WGC Ficlet - "Beginning of the End"
1. Despite skypiratekella trying to coax me into NaNoWriMo participation, I couldn't even reach her daily word quota with this (and it was something I DID want to write, not a random plot bunny that hadn't been thought over with characters analysed a billion times)
2. I might have been able to get further, but I didn't want to sabotage canadian_turtle's characters, and I am running on plot bunnies that haven't been totally discussed with her (another reason I had to stop before I delve too deeply cause I kind of feel like I'm cheating or being bossy/demanding or something IDK)
3. I want to steal the cheerleader from the last ep of Supernatural as the face for the bad girl now simply cause there was footage of her doing something that would be kinda Charmed-like :$ Actress is Ashley Benson and there's LOTS of pics of her around so that's helpful XD But she looks nothing like my original Kristen and I'm even contemplating changing her name now and ditching Niki Reed
4. I am really REALLY obsessed and I can't help it! :( But I've restrained myself to the two main characters (ie. Ashley & Justin) fighting it out in my head and a sub-character for the moment. Cause of the nature of these characters there is a bit of swearing in here too so TURN AWAY NOW if you're going to be offended.
Beginning of the End
Cold, wet liquid ran in a straight line across the length of the floor, streaming towards the doorway as if seeking a route for escape. It billowed out, gaining width the further from its point of origin it reached. A heavy footfall sounded on the hardwood floor as a vacuum of noise was swallowed into thin air behind the young man.
“Oh shit, shit, shit,” he cursed, noticing the growing mess on the floor and racing towards the doorway, tearing it open. He dashed into the bathroom and grabbed a towel, bringing it back to his bedroom and throwing it onto the floor. Kneeling down, he pressed his hands firmly onto the soft fibres and attempted to soak up the water before it caused any damage.
“Ashley, don’t run in the house. You’ll wake the neighbours. You know how thin these walls are.” Ashley’s mother stopped in the doorway of his room, her hand resting on the frame as she saw her son kneeling on the floor. “What happened?”
“Nothing, Ma. I’m fixing it.”
“Ash-”
“It’s just water,” he snapped.
“Well clean the towel when you clean that mess. I already did a load of washing last night. I’m not doing another one because you spilt something.”
Ashley clamped his teeth together but didn’t respond. It was no use getting into another argument with her. She’d only end up grounding him for something completely minor again. Not like I can tell her what happened.
He listened until her footsteps carried her away from the door and into another room. Lifting the towel he ran his hand over the floor; dry as a bone. No harm done. Not that she would care. She’d be more concerned that the landlord would throw them out for damaging his precious hardwood floor. Not that their apartment was much to look at - it was an overpriced shithole that was just about the only place his mother could afford on her measly wage. It wasn’t like he could help either - all his money was going to that great place known as the education system whose exorbitant student fees drained every last cent and more for the promise of a piece of paper and a title after three or four years of studious hell.
Grabbing a few stray socks which had been decomposing on the ground around his room and a number of t-shirts that smelt like day-old fungus, Ashley headed down to the laundry and dumped the small armload into the washing machine. Closing the lid, he scaled his fingers across a few buttons and backed himself up to sit on top of the dryer across from it and wait. He didn’t really want to go back up there if his mother was in a crappy mood. When isn’t she?
Staring at the machine rumbling against the wall in front of him he began to kick his heels against the one under him, trying to pass the time. He looked up to the small window that was slotted towards the top of the wall near the ceiling. It was pitch black outside. He couldn’t see any stars from here. Not like the park - at least that was open. It didn’t feel cramped and gloomy like this place. At least there he was free to do whatever he wanted - within limits of course. He couldn’t risk anyone finding out about him. Only Justin knew. And PJ. But that was about it. His mother didn’t know. Hell, even his girlfriend didn’t know, and she was the one who should know everything there was to know about him. He smiled as he thought about her - he had the hottest girl in the city and still didn’t know how he landed her. She had gorgeous eyes and that smile of hers just made any problem disappear.
A bright flash of light and a shriek of terror from the other side of that narrow slit in the wall brought the real world crashing back down on him. It was beginning to feel like the very beginning of the apocalypse. Crime had risen ten-fold. Weirdness had risen ten-fold. As he slid off the dryer and pulled a chair towards the wall, stepping onto the wooden surface and gingerly rising until his eye level was parallel to the window, Ashley feared just what he might see on the other side. The world had indeed gone crazy. And San Francisco was beginning to feel like the origination of it all.
