Post by The Myst on Jan 13, 2015 12:44:58 GMT -8
Stories! Yes, stories people! I may not be able to draw pictures but I can draw pretty well with words! Here are a couple of my short tories. Feel free to comment on them below! (Also...they'er the ones on TLC so if you've read them...comment anyway! I love CONSTRUCTIVE criticism!)
The Beast You've Made Of Me
Her lungs burned with each breath she took, the cold air freezing them with each gasping breath but she couldn't stop. She had to keep running. She no longer felt the snow beneath her feet, her shoes lost long ago, couldn't feel the hidden twigs and other forest debris bite into the souls of her feet. If she had known that with each running step she took that she marred the pristine white of the snow with crimson blood, a clear path for him to follow, she would have taken the time to rip what was left of her dress off to bind the small wounds. But no, even with her blood hidden he would still find her, track her down like the beast he was. Oh god, god! She didn't want to die now! She was still young, she still had time to see the world and do what she always wanted to do or at least she thought she had.
She stumbled, tripping over the rotting trunk of a fallen tree buried under a heap of snow. Crying out as she fell forward, hands slapping into the cold ground, the icy blanket of white ate her fingers as what little body heat she had left melted the substance. Scrambling she half ran half crawled, fingers clawing at the ground, in an attempt to drag herself back to her feet. Once she managed to get the numb appendages back beneath her she was running again, ignoring how her chest ached, her body throbbed. her physical body was screaming at her to stop while her mind was demanding her to keep running, that her life depended on her not stopping.
A howl echoed behind her. Close, too close. A sob escaped her as she urged her muscles to work harder, her heart to beat faster, to keep herself moving. She could not stop. Images flashed in her mind, happier times that seemed a life time ago.
~*~
He was laughing, his head thrown back, eyes crinkled, white teeth flashing as the sound barreled out of him. The joy that was in that laugh made her smile as she watched him interact with the guests. He cut quite the fine figure in his tux; the fabric clinging in just the right way to his muscled form, showing off the strength that lay beneath both fabric and skin. He had even cut his unruly hair so that it framed his masculine face in the most becoming of ways and allowed his clear honey colored eyes to be easily seen. Really she should have seen him for what he was, should have realized the color of his eyes was more amber than honey and...eerie. But no, all she had seen was the handsome face, the to die for body, and the charming personality.
It had taken him months to convince her to go out with him since it was his looks that made her weary of him in the first place. However, he made her feel beautiful, made her forget she would never grace the cover of Vogue magazine or that most people would consider her plain and wonder why someone like him would be with someone like her. She felt...alive around him like without him living was just pointless. That had scared her at first as well, the way her body came alive just by looking at him and she hadn't wanted to date him but he had worn her down with his kindness and the small gifts most people wouldn't see the point in. It hadn't been a whirlwind romance, she hadn't given into him on that first date no she made him work for it and it had been delightful. The feeling of being pursued like she was the only woman in the world had made her feel special for the first time in her life and she reveled in it. Still, time had flown and before she knew it they were engaged and when they had made love for the first time...lord. Her heart thudded and her body tensed in preparation just at the memory of it. It had been well worth the wait that was for sure.
And now they were married. He was her husband and she was his wife and she had no clue, no clue, of what she had really gotten herself into. She had no idea that hours after the guests had left the secluded home in the woods that she would soon be fleeing into them chased there by a beast, something so terrifying she had never dared dream of it outside of the movies.
~*~
How could she have known they were real? No one would have believed her if she had gotten the chance to tell any one, had she not run. Ha! Had she not run she was sure she would be dead right now. As if reminding her of the fact her arm burned where he had scratched her when he grabbed her arm and she had pulled free. It wasn't a deep scratch, just enough to raise welts on her arm and just barely break the skin, the blood had clotted before it could even spill. Still it felt worse than it was but compared to her other worries and the way she burned as she pushed herself harder than she ever had before it was nothing.
She stumbled again and this time wasn't able to catch herself before she hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath right out of her and stun her for what felt like forever. Time was irrelevant to her now, she had to get away, had to make it to the small village that was somewhere in the general direction of which she ran. With shaking arms she pushed herself up and once more got her feet below her only to have them slip out from beneath her to land hard on her knees. When the howl came again, this time so close she was sure if she turned around he would be there close enough to touch, she screamed. It was a wordless plea for more strength, of anger at her weakness, but she managed to stand again managed to push her fumbling legs back into motion. She was slower now and she knew it, knew it would be the end soon.
~*~
“Love,” he had purred in that way that made all the hair on her body stand on end and sent shivers rolling down her spine, “there's something I need to tell you.” His hands rested gently on her shoulders before sliding down her arms and back up again.
Lost in the feel of him touching her she had missed the serious note in his voice and her body swayed towards him. Her arms had come up to wrap around his neck and she smiled seductively at him. “Can it wait until later?” she had cooed, her fingers twirling in the hair at the nape of his neck as she leaned up to brush her lips against his.
