Character Castle 2.0
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Totally forgot to respond! *Facepalm*
Yea, It’s easier to add shadow with black and white, I think its also easier to erase (I do a lot of that, XD).
Oof, me too! Like, a lot! I usually sketch with pencils, then photograph or scan my drawings and color them digitally. I guess I just like the feel of paper and pencil XD And it feels a lot ‘looser’ because I have more room than on my small drawing tablet. And I usually have a bunch of structure lines beforehand, so that means I erase even more XD
I’ve kinda always loved to draw, but I’ve never done a series, usually I just sketch what ever comes to mind. I can post a pic if you want…*rifles through sketchbook*
that’s A sketch of Gwen and Brin, I don’t have a lot of pictures of my characters (yet). Do you usually use digital art?
It’s awesome! I love how you used light and shadow and the flow of her cloak!
I usually sketch traditionally, but I sometimes draw digitally as well. I almost always color digitally though. I love having all the colors at my disposal and all the different stuff I can do on there. Now and then I try to color traditionally and immediately remember why I don’t do that XD
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
“Alright. Lets do this.” Klein’s voice was muted, but he spoke slowly and enunciated clearly. Riure cocked her head to listen better. “The green cards are used to move. The grey cards are used to attack. You can only use one per turn. DON’T TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE.”
Wow. Riure fought back a smile. That must be important.
“There should be a card to help you remember what unit does what. Keep it handy. There are dice. You use those to determine attack damage. This is about all I can do. I can’t let who ever the other guy is know what we plan to do. I can offer advice but remember anything I say, he can hear. You guys have got this. Let em have it.”
Dread settled into Riure’s gut. They didn’t have it. What kind of game was Lord Castle playing?! He knew she was blind!
The bottom line was this: it was impossible for Riure to play.
Something stiff and somewhat glossy was in her hand, and she had no idea how it got there. She ran her other hand over them, exploring their surface with her fingers as she thought furiously how to escape this trap. She was blind. She couldn’t see. She could hardly remembered what it was like to see!
So how in VaSerBo was she supposed to see colors or read a card that reminded her what to do? At least she could feel the number of dots on a dice.
“Alright. Bring it on!” Klein’s shout implied he was determined, angry, and probably putting a brave face on things. Riure groaned.
They sat there in silence for a moment. Riure could vaguely hear Zanar’s muttered words as he thumbed through what sounded like stiff paper – cards. Once again she ran her finger across the surface of one of hers, feeling for any indent or bump that would help her figure out what it was. It was smooth as those weird windows she’d encountered earlier.
“Master Klein?” she asked tentatively. “Can Zanar look at my cards and somehow tell me what they are?”
——————-
“Master Klein? Can Zanar look at my cards and somehow tell me what they are?”
What a strange question. Then it hit Klein. She couldn’t see the cards. Blindness was something he had not seen in a person. Surgeries and other procedures to fix the eyes were very good now. The idea that someone wouldn’t try to repair their body never occurred to Klein.
Except they were stuck in space. Lack of material and a specialist would leave such a disability uncured in favor of more important operations. How long had she been unable to see the world around her? Klein shook himself. It was not the time for those thoughts. He had to get out of this. He was going to find the person behind this wrenched game.
“Yeah. Its cool. Just whisper. Don’t be afraid to question each other’s plans. If everyone is thinking the same, no one is thinking.”
The Devil saw me with my head down and got excited. Then I said Amen
Oof, me too! Like, a lot! I usually sketch with pencils, then photograph or scan my drawings and color them digitally. I guess I just like the feel of paper and pencil XD And it feels a lot ‘looser’ because I have more room than on my small drawing tablet. And I usually have a bunch of structure lines beforehand, so that means I erase even more XD
Ooooooo, that’s cool! So you can do a little normal, a little digital! I like the feel of the pencil too, it just feels more satisfying.
It’s awesome! I love how you used light and shadow and the flow of her cloak!