* * *
“Another day, another casualty.”
“Huh?”
“Fuck, man, wake up!” Rob said, clicking his fingers in front of Ashley’s face. He stamped his foot onto the tail of his Dimension skateboard, catching the front with his hand and holding it upright. It was a strangely shaped board with the appearance of being in three parts - suited only to street skating which was Rob’s fortay. “Some kid died outside your place last night.”
“I know.”
“You know? What did you like kill him or something?”
Ashley’s hands gripped painfully tighter together in his lap as he looked at his friend. “I heard it.”
“Shit, man. There’s freaky shit going on around here.”
“I don’t know what I can do about it.”
“Hide,” Rob suggested with a nod, dropping his board back to the ground and hopping onto it. From the look on his face as he skated away, Ashley could tell he wasn’t taking this as seriously as he should. But then, Rob never seemed to be phased by anything.
Hearing wheels rolling across the concrete path in the other direction, Ashley turned his attention towards the new arrival, brightening a little when he saw who it was - someone he didn’t have to be so guarded with.
“Hey, Justin. Where’s PJ?” he asked.
“I dunno,” Justin answered.
Any hope of joy he had expected Justin to bring with him dissolved in an instant when he saw the haggard look on his friend’s face. He both looked and sounded tired; all indications of his former happy-go-lucky self were shadowed by concern and fatigue. Ashley couldn’t remember ever having seen Justin look so defeated before.
“Buddy, what’s up?”
“Where’s Claire?” Justin responded, suddenly alert and looking around, ignoring the question Ashley had served him.
“Well, she’s…” His lips drew to the side in silent thought as he scanned the skate park surroundings. He couldn’t remember having seen her this morning. His stomach sank heavily as if he’d swallowed a small, solid boulder considering the possibility that the person he’d heard perish and felt too useless to help might have been someone he’d known. “… not… here.”
Justin closed his eyes, as if his head was paining him. Ashley half-expected him to start frantically astral projecting himself around the park until he saw the young blonde man open his eyes again.
“Wyatt came after my parents last night,” Justin suddenly blurted out.
“What? What for? Money or…?”
“Blood,” Justin answered. Ashley looked at him with surprise. He didn’t know Wyatt very well - the few times he had seen him had been a long time ago when he’d suddenly show up at the park to have an altercation with his brother or, on most occasions, to tell Chris they needed to go somewhere. He had a temper, sure, but he didn’t think it was lethal. “Dude went after my parents. I was up all night. I thought he’d come back. PJ went after him. God, I hope she’s okay.”
“I haven’t seen any of the girls,” Ashley said, now realising that any one of them could have been in danger - including his girlfriend.
“Fuck!” Justin shouted, dropping down to sit beside Ashley. He looked almost desperate. “What can I do? I can’t be everywhere.”
“PJ can look after herself,” Ashley offered, hoping to provide him a little relief.
“Yeah. She tells me that.” Justin turned towards Ashley. “So did Bianca. I told Chris I’d look after her and now she’s gone troppo. She nearly got me.”
Watching Justin’s hands flick back towards himself, Ashley now noticed the red marks around Justin’s throat. It looked as if he’d had a close call the previous night as well.
“I thought she was over that? Why… why are they doing this?”
“I think a huge of hunk of it is Chris not being here. He’s gone to ‘save the world’ and left us with the mess. This is getting too big for me to handle.”
“They’re not the only problem. People are dying all over the place. There was a fatality outside my block last night.”
Justin was quiet for a moment, his voice barely audible as he suggested: “Maybe we should go look.”
“I think the body’s been moved. We’re not going to know who it is unless we break into the morgue.”
“Okay.”
“Justin, don’t be crazy. We can’t just pop up in the middle of the police station.”
“PJ’s got an uncle - a parole officer. He could get us some info.”
“Alright. But questions only. Don’t go doing anything illegal.”
“Illegal, no. Risky, maybe.”
Pushing himself back to the ground, Justin grabbed his skateboard and hopped onto it. Ashley followed on his own board, thinking all the while that two punk kids showing up with their boards at the door of the police station wasn’t likely to get them a warm, welcoming reception.
