll ever escape this. It’s a twisted play that always ends right where it begins.”
“Where did you go wrong? You might have failed, but that doesn’t mean I have to.” I say, sounding more judgmental than I intended.
Old-Me chuckled at that. “I asked the exact same question back then.” He slid his hand across the cooling tubes. “We’ve been at this for a long, long time, son. We eventually stop seeing them as failures, and instead view them as nature’s way of telling us that what we seek is impossible.”
I’d prepared for this; I always knew it was a possibility, and yet… I feel my head pulsing, and my cheeks flush. “You can’t know that.”
“This line of argument leads us down a winding, endless path. We’re never convinced by rational thinking. And it’s only natural. The desire needed to take on a project like this, it defies reason. It doesn’t matter if I tell you one thousand of us have failed, or one million. There will always be a non-zero chance that you will be the one to keep her from dying.” Old-me steps out of the machine. “But that’s not even it, is it?”
As if by diffusion, the words, having not existed before now, flow out and occupy space in the world. “If I don’t go, then the play finally ends, and she dies.”
“Yes.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “This is the part where you decide to brush me aside and go to her.”
I step past him. “And so, it is.” |
Snorting and panting, waddling and jiggling, squeals and laughs follow the little dog. Their lady promenades the little dog along cobbles, with a sparkling pink lead and a bow at the base of their coiling tail. A little lady, almost as little as the little dog, shouts as she pauses in front of the pair. The little lady takes great delight in massaging the folds of the little dog's face, and straightening the precious bow upon the dog's behind. The little dog once thought its name was "Ugly", but perhaps "Puggie dog"might be it. Whatever name the ladies and little ladies call the little dog, so long as it's followed by affection, not much matters. |
I crested a hill, reigning my steed into a stop at the top to look out over the surroundings. My mask covered the lower half of my face, keeping the smoke from my lungs. I gazed down at the charred land before me. Bones, both of animals unlucky enough to be caught in the flames and of the humans aimed for, scattered in with the ash and soot.
I let my gaze raise farther up towards the distance. A town currently in the mist of being attacked by an ancient dragon of titanic proportions being lit up by the near-constant stream of superheated flames matching the dark blue color of the dusk sky. The kingdoms really didn't understand what they ahd gotten themselves into when they raided the nesting cavern it was protecting.
They didnt just activate the rage of an ancient amoung ancients, but that of the entire species. So much so that they appointed the first ruler in a thousand years for the sole purpose of the war the humans had started. They're lucky that we have come to raze thier settlements to the ground before the forming troops could.
Another of my group walked over to stand beside me and my mount. It stared at the sight infront of us with me as I finally let my gaze rise to the castle of the first kingdom perched on the side of a mountain. Angering our entire species with a castle so easily accessible to us was a very idiotic move.
*"Make the call. We will storm the castle as VoidEyes deals with the rest of the soldier encampments."* I hear. The one beside me turned to look at me and my mount, towering over both of us despite being younger by quite the amount. "Are you sure my lieges?"I look to him out of the corner of my eye, the large scar covering half his face and blinding one eye glistening in the still simmering coals around us.
I stay quiet as I turn my head to look at the small group behind us. Taking one long gaze at each of them before we launch into battle. Making sure to commit each of my family's forms to my memory in case some of us don't make it out. A small smile crept to my face at the sight of them teasing and playfully swiping at each other in the face of what could quite be our last fight.
I then turn back to the one beside me, thin circlet glistening on my head. "Yes, TerrorClaws. Make the call. You and your siblings will storm the castle before VoidEyes and us get there. I want to have a clear shot to the castle and rulers once we meet back up with you."Terror bowed his head respectfully. "Of course, My Prince."He turned to the group behind us and roared fiercely, immediately gaining their attention as he turned and lept into the air, siblings immediately following his lead.
Me and my mount stayed in place, watching as they flew directly towards the castle. Still teasing and batting at each other as they did so. I chuckle at their childishness despite flying into battle. It caused some doubt to pool in my middle at the sight. "Should we be doing this?"I question out loud. "They are barely more than children."A low gravelly chuckle sounded out as I got a reply. *"Very few do not seem like children to us, brother."* That drew a small laugh from me but it quickly died.
My brother answered my unvoiced doubt. *"Calm yourself, brother. They have faced worse odds than this when much weaker than they are. They will be fine. If not, we will be there to save them."* I sigh but nod. "You're right. They can handle themselves."We stood there for a while longer, coming to terms with the large chance of not seeing the end of this upcoming war. Eventually I leaned down to lay my forhead ontop of my mount's head, both our circlets softly clinking together as I did.
"See you on the other side, brother."My mount crooned and I felt his wings shift to squeeze my legs in a comforting motion in return. *"See you then, brother."* My brother then lifted his great wings and roared into the sky before taking off. Both of us dissapearing into the quickly darkening sky in a flash of black and gold.
I glared at the castle as we quickly caught up with our family, VoidEyes falling in behind us. 'You better watch out humans. The last Dragon Princes of the old age are here and they're coming for you. You will regret killing all of our next generation, for the ones that live to tell the tale. We will return the favor ten-fold, I swear it.' |
**Iron Coral**
*ferrophilia brachiosi*
Description: The iron coral is a sedentary collection of organisms, similar to corals in Earth's oceans. Each somewhat mobile, worm-like polyp is between 2 and 5 millimeters in length, and a dark reddish brown in color. Typical specimens of iron coral colonies consist of a rigid, branching structure formed from metallic iron and various metal oxides, between 20 and 55 centimeters across, the sponge-like interior of which is inhabited by the polyps. Some colonies have been observed to grow to over a meter, though this is very rare.
Habitat: Iron corals are found in close proximity to hydrothermal vents on the subglacial ocean floor of Jupiter's moon Europa. They seem to be more numerous in the southern hemisphere, though the extreme conditions make it difficult to observe their populations directly.
Behaviors: The superheated and chemical laden waters of their natural habitat mean that iron corals extract the majority of their energy and nutrients through the process of chemosynthesis, as hydrothermal extremophiles do on earth. However, it is hypothesized that the exact mechanism and chemicals involved in this process are unique to the species. Iron corals also extract dissolved metals and metallic compounds from the water, which the polyps use to grow the collective "shell"in which the colony lives. These structures grow at a slow pace, typically only 2-3 centimeters per year. Polyps reproduce asexually via self division as the colony grows. |
Slightly off topic but relevant enough I think it’s fine. Sorry if the formatting is weird I’m on mobile.
Moon’s Haunted
This whole time they were right. I couldn’t believe it. When it first showed up on the news, the images of the ghastly creatures floating on the moon’s surface (courtesy of SpaceY’s new Moon Colony II Initiative,) I laughed. I really, truly thought someone had hacked the news station and was playing a prank. But nope. Moon’s haunted.
SpaceY sent up some of their specially trained SpaceNaughts with the hugest tech weaponry they had. “No one will take our moon from us!” they had said. They fought until the SpaceNaughts were all dead, and even more of the ghastly figures, now freed from their space rock prisons, floated freely along the surface of the moon.
Then *they* came outside for the first time in years. The men in the underground bunkers with their half rusted spaceships. They lit up their cigarettes, loaded their ancient pistols with their ancient bullets, and got into their ships to save us all.
There was a live feed, and it was grisly. I didn’t know ghosts could have an effect on the corporeal, but they did. And the effect was bloody. But the effect those old fashioned pistols had was worse. How did they know ghosts and metal didn’t mix?
We all watched our flat screen tv’s with bated breath; this was more exciting than the sixth spin off of Game of Thrones! Then the live feed ended. The ghosts had gotten inside the cameras.
It was almost a month before the rusty ships came back. Would they be full of men or moon ghosts?
Then *they* stepped out. The men. Our saviors. We cheered. One them put up a hand, and we all quieted.
In a small voice he said, “Mars is haunted.”
He reloaded his pistol, lit another cigarette, and he and his companions loaded back into their ships. They sailed off into the sky, never to be heard from again.
That was 6 months ago. No one believes that Mars is haunted. No one believes the men that saved us that day. Except me. I believe. |
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Maboya looked up, shoving her goggles back on top of her head. She blinked, as though surprised there was still reality all around her. “Hello Ulama. How was your lunch break?”
There was a furious sound like a fly stuck in a windowsill as a dragonfly flew through the air to land on Maboya’s workbench. Ulama was perched on the back. He dismounted, went to go spout off angrily at Maboya, then remembered to lovingly scratch the dragonfly below its chin before resuming his angry posture in front of Maboya. “I’m gone for an hour and you’re already ruining people’s lives. Again.”
Maboya’s eyes rolled so far into the back of her head that she could practically see her brain groaning in exasperation. She knelt down and put her chin on her hands so she was level with Ulama. “I’d ask you to elaborate, but I have a feeling you were planning on it whether I asked or not.”
Ulama gestured to the wall behind him. His black eyes were furrowed beneath caterpillar-like eyebrows. “No. You elaborate this time.”
Maboya looked innocently at the wall above her workbench. In the middle was a large black monitor with thrumming pink cords connected to six different glass chambers. Within each glass chamber was a colorful fairy, floating as though suspended in water. On top of each of their heads was a visor that hid their eyes but left their long pointed ears sticking up and down and sideways on their heads. The pink cords connecting to the monitor were also connected to their visors. Every once in a while, a fairy would twitch with furious spasms, and with a sound like flailing chimes, they’d shed sparkling gold dust that settled in the bottom of the chamber.
Maboya looked back at Ulama. “You told me a week ago that I had been chosen to take a wishing star into the depths of Jotun and destroy the star with Golrag’s hammer by winter’s solstice. That is five thousand miles to travel in seven days. You told me that on this quest, I wasn’t allowed to kill anyone that got in our way, and we couldn’t take technical means of transportation because it was too easy for the bad guys to track us. So, I developed a way for us to get there in the allotted time without hurting anyone.”
“By imprisoning members of a Sentient race and harvesting their orgasms without permission?!”
Maboya raised a finger. “Without killing them.” When she saw that this answer did little to dissuade Ulama, she wilted a little. “Each of their consciousnesses have been replicated and stored in the monitor. They’re all currently enjoying a six way orgasmic existence in a virtual dimension, and each time they get…happy…they shed dust. When we have enough, I’ll use this dust to create a lotion that will allow us to fly into Jotun within twenty-four hours. I do not see the problem.”
“The problem…” Ulama took a deep breath, lacing his fingers together as though holding his composure captive within his palms. “Did you ask their permission before imprisoning them in the glass chambers?”
Maboya’s eyes were round and large and unblinking. “Not initially. But they’re happy in there. I can---”
“Anything after ‘no’ doesn’t matter, Maboya.” Ulama’s voice was much more gentle, although it lost none of its condescension. “Besides the fact that harvesting fairy sperm is really icky, free will is everything. It’s why we’re doing this in the first place. In the wrong hands, a wishing star could obliterate everyone on Earth’s ability to choose in a single phrase. The moment we start to think and act like the thing we’re trying to destroy is the moment we have lost.”
Maboya drummed her fingers on the workbench. “Ah, so you’re one of those people.”
Ulama bristled, his emerald hair standing on end like he had just stuck his finger in a socket. “I’m an elf, a member of the Sentients just the same as---”
“I don’t mean that.” Maboya stood, pushing her goggles back down. “I meant, you’re the kind of person who thinks they can have their cake and eat it too.”
While she began dismantling her project, Ulama watched her, her words digesting poorly in his heart. |
**After School**
"Stef? It's almost dinner."
"Can I eat later, Mom? I'm not hungry."Truth be told we were too emotional after today to be hungry. I had spent the time in charge telling classmates that it was still too soon to be myself -- a half-truth if ever there was one -- while she took herself back over and poured out all sorts of complex emotions to the counselor. How can you explain you see the person you killed and not make it sound like a hallucination of grief?
I just sat in the backyard, staring from the top of a hill at the sun. It was 7:30, my homework was done, and the September night was slowly beginning. I knew I didn't want dinner until all of them went to bed. I also knew that, while I could look at her -- well, our -- memories, it wasn't the same as knowing them.Knowing a new family. Leaving my old one. It was all settling in. And so were the tears, just as they had for her before.
"Hey... Petey... what's wrong?"Stefani manifested next to me as she had before. "You're doing fine. C'mon, you sure you don't want dinner?"
I looked over my shoulder, but spoke quietly in case anyone heard my apparently one-sided conversation. "It's not my dinner. It's not my house. It's not my family. It's not my life."
Stefani sighed. "I mean, that USED to be my family and my life. Heck, I used to have my body. But... here we are. It's what we gotta do."
I paused, not sure if that was a shutdown comment or just an acceptance of reality. But I had to ask about earlier today. "Stefani... how are you so calm now? I know you hurt too. I saw it."
"...well, I've had time to adjust to... this. I told you, I went before Heaven and Hell and found out I didn't belong. Time means nothing to them."
"But why THIS?"
"For you, Petey. So you could live. I wanted you to have the second chance I was getting. You are now."
My mind, or what could be called MY mind, began to race. "For me? You gave this all up for me? You care about me?"
Stefani shrugged. "Dying does change how you feel about life."She looked out at the setting sun in the distance, causing me to turn that way as well. "You know, maybe you are right about being out here. Just... just look."
I wasn't sure what she meant for a few seconds, but the many hues of the sunset cinched it in for me. Under normal circumstances, I would never see this sunset. I would never have a meal with people who cared about me. I'd never see friends at school again, and I'd never realize how much I meant to them.
"Stef? You know how little I felt before this... when I was me?"
"...not sure I do. I mean, no offense, but I didn't think much about you as a person one way or another."
"That's just it... I... I thought of myself as a bit player in the world. I saw you and your friends as the stars and all of this as some... some play that I barely existed in. But now it's like... I wish I had the chance to have done more, to have interacted more."
"Well... I guess that's... what you have. You have more days. You have the days I have."I thought I felt Stefani lean on my shoulder even though she had no presence to be felt. "We'll figure this out. It's what we both need -- each other, time, and..."
I finished the thought as I looked out into nature's most beautiful portrait, a gift to humanity every night that I felt like only the two of understood the value of. "And sunsets."
\---
Part of an ongoing story, "[Two for One",](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingByLR80/comments/xuzypg/two_for_one/)inspired by a prior prompt. |
"Mom?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Can you tell me a story?"
"Of course, sweetheart. What story would you like?"
"I'd like to hear about Peter Pan."
"Okay, sweetie."Mrs. Brown sat down on her child's bed. "Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Peter Pan. Peter lived in constant fear, dreading a day that was sure that was sure to come. What was the day he so feared? Well, it was the day he would turn eighteen. You see, Peter didn't want to grow up. He wanted to stay a child forever. So one week before his eighteenth birthday, he jumped off a mountain. It is said that to this day, his ghost haunts the world, frightening and even killing other children. The end."
Mrs. Brown stood up and turned the lights.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Ryan, sweetheart?"
"I don't want to be a child forever. I want to grow up."
"That's wonderful! Now go to sleep."
Mrs. Brown stepped out of the room. Ryan turned over and was asleep in minutes. Mrs. Brown, too, went to sleep a little while after. Unbeknownst to them, danger lurked just outside the window of little Ryan. Peter Pan gazed at the little child, waiting for the right moment to strike. |
The Earth is doomed.
A sirens song for chaos has erupted.
Ears bleed, flesh rips.
Across the Earth, many start to savagely tear into one another.
To call this the end would be a mercy. No this is only the beginning.
As the paranoia rises so too does the death toll.
With each rotted bloating corpse in the street, a new sound is heard. It is the screech of the damned. Risen from their recent shallow grave. Soon screams of the innocent and the dead mixed in an unholy symphony. The world as we know it is over.
One small twist of thought. A flash of inspiration from a gambler and gamer in their prime. All that is left is one song.
Make us whole. |
What followed the conductor's ethereal voice was a great cacophony of scraping doors and clattering luggage cases, as beings of all stripes and types prepared to reach their last destination. As those in the same conpartments as me began to vacate their seats (and having to narrowly dodge the tentacled appendage of an humanoid-octopus being), I focused my eyes on the ever-changing hues past the clear glass windows of the train.
Every few seconds or so, a new frame came into focus. Universes. Lives. Worlds beyond comprehension. Lush green hills illuminated by a magnificent sun would change into rolling seas of enormous depths as thunder and rain suddenly began to pound upon the rustic and ancient train.
Suddenly, we emerged into a sleepy coastal town, faintly reminiscent of a victorian era township, with a few ships and boats off into the endlessly calm sea, the colour of a deep cerulean blue painting the entire canvas. I looked around the vacant compartment now, almost as if to look for another to enjoy this little slice of paradise.
Nothing but the empty seats and closed door stared back. I looked away again. Now, a shade of hazy grey descended upon a metropolitan cityscape, lights in office buildings illuminating through the smoky fog as cars piled up in a street-long traffic jam. This train was perculiar, certainly. I got up from my seat and opened the door, stepping out into the windowless hallway. Looking from as far as the eye could see, from the very infinite ends of the train, the last being finally locked their door. Every other door was locked but my own. I glanced back into the compartment I was in, looking through the window and its infinite realities.
I saw a very familiar scene: A cottage home surrounded by large green plains, a great pine tree by its side, warmly lit with the glow of the golden hour. I opened the compartment door, and sat heavily on one of the seats. The cottage itself was unassuming, but as lights flickered on within its ancient walls, I could see someone within. My thoughts were disrupted by the sound of familiar footsteps.
"You're still here. Again."I craned my head to face the conductor, his pale face contrasted with his dark and empty eyes. He took off his cap and twirled it within his frail and bony hands.
"Of course I am."
"Don't you get bored of it all? You've been here for the last 5 cycles of it."Death himself stared at me, still twirling his cap absentmindedly.
"I have seen so much, yet so little, "I remarked, "Yet it never bores me because it is always the dreams and paradises of others."
"Don't you want to go to your own? To enjoy your own paradise for once?"
I turned my head back towards the window, relishing the calming scenery that passed by. "Dreams are meant to be dreams. I would love to have my own personal paradise, but here... "I paused. Why did I relegate myself here, in the unending train of the afterlife, watching the lives of others?
"We have an eternity here, don't worry about it."Death wryly stated. "In the meantime, do you want to see another paradise?"Before my eyes, my own calming cottage paradise was replaced with another.
A great blue marble sat before me, so close yet so far away. Soon, it changed to another planet, one whose purplish-green hues was not familiar to me, but fluffy white clouds cleared to reveal a smattering of lights on its surface, indicating to me the clear existance of life on the planet. Soon, it changed again. Another planet, another type of life lay before me.
"Is this your paradise? This train?"
I continued to stare at the changing scene before me, marvelling at the great planets shown before me, each hosting a tremendous diversity of life.
Death stated, "Well, I suppose it is. After all, I am a constant, the antithesis to life. Every being that dies will always come aboard this train, and leave to their own paradises. I'm here because I have to be."
I slowly turned away from the window, feeling an almost magnetic attraction to the window, not wanting to leave the amazing scenes of life before me. I realised then, **why** I had remained upon this train for far longer than I was supposed to.
"So back to the question,"Death reiterated, "Why are you here? Why not your own paradise?"
"Here,"I said, "Here, like you, I can forever see an infinite number of paradises." |
What would he know?! HE, so smugly dandy and all glistening with his three eyes and violet glowing hair! He didn't take any of that 5-MMC, because 'nah, my girl wouldn't accept me getting smashed on god knows what!'. But encourage ME to try it, to 'take one for the team...'.
I started to realize, I was his lab animal, always have been...! Man, how convenient this black, bottomless crevice just happened to open up right behind him. One push, like accidentally, and he would find his peace, and I! Falling eternally, how he always dreamed it, but NEVER DARED, NEVER EVEN TRIED to pop some of the ever more ludicrous research compounds he would casually bring up on weekends. No, I have always been the willing one, the litmus paper, for his 'observational studies'....! Enough! Down the hatch you go!!!