He had groaned and crushed her mouth with his, sealing their lips together as if he were a man dying of dehydration and she the glass of water he needed to survive. When she nipped at his lower lip was when he had pulled back. “Love, love,” he whispered as his hands came up to frame her face, his lips brushing butterfly kisses across her cheeks, nose, forehead, his hands keeping her from kissing him again. “This can't wait any more. I should have told you a long time ago but I couldn't, not until now. Not until you were mine.”
Pouting she had leaned back and allowed him to push her backwards until the seat of a chair hit the backs of her knees and she reflexively sat down. “I still think whatever it is can wait another hour,” her lips turned up slyly, “or two.” her fingers reached out and tugged at the waist of his pants only to be disappointed again. He had let out another groan and gently grabbed her wrist and set both of her hands on her lap.
“No, it can't.”
~*~
Her body was quitting on her, she could feel it shutting down with each painful breath she dragged in past chapped lips and a tongue swollen with thirst. She was stumbling more and she couldn't feel anything; the wind that had picked up no longer cut into her flesh, the tears tracking down her cheeks had turned to ice almost glueing her lashes together each time she blinked. A branch snapped behind her and she spun around so fast she fell onto her backside bruising her tail bone on impact. Wincing she started to scurry backwards on hands and heels only to get tangled in the tattered edge of her dress and slip more than she actually made progress.
“No, no, no, please no, no no,” she was unaware of the chant slipping past her lips as she continued to scoot backwards her eyes scanning frantically in the darkness for the source of that snapping branch. Knowing it could see her when she could not see it only ramped up her fear another notch and the moment she spotted the glowing eyes of the beast a terrified scream burst from her. A surge of adrenaline allowed her to get back up and weave through the trees until she burst out into a clearing of nothing but white. She didn't hesitate she kept running the going easier now that the ground was flat. It was there, coming for her she could actually hear it breathing, hear its giant paws eating up the ground quicker than she could move across it.
Something cracked and this time it wasn't behind her. She froze, sliding forward a little on her bare feet and she could hear the beast skid to a stop behind her. Slowly she turned terrified of what she knew she was going to see but unable to stop herself. The moment she faced her pursuer another scream built inside of her but it froze in her chest as her wide eyes locked to the glowing eyes of the wolf panting a few yards away from her. It was huge, larger than any wolf had a right to be, and its sides heaved as it struggled to suck in air as she was; well at least she had given it a good chase then. When it stepped forward she stepped back and that crack happened again which, again, made them both freeze.
Daring to look away from the beast she let her feet clear a bit of snow out from under her and she was greeted with the white-blue color of ice. The lake. She was standing on the lake and it clearly was not as frozen as it looked. Swallowing hard she looked up from the ice to the beast and it too seemed to realize the same thing she did. She could run no further from it or she would be swallowed by the ice. The only way she could go was forward, towards it, and there was no way in Hell she was going to do that. They were at an impasse. It could not move forward since it was large enough to break through the ice itself and it refused to leave her; it had told her as much earlier.
~*~
“Just know I only tell you this because you'll find out sooner rather than later,” he had said as his long fingers combed through his hair. He was pacing before her and she was finally starting to worry but she said nothing as to allow him to speak. “I thought I could control it but from the moment I met you it has been a challenge. It...I...want you and that is enough for it to struggle for control.” He stopped pacing and looked at her, reaching out to brush his fingers along her cheek with a sad smile. “I should have known that when I first saw you and I felt it stir that I should have left you alone. Should have left the country really.” His hand dropped from her face and he was pacing again.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, reaching out to grab his hand when he passed her. “You're scaring me.”
His fingers grasped hers, not so gentle now, as his eyes locked to hers. “I don't mean to but I know of no better way to tell you this.” Bringing her hand to his lips he kissed her fingers and dropped to his knees before her. “I...my family is cursed.” he saw the look in her eyes, the way her lips twitched, and he knew she wanted to laugh or say something so he placed his index finger over her lips to quiet her before she could speak. “Just listen. Long ago my ancestor angered a very powerful witch. This witch she loved my ancestor and when she confessed her love to him he had laughed at her and told her he could never love one such as her, that she was below his station and that he was in love with someone else anyway.”
She arched a brow at him as he spoke and when he let his finger drop from her lips she didn't say anything just folded her arms over her chest and listened. Fine, if he wanted to tell a story she could listen; he would get to the point eventually.
“Hearing this the witch cursed him and all his decedents until the end of time. Every time a member of my family falls in love we...turn. We become something inhuman that is driven by the need to claim the one we love, to destroy them.” Rocking back on his heels he had ran both hands through his hair as he struggled with the words he needed to say. “I thought...I thought I could break it, that with you I could be different. I controlled it for so long but now, right now, I can feel it pacing inside of me, roaring at me to let it out to take you like it wants to.”
Now she laughed. “Okay, that was a nice story. Are you done now? There are other things I would much rather be doing with you right now than story time.” She yelped when he lurched forward and grabbed her by her shoulders, his grip tight, bruising.
“You have to listen to me. I can feel my control slipping. If I change...you can't run you have to stay still until I can be sure it won't hurt you.” He shook her a couple of times and she reached out to grab his shoulders and steady herself. “Promise me, promise me you won't run.”