~~FIN~~
I don't think my writing is at its best but I'll blame that on being rusty (cause I'll be very upset if I think I've lost my ability to form sentances with cool words that make sense and have an awesome flow). And, erm, don't be surprised if there's more WGC that pops up cause I can't keep it all in my head or else it'll disappear :(
2. I might have been able to get further, but I didn't want to sabotage canadian_turtle's characters, and I am running on plot bunnies that haven't been totally discussed with her (another reason I had to stop before I delve too deeply cause I kind of feel like I'm cheating or being bossy/demanding or something IDK)
3. I want to steal the cheerleader from the last ep of Supernatural as the face for the bad girl now simply cause there was footage of her doing something that would be kinda Charmed-like :$ Actress is Ashley Benson and there's LOTS of pics of her around so that's helpful XD But she looks nothing like my original Kristen and I'm even contemplating changing her name now and ditching Niki Reed
4. I am really REALLY obsessed and I can't help it! :( But I've restrained myself to the two main characters (ie. Ashley & Justin) fighting it out in my head and a sub-character for the moment. Cause of the nature of these characters there is a bit of swearing in here too so TURN AWAY NOW if you're going to be offended.
Beginning of the End
Cold, wet liquid ran in a straight line across the length of the floor, streaming towards the doorway as if seeking a route for escape. It billowed out, gaining width the further from its point of origin it reached. A heavy footfall sounded on the hardwood floor as a vacuum of noise was swallowed into thin air behind the young man.
“Oh shit, shit, shit,” he cursed, noticing the growing mess on the floor and racing towards the doorway, tearing it open. He dashed into the bathroom and grabbed a towel, bringing it back to his bedroom and throwing it onto the floor. Kneeling down, he pressed his hands firmly onto the soft fibres and attempted to soak up the water before it caused any damage.
“Ashley, don’t run in the house. You’ll wake the neighbours. You know how thin these walls are.” Ashley’s mother stopped in the doorway of his room, her hand resting on the frame as she saw her son kneeling on the floor. “What happened?”
“Nothing, Ma. I’m fixing it.”
“Ash-”
“It’s just water,” he snapped.
“Well clean the towel when you clean that mess. I already did a load of washing last night. I’m not doing another one because you spilt something.”
Ashley clamped his teeth together but didn’t respond. It was no use getting into another argument with her. She’d only end up grounding him for something completely minor again. Not like I can tell her what happened.
He listened until her footsteps carried her away from the door and into another room. Lifting the towel he ran his hand over the floor; dry as a bone. No harm done. Not that she would care. She’d be more concerned that the landlord would throw them out for damaging his precious hardwood floor. Not that their apartment was much to look at - it was an overpriced shithole that was just about the only place his mother could afford on her measly wage. It wasn’t like he could help either - all his money was going to that great place known as the education system whose exorbitant student fees drained every last cent and more for the promise of a piece of paper and a title after three or four years of studious hell.
Grabbing a few stray socks which had been decomposing on the ground around his room and a number of t-shirts that smelt like day-old fungus, Ashley headed down to the laundry and dumped the small armload into the washing machine. Closing the lid, he scaled his fingers across a few buttons and backed himself up to sit on top of the dryer across from it and wait. He didn’t really want to go back up there if his mother was in a crappy mood. When isn’t she?
Staring at the machine rumbling against the wall in front of him he began to kick his heels against the one under him, trying to pass the time. He looked up to the small window that was slotted towards the top of the wall near the ceiling. It was pitch black outside. He couldn’t see any stars from here. Not like the park - at least that was open. It didn’t feel cramped and gloomy like this place. At least there he was free to do whatever he wanted - within limits of course. He couldn’t risk anyone finding out about him. Only Justin knew. And PJ. But that was about it. His mother didn’t know. Hell, even his girlfriend didn’t know, and she was the one who should know everything there was to know about him. He smiled as he thought about her - he had the hottest girl in the city and still didn’t know how he landed her. She had gorgeous eyes and that smile of hers just made any problem disappear.
A bright flash of light and a shriek of terror from the other side of that narrow slit in the wall brought the real world crashing back down on him. It was beginning to feel like the very beginning of the apocalypse. Crime had risen ten-fold. Weirdness had risen ten-fold. As he slid off the dryer and pulled a chair towards the wall, stepping onto the wooden surface and gingerly rising until his eye level was parallel to the window, Ashley feared just what he might see on the other side. The world had indeed gone crazy. And San Francisco was beginning to feel like the origination of it all.
* * *
“Another day, another casualty.”