Wow, thank you! I needed a lot of practice before I learned how to draw capes. I think I figured it out by seeing a picture of the mandalorian. XD
I usually sketch traditionally, but I sometimes draw digitally as well. I almost always color digitally though. I love having all the colors at my disposal and all the different stuff I can do on there. Now and then I try to color traditionally and immediately remember why I don’t do that XD
It is nice to have all the different settings, but whenever I need to switch the size or color, I need to tap “settings” then “colors” then chose the right shade of red, then exit out and draw. I prefer to just grab the pencil, XD. I tried drawing one picture digitally then went back to pencil and paper. I’ve discovered different “settings” with my regular pencil, like pressing harder to get a darker line, or twisting it slightly to get a thinner line. I haven’t tried a lot of color though, I guess that part is easier to do digitally.
Gwendolyn
Liorah froze at my warning look, the tunnel swept her feet out from under her and she toppled over with a yelp, Ferran barely catching her. I winced as the yelp echoed back down the tunnel.
“Thanks,” Liorah whispered.
“No use being quiet now,” Ferran said, “You already warned whatever is ahead.”
They shuffled over and looked out the exit,
“Follow the light, I suppose,” Liorah said.
“Monsters or traps?” Ferran said,
“Neither?” Liorah asked,
“I wish,” I said, peering out the tunnel.
“Doesn’t look like there are doors for monsters, so it’s probably traps.” Ferran said,
“One way to find out,” Liorah replied, and marched boldly towards the room. Ferran held her back and I raised my eyebrows. Brave, but maybe not the best idea.
“Don’t be stupid,” Ferran snapped. Liorah shook him off.
“Then what?” She said, sounding annoyed.
Azar bounded towards the room and I reached for her, “Azar, come!” I said, trying to stop her. The dog ignored me and jumped onto the tiles. She howled and bounded back towards the tunnel, ears back and tail between her legs. I winced for her as Ferran scooped her up, stroking her head.
“Now we know one thing. Don’t step on the tiles.” Ferran said,
“Then how do we get across?” Liorah asked, exasperated.
Brin leaped from my shoulder and flew across the room, landing on the opposite end and looking back at us as if to see if we where coming.
“Thanks for the help, Brin,” I said dryly, “If only we could fly.”
Then I noticed a feather drifting down from where she had flown. The feather settled on a black tile and a wisp of smoke appeared above it. A moment later the feather burst into flames. I winced again. The tiles where black and white, about one square foot each. The white tiles where few and far between. I tore a scrap off my tattered cloak and split it in two, dropping one piece on a black tile and one on a white tile. The one on the black tile went up in flames and the one on the white tile seemed normal.
I jumped onto a white tile, wheeling my arms to keep my balance, standing on one foot. Nothing happened, so I jumped to the next. They seemed to get farther apart the farther I went. Great.
“Don’t fall,” I called over my shoulder.
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Beautiful things don't ask for attention
5:02 am
This is the perfect time to have an existential crisis while ignoring the first three buzzes of your alarm clock.Is this real? How can we discern between reality and illusion, from the dreamland in our minds and the unseen realities of life that we hear about but never actually see in our lifetime. How do we know reality is real and our senses aren’t tricked, our minds aren’t brainwashed, our memories aren’t twisted to conform to some great conspiracy set in motion by a malevolent force of evil? But, more importantly, how do I know coffee is ready without having to get out of bed to see because if I get outta bed then I’m obligated to stay awake?
5:03 am
There’s a weird shininess that makes me dizzy looking around. For some reason a I feel like I’ve never tried coffee before so why am I expecting it? Man, that’d be a nightmare. Weird thought, I bet there’s an evil spider trying to kill us all starting with our minds and slowl–Hey, my bed’s really springy I should jump on it.
I start to bounce on it and then two things happen; I fall off and crack my skull on the floor and suddenly I feel vague, numb sorta pain through my veins like something…like poison.
I roll to my feet with a yelp and fumble through my poc–I’m wearing pjs and they don’t have pockets?!? Ok so first I’m gonna burn this insulting excuse for cloths then I’m gonna find something with poc–no wait, actually I’m gonna find something with pockets and then burn the pjs it’d be kinda weird if I did that in the wrong order. What do I do after that? There’s something wrong here and I need answers.