Even though he was frightening her again she nodded. “I promise.” It was an easy promise to make since she was sure he was simply being ridiculous and that nothing was going to happen. He had pulled her towards him then, crushed her body against his, as he fed at her mouth. Honestly it had excited her a little bit and she kissed him back with equal intensity and then he bit her. Yelping she pulled back and licked her lower lip tasting a drop of blood. That's when it had all gone to hell. It was as if her blood had been the trigger, that last push he had needed.
An inhuman roar left him and he shoved her away from him as he curled into himself, sounds of pure agony coming from his mouth. His body started to convulse and when she reached out towards him, calling his name softly, his head snapped up and his face...oh god his face. It wasn't human. Well it was but it was distorted like it was trying to change and become more animal like. With a cry she fell backwards away from him and that had made it worse. Even as he writhed in pain he started to crawl towards her as chunks of flesh began to fall from him and land with sickening plops to the hardwood floor beneath him. Her eyes were transfixed as his flesh melted away into puddles and fur, handfuls of dark fur, sprouted in its place. His hands were turning to claws and one of those them reached out and grabbed her arm. Screaming she yanked away, feeling the tips of the claws scrape at her flesh, and pushed to her feet. She ran then, ran with the sounds of bones breaking and re-knitting behind her, ran with the sounds of his cries turning to growls and grunts, ran as her husband became a beast.
~*~
It was that beast she faced now as it paced a tight path before her, low rumbles coming from its massive chest. The clouds chose that moment to part for the first time that night and the light of the full moon spilled down upon the strange couple. One a giant wolf the other gowned in a torn wedding dress staring each other down and silently daring the other to make the first move. Apparently tired of waiting the wolf moved first lunging at her with a snap of its jaws and a swipe of its paw. She screamed as she felt the claws rip into her chest, pushing her further back than the step backwards she had attempted to get out of its reach. The ice below her screamed at their combined weight and the wolf skittered backwards leaving her where she had fallen back. Somehow she had stayed on her feet, how she had no idea, but she could feel the blood well on her chest and oh so slowly ooze from the shallow wounds. Her blood was the first heat she had felt since running out of the house as it traced a slow trickle down her bodice before it was soaked into the cloth staining the once pure white fabric a bright red.
The beast lifted its head and its nose quivered at the scent of her blood. She could see it in the beasts eyes, the hunger and the want to taste that blood on its tongue. No, she would not die by this beasts hand, she refused. She took a step back and the ice groaned, cracked beneath her feet. The beast growled at her, its eyes narrowing as if daring her to continue. Yet when she looked into the beasts eyes she saw her death there. Saw its teeth biting into her flesh, gnawing their way past her ribs to her heart until those glistening teeth held the pulpy organ between its jaws and her blood dripped from its maw. This may have once been the man she loved, the man she married, but no longer. This was a beast through and through and it would not stop until it feasted on her. Another step back and the ice fractured more and another growl issued forth. Still she continued walking backwards and when she felt the first icy bite of water touch her feet she welcomed it.
Holding her arms out to her sides she kept walking backwards and when the ice broke beneath her and the frozen water beneath it swallowed her she didn't scream. Even if she had wanted to the sheer shock of being encased in something so cold would have rendered her unable to utter a single sound. She didn't fight to break back to the surface, no, she just tilted her head back and watched the moon light filter through the clear water. What she hadn't expected was to hear the muffled sound of a mournful howl reach her even as she sank, what air that had been in her lungs leaving her in bubbles that might had been pretty had she been planing to go up for air. Closing her eyes she pictured the man she had fallen in love with, his laughing eyes, his sexy smile, the way his body felt against hers whenever they held each other. Suddenly he was there, his arms wrapped around her and her arms wrapped around him as they sank into darkness. She wasn't even cold any more, she actually felt warm, cozy, comforted. The last bubble of air slipped past her lips and to the surface where the wolf saw it and stared waiting, waiting for her to surface, waiting for another bubble to show she was at least trying to come back to him. Nothing.
The wolf had no idea how long it stood there and waited before it accepted she was not coming back. Falling back onto its hind quarters it lifted its head to the moon and let out a long, sad, howl. It poured all its feelings of loss, of hopelessness, into the sound. When it ran out of air the howl ended, echoing in the cold night, only to begin again as it sucked in another great gulp of air to expand its lungs. Slowly the howl distorted until it became a mans cry of suffering. When the clouds next hid the moon the wolf was gone and in its place a man, naked, shivering, and crying, sat at the edge of the lake.
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Inspired by Florence and The Machine - Howl
Natalie
(contains 'gore')
Drip. Drip. Drip. One crimson drop after another pattered to the floor from the tip of the axe clutched in the bloody hand of a young girl, dull hazel eyes staring down at the body laying on the couch before her. Reaching out with her free hand she brushed pale fingers through the long blond hair, turned pink with blood, of the woman laying there.
