WritingLeague

So, they did the only thing they could: go back to work. And gradually, as the sun baked their backs, plastered their clothes to their slick bodies, and kissed their necks, Aurel began to recall his obscure dream. By mid-day, he had pieced it together well enough that he had to actually stop doing his work and think it all through. The distant dream came back to him through a veil of mist as thick as a wall. He remembered vaguely ‘waking up’ in a room about the size of two horse stalls in the stables put together, in other words, not very big. The building housing this room was obviously old and looked almost abandoned the way mos

    Chapter 1: First Doubt    If destiny was a person, it would take the form of Lucilia Manliness. She had a way of being that was different from anyone else. She seemed to be the pinnacle of every bright light, the center of every universe, the fate that awaited every person. Even her energy seemed to have an energy. And she was the focal point of Aurelius’ universe. Even as he dug into the dirt with his bare hands because the pitiful excuse for a shovel had broken in two and she was stood in the doorway, pristine and beautiful as a ghost, watching him, he knew his universe meant nothing to her. Her eyes, bright and hard as diamonds

    Jessica Whitney stepped out of her apartment door with an attitude bad enough that it could melt the very ground she walked on. The air around her seemed to crackle with electricity and when Mr. Rudy strolled out to get his morning mail, he reconsidered saying good morning in his usual, cheerful manner when he saw her expression. She stalked past in black combat boots and eye makeup so dark her eyes looked like green lasers shooting out of the shadows. She tapped her leather clad foot impatiently as she waited for the elevator to grind up to her floor and open with a screech like a dying cat and stood inside with her arms crossed moodily

He wished to God he hadn’t done it. Of all the stupid things he’d done, this was the one he was most ashamed of. He’d robbed them all of their hope, stolen away the illusion and revealed the ugly strings attached to every last one of them. It was his fault the backdrop had fallen and the pretty, perfect dancers lay on the ground at his feet, taped and glued together with a meticulous hand. Their souls lay scattered in the bright spotlights; bared for all to see. His regret and his guilt dealt him blows no hand could, though none raised theirs against him. For it was the truth, and now that it was out, nothing could stop t

                Finn woke up in the ground. At first, he didn’t realize it; coming to groggily and with no sense of direction. He only felt the stifling cold against his flesh and rough granules of dirt digging into his skin. Not to mention the terrible, crushing weight of the earth on his chest. He couldn’t breathe, gods, he couldn’t breathe. This was bad. Really bad.                He needed oxygen to function, he could already feel his body shutting down, his organs stopping, his heart slowing. His eyelids struggled against the intense pressure of the earth on top of them and his throat felt like it would be crushed any

    They must have asked me why a thousand times. They knew the how and when and who and where, but for the life of them they couldn’t figure out why. Why, why, why. I loathed them for it. Either they were too stupid to understand or they were simply overthinking things. No matter their reason, they still didn’t get the obviousness of the situation, and that was key to understanding me.      Agent Fuller stepped into the room looking so baffled under her emotionless front that I laughed outright. “Good morning, Jessica,” I greeted her cheerfully.     “Have a good night’s sleep?”    Of course I k