Ugh this whole room looks weird, it’s blue and there’s notebooks scattered across the floor. I grab one and start looking for a pencil. I’m pretty sure I’d have at least a couple stuffed animals in a dystopian alternate universe bent on destroying my mind. But no, just a couple toy planes, some LinkinLogs and a chemistry kit in a box I could almost fit into. (
Maybe I can blow something up with it) Right, I’ll write that down in “Assets” like a regular spy. Now I’ve gotta get off the grid (I’ve always wanted to say that). What would Ro–would…I can’t remember what I’m thinking about there’s something I just forgot and it’s important but I can’t remember it!I want bunny slippers. If I’m crazy I might as well have bunny slippers and you can’t stop me!
That coffee smell must be fake but it smells goooood. And that smell of breakfast is calling me, erhm, I mean it’s like really important to pack supplies before you escape some Stephen King International. I’ll be totally careful.
5:04 am
Knock,
KnockJust as I change cloths someone or something knocks on the door. I hook a jacket with pockets over my arms waiting for something giant and totally scary to attack. You know, there’s this kinda pricking sensation in my arm, I gotta get outta here fast. I don’t know where, this doesn’t even feel real how do I escape–?
“Breakfast is ready, sweetie, are you gonna get out of bed?” She sounds human, creepy thing; she sounds like how I pretended my mom would sound. Oh no am I supposed to answer? I can’t remember her real voice anymore but on the other side of the door something sounds almost that. But it’s very sweet like kinda sick sweet and wrong.
“I, uh, ok!” What do I…window! I’ll climb out the window. Ok now, supplies..
“Is everything alright in there?”
“Don’t come in! There’s a…” I rake a hand through my hair for some idea to keep her/it out. “there’s a spider! That’s huge and it’s under the bed and–yike! I gotta totally panic and all this is me panicking so, uh, don’t come in!”
“O-k, do you need some he–”
“Nope!” I dash to the window, feeling ice-cold like everything weird. There’s a crazy prickling under my skin as I grab the pane. A soft, soft rap on the door again I can almost feel her watching through the door, if I just get out–I yank open the window…
Nothing.
There’s nothing–literally nothing–outside. Nothing but a white netted tight like spiderweb, or maybe cord covered in computer code. I wonder if I can touch it. Taking a deep breath I put my hand in–
Suddenly something hot jolts through me like inverting every nerve so hard I somehow end curled up on the floor like a ga-jillion needles stabbed through me (I hate doctor visits). I think I might’ve screamed, in the most manly of ways.
“Is everything alright in there?” I wince, imagining spiny claws on the other side of the door and trying to imagine unimaginable horrors but that’s kinda hard since they’re unimaginable.
“I’m,” I clear my throat, sounding really pitchy and bad-actoring. “Oh a…the spider jumped. On my head.” Nobody will question it. I’m a genius.
I stare at the door, suddenly feeling very cold.
There’s no way out except to whatever’s behind that door. Haha, genius.
5:05
5:06 am“Well, come on and eat.” She says sweetly like she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying but doesn’t want to be rude. “Breakfast is ready.”
To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
Is like a gauze in the room, making things…no se lo, strange, like inside a glass.
Bottom of the stairs, blank as black sheet you know, smells like Santa Muerte and gunpowder. Not a real smell just the kind in your bones right, so you know something wrong here. So a gun would be nice. I hook my hand behind my waist holster but nada, there’s only fighting out without then, not what you say a problem.
Furniture as tidy as never used things, dreamlike air. Take a breath, you know, maybe a smoke while I think. Like something I can’t remember, a game or a memory, a spiderweb. There’s little corded music playing from something, something like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Stepping down careful like, I look for tripwire but by the bottom of the step I’m still alive, some reason. I find a compass, on a tidy table. Not a thing else you call ‘out of place’ but the compass and the tick-a tick-a of music.
This all looks as if the apartment I own now but like programmed memory, no? As if I’m under a cover to double information or kill somebody. Mm. I’ll play, supongamos. Allow me to assess my role here and tear you down, lente.
“Ggreoww.” Loco hops from the top of the stairs. Can’t even purr correct that cat.
Then a tap on the door.
The game begins.To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
Wow, thank you! I needed a lot of practice before I learned how to draw capes. I think I figured it out by seeing a picture of the mandalorian. XD
Yesss! All the references! I usually draw with at least one reference image, but I often end up combining multiples.
