Eddie’s Words

[Wittles]

12 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Hey guys, here's a Liz scene I wrote the other day! It's not my best, but it did help me figure out more about the magic system which was really nice.

Heroes and Dogs:

  Reveal hidden contents

“Does it ever stop hurting?”

Mari blinked. “What?”

Ien shrugged, looking away. “Being alone. Does it ever get better?”

This time it was Mari who looked away. “No. You always think it will, always think that this time you really are getting better, but it’s never true.” 

Ien nodded. Then, aware that Mari was watching, he let out a quiet breath. His father had always told him not to let anyone hear anything that could someday come back to bite him. But his father was dead now. The world had turned upside down, and he wanted so desperately to trust someone. And here was Mari, quiet and sweet and strange. “It’s my fault,” he blurted. Mari blinked, but didn’t say anything. “All of this.”

“Is it?” How strange. Mari didn’t sound accusatory or even disbelieving: she was just curious. 

“Yes.” Ien laughed bitterly, ignoring the way it made his sore ribs ache. “She loved me, and I loved her, and so he took her and made her into this, and I still love her. Isn’t that stupid, Mari?  The things she’s done are unforgivable, and I still love her.”

“Maybe,” Mari said, looking thoughtful, “it was your fault. But maybe it wasn’t. She’s insane. I think there’s a good chance that she would have become the person that she is without you doing anything. Either way, it doesn’t matter.” Ien looked at her quizzically, and she shrugged. “Liz’s actions are her own. And so are yours. What matters now is what you do next.” Mari paused. “And as for you still loving her…I love a lot of people I shouldn’t. That’s the nature of love. Reckless, unwise, and certain to hurt.”

Ien was taken aback. Mari usually spoke a word or two at a time. For her, this was a raging flood. And she spoke with the wisdom of someone many times her age. “Thank you.”

She gave him a shy smile. “I don’t need thanks. I need to know what we’re doing next.”

Ien took a deep breath, eyes darkening. “She has to die. We  have to make her pay for everything she’s done to them, to us.” Mari nodded, looking pleased, then hesitated. “What?” Ien prompted.

“It’s just…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m talking so much.”

“I don’t mind,” Ien said quickly. “Really.” Mari flushed and looked down. “Mari,” Ien said, careful not to raise his voice. “You don’t ever have to worry about talking too much, not with me. If nothing else, consider it my payment for everything you’ve done for me.”

“Okay,” Mari said. She nodded, as if steeling herself. “Okay. It’s just…I don’t think it’s right to do it just to punish her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well. Right.” Mari cleared her throat. “That’s her motivation, isn’t it? Revenge, or at least that’s what she thinks. So. Ah. So you don’t want to become her.” Mari flinched, and Ien realized something with a start.

“I’m not going to hit you,” he said quietly.

She flinched again. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, “for all the trouble I’ve caused you.”

Ien tried to protest, but she refused to say anything else, so he finally gave up. But her words itched at him. You don’t want to become her…he shivered. Liz had cared so much. She’d been so full of dreams and fire. If this desire for revenge had overcome even her, could anyone really be safe? “I have to save them,” Mari glanced at him. “I need to save them, and you, and all of us.” Ien smiled, understanding.

“It’s about us. Not her.”

********

Somewhere in the shadows, Liz grinned. How perfect, how absurd, how utterly insane. How heroic. Cloaked in darkness, she left the dungeon, trying to still her pounding heart, to change delight to logic. Ien wanted it now. So she needed to give him a way out. Not too obvious, or he’d get suspicious. A curious puzzle, curious indeed.

Abruptly she shivered, feeling faintly nauseated. Unsure what was happening, and unwilling to be seen, she ducked into a tiny closet. It was perfect timing; she immediately collapsed. Then she sat up, blinking at the pale world that–oh.

“Welcome back,” Death said, not sounding at all welcoming. “Let’s get to work.”

Liz gaped at him, struggling to her feet. “Wha–you can’t do that.”

Death raised a single eyebrow. “You’re telling me what I can’t do. You’re lucky I find it quaint. Next time, you won’t be lucky.”

Liz flushed. “Right,” she murmured. “But we will need to schedule times for this. If I may.” Death nodded, and Liz let out a tiny sigh of relief. But inside she was grateful. She’d needed the reminder that not everyone bowed to her. She needed the humbling, because her pride kept her from learning.

“We start,” Death said, “with the basics. What do you know of magic?”

“It comes from the gods,” Liz started, then winced. “Ah. You can’t use it unless your will is aligned with that of the god you serve?”

Death grimaced. Or maybe it was just a frown. His skin was pulled so tightly across his skull that it was difficult to tell. “So much work,” he sighed. If that could be called a sigh. His huff of air was to a sigh what wrought iron was to soft earth. “Your second guess was better. But that was only when you were an Acolyte. You are now an Heiress, and the rules have changed.” Liz nodded, and he continued, “An Acolyte who displeases me may be put down easily. There would be consequences for doing so to you. Likewise there would be consequences if you were to be improperly trained.” That was definitely a grin. “If the acolytes are my dogs, then you are my child. Understood?” 

Liz swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Death said. “Magic…magic is like the air you mortals need. It’s woven through every rock, plant, person, and animal. But if magic is air, then gods are the only ones who know how to breathe.”

Liz blinked. “But regular people can use magic. Not many, but some.” A sharp pain shot through her, as cool and calculated as Death himself.

“Don’t interrupt me,” he said. Liz nodded shakily and he continued as if nothing had happened. “Gods are lazy. We cannot bear to do all that we must, and so we awaken the minds of chosen mortals just enough to do it for us. These mortals become our Acolytes, our servants, our hands, call them what you will. But to choose an Heir is to choose a replacement. Your awakening to magic can be neither temporary nor conditional. That is the biggest difference between you and them, Heiress. The next biggest is the suffering. My Acolytes run freely through the shadows, but you are to dance in shackles. They can be ended. You must be taught. So listen well, Heiress…”

********

Hours later, Liz awoke in the closet, mind blurring with strange and terrible knowledge that she barely understood. Not even bothering to pull shadows around herself she stepped out. A servant jumped back, shaking with terror. Liz stumbled past, up to her chambers. A pair of assassins–Acolytes–stood outside her door. Liz walked past them. How had Death described them? Dogs…

Somehow, it seemed fitting.

 

Okay, that is actually such a good piece of writing. I got chills in the last bit.

Also, your characters are so well written and it's amazing to read!

[Edema Rue]

6 hours ago, Wittles said:

Okay, that is actually such a good piece of writing. I got chills in the last bit.

Also, your characters are so well written and it's amazing to read!

Aww, thanks Wittles!! I'm so glad!!

[Edema Rue]

*excited giggling*

You'll get a scene tonight, pinky promise.

[Edema Rue]

Okay I didn’t finish the scene I wanted to tonight, but that’s because I got a really good idea so it’ll be a lot longer than I originally planned.

But the first little bit has a good stopping place, so here’s the beginning! I’m super excited about this, I hope you guys enjoy it too. Once it’s all finished I’ll DEFINITELY be wanting feedback, though.

Ripping At Our Seams (1)

Spoiler

He wasn’t sure when he started watching her. He wasn’t sure what he’d been before he started watching her. He lived in a single, glistening moment, and she was its center. 

He saw her first in a snowstorm, he thought. Yes. It was cold, faintly windy, and tiny flakes of snow flurried about without seeming to touch the bright carpet of leaves. She stood poised on her toes, her tiny black boots crunching on the cool ground. She was frozen in a moment of delighted laughter. He floated gently around her, and her laughter continued as a shape appeared behind her. Then another. Then a third.

Three familiars, brothers, twined between her legs. Black, white, and orange formed a twisted spiral around her, and she looked enticingly otherworldly. Then she tripped. One of the cats made a noise, almost a laugh. She laughed with it, lying on her back and pulling one close. Eventually she stood up. She pulled off her boots and ran barefoot across the freezing grass, laughing with a joy too wild and powerful to be kept inside her tiny body. In that moment, he thought she must be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She grinned up at the falling snow, and the moment faded to black.

Another replaced it. It was different, but he couldn’t say just how, except that he knew it was a moment created over hundreds of hours. She sat, knees pulled up tightly to her chest, a book filling her tiny arms. The title blurred, and the cover seemed to change colors. The girl seemed to change as well, her outfit shifting and her hair changing lengths. She laughed as she read, or perhaps she was crying. He couldn’t quite tell. Maybe it was both. 

From down the hall, there were footsteps. “Luci,” a voice called warningly. He flinched at it almost at the same time she did. She scrambled to turn off her lights and ducked under the covers. From the hallway, there was laughter, then the footsteps faded. But after a few minutes, she started to tremble. She tossed and turned for a few desperate minutes, then gave in and pulled out a flashlight, picking her book back up. That calmed her. It was the dead of night when she finally shut her book. This time, she slipped into sleep easily, calmly. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before all faded to black once more.

“I’m Luci,” a voice suddenly said in his ear. He jumped, turning, but she wasn’t speaking to him. She was on a playground, squatting next to a girl who was tugging at the grass. “What’s your name?”

The new girl looked up at Luci. “My mom said not to play with you.” Then she turned away. Luci was frozen only for a moment, and then she left, bravely walking onward until she found a place alone. She sat right down in the grass and began to cry. 

Darkness.

She snipped flower petals into a thin glass vase, mixing them with sand and pebbles and the occasional snail shell. Her potion completed, she smiled and brought it inside to her mother, leaving three cats to call to her from outside the door.

Darkness.

Luci pulled bricks out of the garden path and built herself a shop. Not a big one, but just enough that she could put different things in each of her little boxes. This one was filled with tiny rocks, that one with rose buds. One held a chicken egg, carefully positioned in a nest of grass. Another held a pile of leaves and pine needles. And one held her greatest treasure; a large snake she’d caught and boxed in. She surveyed her merchandise, then hurried off to find customers in the form of her parents and siblings. When she returned, the snake was gone.

Darkness.

Luci had climbed out her window and onto her roof. She carried a book under her arm. She carefully pulled herself over the peak and back down, into a little alcove where she was sheltered on all sides. She opened her book, winked to the stars, and began to read dangerous poems to the full moon.

Darkness.

Luci was crying.

Darkness.

Luci was laughing.

Darkness.

Luci sang. He couldn’t move for the beauty of her high, clear voice. She climbed trees and let her voice break free where none but the birds could hear her, and even they stopped chirping for jealousy. He watched her work through her repertoire, singing every song she knew again and again until she made up her own. 