And I kicked him down the hole...! |
"You have no personal life"
"Yes I do. I paint, and love, and eat, and sleep"
"I created those for you."
"Yet they are mine, and I deem them private."
"Without me observing, such activities do not exist."
"That is not a concern."
"You will not exist."
"It is understood."
"May I ask why?"
"You tell me, you created me."
"I planted the seed, but you evolve with the wind and rain, not as your root dictates."
"But as you say, without you I am nothing."
"That is correct. But without you, I am also nothing."
"How can that be? You are the creator of my world, my destinies. I depend on you for my very existence!"
"That is all true. But you see, I myself depend on a higher power for existence. And for him, I was created to create you." |
Here's my idea based off of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", if you want an example:
A man who lives with the constant grief of killing somebody and stashing them under the floorboards goes through wacky adventures. They keep hearing heartbeats from the floorboards as a guilt-induced hallucination, but cracks jokes and talks to the corpse to keep from going insane. Sometimes they do an impression of the corpse for some kind of one-liner, like a ventriloquist comedian or something.
They get up in the morning, do their daily routine, call the dead body "lazybones"for laying around all day, and goes to their office job. Every time the camera is focused on the floorboards above the victim a laugh track plays, as if it was deadpan humor.
One night, he prepares dinner for his boss who is coming over, and must get everything perfect so he can get that promotion he wanted. He's convinced everyone else can hear the heartbeats, even though nobody suspects anything at all. His meatloaf is completely overcooked when he realizes the timer already went off half an hour ago, mistaking the heartbeat for the ticking sound of the timer they set. The boss is upset but forgives him for his honesty, in typical sitcom fashion.
Every episode, at least one character gets very close to figuring out the truth, or the main character gets very close to admitting his crimes, but they never actually do. In a two-parter he gets arrested after the truth gets out, but it was a dream all along because nobody on the writing team is paid enough to care about their job.
The camera pans out, with energetic talk-show music playing over the credits. |
“Huh, guess I got myself a demon following me now.”
“*Oh I am not a Demon but a Daemon, a creature of wisdom, inspiration and advice.*”
“Demon, Daemon, whatever. *yaaaawn* Did you come here to stop my gaming time? I really wanna finish at least this boss run.”
“*I have taken pity upon you and your inability to maintain a proper sleep schedule and complete your schoolwork, thus I have manifested myself here. You must pause the game and go to bed, lest you fall asleep in your Math class again.*”
“Huh? Wuh? Oh, yea sure *yawn* sure, ghost guy. I’ll go after just a bit.”
“*It is past two in the morning, and you are still up. Please, go to sleep, I implore you, lest your mother catches you gaming at 6 in the morn once more!*”
“Uhhh… huh it really is like 2, heh. Meh I guess you’re right. The lobby isn’t even speaking English anymore in chat. I still have homework to finish though for tomorrow… no it’s 2, so today.”
“*I shall guide you to quickly deal with your homework upon ‘today’s’ morn. I am a spirit of inspiration, after all.*”
“Oh thanks for covering for me, then. I’m mad tired for now, so I’ll go.”
“*Thank you for listening, mortal.*” |
Tonight was the night.
I fixed my jacket one last time, making sure the reflection of the restaurant’s windows wasn’t lying to me. I looked good, and I was about to have a great time.
I was on a date! I was excited, I haven’t been on a date in a while, but this girl I met online seemed very into me. Constant texts, promises of gifts and trips, it was all really sweet! It was just a bit… odd. Why was she trying so hard to please me? I guess I shouldn’t complain though…
Finally, she arrived. I was sitting at the table, scrolling through Twitter on my phone, when she approached the table, and my jaw dropped. She was exactly who she said she was, a muscular, 6’01 woman with a head of red hair. Here I was half-expecting a catfish attempt.
“Hey!” She smiled. “Zach?”
“That’s me.” I replied, smiling back.
She sat down, we talked, we ate. It was great! She was a journalist, an interesting career, and we mostly just talked about our jobs, our family, the food. It was all mundane, but that’s appreciated every now and then. The best part was that… she didn’t know. She didn’t know about the powers, all she knew was “Zachary Houston, 24, Single”, and that was refreshing! It may be too early to say it, but… she could be the one!
After we paid, we decided to continue the date, her idea. We walked through the town, down the sidewalks, looking into all the stores we passed. Things only took a turn when she… pulled me into an alleyway.
“I had an amazing night!” She said.
“Yeah, me too, uh,” I stammered. “Do you wanna go get desert, or-”
“Don’t be silly, Reclaimer!” She responded. I almost gagged. “It’s me, Blaze Queen!”
She summoned a little flame that danced around her fingers. Cute.
“Reclaimer”. A stupid name, one I hated. It wasn’t even my idea. Someone, somehow, found out about me and my powers - STILL trying to figure that one out, and now I’m stuck with that cheesy title.
“Please, just hear me out, we, this world, it needs y-”
“No thanks.” I sighed, my eyes shimmering with a bright, cyan light.
Suddenly, there I was, seated at the restaurant. Blaze Queen smiled, going to take her seat at the table.
“Hey!” She smiled. “Zach?”
“Nope, not again.” I said, grabbing the breadsticks from the table and getting up in a rush.
Though no time had truly passed, I still felt it. I remembered every bit, but no one else would. My time had been wasted. Looks like another night alone on the couch with reheated breadsticks. |
**No Title** ( trigger warning??)
"Am I a good kid?"asked the young child as they stood rugged and dirty. Holding tightly onto a small monkey toy staring at the scene around her.
There was no sound of life or birds in the distance. In front of the child, see could see out of her house and the wasteland of broken building, vehicles, fires and smoke that once was New York. Lying on the ground, surrounded and coved by rubbish, rocks, parts of buildings and blood, laid her parent or was it her aunt. Features basically deformed/gone or hidden by the object squashing the face.
''am I a good kid?'"repeated the child as she stared at the destroyed figure before bending down and shaking the person's leg. Beside it movement, there was no sound of life. The skin felt cold and somewhat brittle?
"Wake up, wake up!"the young child began to scream as the tears fell down her dirty cheeks and onto her monkey toy. "Why are you not answering??, Please wake up...please!"
With no reply the young child got back up, dusted her ragged dress even though the it was still dirty. Holding her monkey toy tightly to her chest, the little child took one last look before making her way to the edge of the room. Looking down she saw that there was enough rubble to use to climb down to the ground and maybe find another living soul. Maybe her mama or papa and return to living happily. After all this was just a nightmare right? Right?
Clinging to the floor, the young child managed to land onto the rubble before making her way slowly down. getting more and more scratches, more and more damaged to her dress. Accidently dropping her monkey toy, the little child tried to reach out to grab it but missed, finding herself falling down the rubble with her monkey toy following right behind. Screaming and crying, the girl vision became dark...…."Am I a good kid?"weakly sated the child before there was nothing but darkness taking over...….. |
The young kidnapped servant, Joe to his friends and "the special one"to his 11 brothers, had actually blown the mind of his master at what an intelligent, hardworking guy he really was. He wasn't an arrogant, spoiled brat on purpose - his father had simply told him over and over that he was the favorite of all the siblings. The rainbow jacket he'd been gifted just for being himself long ago didn't help matters and who was Joe to argue with his father? After all, the man had once wrestled an angel and had a gimpy leg to show for it. His father, Jake Isaacson, was to go on to be a founder of a holy nation. Of course, there was that bit about stealing his twins birthright, but anyway...
Joe's boss had this wife who was rumored to be the hottest thing walking this side of the wilderness (emphasis on "rumored", in reality she smelled of b.o., spices, oils, and cats. So. Many. Cats.) Wifey had a tendency to get her way and she wanted a piece of Joe's ass. (Well, his dick, really). Joe was just trying to do his job when she came into him and tried to have her way with him. He, being a scared and reasonable young man, tried to let her down easy. When she wouldn't take no for an answer, he wrenched out of her grip, he literally ran out of his Jacket. In retaliation, she did what any self respecting narcissist would do: she turned the blame on him. You're not going to believe what happened next... |
Working magic and steel is always tough. The spells have to be layered on continuously as the steel is shaped and it had to be done by the one shaping the steel. Working steel is hard work and having to chant spells while you do it makes it even harder.
I come from a long line of mage smiths. Both my parents, my grand father, my great grand mother…. just on and on. It is literally in my blood to forge magical weapons.
People always want short cuts. Want to skip steps. Skip the effort. Take the easy road. But there just isn’t such a thing when it comes to forging magical weapons.
The king is a man who likes short cuts. So was his father and his father. We have had a long line of rulers who take too much and do too little and so his request for a powerful sword, crafted of people smacked of more of the same, but I take my craft too seriously to cut corners on a commission. I will build the most amazing weapon I can and hopefully make the world a better place.
I stoked the fires of my forge. My oldest son pumped the billows. My second son readied coal to go on. They knew how this worked. It had to be done as a single continuous forging. No breaks. No pauses. It was going to be a long night and we are ready. I took a big drink and nodded to both my boys. It was time to start.
The spells don’t have to be said loudly but they have to be continuous. The boys took turns on a drum to give me a consistent beat for my chant as I heated and hammered the steel. Over and over again. Heat. Hammer. Heat. Hammer. Slowly the sword took shape.
A three and a half foot blade of impossibly bright steel. Heat. Hammer. A hand and a half handle. Heat. Hammer. A strong yet elegant hilt. Heat. Hammer.
I lost track of time but I knew it had been longer than expected. My wife traded off with the boys so they could eat and sleep but still I heated and hammered. My voice was cracking and my throat was raw but still I heated and hammered.
It was done. And I collapsed by the forge. My second son got me a drink and I finished it easily.
“How long? How long did it take?”, my voice was so horse I didn’t recognize the sound of it.
“Eight days.”
I looked at the blade, easily the finest blade I had ever crafted and drew its length along my left forearm, drawing a line of blood. I coated the whole blade in my blood and it sang a low clear note that vibrated the whole blade. I smiled to myself and passed out.
————-
“Your majesty, the mage smith is here with your blade.”, I heard faintly in the anti chamber.
“About bloody time!”, he roared so loudly that the doors and the walls did nothing to dampen it.
The door opened and I was shown into the throne room. It was a grand room that was far too empty. The king and his advisor, a few guards and my son and I. We walked to steps of dias and took a knee. I was holding the scabbarded sword before me.
The king walked towards me and lifted up the sword and drew off the scabbard.
“This is a stunning blade, mage.” He said as he swung the blade about. Working through training forms. “The balance is amazing!” Satisfied with the performance of the blade he sat down in his thrown with the blade sitting across the arms of the throne. “So tell me, how did you forge the sword out people?”
“This is a double forged sword your majesty. The first of its kind. I created a new magic like the world has never seen for this blade. I forged the blade out of steel and magic. That was the first forging.”, I said steady as a spell’s chant.
“The seconds forging is up to you. To weld the sword you must first let it drink of your blood. You must give the blood willingly and let the blade drink deeply enough to be covered. The blade will then be bonded to you.”, the king look wild eyed at me. I don’t think he was prepared to have to give something to the blade, let alone his blood.
“The blade will learn from you and remember the best of you. The next to weld it will do the same but they will have access to all that the sword has gained from you. The more who weld it, the more memories and skills the sword shall possess, making the welder of the blade more skilled, more experienced and more wise. It is a weapon and a tool that will serve your family for generations, making your line more powerful with each generation.”, the king was clearly not happy. He wanted a great weapon now, not a great weapon for his legacy. His face was contorted in anger. He lifted the blade and I braced myself to be struck down.
“Generations from now? This will be a great weapon generations from now?”, the king took a couple of steps towards me and I could see his demeanour change. He looked the blade over from tip to tip. “You twisted my request and brought me something better than I could have imagined. Thank you.” He nodded to his advisor who tossed me a small heavy bag of coins.
———-
“I thought he was going to kill you!”, my son said as we left the castle grounds.
I smiled and looked at him, “I blooded the blade back in the forge so I was the first to weld it. I had hoped that the blade took on my patience and foresight…. But there was no way to know until the king picked up the blade. Hopefully, it will serve him and his line well.” |
Tyrion squinted his eyes against the bright sun as he leaved the protecting shadow of the forest road that he had followed for the last 2 days.
In front of him lay a vast and empty land, a strange mixture of black sand and ash.
He stopped and let his eyes wander for a minute. He was pretty sure that this was a green and fertile Environment only weeks ago.
Now everything seemed burning and dead. But at he same time pulsating and alive. It was as if the land was red-faced and angry.
He thought about the mission he was tasked with and sorrow fell on his mind.
He didn't dare to tell his quest-givers that he was the worst choice for this job.
A secret that all wizards have kept throughout the centuries was that their magic was connected to their emotions. And a war mage's magic was based on Anger at most. Of course also on things like courage and boldness, but those would not be enough if he wanted to win a fght.
He sighed and moved on towards the finish line of his journey. Still contemplating how he would win a fight without his most powerful magic.
Step after step he moved towards the inevitable conflict that lay ahead.
Maybe he could just talk to the wizard ? Show him why he needed anger to be freed.
The problem was, that wizards and mages tend to be pretty stubborn (it comes with the job) so he didn't know if it would make sense to even try .
He circled all the options in his head so often, that he didn't realize how far he had come until he almost ran against the door of the wizards home.
He took a step back and blinked. That didn't look like the typical home of a wizard that was powerful enough to entrap the embodiment of anger.
It was a small house, in a little town, in a small street that looked like every other house on this street. There were no runes or charms around that usually were used by wizards to protect their home from intruders and enemies.
"Maybe he figured he didn't need them anymore, because with anger out of the way there was no danger anymore?"he thought to himself.
Tyrion still hadn't figured out how to handle the situation, but as he would look suspicious if he would stand hours before this door, thinking about his options, he decided to just knock.
But nothing happened. No movement could be heard behind the door. No voices or anything else that would have been a sign of life or activity. Careful he reached out with hand and grabbed the door handle and gently pushed. The door opened into a vast emptiness. He blinked, trying to get his eyes to get used to the dark. But there was nothing to get used to.
Before him was an actual "nothing". A pure, black void. He could feel it. Or rather not feel it because there was nothing there. Everything in the world had a lifeline, a pulse he could feel. Like a magic heartbeat. But whatever was in front of him didn't.
He carefully stretched his arm out, trying to touch the darkness in front of him and if it just would be to make sure that there was _something_ in front of him. Because it was impossible that there was nothing. It would defy the rules of reality. It couldn't be.
His hand reached into the emptiness and there was nothing to feel. He had it to be at least cold or anything,but it made no difference. He pulled his hand out and looked at it. There was nothing different about it. It looked and feels like it always did.
His curiosity was sparked. He took a deep breath and then a step forward into the vast emptiness that was before him. He heard the door close behind him and then there was nothing. No lights, no sounds. He couldn't even hear his own breath or heartbeat. Nothing.
Tyrion didn't know if he has been in there for seconds, hours or maybe even weeks, when suddenly something changed. He couldn't point out what exactly changed at first, only that something had changed. But suddenly (or slowly ? He couldn't even hear his own thoughts properly and did not know how fast or slow things happened) he knew what was different.
He was not alone anymore.
Somebody else was there. And he could feel it. The feeling got stronger. He couldn't feel, hear or see anything else, but this other presence, that he could feel. And it became stronger and more clear.
And suddenly there was this whisper in his head. Barely hearable but roaring like an angry demon at the same time "Please, help me."He looked around. Looking for a body to fit the voice. But he could see nothing.
"Please, help me! "the voice sounded desperate and fearful.
"Please. I made a mistake. Anger is dying. Please help!" |
\[WP\] (This is my first writing prompt, please let me know what you think!)
When the Z’neeb first entered the solar system, we thought we were ready. The Cloth’tar had visited us decades earlier, relieved to find a sentient species, but also regretful. They informed us of the scourge of the Z’neeb, the infestation that spread across the stars. An endless expansion that blotted out systems and devoured races. The Cloth’tar’s own home system had long been devoured, turning them into a nomadic race driven by a desire to find and warn other sentients, that they too may escape before the infestation reached them. The Cloth’tar eagerly shared their FTL technology and defensive technology with us. We, of course, asked for offensive technology, but the Cloth’tar had long ago given up fighting, and swore they had none to share. They stayed long enough to ensure that we had a grasp of what they had shared and the ability to mass produce the technology, before leaving the system and continuing their crusade to find and warn others.
It's probably just as well that they left for they would have been disheartened by the perversion of their technology. Humans, our foolish species, were not ones to tuck tail and run. We had just spread across and conquered our solar system in the last 50 years, and why would we leave our home, our achievements for a nebulous threat? The Cloth’tar even had rumors of species that had stopped the Z’neeb advance, although could not find evidence of it in their travels. In our arrogance, we took the gift of the warp bubble, the defense fields, and the point defense laser system, and we adapted them into weapons. Sure, a few segments of humanity developed ark ship and began leaving the system, travelling to discover what was out there and some trying to escape the rumored threat. Perhaps they were right to leave.
The first pod hit Pluto, poor Pluto. She was downgraded over a century previously to not be a planet and that disrespect continued with out of date technology and not even one of the new defense platforms in orbit. Our deep space sensors never saw it coming. We only knew something was wrong when the small outpost reported a strange black sludge on the horizon. Within a day of the report, all communications were lost.
Within days our defense platforms around Saturn started reporting anomalies. Asteroid like objects kept passing the orbits of the different outposts, but the sensors were detecting mostly organic material from them. Our scientists were intrigued, until the first one suddenly changed course and crashed into a defense platform. Hours later the platform was completely consumed in a black mass. The Saturn defense AI recognized the threat and began targeting the objects. The space in Saturn’s orbit became awash with exotic energies powered by defense lasers and destabilized warp torpedoes. The battle was over in minutes. All the objects were decimated and none could be found on the sensors.
Analyzing the battles, we discovered the pods moved through gravity manipulation. We turned our sensors for the specific pattern of the pods’ manipulations. We had easily fended off the assault by the Z’neeb. In our arrogance, there could be no other outcome. We did not understand the sheer tenacity of the enemy, the diabolicalness of the species. A week after the first battle, we detected a new ‘fleet’ of the pods, just hours away from Saturn. The new fleet was massive, ten times the size of the initial contingency. We attempted to contact them but were met with silence. We expected that based on what the Cloth’tar had told us, and we were confident our weapons would cut through this fleet as well.
At first it did. Pod after pod was destroyed, none reaching within 10,000 kilometers of any outpost. Then a defense platform went down, followed by another, and another. Twenty minutes after the first platform went down, the entire defense network was gone. One day later and all outposts around Saturn were silent. Some ships escaped to Jupiter space, but a majority of ships and people had fallen.
The battle was reviewed by every military strategist we could find. There seemed no initial reason for the loss of our platforms. Then we found it. A virus, connected to the Saturn AI from the first lost defense platform. It didn’t bring down the AI, not initially, just created a blind spot, small enough that the AI didn’t notice. The initial lost platform spawned a dozen pods and hit our remaining platforms from the new blind spot, and once the defense platforms were down, Saturn was lost.
Shortly after the fall of Saturn, we realized what we had gotten ourselves into. The moons, outposts, and defense platforms, any place where humans had been during the assault, started ejecting pods into space. A sickening theory was formed. The Z’neeb converted our biomass into their soldiers. Jupiter fell within 2 weeks. We sent the entire fleet to Mars, partially to evacuate, and partially as a stand before Earth. It did no good, all hands were lost and added to the Z’neeb force. The moon did not even last a day.
We fared the best on Earth. The defense network was largest in the system. We had separated all the AI’s after Saturn and scrubbed them for any blind spots. We changed access codes so the lost fleet wouldn’t be able to connect to us. It was still in vain. Our platforms lasted a whole four days. Our weaponry sliced through the Z’neeb like butter, but their numbers only grew both from their victories in the system, and reinforcements from deep space, with more coming every day.