It is nice to have all the different settings, but whenever I need to switch the size or color, I need to tap “settings” then “colors” then chose the right shade of red, then exit out and draw. I prefer to just grab the pencil, XD. I tried drawing one picture digitally then went back to pencil and paper. I’ve discovered different “settings” with my regular pencil, like pressing harder to get a darker line, or twisting it slightly to get a thinner line. I haven’t tried a lot of color though, I guess that part is easier to do digitally.
Ooh, that sounds like a pain! I use a PC program, (Krita) so I have a color picker on the screen and I can have that and the painting open at the same time. And learning Digital art certainly is a struggle at first. It took me a really long time to figure it out completely.
“One way to find out,” Liorah replied, and marched boldly towards the room. Ferran held her back and I raised my eyebrows. Brave, but maybe not the best idea.
Not the best idea. I’d say XD While I was writing that, I was literally shaking my head at her. Like, I’m surprised Liorah’s survived this long, she’s so stupid sometimes XD
Liorah
Brin soared across the room, perching on the other end.
“Thanks for the help, Brin,” Gwen said, “If only we could fly.”
A wisp of smoke curled up and I followed it down to a feather, that burst into flames. Gwen tore a scrap off her cloak and dropped one piece on a white tile and one on a black one.
Ferran shot me a questioning look, seemingly asking if Gwen was in her right mind. I shrugged. Who even knew anymore?
The piece on the black tile burst into flame, but the white one remained intact.
“Oh!” I said, finally understanding what she was getting at.
Gwen leaped onto a white tile, balancing on one foot. She hopped onto the next.
“Don’t fall,” she called.
“That’s the most brilliant advice I’ve ever heard,” I said, admiringly. “I was just planning to hurl myself onto it.”
“May I remind you that that was exactly your plan?” Ferran asked.
“No, you may not,” I said, playfully. I hopped onto the first tile, balancing on tiptoe. Then took careful aim and leaped onto the next. My foot landed near the edge, but I managed not to fall.
I heard Ferran coming after me more slowly. He had to hold Azar as well as navigate the tiles.
“Ferran? You alright?”
“Oh, yes, I’m having so much fun,” Ferran replied, dryly.“Good! Me too!” I said, cheerfully bounding onto the next one. Now I really had to jump from one to another. Being tall was an advantage, I had a lot more reach.
I gathered myself for the jump and lept. I calculated wrong.
The front of my foot landed on a black tile and a jolt of searing agony pulsed through me. I threw myself backward instinctively and lost my balance. I toppled to my knees, barely able to keep myself from falling onto one of the black tiles.
“Liorah!” Ferran called, “Are you okay?”
My heart was throbbing frantically and my breath came in gasps.
I heard Ferran hurrying toward me.
“I’m fine, I’m fine, slow down,” I said, still breathless.
“I can hereby tell everyone that that’s a very bad idea,” I gasped.
__________
Ooh, okay, time is going forward again! It’s actually funny that Ehud seems to be handling this better than Rosy XD
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
Ooh, okay, time is going forward again!
(haha 😈)
It’s actually funny that Ehud seems to be handling this better than Rosy XD
My poor sweet lil’ cupcake yes! Btw I love Liorah “I can hereby tell everyone that that’s a very bad idea,” lol
Ready for murder I open the door.
But no monster yet, some senora with kaleidoscope eyes. A suitcase under her arm, black hair tracing her cheek, with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star still ticking in the background. Nothing says I remember her so I wait with my arms crossed and blocking the doorway.
“Hello, have you enjoyed your stay here?” She says, so I give her a neutral glare and she ignores it. “Lucy, I’m a medically certified saleswoman.”
Por supuesto.
“Nice, I’m a government-certified mass murderer.” ‘Lucy’ is getting on my nerves for some reason, probably because she exists. Holding my hand to her I expect senora to leave be but she shakes my hand as if I said nada. What a sick-sweet smile like false promise or a nicotine smoke.
“Don’t worry, you’ll forget it soon.” She says “As much as you pretend to everyone I know you regret it.” She taps her suitcase, which you say can make an odd noise against the tick-a ticking music soft behind. Pretending to know me, I let a breath out like she’s ‘under my skin’. Creerse la ultima coco-cola en el deslerto? Sangron.