Darkness.

She dressed up as a snail for Halloween. It made him laugh.

Darkness.

He watched her grow older. As she grew, he was aware that he was getting older too. It was a strange feeling, as if his mind was slowly becoming more and more aware. Painfully aware. Aware enough to understand what was happening when her mother swerved desperately as snow cascaded off the mountains and onto the road. Aware enough to know that it would do no good. Aware enough to watch every person on the road struggle to escape their cars, to make it to the surface before the avalanche stole their last breaths.

Darkness.

Luci passed through the funeral in a new wheeled chair. She stared at the three caskets that sat open, displayed like wares before patrons who thought to buy them with their tears. She let her father push her away from the family they’d once had, and she began to cry, raw and ugly and loud enough that the people who didn’t seem to notice became terrible liars. Her father knelt next to her, his arm in a sling. He wrapped the other one around her. 

“I don’t want to be alive,” Luci whispered. “I don’t want to be alive anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” her father said firmly. “Don’t.”

She sniffed, shaking. “I-it’s so much harder to be alive without them. I want to go home, Dad. I want to go home and I want them to be there waiting and I want everything to be okay.”

Darkness.

Luci didn’t sing any longer.

Darkness.

Luci stopped laughing. She kept what little of it there was trapped inside her, as if by hiding it where no one could find it it would be hers forever.

Darkness.

Her father pulled a warm chocolate cake from the oven. Luci sat in her chair and watched him frost it, then helped him stick the candles in, one at a time. 19 candles. The number of years old her sister should have been. Her father’s hand shook. Luci started to cry. But, slowly, they tried to smile. Shyly, at first. It was dangerous to feel joy. But, slowly, they ate their cake, and laughed and told stories each thought the other had forgotten.

Darkness.

It was snowing. He watched the snowstorm out the same window she did. A tall man was talking at the front of the room, gesturing to symbols and words that Luci didn’t care about. She cared about the snow, and he floated towards it, entranced by the flakes that fell so slowly, so silently. 

The door to the room slammed open, and a young man stood there. A young man the watching spirit knew far too well. His eyes were wild and his face was sweaty. His arm was shaking, pointing a gun towards the teacher Luci had ignored so easily. One child screamed, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all screaming in a terrible cacophony of sound. Luci didn’t scream. The children stood and ran. Luci couldn’t run, and her chair was so slow…

Darkness.

Super excited for you guys to see the rest of this…let me know what you think, and let me know if there are places that you feel are weak (I don’t need to know how to change them, just the places you think need it) thanks!!

[Weaver of Lies]

10 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Okay I didn’t finish the scene I wanted to tonight, but that’s because I got a really good idea so it’ll be a lot longer than I originally planned.

But the first little bit has a good stopping place, so here’s the beginning! I’m super excited about this, I hope you guys enjoy it too. Once it’s all finished I’ll DEFINITELY be wanting feedback, though.

Ripping At Our Seams (1)

  Hide contents

He wasn’t sure when he started watching her. He wasn’t sure what he’d been before he started watching her. He lived in a single, glistening moment, and she was its center. 

He saw her first in a snowstorm, he thought. Yes. It was cold, faintly windy, and tiny flakes of snow flurried about without seeming to touch the bright carpet of leaves. She stood poised on her toes, her tiny black boots crunching on the cool ground. She was frozen in a moment of delighted laughter. He floated gently around her, and her laughter continued as a shape appeared behind her. Then another. Then a third.

Three familiars, brothers, twined between her legs. Black, white, and orange formed a twisted spiral around her, and she looked enticingly otherworldly. Then she tripped. One of the cats made a noise, almost a laugh. She laughed with it, lying on her back and pulling one close. Eventually she stood up. She pulled off her boots and ran barefoot across the freezing grass, laughing with a joy too wild and powerful to be kept inside her tiny body. In that moment, he thought she must be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She grinned up at the falling snow, and the moment faded to black.

Another replaced it. It was different, but he couldn’t say just how, except that he knew it was a moment created over hundreds of hours. She sat, knees pulled up tightly to her chest, a book filling her tiny arms. The title blurred, and the cover seemed to change colors. The girl seemed to change as well, her outfit shifting and her hair changing lengths. She laughed as she read, or perhaps she was crying. He couldn’t quite tell. Maybe it was both. 

From down the hall, there were footsteps. “Luci,” a voice called warningly. He flinched at it almost at the same time she did. She scrambled to turn off her lights and ducked under the covers. From the hallway, there was laughter, then the footsteps faded. But after a few minutes, she started to tremble. She tossed and turned for a few desperate minutes, then gave in and pulled out a flashlight, picking her book back up. That calmed her. It was the dead of night when she finally shut her book. This time, she slipped into sleep easily, calmly. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before all faded to black once more.

“I’m Luci,” a voice suddenly said in his ear. He jumped, turning, but she wasn’t speaking to him. She was on a playground, squatting next to a girl who was tugging at the grass. “What’s your name?”

The new girl looked up at Luci. “My mom said not to play with you.” Then she turned away. Luci was frozen only for a moment, and then she left, bravely walking onward until she found a place alone. She sat right down in the grass and began to cry. 

Darkness.

She snipped flower petals into a thin glass vase, mixing them with sand and pebbles and the occasional snail shell. Her potion completed, she smiled and brought it inside to her mother, leaving three cats to call to her from outside the door.

Darkness.

Luci pulled bricks out of the garden path and built herself a shop. Not a big one, but just enough that she could put different things in each of her little boxes. This one was filled with tiny rocks, that one with rose buds. One held a chicken egg, carefully positioned in a nest of grass. Another held a pile of leaves and pine needles. And one held her greatest treasure; a large snake she’d caught and boxed in. She surveyed her merchandise, then hurried off to find customers in the form of her parents and siblings. When she returned, the snake was gone.

Darkness.

Luci had climbed out her window and onto her roof. She carried a book under her arm. She carefully pulled herself over the peak and back down, into a little alcove where she was sheltered on all sides. She opened her book, winked to the stars, and began to read dangerous poems to the full moon.

Darkness.

Luci was crying.

Darkness.

Luci was laughing.

Darkness.

Luci sang. He couldn’t move for the beauty of her high, clear voice. She climbed trees and let her voice break free where none but the birds could hear her, and even they stopped chirping for jealousy. He watched her work through her repertoire, singing every song she knew again and again until she made up her own. 

Darkness.

She dressed up as a snail for Halloween. It made him laugh.

Darkness.

He watched her grow older. As she grew, he was aware that he was getting older too. It was a strange feeling, as if his mind was slowly becoming more and more aware. Painfully aware. Aware enough to understand what was happening when her mother swerved desperately as snow cascaded off the mountains and onto the road. Aware enough to know that it would do no good. Aware enough to watch every person on the road struggle to escape their cars, to make it to the surface before the avalanche stole their last breaths.

Darkness.

Luci passed through the funeral in a new wheeled chair. She stared at the three caskets that sat open, displayed like wares before patrons who thought to buy them with their tears. She let her father push her away from the family they’d once had, and she began to cry, raw and ugly and loud enough that the people who didn’t seem to notice became terrible liars. Her father knelt next to her, his arm in a sling. He wrapped the other one around her. 

“I don’t want to be alive,” Luci whispered. “I don’t want to be alive anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” her father said firmly. “Don’t.”

She sniffed, shaking. “I-it’s so much harder to be alive without them. I want to go home, Dad. I want to go home and I want them to be there waiting and I want everything to be okay.”

Darkness.

Luci didn’t sing any longer.

Darkness.

Luci stopped laughing. She kept what little of it there was trapped inside her, as if by hiding it where no one could find it it would be hers forever.

Darkness.

Her father pulled a warm chocolate cake from the oven. Luci sat in her chair and watched him frost it, then helped him stick the candles in, one at a time. 19 candles. The number of years old her sister should have been. Her father’s hand shook. Luci started to cry. But, slowly, they tried to smile. Shyly, at first. It was dangerous to feel joy. But, slowly, they ate their cake, and laughed and told stories each thought the other had forgotten.

Darkness.

It was snowing. He watched the snowstorm out the same window she did. A tall man was talking at the front of the room, gesturing to symbols and words that Luci didn’t care about. She cared about the snow, and he floated towards it, entranced by the flakes that fell so slowly, so silently. 

The door to the room slammed open, and a young man stood there. A young man the watching spirit knew far too well. His eyes were wild and his face was sweaty. His arm was shaking, pointing a gun towards the teacher Luci had ignored so easily. One child screamed, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all screaming in a terrible cacophony of sound. Luci didn’t scream. The children stood and ran. Luci couldn’t run, and her chair was so slow…

Darkness.

Super excited for you guys to see the rest of this…let me know what you think, and let me know if there are places that you feel are weak (I don’t need to know how to change them, just the places you think need it) thanks!!

Wow, that was incredible!

[WhyEverNot_8]

13 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Okay I didn’t finish the scene I wanted to tonight, but that’s because I got a really good idea so it’ll be a lot longer than I originally planned.

But the first little bit has a good stopping place, so here’s the beginning! I’m super excited about this, I hope you guys enjoy it too. Once it’s all finished I’ll DEFINITELY be wanting feedback, though.

Ripping At Our Seams (1)

  Hide contents

He wasn’t sure when he started watching her. He wasn’t sure what he’d been before he started watching her. He lived in a single, glistening moment, and she was its center. 

He saw her first in a snowstorm, he thought. Yes. It was cold, faintly windy, and tiny flakes of snow flurried about without seeming to touch the bright carpet of leaves. She stood poised on her toes, her tiny black boots crunching on the cool ground. She was frozen in a moment of delighted laughter. He floated gently around her, and her laughter continued as a shape appeared behind her. Then another. Then a third.

Three familiars, brothers, twined between her legs. Black, white, and orange formed a twisted spiral around her, and she looked enticingly otherworldly. Then she tripped. One of the cats made a noise, almost a laugh. She laughed with it, lying on her back and pulling one close. Eventually she stood up. She pulled off her boots and ran barefoot across the freezing grass, laughing with a joy too wild and powerful to be kept inside her tiny body. In that moment, he thought she must be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She grinned up at the falling snow, and the moment faded to black.

