Hide And Seek

Pills and Pain

I reach out my fingers, aware they are shaking,

My body is sore, and I'm worried it's breaking,

I glance at strange pills, and fear what I'm taking.

Is the pain in my legs really worth what I'm staking?

My body is sore. I fear it might shatter,

I sit in my bed, pills still on the platter.

The ache in my bones refuses to scatter,

My hesitation remains, but soon, it won't matter.

Unsent letter

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

Also, happy belated 6th anniversary and 300th prompt 🥳

Description: An unpolished letter written in anger but never sent. (I wanted to try something a bit different for the milestone)

I stand now at a crossroads of significant divide. Where need and will have chosen to once more diverge. I need from her many things, her company included, but after this, I can not just pretend that the walls are not fractured.

Don't make decisions when you are upset. Don't burn bridges that you still need to cross. Money will be given, and debts repaid in kind. I will not be forgiven by her words, and in this, I can not find reason to forgive.

Will you look at me differently once the madness has retreated? Will smiles adorn your face once the storm has passed? I am to be rational and care as always, but you have a life left to lead, and I have no place stopping that, only the desire to keep you safe. In doing what I thought best, I have hurt you, and for that, I am sorry, and by your own actions, I have seen a folly in my resolve. I can not save you if you do not wished be saved, no matter how much it pains me to watch.

I have benefited greatly from your kindness and thoughtfulness, but I have also suffered greatly under the weight of your wrath. I curse my heart for still being affected by this, but I will do my best not to let this affect our partnership. Instead, the roots shall be gradually trimmed, and I will do my best to quietly let you go.

Tear in Space

@flashfictionfridayofficial thanks for the prompt.

Warnings: descriptive violence

Nihill stood at the edge of a cliff looking down into the gaping mouth with a strange fluttering feeling in his stomach daring him to jump. All of his notes led to this place. Would it be another dead end, or would he finally find the answers that he had so long been searching for?

“You know you’re crazy right?”

Nihill turned, imitating a smile at his shining faced guide. The young man had grown up in these mountains and recently had become known far and wide for his many feats. That was why Nihill hadn’t hesitated in hiring him, why he had insisted that no other guards accompanied them on this venture.

“You really should face someone when speaking such nonsense.”

The guide turned his head to face Nihill, a look of mild confusion crossing his face. Nihill bit back his irritation. It wasn’t his fault, after all.

“The matter still stands, death valley isn’t a place for mortals to walk, everyone knows that.”

His irritation drew Nihill’s attention, and he took a step closer to the edge, dropping a glow stone down into the inky blackness. It was swallowed up in moments, leaving everything to the imagination.

“An interesting choice of words from someone who frequents the valley so often don’t you think? Does that make you some type of immortal, then?”

He could hear the boy’s breath freeze at that. Bingo.

“What are you talking about? No..oone goes into D..death v-valley!”

Nihill turned his head to stare at his stammering guide with a touch of pity. The thing had intended to make a quick meal of him when they made it to the destination, as he had done with more than thirty men before, and the boy whose face he had stolen.

Loosening his robes, Nihill let them fall to the ground, leaving him in a simple pair of worn pants without any of his usual adornments. His skin glowed with ruins that he had painstakingly carved. The most beautiful adornments he had to offer and no one could see them, truly a pity. The thing’s stollen skin peeled away, exposing bloodied fur and a maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

The creature dove for his robes, tearing through them as he stepped away unharmed.

Nihill watched the creature digging around in confusion for a moment before its jaws locked around one of the pockets, exploding a bag of powder in its face. The jerking motions stopped as the creature blinked in confusion and began sneezing uncontrollably. Nihill stepped forward slowly with a knife in hand. He marveled at the treated surface in his hand, thoughtfully before driving it into the base of its skull. The creature let out a cry of pain before it’s muscles slackened. He probably had about two hours before the creature revived, so he had to work quickly.

peeling away its outer coat, Nihil quickly draped it over his shoulders and let the blood coat his skin. Unpleasant, but there wasn’t much choice if he wanted answers. Once he was mostly obscured, Nihill knelt down near the edge of the cliff, allowing the blood to drip into the void. A set of silver stairs appeared, winding down into the void. He had been right then. This was the place he had been looking for.

