(I am nervous about 'publishing' my work. Especially something I was forced to spend so little time on. Since there's only a week given in the contest. I'd like to make a bunch of disclaimers, but I'll just let you read it and be the judge. Now, I'll go back to pretending I'm invincible and the BEST.WRITER.EVER. ;) )
Flash Fiction: A Game of Aspects
Mixed
Messages
Her name was Marion .
She had the body of a pinup girl, and the eyes of a lost soul haunted by some
inner grief. Bright blue eyes that blazed out at him from beneath ravens wing
curls. She was beautiful and alluring, and Troy
wanted her at once.
She sat at the bar drinking a dirty
martini like it was going to drown the sorrow she was failing to hide. Troy
slid up to her. His grey suit was tailored to fit, and pitching his voice low,
he tipped his fedora at the lady.
“Why don’t I buy your next round?”
She looked at him, flushed. Her skin looked so pale against her black flowing
dress. Black wasn't her color, neither was the sorrow that hung on her every
move.
“Oh, I shouldn't.” She breathed,
her voice breathy and frail, matching her perfectly as she glanced down.
“Look babe, I can’t stand to see a
pretty little thing like you looking so sad. Just let me keep you company.” He
bartered, leaning on the bar and stunning her with a smile. Her lips curved
slowly, a timid little smile brightening her whole face.
“Alright, but only for a while. I
have to meet someone.” That was a mysterious answer, and his interest was
piqued, but even as he bought her a round and they talked through the evening,
she refused to tell him more.
She looked up to the clock after
barely an hour, and her face went pale.
“I have to go now.” She whispered. Troy ’s
heart gave a wrench, something about this girl called to him, more than any dame
ever had. Wherever she was going, she didn't seem happy. Alarm bells were
ringing in his head but he didn't heed them at all.
“Let me walk you… wherever you’re
going.” He said offering his arm. Her lips tightened, and she looked ready to
say no, but her worry made her reach for him instead.
He took her hand and led her to the
street. It wasn't far, she said, as they walked out into the night.
“If you need any help… I can help
you.” Troy offered, all but
begging. She looked at him, sapphire eyes in the dark holding his, her smile so
sweet.
“You’re an angel to take me this
far, but it’s too dangerous. I can’t let you. He’d…” Here she stops, cringing,
a tear in her eye. Feeling suddenly bold, Troy
turns her to him, leans down and kisses those sweet lips. Her skin’s so cold in
the chill night air, and she stops, frozen at his touch. He pulls back, afraid,
and her eyes hold his.
“I’m sorry. I couldn't bear to see
you cry.” She smiles, and puts a cool hand to his cheek.
“Oh, you dear sweet man, you should
go now before you get in too deep.” She pulls her hand away, almost trembling.
It might be the cold, or she might be afraid. Troy
slips off his suit coat and wraps it around her.
“It’s too late for me babe. From
the moment I laid eyes on you it was trapped in your spell.” Troy
wants to see her smile again, but he can’t help feeling grim. “Is it your man,
husband maybe? Are you afraid of him?”
She flinches, betraying herself,
turning her face away.
“It’s too dangerous. You shouldn't be near me.” She glances at the old clock tower and gasps. “I’m going to be
late. I've got to go!”
She took off running, heels
clicking in the autumn starlight, and he followed like a fool, chasing her down
the winding lane, the amber trees whispering their warnings as he went.
He paused when she fled through the
cemetery gate. Old steel arches looked foreboding, and what was a girl like her
doing in a graveyard at night? His blood chilled, he could practically hear the
warmth and light of the bar calling him back to the clink and pour of a whiskey
on the rocks. It would be so easy to turn back, but he remembered the look in
her eyes. He couldn't let a lovely lady go into the dark alone.
He pursued her down the lane,
losing her for a moment among the headstones. She slipped behind a crypt, and
he lost her. A glimpse of grey by the moonlight showed him she wasn’t far, but
it was only his coat, left draped over a tombstone.
He heard the sound of voices then,
whispers flying susurrus on the breeze.
“You’re late. Where have you been?”
A sharp mans voice. Followed by a plead.
“Please. I’m sorry! I couldn't do
it. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It’s wrong!”
The man’s voice was a snarl of
rage. Troy felt his blood boiling
as he inched closer. There was a pistol strapped to his leg, and he leaned down
carefully to slip it off his ankle.
“Do you want to die?! You’re
running out of time, Marion !”
That was all he needed to hear, he
whipped around the crypt, holding his pistol steady, and faced them. She stood
in tears, before a man dressed in black, his skin pale as a corpse, wearing a
suit that looked twenty years old.
“That’s about enough!” Snapped Troy .
“I don’t appreciate you threatening the lady.”
They both turned to him, Marion
cried out.
“Viktor no!” As the man beside her
snarled, his teeth like fangs, and leaped across the space. Troy
snapped the trigger, the crack of gunfire as he fired again and again. Viktor
stumbled, extending a hand, his long nails scratched across Troy ’s
face as he fell to the ground, stone cold and still.
“Oh Troy ,
you’re bleeding.” She whispered. Troy
saw her trembling. She must be freezing cold, so he held her close.
“It’s okay babe. As long as you’re
okay.” He murmured.
“Ohhhh…” She gasped. She seemed
suddenly tense. “You shouldn't have come.”
“It’s alright. I’d do it again.” He
said, with a smile.
“Would you?” She whispered. Her
voice sounded so strange, strained and altered. He looked down, into blue eyes
turned impossibly black. A gut punch of horror filled his loins yet he stood
rooted, trapped in the depths of her eyes. “Oh Troy …
I’m so sorry.”
The fangs changed her voice. They
changed her face too, but she was still beautiful. She bit his neck, holding
him tight, and all he could do was gasp one last weak cry. She held him as he
died, tears in her eyes, even as she killed him. His last thought being that it
served him right, a girl like that was too good to be true.
As she lay him down beside a
tombstone, Viktor stretched and stood.
“There my love… It’s done.”
“He was so kind.” She bit her lip.
“I hate this! Will it always be so hard?”
Viktor grabbed her close and kissed
her. She kissed him back, melting in his bony arms.
“It gets easier with every bite my
love. Give it time. You only died yesterday.”
“I died to be with you.”
Victor stroked her pale cheek.
“Now he died to be with you.”