“Oh, mama.” The words fell in a whisper from pink lips as the girl continued to stroke her mothers hair, smearing blood from the gash in the woman’s scalp further into the mussed locks and combining it with the blood already covering the armed girl. “I wish it could have been different,” again that quiet voice breaking the utter silence that blanketed the house. The body she stroked so lovingly was barely recognizable with how torn apart it was, so many lacerations making the body look more like ground meat than a person. Lifeless blue eyes stared at nothing until the girl affectionately slid the eyelids shut, the face the only part of the body that had not been mutilated. That done the girl turned from what had once been a cheery looking living room, now splattered with blood, and headed back through the house. She followed her own bloody footprints that stained the hardwood floors of the hallways and stairs until she got to those that tracked on the one pure white carpet of her parents bedroom.
There was another body there, in that room, half draped over the end of the bed. This was a man laying on his back with one leg stretched out the length of the bed, the other dangling off the edge, one arm stretched above his head so that his hand and head both fell limply backwards from the edge while the other arm dangled from the bed at his side. He too was butchered but to a greater extent than the woman in the other room; one ankle was almost completely severed from when he had tried to run and she had swung the axe from where he had knocked her to the floor and caught the limb. That was when he had started screaming for help, help that would not come since the woman in the living room was passed out drunk across the house, her snores blocking out anything her brain might have registered.
After that blow he had tried to disarm her, using his arms to block the following swings after she had gotten to her feet. All he had done was succeed in allowing her to slice his arms open from the wrist up, blood spraying both of them as his adrenaline allowed him to keep fighting. They struggled long enough for her to manage to gut him, the sharp blade biting and sliding easily through the soft flesh of his middle, when one of his arms managed to knock the axe lower and still he fought on, screaming wordlessly at her. That is until the blade of the axe embedded into his head with a sickening crunch. It had taken about a minuet for him to die and she had watched every second of it. His mouth had fallen open on a silent scream, his green eyes slowly draining of life, the light literally going out of them until they were dull, the color of old money, and his body had gone limp.
She had to climb onto the bed and put her foot in his middle, toes squishing in the open wound there, and pull the axe out of his skull, her small body straining until the man's flesh and bone released the blade with a juicy sucking noise. Bending down over the body she patted his cheek, leaving a bloody hand print on his face. “You shouldn't have done it, daddy,” she said with a small, sad sigh. From there she had left the bedroom, leaving the smell of meat and bowels to permeate the air, and had gone to the living room. That was when the woman had died.
It had been the feel of the axe biting sharply into the wrist holding a large bottle of vodka that had woken the woman but even that pain hadn't been enough to chase away the haze covering her brain from dangerous amounts of booze. It was the second hit, the one that bit into her shoulder and nearly amputated the limb from her body, that had accomplished that. The screaming started shortly after but the woman hadn't the strength that the man upstairs and across the house had and all she had ben able to do was hold her her one working hand up over her face in a futile attempt to shield it. Again and again and again the axe rose and fell, biting into the vulnerable flesh until she too was killed with a blow to the head and her life gurgled from her throat. She had died much quicker than the man and the young girl felt the alcohol played a big part in that.
The young girl, she could be no more than 14, stood in the door looking in at her fathers body as she replayed the events over in her head a slow smile forming on her lips at the memory. It was over. They couldn't hurt her any more. A cry echoed through the house and her head whipped to look down the hall to where a door was cracked open. The handle of the axe clattered to the floor as the girl released it and turned to head down to the source of that cry. Her feet continued to track blood along the hall, her fingers smearing the substance across the face of the door with the name 'Bradly' spelled out in fabric baby blocks that were strung across it. As the door opened the cry became louder and the girl padded into the room and over to the crib holding the beautiful baby boy that shared her hazel eyes, though his were bright with tears, and dark chocolate colored hair.
“Shh...shhh...it's all right, Bradly,” the young girl cooed as she reached into the crib with bloody arms and lifted the child from where he lay to cuddle him to her chest. “It's okay, you're all right, shh now, shhh.” she slowly rocked the baby until his cries quieted into hiccups and she moved to settle herself into the rocking chair across from the crib. She cared not that his perfect blue onesie was now covered in the blood of those she had killed, that as she caressed his cheek she left tracks of it on his porcelain skin. She had no idea how long she sat there with him, humming softly under her breath, and even when he started to cry again – his screams piercing - she didn't move.
It was a neighbor that found her like that, sitting in that rocking chair clutching the screeching child, both of them covered in blood. It was only when the police arrived and tried to take the child from her that she even reacted. She lashed out the moment the baby had been taken from her, her fingers forming claws that left gouges down one cops face when he had been trying to be gentle with her. From there she had been taken down, pinned to the floor and cuffed both hand and feet and loaded into the police car where she was taken away. She didn't say a word when they questioned her after she had finally calmed down and they had cleaned her up, she had just stared at a wall humming under her breath. They had put her in one of those rooms reserved for questioning children, the kind with happy colors and toys any child would want and it was there she saw the doll.
In the middle of a question the child psychiatrist had been asking her she had stood and walked over to the chest tucked in the corner of the room where donated toys lived while they weren't being used. Almost completely hidden between an oversized stuffed bear, a plush tiger, and a plastic baby doll, sat the object of her attention. Pushing the unwanted toys out of the way she lifted the porcelain doll from where it had been sitting and stroked its cool face with the tips of her fingers. There was a crack running from where the soft brown curls of the doll started all the way down to the corner of her painted red lips. The girl brushed her fingers across the soft curls, the eyelashes rimming the luminescent blue eyes, and smoothed the old fashioned frills and lace dress covering the rest of the dolls fragile body.