The journey down was slow and, at times, rather frustrating, but it wasn’t meant for humans. When he finally reached the base of the valley, Nihill discarded the creature’s skin and pulled his own robes back on. The dark scape before him began to distort in his presence. No human could be in death valley, it was a rule of this world, and it was especially true for something like him.

The air began to fluctuate in front of him, and a tear formed in space. This was it. This is what he’d been searching so desperately for, and now it was here at his fingertips. Stepping towards the void, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Now, maybe the chaos of this would have some real answers, not that drivel that all of the senile fools spouted. Soon, he would see, soon he would understand why he’d been born without a face and cursed to know it.

Talking to someone about monster ideas and came up with this one.

Krow's Abomination

This creature was a madman's failed attempt to artificially produce sentient life. The creature burrows under cities and primarily infiltrates children's dreams at night, replacing their dreams with its nightmares in order to offset the pain of its existence.

If left unchecked, the dreams steadily get darker and begin to twist the victim's minds under the control of the abomination, which then uses its victims to draw in others for it to feed on.

The best time to attack the creature is when it is trying to feed, but be warned that it's victims can and will alert the creature of any danger, even going so far as to sacrifice themselves for the creature to escape.

There have only been a handful of sightings since they were released into the world, but recently, a city suffered from an earthquake that drove a fifteen meter specimen to the surface. It proceeded to devoure the city's residence before succumbing to its injuries.

This incident indicates a level of patience and cunning that was not previously attributed to the creatures.

Out of Context Tag Game

@kuebiko-writing , thank you for the tag!

Groggily coming back to his senses, Owen was confronted once more with the shattering realization that his squad was still missing. At least he wasn't Impaled anymore, so small mercies. A good sleep had a hand in that he'd bet, ma always said it did. Looking out at the marred earth surrounding the crash site, Owen stared blankly at the neat piles of immaculately clean bones carefully arranged into rows in place of his fellow passengers. He'd eaten them, hadn't he?

Tagging- open tag

Happy Birthday

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial !

Couldn't resist writing a birthday song story with this prompt.

It's a little story from Hati's past. A very memorable birthday and very defining moment in his life.

Warnings: violence, tragedy, death, depictions of violence, trauma, survivors guilt.

He’d woken up from his nap to the sound of hushed excitement from the kitchen.

‘Mom?’

She’d turned to him bursting with excitement, presenting a cake just like the one he’d dreamed of, candles lit perfectly and everything.

‘I’m sorry if I woke you up, honey. I was just too excited to celebrate my little man’s birthday! I know it’s not the same with dad gone, but we can still have fun!’

She was sure they would, and that was enough for him. Would it taste as good as he’d dreamed? Haiti’s eyes sparkled in anticipation as his mother took a deep breath to sing.

“Happy Birthday to you…”

Within moments of the explosion, his mother stood over him. Her face was covered in blood, but her eyes were lucid, unlike the others. She could be saved? A smile flickered across her cracked lips as she knelt before him with a damaged paper package in her trembling hands.

‘I know we didn’t get to eat cake yet, but I wanted to give you your gift a bit early this year.’

He saw her smile and knew that he would make it through this somehow, his mother wouldn’t smile like that if there was no way out, he’d seen what it looked like when she gave up after all, and she was even taking the time to give him his birthday gift.

“Happy Birthday to you…”

’You got something extra special this year my sweet’

The forest green cap in her hands seemed to emirate a strange radiance that he couldn’t understand, but whatever it was, Hati was sure that it was special; no there was no doubt that this gift was extra special just like his mother had said.

‘As long as you wear it, the tech witches won’t ever be able to find you!’

She placed it firmly on his head and kissed his cheek warmly.

‘I love you Hati, never forget that.’

“Happy Birthday, my Baby…”

The sky burned as rays of weaponized light reigning down from above. Hati watched family and friends alike, burning under the scorching beams, but he stayed still as a statue, holding the cap to his head tightly. His face burned as tears rolled down his cheeks in silent lament. They never found him, like his mother had said, but he’d never stopped running just in case.

“Happy Birthday to you!”