Another replaced it. It was different, but he couldn’t say just how, except that he knew it was a moment created over hundreds of hours. She sat, knees pulled up tightly to her chest, a book filling her tiny arms. The title blurred, and the cover seemed to change colors. The girl seemed to change as well, her outfit shifting and her hair changing lengths. She laughed as she read, or perhaps she was crying. He couldn’t quite tell. Maybe it was both. 

From down the hall, there were footsteps. “Luci,” a voice called warningly. He flinched at it almost at the same time she did. She scrambled to turn off her lights and ducked under the covers. From the hallway, there was laughter, then the footsteps faded. But after a few minutes, she started to tremble. She tossed and turned for a few desperate minutes, then gave in and pulled out a flashlight, picking her book back up. That calmed her. It was the dead of night when she finally shut her book. This time, she slipped into sleep easily, calmly. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before all faded to black once more.

“I’m Luci,” a voice suddenly said in his ear. He jumped, turning, but she wasn’t speaking to him. She was on a playground, squatting next to a girl who was tugging at the grass. “What’s your name?”

The new girl looked up at Luci. “My mom said not to play with you.” Then she turned away. Luci was frozen only for a moment, and then she left, bravely walking onward until she found a place alone. She sat right down in the grass and began to cry. 

Darkness.

She snipped flower petals into a thin glass vase, mixing them with sand and pebbles and the occasional snail shell. Her potion completed, she smiled and brought it inside to her mother, leaving three cats to call to her from outside the door.

Darkness.

Luci pulled bricks out of the garden path and built herself a shop. Not a big one, but just enough that she could put different things in each of her little boxes. This one was filled with tiny rocks, that one with rose buds. One held a chicken egg, carefully positioned in a nest of grass. Another held a pile of leaves and pine needles. And one held her greatest treasure; a large snake she’d caught and boxed in. She surveyed her merchandise, then hurried off to find customers in the form of her parents and siblings. When she returned, the snake was gone.

Darkness.

Luci had climbed out her window and onto her roof. She carried a book under her arm. She carefully pulled herself over the peak and back down, into a little alcove where she was sheltered on all sides. She opened her book, winked to the stars, and began to read dangerous poems to the full moon.

Darkness.

Luci was crying.

Darkness.

Luci was laughing.

Darkness.

Luci sang. He couldn’t move for the beauty of her high, clear voice. She climbed trees and let her voice break free where none but the birds could hear her, and even they stopped chirping for jealousy. He watched her work through her repertoire, singing every song she knew again and again until she made up her own. 

Darkness.

She dressed up as a snail for Halloween. It made him laugh.

Darkness.

He watched her grow older. As she grew, he was aware that he was getting older too. It was a strange feeling, as if his mind was slowly becoming more and more aware. Painfully aware. Aware enough to understand what was happening when her mother swerved desperately as snow cascaded off the mountains and onto the road. Aware enough to know that it would do no good. Aware enough to watch every person on the road struggle to escape their cars, to make it to the surface before the avalanche stole their last breaths.

Darkness.

Luci passed through the funeral in a new wheeled chair. She stared at the three caskets that sat open, displayed like wares before patrons who thought to buy them with their tears. She let her father push her away from the family they’d once had, and she began to cry, raw and ugly and loud enough that the people who didn’t seem to notice became terrible liars. Her father knelt next to her, his arm in a sling. He wrapped the other one around her. 

“I don’t want to be alive,” Luci whispered. “I don’t want to be alive anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” her father said firmly. “Don’t.”

She sniffed, shaking. “I-it’s so much harder to be alive without them. I want to go home, Dad. I want to go home and I want them to be there waiting and I want everything to be okay.”

Darkness.

Luci didn’t sing any longer.

Darkness.

Luci stopped laughing. She kept what little of it there was trapped inside her, as if by hiding it where no one could find it it would be hers forever.

Darkness.

Her father pulled a warm chocolate cake from the oven. Luci sat in her chair and watched him frost it, then helped him stick the candles in, one at a time. 19 candles. The number of years old her sister should have been. Her father’s hand shook. Luci started to cry. But, slowly, they tried to smile. Shyly, at first. It was dangerous to feel joy. But, slowly, they ate their cake, and laughed and told stories each thought the other had forgotten.

Darkness.

It was snowing. He watched the snowstorm out the same window she did. A tall man was talking at the front of the room, gesturing to symbols and words that Luci didn’t care about. She cared about the snow, and he floated towards it, entranced by the flakes that fell so slowly, so silently. 

The door to the room slammed open, and a young man stood there. A young man the watching spirit knew far too well. His eyes were wild and his face was sweaty. His arm was shaking, pointing a gun towards the teacher Luci had ignored so easily. One child screamed, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all screaming in a terrible cacophony of sound. Luci didn’t scream. The children stood and ran. Luci couldn’t run, and her chair was so slow…

Darkness.

Super excited for you guys to see the rest of this…let me know what you think, and let me know if there are places that you feel are weak (I don’t need to know how to change them, just the places you think need it) thanks!!

Holy guacamole!

Eddie it’s awesome! I’m excited to see more

[Wierdo]

14 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Okay I didn’t finish the scene I wanted to tonight, but that’s because I got a really good idea so it’ll be a lot longer than I originally planned.

But the first little bit has a good stopping place, so here’s the beginning! I’m super excited about this, I hope you guys enjoy it too. Once it’s all finished I’ll DEFINITELY be wanting feedback, though.

Ripping At Our Seams (1)

  Hide contents

He wasn’t sure when he started watching her. He wasn’t sure what he’d been before he started watching her. He lived in a single, glistening moment, and she was its center. 

He saw her first in a snowstorm, he thought. Yes. It was cold, faintly windy, and tiny flakes of snow flurried about without seeming to touch the bright carpet of leaves. She stood poised on her toes, her tiny black boots crunching on the cool ground. She was frozen in a moment of delighted laughter. He floated gently around her, and her laughter continued as a shape appeared behind her. Then another. Then a third.

Three familiars, brothers, twined between her legs. Black, white, and orange formed a twisted spiral around her, and she looked enticingly otherworldly. Then she tripped. One of the cats made a noise, almost a laugh. She laughed with it, lying on her back and pulling one close. Eventually she stood up. She pulled off her boots and ran barefoot across the freezing grass, laughing with a joy too wild and powerful to be kept inside her tiny body. In that moment, he thought she must be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She grinned up at the falling snow, and the moment faded to black.

Another replaced it. It was different, but he couldn’t say just how, except that he knew it was a moment created over hundreds of hours. She sat, knees pulled up tightly to her chest, a book filling her tiny arms. The title blurred, and the cover seemed to change colors. The girl seemed to change as well, her outfit shifting and her hair changing lengths. She laughed as she read, or perhaps she was crying. He couldn’t quite tell. Maybe it was both. 

From down the hall, there were footsteps. “Luci,” a voice called warningly. He flinched at it almost at the same time she did. She scrambled to turn off her lights and ducked under the covers. From the hallway, there was laughter, then the footsteps faded. But after a few minutes, she started to tremble. She tossed and turned for a few desperate minutes, then gave in and pulled out a flashlight, picking her book back up. That calmed her. It was the dead of night when she finally shut her book. This time, she slipped into sleep easily, calmly. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before all faded to black once more.

“I’m Luci,” a voice suddenly said in his ear. He jumped, turning, but she wasn’t speaking to him. She was on a playground, squatting next to a girl who was tugging at the grass. “What’s your name?”

The new girl looked up at Luci. “My mom said not to play with you.” Then she turned away. Luci was frozen only for a moment, and then she left, bravely walking onward until she found a place alone. She sat right down in the grass and began to cry. 

Darkness.

She snipped flower petals into a thin glass vase, mixing them with sand and pebbles and the occasional snail shell. Her potion completed, she smiled and brought it inside to her mother, leaving three cats to call to her from outside the door.

Darkness.

Luci pulled bricks out of the garden path and built herself a shop. Not a big one, but just enough that she could put different things in each of her little boxes. This one was filled with tiny rocks, that one with rose buds. One held a chicken egg, carefully positioned in a nest of grass. Another held a pile of leaves and pine needles. And one held her greatest treasure; a large snake she’d caught and boxed in. She surveyed her merchandise, then hurried off to find customers in the form of her parents and siblings. When she returned, the snake was gone.

Darkness.

Luci had climbed out her window and onto her roof. She carried a book under her arm. She carefully pulled herself over the peak and back down, into a little alcove where she was sheltered on all sides. She opened her book, winked to the stars, and began to read dangerous poems to the full moon.

Darkness.

Luci was crying.

Darkness.

Luci was laughing.

Darkness.

Luci sang. He couldn’t move for the beauty of her high, clear voice. She climbed trees and let her voice break free where none but the birds could hear her, and even they stopped chirping for jealousy. He watched her work through her repertoire, singing every song she knew again and again until she made up her own. 

Darkness.

She dressed up as a snail for Halloween. It made him laugh.

Darkness.

He watched her grow older. As she grew, he was aware that he was getting older too. It was a strange feeling, as if his mind was slowly becoming more and more aware. Painfully aware. Aware enough to understand what was happening when her mother swerved desperately as snow cascaded off the mountains and onto the road. Aware enough to know that it would do no good. Aware enough to watch every person on the road struggle to escape their cars, to make it to the surface before the avalanche stole their last breaths.

Darkness.

Luci passed through the funeral in a new wheeled chair. She stared at the three caskets that sat open, displayed like wares before patrons who thought to buy them with their tears. She let her father push her away from the family they’d once had, and she began to cry, raw and ugly and loud enough that the people who didn’t seem to notice became terrible liars. Her father knelt next to her, his arm in a sling. He wrapped the other one around her. 

“I don’t want to be alive,” Luci whispered. “I don’t want to be alive anymore.”

“Don’t say that,” her father said firmly. “Don’t.”

She sniffed, shaking. “I-it’s so much harder to be alive without them. I want to go home, Dad. I want to go home and I want them to be there waiting and I want everything to be okay.”

Darkness.

Luci didn’t sing any longer.

Darkness.

Luci stopped laughing. She kept what little of it there was trapped inside her, as if by hiding it where no one could find it it would be hers forever.

Darkness.

Her father pulled a warm chocolate cake from the oven. Luci sat in her chair and watched him frost it, then helped him stick the candles in, one at a time. 19 candles. The number of years old her sister should have been. Her father’s hand shook. Luci started to cry. But, slowly, they tried to smile. Shyly, at first. It was dangerous to feel joy. But, slowly, they ate their cake, and laughed and told stories each thought the other had forgotten.