“Natalie,” the voice came from behind her and the girl turned, clutching the doll to her chest, “if I let you keep that doll will you tell me what happened?”
'It's okay to talk to her,' a voice breathed through her mind and her eyes snapped back towards the doll as it smiled at her, 'I'll keep you safe, I promise. Tell the lady what the bad man did and I will make everything okay.'
Nodding the girl turned and walked back to where she had been sitting, settling the doll neatly in her lap, she opened her mouth and began to speak.
That night the news explained it all:
“What happened last night is a tragedy, no one is denying that, but the greater tragedy is that which sparked the actions of 14 year old Natalie Bumonte. People have been asking why a girl would murder her own parents at such a young age and now we know the real story.
Natalie killed her parents to protect herself and her little brother, a brother we now know is actually the child of Natalie herself. Since she was a child Natalie's father had been sexually abusing her while her mother did nothing but drink and psychically abuse the girl. Eventually Natalie became pregnant by her father and her parents passed the baby off as theirs, sending the 13 year old and Mrs. Bumonte to the country to better pass off the child as a sibling. It was only when Mrs. Bumonte started to abuse the little boy, who shall remain nameless, and the sexual abuse began again that Natalie snapped.”
The news went on to say that Natalie would be put in foster care as she had no relatives on either of her parents sides and would continue to get psychiatric help. Natalie's story doesn't end there however as once again she was found covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of her foster family only instead of cuddling a baby she sat with that porcelain doll in her lap only that doll didn't have a single drop of blood on it while the entire house was covered in it. Once again she was questioned and the only thing she said was the following: “They were mean to me...so Dolly told me to kill them.” When they tried to take the doll from her she flipped, screaming and clawing at anyone who came near her and she even bit the ear off of one person when they managed to get close enough to touch the doll. The moment they left her and the doll alone she calmed down and that's when she was sent to live in St. Helen's, Home for the Mentally unstable.
From there Natalie spent her days sitting in the common room by the window with that doll in her lap seemingly talking to herself. In reality she was holding conversations with the doll; speaking only when Dolly tells her it's alright, doing only what Dolly tells her to do and just keeping to herself. As long as the staff at St. Helen's are kind to her Natalie is the perfect little ward but god forbid if someone says something to her she or Dolly doesn't like. Many staff have been harmed by Natalie, some have even gone missing, and while no one will say it most are sure it is the quiet girl and her doll that have done away with the missing personnel of St. Helen's.
Flash forward seven years later to a stormy night where lightning has knocked out all power in the facility and the night shift is short handed. Just one security guard and one night nurse are on duty and they know they have to go check rooms and both are dreading checking the one labeled 'N. Bumonte.'
“It's just one girl,” the guard said with a nervous laugh as he and the night nurse walked down the hall to the last room of the night, flashlights lighting their way.
“Yeah...one girl, you're right. Besides, I've got this,” the nurse smiled and held up the syringe filled with sedatives then slipped it back into her pocket as they came upon the door. They both stood there, staring at it for a moment, and then looked at each other. “Okay...unlock it,” the nurse said, voice shaking.
Taking a deep breath the guard took out his key ring, the keys clattering as his hand shook, found the right key and slipped it into the lock. Both he and the nurse held their breath as he turned the key and pushed the door open on silent hinges. As the door fully opened they both swallowed and forced themselves to shine their lights in towards the bed where Natalie should be sleeping. She wasn't there. Lightning flashed and thunder snapped drowning out the screams that followed.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drop after drop of crimson blood pattered to the floor from the tips of the girls fingers, fingers curled around a blood covered syringe, as she padded down the hallway, bare feet leaving bloody foot prints behind with every step she took. Her soft humming filled the quiet halls as thunder rolled in the sky, the storm moving away from St. Helen's.
'We are free now, Natalie,' Dolly's voice echoed in the woman's head and her fingers uncurled to let the syringe clatter to the floor.
“Yes...finally.” As she reached the door that would lead to the outside world Natalie took the key ring from where she had tucked it in the pocket of her robe and let herself out. “Mommy's coming Bradly.” Lightning lit up the sky as the girl stepped outside, for the first time in years, and vanished into the darkness.
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The story of one of my OC's
The Beast You've Made Of Me
Her lungs burned with each breath she took, the cold air freezing them with each gasping breath but she couldn't stop. She had to keep running. She no longer felt the snow beneath her feet, her shoes lost long ago, couldn't feel the hidden twigs and other forest debris bite into the souls of her feet. If she had known that with each running step she took that she marred the pristine white of the snow with crimson blood, a clear path for him to follow, she would have taken the time to rip what was left of her dress off to bind the small wounds. But no, even with her blood hidden he would still find her, track her down like the beast he was. Oh god, god! She didn't want to die now! She was still young, she still had time to see the world and do what she always wanted to do or at least she thought she had.