“What do you want?” I ask dryly so I can get this over. If lucky she might be a trained killer, then I won’t have to make excuses to Ehud if I make her deep six…what was..?
“Don’t worry,” Her mascara eyes are blurred colors. “I just want to help.”
Something I was thinking…
“I know,” she whispers “the transition is…hard. But you won’t remember it so it won’t really matter in the long run. At least if it works.”
That’s it. I slam her to the wall inside, door shut no witnesses. No se lo everything dizzy hot red. Pin my elbow into her neck, breath down her shifting eyes.
“Explanation. Now.” I say low. And she smiles.
“Just a couple more minutes, darling.”
To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
Is quiet. Tick-a tick-a of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the background, in my head. Clit-clatter footsteps, soft wind, my heels are clit-clattering like glass. How I wonder what you are…Like a gauze of unreal I’m returning from class, is it? Papa will want to teach me guns, Mami will insist ‘lady’s work’ on me, try to convince me I like knitting, Loco the cat will sit on my assignments so I can’t do them.
Guess I’ll look for a fun night or two, better keep the smell of cigarette off me by time I reach home. Bad girls won’t have real friends, broken doesn’t leave good company. Broken mechanical thoughts like spiraling gears.
“…and I can’t decide which one to wear to the prom. Hello, are you listening, Rosario?” Cute blonde wearing way too much ditsy asks. Something akin to a doll she stares at me with little wide eyes, flicking back silky strands of hair almost spider-thread. I roll my eyes at her, picking up the line of conversation.
“Who cares what you put on–?”
“Rosy,” The word makes me tense when Marsha calls me that like mental fracture. “I wanna know what style to wear. Should I look dangerously alluring like you or ethereal and vaguely threatening or should I just wear something cute and showy?”
The obnoxious tune won’t stop in my head and is impossible to concentrate. Broken girl doesn’t get the…Why does she look so like she’s someone else? That, lines of memory cross over like some planned and not planned. It’s hard to–
“Rosy! You’re alive I was so scared-!” Some clingy kid will attack me like an octopus. And Marsha thinks it’s hilarious. “I missed you so much! I just about died and I didn’t know if they’d try an’ kill you too! And thetn I sorta broke into a top secret base and then I fell into a weird castle and I almost got ate by a dinosaur and then I fell here and you’re alive!”
I grab this idiota shoulders and hold him at arms length. Somethingwrongsomethingwrongsomthi–Can’t fix memor-
Broken girls-ies. Is like a glass wall, que mas da?“You know this guy?” Marsha giggles. No se lo.. Words like pre-prepared like lines on stage.
“Seen him a couple times.” I said somehow, some reason. “You were talking about style?”
Behind the boy is a senora with kaleidoscope eyes, vague as hourglass counting tick-a tick-a little star…Beyond is the Bridge across the skyisland over and over our heads like a globe, fractured sense of real. But the story keeps clicking in, out.
Marsha wrote her number on his wrist and glance up at me with round, wide eyes.“Hey, he’s kinda cute ya’know”
“You should be embarrassed to exist.” I murmur automatically, thoughts torn apart. Behind me someone else also talking like she should’ve been there the whole time but fragmented story.
“He’s probably escaped an insane asylum or some homeless shelter, did you hear the way he was talking?” That’s wrong…hot burning anger suddenly snaps through me, no se lo why. Could’ve killed her for saying that para ya–
“Well yeah, but wouldn’t it be exciting to have a crazy boyfriend? I don’t think he’s violent anyway,”
Click in,
Click out,Click-tick-a-tick-a…little star…
Is like paper plastered memor…(broken). They’re talking behind me Marsha y…no se lo, que mas da? Me da igual, que mas da? Clip-clop clip-clop, can’t get their footsteps out but is wrong.
“Do you ever,” Marsha says “ever kinda want someone to abuse you, like maybe it feels more honest than somebody treating you right? Or maybe just pain feels more real than perfect…”
5:07 am
To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
(Sorry for disappearing!!)
—————————————
There was a pause as Master Klein seemed to consider Riure’s question. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Its cool. Just whisper. Don’t be afraid to question each other’s plans. If everyone is thinking the same, no one is thinking.”