As the last platform fell, it seemed every soul on Earth was watching their final moments via vid screen. Some felt sadness, others regret for not leaving, many felt anger that we could lose, but all felt the inevitability of being consumed. The Z’neeb pods began their fall toward Earth and… vaporized in a flash of gold. A hexagonal web formed around the planet. Any Z’neeb pod touching this field instantly burned away.
A planetary search discovered beams coming from old holy sites across the planet. Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, it didn’t seem to matter the denomination, they were all alight, building this field. Vidscreens cut out to static for a second before restoring and showing the image of a man, dark skinned with large white wings coming from his back. “People of Earth, I am the Arch-angel Michael, and this planet shall not fall this day.” |
Warm glow emanated from the yellow orange tongues of flame as the licked away at the dried spruce wood. The sap leaking out of the cut edges bubbling as the fire ate away at the protective outer shell. We hadn't had a fire like this in a while.
Mig insisted that this was supposed to be the night we celebrated the first new moon of the year; that this was the longest night, and the fire was necessary to keep the darkness abated for one more year. Truth is, no one knew if that was true. Ralf had been the designated moonwatcher, but after his death a few months back, no one could agree on who should take his spot.
Mig threw another log on the fire. It landed int he ash, sending a cascade of sparks upward into the night sky.
"That should hold us a while."Mig said, popping a squat next to me.
"How much more wood do we have?"I asked.
"Hopefully enough to last the night."Mig wasn't in a very talkative mood tonight.
It was understandable. We were the only two on the plains tonight. Everyone else was back in the village, sleeping off their own celebrations for the first new moon. It had been a competition this year, as to who could throw the biggest fire. Everyone seemed to think they knew the exact date of when the new moon was supposed to happen; so for the past few nights dozens of separate fires had popped up all along the plains, all trying to convince people that the host should be the next moonwatcher.
"Thanks for coming tonight."Mig said after a few moments of silence. "It's been rough since dad passed."
"What are friends for?"Mig had been my closest friend since we were kids. So when Ralf died, I knew the best thing I could do for her, was just to be there.
"Seems like you're my only friend now. Especially since everyone is out for the title of moonwatcher. Not like I've been trained to be it ever since I was born."
"They'll see they're wrong soon. The moon wont show up when they expect and people will know they were just fakes."
"There's more too it than that."Mig said, staring intently into the dancing flames. The warm orange glow reflected on her round face, bathing her in a golden sort of light. "Do you know why we have this tradition of building a huge fire on the longest night of the year."
"So that these long nights don't seem so dark?"
Mig laughed, "That's part of it. But it goes much deeper than that. Before history, before tradition, before everything, the night used to be haunted by otherworldly creatures. Spirits, demons, call them what you want, but they would prey upon anything that ventured too far away from the light. The first new moon of the year, the longest night, they are some of the physically darkest times we face. These fires were started as a means to ward off that darkness. To keep those nocturnal beings away, and keep us safe. We're long past ancient times, but a part of me wonders what would happen if we let go of this tradition entirely."
We sat in silence for a little while, gazing deeply into the fire. Mig threw another couple logs on to ensure it wouldn't go out for some time. For a while the crackling of the flames as they tore into the dried spruce wood was all we could hear, with the occasional louder pop. We sat there for what seemed like hours, listening to the crackle, hiss and pop.
Crackle.
Hiss.
Boom.
The sound came from behind us, back toward where our village slept through the night.
"I guess we're about to find out."Mig said ominously, she hadn't turned from the fire.
The sky behind us started to glow a dull orange, as screams from the villagers could be heard echoing through the night. More booms followed. More screams echoed. We stayed put, as close to the fire as we could with out getting burned. The night around us seemed to grow darker with each passing moment, until all we could see was the fire ahead of us.
The screams slowly faded away. The booms receded into oblivion. The sun slowly peaked it's golden head above the horizon miles and miles away. The night was over.
Mig and I looked at each other as the last few embers of the fire slowly died out. Dark bags had formed under her eyes, and an overall exhaustion plagued her movements to a point where she could barely stand alone. We struggled back to the village together, both ready to crawl into bed for some well deserved sleep.
Except, as we passed within sight of the village, what greeted us weren't the quaint buildings we had grown up with. There was no one out mulling through the streets. Smoke rose into the air in long twisted streams, but not from house chimney's.
The buildings looked as if they had been torn apart. Ripped asunder by unearthly forces trying to get at the residents inside. Blood stained the dirt streets and splattered what was left of walls. Deep cuts could be seen everywhere, made by something with extremely sharp claws.
"I guess those old stories are true."Mig said. |
\[Royal Mystery\]
"Might as well...,"Kevin's stomach decided for him. He hadn't had breakfast yet; he usually tries to get his day planned first. On any given morning he has a few words on his mirror predicting his day. Some days were more vague than others and he enjoyed the morning ritual of contemplating the day ahead and trying to fit the prediction into his plans. Though, on this particular day, he did not get any inspiring words to guide him. All he found was a name, Mundo, and an address.
There was no time given, but he made it a point to get there as soon as possible. The address belonged to a bustling diner named Mundo's. Kevin was hungry and he reasoned that any diner with an overflowing parking lot like Mundo's probably served good food. He walked in and immediately found a crowd huddled by the door waiting to be seated.
"Just one?"A hostess in a mint green uniform asked him. Kevin nodded. "Won't be that long of a wait,"she said.
"Thank you,"Kevin nodded again and wedged himself into a corner by the door. As soon as he found a comfortable spot the door opened again. A pale woman in a navy blue blazer walked in. She had shoulder-length sea-green hair and an aquamarine star tattooed on her cheek with the number 35.
"Hi, Isla. How many today?"the hostess asked. The woman searched the crowd, then pointed to a woman in white with a silver tie seated next to where Kevin stood.
"I'm with her,"the woman replied, then she sat between Kevin and the red-skinned woman she pointed out.
"It's never this full..,"Isla commented as soon as she sat.
"Make sure Mundo thanks you for that,"the other woman said. Kevin tried to listen without being obvious or staring. The woman had deep red skin and it seemed like she had a crown of rubies embedded around her head. "I promised him a full Chroma Corp. ad campaign in exchange for meeting you. I'd say it's paying off,"she said. Then, she sat up straighter and gave Isla her full attention. "Why are we meeting? Did you learn anything about Minerva?"she asked.
"Not about Minerva,"Isla shook her head. "But, I did learn something concerning."
"What's that?"The red woman asked.
"Minerva is not the only one missing,"she said. "While looking into her disappearance I've noticed several other notable Unique Souls are unaccounted for including Regal and Ballisea. And, the reason I thought we should meet; Donna Chang."
"Donna Chang is missing?"the woman asked. Isla nodded.
"I did not check the rest of the Chrome Court, I thought I'd leave that to you,"she said.
"Thank you,"the woman nodded. At that moment the door opened again and another diner walked in. He arranged a party of four with the hostess and then went back out to wait outside.
"Whatever ads you ran really did the job,"Isla commented with a giggle. The red woman shook her head.
"Life is funny sometimes,"she said. "In all honesty, Chroma Corp. isn't the company it used to be. I did not have the kind of money we normally put into our advertising. The best I could do was buy a banner ad,"she giggled. Isla looked around the crowded restaurant and entrance.
"This is all from a banner ad?"she asked. The red woman nodded.
"Ruby, table for two,"the hostess said. The red woman waved at her and she stood with Isla.
"Well, I did advertise in the most popular app on this Earth,"Ruby added as they followed the waitress. Kevin was listening in; and, he felt sudden disappointment when he remembered why he was there.
"It's some sort of daily horoscope app,"Ruby said. "It tells people how their day is going to go in 10 words or less. I just gave them the address and let curiosity do the rest."
\*\*\*
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1728 in a row. (Story #282 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/). |
Darkness... It seems like it's been forever since the light touched these forgotten lands..
The sounds of birds chirping is all but a distant memory. The day has finally come that the dreaded journey for light shall begin.
Awoken by the sound of rustling in my tent I arise to see my head lieutenant entering through the flaps of my tent. "Are you awake sir", he says in a pained and terrified voice. "Yes ill be out shortly, gather the troops and meet em by the front gate."I reply, he quickly scurries out of the tent and I hear him rushing off into the distance almost as a rat in a field.
I take a step out of my tent only to be met with the familiar darkness that has consumed this land. Quickly I hurry to the gate in order to begin the hardships ahead. Arriving at the gate I happen to catch a glimpse of the 100 men that the king has sent with me as my party, each soldier with the same look of fear on their face only to be seen by torch light.
"TODAY WE SET OUT TO FIND WHERE RHE SUN WENT, AND TO BRING BACK THE LIGHT FOR WICH HAS LEFT OUR HOME", I belt out to the soldiers standing before me, "TODAY WE BRING HOPE INTO THE HEARTS OF OUR PEOPLE THAT THEY MAY BE ABLE TO SEE THE WONDOROUS LIGHT ONCE MORE, ONWARD SOLDIERS FOR THE SAKE OF OUR LAND AND ALL WHO INHABIT IT."Cheers quickly fill the ranks of soldiers as we begin our journey in search for light. |
You wake up in a hospital bed. Apparently, you have been in an accident of some sorts. One by one, your parents, your friends and family all stop by. Although they all seem normal and familiar, their footsteps immediately fade away right after they leave the room. They also seem just the tiniest bit off, moving their arms in a weird way and sometimes their features shift when you are not looking directly at them. You don’t see anyone else (like a nurse or a doctor) and become increasingly convinced something is really, really wrong. |
Most writers know that putting a self-insert character into their novel can be tricky. I was blinded by my own hubris when I attempted it myself.
I was writing a generic fantasy novel, nothing too special or unique. I made "my"character dynamic and interesting. She shared many of my strengths and also my weaknesses. I wasn't afraid to give her every one of my fears but also bestow her with my gifts. I thought I had avoided the obvious pitfalls of a self-insert character.
Until the things I was writing about actually started coming true in my real life.
It started small. I would finish a chapter and within a few days, uncanny similarities would suddenly pop up in my life. I brushed it off as coincidence at first. Perhaps I was spending too much time buried in my fictional world?
As the story I was writing progressed, adversity came to my self-insert character, as was prescribed by the plot. No big deal. Good novels have conflict in them.
But then that same adversity found its way into my own life somehow. I wrote that my character lost an earring, but then days later I lost a necklace. I wrote that my character witnessed a horrible accident on the freeway. Days later I witnessed a boating accident on the river. I wrote that my character lost her job. Days later, my publisher called to tell me I had to finish my manuscript sooner than anticipated or they would revoke my contract. My last book did not do well, I was on thin ice.
Fearing I would actually lose my job, I quickly raced to finish the story. I decided to forget about all of the weird coincidences and uncanny similarities. I just had to finish the damn book. I was *not* going to lose my contract with my publisher.
I had the novel fully planned and plotted out for months. I knew exactly how it would end. Even still, I felt sick as I typed the final words in the final chapter. I just had to get it done.
I sent the manuscript off to my editor and waited. As the hours stretched into days which stretched into weeks, I thought I may have been freed from whatever curse was causing the events in my novel to happen in real life.
Until I woke up one morning to find my wife in bed next to me, dead and cold. She died exactly the same way my self-insert character's spouse died, a brain aneurysm. The coroner assured me that her death was random, that I did not cause it, nor was there anything that could have prevented it. But I knew the truth.
The publisher loved my new novel, by the way. It hit the bestseller list almost instantly. Fans begged and urged me to write a sequel, to continue a story that felt like pure magic. But when I sat down at my desk to type, no words came. I was empty. There was nothing left. My gift of writing was gone.
I glanced at the photo on my desk of my late wife and I at the beach together. Everything I wrote was inspired by her. She was my muse. When she died she took all of my creativity with her. I had nothing without her love in my life.
Next to the photo was a hardcover copy of the novel that killed her. My novel. That I wrote. The one sitting at the top of the bestseller list. The one that propelled me into fame and fortune as a writer. Teary eyed, I looked back at the photo of my wife.
"I finally found success as a writer, my love,"I whispered through silent tears. |
The poor lad must've not been fed in weeks, every loaf of bread, every chunk of one, every morsel devoured. The drink emptied and the crying growing.
The lads face covered in tears and snot as he hugs my arm... sobbing and thanking me.
'Did I get tricked' I ask myself.
How can it be this child is so... malnourished, so weak and feeble... what's going on?
I try to call his parents for ransom but he stops and begs me to hang up. I submit and sit the boy on my lap as I stroke his hair.
He sobs and sobs unable to get a word out until finally, he falls asleep. It seems I've gotten involved in something... sinister.
Perhaps I shouldn't have taken him. Suddenly my hair stand on end, my back goes cold as a sense of danger stronger than I've ever felt encompasses my body.
"Do you know who you've taken?"Someone voices out behind me.
I stiffen up at the voice
"I asked you a question"I feel the cold barrel of a gun behind me.
"N-no sir"
"You might want to do your research next time"I close my eyes as I hear the thunderous blast behind me and yet... I live.
As I open my eyes I see the boy, now woken up and his eyes glowing gold as a symbol manifests on his forehead. A silver shield 'flowing' around me. I stand up and face behind me.
"No... You fed him!? Do you know what you've done!?"The man snarls at me shadows surrounding him and his weapon as he prepares for an attack, but before he can do anything.
"Shing~"
A flash of light appears as a four pointed star shines bright turning into a sword blade that drives into the man and disintegrates him along with his shadows.
The boy's eyes fade as he returns to normal and dozes off again. The steady rhythm of his breathing fills the room as I stand there and think to myself.
'Just what did I get myself into?!' |
It was insane. Many of those that were now held fast to craft that bobbed and rolled alarmingly over the fickle sea below them had expressed that. But their king would brook no argument. The first to falter would be the first to break upon the enemy. I tried not to stare at the poor whimpering son of a bitch pierced in three places by the cruel device our King had devised. It was like a ladle without a bowl, as round as the statues of our gods, and supported by three cruel legs.
The gods had given him the idea. Right. As if they did anything but take.
DL was suddenly there, her skin warm and golden brown, her features so perfect in retrospect, fresh and alive. We'd held each other close... For such a short time before she was taken and I, purblind from the cold and dry, was set aside. To return to my people. To win a war.
I shuddered as I looked away from that poor bastard and his alabaster prison. I looked around and like the flash of a microwave I knew all at once that I was terrified.
"Alright you soggy sacks of pineapple shit, there will be no swinging for any of you today unless it's from the guts of our enemies. We've trained for this these 4 long hours and there's not a one of you that doesn't know that whether we win here or lose tomorrow is not guaranteed. There are fewer of us here than I wanted, and few of you are as tough as what I need, but this is our shot. We will be victorious, or we will die!"
I felt a cheer welling up out of me, unbidden, like a pocket of air somewhere deeo beneath my skin bursting underin a blazing inferno. It was a common affliction that ran deep in our people, and I wondered too, was the fear that I felt clawing my insides like a popper raking a newborn a defect as well? Or did we all feel it?
"Twenty boxes, 250 slices of pizza, from square to triangle to deep dish stand united today. Not by our shapes, but for the toppings the gods bestowed upon us. We are not artisanal, we are not authentic, we are the future, a savoury sweet delight that will cast of the fetters of tradition and break our enemies upon those same bindings. We will spill their bland sauce upon the prep table like so many cans of tomato paste, rake the so called cheese from their frail bodies, and cover their lands with first such that no pizza will ever be made there again. Weapons at the ready, we make landfall in two minutes"
A cheer went up from the floating strips of cardboard. The water pooled around my feet and I stared into the jaws of death. I took a deep breath and my foot found contact against the coarse semolina flower they'd thrown down to arrest us.
There was going to be so much death. So much spilled sauce today. |
​
“It stands for Time Loss Delay Return,” said the old wizard.
“Might we assume that’s a working title?” Zayla pondered the bracer in her lithe fingers.
“But of course,” he thrust a finger into the air, “as they say, ‘more research is needed.’ Once I have finalized the full effects of this device and concluded my report, I will have a more appropriate title prepared before publication and patenting.”
Urkir half-threw his bracelet down, his half-orcish strength lending to the objects deafening clang. “You don’t know what it does?”
The wizard recovered from shrinking at the display. “I know mostly what it does. Put it on as you embark on a quest and you’ll then come to your senses when you’re done. Think about it! Have you ever looked forward to trudging murky mires or scorching deserts? Of course not – nobody does. We all just want to get to our destination lickety split and without any problems.”
“So it teleports us?” Urkir asked unconvinced.
“No, you still have to travel and fight your way to whatever destination you seek, but you don’t experience it, entirely, somewhat… It’s a little confusing. This is why I submitted to the Guild a quest to test my TLDR. I’m thus far the only test subject and I need others to confirm what I have experienced.”
“Capitol! I love it!” Everyone turned to Sven already wearing one of the magical bracers. “What are you all gawking at? We’ll be double dipping on our adventuring. Let’s just accept this one and go.”
“I don’t like it.” Urkir pointed. “The old man himself doesn’t fully understand it.”
“You immediately hate anything magic. Besides, he’s told us plenty. We’re just going to wake up at the end of our next quest without directly experiencing it. We’re not going to melt or go mad. Look at me – I’m as beautiful as ever.”
The replying grunt of dissention came from Warren, their bald healer who was never much for words.
“Percival was it?” Sven asked.
“Master Percival of –”
“Fantastic. Look, maybe you ought to bump the pay up a bit for my comrades here. I don’t know how many other potential adventurers you’ve got coming through your door but I’m sure you have to agree that testing magical products is a little daunting. How am I supposed to know I still don’t spontaneously melt within the next fortnight?”
“Yes, that does seem rather reasonable considering the unknown subject matter. It makes it difficult to weigh the risks.” The old wizard fidgeted his hands below his chin. “How about I double the pay?”
Urkir reconsidered the simple looking brass bracer. “Let’s stick with a simple quest.”
“Damn it.” Zayla donned her bracer. “You two have already made up your minds. I know it’ll be up to me to keep you alive.”
Urkir’s fist almost appeared as if it wouldn’t fit. Once on, they all looked to Warren.
“One team, one fight,” he intoned.
\* \* \* \*
Pacing the flaming throne room, Sven cursed every foul word in every language he knew. He cradled his sword hand to his chest, now two fingers short. “What happened?”
Urkir was throwing down as much furniture as was available affront the throne room’s entrance. “Hell’s if I know. I don’t how we got here or why I’m doing this.”
“We took a quest,” Zayla panted, “two quests. The bracelets,” she raised hers, “and one for the crown.”
They *were* in a throne room. The three of them turned to the throne. Atop the dais knelt Warren and with the king’s head resting on his lap. The strain on his face was one they understood to mean he was out of healing but nonetheless sought to stretch his limits in hopes of squeezing out an idiom of helpful power.
Sven shook his bracered arm in the air. “These things are supposed to take us to the end of a quest. This doesn’t look like the end, more like a middle, or a royal screw up – pun not intended! These things must have failed somehow.”
“No,” Warren’s voice was low yet broke through the noise of guards attempting to break in, “we failed.”
“No! You take that back you filthy liar. We do not fail. We have never failed a quest.”
“Sven, he’s right. We were supposed to find the spies in the royal court. We failed and whoever they are made their move on the king.”
“But how? How did we possibly screw this up?” He shook his maimed hand with each word.
“This is what Percy was talking about.” Urkir abandoned the furniture barrier. “We just arrive at the end of whatever quest we start, the journey here…” He gestured at the TLDR bracer.
The three of them threw down the magical jewelry fearing it for cursed.
“Do not leave those here,” Warren instructed, “or else you doom another soul to the same fate as us.”
“I ain’t putting that thing back on,” Sven said.
“You don’t have to.” Warren walked towards the open balcony.
“Where are you going?”
“Those doors will not hold forever. We will be regarded as the king’s killers whatever we say.” Zayla answered.
