Twilight

Does the sunset happen before 

Or after the sunrise? 

Perspective confuses

The timeline of things. 

Hard to see which came first. 

Even more difficult to 

Tell what is real

And what is simply

An illusion of wishes. 

TwitterShort Challenge #2

 

 

 

            I never thought that Bones would go through with it. He’d been threatening for years. And now Stinky was dead, just like he’d promised.

            We got the anonymous call about 2:30 that we needed to send a bus over to Stinky’s house. I got three officers and headed that direction.

            The front door was ajar when we got there. When I nudged the door, Stinky’s black cat Bootsy came screaming out from behind it. That damn cat was lucky it didn’t get shot. My boys were edgy already. Instead, the cat scrambled from the porch and tore down the front stairs. Once it reached the hedge line, I never saw it again.

            I waved with my left hand as my right shoulder pressed the door the rest of the open. The smell was overpowering. The combined stench of death, marijuana, and filth was enough to knock over a cow.

            The doorway lead to a living room and to Stinky. He was on the couch with his back to us and a game controller in his hand. Crash Bandicoot’s opening screen was on the TV in a perpetual loop. There was a single gunshot to the back of the head. Stinky never new what hit him.

            As I circled my way around the couch, I could see that the large caliber bullet had removed half of Stinky’s face. It was gonna be a closed casket for sure. Other random objects littered the living room. A milk crate of vinyl records. A singular crutch. An empty fish tank. Empty baggies and mildewed papers covered half the floor.

            Then something caught my eye. Blood. Old blood. Stained into the tan carpet.

            I followed the trail down the hallway as if the stains were breadcrumbs. When I reached the open door of the back bedroom, I nearly lost it. Looks like old Bones was right.

            In the middle of the floor was a pile of animals. Dogs. Cats. Squirrels. And there was an astounding amount of blood. You could taste the iron in the air. If the blood spatter was glitter, it would have been enough to make a stripper choke. All the missing pets. All the local wildlife. Heaved into one giant haystack of carcasses. There had to be at least 40 furry bodies bled and discarded into the pile. It was one of the most horrible things I had seen in my 12 year career on the force.

            I backed out of the room and headed toward the front porch. Even though I hadn’t smoked for years, I pulled my lighter from my pocket, closed my eyes, and lit up the imaginary cigarette. I took in a sharp breath and mentally pictured the smoke filling my lungs. I hollered for Butch to find Bones and take him in for questioning.

            It was gonna be a long afternoon.

 

Unwritten Diaries Kelly #2

She was there again in my dreams. That promise of beautiful and amazing things. I wish I understood what it was that makes me so drawn to her. We've exchanged a handful of words now. I'm convinced that she's just being polite. 

How do I even begin to explain how my heart races and my breath catches at the thought of her near me? 

So I'll just be silent. Until I can find the words, the strength, the courage. 

Brave

A tide comes and goes

Forests grow and burn

Rain can nourish and destroy

April turns

Into August and

Death comes for us all. 

Sari

      

 

            Breathe in. Breathe out. Steady your heartrate.

            Breathe in. Breathe out. Steady your heartrate.

            Those were the only thoughts running through Sari’s head as she crouched behind the cracked door of the abandoned warehouse. She dared to peek through the crack to see if she had been followed. So far, luck was on her side.

            Sari closed the door and prayed the noisy, time-rusted hinges would not draw attention. The latch caught, and she turned and pressed her back to the cool steel of the door. She let out a long breath, relief washing over her. For the moment, she felt safe.

            What were those things?

            In all her years of hunting, Sari had never encountered such a creature before. It looked human enough, but the unnerving glow of its eyes told a completely different story. And the howl it screamed at her? Not even werewolves sounded as chilling as that.         

            Sari crossed the small room, completely at ease and familiar with the surroundings. This used to be the office of her grandfather’s auto shop. The grease and oil still clung to the air here. Abandoned tools lay all about the shop. She always felt at peace here as a kid, watching her grandfather work his magic on old Buicks and Chevys. He always seemed a little larger than life to her. She wanted to be a mechanic and follow in his footsteps until the earthquake happened. The Earthquake That Broke the World was how it was referred to now.

            Sari went to her grandfather’s abandoned ledger books and drew a finger across the dust that had settled there. Things definitely were not the same. Most of the population had died right away in building collapses, sinkholes, or tsunami that followed The Earthquake. Then most of the remaining people died when the Supernaturals didn’t die. Vampires, Werewolves, and Shapeshifters all survived. Humans became easier prey than ever before. Sari learned how to navigate streets and take care of herself after watching her entire family parish in the house fire caused by a gas leak from The Earthquake. She was a very young 15 when she lost them. She was a very old 18 now.

