Pick Your Favorite! Open for Voting/Comments

[a porg]

So, I'm going to be entering a writing contest on campus, and I'm not sure which story I should submit, so I'd like you guys to vote. Please note that I've worked very hard on these and so you better not steal them. Ever.

Feel free to provide feedback. o3o  

[a porg]

Children of the Night

The Moon silently watched as one life came to an end and another began. She watched through outstretched tree arms that obscured a purple-haired man interacted with a rather terrified boy. The boy moved irrationally, as one that knew that his time had just about run out. He had been running for two years, not because he hated his family, not because he sought adventure, but because he had done something that he regretted with his entire being and wanted to forget it. He was afraid of facing the consequences for that. But now, that was a very real possibility.

“Why do you look so scared?” the man asked, his voice blending into the soft breeze. “All I’m offering you is a chance to not be scared anymore. A chance to be the hunter instead of the hunted.”

The boy wasn’t sure what to make of this offer. The man had introduced himself as Phantom, leader of a vampire clan. He wanted to make the boy his fledgling. He seemed like the type of person who would not take no for an answer. However, Zane was actually considering the offer. A couple of years living in a dilapidated old shack that he feared would collapse on him at any moment, and here he was being offered some security. It would be nice. But vampires were despised creatures, they were things to be feared, they frequented the nightmares of children. Was he willing to do that? “I’m not going to wait forever for an answer,” he added, tapping his nails on his shoulder.

Zane looked up at the sky. The Moon was there. She was watching everything. Most people would be comforted by this fact, but not Zane. The Moon illuminated everything, she saw everything, she told everyone’s secrets. The stars knew much better. The stars hardly said a word to anyone. The wind rushing all around him wasn’t any better. The wind would carry his scent, it would carry Phantom’s scent to any other creature that really wanted to know what was happening to Zane Acacia. “Suit yourself,” Phantom said as he began to walk away, off into the distance, where perhaps another misguided youth waited to accept the offer of immortality.
“Wait!” Zane said as he started to go after the vampire, being careful not to trip over any roots. “I’m tired of having to run. And if you’re gonna give me a chance to not have to constantly be looking over my shoulder, then I would be an idiot not to take it.” He had tears in his eyes. Never in a million years did he think that it was going to end like this. Of course, he wasn’t even sure if it was ending. Perhaps this was only a new beginning.

A twisted smile came across Phantom’s face as the light of the Moon was reflected in his dilating eyes. “Just to let you know, it’s going to be the worst pain you’ve ever experienced,” he said as he rushed forward, snapping twigs under his feet as he sunk his fangs into Zane’s neck. The blood flowing into Phantom made him more aware of his surroundings. Over Zane’s fading heartbeat, he could hear the calls of owls. They dared not move closer. Even the wind appeared to stop, and the Moon, she simply watched as she gained another child.

Everything seemed peaceful, to a point. The boy’s screams for mercy did ruin that feel. He felt as though the forest had suddenly been turned into an inferno and that he had been unable to escape the flames. Fire coursed through his body, fire was changing him into something else. Fire was killing him. Had Phantom gone back on his word? Was Zane Acacia going to die? Now he was glad the Moon was bearing witness to this encounter. Let the Moon know what had happened to him. Let the Moon tell the world that he had been killed. Everything seemed to be giving out. The stars were blurring, the arms of the trees were crashing into darkness, and the Moon appeared to have given up hope on Zane. Even his own heart, the very thing that Zane thought would never fail him was starting to give out. He only stood because Phantom wanted him too. Phantom kept the thorny vines on the ground from claiming him. “It’s over. The worst of it anyways, you need to lie down now,” Phantom said, pulling his fangs out of Zane’s neck and helping him to the embrace of roots and vines.

The boy laid on the ground, staring helplessly at the sky. The stars would not help him. Nothing would help him. Phantom bit into his own wrist, blood started spilling from it. He knelt down beside his fledgling, his creation, his child and pushed his crimson wrist toward his mouth. “Drink it, it’ll taste like s**t, but you’re going to die without it. This is what turns you.” Zane had no choice but to drink the foul liquid. He made a face that would rival a three year old eating something that they despised. Phantom laughed. “Come on! It’s not that bad. It is a good thing that you don’t like vampire blood though. Don’t want you getting confused.”

Shortly thereafter, Zane could tell there was a difference in his senses. He could hear the water of the far off lake lapping against the shore in a slow, steady rhythm while the muffled melody of what could only be the songs of merfolk floated beneath it. Zane could make out the outlines of the branches as though he were looking through a magnifying glass. He could even see the miniscule nests where tiny birds slept. Zane thought that it was a bit odd that they weren’t disturbed by his screams. The Moon shone even brighter on the fledgling. It was almost as if she did not care that there were branches reaching out to attempt to shelter him, she wanted to let the whole world know that Zane Acacia was no longer a human. At least the ground appeared to be the same. Zane felt relief from that fact. The mushy soil covered in vines and roots designed to trip any intruder into the forest. He wondered if now he would be less likely to fall prey to their tricks.

“Once you’re ready to get up, we should probably get out of here. I’ve got some business I need to attend to,” Phantom said as he rose to stand tall. He looked up at the stars. This would make his second fledgling in nearly a century. He hoped that this one would turn out better than the last one. The last one had fallen victim to Vampire Hunters who sold his blood to put into healing potions. It was a nasty business doing that. Fledglings had the blood of their maker within them, and so he felt everything that his first fledgling had felt. Phantom had nearly gone mad with the pain of losing him. The only thing that kept him sane were the twinkling stars overhead. He liked to believe that each of them represented someone that he once cared about. Most of them, were humans, people who had simply died because it was their time to go. A few of them were vampires. His maker was one, and his fledgling was another. He just hoped that they saw what he did, and he hoped that they approved.