Darkness.

It was snowing. He watched the snowstorm out the same window she did. A tall man was talking at the front of the room, gesturing to symbols and words that Luci didn’t care about. She cared about the snow, and he floated towards it, entranced by the flakes that fell so slowly, so silently. 

The door to the room slammed open, and a young man stood there. A young man the watching spirit knew far too well. His eyes were wild and his face was sweaty. His arm was shaking, pointing a gun towards the teacher Luci had ignored so easily. One child screamed, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all screaming in a terrible cacophony of sound. Luci didn’t scream. The children stood and ran. Luci couldn’t run, and her chair was so slow…

Darkness.

Super excited for you guys to see the rest of this…let me know what you think, and let me know if there are places that you feel are weak (I don’t need to know how to change them, just the places you think need it) thanks!!

I... that made me tear up-
(When's my death scene!?)

[Edema Rue]

4 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

Wow, that was incredible!

 

2 hours ago, WhyEverNot_8 said:

Holy guacamole!

Eddie it’s awesome! I’m excited to see more

 

51 minutes ago, Wierdo said:

I... that made me tear up-
(When's my death scene!?)

*starts singing just you wait from Hamilton*

Thank you guys so much!! I have a plan…I’m not sure if it’ll work…but if it fails, it’ll be the most spectacular failure you’ve ever seen. 

[Edema Rue]

Ripping At Our Seams (2):

Spoiler

She wasn’t sure when she started watching him. She wasn’t sure what she’d been before she started watching him. She lived in a single, glistening moment, and he was at its center.

She saw him first in a huge room. It was stacked with boxes, and he was standing in its center, looking around unsurely. There was a glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a staircase curved up to an elegant balcony. That was a good word for it, she decided. Elegant. He was frozen in a moment of shock, and she floated closer curiously. He’d just begun to tremble when a tall woman with perfectly curled hair appeared in the large doorway. 

“Aaron,” she called, “go find your room. It’s up the stairs, third door on the left.”

The boy walked numbly up the stairs, hesitating when he reached the top. The carpet looked too nice to walk on. He glanced back, then kept walking. The room was empty, but she gasped anyway. It was far too nice for a little boy. 

He meandered towards the window. It was snowing outside. He shivered and reached for curtains that weren’t there. Then he, and everything else, faded to darkness.

She blinked, confused, and when she opened her eyes the world was bright again. He was in the same room, but now it had a bed, curtains, a dresser, a bookshelf. All were delicately crafted, and looked as if they cost more money than this boy had ever seen in his life…Aaron was hacking at the bedframe with a tiny pocketknife. She frowned. 

The woman from before opened the door without knocking. She saw the boy and her expression darkened. “Aaron,” she said warningly. He looked up and glared at her. “Give it to me.” Slowly, he handed it to her. As soon as it touched her hand, she snatched it away and tucked it into a pocket. “Who gave it to you?”

Aaron looked at the floor. “Siel,” he muttered.

The woman cursed. “I told you to stay away from her.”

Aaron looked back up at her, meeting her eyes with a glare. “It’s not my fault! Dad told her to watch me.” 

The woman cursed again. “I will speak to him.” She crouched until she was the same level as the boy. “But you listen here,” she said. “You obey me, not that idiot of a man.”

“Why should I?” Aaron snapped.

Her eyes widened. “What did you say to me?”

He trembled, but stuck his chin out defiantly. “Why should I? You’re not even my mom.”

“Your mother is dead,” the woman hissed. “And even if she were alive, your father knows better than to marry someone like that.”

“He should have known better than to marry someone like you,” Aaron muttered quietly. Not quietly enough. The woman hit him so quickly that the watching spirit didn’t see it, only saw Aaron recoil and hold his hand up to his face. He started to cry.

“Stay in here,” the woman said coldly, “until I return for you.”

Then it was dark.

Now Aaron was sitting on a stiff gray couch. She floated closer, wondering if she could speak to him, when she heard a door shut behind her. A man with thick brown hair and a long beard stepped in. He had the boy’s eyes. 

Aaron looked shocked. “Dad!” He said, leaping to his feet. 

“Sit down, son,” the man said. He wasn’t smiling. Slowly, Aaron did. “You have a responsibility, Aaron. To me. To our business. To your mother.”

“She’s not—”

“You are to respect her!” The boy’s father shouted. “Do you understand?”

“But she says such mean things about you,” Aaron whispered. His father’s face softened.

“Do you know why I married her?” Aaron shook his head. “Well, it isn’t because she loves me. And it isn’t because I love her. I don’t love her, not like I did your mother. But marrying her keeps our family safe.” 

Aaron frowned. “Safe from who?”

“From her family.”

Darkness. 

Aaron was always surrounded by people. Teachers, family, his father’s colleagues, nurses. But no friends. Never friends. Today he sat at a table, struggling to shuffle a deck of cards. 

“This is stupid,” he muttered. “Why do I have to do this?”

An older boy, perhaps 17, laughed. “Your father’s very important. Do you know how it’ll look if his oldest son can’t even cheat properly? Try again.”

Darkness.

Aaron was in an alley, struggling against someone in a dark hoodie.

Darkness.

He was sitting next to a beautiful girl, his cheeks faintly red. The spirit snickered as they struggled to converse.

Darkness.

Aaron was at an auction. He sat next to his father and stepmother. 

“They’re here,” his father muttered. “Checkmate.”

Aaron’s eyes snapped to the entrance, where several people were entering…including the beautiful girl. He stood up. 

His stepmother laughed lightly. “Sit down, Aaron. You don’t need to pretend for her anymore. They’re done for.”

“You can’t–”

“We can,” His father said sharply, “and we will. Now sit. You’re making a scene.”

Aaron gave him a cold glance and walked across the room. “Audrey,” he murmured to the girl. “Come with me.” She looked at her parents, then winked and followed him out into a small side hallway. 

“What?” She asked, sounding annoyed. “Aaron, I know it was fake. You don’t have to apologize or anything, that’s just the way our world is.” 

Aaron grimaced. “I’m not here to apologize, though I’d like to do that too. Listen, Audrey.” He licked his lips. “You need to leave. My dad’s going to get rid of your whole family. I don’t know how but he’s going to do it tonight.”

She blinked, understanding. “You’re trying to get rid of us,” she said. “You want us out of the auction and out of the underworld.”

Aaron looked at her, shocked. “No, wha–no!”

“Why would you tell me?” Audrey shot back. “If this was real, then why would you tell your enemy? And don’t say because we were together. That was fake, and we both knew it.”

“Well maybe it wasn’t,” Aaron said, louder than he meant to. “Maybe it was more than that to me.”

Audrey blinked. For the first time, she looked caught off guard. Then she shook her head, disgusted. “Oh, you’re good,” she mumbled. “Very good. Nice move.”

Aaron hit her then. The spirit who watched flinched back. He looked faintly familiar in that moment, his face all twisted with rage he couldn’t contain. Audrey gasped, then turned and walked firmly back into the auction, chin held high. “Fine!” Aaron called after her. “I hope you die with the rest of them.”

He turned and ran outside, climbing into his car. He gasped for breath, then carefully pulled out his phone. 911. Three digits the spirit had seen him warned never to call. 

“There’s an auction,” he said into the phone. “Tons of illegal activity.” He carefully filled them in on the address, the details, anything else they wanted to know. Then he hung up and started to drive. He drove for a long time, through the city and fields. 

Then, abruptly, there was darkness.

He was in a parking lot. A parking lot she recognized. He muttered several words that made the spirit wince. 

“Why not,” he finally said, laughing darkly. “Why not. They’re all gone, they’ll kill me if they find me. Might as well go out with a bang, right? Might as well finally make someone hurt the way they deserve to…”

He pulled something from under his seat. A slim black handgun. Then a second, which he tucked into a bag. And a third. 

Grinning, he walked into the school.

He opened the first door he saw. A scream answered him, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all mixing in a terrible cacophony of sound. One girl didn’t scream. The children started to run, to panic, to hide. The girl who did not scream struggled to turn her bulky wheelchair. 

A shot rang out. 

Another. 

Another. 

Aaron had killed before. He’d seen blood smeared on stone in dirty alleys. He'd killed people he'd called friends. But this country school knew nothing of death. These spoiled children knew nothing of his world, and with his envy their blood trickled slowly across the clean white tiles. 

He stormed through the classrooms, leaving a sticky trail of red behind him.

Should he be feeling guilt?

Should he be feeling numb?

Certainly he shouldn’t be feeling this good. 

This…

Alive.

Another shot. 

Another life. 

It was over so much faster than he expected. 

All at once, he had one bullet left. He opened a new door. Children were huddled in a corner behind a pile of mismatched desks. 

He grinned at them.

Placed the gun to his head. 

Darkness.

Spoiler

Don't worry, there's a part 3 coming.

 

[Wierdo]

23 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

Ripping At Our Seams (2):

  Hide contents

She wasn’t sure when she started watching him. She wasn’t sure what she’d been before she started watching him. She lived in a single, glistening moment, and he was at its center.

She saw him first in a huge room. It was stacked with boxes, and he was standing in its center, looking around unsurely. There was a glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a staircase curved up to an elegant balcony. That was a good word for it, she decided. Elegant. He was frozen in a moment of shock, and she floated closer curiously. He’d just begun to tremble when a tall woman with perfectly curled hair appeared in the large doorway. 

“Aaron,” she called, “go find your room. It’s up the stairs, third door on the left.”

The boy walked numbly up the stairs, hesitating when he reached the top. The carpet looked too nice to walk on. He glanced back, then kept walking. The room was empty, but she gasped anyway. It was far too nice for a little boy. 

He meandered towards the window. It was snowing outside. He shivered and reached for curtains that weren’t there. Then he, and everything else, faded to darkness.

She blinked, confused, and when she opened her eyes the world was bright again. He was in the same room, but now it had a bed, curtains, a dresser, a bookshelf. All were delicately crafted, and looked as if they cost more money than this boy had ever seen in his life…Aaron was hacking at the bedframe with a tiny pocketknife. She frowned. 

The woman from before opened the door without knocking. She saw the boy and her expression darkened. “Aaron,” she said warningly. He looked up and glared at her. “Give it to me.” Slowly, he handed it to her. As soon as it touched her hand, she snatched it away and tucked it into a pocket. “Who gave it to you?”