            Sari took out Supernaturals every chance she got. Urban legend and trial-and-error were her learning tools. But what she saw today was something new. Something terrifying.

            There was a knock on her grandfather’s steel office door, reverberating over and over and crushing the silence that had settled.

            Sari turned and pulled the iron tipped stake from her inside jacket pocket, unsure what to expect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purge

End of day. 

Finally quiet. 

I breathe in deeply. 

And I can let everything go. 

All the stress I've collected. 

A night time to recharge. 

The next ten minutes to myself.

To laugh. 

To cry. 

To organize my thoughts. 

To make sure that tomorrow

the bucket is empty for another day.  

The City Mistress

Away she waits. 

"Come back," she whispers in my brain. 

I sit looking at mounds of paper and numbers. 

"Come back to me," she says. 

Every piece of me wanting to go. 

"My arms miss holding you," she teases. 

And for five seconds I close my eyes. 

I know the smells. I know the riot of colors. 

"If only for a minute, come to me," she pleads. 

I yearn for the purple, the green, and the gold. She knows she has me. 

"I'll see you soon then," she closes with a smile, knowing it's impossible for me to stay away. 

The Broken Girl and The Clever Boy - Black

 

 

         I’m not sure how long I’d been there. Ten minutes? Thirty? It seemed like an eternity passed since The Maestro had closed the door. My elbows and wrists were bound in front of me. I’d been given instruction to remain on my knees with my elbows propped on the side table. I’m sure at a casual glance I looked like I was praying. And maybe I was just a bit.

            When I heard the click of the door, my heart raced. I remained perfectly still. Looking towards the door would have been wasteful since I was blindfolded.

            Everything was perfectly Black.

            “You look perfect, girl. Well done. Your instructions are this: You may only answer Me with the word ‘no’. Is this understood?”   

            “No,” I replied without hesitation.

            I could hear the smile in His voice. “Very good, clever little girl.” The richness of his voice touched deep in my chest. The compliment made my heart grow.

            I listened as His feet crossed the room. I heard the hiss from a can of some carbonated beverage. “Would you like a drink?” The Maestro asked.

            The thought of the cool liquid was enticing. “No,” I countered.

            “Is there anyone else you’d rather have here?”

            “No.” It was the truest answer I’d given since He opened the door.

            I could hear Him as He crossed the room to reach me. He stood behind me and drew a line down my spine with the handle of the crop. Despite being surrounded by the Black, I could tell just how close He was to me. His presence always lit me like a bonfire. Just knowing He was close to me was enough to set every part of my body tingling.

            He leaned in behind me and breathed into my ear, “Do you love me?”

            I panicked. “No.” It was a lie. And He knew it.

            CRACK.

            It happened so quickly. The fire spread across my backside, and I flinched from the unexpected punishment. I clenched my teeth and steadied my breath.

            “Do you love me?” He repeated.

            “No,” I replied.

            CRACK

            This time the whimper was out before I could catch it. The Black had somehow gotten darker. I did not move from my knees or take my elbows from the side table.

            “Think on this, girl. I will ask again: do you love me?”

            I hesitated, unsure of what I had done wrong. “No.”

            CRACK CRACK

            Both cheeks were on fire as I felt the lick from each of His strikes. I could feel the panic rising in my chest as I struggled to understand my failure. Despite closed eyes and a heavy mask, I could feel the tears press their way from the corners of my eyes and make their way down my cheeks.

            “Do you love me?” He pressed.

            My voice was a mixture of a choke and whisper. “Yes.” I confessed. My tears were burning my cheeks as surely as the crop burned my backside.

            “Louder.”

            I took a deep breath. “Yes.”

            He plunged His hand deep into my hair and pulled downward, turning my face toward the sky. “Again.”

            “YES.” I said, the honesty of the statement crushing me and filling me at the same time.

            He pulled the blindfold from my eyes. What was pitch before was replaced with glaring light. I blinked several times while my eyes tried to adjust to the sudden shift. “Here is your lesson, girl. Your honesty means more to me than your obedience. You are to never lie about your feelings.”

            He released my wrists and elbows from their bindings and allowed me to rest on my heels. “Does a girl understand why this is important?” He asked as He sat on the edge of the bed.

            “I understand Maestro,” I answered as I turned to place my head in his lap.

            “That’s my good doll,” He soothed while toying with my hair. “Now when you are collected, you shall receive your reward.”

            And my soul smiled.

 

The Corner Office

Most people see punishment.

I only see welcome. 

My corner. My retreat.

It comforts. It holds me. 

I rest my head and close my eyes. 

Unafraid. 

Plaster cool on tear stained cheeks. 

Here I stay until I'm paged again

to perform with painted smiles. 

Give them their show. 

And they'll never know.