Title: Haunting.
Author: SilverInk
Writing: possible story excerpt/ beginnings
Word Count: 815
Straight. Tall. Beautiful.
Her left hand was clenched around a silver puppeteer's manipulator, like a double-cross. Her mouth dripped with the blood of the escaped prey and the wind howled silently through her long hair.
She bent down and picked up a fistful of the wasteland dirt with her free hand and let the cold wind blow it away. Lightly. Slowly. Like a broken hourglass.
A black feather fluttered out of the shadows behind her and landed haphazardly on her thin white dress. The sash was ripped and stained, and the feather hardly seemed out of place. It was cold, but she was not cold. She stood again and lifted her right arm. A raven flew out of the violet shadows as if had just appeared and perched on her hand, its unusually sharp claws driving into her arm and drawing blood. She did not flinch.
"I have failed you," she said. Her voice was a hallow echo. A cold tone on a cold night.
The raven opened its sharp beak and cawed, "You did well enough. This is no failure, Scytharia."
She did not respond as her name rang out, a pure note in the raven's harsh call.
"You know what to do now," it continued. "You will join them now."
The bird's claws dug into her skin one last time before it took off, streaking across the valley until it vanished in a puff of feathers.
--|--~--|--
Her stomach was a knot that was pulling at her intestines and lungs as if it wanted to eat them. Her heart thudded loudly enough for her to hear it as she lied on the bed, her long black hair thrown over the edge. Thum-thump. Thum-thump. Thum-thump.
A groan next to her made her look up and at the man next to her. "Sophia," he croaked, brushing a rough hand across her smooth cheek. "You're already awake."
She did not resist when he pulled her back to the bed and kissed her neck passionately. He was interrupted by a bell ringing and he crawled out of bed lazily and changed into a professional attire. "I will see you downstairs then," he said with a longing glance at her. "For your departure."
Again she did not reply. Only when he had left did she tumble silently out of the bed. She ambled over to the mirror and pressed herself against the cool glass and closed her eyes so she wouldn't see her reflection. When her eyes finally fluttered open, she stared at her irises, two pale-blue bands around bottomless pits. She could still see last night's dream--her memory--reflected in them. She saw and recognized the landscape, felt and understood the raven. She saw herself. Straight. Tall. Beautiful.
Five measly minutes later, the bell rang again and Sophia donned the dress she had laid out the night before. Everything else she owned was already packed in a black duffel bag sitting next to it. Sophia changed out of the white nightgown and left it in the man's room--he would dispose of it and she would acquire another one at the main headquarters.
She stared at herself in the mirror and brushed her teeth white, brushed her makeup dim, brushed her hair straight. Long. Beautiful. All this done, Sophia grabbed the small duffel and left the room without another glance.
Immediately outside and down the grand staircase was her current boss, looking incredibly sad yet incredibly proud that she was leaving. "We will miss you," he said, pulling her into a chaste embrace before the other members of the secret society. More quietly he added, "I will miss you."
She returned his hug and smiled, allowing the small upturning of her lips to perfect her appearance. Her dress swirled when the door opened and a breeze touched her body. The driver stood just inside the doorway, waiting for her to finish her farewells. "Thank you for this opportunity sir," she said. "I will not disappoint you."
He smiled and let her go. Fellow members came and murmured their heartfelt good-byes.
"We'll miss you."
"Don't forget about us!"
"You're a wonderful Tracker. You'll be amazing."
"You deserved this a long time ago Sophia. Good work."
"Visit if you can! Tell me when you get your brand!"
"You'll be in our hearts."
"Good luck."
She shook hands will all of them, hugged some, kissed others, and finally left them with her sweet distinctive scent wafting through their noses, intoxicating them in unattainable desire. The driver opened the door for her, and the last these people saw of her was the flutter of a lace sash disappearing in the floating carriage. He said "Hai," and the carriage began cutting through the air, slowly at first, but speeding up until they were moving steadily along the unpaved roads. Then she was gone, leaving them only endearing memories of the straight, tall, beautiful mystery.
Artist's Note: This week's post! :D I know it's a bit random, and I'm trying not to post these random excerpt things with no clear storyline, but I find that I'm more inclined to write long dithering things XD
This was inspired by Cris Ortega (dark-spider on deviantART)'s Moonlight Cry. Obviously not my art (if only I were that good >.<).
Eh. I'll put up a post some day that summarized all my story concepts so it's not amazingly confusing for everyone besides me who is part of which story. >_< Until then, I'm sorry for being so confusing!
Comment please?
~SilverInk
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