Aaron looked at the floor. “Siel,” he muttered.

The woman cursed. “I told you to stay away from her.”

Aaron looked back up at her, meeting her eyes with a glare. “It’s not my fault! Dad told her to watch me.” 

The woman cursed again. “I will speak to him.” She crouched until she was the same level as the boy. “But you listen here,” she said. “You obey me, not that idiot of a man.”

“Why should I?” Aaron snapped.

Her eyes widened. “What did you say to me?”

He trembled, but stuck his chin out defiantly. “Why should I? You’re not even my mom.”

“Your mother is dead,” the woman hissed. “And even if she were alive, your father knows better than to marry someone like that.”

“He should have known better than to marry someone like you,” Aaron muttered quietly. Not quietly enough. The woman hit him so quickly that the watching spirit didn’t see it, only saw Aaron recoil and hold his hand up to his face. He started to cry.

“Stay in here,” the woman said coldly, “until I return for you.”

Then it was dark.

Now Aaron was sitting on a stiff gray couch. She floated closer, wondering if she could speak to him, when she heard a door shut behind her. A man with thick brown hair and a long beard stepped in. He had the boy’s eyes. 

Aaron looked shocked. “Dad!” He said, leaping to his feet. 

“Sit down, son,” the man said. He wasn’t smiling. Slowly, Aaron did. “You have a responsibility, Aaron. To me. To our business. To your mother.”

“She’s not—”

“You are to respect her!” The boy’s father shouted. “Do you understand?”

“But she says such mean things about you,” Aaron whispered. His father’s face softened.

“Do you know why I married her?” Aaron shook his head. “Well, it isn’t because she loves me. And it isn’t because I love her. I don’t love her, not like I did your mother. But marrying her keeps our family safe.” 

Aaron frowned. “Safe from who?”

“From her family.”

Darkness. 

Aaron was always surrounded by people. Teachers, family, his father’s colleagues, nurses. But no friends. Never friends. Today he sat at a table, struggling to shuffle a deck of cards. 

“This is stupid,” he muttered. “Why do I have to do this?”

An older boy, perhaps 17, laughed. “Your father’s very important. Do you know how it’ll look if his oldest son can’t even cheat properly? Try again.”

Darkness.

Aaron was in an alley, struggling against someone in a dark hoodie.

Darkness.

He was sitting next to a beautiful girl, his cheeks faintly red. The spirit snickered as they struggled to converse.

Darkness.

Aaron was at an auction. He sat next to his father and stepmother. 

“They’re here,” his father muttered. “Checkmate.”

Aaron’s eyes snapped to the entrance, where several people were entering…including the beautiful girl. He stood up. 

His stepmother laughed lightly. “Sit down, Aaron. You don’t need to pretend for her anymore. They’re done for.”

“You can’t–”

“We can,” His father said sharply, “and we will. Now sit. You’re making a scene.”

Aaron gave him a cold glance and walked across the room. “Audrey,” he murmured to the girl. “Come with me.” She looked at her parents, then winked and followed him out into a small side hallway. 

“What?” She asked, sounding annoyed. “Aaron, I know it was fake. You don’t have to apologize or anything, that’s just the way our world is.” 

Aaron grimaced. “I’m not here to apologize, though I’d like to do that too. Listen, Audrey.” He licked his lips. “You need to leave. My dad’s going to get rid of your whole family. I don’t know how but he’s going to do it tonight.”

She blinked, understanding. “You’re trying to get rid of us,” she said. “You want us out of the auction and out of the underworld.”

Aaron looked at her, shocked. “No, wha–no!”

“Why would you tell me?” Audrey shot back. “If this was real, then why would you tell your enemy? And don’t say because we were together. That was fake, and we both knew it.”

“Well maybe it wasn’t,” Aaron said, louder than he meant to. “Maybe it was more than that to me.”

Audrey blinked. For the first time, she looked caught off guard. Then she shook her head, disgusted. “Oh, you’re good,” she mumbled. “Very good. Nice move.”

Aaron hit her then. The spirit who watched flinched back. He looked faintly familiar in that moment, his face all twisted with rage he couldn’t contain. Audrey gasped, then turned and walked firmly back into the auction, chin held high. “Fine!” Aaron called after her. “I hope you die with the rest of them.”

He turned and ran outside, climbing into his car. He gasped for breath, then carefully pulled out his phone. 911. Three digits the spirit had seen him warned never to call. 

“There’s an auction,” he said into the phone. “Tons of illegal activity.” He carefully filled them in on the address, the details, anything else they wanted to know. Then he hung up and started to drive. He drove for a long time, through the city and fields. 

Then, abruptly, there was darkness.

He was in a parking lot. A parking lot she recognized. He muttered several words that made the spirit wince. 

“Why not,” he finally said, laughing darkly. “Why not. They’re all gone, they’ll kill me if they find me. Might as well go out with a bang, right? Might as well finally make someone hurt the way they deserve to…”

He pulled something from under his seat. A slim black handgun. Then a second, which he tucked into a bag. And a third. 

Grinning, he walked into the school.

He opened the first door he saw. A scream answered him, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all mixing in a terrible cacophony of sound. One girl didn’t scream. The children started to run, to panic, to hide. The girl who did not scream struggled to turn her bulky wheelchair. 

A shot rang out. 

Another. 

Another. 

Aaron had killed before. He’d seen blood smeared on stone in dirty alleys. He'd killed people he'd called friends. But this country school knew nothing of death. These spoiled children knew nothing of his world, and with his envy their blood trickled slowly across the clean white tiles. 

He stormed through the classrooms, leaving a sticky trail of red behind him.

Should he be feeling guilt?

Should he be feeling numb?

Certainly he shouldn’t be feeling this good. 

This…

Alive.

Another shot. 

Another life. 

It was over so much faster than he expected. 

All at once, he had one bullet left. He opened a new door. Children were huddled in a corner behind a pile of mismatched desks. 

He grinned at them.

Placed the gun to his head. 

Darkness.

  Hide contents

Don't worry, there's a part 3 coming.

 

I.. HOLY COW- 

[Weaver of Lies]

36 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

Ripping At Our Seams (2):

  Hide contents

She wasn’t sure when she started watching him. She wasn’t sure what she’d been before she started watching him. She lived in a single, glistening moment, and he was at its center.

She saw him first in a huge room. It was stacked with boxes, and he was standing in its center, looking around unsurely. There was a glittering chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a staircase curved up to an elegant balcony. That was a good word for it, she decided. Elegant. He was frozen in a moment of shock, and she floated closer curiously. He’d just begun to tremble when a tall woman with perfectly curled hair appeared in the large doorway. 

“Aaron,” she called, “go find your room. It’s up the stairs, third door on the left.”

The boy walked numbly up the stairs, hesitating when he reached the top. The carpet looked too nice to walk on. He glanced back, then kept walking. The room was empty, but she gasped anyway. It was far too nice for a little boy. 

He meandered towards the window. It was snowing outside. He shivered and reached for curtains that weren’t there. Then he, and everything else, faded to darkness.

She blinked, confused, and when she opened her eyes the world was bright again. He was in the same room, but now it had a bed, curtains, a dresser, a bookshelf. All were delicately crafted, and looked as if they cost more money than this boy had ever seen in his life…Aaron was hacking at the bedframe with a tiny pocketknife. She frowned. 

The woman from before opened the door without knocking. She saw the boy and her expression darkened. “Aaron,” she said warningly. He looked up and glared at her. “Give it to me.” Slowly, he handed it to her. As soon as it touched her hand, she snatched it away and tucked it into a pocket. “Who gave it to you?”

Aaron looked at the floor. “Siel,” he muttered.

The woman cursed. “I told you to stay away from her.”

Aaron looked back up at her, meeting her eyes with a glare. “It’s not my fault! Dad told her to watch me.” 

The woman cursed again. “I will speak to him.” She crouched until she was the same level as the boy. “But you listen here,” she said. “You obey me, not that idiot of a man.”

“Why should I?” Aaron snapped.

Her eyes widened. “What did you say to me?”

He trembled, but stuck his chin out defiantly. “Why should I? You’re not even my mom.”

“Your mother is dead,” the woman hissed. “And even if she were alive, your father knows better than to marry someone like that.”

“He should have known better than to marry someone like you,” Aaron muttered quietly. Not quietly enough. The woman hit him so quickly that the watching spirit didn’t see it, only saw Aaron recoil and hold his hand up to his face. He started to cry.

“Stay in here,” the woman said coldly, “until I return for you.”

Then it was dark.

Now Aaron was sitting on a stiff gray couch. She floated closer, wondering if she could speak to him, when she heard a door shut behind her. A man with thick brown hair and a long beard stepped in. He had the boy’s eyes. 

Aaron looked shocked. “Dad!” He said, leaping to his feet. 

“Sit down, son,” the man said. He wasn’t smiling. Slowly, Aaron did. “You have a responsibility, Aaron. To me. To our business. To your mother.”

“She’s not—”

“You are to respect her!” The boy’s father shouted. “Do you understand?”

“But she says such mean things about you,” Aaron whispered. His father’s face softened.

“Do you know why I married her?” Aaron shook his head. “Well, it isn’t because she loves me. And it isn’t because I love her. I don’t love her, not like I did your mother. But marrying her keeps our family safe.” 

Aaron frowned. “Safe from who?”

“From her family.”

Darkness. 

Aaron was always surrounded by people. Teachers, family, his father’s colleagues, nurses. But no friends. Never friends. Today he sat at a table, struggling to shuffle a deck of cards. 

“This is stupid,” he muttered. “Why do I have to do this?”

An older boy, perhaps 17, laughed. “Your father’s very important. Do you know how it’ll look if his oldest son can’t even cheat properly? Try again.”

Darkness.

Aaron was in an alley, struggling against someone in a dark hoodie.

Darkness.

He was sitting next to a beautiful girl, his cheeks faintly red. The spirit snickered as they struggled to converse.

Darkness.

Aaron was at an auction. He sat next to his father and stepmother. 

“They’re here,” his father muttered. “Checkmate.”

Aaron’s eyes snapped to the entrance, where several people were entering…including the beautiful girl. He stood up. 

His stepmother laughed lightly. “Sit down, Aaron. You don’t need to pretend for her anymore. They’re done for.”

“You can’t–”

“We can,” His father said sharply, “and we will. Now sit. You’re making a scene.”