Turning back to look at his new fledgling, Phantom had to chuckle to himself. Zane sure was a determined young fellow. That could just be his downfall though. He was hopelessly using the twisted roots and low branches to try to pull himself up. The fledgling just kept falling back into the loamy earth. A lot of it had started to cover him in an attempt to steal him away. “There’s no rush Zane. We are immortal you know,” he laughed as he leaned against a maple tree, careful to avoid the spoke that someone had carelessly left in the tree. Maple syrup. Phantom couldn’t even remember what that tasted like. He did remember how sticky it was, and it reminded him of how his fledgling seemed stuck to the ground. He wouldn’t leave the boy behind. Too much rode on him.

“I swear I just felt a snake!” Zane said as he finally managed to scramble up to his feet. He brushed the dirt off of himself. He felt the glare of Phantom and shrugged his shoulders. One of the first things he does as a vampire, and it’s make a fool of himself. There were no snakes in a Scottish forest, at least, Zane didn’t think that there were. Besides, snakes probably wouldn’t have much of an effect on vampires. They would just be a minor pain in the butt. “What? You said you wanted to get going? Well let’s go!”

Phantom shrugged as stretched his back out. “Fine,” he said as he took off, speeding through the forest, knowing that Zane would follow. After all, he wouldn’t be able to survive without his maker. Eventually, just as they reached a clearing, the pair ran into a group of wizards and Zane stopped suddenly. “I take it you know these people,” Phantom said, his voice low, almost reminding Zane of a growling dog. The fledgling simply hid behind his maker, knowing that there probably wouldn’t be avoiding them. He had wished for the Moon to tell the world what happened to him, he just thought that nobody had listened to him.

“Greetings!” the taller of the two said as he approached the vampires. “You wouldn’t happen to be hiding anyone behind you there?” The man was trying to peer behind Phantom. Zane hoped that the soft wind wouldn’t let them know he was here. He was certain that he smelt terrible at the moment. If the wind were any stronger, they would know that he was here, and he would actually have to go face the consequences for murdering someone, and that was something that he did not feel like doing. He was too much of a coward for that.

Phantom paused for a moment, acting as though he were in deep thought. He was not thinking about why the wizards were asking if he was hiding anyone. Who knew why wizards did what they did? Rather, he was thinking about how foolish they were coming out into the forest, late at night. Did they not know what creatures would gladly make a midnight snack out of them? They had nothing but their magic to aid them. They could not see the fine details of the trees, and what they hid so well. They could not hear the crashing footsteps of a creature that thought it was only whispering through the woods. That was why they almost always were found dead when the sun spread its golden wings across the sky. “Why? Did you lose someone again? You wizards really need to be more careful about where you leave people. Wouldn’t want them running into the wrong sorts of company,” he replied, a sly grin spreading across his face.

The second wizard brushed hair off of his shoulder. It was odd how long they could let it grow. “We’re looking for a boy, perhaps you’ve seen him? He’s wanted in connection with a murder.”

Phantom’s grin spread even wider, allowing his fangs to show. He couldn’t believe it. This boy might actually do well as his fledgling. Quite young, and already a murderer. “Oh, then you must mean this young lad,” he said, pulling Zane by the arm in front of him.

“Yes!” the two wizards said in unison as they grabbed their wands. Phantom could feel Zane flinching, trying to get free. For someone who so readily accepted becoming a vampire, he did seem quite afraid of dying for a second time. Not that these wizards had anything that would be able to kill them. At least, that was Phantom’s hope.

Phantom held Zane close to himself. “I’d like to see you take him then. He’s mine,” he told them, showing both of his fangs at them. “If he’s a murderer, then I’d say he’s more than faced his penance. He’s my fledgling, and under my protection. You cannot touch him.” The vampire glared at the humans. How dare they think they could take what was rightfully his.

The wizards lowered their wands. This was not the time to fight with a vampire. Not when the Moon watched over her children. They knew that, and they knew that this was a battle they would not fight. They looked at each other before running off across the meadow. Once they were gone, Phantom let go of Zane, who was quick to rub his arm. The older vampire was a lot stronger than he was. If fledglings could bruise, Zane was certain that he would have one. “You didn’t have to protect me like that,” he said, spitting at the ground.

Phantom laughed. “Because you’ve done such a good job of it so far?” he said. “Zane, I am your maker, you’re my responsibility. If anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”

The fledgling sighed. Perhaps it would be good to have someone looking out for him again. At least now, he got the law enforcement off his back. He was still terrified that they would come back, but at least now Zane knew that Phantom would protect him, and that was all that mattered.  

[a porg]

Hack

A snow white group surrounded a complex system of computer monitors, their faces twisted by disbelief. The utopia that they had helped to create was crumbling right before their eyes. They simply watched as line after line of complex code was cracked, each crack damaging the delicate balance that they had struggled to achieve. One of the youngest programmers, and one of the newest dared to raise his voice. “What do we do Warren?”

An older man, in the same snow white lab coat stood from where he sat staring at the screens, and deliberately walked over to the young man, his shiny black shoes clicking as he walked across the linoleum floor. “We fight it you moron. What else?” Warren said as he spit into the young man’s face, somehow missing his glasses and getting him right in his pale, grey eyes. “Now leave the questions to your superiors James and get back to work!” the older man shouted as he pushed James’ head back to where it should be focused.