Hati woke up in a panic while clutching the worn fabric of his cap until his fingers turned white and he couldn’t feel them anymore. Curling into a ball, he tried to make himself as small as he could. No one would find him then. His mothers voice still echoed through his ears as Hati cried himself to sleep like he’d done every year after escaping that hell.

Empty

Random writing??? Who knows where it came from.

How was it that when he looked into his memories, all that stared back at him were blurred fragments?

He felt that there should have been something concrete there, something to cement him down as whatever creature he happened to be. Shouldn't all creatures capable of thought at least have that much?

Gripping the side of his head in frustration, he stood from the cold ground and stumbled along in the darkness, his vision just as blurred as his memories. A part of him knew this was wrong, that he should know something specific, but like a shadow dancing at the very corner of one's vision, the thing seemed to fade whenever he tried to bring it into focus.

Did he even want to know what he was? The idea bored into his mind like a worm making him question the only purpose he had managed to latch onto. Like some cruel tyrant it seemed determined to smother his confidence in the matter, making him all the more egar to pursue what he was.

There was something in that he supposed, some drive that he hadn't been aware of the moment before. It appeared that for whatever else he might be, stubborn was a part of it.

Last Line Tag

Thanks for the tag @kuebiko-writing

Sorry for the late response.

This is just a bit of my little bloodmage WIP giving a bit of perspective on Billy's motivations

Forest Guardian’s were, above all else, the protectors of nature and were often referred to as its shepherds. Long had they used their power and gile to protect their flock. That had been fine when the humans still held reverence for the sacred, but as that reverence faded, humans had changed. They become far too dangerous to rely on traditional methods. Defeat after defeat forced the shepherds to evolve, and Billy had been no different.

Handing his staff over to the strange human he watched as the living wood of his shepherds crook was twisted into a more fitting tool, no not just a tool, this thing was a weapon that he would use to sow vengeance.

No pressure tags: @kuebiko-writing @renasdoodles @davycoquette @flurrysahin ,

@literally-just-zay @creatrackers @somethingclevermahogony + open tag

(Let me know if you want to be taken off the tag list)

Choices

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt

Summary: Tori, a loyal soldier, has his alegences tested and finds that his loyalty to his country isn't as strong as he first believed.

Finally, a Tori Story. We're getting the perspective of another in the rag-tag squad of my WIP.

Chapter warning: referenced violence, violence, killing, referenced torture, and the picture at the end shows violence and injury.

Tori had been raised like all of the other able bodied children in his village to be loyal soldiers. He killed and maimed without regret, without hesitation because the people that he was sent after were the enemies, and if he wanted to keep himself and others safe, they needed to die. He wasn’t a sociopath, they’d tested him for that. Tori was just someone who had long ago reconciled that he could live with himself. He could wait for regret if he ever made it to retirement.

He had never questioned orders, been a faithful dog, and he had planned to remain like that until the evening when he received a new set of orders. This time, he wouldn’t be hunting down a traitor or ripping the life from a target. This time, he was capturing something. He’d never been ordered to capture something alive. He’d never had reason to.

The creature in question was suspected to be some type of extra-terrestrial, an invader to their planet. He didn’t need to question his orders, and he’d never had reason to up until he laid eyes on the creature. The moment it had looked up at him with eyes that seemed to contain galaxies, everything became complicated. Then it had saved him. That was the only reason they had managed to apprehend it, and now he was haunted by the low bellows of its pained cries.

The creature never spoke, but its voice rang through the minds of its captors. The other’s in charge of watching the creature found the sound to be soothing or funny, but he couldn’t help but feel a hollow pang in his guts as the underground facility was flooded with the creature’s cries for help.

He couldn’t understand what the sounds were at first, but the more time he spent focused on them, the more clearly he could hear it calling out for something, begging for its freedom. When they had found the creature it had been hiding among a pack of wolves, peacefully living out a life of serenity, and now it was being poked and prodded by the deft hands of his own people, all in the name of some strange advancement that made no sense to him no matter what argument they gave to convince him.