Aaron gave him a cold glance and walked across the room. “Audrey,” he murmured to the girl. “Come with me.” She looked at her parents, then winked and followed him out into a small side hallway. 

“What?” She asked, sounding annoyed. “Aaron, I know it was fake. You don’t have to apologize or anything, that’s just the way our world is.” 

Aaron grimaced. “I’m not here to apologize, though I’d like to do that too. Listen, Audrey.” He licked his lips. “You need to leave. My dad’s going to get rid of your whole family. I don’t know how but he’s going to do it tonight.”

She blinked, understanding. “You’re trying to get rid of us,” she said. “You want us out of the auction and out of the underworld.”

Aaron looked at her, shocked. “No, wha–no!”

“Why would you tell me?” Audrey shot back. “If this was real, then why would you tell your enemy? And don’t say because we were together. That was fake, and we both knew it.”

“Well maybe it wasn’t,” Aaron said, louder than he meant to. “Maybe it was more than that to me.”

Audrey blinked. For the first time, she looked caught off guard. Then she shook her head, disgusted. “Oh, you’re good,” she mumbled. “Very good. Nice move.”

Aaron hit her then. The spirit who watched flinched back. He looked faintly familiar in that moment, his face all twisted with rage he couldn’t contain. Audrey gasped, then turned and walked firmly back into the auction, chin held high. “Fine!” Aaron called after her. “I hope you die with the rest of them.”

He turned and ran outside, climbing into his car. He gasped for breath, then carefully pulled out his phone. 911. Three digits the spirit had seen him warned never to call. 

“There’s an auction,” he said into the phone. “Tons of illegal activity.” He carefully filled them in on the address, the details, anything else they wanted to know. Then he hung up and started to drive. He drove for a long time, through the city and fields. 

Then, abruptly, there was darkness.

He was in a parking lot. A parking lot she recognized. He muttered several words that made the spirit wince. 

“Why not,” he finally said, laughing darkly. “Why not. They’re all gone, they’ll kill me if they find me. Might as well go out with a bang, right? Might as well finally make someone hurt the way they deserve to…”

He pulled something from under his seat. A slim black handgun. Then a second, which he tucked into a bag. And a third. 

Grinning, he walked into the school.

He opened the first door he saw. A scream answered him, and then another, and then there was a chorus of them, all mixing in a terrible cacophony of sound. One girl didn’t scream. The children started to run, to panic, to hide. The girl who did not scream struggled to turn her bulky wheelchair. 

A shot rang out. 

Another. 

Another. 

Aaron had killed before. He’d seen blood smeared on stone in dirty alleys. He'd killed people he'd called friends. But this country school knew nothing of death. These spoiled children knew nothing of his world, and with his envy their blood trickled slowly across the clean white tiles. 

He stormed through the classrooms, leaving a sticky trail of red behind him.

Should he be feeling guilt?

Should he be feeling numb?

Certainly he shouldn’t be feeling this good. 

This…

Alive.

Another shot. 

Another life. 

It was over so much faster than he expected. 

All at once, he had one bullet left. He opened a new door. Children were huddled in a corner behind a pile of mismatched desks. 

He grinned at them.

Placed the gun to his head. 

Darkness.

  Hide contents

Don't worry, there's a part 3 coming.

 

…

…

…

…

…

GIVE ME MORE 

Spoiler

Please

 

[Edema Rue]

1 hour ago, Wierdo said:

I.. HOLY COW- 

Th-thank you?

1 hour ago, Weaver of Lies said:

…

…

…

…

…

GIVE ME MORE 

  Reveal hidden contents

Please

 

…

…

…

I’m writing as fast as I can

It feels super messy and disjointed but uh there’s always editing.

[Wierdo]

2 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Th-thank you?

…

…

…

I’m writing as fast as I can

It feels super messy and disjointed but uh there’s always editing.

M o r e 
(I'm excitedly waiting for my death scene)

[Edema Rue]

4 minutes ago, Wierdo said:

M o r e 
(I'm excitedly waiting for my death scene)

Ahhh sorry I know I'll get to that whenever I have time, which could be a while, my writing schedule is really sporadic.

[Wierdo]

16 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

Ahhh sorry I know I'll get to that whenever I have time, which could be a while, my writing schedule is really sporadic.

Lol, it's fine

[TheRavenHasLanded]

yall need to chill out here lol.

[Edema Rue]

1 hour ago, TheRavenHasLanded said:

yall need to chill out here lol.

Sorry Raven!!

[TheRavenHasLanded]

18 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

Sorry Raven!!

why are you saying sorry? i probably shoulda put a tone tag.

[Edema Rue]

14 minutes ago, TheRavenHasLanded said:

why are you saying sorry? i probably shoulda put a tone tag.

…I apologize for everything. It’s a me problem. 

[TheRavenHasLanded]

1 minute ago, Edema Rue said:

…I apologize for everything. It’s a me problem. 

For a second there i was confused, then it made sense. ykw, I do that too tbh.

[Edema Rue]

Ok so funny story...

Here's part 3. You'll get part 4 soon, I promise, life is just horrifically crazy right now so we're taking baby steps. 

Ripping At Our Seams (3):

Spoiler

She was in front of him. She floated on silky, feathered wings, her mangled legs suddenly whole and new.

“You’re Aaron,” she whispered. 

“You’re Luci.”

A beat.

“You killed me.”

Another beat.

“I know.”

“Do you know what it did to him?” She didn’t look angry. She didn’t raise her voice, didn’t condemn him, didn’t even condescend. She just sounded heartbroken. An image floated through Aaron’s mind. Luci’s father, weeping alone beside a fresh grave that matched three older ones. “I didn’t need me to live,” she said. “But he needed me to.”

Aaron swallowed. He looked down towards the ground that wasn’t there. “I didn’t know,” he whispered.

“You…didn’t know?”

“I made a mistake,” he amended. 

“A mistake.”

“What do you want me to say?” Aaron snapped. “I killed you, and the rest of them too, and now I’ll pay for it forever. Do you want me to apologize? Do you want me to grovel and beg you to punish me?” He sneered at her, as if daring her to get angry.

“I don’t want anything from you,” the angel said.

“Stop it!” The scream tore from his hoarse throat, louder than he’d expected. 

“Stop what?” Luci blinked at him, eyes strangely kind. He hated her for it. “Aaron,” she said quietly, “do you care that we died?”

“Of course I care,” he snapped.

“Why?”

“Because–because you were all just kids. Because you had so much potential. Because I couldn’t see you as people, before. Because all of a sudden you have a story and a life and now it’s over and I did it.”

“Do you feel that guilt for the rest of them?”

“I–” He looked away, unable to answer.

“Do you feel it?” Luci’s voice was passionate but not angry. “Do you feel it for Anna, who was going to go on a cruise the next week? Do you feel it for Sam, who had a soccer game that night? Do you feel it for Sophie, who had 4 older brothers who would have done anything to protect her? We all had stories, Aaron! So do you feel it for the rest of them?”

“Stop!” Aaron shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. Faces greeted him. “Stop it,” he whispered.

“Our stories will never be finished,” Luci said. “Because of what you’ve done, we’ve gone from people to numbers. A statistic is all we can ever be.”

There was a long moment of quiet. “I can’t apologize,” Aaron realized. “I can’t make them matter.” Luci blinked at him silently. Somehow, she still wasn't angry. “I can’t help but see it as a gift,” he continued, horrified. “That world is a terrible place. Now they’re free.” He shook his head, suddenly overwhelmed with disgust and hatred. “I deserve so much worse than death.”

“You do,” Luci agreed. “The others wanted to punish you so terribly. I told them no.”

Aaron looked at her. “Why?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she murmured.

He hesitated. “Do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Then why?”

She took a moment to think, and Aaron felt himself shaking. A tiny voice in his mind whispered, I want to go home. Idiot, he told it. We don’t have a home. We don’t deserve one. “It’s because you’re a person,” Luci finally said. “Because I see you, and I can’t let them not see you. I can’t let them forget that you’re human, even though you did it to us.”

“Sounds…pretentious,” Aaron mumbled. 

“It does,” Luci murmured. “It isn’t, though.”

There was silence for a long moment. It was unnaturally peaceful. It itched at Aaron. Quiet was such a rarity. It was a dangerous novelty; quiet meant that the only sounds were his thoughts, and thoughts were the worst weapon of all. He never really had time to think. Now he wondered if that had been intentional. There was always a job to focus on, so why would he bother wondering if it was right? Now he did, and it hurt. Had he ever done a truly good thing in his entire life, even one? Had he ever wanted to? The world was better without him in it, and with that thought the peace grew stronger. 

“So what happens now?” He asked. 

“Now you have a choice to make.” 

Aaron blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Luci hesitated. “We made a choice. A dangerous one. A difficult one.” She met his eyes, and she smiled. It felt like a gentle rainfall after days of heat. It felt like loving wind and swaying trees. It felt like home and it felt like Luci. It felt like what he’d always wanted and never had. It made him want to rip himself to pieces in an attempt to find something that was worthy to see it. “We forgive you.”

“What?!”

“We forgive you,” Luci repeated, and for the first time in years Aaron felt his eyes begin to sting and his throat begin to tighten. “You don’t deserve it. But this is the way that we choose to live, and it leaves you with a choice.”

“I—” Aaron’s throat closed up tighter. His mind seemed completely blank. Were there any words to be said? A tear spilled over and down his cheek. He didn’t move. He was terrified that if he did he’d curl into a ball so tight he’d never come out. Another tear fell.

“Do you believe you can do good?” How gentle Luci was. How kind. How…how filled with grace. I killed her.

“I don’t know,” Aaron whispered.

“Do you want to?”

He met her eyes, then closed his own. Did he? Her smile floated back to him. “Yes.”

“We’re sending you back,” Luci said. “You’re going to live, and you’re going to live well.”

Aaron swallowed. Nodded. “What do I need to choose, then?

Luci cocked her head. “You choose what you’ll do with your life. You don’t need to tell me, but you need to choose now how you’ll live.”

Aaron nodded again, hating his trembling lip. “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s like I said,” Luci murmured. “You’re a person. And me, I’m a dreamer. I look at you and I see dreams that haven’t had a chance to form.” She smiled a smile that was sadder than weeping. “We weren't the only potential that died that day.” 

“You really believe that.” Aaron wasn’t sure if it was a question or the awe he couldn’t quite express, but Luci nodded.

“I believe in what you can be, once we rip out your seams.” 