As Warren walked away he wondered how this could happen. He was one of the original programmers, one of the few beings that knew what was going on with the world. He had been trusted to see that nobody would be able to break the code that had brainwashed all but a select few, and for nearly forty years, there had never been an incident where a hacker appeared. Everyone was safely in their homes, stuck in front of computer screens, believing that the reality presented in front of them was the reality that was true. They could live out their wildest fantasies in the dreamscape they went to in the computers; their brains were wired to fit perfectly within the system. Why would anyone want to leave it?

Warren struggled to figure out the answer to that. He sat back down at his desk and placed his head in his hands, almost in defeat. If this hacker got though, it would cost quite a bit more than his job. The older man shuddered at the thought, but the screen in front of him just seemed so daunting. Row after row, code was disappearing, and his small team remained incapable of doing much of anything against the hacker. The lead programmer knew that he had to do something to save himself. But what? There was no magic button on his transparent keyboard and the wiring in his underlings prevented him from throwing them into the false reality everyone else was in. He was on this on his own.

A blue flash caught Warren’s attention and brought him back to the reality that was in front of him. “Finally,” he said in a low voice as his fingers quickly fumbled from his head to his keyboard. A program that he had installed in case a hacker ever did show up had finally done its job. It would let him know exactly where the damage was being done. He opened it up to find that the hacker was working on deleting a person. A sixteen year old girl named Michelle Wood. Either she was the hacker, or she knew the hacker. However, Warren knew that this particular bit of information could not be ignored. It was a vital clue. As vital as the fluorescent lights overhead were when it came to walking around without tripping over careless co-workers or foolishly placed wires.

The head programmer left his cubicle and stormed past the main cluster of screens. This was nothing that needed the attention of inexperienced programmers such as James. They would only question him, and Warren had no time for questions. He needed to alert security, and the thin sticks he worked with would only be able to detain someone who actually felt as though they had to answer all of their questions or think about everything that they had to offer. Deep down in his gut, Warren had a feeling that force would be needed for the teenage girl and whoever her accomplices were, if she had any. He pushed open a thick, metal door and continued through to a blank hallway. There was nothing in the hallway. No windows, no decorations, and no people. It seemed sterile, to a point. Dust particles could still be seen dancing in the dim light.

Turning into a hallway where a windowed door stood, Warren took a breath. He hated coming down here. The people were always so rude, so pushy. And they smelt terrible. But he needed to do his job, and that meant finding Michelle Wood, and using whatever means necessary to do so. Sadly, that meant that he had to face the red haired, pointy-nosed woman sitting at the desk behind the door. The programmer collected himself as he pushed open the door.

“What do you want?” she said in a nasally voice, emphasizing the word you as she glared at Warren. She sounded as though she had about a billion other things she could be doing instead of speaking with him. “Did you lose some piece of equipment that you want us to find?”

The man sighed. “If you must know Megan, we have ourselves a hacker, and she needs to be apprehended before this goes too far,” Warren said, his voice barely wavering from a flat, uninterested tone. If he used emotion, he knew that she would win.

“You want me to send in the metadroids?” the woman asked as she gained a new sense of sincerity. Even if the people who worked in the security department were a bit cruder than everyone else, they still knew what was a serious risk and what wasn’t.

Warren grinned. “Whatever it takes.”

***

One more button and she would be free. One more line of code to break the chains that had confined her within blue walls. One more move to leave the confines of the institution and sneak out into fresh air. That was what Aidan said the last time they had seen each other in the barely moderated chat room that she frequented. It was there that Aidan had given her the instructions to hack herself out of the network and into freedom, something that he had achieved and managed to stay hidden doing. She wanted to be able to leave to go see him. The blond hit the last button with a satisfied grin on her face and an empty screen sat in front of her. Michelle Wood was no more.

It was odd for the glow of the computer not to be illuminating her room. To not hear the soft hum of the terminal. When it was on, Michelle hardly noticed it, but now that it was gone, everything seemed to be empty. Panic gripped her as she realized that she didn’t even know the way to the outside. What if someone caught her? She couldn’t afford to think like that. She needed to be free like Aidan was.

Michelle stood, and nearly toppled over. She wasn’t used to moving that quickly. The teenager was eager to taste fresh air. She gathered her balance and pushed open her door. She could see the glow of computers from her hallmates and hear each computer humming. Her feet barely made a sound on the soft carpet as she moved. Michelle didn’t want to think about what would happen if she were caught. She had already deleted herself from the system. It would be easy to remove her from the memory of anyone that she had ever come into contact with. It would be easy for the programmers to torture the people that Michelle was unable to hack out of the network. She couldn’t deal with that.

She turned corner after corner, following nothing but her own hopes and dreams. Her own hopes and dreams! That was quite the concept. Just a few days ago, Michelle only had the hopes and dreams that were placed in her by someone else. Now, she was beginning to be her own person. It amazed her. The labyrinth of walls also amazed her. There never seemed to be an end. No door, no window, no way to tell if she was even heading in the right direction. Only soft carpet after soft carpet and low hum after low hum.

A shadow stretched upon the wall, and Michelle became aware that it wasn’t her own. It seemed too large, too masculine. The girl stopped in her tracks, and tried to breathe as little as possible. Perhaps the shadow would go away. It did not go away, instead it only got larger and larger until finally, Michelle could make out the form of a man. “Shell?”