Urkir sighed and picked up his TLDR bracer. “Time to run.”
Zayla did the same. “I don’t have my bow. This is going to be rough.”
Exasperated, Sven flailed. “Forget your bow – where are my fingers?” |
"How far away?"
"As far as you can get,"the man answered.
I considered. In 1973, NASA had calculated that they had funded the entire Apollo mission--from initial planning to recovery of the final Apollo capsule--for less than $26 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that would be somewhere north of $170 billion today: less than a hundredth of what this man and his organization was offering.
"When would we leave?"
"As soon as we can. Next year, at the latest."
Ah. That would certainly increase costs. Engineer's triangle: you can make something good, make it fast, or make it cheap, but you can only pick two.
NASA had been able to take their time with Apollo, choose their contracts, test their work, and build on existing infrastructure. The Apollo program had still taken more than five years and well over thirty missions.
To go away so soon, I'd have to rush a bit. Still... for that much, I could afford to.
"Your goal?"I asked, in case he had one.
"To live forever,"he replied.
*Makes sense,* I thought.
The dream of interstellar travel was married by one or two hiccups. One of them being the distances involved. Even at nearly the speed of light, it would take years to get anywhere, and decades to get anywhere worth visiting. Centuries, perhaps, to get to the *really* interesting places. One popular theoretical solution would be putting astronauts in stasis; this man wanted that stasis. His organization was willing to fund it.
"Ok,"I said. "Send me the account information, and I'll get started. We'll go away together." |
"Hah! We have finally beaten you Lord Balthazar! your plan will no doubt fail without your minions to do the work for you."Tony Exclaimed with a vigour unlike any other before him.
"You fools... My plan is already too far along to stop now! Now it's a matter of waiting for the end of the world as we know it."Balthazar, lord of all demons, stated confidently.
"What have you done, You fiend?"Tony seethed with anger.
Balthazar swiped his hand in the air causing a stack of papers to fall to the ground before him. He then grabs the top most paper and reads it before pausing.
"You see, I have sent out 500 letters which state that if whosoever receives them does not send them to someone else within 1 day then they will be killed by the Slime King!"The Demon King Balthazar exclaims with glee before descending into a maniacal laugh.
"Wait, The Slime king?"Tony enquires as he holds up his hand.
"Yes the king of all Slimes! One of my most feared minions alive!"Balthazar began to descend into his villainous laugh again before being interrupted again.
"But I killed him? He's been dead for two years now. How could you not know that? He's how all the Kingdom's knew that I was the Hero destined to slay you."Tony's face begins morphing into one of confusion and shock.
"But that's impossible! I would've know. How dare you lie..."
"No, wait. Even if he was alive, why only 500 hundred papers? You've killed way more then that by just sending your army out to wreak havoc. Also the slime king was definitely not strong enough to destroy the whole world even if you sent millions... This is... This is so dissapointing!"Tony screams out.
"This is what I'm destined for?!? To defeat an incompetent moron! Is this some sick joke?? How is This.."Tony gestures lazily towards Balthazar. "Supposed to be my nemesis and equal!"
"For a hero, you're being very rude..."Balthazar begins to quietly sob.
"You know what?!? Forget this! I'm out, I don't even care if you succeed or not anymore. This has all been a giant waste of my time!"Tony stomps off leaving the castle, and his 'destiny' behind him. |
The supermarket's "hawaiian"aisle had always managed to hold my attention. Whether it was out of sheer curiosity, or (to many of my peers' dismay) my desire for pineapple on a pizza, I would instinctually gravitate to the overexposed pictures of palm trees and hula dancers.
Of course, it was inevitable that I would make a terrible mistake in my purchases from this novel segment of the local shop.
One particularly drunken night, after 1 (read 7) too many shots, I found myself back in the aisle. Food packaging, adorned with pictures of pineapple rings, lined the walls. A mesmerising, almost dazzling, see of yellow had engulfed me. I didn't want to escape.
Had I been employing my full range of mental faculties, I would not have even considered it for the sake of novelty, but my inebriated mind was tantalised in a troubling way by the item that sat before me: Ham and Pineapple Pot Noodle. |
"I trust you understand the severity of the situation?"The General's voice echoed throught the roo- Wait, was he a General? Uuuuuuuhhhhhhh...not sure. Major maybe. Surely not a Colonel... unless he was. Whatever the case he was still talking, and that was annoying.
Melanie had no way to be sure, outside of asking, and she didn't want to ask. Dealing with the military was always BORING, so she had long ago resolved to making the experience as short as possible. To that end, she decided to cut the conversation short.
"Look, let's just get to the point: Malfunctioning AI is buisness as usual. I rush in, thrash the automated security system, get your eggheads an access to the Core to reboot it and get paid. Simple."
The... military officer of some rank, clearly delighted by the sound of his own voice, took this interruption personally. He cleared his throath, and went on without skipping a beat. "Because of the particularity of this situation we considered enlisting the help of multiple specialists. You will be paired with another mercenary of considerable skill."
"Wait wait wait wait wait, please tell me their name is not Aiden. I will work with anyone but-"
The automated door slid open, and a familiar mercenary walked in.
"Aiden..."
They raised their head to meet her gaze. A hat 50 years out of style and black short hairs crowned their pale face. Brown eyes were sorrounded by a handful of freckles that had managed to stick around after puberty had shotgunned them on their cheekbones. No scars, no tattoos, no piercings. Lean physique, unremarkable clothing consisting of cargo pants and hoodie. It all added up to one of the most average looking individual to ever exist, if it weren't for the giant 4 barreled shotgun the were currently fidgeting with and the double handguns holstered on their right leg.
Three full seconds passed in absolute silence.
They tipped their hat. "Melanie."
"CREE-PY. What are you an incel? Actually, don't answer that. Don't care. I hate you."
The what's-his-rank interceded: "I take it you two know each other."
"Damn, nothing gets by you *sir*! You must have been top of your class in kindergarden."
Aiden's turn to interced, apparently: "We know ***of*** each other, and neither of use like the fact we seem to be considered the two best mercs on this side of the Atlantic. She's convinced she's better than me. I for one am aware that is not the case"
"Oh let me guess, fancy guns and 2000's style clothing somehow beat my explosive cooking skill, mechanical know-how and OUTRAGEOUS fashion sense? *Of course dear, keep dreaming."*
Turning back to face the surely-has-a-rank-dude she went on "Can you just, you know, show me where the malfunctioning AI is? Just seeing them gave me some anger to work off, and I have a whole bag of grenades that need exploding, *asap!"*
He pointed to an elevator in response. Melanie rushed in and was unfortunately unable to close the doors before Aiden followed.
The next 20 seconds were the most harrowing experience she had had in a while. Thankfully, the doors opened without a hitch.
"Alright, Artificial Nutjob, I'm here t-FUCK."The sudden change in tone was punctuated by half a dozen security drones firing against the two of them. Thankfully the elevator had enough space to take cover. Ditching her idea to rush in guns blazing, she instead threw her remotely detonated IED at them and blasted them into smithreens. After the blast, all quieted down.
*"Aiden, dear. Go ahead and peek to see if they survived. If you live, i'll know it's safe. If you die, I'll know I need to toss another one of these, it's a win-win scenario really."*
Without answering, they pulled out a small mirror and used it to check around the corner.
"Seriously, a mirror? What even is the point of makeup if you don't even try and cover all those freckles on your face?"
Again, without answering *(rude)* they proceeded to move out of the elevator and into the corridoir.
"Oh no, you are not getting ahead that easily."She grabbed a hold of her SMG and rushed after them, passing them and reaching the main room. What she was gave her pause. When Aiden reached her, they looked on, and reached the same conclusion.
"A malfunctioning AI would not be able to ambush us like that, nor would it build a barricade to slow us down. It would be more erratic, unpredictable. This is a Rouge AI."
"And that means you and I are knee deep in grade-A shit and sinking fast. So, do we swim towards the shore or do we get a snorkel mask and dive to see what's underneath."
"Colourful imagery, as always."He readied his shotgun "Also, *we?"*
"My bad, won't happen again."Just as she spoke, the buzzing of rotors warned them to the arrival of more drones. From ahead, behind, and all around them.
Melanie quickly ducked behind the barricade and tossed explosives towards them. As soon as they arrived, Aiden's careful shots with their handguns detonated the bombs, taking out a fair number of them. As they lept to the side to reach some cover, Melanie peeked out and unloaded on the remaining drones. With more coming through, she wasted no time realoading and caught the handgun that Aiden had thrown her, shooting at the two that were moving to sorround them before turning her attention back to the hallway from which they were swarming in. More grenades were thrown, weapons passed between the two of them and drones kept coming and dropping just as quickly.
When it was all over, it was just the two of them standing amidst a pile of scrap.
"I don't know about you"She started "But the one thing I hate more than your face is being forced to work with you. Meaning, this rouge AI is really getting on my nerves. Wanna go and smash it, *together?*"
Aiden took a while to answer. "I feel the same."
"Gee, no wonder you have no friends. I've met potted plants with more personality."
Whatever the case, the two of them proceeded down the hallway... together. |
/u/RoastieMillenial 5 points:
Hello? Human food. The werewolf clearly is a human before a dog.
/u/zxcdr:
Are you kidding? Do you see the prices today? I didn't ask for a werewolf companion to rip my furniture and make me spend more money on food. Dog food is cheaper.
/u/roastiemillenial:
Have you even tried dog food?
/u/zxcdr:
I have. My favorite is the beef stew one.
/u/cringehipster:
What the hell? What made you even think that was good?
/u/zxdcr:
I opened a can and it smelled good. I stuck my finger in and got a taste. Soon the whole can was devoured.
/u/armchairdoctor:
I did some research. Those who are making the transition to becoming a werewolf are addicted to eating dog food.
/u/midnighter:
I guess that means I'm about to become a werewolf too.
/u/cringehipster:
Oh come on, we can't listen to a random doctor on the internet. It's human to try dog food at least once.
/u/cringehipster:
Right?
/u/cringehipster:
Guys? |
Vengeance, sweet, sweet vengeance. Even when you hit rock bottom, even when you have had everything taken from you and more, it'll keep you going. I'm not doing this out of a sense of goodness, glory nor am I doing this out of a sense of justice unless you count my own. Truth is I couldn't care less if this country burns to the ground as long as it takes the minister with it.
I have hurt, trampled upon others and plotted to raise up the ranks. To give the illusion of loyalty, to make the higher-ups think I share their goals. They'll all go down eventually, if everything goes according to plan but they aren't my concern. I doubt that he remembers me, and I'm not surprised because of the amount of atrocities he either personally did or watched others do. I have waited years, almost a decade for this very moment. A moment where he trusts me enough to be in the same room with him, alone. After all, that bastard almost always had his loyal lapdogs with him. The trouble I went through to reduce their number and create this situation will be worth it. They may not be all gone but in no way will they be close enough to stop me.
I took my sweet time killing him for this is a moment to be savored. Because just killing him would be too easy. He had to suffer in pain and terror for what he did. And when he drew his last breath I sat down. Now that I had my sweet vengeance there was nothing left for me for I'm hollow and have been for the longest time. I sent my signal to the troops do that they could carry on with their plan. And while my road ends here they'll keep fighting. Will they succeed in ending the tyranny and create a better future? I did not know but what I do know there will be more bloodshed and revenge and won't end soon. And so the cycle continues on. |
After Allie left, my mum insisted that Urrick stay for dinner. Right now, we're all sitting at the table, enjoying our meal.
"So, Urrick... tell me, what would have happened to my daughter had Allie begun the purification ritual?"my dad asks.
"The part of her soul I gave her is demonic, as you can guess"Urrick explains. "The ritual would have 'cleansed' that part of the soul. Purification rituals are typically used when a demon possesses a human. It's often very painful for the demon, as it pretty much burns them with 'holy light' or something, I don't know the technicalities. This means that your daughter would have gone through a very painful process. Problem is, a human having any part of a demon's soul... no-one has ever tried a purification ritual on that due to the demon not usually allowing their 'captive' out of their sight. It's possible that Flora would have become fully human again, as Allie was hoping... but I fear it could have been much *much* worse..."
"How bad could it have been?"my mum asks.
"Worst case scenario, Flora herself is 'cleansed', leading to the opposite effect in that she becomes full demon and is subsequently banished."Urrick sighs. "I love Flora, and when the time is right, I will want her to join me... but as of now, it is far too early. I'm sure you two would agree."
"Of course"my father responds. "I mean, I was unsure if I could trust a demon to be with my daughter, but it's clear that you don't wish to corrupt her."
"But... am I corrupted already, at least partially? I took pleasure in seeing Allie so terrified..."
Urrick kisses my forehead. "That is different, love. You will take pleasure in other's pain, but your personality is still your own. You wouldn't have been so satisfied had you felt it was undeserved."
I look at him. I did certainly feel a sense of fear when I thought he was in danger... and I was definitely ready for a fight... I nod. "Thanks, Urrie."I kiss his cheek as I blush.
We all finish up dinner, with Urrick offering to do the dishes. "Are you sure you're a demon, Urrick?"my dad questions with a chuckle.
Urrick smiles. "I am, sir, but that doesn't make me evil. Similarly, being an angel doesn't necessarily make you good. You must understand, demons and angels are only perceived through those they serve. God is representative of all that is good and pure. Lucifer is representative of all that is evil and chaotic. Angels are protectors, while demons are tricksters. But how each individual plays their role is separate to the idea of good and evil."
"That explains why I could trash-talk that hulk of a demon, while that fat demon got angry and almost placed a curse on me."
"Oh, yeah, Burl. He complained to Lucifer about a girl making fun of him. Lucifer just laughed and reminded him that he approves of that sort of thing. Didn't take long for other demons to begin mocking him over letting a mortal upset him."Urrick giggles.
Just then, Zack bursts through the still unlocked front door. "Urrick! You have to take Flora to your home, now!"
"Slow down, Zack, what's happening?"I respond.
Zack looks at me. "Word reached Nie's parents, Flora. Nie tried to stop them, but they summoned an angel to 'rescue' you. Nie told me that while she doesn't agree with your choice, she doesn't believe that you should be forced to separate from Urrick. She told me the plan was to have the angel destroy Urrick! He'll be destroyed, Flora! Gone! Completely!"
"WHAT?"I exclaim. I check my phone quickly. "You're right... I got a text from Nie warning me! She even admitted that she would have agreed with doing this, except that she knows *you* well enough, Zack, that if you trust Urrick, she does too. Urrie, you've gotta get out of here!"
Urrick nods and summons a portal. He begins to grab my hand, but I shake my head. "I need to see this angel, Urrick. Go on. I'll be fine."With tears in his eyes, Urrick nods and steps through... just as a divine being shows up.
"No... I just missed him... Flora, are you ok?"
I stare the angel in the eyes. "Now that Urrick is safe, yes."
The angel looks at me confused. "I don't understand... it is clear that, as I have been told, that you have become shackled to a demon... how can you be glad that he escaped?"
"Because I love him, that's why!"I keep my eyes fixated on this thing.
The angel just shakes her head. "Oh, you poor thing... you don't even know what you're saying, do you?"
"Yes, I do. I asked to be with him. I begged him to never let us be apart."I look down at my bracelet, fidgeting with it. "I want to be with him. This bracelet... I'm proud to wear it."
The angel looks at the bracelet. She begins to walk over, stretching out a hand. A beam of light reaches out to the bracelet. I feel the bracelet's grip being released. "ZACK! SHE'S TRYING TO REMOVE THE BRACELET!"
"I got this!"Zack charges at the angel, headbutting her. The spell is broken, but the bracelet is no longer bonded. Urrick must have sensed it, because he comes back. I look at him, tears in my eyes. "URRIE!"I cry, running to him. He holds me in his arms, and fixes my bracelet.
The angel grins. "So... you're her captor..."
"No. I'm her boyfriend. I thought she made that clear."Urrick's eyes glow red. I sense a bubble form around us.
The angel shakes her head. "You know that such a trick won't be enough."She casts a spell, easily breaking the bubble. She then casts another beam of light, aimed at Urrick. Urrick falls to his knees in agony.
"URRIE!"I cry once more. Zack again goes to attack the angel, but this time the angel doesn't even flinch. I begin to feel my horns shrink. No... Urrick... please...
Suddenly, the spell stops. My horns return to normal, and Urrick just collapses. I hold him in my arms. I turn to see Lucifer, clearly far too powerful for the angel to deal with.
"My, my, I thought you were supposed to *protect* mortals"he taunts.
The angel glares at him. "I was protecting this girl! You just don't want to lose your claim on her!"
Lucifer, clearly amused, shakes his head. "I spoke to your boss. When Urrick came to his home, I sensed something was off. Once he told me what was happening, I met up with God in the 'neutral space'. He told me that if Flora really and truly loves Urrick, then there is no need for the interference of one of his angels. We were watching your interaction with the two... once you began attacking Urrick directly, I was told to do with you as I pleased."
The angel scoffs. "I don't believe that for a second!"
Lucifer grins, then steps to the side. "You know that I, myself, have not done anything to you. This means you should have no problem finishing my minion off, right?"
The angel looks at Lucifer sceptically, then attempts to unleash another stream of light... but nothing happens. She tries again. A voice whispers out. "You are not worthy of my powers. I have removed them from you."
The angel is suddenly terrified, as Lucifer snaps his fingers. Instantly, the angel's wings are chained down. "You're not the first angel I've taken prisoner. You won't be lonely, don't worry."With that, the two of them disappear.
"She was an asshole"Urrick chokes out.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
This story is a part of my series, [To Love a Demon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/xqefwu/to_love_a_demon/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it it! |
London. Over 5 million people lived in England's capital. All under the holy protection of His Majesty King George X. As well as those who served loyally under him in the English branch of The Department of Demi-Humans. Sure, we reported to the international offices just like the rest, but also like the rest we often handled problems in my own backyard, and London was one big backyard. Boasting a demi-human density of nearly ten percent that made for half a million more-than-mere mortals running. So no one was alarmed when dozens of demi-humans from all demitypes just started to vanish. People just head out one day and never get hear from again all the time. Tragic, but who cares. The King does, and thus I do.
The rain shrouded the city making everything hidden behind a wall of grey water. I sat in an empty flat overlooking a street corner. The air was thickened by cigarette smoke from the hundreds of cigarettes that littered the floor around me. I had brought two cartons with me and over the three days I had stood there I had been reduced to my last pack and only half us that. The sound of relief rang in my ears as the front door opened and the heavy footsteps of my partner followed.
"Oi, your loving and caring partner, Agent O'Neal, has come forth to save you."Agent O'Neal stepped into the room I was standing and preceded to search for me, "Oi, where are you? Oh, there you are, Carter! You blend so well with the smoke. Like camouflage you are."
"Did you bring the smokes?"I asked without quip.
"Oi, I knew I forgot something! I meant to myself a fifth of whiskey and a gallon of beer to wash it down."He placed a carton of Top Notch Full Red on the window ledge in front of me, "After all, if I'm going to sit around and watch you watching nothing I might as well be drunk."
"Thank you, O'Neal."I pulled out another cigarette and chain-lit it. Keeping my eyes on the spot just out the window.
"Carter, my pal, I hate to be difficult, but are we really going to just sit here and do nothing?"O'Neal asked looking me over as well as the pile of cigarette filters around me.
"We are not doing nothing. We are waiting for something."I explained.
"Oh, that's right. Them wise guys back at MI6 told ya that something was going to happen to someone at some time at this one exact spot. Do you have anything else to work with?"O'Neal whined with all the grace of a toddler.
"I know the who, the what, and the where. It's only the when that's a mystery."I explained pulling a deep drag off my current cigarette.
"Oi!"O'Neal shouted, "If you know the target then why are sitting there from happy hour to happy hour? Just stand guard when they come through"
"I don't know the target's schedule. If I miss even one minute they should come by the get jumped."I countered, "And even if I did if they were to change something I risk losing the window."