“My…”

“Your seams. The places where the pieces of you are held together. It’ll hurt. It’ll hurt terribly, because you need to be ripped apart stitch by stitch. You’ll fall to bits and lose everything you thought made you who you are. And then, if it’s possible, you’ll come back together. And I believe that you’ll grow into something incredible.”

“Right,” Aaron whispered, overwhelmed. 

“Right,” Luci repeated. Her eyes were bright and determined as her tone became businesslike. “Here’s how this works. Your gun misfired, leaving you with severe head injuries, but survivable. You’re only 15, which makes it a possibility that they’ll let you live. A very, very slim one, but it’s there, and that’s all we need. We can’t affect the world too strongly, but we can tilt it just right. You’ll never be free, but you’ll be alive, and they’ll want to turn you. They already want to spin you into a tragic fairytale, so your job is to change. You will never be the hero. But you don’t have to be the villain.”

 

[Weaver of Lies]

1 hour ago, Edema Rue said:

Ok so funny story...

Here's part 3. You'll get part 4 soon, I promise, life is just horrifically crazy right now so we're taking baby steps. 

Ripping At Our Seams (3):

  Hide contents

She was in front of him. She floated on silky, feathered wings, her mangled legs suddenly whole and new.

“You’re Aaron,” she whispered. 

“You’re Luci.”

A beat.

“You killed me.”

Another beat.

“I know.”

“Do you know what it did to him?” She didn’t look angry. She didn’t raise her voice, didn’t condemn him, didn’t even condescend. She just sounded heartbroken. An image floated through Aaron’s mind. Luci’s father, weeping alone beside a fresh grave that matched three older ones. “I didn’t need me to live,” she said. “But he needed me to.”

Aaron swallowed. He looked down towards the ground that wasn’t there. “I didn’t know,” he whispered.

“You…didn’t know?”

“I made a mistake,” he amended. 

“A mistake.”

“What do you want me to say?” Aaron snapped. “I killed you, and the rest of them too, and now I’ll pay for it forever. Do you want me to apologize? Do you want me to grovel and beg you to punish me?” He sneered at her, as if daring her to get angry.

“I don’t want anything from you,” the angel said.

“Stop it!” The scream tore from his hoarse throat, louder than he’d expected. 

“Stop what?” Luci blinked at him, eyes strangely kind. He hated her for it. “Aaron,” she said quietly, “do you care that we died?”

“Of course I care,” he snapped.

“Why?”

“Because–because you were all just kids. Because you had so much potential. Because I couldn’t see you as people, before. Because all of a sudden you have a story and a life and now it’s over and I did it.”

“Do you feel that guilt for the rest of them?”

“I–” He looked away, unable to answer.

“Do you feel it?” Luci’s voice was passionate but not angry. “Do you feel it for Anna, who was going to go on a cruise the next week? Do you feel it for Sam, who had a soccer game that night? Do you feel it for Sophie, who had 4 older brothers who would have done anything to protect her? We all had stories, Aaron! So do you feel it for the rest of them?”

“Stop!” Aaron shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. Faces greeted him. “Stop it,” he whispered.

“Our stories will never be finished,” Luci said. “Because of what you’ve done, we’ve gone from people to numbers. A statistic is all we can ever be.”

There was a long moment of quiet. “I can’t apologize,” Aaron realized. “I can’t make them matter.” Luci blinked at him silently. Somehow, she still wasn't angry. “I can’t help but see it as a gift,” he continued, horrified. “That world is a terrible place. Now they’re free.” He shook his head, suddenly overwhelmed with disgust and hatred. “I deserve so much worse than death.”

“You do,” Luci agreed. “The others wanted to punish you so terribly. I told them no.”

Aaron looked at her. “Why?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she murmured.

He hesitated. “Do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Then why?”

She took a moment to think, and Aaron felt himself shaking. A tiny voice in his mind whispered, I want to go home. Idiot, he told it. We don’t have a home. We don’t deserve one. “It’s because you’re a person,” Luci finally said. “Because I see you, and I can’t let them not see you. I can’t let them forget that you’re human, even though you did it to us.”

“Sounds…pretentious,” Aaron mumbled. 

“It does,” Luci murmured. “It isn’t, though.”

There was silence for a long moment. It was unnaturally peaceful. It itched at Aaron. Quiet was such a rarity. It was a dangerous novelty; quiet meant that the only sounds were his thoughts, and thoughts were the worst weapon of all. He never really had time to think. Now he wondered if that had been intentional. There was always a job to focus on, so why would he bother wondering if it was right? Now he did, and it hurt. Had he ever done a truly good thing in his entire life, even one? Had he ever wanted to? The world was better without him in it, and with that thought the peace grew stronger. 

“So what happens now?” He asked. 

“Now you have a choice to make.” 

Aaron blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Luci hesitated. “We made a choice. A dangerous one. A difficult one.” She met his eyes, and she smiled. It felt like a gentle rainfall after days of heat. It felt like loving wind and swaying trees. It felt like home and it felt like Luci. It felt like what he’d always wanted and never had. It made him want to rip himself to pieces in an attempt to find something that was worthy to see it. “We forgive you.”

“What?!”

“We forgive you,” Luci repeated, and for the first time in years Aaron felt his eyes begin to sting and his throat begin to tighten. “You don’t deserve it. But this is the way that we choose to live, and it leaves you with a choice.”

“I—” Aaron’s throat closed up tighter. His mind seemed completely blank. Were there any words to be said? A tear spilled over and down his cheek. He didn’t move. He was terrified that if he did he’d curl into a ball so tight he’d never come out. Another tear fell.

“Do you believe you can do good?” How gentle Luci was. How kind. How…how filled with grace. I killed her.

“I don’t know,” Aaron whispered.

“Do you want to?”

He met her eyes, then closed his own. Did he? Her smile floated back to him. “Yes.”

“We’re sending you back,” Luci said. “You’re going to live, and you’re going to live well.”

Aaron swallowed. Nodded. “What do I need to choose, then?

Luci cocked her head. “You choose what you’ll do with your life. You don’t need to tell me, but you need to choose now how you’ll live.”

Aaron nodded again, hating his trembling lip. “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s like I said,” Luci murmured. “You’re a person. And me, I’m a dreamer. I look at you and I see dreams that haven’t had a chance to form.” She smiled a smile that was sadder than weeping. “We weren't the only potential that died that day.” 

“You really believe that.” Aaron wasn’t sure if it was a question or the awe he couldn’t quite express, but Luci nodded.

“I believe in what you can be, once we rip out your seams.” 

“My…”

“Your seams. The places where the pieces of you are held together. It’ll hurt. It’ll hurt terribly, because you need to be ripped apart stitch by stitch. You’ll fall to bits and lose everything you thought made you who you are. And then, if it’s possible, you’ll come back together. And I believe that you’ll grow into something incredible.”

“Right,” Aaron whispered, overwhelmed. 

“Right,” Luci repeated. Her eyes were bright and determined as her tone became businesslike. “Here’s how this works. Your gun misfired, leaving you with severe head injuries, but survivable. You’re only 15, which makes it a possibility that they’ll let you live. A very, very slim one, but it’s there, and that’s all we need. We can’t affect the world too strongly, but we can tilt it just right. You’ll never be free, but you’ll be alive, and they’ll want to turn you. They already want to spin you into a tragic fairytale, so your job is to change. You will never be the hero. But you don’t have to be the villain.”

 

Ooh, I love it! I’m so excited for the next part! It’s so good!

[Wierdo]

17 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Ok so funny story...

Here's part 3. You'll get part 4 soon, I promise, life is just horrifically crazy right now so we're taking baby steps. 

Ripping At Our Seams (3):

  Hide contents

She was in front of him. She floated on silky, feathered wings, her mangled legs suddenly whole and new.

“You’re Aaron,” she whispered. 

“You’re Luci.”

A beat.

“You killed me.”

Another beat.

“I know.”

“Do you know what it did to him?” She didn’t look angry. She didn’t raise her voice, didn’t condemn him, didn’t even condescend. She just sounded heartbroken. An image floated through Aaron’s mind. Luci’s father, weeping alone beside a fresh grave that matched three older ones. “I didn’t need me to live,” she said. “But he needed me to.”

Aaron swallowed. He looked down towards the ground that wasn’t there. “I didn’t know,” he whispered.

“You…didn’t know?”

“I made a mistake,” he amended. 

“A mistake.”

“What do you want me to say?” Aaron snapped. “I killed you, and the rest of them too, and now I’ll pay for it forever. Do you want me to apologize? Do you want me to grovel and beg you to punish me?” He sneered at her, as if daring her to get angry.

“I don’t want anything from you,” the angel said.

“Stop it!” The scream tore from his hoarse throat, louder than he’d expected. 

“Stop what?” Luci blinked at him, eyes strangely kind. He hated her for it. “Aaron,” she said quietly, “do you care that we died?”

“Of course I care,” he snapped.

“Why?”

“Because–because you were all just kids. Because you had so much potential. Because I couldn’t see you as people, before. Because all of a sudden you have a story and a life and now it’s over and I did it.”

“Do you feel that guilt for the rest of them?”

“I–” He looked away, unable to answer.

“Do you feel it?” Luci’s voice was passionate but not angry. “Do you feel it for Anna, who was going to go on a cruise the next week? Do you feel it for Sam, who had a soccer game that night? Do you feel it for Sophie, who had 4 older brothers who would have done anything to protect her? We all had stories, Aaron! So do you feel it for the rest of them?”

“Stop!” Aaron shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. Faces greeted him. “Stop it,” he whispered.

“Our stories will never be finished,” Luci said. “Because of what you’ve done, we’ve gone from people to numbers. A statistic is all we can ever be.”

There was a long moment of quiet. “I can’t apologize,” Aaron realized. “I can’t make them matter.” Luci blinked at him silently. Somehow, she still wasn't angry. “I can’t help but see it as a gift,” he continued, horrified. “That world is a terrible place. Now they’re free.” He shook his head, suddenly overwhelmed with disgust and hatred. “I deserve so much worse than death.”

“You do,” Luci agreed. “The others wanted to punish you so terribly. I told them no.”

Aaron looked at her. “Why?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she murmured.

He hesitated. “Do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Then why?”

She took a moment to think, and Aaron felt himself shaking. A tiny voice in his mind whispered, I want to go home. Idiot, he told it. We don’t have a home. We don’t deserve one. “It’s because you’re a person,” Luci finally said. “Because I see you, and I can’t let them not see you. I can’t let them forget that you’re human, even though you did it to us.”