Michelle wasn’t sure what to think of the man knowing her nickname. His voice sounded familiar, and not that much older than her. She would have to take a chance, especially now that the man knew that she was there. “Aidan?” she replied, trying to remain as still as possible, while trying to come up with a plan of escape. She hadn’t been thinking of where she came from, and doubted that she could return if needed.

“Who else would it be?” Aidan laughed. Michelle cautiously moved closer to him. “Figured that ya might like some help outta here.”

Michelle smiled. This was the first time she actually got to meet Aidan. It was the first time that she was actually meeting anyone for that matter. In the dimly lit hallway, she could tell little about him besides that he was much taller than her, but she was fine with that. “Thanks,” she said as Aidan started to walk off. Michelle followed him.

Reaching what seemed to be a door. “Here it is Shell. The door to the rest of your life. Gotta warn you though. It’s pretty bright,” Aidan explained as he opened up a door. Michelle squinted as pure, natural light flooded her. She was almost blinded. It felt so warm. It felt much better than the simulations she had been through. It felt real.

“This is what I’ve been missing? It’s so awesome!” Michelle exclaimed as she ran out the door and fell into a bed of soft grass.

Aidan smiled. “Yup. This is what they keep from us,” he replied as he sat down in the grass next to Michelle. Now, she could tell that he had dark brown hair and tame blue eyes. They weren’t about to jump out of his head and stab her, but they were blue enough to tell that they were definitely blue.

She gave him a puzzled look. “But why?”

He sighed as he stretched out. “Control mostly. Mind control’s pretty useful if you want to run the world.”

Michelle sat and thought about it for a moment. She supposed it was true. If you could control other people, then they would do as you pleased. Nobody would question it. She thought that took a bit of fun out of controlling the world. “It must be pretty boring.”

Aidan laughed. “I suppose so,” he said, smiling. It was such a nice day, and he was glad that he got to share it with Michelle. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, and it wasn’t raining. Therefore, it was just perfect.

“What’s that over there? More friends?” Michelle asked, interrupting Aidan’s utopian thoughts. She was pointing to three figures coming toward them.

Aidan’s face went as pale as the clouds above them. “No, those aren’t friends,” he said, his voice becoming harsh. “Run!”

Michelle was unsure how to run. She had done it plenty of times in simulation, but her legs didn’t actually know how to complete the action. She watched as Aidan ran off. So much for him helping her. What was he so afraid of? They both escaped the network. Then again, maybe they had been discovered. Had she hit a wrong button while trying to crack the code? Michelle started to move. At first, she was at a leisurely pace, but she quickly figured out that running required her to be much faster. She willed her legs to go faster. They hit the ground hard, sending shockwaves up her spine, but Michelle knew that she had to catch up to Aidan. If she didn’t, but still managed to outsmart her pursuers, she knew that she wouldn’t last long.

***

There they were. Running. The metadroids had just spotted the two criminals when they were spotted as well. Their reflective armor gave them away like stars in the night sky. The metadroids had one purpose, to apprehend the hackers as quickly as possible. They would do that the only way they knew how, and that was by impersonating whichever one they came upon first.

One of the metadroids went on ahead to attempt to cut the hackers off. It waited right by a giant oak tree that stretched its branches out over the road creating a perfect shadow. Something that an artist might be inspired to sketch, but art had no meaning to the metadroid. While it waited, data on the girl was transmitted to it. Everything from her blond hair to her eyes matching the color of the leaves above the robot, even the location of her acne.
However, the metadroid had no information on the other human. It would be problematic for the robot to encounter Michelle Wood first.

The metadroid could hear someone coming. Their footsteps were heavy, almost as heavy as their breathing. It had to be a human, but which human was it? The robot hid itself behind the tree while it waited for the proper moment. “Come on Shell,” the human said to himself as he struggled to catch his breath. The metadroid knew what it had to do. Going off the data that it had received from the security department, the metadroid started to transform itself into a sixteen year old girl.

“What took you so long?” the metadroid asked, mimicking Michelle.

The boy laughed. “I’m still a bit rusty at this whole running thing. But it looks like we lost them,” he replied, smiling as though he had just cheated death.

The metadroid laughed with Michelle’s voice. “Are you sure about that?” it asked as Michelle’s form started to disappear, only to be replaced by the featureless metal skin native to the robot. A look of horror overcame Aidan’s face. He couldn’t move, all he could do was stare at the metadroid as its arm started to change from something resembling a human hand to a needle. All the robot said was “This is for the greater good,” before it inserted the needle into Aidan’s neck. The boy crashed to the pebble-strewn ground, lifeless. His chest was still and his eyes did nothing but stare straight into the oak tree that the robot had been hiding behind.

Fearing that Michelle would be close behind, the metadroid dragged Aidan behind the tree so nobody would be able to see him from the path. Then, going on nothing other than what it could observe, the robot changed shape again, this time into Aidan. It was obvious that he was a connection to Michelle and taking his shape would be an asset to taking the girl into custody. Besides, taking control of a dead man would do no good. Electricity no longer shot through his nerves. There was nothing but his looks to work with.

Hearing more footsteps coming toward the oak tree, the metadroid leaned against the rough trunk. As the runner got closer, it could tell that the figure was none other than Michelle Wood. “That was hell,” she said, fighting back laughter.

“Have a lot of experience in that?” the metadroid asked, doing its best to mimic the person that it hardly knew anything about.

Michelle got a puzzled expression on her face. “Aidan, are you feeling okay? You don’t sound like yourself,” she asked, wincing as she realized that her muscles were rather sore from running for the first time.