She stumbled, tripping over the rotting trunk of a fallen tree buried under a heap of snow. Crying out as she fell forward, hands slapping into the cold ground, the icy blanket of white ate her fingers as what little body heat she had left melted the substance. Scrambling she half ran half crawled, fingers clawing at the ground, in an attempt to drag herself back to her feet. Once she managed to get the numb appendages back beneath her she was running again, ignoring how her chest ached, her body throbbed. her physical body was screaming at her to stop while her mind was demanding her to keep running, that her life depended on her not stopping.
A howl echoed behind her. Close, too close. A sob escaped her as she urged her muscles to work harder, her heart to beat faster, to keep herself moving. She could not stop. Images flashed in her mind, happier times that seemed a life time ago.
~*~
He was laughing, his head thrown back, eyes crinkled, white teeth flashing as the sound barreled out of him. The joy that was in that laugh made her smile as she watched him interact with the guests. He cut quite the fine figure in his tux; the fabric clinging in just the right way to his muscled form, showing off the strength that lay beneath both fabric and skin. He had even cut his unruly hair so that it framed his masculine face in the most becoming of ways and allowed his clear honey colored eyes to be easily seen. Really she should have seen him for what he was, should have realized the color of his eyes was more amber than honey and...eerie. But no, all she had seen was the handsome face, the to die for body, and the charming personality.
It had taken him months to convince her to go out with him since it was his looks that made her weary of him in the first place. However, he made her feel beautiful, made her forget she would never grace the cover of Vogue magazine or that most people would consider her plain and wonder why someone like him would be with someone like her. She felt...alive around him like without him living was just pointless. That had scared her at first as well, the way her body came alive just by looking at him and she hadn't wanted to date him but he had worn her down with his kindness and the small gifts most people wouldn't see the point in. It hadn't been a whirlwind romance, she hadn't given into him on that first date no she made him work for it and it had been delightful. The feeling of being pursued like she was the only woman in the world had made her feel special for the first time in her life and she reveled in it. Still, time had flown and before she knew it they were engaged and when they had made love for the first time...lord. Her heart thudded and her body tensed in preparation just at the memory of it. It had been well worth the wait that was for sure.
And now they were married. He was her husband and she was his wife and she had no clue, no clue, of what she had really gotten herself into. She had no idea that hours after the guests had left the secluded home in the woods that she would soon be fleeing into them chased there by a beast, something so terrifying she had never dared dream of it outside of the movies.
~*~
How could she have known they were real? No one would have believed her if she had gotten the chance to tell any one, had she not run. Ha! Had she not run she was sure she would be dead right now. As if reminding her of the fact her arm burned where he had scratched her when he grabbed her arm and she had pulled free. It wasn't a deep scratch, just enough to raise welts on her arm and just barely break the skin, the blood had clotted before it could even spill. Still it felt worse than it was but compared to her other worries and the way she burned as she pushed herself harder than she ever had before it was nothing.
She stumbled again and this time wasn't able to catch herself before she hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath right out of her and stun her for what felt like forever. Time was irrelevant to her now, she had to get away, had to make it to the small village that was somewhere in the general direction of which she ran. With shaking arms she pushed herself up and once more got her feet below her only to have them slip out from beneath her to land hard on her knees. When the howl came again, this time so close she was sure if she turned around he would be there close enough to touch, she screamed. It was a wordless plea for more strength, of anger at her weakness, but she managed to stand again managed to push her fumbling legs back into motion. She was slower now and she knew it, knew it would be the end soon.
~*~
“Love,” he had purred in that way that made all the hair on her body stand on end and sent shivers rolling down her spine, “there's something I need to tell you.” His hands rested gently on her shoulders before sliding down her arms and back up again.
Lost in the feel of him touching her she had missed the serious note in his voice and her body swayed towards him. Her arms had come up to wrap around his neck and she smiled seductively at him. “Can it wait until later?” she had cooed, her fingers twirling in the hair at the nape of his neck as she leaned up to brush her lips against his.
He had groaned and crushed her mouth with his, sealing their lips together as if he were a man dying of dehydration and she the glass of water he needed to survive. When she nipped at his lower lip was when he had pulled back. “Love, love,” he whispered as his hands came up to frame her face, his lips brushing butterfly kisses across her cheeks, nose, forehead, his hands keeping her from kissing him again. “This can't wait any more. I should have told you a long time ago but I couldn't, not until now. Not until you were mine.”
Pouting she had leaned back and allowed him to push her backwards until the seat of a chair hit the backs of her knees and she reflexively sat down. “I still think whatever it is can wait another hour,” her lips turned up slyly, “or two.” her fingers reached out and tugged at the waist of his pants only to be disappointed again. He had let out another groan and gently grabbed her wrist and set both of her hands on her lap.
“No, it can't.”
~*~
Her body was quitting on her, she could feel it shutting down with each painful breath she dragged in past chapped lips and a tongue swollen with thirst. She was stumbling more and she couldn't feel anything; the wind that had picked up no longer cut into her flesh, the tears tracking down her cheeks had turned to ice almost glueing her lashes together each time she blinked. A branch snapped behind her and she spun around so fast she fell onto her backside bruising her tail bone on impact. Wincing she started to scurry backwards on hands and heels only to get tangled in the tattered edge of her dress and slip more than she actually made progress.