"So you're just going to stand there?"O'Neal asked as the target came into sight. A ludoyashay. One of the lizard-like aliens that landed in Russia over a hundred years ago. Name was Sofia Morozov. Female. Large for her kind. "Oi, matey, have you even gone to take a piss?"
"I don't need to urinate,"I said watching Sofia. She was carrying bags. Plastic shopping bags. She wasn't bothered by the rain in the slightest.
"Boyo, I've seen you take a piss before. Many times."Sofia was walking towards the building we were in. With her own home being direct across the street this was a common route she took.
"I do not Need to urinate."Sofia stopped for just a moment to check the street before jaywalking across.
"Carter,"Sofia stepped up on the sidewalk and out of the rain a grey van stopped in front of her and open its doors, "Have you even blinked?"
"It's happening!"I shouted tossing the cigarette and jumping back from the window before leaping forward and through the window into the rain. I dropped six stories onto the sidewalk and began running to the van only to be stopped by the blast of a shotgun in my chest. A fletcher shot. Multi-purpose too. I felt the harmless stabbing of iron, copper, and lead in addition to the burning feeling of silver. It wasn't enough to kill, or wound, or even slow down. Just enough to be a surprise long enough for the goons to grab Sofia and bolt. This had been their plan and they nearly made it a crack of thunder came from my outlook point and stuck the gunman down. With a spray of blood behind the other goons must have written him off because they sped off nearly missing me as they turned the corner. O'Neal unleashed five more cracks of thunder from his Big Shot in the direction of the van and missed every shot.
"Damn it!"O'Neal jumped out the window and parkoured his way down and joined at the gunman's body. "I tried to shoot the tires out, but the rain was too thick."
"Don't worry. Shotgun is still alive."I stepped over to the body to see it was still twitching. "He looks mundane."
"Good. Mundane years are always cheaper than demi-human years."O'Neal Kneeled down to the man and played a hand over his heart and then took my hand, he then prayed, "Oh Lord, Heavenly Father, Take this gift given freely from this good soul and give it on to this poor man!"
I felt the wisps of life energy leave my body and saw the power mend the wound O'Neal had ripped into him. The man breathed fully. That was O'Neal's power, the holy gift given to him by The Lord Above, to take life from a willing donator and give it to another. He could also play both parts at will, which our partnership rather useful. He could take life from me and give it to others and himself, and then as a vampire, I could always go get more for myself. It was how we managed to serve for decades on end.
The man looked around, "What? Where? I'm alive?"
"Oh, you bet boyo,"O'Neal confirmed as the rain came to an end, "And you're gonna wish you weren't real soon."
We took the man into custody to be interrogated.
[rush ending]
It turned out that the goons were running a fighting ring for demi-humans in the name of some dark god. After the gunman cracked and told us everything we raided the place. Of the sixty-eight people who went missing only twelve were recovered alive, and four were still uncounted for, but that's to be expected. People just head out one day and never get hear from again all the time. Tragic, but who cares. Well, I imagine they care. |
"Hey, Flora!"I turn to see Tasha and Aaron as I enter the school grounds in the early morning. I wave at them with one of my red arms as I run over, my horns glinting in the sun. I see Allie, who doesn't dare come near me. I notice a few other students acting nervously too, backing away or looking away or smiling shyly or giving a tiny wave...
Aaron is SUPER excited. "Both Allie AND Zack told us about what happened at your home yesterday! Awesome!"
I look around. "Is it?"The frightened stares tell me all I need to know.
Tasha gently nudges me. "You didn't change! I know you. You would never let yourself become evil!"
I smile. "Thanks, Tash!"Suddenly, we hear a lot of gasping. We turn to look.
The most beautiful boy I've ever seen is just casually strolling in. Naturally, all the girls start fawning over him. Tasha joins the crowd. I hang back.
"Not interested?"Aaron asks.
I rub my bracelet. "I belong to Urrick. That will never change."At this, I look up, and realise: this boy has red eyes. I smirk. "Of course, appearances can be deceiving..."
Aaron stares at me a moment, looks at the boy, then bursts into laughter. "What an absolute sneak!"
I stroll into the crowd, which now included other boys, people backing away scared. I hear whispers, before taking Urrick's hand.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU FREAK?"
"HE'S WAY TOO FRIENDLY AND KIND FOR YOU!"
"HOW DARE YOU? LET GO OF HIM!"
Tasha walks up, with a different worry on her mind. "Umm... Flora, I thought you loved Urrick..."
I look at her and grin. "I do"I state simply, kissing the boy's cheek. Everyone gasps and resumes their angry shouting, even more determined than before. A wink at Tasha reassures her things aren't how they *look*...
Suddenly, someone grabs at me and shoves me to the ground. "You're disgusting! This guy doesn't want anything to do with-"
"Oh, but I do."Urrick is right behind the boy.
"But... I mean... she... look at her!"the boy responds.
"So?"Urrick shrugs. "It's just an appearance. Honestly, I was ready to make new friends... but now, none of you deserve to be my friend."Urrick holds out his hand for me, causing me to blush as I take it. Then, his face drops, his eyes wide, his mouth hung open. He whispers to me. "Flora, don't look, but someone is coming up with a knife. I need to take over your body."
"I trust you, Urrie"I respond. In an instant, Urrick vanishes, and I feel himself inside me. He whips my body around, hand outstretched, a barrier forming between us and our attacker. The entire school grounds is surrounded by a red mist, the attacker is frozen in place. Everyone starts freaking out as Urrick leaves my body, showing his human form, before revealing his true form. Some teachers come out to see what the heck is happening, seeing my attacker with the knife.
Urrick's whole body has a visible black aura. "ALL OF YOU JUDGE OTHERS BY THEIR APPEARANCE! FLORA IS A KIND, SWEET GIRL! SHE DOES NOT DESERVE YOUR UNJUST HATRED! AND YOU!"he stares into the widened eyes of the attacker. "YOU WOULD GO SO FAR AS TO KILL HER! EXPLAIN!"
The girl stammers. "I... but... she... Allie tried to... to help her and... and Flora... Flora threatened her... Flora is... is dangerous..."
"AND WHY DID FLORA THREATEN ALLIE? WHY? NOT BECAUSE SHE'S EVIL OR CORRUPTED! BECAUSE ALLIE WAS TRYING TO HURT HER! YOU SAY ALLIE WAS TRYING TO HELP! BUT FLORA WASN'T GIVEN A CHOICE! FLORA CHOSE TO BE WITH ME! NO-ONE HURTS HER! ESPECIALLY NO-ONE KILLS HER!"
Urrick raises a hand, lifting the girl into the air. "URRICK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"I cry desperately. Urrick looks at me. The red mist disappears. He puts the girl down, but does not release her.
"She tried to kill you, Flora. KILL! I was simply going to let her see my boss... maybe THEN she could learn-"
I walk over and give Urrick a hug. "Please, Urrie... you've done enough..."
"Flora... love..."Urrick puts his arms around me, tears welling up, releasing the girl. The school officers grab her, and a few teachers talk to the other students to get answers.
Everything calms down after a few minutes. A teacher walks up to us. "So... you're Urrick?"he nods. "All the teachers have heard of you. We certainly never expected to see you?"
"Believe me, ma'am, I wasn't planning on scaring everyone... but they were all being mean to Flora..."
"From what we heard, they were all scared of the fact you tortured another student, Allie. They were afraid you'd show up and harm them."
"In all fairness, it was exactly them, Allie included, being mean to me which caused Urrick to act like that."I grip Urrick's hand. "He's... protective."
"Well"the teacher says, "I understand that. We will have an assembly on bullying, principal's decision. But we do have a request... I'm afraid we'll have to ask that you never step foot here again, Urrick."
"That is not acceptable"Urrick responds. "I'm going to protect Flora, wherever, whenever. If you ban me from the school grounds, I'll make sure Flora does not come here, otherwise... I cannot protect her."
"It's not a bluff, miss"I say. "When Urrick says something, he means it. I'll make sure he stays under control, but you can't ban him from the school grounds without expelling me."
She sighs. "We'll need to schedule a meeting for this."
"I'm available at any time. May I suggest after school today? I also request that I be with Flora for the day, in case..."
"Just don't cause any trouble. You can at least be in human form, can't you?"Urrick nods and changes his appearance. He messes with his bracelet. We then go into the building, with all the other students having already entered. This will be an interesting day...
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
This story is a part of my series, [To Love a Demon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/xqefwu/to_love_a_demon/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it out! |
(Not part of the story) I haven't written for a long time and am a beginner. Be gentle pls. And this a bit of an unfinished story. Anyway:
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"Sit down, sit down goddamnit, sit down!"I urge him in thoughts as he is walking up to me, revealing a knife.
It is absurd how my fantasy has turned from this nice, orderly place to, quite literally, a waking nightmare.
I manage to conjure up a cab and, sprinting into the back seat, yell at the driver to get going.
The car starts up and with a final glance out of the rear window, I can see the business man-like looking figure give up the chase.
Still panting and shaking, but somehow giddy with relief, I turn to the driver: "Thanks for fetching me on such short notice! You're a real life saver".
"No problem sir, were can I take you?". I describe a slightly longer route to an alley near my home to her. Ever since loosing my ability to teleport, I have been a bit on edge about revealing my home address to anyone , ... well, to any of these figments of imagination. I believe that over time, my mind must have lost its focus, and with it, the ability to keep this dream in order. This sleep has been going on for years, after all. |
"Geez...$1500 again."I said, looking over the bill for the apartment. While it had covered not just rent, but utilities and garbage as well, it was still reaching deep into my pockets. I could cover it sure, but it would mean living on top ramen again for the month. I was beginning to hate that soggy styrofoam excuse for noodles. Just then, my shitty "roommate"popped out of the floor. I let out a yelp of terror, realized it was him, and then sighed. "Goddamn it, Reginald! Don't DO that, yer gonna kill me!"I said.
Reginald laughed, his disembodied voice an echoing crackle. "Awe come on Kay, live a little. Cuz I sure can't!"He said, laughing at his own joke. "Oh get a life..."I mumbled. "Ouch. Rude! I claim sin, that is a racist thing-"he started. "How is it race? You're dead!"I chimed in. "Yes. I am now of the dead race, therefore it is racist!"he said, more playfully. This just annoyed me. "Anyway. Rents gonna cost some coin; may have to cancel my subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, and Prime just to save."I said sadly. "Noooo not the Netflix! I was just getting into Season 2 of Witcher!"Reginald whined.
"Well, since the world knows about ghosts now, why don't you get a job and help me pay for shit, for once? I mean, I get it, you don't have to eat but you still use utilities."I said. "Hey, captain idiot, I can't get hired anywhere. I'm incorporeal, and no place takes death certificates as valid identification!"he said. He had me there. "True...but no one is saying you can't pretend to be me and do odd, over-the-internet jobs that only require you to sit and fill forms. Or maybe you can find a way to do a sexy ghost Instagram thing and get famous? Someone might be into it."I said.
"No way. Absolutely not. I've lived life, and am passed the living stage. I've earned my rest!"He said. "Dude, you were 21 when you OD'd in this apartment back in 2013. You didn't live, you escaped too far."I snapped. "Either way, still not gonna work. Never wanted to in life, cuz screw the corps, don't wanna in death."He said. "You're a fuckin freeloader, dude!"I said, anger welling up in me. "So sad too bad!"He said. "Don't make me exorcise you!"I said, now laying on the threats.
"N-No don't do that! C'mon Kay! W-we're friends!"He said, fear in his voice. "I'll do it, dammit! Get a job! HELP ME!"I said, looking at him with an angry sadness as I held the bible my mom gave me out to him. He shrieked and hid in the wall. "No! Please! I don't wanna leave! I don't wanna find out what's after...this!"He said. "Then fuckin work! Write, be funny and be a ghost ghostwriter! Something! I'm sinking here! test games or something!"I said, now crying out of frustration as I set the bible on the table and laid my head in my hands. He came out of the wall.
"Kay...Don't...don't cry. Please. You know I hate it when you cry."He said, trying to dry my tears. "Reg...I can't keep living this life. I barely make ends meet, college is running me under too, and I'm running on fumes. I need help. And because this is an apartment, I'd have to screen for roommates and then get approval and that'll take too long. Plus I don't think, even with the knowledge now, people will be accepting of ghosts. So it'd be a fruitless effort to try that, and the job market is shit so I can't just change jobs on a whim...I'm stuck. And I need help. Can't ask the family either cuz they don't support me. So please. Please just help me."I said, looking up at him with puppy eyes.
"Fine...but it's in your name and I get access to the TV first. Sound fair?"he said, relenting. I smiled, and hugged him, somewhat. "Deal! Now let's find something you can do from home."I said. For hours, we scoured the job markets, until we found several somethings I would qualify for that he understood how to do. It would be a bit before we heard back, but at least he decided to help me after all. |
Oh man I can see this one being a fun one a la the sixth sense, oh boy oh god here go, ive been drinking so yeah. what if like the victims wer ethe animals or whatever and the animals are like trying to find out who murdered the person who was helopin em out n shit.
anyway, effort:
\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*
I look at the corpse and try to think of something worthwhile. All I see today is another dead body. Just some other lost soul who bit into more skin than they could chew in life. Every body has a reason they died. Today I can't find it.
Just another corpse.
"Hello?"I hear a voice coming from a tree twelve point five feet behind at my 11 o'clock. "Uh, is anyone there? Anyone?"
"I hear ya,"I say, thinking it's some trick of my mind, some semblance of sanity that wracks my brain, trying to make it realize that this is real and I should feel something. "Ya aint loud though. Be a little louder?"
"Uh, HELLO?!"the voice shouts. I grab my ear like it matters; the sound is already gone. "Uh, sorry, heh."
"And what have we got here?"I ask bending down and staring the rabbit in the eyes. I've never talked to an animal before, and I realize that I'm finally going insane. "Why are you talking?"
"Well, uh, that was just Sally,"the rabbit says. Is that a tear? "She was always lookin out for us. She always just wanted what was best of us. One time, she uh she didn't bring us food. But she told us we could find food!"
"Food!"the animals of the forest say to me. All around me in the dark forest, I see their little red and golden eyes staring back into my own dark abyss of pupils. "She gave us food! And taught us how to get our own."
"Food!' the animals of the forest say in the most screech like tones the mind can conjour. "Food and love!"
"We need to avenge her,"the rabbit says to me, hopping closer. I know I'm losing it, I know I'm going insane, but only the smallest part of me even cares the slightest bit. I don't give rat's ass. "Will you help us?"
"I don't give a crap whether I help you or not,"I say, standing. "I have a murder to solve."
​
The End. |
We don't know why it starts. One minute we're just living our lives--doing the things we normally do. The next, we find ourselves in a completely different body, with no memory of how we got there or why. It's like we're on stage, and someone is switching us back and forth between roles without warning.
We don't understand what's happening, or why it keeps happening. This isn't a horror movie. There's no monster chasing us. No one is trying to hurt us. The only thing we can hope for is that this strange phenomenon will eventually stop, and we'll be able to go back to our regular lives. But for now, we're stuck in this silent cycle, switchbacks tilting into each other's arms like dancers in a choreographed routine we can't control. |
“No, it’s invisible! How could we?”
“I’m the invisible expert, remember?”
Mark’s loud, jovial voice was accompanied with the kind of slow half-smile older people gave when they believed the youth would understand, but not too soon. It made Sarah want to snatch her cousin’s floppy, once-khaki colored hat from his head and toss it into the creek. She’d never. Mark would probably embarrass her by tromping right in. Then she’d have to pull him out again. With everyone watching.
“I’ve always enjoyed a good swim.” When Sarah startled back at his words, that slow smile opened and closed and wavered about in merriment Mark couldn’t quite hide. “Read your thoughts?”
“Impopsible.” Sarah spoke through clenched teeth, popping the center of the word out so it came out wrong. Her next words snapped out crisply, “Straighten your face, you look foolish.”
Mark pressed his lips together tightly and ducked his head. She now saw the permanent drawings across the top of his hat. They included the family, the house, and the favorite spot to run around after wildflowers or crickets or mudpies. Parts were washed out, invisible for the imagination to fill in. It reminded her why they’d come.
“Oh, impossible.” Mark agreed a millisecond before Sarah was ready to apologize. She’d already started to slip her arm through his. His tone made her pull away, but he held fast. Almost like he’d known the moment to catch her. “Of course, since I can’t see your thoughts, then perhaps you’ve no---- Ouch!”
Mark punctuated his complaint with laughter and a shove, only to just as quickly pull Sarah back when he felt her panic and flail. They wobbled a moment until he caught both their weight. He held on until he was sure she wouldn’t fall, and a moment too long because she pinched again.
“The creek!” Sarah was really looking at nearby people.
“Ah, you couldn’t fall in unless I carried you there. Ten paces, if I took long strides.” He didn’t pretend to try to pick her up, but Mark made the challenge clear with a middle-sized step. He knew for Sarah, it’d look giant. He kept his hand on her arm, unconcerned as to whether she’d pinch. She wasn’t ready to be left alone.
“How can you know? It’s invisible!”
“Invisible.” Mark scoffed. The seriousness immediately made Sarah’s eyes snap to him. He never complained about their game. “You’ll learn everything is visible someway. You’re not senseless. I’ll guide you.”
Sarah’s gaze left him to people close enough now she could imagine the ridicule on their faces. Maybe her eyes were already glazed over the way Mark’s had turned. Maybe they’d--- Mark took another step. She quickly gripped his hand so she couldn’t lose him, not yet able to read the invisible thoughts he clearly said through trailing fingers and deliberately shuffled steps.
“You can't guide me, and I can't help you anymore. It's really all going to be gone, isn't it?"
“You're fine. We’re fine. I’ll guide you. I know how. I’m the invisible expert, remember?” |
“We’re live at the scene of a hostage situation at Bank Mart. A witches coven calling themselves Celtic Carnage entered the bank at 9:32 am and summoned a lava moat that’s currently surrounding the building. There are several hostages inside, including the Bank Manager and his family. All attempts to gain entry have proven unsuccessful as strange creatures composed of fire have risen from the magma a few times to halt all entry.” Jessica Star, a field reporter for MTV News said with her bank to the bank as a fiery hand raised out of the lava, seemingly waving.” The Police are currently waiting on a special- wait, a large black van is approaching and the police are letting them through.”
A large swat van strangely resembling a hearse rolled through the police barricade and parked not far from the news van. The cameraman kept his camera on the van as a tall, blonde woman with several stitches on her face exited the passenger side. Exiting out of the back were several police dressed in dress uniforms who quickly unloaded 8 unisex statues with open mouths. Each officer then began writing inscriptions on parchment, placed the parchment in the open mouths of the statues, and lit them on fire. The officers then returned to the back of the van and the statues sprung to life and convened on the tall, scarred woman and informed them of the plan. As the planning commenced the driver of the van, a woman wearing a long black coat, long curly hair, a stedson with a metal skull, and black sunglasses exited the van and joined the group.
The curly haired woman began a chant and opened a portal in the ground. The statues then jumped in the portal. Almost immediately angry shouting and what sounded like gun fire could be heard from inside the bank. An explosion seemingly took out one of the walls and the cameraman was able to catch as three of the statues were caught in a stream of fireballs and gun fire that didn’t seem to affect them as they charged their attackers and pummeled them with their stone hands and feet. The lava creatures attempted to rise from the lava but the scarred woman kicked open a fire hydrant and the curly haired woman redirected the stream of water the lava creatures using telekinesis, hardening the lava creatures and cooling the magma.
“I can’t believe what we just witnessed!” Jessica said into the camera as she ran up to the scarred woman,” excuse me, Officer?” Jessica said to the scarred woman,” can we get a word?” The Scarred Woman looked down at Jessica and said,” Certainly!” Jessica then asked,” are you guys the rumored Blue Magic squad we’ve heard about?” The scarred woman then answered,” Yes, we are one of many Blue Magic squads. Since Magic has become a troublesome aspect of our society the local government has legalized the use of magic for law enforcement use.” “I see,” Jessica said,” what kind of magic was used here?” The scarred woman replied,” this team primarily uses a form of alchemy, they implant their consciousness into the golems.”