“Why wouldn’t I be fine? We got away didn’t we? the fake Aidan said, watching out for any of its accomplices. “Now why don’t we take a break under this tree? You look dead.”

The robot sat down under the tree, beckoning the girl to sit with it. She hesitated for a moment before joining the thing that she thought was her friend. The metadroid took its arm and placed it around Michelle’s neck, not as though it were trying to strangle her, but as though it were trying to be her lover. Michelle was busy admiring the fact that her back was against an actual oak tree. It was the first time that had ever happened to her, and so she hardly noticed the robot’s arm transforming, This time, revealing a taser. The metadroid brought its arm up to the girl’s neck and touched her gently. Her body went limp, but she still was breathing, just like the programmers wanted.  

[a porg]

Dead End
*Lyrics: Hotel California - The Eagles*

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair

My clunker putted along the road. How it was still running, I had no idea. Three days had passed on my journey. Three days of blacktop, idiot drivers, beautiful sunsets, and greasy fast food. The solitude that came along with these things was wonderful. Nothing at all like the life I was running from. And that's what I wanted.

Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

Of course, the loneliness in a desert at night is of a totally different kind. This isn't the kind of loneliness where you feel at peace with the world. This is the kind where you think that every cactus is a robber out to steal your crappy car and leave you to find your own way back to civilization. When I saw the lights, I really couldn't help myself. A town, a gas station, it didn't matter. There were lights and that meant I would be safe for the night. Safe from the cactus robbers, safe from the life I left.

Pulling closer, I found a quaint little hotel. Smiling, I willed my car into the parking lot. A bed! I could actually sleep in a bed with pillows and blankets! And nobody would be able to look in on me either! That was quite the novel idea. A good night's sleep. That was all I needed., and so I slammed my door and grabbed by duffel bag out of the trunk. It had the few clothes that I actually wanted to bring with me. My soft pajamas, my second favorite pair of jeans, and a few t-shirts to remind me of things that I wanted to remember.

How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.

The hotel was nice enough. A kind woman had greeted me and taken my money. In exchange she gave me a key. Not a card. It was odd to be at a hotel where they still used these things. It was quite old-fashioned, but I liked it. The fact that I actually had a key made me like this place even more.

Shortly after I had entered my room, I decided to leave it. I had been caged for far too long. Caged in the car, caged by expectation. The last thing I needed was to be caged by this room. And so, I soon found myself wandering through the soft carpeted halls of the hotel. Searching for something that my mind did not yet know. Maybe a friend, or maybe a forgotten treasure.

Somehow, I ended up outside. The moon shone bright from its perch. The desert was much cooler under her rule. Much, much cooler. It was no wonder then that I soon found many people dancing the night away. At first, I wondered if I just added the title of Party Crasher to my name. But then I saw that there was no way that any of these people could possibly know each other. A stranger would meet a fellow stranger, introduce themselves, and dance. This wasn’t a party. At least not the kind you could crash. Others danced in a manner similar to the way my drunken relatives had acted at our last family outing. There was a reason for my running away.

Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

I started to dance. I didn’t want to remember them anymore. I didn’t want to remember my past. I wanted the faces of those who taunted me and bullied me to disappear from my memory forever. I wanted to remember who I was now, in this moment. I was no longer a scared little caged bird. I was free. Free as the soft air circling around my head, encasing me as I danced the night away. How many people I met, how many people I danced with. It didn’t matter. None of it did. Morning would come and I would be gone. That was my plan.

So I called up the Captain,
"Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine"
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night

How many nights have passed since I got here? Two nights? Three? I knew that I shouldn’t have started to drink. But this bottle, it’s one of the best I’ve had. I don’t think that it’s that strong, but you probably shouldn’t trust someone with an alcoholic family tree. I would have had wine, I don’t remember why. I recall meeting a beautiful woman and asking her to come to my room for a bit. I ordered wine, but they didn’t have any. What sort of a nice hotel doesn’t have wine? I settled for beer. I never quite liked the taste, but as I said, this is some of the best I’ve had.

Who am I kidding? This isn’t me. This isn’t me that clings to the bottle. I flung it across the room and watched as the glass shattered into a million tiny pieces. I had to remember what happened last time I did this. Last time I went out of control, but it’s too painful. I know it’s nothing compared to what that little girl’s family must feel, but I’m selfish. And that’s why I killed her. That’s why. I’m a selfish b*****d who only cares about himself.

Bring your alibis

Parties and forgetting and remembering again. My life has become quite the roller coaster here. I just can’t bring myself to leave. Most of me wants to stay here and feel safe. Most of me wants to escape from my past, and here seems to be the perfect place to do so.

But then something shocked me. Something that’s been keeping me in my room for quite some time now. A nice family came here. At least from what I can tell, they’re a nice family. A man, a woman and a little girl. The little girl reminds me so much of her. Her light blond hair and piercing blue eyes. But this little girl seemed terrified. No amount of drinking could ever make me forget that, but I tried.

I must have passed out at some point during the night. I can’t remember. All I can remember is being awakened by pounding on my door. Opening it, I found the same woman who had given me my key my first night here. “Where were you last night?” she asked in a way that made me wonder if I had promised to meet her somewhere.

“Here, I think,” I replied, scratching my head. I really wasn’t sure, and I might as well be honest. Maybe she would go away quicker that way.

She crossed her arms. “This is important! A girl was killed last night!” Only one thought crossed my mind when she said that. Had I done it again?

And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"

The woman sighed as she saw I was silent. Did she know something? “You need to try really hard to remember, because there are things here that would chew you up if you don’t,” she said quietly, as though she wanted nobody but me to hear.