“No, no, no, please no, no no,” she was unaware of the chant slipping past her lips as she continued to scoot backwards her eyes scanning frantically in the darkness for the source of that snapping branch. Knowing it could see her when she could not see it only ramped up her fear another notch and the moment she spotted the glowing eyes of the beast a terrified scream burst from her. A surge of adrenaline allowed her to get back up and weave through the trees until she burst out into a clearing of nothing but white. She didn't hesitate she kept running the going easier now that the ground was flat. It was there, coming for her she could actually hear it breathing, hear its giant paws eating up the ground quicker than she could move across it.
Something cracked and this time it wasn't behind her. She froze, sliding forward a little on her bare feet and she could hear the beast skid to a stop behind her. Slowly she turned terrified of what she knew she was going to see but unable to stop herself. The moment she faced her pursuer another scream built inside of her but it froze in her chest as her wide eyes locked to the glowing eyes of the wolf panting a few yards away from her. It was huge, larger than any wolf had a right to be, and its sides heaved as it struggled to suck in air as she was; well at least she had given it a good chase then. When it stepped forward she stepped back and that crack happened again which, again, made them both freeze.
Daring to look away from the beast she let her feet clear a bit of snow out from under her and she was greeted with the white-blue color of ice. The lake. She was standing on the lake and it clearly was not as frozen as it looked. Swallowing hard she looked up from the ice to the beast and it too seemed to realize the same thing she did. She could run no further from it or she would be swallowed by the ice. The only way she could go was forward, towards it, and there was no way in Hell she was going to do that. They were at an impasse. It could not move forward since it was large enough to break through the ice itself and it refused to leave her; it had told her as much earlier.
~*~
“Just know I only tell you this because you'll find out sooner rather than later,” he had said as his long fingers combed through his hair. He was pacing before her and she was finally starting to worry but she said nothing as to allow him to speak. “I thought I could control it but from the moment I met you it has been a challenge. It...I...want you and that is enough for it to struggle for control.” He stopped pacing and looked at her, reaching out to brush his fingers along her cheek with a sad smile. “I should have known that when I first saw you and I felt it stir that I should have left you alone. Should have left the country really.” His hand dropped from her face and he was pacing again.
“What are you talking about?” She asked, reaching out to grab his hand when he passed her. “You're scaring me.”
His fingers grasped hers, not so gentle now, as his eyes locked to hers. “I don't mean to but I know of no better way to tell you this.” Bringing her hand to his lips he kissed her fingers and dropped to his knees before her. “I...my family is cursed.” he saw the look in her eyes, the way her lips twitched, and he knew she wanted to laugh or say something so he placed his index finger over her lips to quiet her before she could speak. “Just listen. Long ago my ancestor angered a very powerful witch. This witch she loved my ancestor and when she confessed her love to him he had laughed at her and told her he could never love one such as her, that she was below his station and that he was in love with someone else anyway.”
She arched a brow at him as he spoke and when he let his finger drop from her lips she didn't say anything just folded her arms over her chest and listened. Fine, if he wanted to tell a story she could listen; he would get to the point eventually.
“Hearing this the witch cursed him and all his decedents until the end of time. Every time a member of my family falls in love we...turn. We become something inhuman that is driven by the need to claim the one we love, to destroy them.” Rocking back on his heels he had ran both hands through his hair as he struggled with the words he needed to say. “I thought...I thought I could break it, that with you I could be different. I controlled it for so long but now, right now, I can feel it pacing inside of me, roaring at me to let it out to take you like it wants to.”
Now she laughed. “Okay, that was a nice story. Are you done now? There are other things I would much rather be doing with you right now than story time.” She yelped when he lurched forward and grabbed her by her shoulders, his grip tight, bruising.
“You have to listen to me. I can feel my control slipping. If I change...you can't run you have to stay still until I can be sure it won't hurt you.” He shook her a couple of times and she reached out to grab his shoulders and steady herself. “Promise me, promise me you won't run.”
Even though he was frightening her again she nodded. “I promise.” It was an easy promise to make since she was sure he was simply being ridiculous and that nothing was going to happen. He had pulled her towards him then, crushed her body against his, as he fed at her mouth. Honestly it had excited her a little bit and she kissed him back with equal intensity and then he bit her. Yelping she pulled back and licked her lower lip tasting a drop of blood. That's when it had all gone to hell. It was as if her blood had been the trigger, that last push he had needed.
An inhuman roar left him and he shoved her away from him as he curled into himself, sounds of pure agony coming from his mouth. His body started to convulse and when she reached out towards him, calling his name softly, his head snapped up and his face...oh god his face. It wasn't human. Well it was but it was distorted like it was trying to change and become more animal like. With a cry she fell backwards away from him and that had made it worse. Even as he writhed in pain he started to crawl towards her as chunks of flesh began to fall from him and land with sickening plops to the hardwood floor beneath him. Her eyes were transfixed as his flesh melted away into puddles and fur, handfuls of dark fur, sprouted in its place. His hands were turning to claws and one of those them reached out and grabbed her arm. Screaming she yanked away, feeling the tips of the claws scrape at her flesh, and pushed to her feet. She ran then, ran with the sounds of bones breaking and re-knitting behind her, ran with the sounds of his cries turning to growls and grunts, ran as her husband became a beast.