“Sounds…pretentious,” Aaron mumbled. 

“It does,” Luci murmured. “It isn’t, though.”

There was silence for a long moment. It was unnaturally peaceful. It itched at Aaron. Quiet was such a rarity. It was a dangerous novelty; quiet meant that the only sounds were his thoughts, and thoughts were the worst weapon of all. He never really had time to think. Now he wondered if that had been intentional. There was always a job to focus on, so why would he bother wondering if it was right? Now he did, and it hurt. Had he ever done a truly good thing in his entire life, even one? Had he ever wanted to? The world was better without him in it, and with that thought the peace grew stronger. 

“So what happens now?” He asked. 

“Now you have a choice to make.” 

Aaron blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Luci hesitated. “We made a choice. A dangerous one. A difficult one.” She met his eyes, and she smiled. It felt like a gentle rainfall after days of heat. It felt like loving wind and swaying trees. It felt like home and it felt like Luci. It felt like what he’d always wanted and never had. It made him want to rip himself to pieces in an attempt to find something that was worthy to see it. “We forgive you.”

“What?!”

“We forgive you,” Luci repeated, and for the first time in years Aaron felt his eyes begin to sting and his throat begin to tighten. “You don’t deserve it. But this is the way that we choose to live, and it leaves you with a choice.”

“I—” Aaron’s throat closed up tighter. His mind seemed completely blank. Were there any words to be said? A tear spilled over and down his cheek. He didn’t move. He was terrified that if he did he’d curl into a ball so tight he’d never come out. Another tear fell.

“Do you believe you can do good?” How gentle Luci was. How kind. How…how filled with grace. I killed her.

“I don’t know,” Aaron whispered.

“Do you want to?”

He met her eyes, then closed his own. Did he? Her smile floated back to him. “Yes.”

“We’re sending you back,” Luci said. “You’re going to live, and you’re going to live well.”

Aaron swallowed. Nodded. “What do I need to choose, then?

Luci cocked her head. “You choose what you’ll do with your life. You don’t need to tell me, but you need to choose now how you’ll live.”

Aaron nodded again, hating his trembling lip. “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s like I said,” Luci murmured. “You’re a person. And me, I’m a dreamer. I look at you and I see dreams that haven’t had a chance to form.” She smiled a smile that was sadder than weeping. “We weren't the only potential that died that day.” 

“You really believe that.” Aaron wasn’t sure if it was a question or the awe he couldn’t quite express, but Luci nodded.

“I believe in what you can be, once we rip out your seams.” 

“My…”

“Your seams. The places where the pieces of you are held together. It’ll hurt. It’ll hurt terribly, because you need to be ripped apart stitch by stitch. You’ll fall to bits and lose everything you thought made you who you are. And then, if it’s possible, you’ll come back together. And I believe that you’ll grow into something incredible.”

“Right,” Aaron whispered, overwhelmed. 

“Right,” Luci repeated. Her eyes were bright and determined as her tone became businesslike. “Here’s how this works. Your gun misfired, leaving you with severe head injuries, but survivable. You’re only 15, which makes it a possibility that they’ll let you live. A very, very slim one, but it’s there, and that’s all we need. We can’t affect the world too strongly, but we can tilt it just right. You’ll never be free, but you’ll be alive, and they’ll want to turn you. They already want to spin you into a tragic fairytale, so your job is to change. You will never be the hero. But you don’t have to be the villain.”

 

Woahhhhhhhhhhh- amazing!

[Wittles]

20 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

Ok so funny story...

Here's part 3. You'll get part 4 soon, I promise, life is just horrifically crazy right now so we're taking baby steps. 

Ripping At Our Seams (3):

  Hide contents

She was in front of him. She floated on silky, feathered wings, her mangled legs suddenly whole and new.

“You’re Aaron,” she whispered. 

“You’re Luci.”

A beat.

“You killed me.”

Another beat.

“I know.”

“Do you know what it did to him?” She didn’t look angry. She didn’t raise her voice, didn’t condemn him, didn’t even condescend. She just sounded heartbroken. An image floated through Aaron’s mind. Luci’s father, weeping alone beside a fresh grave that matched three older ones. “I didn’t need me to live,” she said. “But he needed me to.”

Aaron swallowed. He looked down towards the ground that wasn’t there. “I didn’t know,” he whispered.

“You…didn’t know?”

“I made a mistake,” he amended. 

“A mistake.”

“What do you want me to say?” Aaron snapped. “I killed you, and the rest of them too, and now I’ll pay for it forever. Do you want me to apologize? Do you want me to grovel and beg you to punish me?” He sneered at her, as if daring her to get angry.

“I don’t want anything from you,” the angel said.

“Stop it!” The scream tore from his hoarse throat, louder than he’d expected. 

“Stop what?” Luci blinked at him, eyes strangely kind. He hated her for it. “Aaron,” she said quietly, “do you care that we died?”

“Of course I care,” he snapped.

“Why?”

“Because–because you were all just kids. Because you had so much potential. Because I couldn’t see you as people, before. Because all of a sudden you have a story and a life and now it’s over and I did it.”

“Do you feel that guilt for the rest of them?”

“I–” He looked away, unable to answer.

“Do you feel it?” Luci’s voice was passionate but not angry. “Do you feel it for Anna, who was going to go on a cruise the next week? Do you feel it for Sam, who had a soccer game that night? Do you feel it for Sophie, who had 4 older brothers who would have done anything to protect her? We all had stories, Aaron! So do you feel it for the rest of them?”

“Stop!” Aaron shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. Faces greeted him. “Stop it,” he whispered.

“Our stories will never be finished,” Luci said. “Because of what you’ve done, we’ve gone from people to numbers. A statistic is all we can ever be.”

There was a long moment of quiet. “I can’t apologize,” Aaron realized. “I can’t make them matter.” Luci blinked at him silently. Somehow, she still wasn't angry. “I can’t help but see it as a gift,” he continued, horrified. “That world is a terrible place. Now they’re free.” He shook his head, suddenly overwhelmed with disgust and hatred. “I deserve so much worse than death.”

“You do,” Luci agreed. “The others wanted to punish you so terribly. I told them no.”

Aaron looked at her. “Why?”

“I’m not sure yet,” she murmured.

He hesitated. “Do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Then why?”

She took a moment to think, and Aaron felt himself shaking. A tiny voice in his mind whispered, I want to go home. Idiot, he told it. We don’t have a home. We don’t deserve one. “It’s because you’re a person,” Luci finally said. “Because I see you, and I can’t let them not see you. I can’t let them forget that you’re human, even though you did it to us.”

“Sounds…pretentious,” Aaron mumbled. 

“It does,” Luci murmured. “It isn’t, though.”

There was silence for a long moment. It was unnaturally peaceful. It itched at Aaron. Quiet was such a rarity. It was a dangerous novelty; quiet meant that the only sounds were his thoughts, and thoughts were the worst weapon of all. He never really had time to think. Now he wondered if that had been intentional. There was always a job to focus on, so why would he bother wondering if it was right? Now he did, and it hurt. Had he ever done a truly good thing in his entire life, even one? Had he ever wanted to? The world was better without him in it, and with that thought the peace grew stronger. 

“So what happens now?” He asked. 

“Now you have a choice to make.” 

Aaron blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Luci hesitated. “We made a choice. A dangerous one. A difficult one.” She met his eyes, and she smiled. It felt like a gentle rainfall after days of heat. It felt like loving wind and swaying trees. It felt like home and it felt like Luci. It felt like what he’d always wanted and never had. It made him want to rip himself to pieces in an attempt to find something that was worthy to see it. “We forgive you.”

“What?!”

“We forgive you,” Luci repeated, and for the first time in years Aaron felt his eyes begin to sting and his throat begin to tighten. “You don’t deserve it. But this is the way that we choose to live, and it leaves you with a choice.”

“I—” Aaron’s throat closed up tighter. His mind seemed completely blank. Were there any words to be said? A tear spilled over and down his cheek. He didn’t move. He was terrified that if he did he’d curl into a ball so tight he’d never come out. Another tear fell.

“Do you believe you can do good?” How gentle Luci was. How kind. How…how filled with grace. I killed her.

“I don’t know,” Aaron whispered.

“Do you want to?”

He met her eyes, then closed his own. Did he? Her smile floated back to him. “Yes.”

“We’re sending you back,” Luci said. “You’re going to live, and you’re going to live well.”

Aaron swallowed. Nodded. “What do I need to choose, then?

Luci cocked her head. “You choose what you’ll do with your life. You don’t need to tell me, but you need to choose now how you’ll live.”

Aaron nodded again, hating his trembling lip. “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s like I said,” Luci murmured. “You’re a person. And me, I’m a dreamer. I look at you and I see dreams that haven’t had a chance to form.” She smiled a smile that was sadder than weeping. “We weren't the only potential that died that day.” 

“You really believe that.” Aaron wasn’t sure if it was a question or the awe he couldn’t quite express, but Luci nodded.

“I believe in what you can be, once we rip out your seams.” 

“My…”

“Your seams. The places where the pieces of you are held together. It’ll hurt. It’ll hurt terribly, because you need to be ripped apart stitch by stitch. You’ll fall to bits and lose everything you thought made you who you are. And then, if it’s possible, you’ll come back together. And I believe that you’ll grow into something incredible.”

“Right,” Aaron whispered, overwhelmed. 

“Right,” Luci repeated. Her eyes were bright and determined as her tone became businesslike. “Here’s how this works. Your gun misfired, leaving you with severe head injuries, but survivable. You’re only 15, which makes it a possibility that they’ll let you live. A very, very slim one, but it’s there, and that’s all we need. We can’t affect the world too strongly, but we can tilt it just right. You’ll never be free, but you’ll be alive, and they’ll want to turn you. They already want to spin you into a tragic fairytale, so your job is to change. You will never be the hero. But you don’t have to be the villain.”

 

Wow, that whole thing was amazing

[Edema Rue]

19 hours ago, Weaver of Lies said:

Ooh, I love it! I’m so excited for the next part! It’s so good!

3 hours ago, Wierdo said:

Woahhhhhhhhhhh- amazing!

29 minutes ago, Wittles said:

Wow, that whole thing was amazing

Thank you guys!! I’m so busy right now it’s not even funny, but I’ll try to finish tonight or tomorrow.