Tori was off duty when the storm struck, when the sirens blared so loud that he was woken from his drug induced sleep. A sharp pain throbbed behind his eyes as he slowly rose to his feet, mind instantly turning to the creature. Had it escaped? A part of him hoped that it had, but then a sickening feeling crossed through him as he thought of what means the other guards might use to contain the creature.

If it were in better shape, but the creature was kept on the brink of life and death to avoid such situations. Gripping his gun tightly, Tori rushed out of his room, an idea springing so suddenly into his mind that he wondered if it had been planted there.

He could get the creature out of here, he could rectify his mistake.

His heart tightened at the idea. If he had a chance to free it, then Tori already knew what he would do. He had been far too deeply influenced by its song and eaten by newfound guilt to choose any other option.

The sound of a struggling guard rang out from the main lab as he approached, and Tori hesitated before carefully peaking around the door frame. Two hulking figures near the shattered containment cell instantly turned towards him. An operation? No, they were wearing POW uniforms or what was left of them, not only that they were quite battered as well. So why were they here?

The female POW tightened her chokehold on a guard, and Tori watched as the man suddenly went limp. Raising his gun, he wasn’t so foolish to enter the room with the POW’s even if he was armed. Catching sight of the creature that he had been so concerned for held gently in the male POW’s arm, Tori felt his heart hitch. They had come to free it?

The sudden realization hit him like a bullet. They were here to do the job he hadn’t been able to. Even if he could have made it out with the creature, he couldn’t protect it after what he had done. Even with his mind made up, every ounce of his training fought against him as he lowered his gun and moved to the side.

“Go down this path, and you can reach an exit outside the camp.”

He wasn’t wearing his proper uniform at the moment, but they could likely tell what he was, so there was no reason for them to listen to his words, but he had to try.

The POW holding the creature over his shoulder straightened up and smiled broadly. It was a stupid grin that lacked the usual grit that he so often seen in the eyes of soldiers.

“You got it boss man.”

He winked suddenly, and Tori was so confused by the gesture that he barely noticed the woman glancing between them before a look of realization seemed to dawn on her.

“So no more killing?”

She seemed disappointed by that, but the male POW patted her shoulder gently.

“It’s okay Ember, boss man called the shot, you couldn’t have burned them with all this water anyway.”

It seemed to satisfy the woman who released her final victim and followed the man past Tori with a matching nod of recognition.

Standing for a moment in silence after they had left, Tori tried to make sense of what had just happened. Their behavior was far too strange, too irrational, but he supposed all that mattered was that the creature was safe. He would miss it’s presence, but if it would no longer have to cry in pain like that anymore, then He had done was required of him. As the song of its voice faded from his mind, Tori felt a sadness sink into his bones as he settled back onto his cot. He wouldn’t allow himself to be sad knowing that the creature’s cries had finally been quieted. With a strange peace that didn’t feel deserved, Tori fell back into a dreamless sleep for the first time since the cries had begun.

Writing share tag

Thanks for the tag, @aalinaaaaaa !

(I haven't been getting much original writing done lately for reasons... this is a small snippet of a story I come back to every so often whenever inspiration strikes)

Warnings for: mild self harm and withdrawal.

Withdrawal

Scraping his nails against the cobblestones, 408 looked down at the pouch around his neck. The blood in his veins was like fire, burning his reason and making his will falter. He just needed to hold out for another couple of hours, just until the sun set. Looking up at the blinding light, 408 cursed the spirits, longing for time to start moving again. Illusions flickered past his vision, and spikes of pain stabbed his heart with every half breath that he took. The last thing he wanted was to go mad, but he would tow that line as closely as he needed to if it meant that he could feel something again.

The pouch around his neck weighed like lead against his skin, silently offering a cool release from the pain. He’d told himself that he would wait until this evening, but the temptation seemed to double with every second that passed. His fingers began to reach for the bag without his mind’s permission. One of the pills was pressed to his lips by the time he realized what he was doing. 408 slammed his hands to the ground more forcefully than the last time, digging his fingers further into the stone until he drew blood. He’d set out to change his fate, and he wouldn’t accomplish anything by backing down now.

No pressure tagging @renasdoodles @kuebiko-writing @wyked-ao3 @creatrackers @somethingclevermahogony , @laisley-writes +Open Tag