Post by orinocoflow on Oct 9, 2010 23:38:26 GMT -5
this is a story i wrote for a contest on www.inkpop.com
hope you like it more than the inkpop critics did
They watched in horror as their friend turned the corner and bumped right into…well, something solid, but they could not see what it was.
“What the…Ryan, you okay?” yelled Tom, running up to where Ryan was sprawled on the sidewalk, shaking his head and shivering. By the time Anne caught up with them, Tom had already pulled him to his feet.
“Y-yeah, I think so…” he stammered, rubbing the center of his chest. “I’m really cold though.”
“What was that?” Anne asked, looking at the two boys.
“I’m not sure. I just ran around the corner, but then hit…something, and then I got knocked back and now I’m freezing.”
“Let’s go back home,” suggested Tom, glancing around the empty street. “We can go see the movie tomorrow.”
Nodding in agreement, the three friends left the damp street behind…or were there four?
Tom laughed as he put the plate loaded with food down on the table in front of him.
“Yeah, I know I eat a lot; so what?”
Ryan grinned and punched him lightly in the shoulder, shaking his head. His own plate was already in front of him—empty save for some scrambled eggs and three strips of bacon.
“It’s a wonder you’re still visible,” joked Tom, eyeing his friend’s plate.
Ryan sputtered on the juice he had been drinking, coughing while staring at Tom in horror. Without another word, he fled the room and disappeared up the stairs.
Tom frowned. “Okay…” but, thinking Ryan had just forgotten to do something, he ignored the sudden rush and finished breakfast.
“Ryan, where are you?” Tom hollered up the stairs. “You’re going to be late for class!” When there was no answer, he groaned and stomped up to his friend’s room. “What are you do—” he broke off when he came through the doorway and suddenly the door slammed in his face, shoving him back into the hallway.
He sat on the carpeted stairway, frowning at the closed door.
“I can’t come to school today,” came a hoarse reply through the wood.
Tom stared. That voice did not belong to his friend—it belonged to something…not human, that’s for sure. Biting his lip, he stepped forward and placed his hand on the doorknob. With a cry, he leaped back, slamming into the railing above the stairs.
The doorknob was freezing cold, so much that it bit into his skin, giving him a very unpleasant sensation, as though it were crawling.
“Go away,” said the voice again, this time with more force.
But Tom did not want to leave when that thing was in his house. Sliding the cuff of his sleeve down to cover his palm, he stepped forward and turned the knob, struggling because the cloth made his grip slippery. As he was about to turn it, he heard the voice again.
“Go way! Why can’t you leave me alone?”
“Because I want to know what happened to my friend!” he yelled back, shoving his shoulder against the door while some force pushed him back away from it. He grinned with triumph when it finally gave way, and he staggered in, straightening as soon as he was inside. The room was unusually cold, and the crisp air had a sharp bite to it.
And then he gasped and ran backwards into the door.
Ryan walked over to him; rather, he glided, since he was transparent and rapidly fading. Struggling with the doorknob, Tom felt a chill run down his spine as it found that he could not turn it. Plastering himself back against the icy wood, he tried to get as far away from that ghost-like form as possible.
Ryan raised a hand at him, a grim smile on his face. “There’s nowhere you can go,” he whispered. The instant he touched Tom’s shoulder, he became rapidly visible even as Tom gasped and shivered, cold passing through his veins. Struck by sudden inspiration, he tried to run through Ryan but found that he couldn’t; instead, he jumped around him and sprinted for the window, swinging it open and leaping into the tree right outside. He felt better immediately as the sun touched him, wiping away the unnatural numbness.
“Come back!” Tom did not even turn his head when he heard those words, only ran harder. After a long time, he realized that he had come straight to the dark corner where Ryan had bumped into the cold, solid thing that had changed him.
Even as he stepped from the protective grasp of the sun, he could feel the arctic feeling filled with dread that he associated with the thing.
“I knew you would come here,” came a lilting voice from the deepest shadow in the alley. Reeling around, Tom stared back into a pair of diamond-white eyes rimmed by a spark of silver. The same eyes that he had seen on Ryan just some time before. As quickly as they appeared, the eyes faded with the wind, which had by now picked up, whipping his coat around him without seeming to bother the trees out there in the sun just a few feet away.
“Give me back my friend,” snapped Tom, his voice matching the temperature of the alleyway.
“Give me one reason why I should,” retorted the invisible voice, surprisingly close to his ear. Refusing to step back and show his fear, Tom gritted his teeth against the sudden gust of wind and replied.
“Because you have no control over him.”
Even as he said these words, he gasped. Where had they come from? Yes, they had been spoken by his voice and he had said them as if he knew what they meant, yet they had formed of their own accord, not of his.
Regardless, they appeared to do the trick. The wind howled around him as a thousand voices merged together into single, incoherent wail that deafened him. Unseen hands tugged at his clothes, and that icy wind tried to reach for him, into him, even though he blocked it out in a way that had come so naturally, mysteriously, to him.
All of a sudden, everything stopped. The wind died away in a quick blast, the voices faded, and the alley was warm with the sun’s rays. And lying in the corner where those white eyes had been was Ryan, his hair ruffled and a dazed expression on his face.
“What happened?” he croaked, smoothing down his hair and glancing around.
“I don’t know,” replied Tom honestly, trying to do the same with his own hair but failing miserably. “Let’s get out of here.”