“Things? What sort of things?” I asked.

“There’s a reason you haven’t left yet. There’s a reason none of us have. You’re happy, at least you think you are, but everyone here is running from something. You feel safe, far away from any danger, but little do you know the danger is lurking right under your nose,” she said softly before turning to walk away. I just stood there and watched her go. I could have followed her, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t accomplish much. Anyways, I needed to think. What was the real danger? It had to be something so obvious that nobody would notice it.

Perhaps this danger was personalized. If each person had a demon they were running from, who’s to say that the demon didn’t follow them? With the little girl being killed last night, well, it’s quite possible that mine had followed me. My only hope with proving that one wrong was that perhaps someone else in this hotel would be lacking an alibi.

And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

When I next decided to let some of the outside into my room, I noticed that a piece of paper, the same shade of white as the door, was hanging from it. It had to be for me, or else it was a mistake, but I didn’t care. It was on my door. That made it mine. I tore it off the door and started to read it. It was an invitation to some sort of a party in a part of a hotel that I had either never been to in reality, consciousness, or sobriety. Sighing, I figured I might as well go. What else was I going to do? Sit around in the dark misery of my room?

Arriving at the place, I found an astounding sight. A large beast something like a rather large bear with large leathery wings and glowing red eyes. It paced around inside of a silver cage. I was both in awe of this creature, as well as scared out of my mind. Why was I invited to a room where they kept such a beast? And what was that thing? Weird demon bears did not exist, not that I knew of at least. I had to be hallucinating, I just had to be. “It’s about time you found yourself here,” a man said from behind me, causing me to notice that the door had been closed. As far as I knew, he was the only other one here. Well, aside from the weird bear-thing.

I turned around to find someone who could have very well have been my reflection. Same dark green eyes, same black hair and tan skin. The only noticeable difference that anyone unfamiliar with myself would be able to pick up on was the fact that while I wore jeans and a t-shirt, he wore a dark suit. This man seemed so much darker than me. That actually scared me more than the creature in the cage. “Everyone finds themselves here at some point, but few ever leave the same way that they came in,” he added. All I could think of while he was talking was whether or not my voice actually sounded like that. It seemed too cold to be mine. It seemed un-human. There was no way it could be my voice.

What this man was saying sounded very ominous. What was this room? Who was he? And probably the most important question, what the hell was that thing in the cage? Obviously, none of this seemed good. It all felt like my past had finally caught me. As though there were only so much running I could do. Not knowing what else to do, I laughed. “This must be some sort of a joke,” I said.

The demon bear let out a bloodthirsty growl which immediately killed my laughter. Most of me was saying that this wasn’t a joke, but there was still that little sliver that said it was. I held onto that sliver as though it were a branch and I were hanging dangerously over a cliff. “A joke? Did you think that killing those little girls was a joke? Did you think running from the truth is a joke?” the man said, starting to sound like a lawyer just about to deliver the final blow in a case. “If that’s the case, then yes, this is a joke. This whole thing is a big joke.”

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before

I needed to get out of here. This place was too creepy. Sure, the time I spent here had been nice, but that’s how it always is. Spend some nice time, screw up, then move on. I was now to the point in my life cycle where I would have to move on. But first I had to get away from this man and his demon bear. When the man started to laugh at what he had just said, I took the chance to run. I ran to the lobby. Sure I didn’t have my things, but I always kept my keys in my pocket, just out of habit. I couldn’t wait to jump into my clunker and get away from here. Never thought I would say that.

Out in the parking lot, I was quickly blinded by the desert sun. Why did it have to be so bright? The temperature was torture enough. Once my eyes had adjusted, I looked for my car. My old, crappy car. There was no way I could leave without it. I wouldn’t make it a mile in this damn desert on my own. Especially with some creepy man after me with his even creepier pet. But where the hell was it? I had left it right here, right by the door, and now it was gone with not even a skid mark to give me a clue as to where it had gone.

"Relax, " said the nightman,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave! "

“Don’t you see? You can’t leave. You can’t keep running from your problems. It’s time to face them,” the evil voice said again. I don’t suppose I could run from something so weird. It was time to go face it. Face who I really was: a murderer.  

[a porg]

Double Trouble

I never watch the news, but today it caught my attention for some reason. Two people had been killed. A man and a woman not much older than myself. They both looked so familiar for some reason. The man had thick hair, but he kept it short. He had dark brown eyes, but that couldn’t be what made me recognize him. A lot of people I knew had that color eyes and that sort of hair. The woman was a ginger. Green eyes, red hair, freckles. She definitely looked Irish. I’d think that I’d remember someone like that, but then again, perhaps the pair had only been those sorts of people who catch your attention in a crowd. The kind that you would feel awkward going up to and introducing yourself to. Or maybe, the pair were just people that I had gone to school with. I hardly remember much of anything from those years.

I slumped back into my kitchen chair. It was really too early to be hearing about murder, especially a murder that bothered me so much. They had no leads, and the murder wasn’t that far away from what I thought was a nice, safe apartment in the middle of nowhere. Now, danger seems to be lurking around every corner. Perhaps it’s even right outside of my door, waiting for me to finish my tea and get ready for the day. Once outside, it would pounce upon me like a lion would an antelope. Maybe danger had even snuck into my home while I was fast asleep. They could have poisoned my tea, but that would require danger knowing that even though I keep coffee around, I loathe the taste. I don’t understand how anyone could like it, but I also don’t understand what could possibly motivate someone to kill someone else. Looking down in my cup, I realized that if my tea had indeed been poisoned, there would be no point in stopping now. Most of it had already been consumed, and so the poison would already be in me.