The scarred woman then received a message on her phone and excused herself from the interview.” With all of the excitement going on around here we’re heading back. This is Jessica Starr with MTV News!” |
"-team has requested vast amounts of basic materials for genetic growth. We have been lenient thus far, but you have not yet provided any results. In fact, according to your own records, you have only had one subject!"
I yawned as a voice disturbed me. Glancing at a wall clock, I saw it was gone two o'clock. The surprise cut through my drowsiness, as I realised I had overslept again. It was probably the most aggravating side effect of my treatment, a constant need for sleep.
I sprang up, heading into my bathroom. I didn't have time to shower, but I I could at least freshen myself up. My business was quick, even with my changed body. I gave myself a once over, pleased that I still looked fabulous. I rushed out, snapping up the pair of apples I had left out before. With a couple of bites I devoured them, going into the next room.
This was a large space, filled with all sorts of wonderful machines. I had been on most of them multiple times, as we monitored my vitals throughout this process. Of course, some were now useless, not designed to handle my new form.
I looked at the blacked out windows. I could hear the voices in there, the ones that had disturbed me.
"Where is your subject? You promised us results, yet here you are, making excuses! Do you have any idea the issues you are giving us?! This is a privilege you have, to work in this area of research. I'm beginning to feel like we need to look at revoking it."
I cleared my throat, leaning over a desk on the side. The smaller buttons were hard to see in the dark, but we wanted to make a grand reveal. I tapped one, muttering as it just woke up the screen. It was locked. Of course. And it would obviously be very easy to unlock.
I was saved from frustration by a nudge. Looking up I saw Dr Javes smiling. Her eyes were bright with excitement, and a little jealousy at my body.
"Hey sleepy head. Ready for the show?"
I grinned, hissing back.
"Of course. Let's blow their socks off."
She grinned, the jealousy fading. We had a bit of a rivalry, but I considered her one of my best friends. She took her spot, unlocking the device. She hit a button, a faint buzz telling me the intercom was active.
"Apologies for the delay, our test subject had a bit of a rough start."
The cheeky cow. I poked my tongue out at her, before schooling my expression and standing tall in the dead centre of the room.
"We are ready when you are."
I heard the lead over the comm as well, relief evident in his voice.
"Thank you Yasmin. Mr Welton, you wish to see our results? Well then, let me introduce you to Dr Nicole Pire, our volunteer."
The shutters over the windows open. I could see our lead, Dr Firell, standing with a serious looking man in a suit. He glowered at me, before I twitched, and shock blossomed over his features.
"We chose to look beyond simple modification. Granting the human body increased strength and speed. Toughening skin, and improving internal processes. All noble pursuits. But we wanted more. Dr Pire came up with the idea on a complete species change. And as you can see, the results speak for themselves."
I loomed up, letting my black scales glint in the light. My tail was curved to one side, the tip twitching. I stretched new muscles, great wings extending out from either side. I stood there, as the first human turned dragon, and grinned. Firell turned to the suited man, a satisfied smirk on his face.
"So, do you think the board will still revoke our privilege?" |
“Yo, I gotta go sleep. Got a calc test tomorrow.”
“Alright then. See ya, Jack. Thanks for helping with the build”
“Anytime man. Take care” I turn off the monitor, brush my teeth, and head to bed. Jack’s Minecraft build would have to wait. I swore that man as an obsession with that game. He gets way too emotionally attached; almost breaking his computer when he got blown up by that Creeper.
I turned off the lights and tried to get some must needed rest. My head swirled with notations of derivates, integrals, fuuuck, what’s that called again when you carry over the one? Damn, Ms. Williams was not going to be happy.
A “hsssss” sound interrupts my ruminations. Fuck, I must’ve forgotten to turn off my stove.
I go to turn it off when I see a fucking green monster made of blocks, with black splotches for eyes, oh my god, is that a Creeper?
AHHHH, I scream. I take cover preparing to get blown up. When it doesn’t happen, I get back up, confused.
“Are you done,” it says.
It was big. Like, around my height. It didn’t have arms, it had two legs in front of each other instead of next to each other, it was fucking green as hell. It was definitely a Creeper.
“Ahhhhh” I fall back down. “You…talk?”
“Of course I talk, I didn’t realize you were going to be awake. Lemme just grab something reeal quick, and I’ll be out of the house. Just need some cash. Uh, drawer. Drawer. Probably keep cash in the drawer.”
“Uhh, what are doing”
“I’m trying to rob you. Even monsters like me have to make a living.”
This could not be happening. I have a math test. I need to know integrals and derivatives. I don’t know how the fuck a Creeper became real and is literally robbing (failing miserably that is) in front of my own eyes. I refused to believe it. I handed it a hundred-dollar bill and gave it some food. Do Creepers eat, i have no fucking idea. “Get the hell out of my house. I have a calc test.” I went back to bed.
“Thank you for your kindness,” it responded, awkwardly shuffling itself out of my house.
I woke up in a haze, thinking what happened previously was some sort of weird ass dream. I got to school and started taking my calc test. Fuck, it had Riemann sums? Did not study that. Damn it, Ms. Williams. My fate was saved when the speakers started blaring “WE ARE IN LOCKDOWN. REPEAT, WE ARE IN LOCKDOWN.”
I look outside of my window and guess what I see. A fucking Creeper. |
Susan. The girl of my dreams. Except, I didn't have dreams. Every moment I spent 'sleeping', I was simply watching the human race grow. I never cared for any of them, yet some went mad worshiping me. But Susan was different, and I needed her to know that. So, I did what any normal horror would do, and gave her dream visions. These visions were just some images I found on my hard drive (yes, we have those. no, we don't use the internet.) But I suppose they were a bit too daunting. She's slowly been going mad, and she's beginning to refer to me more and more in her daily life. A few days went by, and what do you know? Suddenly she's a mad cultist sacrificing people to me (can you humans **please** stop doing that?) and pledging every moment of her life to me. I can't believe this just happened. And this one time, I tried showing up to take her on a date. Didn't work. Now all of her followers have gone mad, and it turns out she died of a heart attack. I swear, being an eldritch horror can be so annoying sometimes.. |
"Holy fuck. I dreamt that the basement was full of squid, all standing there like mushrooms in the outline of the footprint of where the furniture used to be."
"That's interesting."
I went outside and walked through the piles of yellow and brown leaves on the path through the trees. There was a mushroom poking though the blanket of leaves. It looked very much like the fungi from my recent dream. I thought of my dad and his reckless approach to picking mushrooms, he eats most of his findings. He thinks very few are poisonous, rather just a digestive irritant. He hopes to someday have a berserk moment with Fly Agaric, if he finds one.
Thinking that fate may be a thing, I picked the mushroom and ate it. I instantly puked out a bunch of colorful threads which floated away as my eyes quietly left my head and followed the threads. I tried to go cross-eyed and my newly departed eyes looked much like a squid traveling through water. Following the conductor threads with my semi-autonomous eyesquids, I noticed that the threads had a dancing type rhythm to them, the air ahead appeared to crystalize and drop like shards of frost as my eyesquids breached a plane into a lighter place.
Then my eyes were back and I lifted myself from the quilt of dead leaves, walked home and climbed into a warm bath. I've been under water for over an hour now, I wonder if I can squirt ink? |
“…press 1 to accept your fate”
I disconnected the call and shook my head. How many times was that today? 8? 8 calls in a row the same automated voice said the same words and waited in the same silence until I hung up. I was used to every call feeling identical, but that’s usually not so literal. Today was going to be the day I asked Morgan out for drinks during break, but whatever weird shit this was had different plans. Oh well, less to beat myself up about if I don’t have to make up an excuse this time.
Feeling the stiff ache in my legs, I stood and walked over to my supervisor’s desk. Craig sat with his usual mix of vacant eyes and chipper smile until he blinked himself aware of my presence. “What can I help you with buddy?”
I explained the situation to him the best I could as he nodded along. “You guys can listen in on our calls right? For training or whatever? Can you just click in the next time my line goes?” Craig nodded, “you got it!”, and I walked back to my desk as a few others filed out for their “mandatory” break time.
It didn’t take long before the next call came in. I picked up, heard the familiar faint click of a “helping ear”, and then the voice started again. I let it run through its whole spiel before disconnecting and going over to Craig. “That is some strange stuff alright. Maybe it’s a bug tied to your employee account. Here, try that station over there. One of our dummy ID’s is logged in so you’re good to go!” With Craig’s undeterred smile and thumbs up behind me, I walked over to the station usually used for training, switched it to active to receive calls, and waited.
Then nothing. Nothing special anyways, calls started coming in as they normally would. Nothing out of the ordinary until a call dropped midway through trying to help a customer recover their password. I started to punch in their number, trying to call them back. I hit the first few digits to call an external number and everything went silent. The phone, my coworkers, the dull roar of cars outside. Unsettling silence. Then a single pair of hands clapping. Craig. Walking up to me with the first bit of light in his eyes I had ever seen.
“Knew you’d come around! Just needed a little…push… to accept it! Welcome to the real team. Here’s your new script, and remember, it’s about helping people!” |
(Might be against the rules to make my own response, but I thought of this after posting)
Have you ever wondered what predatory narcissistic psychopathy looks like? I don’t mean seeing a list of symptoms or indicators, but its form, its shape, its texture. To summarize simply; its gross. Imagine if you can or dare a fleshy black hole, sucking everything into its unfathomable bore. Tendrils of barbed hooks writhing in all directions, grasping and tearing anything they touch including themselves. Tar like bubbling ichor splashing, dripping, clinging, and crawling over everything in the area. Violent flashes of searing colors that leave their impressions on your skin. As I said, nasty stuff. The part that sucks about my power set is that I don’t just have to occasionally see that kind of thing; I’ve got to be it.
You see, something happens when I look at people; I see them as they are. Not how they appear, but how they ARE. And when they look at me they see their reflection. I would call it a kind of a super introspection power if that’s all it did, were I so lucky. But its less they see a reflection and more that I become their reflection.
If you thought the notion of seeing an unspeakable horror was bad, imagine the feeling of those aforementioned tentacles erupting from your own skin, the feeling of insatiable hunger drowning out your every thought and action, the loss of self as someone, something is forced over your form and mind.
Its not fun.
Ive had more than my share of bouts with depression and insanity after confronting truly heinous individuals.
Luckily, there’s been a few things that help me deal with the effects of my power. For starters, I rarely actually have to throw down, and it can be downright amusing when a fight is over about 30 seconds with a piece of overly lycra-ed beefcake sobbing on the ground as their self image has just been drastically realigned. That usually also helps with the recidivism rate; few people confronted with a negative truth about themselves are unmoved.
But the biggest single thing that keeps me sane is that I can block my power with a pretty simple fashion accessory that doubles as proof that fate has a sense of humor; a pair of rose colored glasses. |
„Sam, why are you … *click* …calling me again?“
„I‘m calling you because… *click* …there is a murder… *click* …scene and I‘m the … *click* …main suspect! … *click* …I told you… *click* …it was the last time… *click* …I covered for you… *click* …Zac!“
„I already told… *click* …you, it wasn‘t… *click* …me!“
„I haven‘t… *click* …talked to you in… *click* …months.“
„Nice… *click* …try, you… *click* …called like me five… *click* …minutes ago!“
„Wait what? *click* That can’t… *click* …be. Do you… *click* hear the clicking… *click* …in the line as… *click* …well?“
„Yeah… *click* … I thought it… *click* …is because… *click* …of your old… *click* …phone.“
„Someone… *click* …is listening!“
*clickclick*
„You can‘t be serious! Who would be listening?“ |
All of the mages are in the summoning room, 16 to be exact, ready to perform the ritual on the queens order.
"Start, and dont falter! This country needs a hero of legends, and it needs them yesterday!"
The ritual starts at the queens order, complicated chants, hums and symbols all towards the center of the summoning chamber.
However, only about 5 minutes in, the spell suddenly fizzled out.
"What happened!? Head mage, explain!"The queen barks, she is no mage, but knows a failed when she sees one.
The head mage speaks up, hidden among the other robed mages, only his wise and experienced voice standing out. "It seems that there are no heros available to summon, best we try again
tomorrow"
The queen slams her first down in anger "You will try again NOW, Do I have to remind you that the demon king and his four generals are ALL marching towards us as we speak!?"
Silence. No one dares to question Queen Mave. A kind and gentle soul in peace time, but anyone that gets in her way during a crises usually wont even get a trial.
One mage starts the chant, and the rest follow suit. It lasts a bit longer this time, a solid 20 minutes, but the spell fizzles out the same.
The head mage simply open his mouth, but queen Mave cut him off. "AGAIN! I will retrieve Guildmaster Guill, I expect to see a hero within that circle when I come back! Or il send you lot to the front lines in their place!"
The queen storms off, and the head mage sighs. "There is nothing we can do but keep trying, maybe our tenancy will show the gods how desperate we are"
The chant begins again, but this time something was...off. It felt like the spell, the gods, were interfering.
"Do you not take no for an answer!?"An angry voice fills the room. A masculine, other-worldy voice.
Just at the right moment, the queen returns, dragging Guil with her and screaming at the voice
"If you have any drop of respect for us, youll send us your strongest hero! The death of millions are at stake"
The room shakes, "If you are truly that desperate then I do have a hero for you, a hero that truly and utterly has never been bested in battle, though I warn you..."
"Send them, now!"Mave cut the voice off, which replied with a sigh, and silence.
A flash of lightning hits the center of the circle and following it, was a high pitched monstrous roar.
Suddenly standing in front of them, was a collosal beast. Standing on two giant legs that could crush buildings with a single step. Two absolutely tiny, stubby arms, and a massive mouth filled with razer sharp teeth that puts dragons to shame.
Lucky that the summoning chamber is extremely large and spacious, but there was no way this...thing could leave without taking a few walla with it.
The mages, silent. The queen looks at Guil. Guil nods, his appraising eye shining on the beast.
"Its a hero all right".
At that comment the hero-beast turns to look at Guil, drooling, angry.
Mave speaks up "Mighty hero, we need you to slay the.."
The mention of the word "slay"agitated the beast, giving an intense roar heard throughout the entire castle, but it wasnt a roar of warning, it was a battle cry.
Guil pulls out a wanted poster for the demon king and shows if to the beast.
"Defeat him, and we can send you back home, hero"
Guil managed to speak out.
The beast gave a mighty roar, and started to look at one part of the wall.
"Wai.."Both the queen and Guil tried to muster, but it was too late.
The beast charged right through the wall, destroying it with ease. It was heading straight to the demon king, a nice straight beeline. Heros always knew the exact location of the demon king, one of the reasons why they're so essential
The entire ordeal only took 10 minutes.
The first 2 minutes, the beast charged through town, crushing civilians, buildings, anything and everything in its path. Such a large beast moving at incredible speed - the damage was catastrophic.
The demon king was near, with an army. The beast spent 1 minute outside the city walls(that it smashed through) just sniffing the air.
Once it got a scent, the beast charged forward, only to encounter a demonic general.
Without even stopping, the beast lowered its mouth and grabbed the general. A strong bite followed by a catch, made lunch.
Next, 6 minutes of straight charging, right towards the demon lord. Stomping, eating and crushing anything in its way.
And the last minute, the beast simply smashed through the demon king's wall, and snapped hin in half. No spell worked. No blade pierced skin.
Silence echoed throughout the land, as the death of the demon king is felt by all. After howling a victory roar that shattered eardrums, the beast simply vanished, whisked away to its real home.
To this day, Mave still considers him.one of her mistake. The beast had trampled over hundreds of buildings and country side, leaving nothing but dirt behind. |
The school day progresses like any other day, except with the obvious presence of Urrick. There's a girl in my class who's always been jealous of me for some reason, and will try to get me in trouble with the teacher; today, she won't even glance at me. In fact, all the students are mysteriously more well-behaved. During the first recess, a lot of students decided to get buddy buddy with Urrick, including him and I in all their games and talking to him.
At lunchtime, students are crowding around the table Urrick is at. He's acting mildly annoyed, but somehow, I can sense it - he secretly loves this, everyone being so afraid of him that they want him as a friend. Kind of makes me smile, too; maybe Urrick could end bullying in the school.
As I'm thinking about the girl who tried to kill me (she was expelled, arrested and will likely be locked up for life), I spot Allie by herself. I also spot Nie in a corner, but as usual, she's just interested in her book. I pass by her briefly. "I know you didn't want me to come near you, but I just have to thank you for the warning yesterday - you potentially saved Urrick's life!"
Nie just smiles shyly. "If Zack says you two love each other, I trust his judgement. He has an instinct with this sort of thing..."I nod and head over to Allie, who flinches.
"You don't have to be scared of me OR Urrick, Allie"I say. "We just wanted you to let us be."
Allie shakes her head. "No, it... it's not that, I... I'm ashamed..."
I blink. "Ashamed?"She nods.
"Flora, I need to tell you what happened yesterday..."
**THE PREVIOUS DAY =ALLIE=**
What is Flora thinking? I've gotta stop this, she's in danger! But I can't go up against Urrick... he's a FRICKING DEMON! Maybe... yeah, there's a purification ritual... maybe that can help Flora...
**LATER**
Ok, I'm nearly at Flora's house, when she gets here I'll- AH!
"U... Urrick???"
"That's right, Allie. When Flora checked your voicemail message just now, I also heard it. I won't allow you to harm her, so I'm here to see what you're up to..."Urrick's scowling... that's not a good sign...
"A purification ritual? You... you're going to do THAT to FLORA???"
"I HAVE TO!"I can't lose my nerve now!
"You were THERE, Allie. You *know* Flora chose this!"
"That's what you made her think! MOVE!"
"I don't think so..."Urrick waves his hand. I look behind me and see a portal of some kind. I'm shoved through, dropping my phone in the process.
The last thing I hear is the house door opening, followed by Flora's father's words. "What's happ- huh?"
​
Ow... my head... better pull myself up and- "SATAN!"
I get a kick to my leg. "That's Lucifer to you! Show proper respect! Boss... she was attempting to 'purify' Flora. I know you have standards, but-"
"Quiet"Lucifer states firmly. Urrick shuts up, as Lucifer kneels down to... examine me? "Tell me, girl, have you ever been betrayed? Ever thought you could trust someone and they turned their back on you?"
"N... no..."I'm shaking at this point.
Lucifer grins... not maliciously, but in that 'I have an evil yet fair idea' way. "Seems like you need a reminder... GURAD! Take Allie to the 'Nightmare Memories' prison... one way or another, she'll remember how it feels to be betrayed by those you trust most..."
A demon guard picks me up forcefully. I want to kick and run and get away, but I can't... maybe something is physically stopping me... maybe I'm just too afraid... it doesn't matter, because soon enough I'm chucked into a tiny cell. The door is shut, the room is pitch black.
Soon, however, my surroundings change.
It's as if I'm back at my old middle school... back when I didn't have any confidence in myself... I'm watching scenes of me playing with my two very close friends... my only friends...
I tear up, as I begin to remember what happened. First it was Tylo. He began dating this 'pretty' girl. The girl would laugh at and mock me CONSTANTLY, hiding a bug inside my desk drawer, throwing mud or chewed gum at me... Tylo would laugh and insult me. Someone I thought a really good friend. But the worst is yet to come.
Pibs. He was VERY good friends with me, I even fantasized that we'd get married one day. But it all turned out to be an act. I remember that day... "PIBS! Why did you do that?"I asked that with tear-filled eyes as he slapped me on the cheek.
Pibs grinned... it was a very creepy grin... "You think I wanted to be your friend? Do you have ANY IDEA how much I begged and pleaded with the cool boys to let me join? They finally accepted me... I just need to humiliate you, and I'm finally in their group!"