“Huh?”
“Fuck, man, wake up!” Rob said, clicking his fingers in front of Ashley’s face. He stamped his foot onto the tail of his Dimension skateboard, catching the front with his hand and holding it upright. It was a strangely shaped board with the appearance of being in three parts - suited only to street skating which was Rob’s fortay. “Some kid died outside your place last night.”
“I know.”
“You know? What did you like kill him or something?”
Ashley’s hands gripped painfully tighter together in his lap as he looked at his friend. “I heard it.”
“Shit, man. There’s freaky shit going on around here.”
“I don’t know what I can do about it.”
“Hide,” Rob suggested with a nod, dropping his board back to the ground and hopping onto it. From the look on his face as he skated away, Ashley could tell he wasn’t taking this as seriously as he should. But then, Rob never seemed to be phased by anything.
Hearing wheels rolling across the concrete path in the other direction, Ashley turned his attention towards the new arrival, brightening a little when he saw who it was - someone he didn’t have to be so guarded with.
“Hey, Justin. Where’s PJ?” he asked.
“I dunno,” Justin answered.
Any hope of joy he had expected Justin to bring with him dissolved in an instant when he saw the haggard look on his friend’s face. He both looked and sounded tired; all indications of his former happy-go-lucky self were shadowed by concern and fatigue. Ashley couldn’t remember ever having seen Justin look so defeated before.
“Buddy, what’s up?”
“Where’s Claire?” Justin responded, suddenly alert and looking around, ignoring the question Ashley had served him.
“Well, she’s…” His lips drew to the side in silent thought as he scanned the skate park surroundings. He couldn’t remember having seen her this morning. His stomach sank heavily as if he’d swallowed a small, solid boulder considering the possibility that the person he’d heard perish and felt too useless to help might have been someone he’d known. “… not… here.”
Justin closed his eyes, as if his head was paining him. Ashley half-expected him to start frantically astral projecting himself around the park until he saw the young blonde man open his eyes again.
“Wyatt came after my parents last night,” Justin suddenly blurted out.
“What? What for? Money or…?”
“Blood,” Justin answered. Ashley looked at him with surprise. He didn’t know Wyatt very well - the few times he had seen him had been a long time ago when he’d suddenly show up at the park to have an altercation with his brother or, on most occasions, to tell Chris they needed to go somewhere. He had a temper, sure, but he didn’t think it was lethal. “Dude went after my parents. I was up all night. I thought he’d come back. PJ went after him. God, I hope she’s okay.”
“I haven’t seen any of the girls,” Ashley said, now realising that any one of them could have been in danger - including his girlfriend.
“Fuck!” Justin shouted, dropping down to sit beside Ashley. He looked almost desperate. “What can I do? I can’t be everywhere.”
“PJ can look after herself,” Ashley offered, hoping to provide him a little relief.
“Yeah. She tells me that.” Justin turned towards Ashley. “So did Bianca. I told Chris I’d look after her and now she’s gone troppo. She nearly got me.”
Watching Justin’s hands flick back towards himself, Ashley now noticed the red marks around Justin’s throat. It looked as if he’d had a close call the previous night as well.
“I thought she was over that? Why… why are they doing this?”
“I think a huge of hunk of it is Chris not being here. He’s gone to ‘save the world’ and left us with the mess. This is getting too big for me to handle.”
“They’re not the only problem. People are dying all over the place. There was a fatality outside my block last night.”
Justin was quiet for a moment, his voice barely audible as he suggested: “Maybe we should go look.”
“I think the body’s been moved. We’re not going to know who it is unless we break into the morgue.”
“Okay.”
“Justin, don’t be crazy. We can’t just pop up in the middle of the police station.”
“PJ’s got an uncle - a parole officer. He could get us some info.”
“Alright. But questions only. Don’t go doing anything illegal.”
“Illegal, no. Risky, maybe.”
Pushing himself back to the ground, Justin grabbed his skateboard and hopped onto it. Ashley followed on his own board, thinking all the while that two punk kids showing up with their boards at the door of the police station wasn’t likely to get them a warm, welcoming reception.
~~FIN~~
I don't think my writing is at its best but I'll blame that on being rusty (cause I'll be very upset if I think I've lost my ability to form sentances with cool words that make sense and have an awesome flow). And, erm, don't be surprised if there's more WGC that pops up cause I can't keep it all in my head or else it'll disappear :(