Finishing the last drops of my tea, I clicked off the television. I only had it on for noise, and now I needed to go get ready for work, and that meant no distractions. I managed to get a job babysitting, and I knew that my employers were very strict about my being on time. Time was money after all, and money was the lifeblood of society now. Social interactions meant nothing if you had dust in your wallet. Everyone had to be worth something. Even my clothes were worth something. I mean, I avoided expensive brand names like I did public speaking, but my clothes were still worth something. “Crap,” I said under my breath as a hole appeared in my shirt. All I was trying to do was pull it over my head and down to cover my torso and it just decided to rip. I guess my clothes weren’t worth that much, but luckily my babysitting services are. I’ll just have to stop at the store on my way home tonight.

After what must have been a record time, I was ready. Long hair pulled back into a ponytail, sunglasses on my head and sneakers tied. I was ready to go face the cute little monsters and whatever their schemes for the day would be. After all, five year old twins could be quite the troublemakers, but I loved them, and I did have to admit that they made my life interesting, even though something in me always seemed to be yearning for something more. I always thought that part of me as something leftover from my past life. I always wondered what I was in each life of mine. It would be interesting to find out, but I didn’t have time to think about that now. I needed to get going.

Opening the door to the large white house, I was immediately greeted by the bright smiling faces of Sam and Alex. “Sara!” they said as they ran toward me to attack me with a giant hug. Mornings just wouldn’t be good without getting attacked by them.

“Good morning!” I smiled as I squeezed them tightly. So what? They weren’t my own kids, but I spent enough time with them that it felt like it. I knew pretty much everything about them. When their birthday was, their favorite colors, what food I had to lie about when I gave it to them, and who their favorite superheroes were. Spider-Man for Alex and Batman for Sam. When dealing with five year old boys, it was very important to remember those things. “Hey, where’s your parents?” I asked as I let them go.

“I dun know,” Alex, or at least the twin that I was fairly certain was Alex replied. It could be difficult to tell them apart. They both had the same big, brown eyes, pale skin and red hair. Sometimes they would even wear the same clothes. Luckily, this seemed to be one of those days were they decided to dress differently.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Are they still here?” I asked as I started moving further into the house, moving past happy portraits of the family. Sometimes, I wish that my family had done that. Maybe then I would remember them more. I only catch a glimpse and my mind then and again.

“Well, I don’t think they ever came home last night! We were stuck with the mean babysitter!” Sam yelled as he chased after me. I had never met this other babysitter, but from what I heard from the twins, she had to be the distant cousin of the Wicked Witch of the West. They got stuck with her whenever their parents went away on a business trip or went out on a date. But if they were planning on not coming home, they would have told me. Something just didn't sit well with me.

"Well, why don't we get you some breakfast?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen only to discover the Cereal Apocalypse. Fruit Loops scattered amongst crumbled remains of Cheerios. Shredded Wheat shredded beyond what is considered normal. It was as if the nations of the cereal cabinet had gone to war and none had won.

The boys followed me into the kitchen. One look at them and I knew that they wanted me to believe the Cereal Apocalypse story. "We were hungry," Alex explained as he shuffled some mangled Cocoa Puffs under his foot.

"We're still hungry!" Sam added, whining. It figured that they would still be hungry. They were growing boys.

Deciding that someone, and that someone would likely be me, needed to clean up this mess, I went to go get the broom only to return to Alex crawling around up on the counter. “Get down from there,” I said, dropping the broom and approaching him ready to pull him off the counter if necessary.

“But I saw this envelope and it had your name on it,” he said as he slid off the counter, his feet landing with a loud thud on the tile floor. I really have to wonder where these boys got their energy from, but more importantly, I wondered what an envelope with my name on it on the counter could possibly mean. It could mean so many different things, especially since I know that I did not leave an envelope here. Why would I? Could it be from the other babysitter?

Upon picking it up, I noticed that it seemed to be packed pretty tightly. Whatever it was, it wasn’t just one little piece of paper, like most people would assume when given such an envelope. “Alright, why don’t you guys go watch some cartoons?” I suggested to get them out of the kitchen so I could not only clean, but also open the envelope. I mean, what else was I going to do with an envelope with my name on it? By rule, it was mine.

As soon as the boys were in the family room and I heard the stupid little theme song from whatever cartoon they had decided upon I slid my thumb under the envelope, breaking it open. On first glance, the papers seemed to be never ending. To be honest, I would have had no idea where to start if all of the papers weren’t wrapped in yet another one. I unfolded it to find neat print likely written by Mrs. Wilson, the boys’ mother.

Sara,
If you’re reading this, then that means that it’s time for you to know the truth. But be warned, once you know the truth, you can’t let anyone else know. Not unless it’s a matter of life or death. This is about the twins. Joe and I aren’t really their parents.We’ve only recently discovered who they are, you’ll find their pictures enclosed in this envelope. Alexander and Samuel were given to us at the age of three. They were given to us as part of our involvement in an organization whose name is not important now. Especially if you’re reading this.

This organization is the social services of superheroes. Yes, you read that right. Superheroes. All they told Joe and I was that they were found abandoned and, well, I never knew this, but they can test for superpowers, and the boys tested positive for having them. They won’t develop until they’re teenagers, but it is still dangerous for them. It’s even dangerous for you now, but don’t worry, you’ll have help. Just keep going through the contents of this envelope. They’ll lead you in the right direction.
Best of Luck,
Amanda

I nearly dropped the letter and the envelope because my hands were shaking so bad. Sam and Alex, the boys who had caused the complete destruction of cereal-kind, were dormant superheroes? No. This couldn’t be. This just couldn’t. Superheroes aren't real. They were role models for us, but they were fictional. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, they were just cartoons and movies.