Riure slumped in her chair as relief crackled through her being. Ok. Maybe being sightless wasn’t so bad after all.
“This should be fun,” Lord Castle’s voice broke in. Riure steeled herself for another restriction. “How about the emotional boy and blind girly can’t speak to one another, hm? No words.”
“Are you kidding me?” Zanar shouted.
“No.”
“It’s okay,” Riure said as calmly as she could. Her hand slipped inside her light cloak and she traced her fingers across the surface of the tablet. The grooves that spelled “laugh” were still there.
Idea!
“Zanar, can you come over to this side of the table?” she asked. Sadiq stiffened. “I have an idea.”
—————–
Ooh, that sounds like a pain! I use a PC program, (Krita) so I have a color picker on the screen and I can have that and the painting open at the same time. And learning Digital art certainly is a struggle at first. It took me a really long time to figure it out completely.
Oooooo, that would make thins easier, wouldn’t it? It would take me a while to get use to it too. I have a limited amount of screen time, and digital art isn’t at the top of my list, so I haven’t really tried a lot.
Not the best idea. I’d say XD While I was writing that, I was literally shaking my head at her. Like, I’m surprised Liorah’s survived this long, she’s so stupid sometimes XD
I’m pretty sure that every book character has their moments where they need someone else to stop them and point out, “hey, maybe you shouldn’t do that”. I’ve had many of those moments myself.XD
Gwendolyn
“That’s the most brilliant advice I’ve ever heard,” Liorah said, “I was just planning to hurl myself onto it.”
I grinned, hopping to the next square.
“May I remind you that that was exactly your plan?” Ferran asked.
“No, you may not,” Liorah said brightly, stepping onto the first square on her toes, “Ferran? You alright?”
“Oh, yes, I’m having so much fun,” Ferran replied,
“Good! Me too!”
I heard the thump of Liorah jumping, then a scuffle. I spun around, almost losing my balance. Liorah was gasping and I saw a tiny bit of smoke wisp away from her boot.
“Liorah!” Ferran called, “Are you okay?” he jumped forward faster,
“I’m fine, I’m fine, slow down,” Liorah said,“I can hereby tell everyone that that’s a very bad idea,”
I wheeled my arms to keep my balance, keeping myself from replying that ‘that’s why I had told nobody to fall, haven’t we been over this?’.
I looked ahead, eyeing the few and far between white tiles. ” you need help?” I ask Liorah, unsure of how to actually help if she needs it. I balance on one foot, wobbling slightly, and try and think of a way to make this easier. My sword bumps against my leg and I pull it from its scabbard, I lower it and press the tip against a black tile. Its tip glows red, but it doesn’t melt. I lean against it, testing its strength and am satisfied.
“hey, you could use our swords to balance,” I mime holding two poles in each hand, ” like using two walking sticks at the same time.”
P.S. June is looking like a busy month, so I might not be on quite as much. Just giving y’all a heads up.
P.P.S. sorry if this is posted twice, it wasn’t showing up the first time.
Beautiful things don't ask for attention
Ok, so door. Right the door. The creepy door that’s creepy with a creepy idk on the other side that creepily sounds like my mom. Yeah. Creepy door.
I totally (don’t) have a plan.
Ok…ok…do I bar the door and trap myself in or play cool like everything totally fine and go in there to find a way to escape?
She/it probably has a way in, every nerve in me’s still half twitching with pain so no climbing out the window or anything. I rake a hand through my hair, chewing my wrist that itches like something under my skin like poison.
“Ehud…?” I can hear her fingernails scrit across the other side of the door. She’s gotta a kinda, one of those perfect voices you know, that sounds kinda cooing or velvety and seems to have the perfect inflections for every emotion. Today’s emotion is faint concern like spider-thread notes “Are you…coming?”
5:08 am
I swallow hard.
I think I remember something now, something like I’ve been here before but it’s all different again. The only way out is through the door, you know how cats play with mice, I think that’s it. I think it’s waiting to kill me and I’ll live longer if I play along. If I keep my cool I can play along and wait for an opportunity.
Ok. I got this. I’m gonna remember the chemistry kit here. And…the door.