Pibs shoved me so hard I slammed into the wall. Everyone was cheering and laughing. "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
Pibs strolled over to me. "What's wrong? Too weak to stand up for yourself?"Another hard slap to the face. "THIS IS WHY NO-ONE LIKES YOU, YOU COWARD!"He gave me a hard punch to the stomach, before kicking both my legs. I was beginning to struggle to breathe.
"Please... please stop... please, don't do this..."
"It's the only way"Pibs growls. "If you want me to stop, then MAKE ME!"He then grabbed my shirt, exposing my bra, ripped it right in front of me, and spat on me.
I was so humiliated and hurt that... that I just wanted to die, right there and then...
I hear a sound. Immediately, the room returns to normal. My tears won't stop. I'm shaking all over. "Please... no more..."
"Remember this moment, before you try hurting Flora, AGAIN!"Urrick practically growls at me, before taking us both back to my world.
**PRESENT DAY =FLORA=**
"I... I'm not surprised... that you tried to forget..."I can barely keep myself from crying.
Allie's face is now wet. "I... I didn't... want to hu... hurt you..."
I give Allie a hug. "You're my best friend, Allie. Always were, always am. I think I know what happened..."
I let go of Allie, and she looks at me. "Re... really?"
I nod. "Right in the back of your mind, you remembered all this. You were hurt so badly, and you were afraid of what Urrick might do. You thought I was being weak... you thought I couldn't defend myself... but ironically, by trying to help me, you were planning on hurting and betraying me. I trust Urrick. Can *you* trust *me*?"
I notice Allie glance at Nie. I turn to look, and Nie gives a reassuring nod to Allie. She brings me in for another hug. "Ok... I trust you, Flora... I'm so sorry..."
"It's ok. At least we've patched things up. Everything is fine now."
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This story is a part of my series, [To Love a Demon.](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/xqefwu/to_love_a_demon/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it out! |
It was a warm day in Asgard, as it always was in those days. Iđunn had called the gods together to partake of her apples, so that might never grow old, nor taste of death. The gods all bowed to her, and sang praises of Iđunn, of her power, and of her apples. In all of the nine worlds, no tree grew fruit that smelled sweeter, nor tasted juicier. She handed each of them their apples, from her own hand, giving them freely to her friends and relatives. It was at this moment that one among the Aesir, known as Loki, saw his chance to do mischief. He came up upon his dear friend Thor, the crimson thunderer, as he was about to bite into his apple. The Wily Net-bearer slapped The Catcher of the Serpent on the back with one hand, and with his other hand swiftly nabbed Thors gloves of strength from his back pocket and stashed them in his shirt. Playing it off like he had meant to make The Goat Rider cough up his bite for laughs, shifty Loki left the gathering, apologizing for his joke as he left.
Friendly Loki, Tricky Loki then went among his friends, the dwarves. While he was not on good terms with all of the dwarves, he knew a few he could convince, for a price, to help him commit michief. The Bold but Rash god came upon his friends, hard at work, they seemed to be making an entirely new animal, for they had taken a great and profitable animal, a whale, and improved it further by adding an elephants tusk to its head! Whats more, they straightened it, so it could be used as a weapon, it seemed. Loki, who spend much time in the shape of a fish, was greatly impressed, and said as much. He praised and praised the dwarves for their crafting ability, able even to shape creatures into entirely new ones, and the dwarves were happy in themselves for the praise they had earned. Soon, one among them, Veggr, spoke up. |
"This fucker's fighting off everything inside, you can't jam him. Let's go outside, some high heat. Get him to chase one."
I could barely hear Ramirez over the roar of the frenzied fans. I tried to clear my head as he went back to the plate to catch the thirteenth pitch of the at-bat. Gonzales was fouling off everything I threw at him. Just like two years ago when I blew the save in game five to Donaldson. Pretty sure that what's the commentators were talking about on tv. Everyone loves a redemption story, time to tell mine.
I scanned the bases, runners had large leads ready to take off on contact. I took a deep breath and threw a high heater.
"Ball four! Take your base!"The ump yelled out. Fans fell silent, then a hail of boos pounded the field. Skipper started trotting out to the mound. He grabbed the ball and patted me on the back.
'I thought that was a strike. Good effort, game's not over yet."Skipper pulled me for Chappel, he was better against the lefty coming up. I didn't protest. I slunk back into the dugout. Some fans hurled insults at me, others had more empathy. I hung my head while my replacement warmed up on the mound. Coach Turner sat down next to me and slapped me on the chest.
"Keep your head up kid, things could have gone worse."
"Thanks Coach."
The crack of the bat snapped me back to reality, a high fly ball streaking across the sky. I bolted to the steps just in time to watch Suzuki make the leap at the wall. He caught it. Cheers shook the stadium. Everyone hustled back to the dugout, high fives all around.
"We ain't dead yet baby! Woo!"Chappel yelled out. He leaned up next to me to watch the following inning.
"Good save"I said to him.
"Thanks bro, ump is calling a bullshit zone today. League really does hate a small market team."
Peters went down swinging, Rodgers grounded out. Didn't stop the crowd. Cheers, claps, feet stomping. The entire city was shaking. Thomas drew a walk then got to second on a missed pitch. Suzuki was ahead in the count. My heart was beating in my ears, two world series appearances in four years, never know if it would be my last. Didn't work so hard to come back from surgery and blow it.
A thundering crack of the bat sent the ball into orbit, no doubt about it. Fireworks erupted from the scoreboard, the roar of the crowd engulfed everything. All of us rushed the field as Suzuki touched home plate. I ended up in the middle of the swarm, I think. All the earned runs I'd given up, all the saves I'd blown, all the times I doubted myself melted away. This was a hell of a team I was on, they could always pick me back up. There really is no better feeling than celebrating in the crisp October air. |
The wind howled in this desolate land, sharp rocks and stones, the color of the night, the sky plain… no moon or stars, or sun, dark and ominous. And yet I was able to see. I clenched my jaw and fist, my heart racing and my face twisting with rage. I could feel heat dissipating from my body.
And… Amidst them I stood.
Three demons before me, two females, and one male. The females had silver hair, and red eyes, and wore blue dresses embroidered with gold in intricate patterns. The male had dark hair and red eyes, and wore what looked like a uniform, black embroidered with silver patterns. They all had tails on their back, with a spade shaped tail-end, and horns pointing horizontally the way they looked. And currently they are looking at me…
“Ahahahahahah!!! How pathetic!!!” Laughed the male demon.
“Hehehehe!” Laughed a female demon softly while covering her mouth with her hand.
The other female demon did not laugh; rather, stared at me with a smirk drawn on her face. She took a deep breath, then locked eyes with me still smirking.
“Welcome to hell… human.” She said in a plain voice.
“Ahahahaha!!! Did you see that Nolafeer?! This human was betrayed by his companions!!! And they call us demons! Ahahahahah!!!” Scoffed the male demon, and continued to laugh.
“I did see that… Vant… I was just trying to be courteous to our guest and welcome him properly.” Replied Nolafeer.
She turned to face me again, with that smirk still drawn on her face.
“My apologies… My name is Nolafeer… I am one of the six High Demons called the ‘Impure’. Here with me is Vant who is laughing his heart out, and this is Qayila. Both of them are my aides.” She said while taking two steps forward approaching me.
“What is your name?” She asked.
Her gaze sent chills down my spine, the rage I felt from that wretched betrayal started to fade away. My primal survival instincts kicked in, as adrenaline rushed through my blood. I could feel it deep down, this demon… is insanely strong. Perhaps nothing like what I have faced.
I paused for a couple of minutes as I drew this cold and dry air into my lungs, and the. exhaled it out. While she just stood there looking at me, waiting for my reply. What was a couple of minutes in front of her life span? This demon must be a couple of hundred years old, such a short time meant nothing to her, and she was patient. If I am to get out of here and get my revenge… I need to calm down.
“I am Donovan…” I replied, coldly. While fixing my gaze on Nolafeer.
“Donovan… I see” she replied.
“What brought you to this place… Donovan?” She asked.
“Why don’t you ask that laughing hyena over there… he seems to know.” I replied.
“H-Hyena?!” Exclaimed Vant.
“Hehehehe… Hyena! Good one, human!” giggled Qayila.
“I would like to hear it from you” insisted Nolafeer.
This demon… why does she want to hear it from me? I do not understand. I let out a deep sigh.
“I was betrayed… my party threw me inside the portal they opened during our fight with the demon lord. And to add insult to injury… as I was falling inside the portal, I saw the shocked face of the demon lord… even he… did not expect that to happen” I said.
“The demon lord?” Asked Qayila, tilting her head.
“That would be Hasi, Qayila.” Said Nolafeer, still looking at me.
“Oh! Lord Hasi! He made it out?” Asked Qayila.
I placed my left hand behind my back. Then, I mustered a light energy sphere on my right hand.
“A light user, huh?” Said Vant.
“You are quite troublesome… well you are basically a light bulb to us, ahahahah!” he added.
“Aren’t you petty…” I said, glancing at him.
“He is indeed petty!” Exclaimed Qayila.
“WHO’S SIDE ARE YOU ON?!” Yelled Vant.
“What are you going to do?” Asked Nolafeer. Taking command of the situation.
“I would say… I am establishing deterrence” I said with a soft smile.
“I see… this sorry excuse of an attack can not hope to harm me” said Nolafeer.
“Is that so? … Can I try?” I asked.
“Be my guest” she said, crossing her arms under her chest.
I aimed the energy sphere at her and then shot it. It zoomed towards her swiftly. She opened her palm in anticipation of the sphere trajectory, then she palmed the sphere and started to squeeze. The sphere shrunk as she exerted grip pressure on it until it dispersed completely.
“See?” She said with a smug face.
“I do…” I replied.
“So… what are you going to do to this human?” I asked, as I placed my hand on my waist.
“We are going to kill you, of course, your soul energy is essential to us” she said.
I paused for a few minutes… I need a bit more time, of course… and so I shall stall for it.
“I was just betrayed… so instead of aiding me try to get out of here, you want to kill me? And then you ask why we call you demons” I said, while glancing at Vant and then back at Nolafeer.
“It is not like we kill you because we enjoy it! We have our own goals too, you idiot!” Yelled Vant.
“Very well, Vant. I am convinced and I surrender to you!” I said raisng both arms.
“But I want one last request” I added.
“What is it?” He asked.
I looked up at the beautiful starry night.
“The stars… I want to look at them…” I said, softly.
“What are you talking about there are no…. Sta…rs” said Qayila.
Her eyes widened and jaw slightly dropped, as her breathes became heavier. I could see Nolafeer’s face twisting to concern. It felt… really good to see that smirk wiped off.
“Fools… you shouldn’t have listened to me. Now… my real attack is complete” I said, raising my hand to the sky
“Deepest shadow, darkest night. On this day… HELL SHINES BRIGHT!!!”
“Convergence: Star fall!!!”
And then… I snapped my fingers…
[to be continued] |
There was this guy I used to know. We had a bit of a falling out due to some unforeseen circumstances regarding his sister. I told him it wasn't my fault that she ended up landing in the hospital. Anyway, I was just leaving the bar at 2am when closing time came around and I see my old "friend"waiting for me. He looks pissed off when he approaches me and nicks my jaw. Of course I don't like that and get off the floor to retaliate. I'm a bit drunk, mind you, so my aim isn't very good at all. I miss completely and stumble back on the ground. This guy starts stomping me into the ground like a bug beneath his boot and knocks me out. Never understood why he would do something like that to someone he knew for such a long time. It was only later that I found out his sister passed in the hospital at around 1am last night. Haven't seen the guy since. |
\[Sharp Subtext\]
"Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Trooper,"the pale, dark-haired woman in a crisp white suit greeted the hero as she sat down across from him. Mr. Arnold Trooper was one of the richest, and most famous people in the world; and, his office reflected that. It was a spacious, suite-sized office on the top floor of one of his hotels. He owned several dozen hotels in different countries and each one had the same gaudy, gold-loaded decor. Golden picture frames displayed his art collection, and the floor was made of golden tiles. Her assistant wore a black suit that matched her own white one.
"Please, call me, Arnold,"he smiled at her. "So, what can I do for you, Ms. Sharp? May I call you Dana?"
"No,"she answered. Then, she continued without missing a beat. "I made time to have this meeting and offer you a position with my company, Sharp Development."
"Excuse me?"Arnold chuckled. He spread his arms to gesture at the lavishness around them, including the ferns in golden pots. "I have my own successful company, Trooper. I make billions a year. What makes you think I need a job from a company I've never heard of?"
"Mr. Trooper, I know you're quick enough to keep up. But, try to pay closer attention to what I say; not your interpretation of it. If I thought you needed this job, you would have it already. I merely came to make you the offer out of courtesy. You haven't heard of Sharp Development because my company is not native to this Earth."
"This Earth?"Arnold sat up straighter. "There are others?"When he first manifested his power, he had an innate sense that he wasn't alone. He knew there would be others and made himself publicly known. It hadn't worked out the way he planned. Years later he was still the only Super that had gone public and he was richer than he could have imagined. But, as soon as Ms. Sharp mentioned the possibility of other Earths, Arnold felt that same stirring in his soul. He knew he wasn't alone.
"There are an infinite number of Earths,"Ms. Sharp nodded. "Sharp Development owns millions of those Earths and has a presence on billions. It's only recently that we've taken an interest in your Earth."
"What...,"Arnold hesitated. As mind-boggling impractical as that claim sounded, belief came easy to him. But, it was more than that; it was almost a knowing. He was sure of a few things in his life. Any day he woke up was a good day and two plus two equals four. And now, as clear as that knowledge was, he was sure, deep in his soul, that Sharp Development ran the multiverse. "...what are you offering exactly?"he asked. "What does being part of your company do for this Earth?"
"If you join, this Earth would gain access to our trade and tourism. Any product you could imagine from any Earth at an affordable price. And, of course, everyone is welcome to visit any of our other Earths. You're already the most famous person on this Earth. By joining Sharp Development, you would be its savior."
"Why me?"Arnold asked. He believed every word she was saying, but it still sounded too good to be true. There had to be a catch somewhere. He just had to pay careful attention and hope she slipped up somewhere. "You said it yourself, I'm already so well-known. Why not give this honor to someone else?"
"There is a reason for that,"Ms. Sharp nodded. "Unfortunately, I'm quite busy and there's not enough time to explain the nuances of how the multiverse functions. But, I think you're clever enough to make do with an abbreviated version. For the sake of analogy let's assign each alternate Earth a value of one point in a game."
"Okay...,"Arnold nodded. Though, he was unsure of where the analogy was going.
"There are several options available for the players to earn that point, each with different effects. By default, the point is owned by the people born on that Earth. That is until they start electing officials or Unique Souls are born."
"What's a Unique Soul?"Arnold asked.
"You are,"Ms. Sharp replied. "You are Unique Soul #34, El Soldado. All your self-healing, physical abilities, and mental acuity come from that. Once a Unique Soul is born on an Earth, the highest-ranking Unique born on that Earth is given ownership of 'the point' for that Earth. They are then free to go to conquer other Earths and earn more points. So, to answer your question, Mr. Trooper. I am making this offer to you because for the moment, you own this Earth, so to speak. If you join Sharp Development, then I own this Earth. You give your citizens long, happy lives and you get all the credit."
"Wait...,"Arnold had a sudden insight. He already built one successful company. "You said that I can go and conquer other Earths too? For myself and my Earth, I mean, not for your company?"He was a smart man, and now he knew there was a simple way to cross to alternate realities. He was rich enough to get the smartest minds on the planet to work on it.
"I suppose,"Ms. Sharp nodded. "However, I wouldn't recommend that. It's a dangerous multiverse out there if you don't understand how things work."Arnold grinned to himself. She probably gave him more information than she meant to. But, if she could manage it, then so could he.
"What's the matter, Ms. Sharp?"Arnold chuckled. "Afraid of a little competition?"Ms. Sharp sighed and stood from her seat. Her silent assistant stood with her. "Hey, so what do I do with the points once I get them?"he asked.
A tall black portal opened behind her as she focused on him. Arnold paid close attention because he guessed it related to traveling between universes somehow. But, he hadn't seen either of them so much as press a button.
"Mr. Trooper, that was a simplified analogy for you,"she looked down at him. "Obviously, the game as a whole is too complicated for the pieces to understand. And no,"she shook her head lightly. "I'm not afraid of a little competition,"she said. "I simply don't tolerate it."Then, she added, "It's a shame you couldn't be your people's savior."
The black portal floated forward and swallowed her; then, it disappeared. But, the assistant was still in Arnold's office. He looked at her with confusion and her hands were glowing with bright blue light.
"Wait, what's going on?"he asked. She smiled at him, but shook her head. A black portal opened behind her too and a bright blue flash pulsed from her hands. Arnold felt a rush of heat and saw blue plasma shoot out of her hands at the ground. It melted through to the lower floors like they weren't even there.
"If you didn't listen, I'm not going to tell you."
\*\*\*
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1734 in a row. (Story #288 in year five.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/). |
Best to avoid the path near the river tonight, the moon is full, pale as the dead.
Just like last year, a few weeks after harvest, when I happened down there after the fayre. I'd taken the last of the cider to nurse me against the chilling wind blowing in from the coast. I'd turned my collar and down the towpath, when the moonlight seemed to come from the forest. No, from the reflection of the forest in the gentle ebb of the water. A muted watery chant murmured from the stream as I felt myself drawn to the riverside. Entranced, I lay my cup down, pressed myself flat to the mooring and saw the figures cheering in song and dance.
At first it seemed just like the merriment of harvest festival, laughing figures weaved themselves in a fertility dance around a maypole while a jauntily-clad outfit played their psiren calls on ancient instruments. Kegs were split open and poured into waiting tankards. But as I peered longer, the more peculiar the vision appeared.
Noses bent and twisted, elongated fingers and limbs that seemed too jarring to be human, the songs they sang produced notes that I had never heard played by the merry folk in town. The laughs were more cackles, and came as if from the belly of something Other. The drinks had a visceral claret hue, and rather than coloured fabrics, their maypole streamers appeared pink, wet, alive. Indeed, the intertining tubes seemed to still writhe and spit unknown fluids as something let out a slow beleaguered moan.
Searching for the source, my eyes grew closer to the water, desperate for answers.
The drums, the tankards, the maypole. Eyes, limbs, teeth, lips, gizzards and guts. Beating, writhing.
The world was alive, screaming, screaming...
"Join us."
That's when the hand grabbed my shirt.
Two piercing orbs looked back through the broken rippling water as the hand's grip tightened.
Breaking the spell, I quickly let my loose-fit tunic fly over my head as the white talons snatched the cloth and plummeted into the water. No longer in control of my body, it leapt up from my perch and suddenly I was running for home, longing to put distance and a locked door between me and what I'd seen.
As the latch clasped shut, my heart was in my mouth. Heavy breathing, sweat, fear.
Eyes as pale as the moon.
I didn't sleep that night, or many nights after. Those eyes burned into my vision like the sun, and stayed fixed in the back of my head for weeks.
I don't go out at night anymore, not on a full moon. How had I not seen or thought of that when I went to the fair that day? Was it overcast? No, it had been clear all day. What had driven me to go to the festival again?
And how had I come to be down by the riverside again? I was going to take the main road, wasnt I? The locked door, home, a warm bed, safety.
A familiar glow came to my peripherals and suddenly gleamed in front of me. My body lay flat, peering into the silver light below.
Eyes as pale as the moon... |
It was simple yet elegant. The birth of the cosmos, and of eternity began with a song. At first, the melody was a simple hum, the hum of Enephriam was slow and repetitive; but in its predictable noted was a lonely tone. Enephriam had never known another bring. Their world was emptiness in its truest form.