Even if they were real, Sam and Alex certainly were not them. They were five for God’s sake! Five year old boys were not superheroes! I placed Mrs. Wilson’s letter down on the counter and dumped the remaining contents of the letter on top of it. When it had all finished falling, a silver key plopped on top of the papers. I pushed that aside figuring that the papers would all explain that. Shuffling through them, I discovered that Sam apparently had an aptitude for psychic powers and Alex had one for being able to transform himself and that if I didn’t protect the boys that they could quite possibly end up in the hands of what would be much easier to call evil. I don’t want to see them used to hurt people. Not if they could help people. I found out that the silver key led to a safe room, a lair really. A little secret hero hideaway.

Then there was something else that struck me, the pictures of the twins’ real parents. They were the same people I had seen on the news earlier. The same people who had been murdered. But I would have had to see them before in order to recognize them. Now that I knew that they were related to the boys, I was even more bothered by their deaths. A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts and so I shoved the key into my pocket and dropped the papers on the counter.

Walking through the hall I had used to get to the kitchen, I wondered if the portraits that were hanging were really of the Wilson family. Who were these people? There was one photo that took my attention, and I realized why. The boys always told me that it was their aunt and their uncle who lived far away. I suppose that’s why I never questioned why they had red hair and their parents were blonds. The man and woman in that portrait, holding hands and looking lovingly at each other were their parents. But I couldn’t stare at that for too long. There was someone at the door after all and their knocking just got louder and more obnoxious the longer I took in getting to the door.

Peering through the window, I found a man with a pizza box on the porch. That was strange. I didn’t order pizza, and even if I had, I thought that nine in the morning was way too early for a delivery. “Hello,” I said as I cautiously opened the door. I had to be extra wary know that I knew. Anyone could be evil, even pizza delivery guys.

“I have an order here for Wilson, mind if I bring it inside?” he asked as he moved closer to the door. Panic gripped me, but I needed to stay calm. What if he really was just a good natured delivery man? After all, as far as I knew the Wilsons were still alive. They could have ordered us pizza. But that was silly. Chances were they were dead, and they knew better than to give five year olds pizza for breakfast.

“Um, we didn’t order any pizza,” I replied, as I gripped the door. I was ready to slam it into this punk’s face if needed.

“I really think you did,” he said as he got ridiculously close to me causing me to squeam. I hoped I didn’t have to fight this guy. I mean, what did I have? I had pretty long nails, and I was sure my feet could do some damage, but I had no weapons. I had no formal training. Yet here I was, suddenly in charge of undeveloped superheroes. Children who needed to be protected.

“Uh, no, I didn’t,” I said as I slammed the door as hard as I could, only to find it caught on the guy’s foot. He immediately pushed his way past me and into the house. “s**t,” I cursed. At least he went upstairs.

I ran past the portraits and found the boys. They seemed unaware of what was going on. Just standing in the kitchen while the pizza guy tore apart the room right above them. “Come on guys, we need to go,” I said as calmly as I could manage. I grabbed the papers and hastily folded them so they would fit in my bra and then I took the boys by the hands. The key was still in my pocket.

“Why are we in front of this door?” Sam asked as he yanked free of my grasp.

“Yeah. Mommy and Daddy said we could never use this door unless they were here and they’re not here,” his brother added.

Of course they would say that. “Mommy and Daddy gave me permission to use it, but they said that you had to come with me,” I replied as I fumbled around with the tiny key. It eventually clicked open to reveal stairs. Turning around, I noticed that Sam had disappeared. “Alex, I want you to go downstairs and close this door and don’t open it up for anyone,” I told him with panic in my eyes. The boy lost his real parents and his fake parents. I wasn’t about to let him lose his twin brother.

“Okay,” Alex said. He was so unsure of himself. It broke my heart to close the door on him, but I just had to. He would be safe down there. I just had to keep telling myself that.

“Sam!” I shouted through the house, hoping he would answer me. Hoping that he would answer me and be alright. Hoping that the evil pizza guy wouldn’t hear me.

I crept through the house and walked into the family room to find the guy holding a gun to Sam’s head. Why he went back, I have no idea. Cartoons probably. “So that’s what this one’s name is. Sam. Nice name,” he said.

“Sara,” Sam said, pleading with me to do something. If I wasn’t so focused, I would have thought about how ironic it is that a superhero was asking me to help him. Me. Regular old Sara. What was I supposed to do.

“If you know what’s good for the boys, Sara, you’ll tell me where the other twerp is.”

“If I know what’s good for the boys? Dude, what do you know about that? You deliver pizza for a living. I doubt you can raise a family properly. I happen to raise these boys for a living. So I suggest you back the heck away from my buddy.”

“Or what?” he asked, pointing the gun at me. Real smart Sara, get the guy with the gun to point it at you. And he had a point. What would I do?

“How about this?” Sam answered for me as he elbowed the guy right in between the legs. I had to laugh as the guy collapsed in pain. But my laughter was short lived. I needed to reunite the twins.

“Come on tough guy,” I said as I took him by the hand and rushed him to the lair and shut the door behind us. There was a long road ahead, and the best thing to do for now was hide.  

[a porg]

SHAMELESS BUMP~~~~~~~~