Right. I can do this, I can totally…do…this. So I stare at the doorknob and I put my hand on it and turn. This…this is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever live to do, that’s my last thought as I crack the door open and I see it/her.
Hands clasped over a suitcase that her nails tap clit-clit, everything I imagined my mom would look like. Except white as polished bones and she has kaleidoscope eyes.Her lips smooth into a pretty and nurturing sort of smile. What have I gotten into? The polished stage-glow in her shimmery eyes…Yeah. She’s gonna kill me. Oh man, what have I gotten into? Her mouth twitches again into a sorta smile.
“What are you staring at?” she says
“Your eyes are–” I stare at her, her glassy lifeless sort’ve eyes unblinking. “–big?”
“The better to see you with, darling.”
Yeah. So. I should’ve stayed in bed.
To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
Time is all disappearing
This is cracking, and there’s no way out…5:15 am
“Come on, sweety, you must be starving.”
You know, her voice is about as greasy as those over-oiled hinges at the factory I used to work at. My “mom” watches me with hungry kaleidoscope eyes as we walk. Now I’m a pretty clever kid and I’m feeling like this is all suspicious (I know, what gave that away, you gotta be really astute to figure that out, right?). So here I am getting to bolt when you know, what if everything outside is like the outside of the window? If so I’ll just dash into a big electric current and die and then I’ll live and she’ll kill me–What’s that awesome smell? My stomach growls (traitor).
She doesn’t talk and it’s creepy, in case you were wondering. But the really creepy thing is there’s a warm sort’ve nice feel around everything, like the whole house is welcoming me. The room looks exactly like the old house, the one where my mom and dad used to be together. For some reason my liked those sorts of thick roundish tiles that nobody could ever figure out whether they were squares or diamonds, kinda like the cup half full/half empty thing.
“So…” I start fumbling with my pockets “so, who are you?”
Funny thing about those tiles, the more you look at them the more it looks like they form a clock shape on the floor, which shouldn’t be possible with squares like that. I must be really dizzy. I freeze with my hands in my pockets when she turns to me, yike she just doesn’t look quite alive like an animation program with blocky rigging and no finish.
“I’m your mother of course.” She taps my nose so I nearly jump out of my skin and touch my nose like it might fall off. Then she wanders to the kitchen in the other room, humming just barely offkey or maybe on key but just pitchy I don’t know. For a monster humanoid I guess she sure looks like how I remember my mom.
A natural blonde but I only remember her with dark hair kinda streaked with pale bits here and there especially around her roots. It sure looked chaotic on her but Miss Monster has it perfect and all shiny like a doll right out of the store.
Now that I size up the room you know it’s so perfect it’s got no personality. Have you ever met a room with no personality? It’s so formal you’re scared to sit on the couch in case it’s a showpiece of the Mesozoic Era. And the only thing you can hear is the tick-tock of the clock. What clock, you ask? Haha…I don’t know…
5:20 am
Welp this room’s creepy and the other room’s got a creepy monster so I mean, I can smell breakfast in the other creepy room so I might as well die there as here. So I scramble in after and the kitchen is yellow as only kitchens can be. While Miss Monster is piling stuff on my plate I palm the hugest pink mug to guzzle down coffee. I mean, if it’s poisoned it’s one of the better ways to die.
“There you are,” she says sweetly, setting my plate in from of me on a checkered counter in front of a stool.
Wow. That’s a lot’ve food. I’ve never seen so many great things on one plate before. Like really crisp bacon, I kinda poke it with a fork to see if it’s real. There’s eggs and biscuits and milk and butter and fruit jelly and grits and ginormous pancakes with a big glob of cream on top. Wait-I’m not falling for this! Plan, escape plan, the plan for escaping, I should eat a plan–I mean I should plan to eat–escape! Right escape plan.
No wait, I’ve gotta plan. I saw this in a movie once so it’s gotta work.
5:30 am
“So…what do you wanna do?” I say, taking a tenitive bite of bacon. It tastes alright so I wolf down the rest.