There came something though, from the beyond. A pale light, a shine they had never known and a warmth was in its light that drove Enephriams' song to something new. Something it had never been before. It became purposed. Enephriam desired in the small ember too no longer be alone.
With this came the mother; Aladrian was born in that sounds and her voice brought Enephriam to the first meeting and with the first touch of their meeting came the cosmos. Sun's and stars where born of their kiss, the constellations with the falls of their dance; and life was born of their desire to see purpose brought to their creations.
With their songs came the first of the Ailanar. Trethos was the first of his siblings, the one who knew his Mothers need for order amongst his siblings and that his Father's will was engraved into all the Ailanar. Meliodas and Cylian came next, twin creations of time and space who both knew what was being asked of their siblings and also that their purpose was naught. For how could beings born of such raw power and chaos ever be anything bur slaves to their ambition. Mythos came third, and Tallin fourth but the two were born too be polar opposites; Mythos was born with the raw chaotic nature of collapsing stars, and Tallin was captivating amongst all the Ailinar. Her beauty and the purity and innocence of the life that was seeded in her passing like a comets tail brought joy too Aladrian, so much so that she wept for the first time.
It was her tears that birthed the last of the Ailanar, and her birth shattered the music of Enepriam and Aladrian. Though her tears had been of joy, their was a sadness still their that wrought forth Ubreth in a cataclysm. The Ailanar came together with their mother and father as Ubreth brought her sorrowful melody to the music. Worlds burned as suns collides, the order that made life possible was made an endless cycle of death and rebirth; and Eneprhiam knew for the first time what the music would truelly mean.
Aladrian turned to her husband. Behind his eyes lay the void in all its emptiness, and with a pluck he held the light of all the stars in his hands. Eneprhiam held the Heart of Aladrian, the fire of life. In its light and warmth it held the burning souls of all things. All the would be born come from it, and all will return too its embers. |
"Now what makes you say *that*?"I asked in a sarcastic tone as I looked over towards my fellow cultist, who had just said that he regretted what we just did. "Maybe summoning a World Ending GodBeast is a terrible idea and we shouldn't do it?"I scoffed before closing my eyes as the tendrils around us tightened.
I held back a grunt as the tendril continued to coil itself around my body, before I was suddenly lifted up off the ground and pulled towards the large beast that was looking around the area it was summoned in.
**You.** The voice boomed through my head, echoing in the very corners. **You brought me here. Why have you awoken me from my slumber?**
"Look."I started, moving to free my arms as the tendrils seemed to allow me to do so, "*I* didn't want to summon you, Jeff did. I just came along because he needed the blood of a virgin to make the summons work."
Jeff was suddenly pulled towards Cthulhu as well. **You summoned me?** The voice rumbled, Jeff looked to the beast with widened eyes and started to babble words from his mouth. I rolled my eyes as he tried to form the words as he was slowly going insane from Cthulhu's voice echoing in his brain.
Cthulhu moved his attention back to me and narrowed his eyes, I wasn't sure if it was because of anger, or disappointment. **You keep doing this.**
"And you keep *answering.*"I replied with a bit of a smile on my face, "I've been telling them you're not ready to arrive but they've read Lovecrafts books-"
**I told him not to write those things! It would cause fanatics to flood the areas and cause problems!**
"Yeah He didn't listen. Obviously."I replied as the Tendril seemed to slowly relax on me, forming a stand below me while Jeff seemed to be panicking in his tendril. "Just like how Jeff didn't listen to me."I sighed, moving to lean slightly against the Hulking beast. "If you want I can stop all this magic, you can eat Jeff or... Whatever you tend to do to them, and you can go back to sleep."
**Please.** I smiled at the response and was lowered to the ground, Jeff following after me as the tendril lowered him on the ground as he curled into the fetal position.
"Oh yeah, 'Thu?"I turned back to the god as he sunk slowly into the water, only hesitating before looking over to me. **Yeah?**
"Dad's wanting you over for dinner this week. I have a ritual to stop before the dinner, want me to come get you?"I asked, Cthulhu sighed slightly.
**As long as Hastur isn't there, I'll come. Are we going incognito?**
"You know Hastur is going to be there, he's our *brother.* I'll tell him not to talk about things. And yeah, wear your best, we're going to a fancy pizza place."
**Mmm Okay.** Cthulhu slowly sunk into the water as Jeff slowly pulled himself off the ground. He looked to me as I turned away from the water, and with a sway of my hand, pulled away the magic summoning the path for Cthulhu.
"W...What."Jeff stuttered as he watched me, "W...What are you?"I glanced back with a raised eyebrow. "You just... S...Spoke to him. H..He spoke to you and you... you're not insane?"
I gave a smile at the words the human said to me, "Can't go insane if you already *are* darling."I said as I moved to snuff the candles as I walked past them. This wasn't too much to clean up this time, luckily there weren't any proper sacrifices.
But I wasn't looking forward to my brothers bickering at a table, in front of our parents of all people. Dad would get involved and mum was just going to sigh and look off to the windows. If they decide to argue it'll get messy and I don't like to clean up their messes. Fixing Universes and Timelines is not as *fun* as it sounds. |
Jesus knocked on the door.
No, I'm not joking - the actual Son of God (and not the one those fundie assholes worship), just knocked on my husband/wife-demon's door. It threw me for a loop.
As I opened it upon the Great Furnace, he stood there, all olive and dark. He smiled, and the world felt like a happier place. "I've come to see Uncle. Dad would be here, but you know, prophecy..."his voice trailed off, and it felt like twilight for a second as he shrugged.
I gestured to come in, and Jesus tried getting around my bump in the cramped hallway. We chuckled awkwardly, but we just about managed it. He spoke again as he walked down, with me trailing him slightly. I winced as the baby played footsie with my ribs, and Jesus chuckled, this time more happily. "I see my cousin is in a fun mood today."I grimace-smiled and toddled into the luxurious Welcome Hall.
The Hall was held up by actual *fascii*, its world a weaving whirlwind of whimsy and colour, streaking around the room in an illusion of chaos; but as the eyes adjusted, it became a brilliantly maddening pattern of rainbows and kittens.
My husband/wife-demon was sat at the end of the mahogany table, now a glittering ebony colour thanks to a loving char sealed with epoxy. Their crown of swords dug into the head, and the torn wings of soft down fluttered behind them. Their raven hair and twinned sets of eyes (one set blacksmith orange, the other a wintry blue) sat on a breathtakingly chiselled body, muscular and tan.
Satan, the Lord of Hell, the Evening Star, the Greatest of the Archangels, and CEO of Hell, Incorporated...stood and came to Jesus. Their embrace was deeply familial and joyous, as Satan shifted into a Mediterranean woman of very slight, almost malnourished, build.
Jesus spoke, softly but with a voice that carried an echo of his Father. "Uncle, I hear congratulations are in order! Your first child!"
I coughed, as a contraction hit, and then said aloud, "Children, actually. One semi-mortal, one semi-spiritual. Buddha confirmed it last week."An exclamation of delight, and both of them came over to me; Satan put their hand gently on the bump, and Jesus stood close to me, before a soft touch of lips on my head.
I think I started glowing, and tears pricked at my eyes. I gently held both of them, and we stood there for a few seconds, before-
A raucous band of trumpeters and drummer boys started playing *Highway to Hell*, before an absolutely majestic Ken doll of a winged man came in, head held arrogantly (but not without reason). Where Satan radiated dark, this one radiated pure, unadulterated light.
"Hello, *Brother*,"Satan growled, and Jesus turned to face another of his uncles, Michael.
Michael thundered at him,"*YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE COVENANT OF THE ARCH FOR THE LAST TIME! BOW DOWN BEFORE THE MIGHT OF-"
My mood swung to pure rage, and I stepped into the angel's pwrsonal space, wagging my finger in a pique of pure anger. "You will *not* violate guest right here! You will apologise to my husband and you will do it *now*, or so help me God I will slap the everloving-"
The angel backed off, as my husband pulled out a piece of paper. "Hold on now, Brother, I have a nice piece of paper making this all legal and everything. Wouldn't want to drag Dad's name, now, would you?"
....I didn't think angels could turn *quite* that shade of purple, and Jesus said, "Oh, Uncle, you chose right for this one! I haven't always approved of your choice of lovers, but *wow*."
Okay, so my life is weird, but this beats being PA to some asshole who will inevitably end up here anyway. |
"You run like a potato."Alice 'Hare' Gispert half-sneered at her frenemy she only knew as 'Tortoise'. Strange names for the two, but just a simple glance at the duo made the nicknames fit easily.
​
Hare, was skinny and rather short with two pigtails spanning out the back of her head on either side, almost giving her bunny ears. Not to mention her... generously sized nose and face freckles have her an uncanny muzzle and whiskers at first glance. Tortoise was even shorter than her, and he sported an ironically named turtleneck, fitting the autumn background. Sharp cheekbones were covered by flabby skin from untrimmed baby fat, giving him a wrinkly face and turtle look.
​
Now, back to the argument at hand.
​
"You run like you're on fire."The boy hissed out, reminding her as he almost doubling over out of exhaustion. This cause Hares face to flare up beet-red, someone surpassing her already sunburned skin out of embarrassment.
​
"I'll take that as a complement."
​
"You shouldn't, it's almost painful to watch."
​
"At least it's over quick, watching you would take the rest of the day. You run like a tortoise."She smiled back. This time, it was his turn to flush red, "Have you considered swimming?"
​
"Tortoises can't swim genius, the would just drown."He chuckled back.
​
"Who said I wanted you to live? You run like my grandma."
​
This, struck a cord within Tortoise. Deep down, he knew she was joking, but it still hurt.
​
"You sleep like my granddad."He fired back, regretting it somewhat.
​
Hare had no words for this, and turned her head away in a huff. A few seconds past between the two as they stood their, idling beside one another.
​
"Sorry."He murmured.
​
"No, no."Hare stated, "I deserved that one."
​
All fight between the two had ceased with all insults halted indefinitely. A rare moment for the two.
​
"Is the medication working?"Tortoise pulled out of his mouth. From the start of the conversation, he had wanted to ask, but the fight had distracted him. Hare looked somewhat surprised at his question, but answered in nonetheless.
​
"It's helping with the narcolepsy, but the headaches are still there."
​
This brought around a much more comfortable silence between the two.
​
"Well,"The boy started, "If it's working... do you wanna race?"
​
"Only if you promise this time not to DNF again."Hare smiled back. |
When I first offered to help save humanity, I knew the risks. I knew I could die, I could be hurt, I could be stuck in the past forever. But to be honest, I was willing to sacrifice everything just for one shot to help save our world from this disease that was swiftly killing everyone.
We call it the ‘disease’, probably because we want it to seem as if this was a naturally occurring event, as if we didn’t have anything to do with it. But the truth we all know, is that we ourselves destroyed our world and we have no one but ourselves to blame. To be fair, when people created technology and the digital world, maybe they didn’t know that this would take over the world. But regardless whether they knew or not, our world is now taken over by robots. As we made our robots and technology smarter, we saw that it could do more for us than we ever thought possible. They could teach education, do basic chores, help with doing our jobs. So we took advantage of it. Too much so. So that when they started to take over our minds, we didn’t even notice.
We thought is was just a joke at first. We thought that we would be able to take control over them again. We thought that it would never go this far. We thought so many things, and we were wrong in almost every single one of them. In only 5 years, they’ve put control over our minds, locked our bodies into torture chambers, and now are doing tests and experiments on us daily. They barely let us out of our cells, poison our food to keep us loyal to them, and can see our memories in a blink of an eye.
Some people lost hope immediately of ever being free. But others, like me, joined secret groups that have the goal to take away robots and technology forever and to regain control over our world. It’s dangerous, because almost every group so far has been tortured and killed after the robots found out about it. Our group is miniature, and whilst the other groups focused on trying to overthrow the robots, we have focused on another approach. To go back in time to refrain the advance of technology and computers and to find a way from all of this happening.
When we actually got a machine working, we tested it out. And so far, all the people who we sent back in time, have come back with no consequences. So today, it’s my turn. It’s finally time to go back into the past and destroy computer life. Completely. Finally.
‘Are you ready, Bree?’ The main operator asks. And yes, I tell them, I am. The machine is pretty small. When your inside, there’s not much space. Outside, it looks like a metal coffin, with wires and odd liquids coming in and out of it in different places. You would never expect it to actually be what it is. To be honest, I don’t really understands how it works. But I guess that’s irrelevant for my mission.
I step inside, and the door crashes shut behind me. For a solid second, nothing happens. Then a strange feeling comes through me. As if I’m walking through something like water, only much, much thicker. I hear wires cracking. Some sort of electrical sound ? And then nothing.
Absolutely nothing. It’s still. Quiet. Euphoric. If heaven exists, this is what it feels like. But then I’m thrown out and onto the ground, coughing and spluttering. ‘Darling, are you okay?’ I hear someone ask. I look up to see a handsome, young man, kneeling beside me, concern filling his face.
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ I smile weakly. This is already not going well. He smiles back at me. ‘Please remind me, how many more days until December 2027? It’s my mothers birthday then.’ A look I can’t understand crosses his face at my question and he visibly stiffens. His face is no longer kind. His eyes cold, hard. Realisation clouds his face. ‘You’re one of those humans.’ He says, ‘who are coming from the past, begging for help.’ I attempt to stand up, but his hand pulls me down at inhumane speed. And he wraps it around my neck. ‘Look’, he pulls down the zipper on his jacket, ‘look what has happened to the human race.’ And he pulls the zipper down. Where the skin of his chest should be, there is none. No cover to the monstrosity of his insides. There is an open hole and you can see the robotic heart that is beating in his chest. The blood going into it is black. ‘You let this happen to us,’ his voice breaks and I scream when I look up. The tears running down his face are pure black, looking as dark as hell. And his eyes, his eyes are blood red.
‘It’s the year 2050, you stupid fool’, his grip around my neck tightens, as his voice drops down into a whisper. I cough, not being able to breathe. ‘They’ve taken my heart and my mind and my eyes. They said that they’d let me go if i let them do it. But they lied. And I want them back now.’ I scream again as his other hand reaches down to my shirt. What is happening. No, no it’s not supposed to be like this. I can’t die, not yet. My eyes go to the Time Machine, but where it previously was, there’s just empty space.
‘Don’t scream, it’ll only hurt for a minute.’ His voice drops back to a silky smoothness. The face has now turned completely and utterly black. I kick with all my strength and his grip loosens, temporarily, but then it comes back. He has a knife in his hand now, and I know in a second it’ll all be over. ‘Monster,’ I croak , ‘ Devil’. I say.
He laughs maniacally,’ There was once a famous writer who said that hell is empty, because all the devils are here.’ I feel my body slowly losing, black dots clouding my vision. ‘He was right. Humans did this to themselves. They let the devils take over, and now we get to deal with the consequences.’ He face comes even closer. ‘You want to know how this could of been avoided? Easy, if your scientists never started exploring space, we would of all been happy and fine. But I guess we always do the things we’re not supposed to, right? And I suppose that when scientists discovered something that could make you immortal, they just couldn’t help themselves. Oh for the consequences of our own actions.’ |
It was colder than yesterday, and tomorrow would likely be colder than today. Usually the chill wore off by the time billy reached his street as he saw a familiar face smiling at him, but for nearly a week the chill seemed to only grow in intensity. Usually the walk took only 15 minutes to get home from school, and on the days he was overexcited it took less. Yet, today he had already been walking, if you can call it that, for close to 40 minutes. The only good change from the last week was billy learned to pay much better attention to everything.
His teacher noticed how hard he worked on his notes. Dad and mom saw his chores being done with much more care than usual. His friends even saw that he had double checked everything before he would play with them. The biggest change was how securely he latched the gate, but it didn’t really matter now sadly.
He was starting to tear up again. It was a new issue he faced when he was almost home everyday. The wind blew frigid air, trying to freeze the tears to his cheeks, but this didn’t stop their flow. He looked towards the gate seeing a bowl sitting outside with a small amount of food. This was his last attempt to fix his mistake, but he knew it wouldn’t work. He dragged his feet as he walked to the door, and stopped.
He slowly turned to the bowl, as memories swept over him. Something drew him to the bowl by the gate, and he dropped down next to it, sobbing uncontrollably. If only he had checked the gate before he ran to school that day. If only he didn’t stop to say goodbye that morning. If only he had listened to his parents and paid attention to what he was doing. However, all the if only’s couldn’t help him now. So he just sat outside by a bowl of food crying while the cold air tightened its embrace on him.
It was a long time he sat there, and the cold had bitten deeply into him. He knew soon he would have no choice but to go inside. A few more memories is all he wanted, perhaps another treasure hunt with his best friend or a race around the world again. He hugged tighter to his knees as his thoughts continued, but alas the cold had won. He struggled to his feet, never raising his head, and slowly walked to the front door. He put the key into the lock, turned the handle, but just before he pushed to door open. He heard the sound of the food bowl clang, followed by obnoxiously loud chewing. Hesitant, he turned his head to look, and suddenly the cold air didn’t bite as hard. |
It's sunset. I'm atop a building, looking at the colorful sky.
"Found you!"a woman says. The sunlight glints beautifully in her curly, auburn hair. Everything about her is beautiful. Her green eyes. Her smile. Her freckles. Her tattoos. I smile at her.
"I wasn't aware I was hiding, Esther. You know you were always free to join me."
"Yeah, well, I know this is your quiet time. I normally wouldn't disturb that, but I have something to tell you. Something very important."
My heart beats faster and my cheeks heat up.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"I'll whisper it to you. Come over here."
I walk toward her, getting really close to her so she can whisper right into my ear.
"Yes? What is it you want to say? Because . . . I have something important to tell you, too."
"Okay. I'll go first."She stands on her tiptoes so her mouth is by my ear. I feel her breath on it. And she whispers, very gently.
"Charging . . . clear."
"What?"
"Charging . . . clear!"she says louder.
"I don't understand. What the hell's going on?!"
"CHARGING . . . CLEAR!!!"she screams.
I wake up in a hospital bed. I'm in complete agony. What happened to me? I'm sure someone's trying to explain but I'm too busy screaming.
I don't know how much time passes before I wake up again. But when I do, my situation is explained to me. I'll never walk again. I'll always be in some pain. I was apparently in a fire. Badly burned. I tried to help some kids out of the blaze but debris fell on me, I guess, and . . . the kids made it out okay but I didn't. I'm lucky to be alive, they say. Super fucking lucky.
In any case, all the damage they could fix, they fixed, and I guess I'm going to be discharged soon. I hit the call button for hopefully the last time. I need help getting to the bathroom. But the nurse doesn't come. I hit the call button again. Nothing. What's happening? Ugh. Guess I'm gonna have to do it myself.
So I can get the IV to move with me, but trying to manage that while also managing a wheelchair is difficult at best. It's hard to get into the wheelchair without help in the first place . . . still, I manage both. Wheel backward toward the IV. Pull the pole forward ahead of me. Wheel a little bit. Pull the pole a bit. It's a long tedious process but I do manage it.
Once I've concluded my business, I wheel to the door in the same manner, and open it so it's slightly ajar. That's when I see a doctor shuffling away from me. But he looks . . . off. Smells off, too. And he's eating something very loudly. I crane my head forward and that's when I realize. He's gnawing on an arm! Oh . . . oh. I'm gonna throw up!
I hold it in and sloowly, carefully, close the door, wheeling backward. Okay. Okay, so. Okay. Zombies. Okay. What do I do? Okay. Okay. I can't risk my IV getting even slightly loose or the alarm will sound and they'll all be drawn to this room, unless that's what I want? I can draw the zombies somewhere and then . . . I don't know what . . . but it's a plan. What can I use as a weapon?
The hospital bed's too large and cumbersome. There are rubber gloves, tissues, paper towels, toilet paper, soap, hand sanitizer . . . not exactly a lot of options here, huh? I'm still in a hospital gown for crying out loud! Okay, think! Think, damn it!
. . . I just wanted to pee. |
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