Everything was back to normal.
hope you like it more than the inkpop critics did
They watched in horror as their friend turned the corner and bumped right into…well, something solid, but they could not see what it was.
“What the…Ryan, you okay?” yelled Tom, running up to where Ryan was sprawled on the sidewalk, shaking his head and shivering. By the time Anne caught up with them, Tom had already pulled him to his feet.
“Y-yeah, I think so…” he stammered, rubbing the center of his chest. “I’m really cold though.”
“What was that?” Anne asked, looking at the two boys.
“I’m not sure. I just ran around the corner, but then hit…something, and then I got knocked back and now I’m freezing.”
“Let’s go back home,” suggested Tom, glancing around the empty street. “We can go see the movie tomorrow.”
Nodding in agreement, the three friends left the damp street behind…or were there four?
* * *
Tom laughed as he put the plate loaded with food down on the table in front of him.
“Yeah, I know I eat a lot; so what?”
Ryan grinned and punched him lightly in the shoulder, shaking his head. His own plate was already in front of him—empty save for some scrambled eggs and three strips of bacon.
“It’s a wonder you’re still visible,” joked Tom, eyeing his friend’s plate.
Ryan sputtered on the juice he had been drinking, coughing while staring at Tom in horror. Without another word, he fled the room and disappeared up the stairs.
Tom frowned. “Okay…” but, thinking Ryan had just forgotten to do something, he ignored the sudden rush and finished breakfast.
* * *
“Ryan, where are you?” Tom hollered up the stairs. “You’re going to be late for class!” When there was no answer, he groaned and stomped up to his friend’s room. “What are you do—” he broke off when he came through the doorway and suddenly the door slammed in his face, shoving him back into the hallway.
He sat on the carpeted stairway, frowning at the closed door.
“I can’t come to school today,” came a hoarse reply through the wood.
Tom stared. That voice did not belong to his friend—it belonged to something…not human, that’s for sure. Biting his lip, he stepped forward and placed his hand on the doorknob. With a cry, he leaped back, slamming into the railing above the stairs.
The doorknob was freezing cold, so much that it bit into his skin, giving him a very unpleasant sensation, as though it were crawling.
“Go away,” said the voice again, this time with more force.
But Tom did not want to leave when that thing was in his house. Sliding the cuff of his sleeve down to cover his palm, he stepped forward and turned the knob, struggling because the cloth made his grip slippery. As he was about to turn it, he heard the voice again.
“Go way! Why can’t you leave me alone?”
“Because I want to know what happened to my friend!” he yelled back, shoving his shoulder against the door while some force pushed him back away from it. He grinned with triumph when it finally gave way, and he staggered in, straightening as soon as he was inside. The room was unusually cold, and the crisp air had a sharp bite to it.
And then he gasped and ran backwards into the door.
Ryan walked over to him; rather, he glided, since he was transparent and rapidly fading. Struggling with the doorknob, Tom felt a chill run down his spine as it found that he could not turn it. Plastering himself back against the icy wood, he tried to get as far away from that ghost-like form as possible.
Ryan raised a hand at him, a grim smile on his face. “There’s nowhere you can go,” he whispered. The instant he touched Tom’s shoulder, he became rapidly visible even as Tom gasped and shivered, cold passing through his veins. Struck by sudden inspiration, he tried to run through Ryan but found that he couldn’t; instead, he jumped around him and sprinted for the window, swinging it open and leaping into the tree right outside. He felt better immediately as the sun touched him, wiping away the unnatural numbness.
“Come back!” Tom did not even turn his head when he heard those words, only ran harder. After a long time, he realized that he had come straight to the dark corner where Ryan had bumped into the cold, solid thing that had changed him.
Even as he stepped from the protective grasp of the sun, he could feel the arctic feeling filled with dread that he associated with the thing.
“I knew you would come here,” came a lilting voice from the deepest shadow in the alley. Reeling around, Tom stared back into a pair of diamond-white eyes rimmed by a spark of silver. The same eyes that he had seen on Ryan just some time before. As quickly as they appeared, the eyes faded with the wind, which had by now picked up, whipping his coat around him without seeming to bother the trees out there in the sun just a few feet away.
“Give me back my friend,” snapped Tom, his voice matching the temperature of the alleyway.
“Give me one reason why I should,” retorted the invisible voice, surprisingly close to his ear. Refusing to step back and show his fear, Tom gritted his teeth against the sudden gust of wind and replied.
“Because you have no control over him.”
Even as he said these words, he gasped. Where had they come from? Yes, they had been spoken by his voice and he had said them as if he knew what they meant, yet they had formed of their own accord, not of his.
Regardless, they appeared to do the trick. The wind howled around him as a thousand voices merged together into single, incoherent wail that deafened him. Unseen hands tugged at his clothes, and that icy wind tried to reach for him, into him, even though he blocked it out in a way that had come so naturally, mysteriously, to him.
All of a sudden, everything stopped. The wind died away in a quick blast, the voices faded, and the alley was warm with the sun’s rays. And lying in the corner where those white eyes had been was Ryan, his hair ruffled and a dazed expression on his face.
“What happened?” he croaked, smoothing down his hair and glancing around.
“I don’t know,” replied Tom honestly, trying to do the same with his own hair but failing miserably. “Let’s get out of here.”
Everything was back to normal.