“Whatever you want.” She coos, taking a corner of a paper napkin to wipe my face. I start to swat her hand but I kinda freeze in the middle of the motion like…I don’t know. It just…I just…it makes me feel all warm inside like she might really be my mom. It’s like a what if if things were better but…
“Let’s…play a game then?” I say, nibbling a biscuit that I put too much jelly in and now it’s vomiting jelly which is why I’m nibbling it carefully. It works in all the movies, the eldritch monster invents a super creepy game to win to get out and then she cheats and in the very last moment you snatch victory from defeat. But…like this food is really good and everything is like…I blink and shake my head. What was I thinking do I actually wanna stay here?!
“Well, I know you like to explore,” She says, sitting down across from me, leaning toward me and smiling like she could spend the whole day with me. I swallow and gulp down the last of my biscuit with my milk. “Do you want to see everything I’m trying to build for you? It’s how everything in your world should’ve been.”
“Should’ve been like what?” This is giving me the creeps, the more I look at her eyes the more it’s like pure possibility like her eyes can’t decide on a color because there’s so many different ones at once. And she smiles more without answering. “What if…I ask you…five questions you have to answer honestly?”
“Ok,” she whispers “why would I do that?”
“Because it’s part of the game,” I blurt, not really sure where I’m going with this. “Like I game where you try to show me what you’re trying to build and I try to figure out what actually is–or was.”
I sure hope I didn’t come up with a real stupid stupid-plan. Her head tilts without her face shifting.
“So,” Yep this was a bad idea “you want me to give you a chance to find your memories?”
It might be a bad idea to answer that, I don’t know. So I kinda choke on my eggs and swallow it down with coffee that’s lukewarm by now.
5:45 am
“And whether you win or fail you’ll stay here you know?” Haha…I’m screwed. It’s really creepy looking at her because her face moves mechanically, ya’know, like a doll being animated in stop motion. “And what happens if I win this game?”
Shoot. I was afraid of that.
5:50 am
“Ok.” I take a deep breath, staring at the empty plate in front of me. “You gotta need me to agree to something for your thing to work. Otherwise it wouldn’t–” I bite my tongue cos I probably don’t want to insult my captor. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so obviously fake, I was gonna say but yeah, you get the idea. “I mean, if you win…”
5:55 am
No going back now.
“If you win I’ll do what you want for this.” I say as fast as I can before I can lose my nerve. She said I can’t leave even if I got my memories but that’s a disaster for future me to handle. When I finally look up at her, Miss Monster’s glossy lips are stretched into an unblinking smile.
“Done.”
Before I can say a word the whole world shifts outta place like PlayDough.
6:00 amTo be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
6:01 am
I gotta say whoever’s writing this story clearly isn’t focusing on the important part. That is, pulling me outta the Castle after the first kiss whatever.
So like imagine this horrible puzzle game, whatever big evil thing where you like meet all your closest friends/family. But the thing is, they aren’t and you have to grab certain items that were actually rea–
[Narration Overridden]Counting down to midnight
Olvidalo. I follow the group that leaves with Marsha. Why? No se lo, maybe to break down their system starting with the first domino.
Car drives in, silver, smelling like a royal grand. You can still hear Marsha talking scared but they convince her to get in. Better watch it; lose their trail or get caught. I wonder, what would Ehud do? *sigh* que mas da?
I’ve decided to be stupid and follow his strategy.
Five minutes later I’m in a metaphorical straightjacket with Marsha after shooting up a couple rounds “for fun”.To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
Riure was gone. Just gone. Klein let loose with expletives. She was just a kid. She didn’t deserve to die like that. Klein felt his blood begin to boil. Shifting his weight around, he threw a punch. As hard as he could. The barrier shattered against his blow, surprising Klein.
But he was free. Back in his armor. Leaping back from the board, Klein grabbed his rifle. He would not let another person become a pawn in that prison. Cutting loose with the shotgun, Klein watched as pieces scattered against the far wall. Three shells destroyed the game.
With it gone, Klein leaned back against the wall. A few quick gasps and he resumed normal breathing. The boy was still there. Zanar wasn’t it. Scooping him into a hug, Klein remained quite. He knew too little to comfort the child properly.
“Well, I seem to have underestimated your abilities.”
“I will find you. You can’t hid from me.” Hissed Klein.
“You might but this is boring. Lets see what a larger team can do.”
The Devil saw me with my head down and got excited. Then I said Amen
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