~*~
It was that beast she faced now as it paced a tight path before her, low rumbles coming from its massive chest. The clouds chose that moment to part for the first time that night and the light of the full moon spilled down upon the strange couple. One a giant wolf the other gowned in a torn wedding dress staring each other down and silently daring the other to make the first move. Apparently tired of waiting the wolf moved first lunging at her with a snap of its jaws and a swipe of its paw. She screamed as she felt the claws rip into her chest, pushing her further back than the step backwards she had attempted to get out of its reach. The ice below her screamed at their combined weight and the wolf skittered backwards leaving her where she had fallen back. Somehow she had stayed on her feet, how she had no idea, but she could feel the blood well on her chest and oh so slowly ooze from the shallow wounds. Her blood was the first heat she had felt since running out of the house as it traced a slow trickle down her bodice before it was soaked into the cloth staining the once pure white fabric a bright red.
The beast lifted its head and its nose quivered at the scent of her blood. She could see it in the beasts eyes, the hunger and the want to taste that blood on its tongue. No, she would not die by this beasts hand, she refused. She took a step back and the ice groaned, cracked beneath her feet. The beast growled at her, its eyes narrowing as if daring her to continue. Yet when she looked into the beasts eyes she saw her death there. Saw its teeth biting into her flesh, gnawing their way past her ribs to her heart until those glistening teeth held the pulpy organ between its jaws and her blood dripped from its maw. This may have once been the man she loved, the man she married, but no longer. This was a beast through and through and it would not stop until it feasted on her. Another step back and the ice fractured more and another growl issued forth. Still she continued walking backwards and when she felt the first icy bite of water touch her feet she welcomed it.
Holding her arms out to her sides she kept walking backwards and when the ice broke beneath her and the frozen water beneath it swallowed her she didn't scream. Even if she had wanted to the sheer shock of being encased in something so cold would have rendered her unable to utter a single sound. She didn't fight to break back to the surface, no, she just tilted her head back and watched the moon light filter through the clear water. What she hadn't expected was to hear the muffled sound of a mournful howl reach her even as she sank, what air that had been in her lungs leaving her in bubbles that might had been pretty had she been planing to go up for air. Closing her eyes she pictured the man she had fallen in love with, his laughing eyes, his sexy smile, the way his body felt against hers whenever they held each other. Suddenly he was there, his arms wrapped around her and her arms wrapped around him as they sank into darkness. She wasn't even cold any more, she actually felt warm, cozy, comforted. The last bubble of air slipped past her lips and to the surface where the wolf saw it and stared waiting, waiting for her to surface, waiting for another bubble to show she was at least trying to come back to him. Nothing.
The wolf had no idea how long it stood there and waited before it accepted she was not coming back. Falling back onto its hind quarters it lifted its head to the moon and let out a long, sad, howl. It poured all its feelings of loss, of hopelessness, into the sound. When it ran out of air the howl ended, echoing in the cold night, only to begin again as it sucked in another great gulp of air to expand its lungs. Slowly the howl distorted until it became a mans cry of suffering. When the clouds next hid the moon the wolf was gone and in its place a man, naked, shivering, and crying, sat at the edge of the lake.
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Inspired by Florence and The Machine - Howl
Natalie
(contains 'gore')
Drip. Drip. Drip. One crimson drop after another pattered to the floor from the tip of the axe clutched in the bloody hand of a young girl, dull hazel eyes staring down at the body laying on the couch before her. Reaching out with her free hand she brushed pale fingers through the long blond hair, turned pink with blood, of the woman laying there.
“Oh, mama.” The words fell in a whisper from pink lips as the girl continued to stroke her mothers hair, smearing blood from the gash in the woman’s scalp further into the mussed locks and combining it with the blood already covering the armed girl. “I wish it could have been different,” again that quiet voice breaking the utter silence that blanketed the house. The body she stroked so lovingly was barely recognizable with how torn apart it was, so many lacerations making the body look more like ground meat than a person. Lifeless blue eyes stared at nothing until the girl affectionately slid the eyelids shut, the face the only part of the body that had not been mutilated. That done the girl turned from what had once been a cheery looking living room, now splattered with blood, and headed back through the house. She followed her own bloody footprints that stained the hardwood floors of the hallways and stairs until she got to those that tracked on the one pure white carpet of her parents bedroom.
There was another body there, in that room, half draped over the end of the bed. This was a man laying on his back with one leg stretched out the length of the bed, the other dangling off the edge, one arm stretched above his head so that his hand and head both fell limply backwards from the edge while the other arm dangled from the bed at his side. He too was butchered but to a greater extent than the woman in the other room; one ankle was almost completely severed from when he had tried to run and she had swung the axe from where he had knocked her to the floor and caught the limb. That was when he had started screaming for help, help that would not come since the woman in the living room was passed out drunk across the house, her snores blocking out anything her brain might have registered.
After that blow he had tried to disarm her, using his arms to block the following swings after she had gotten to her feet. All he had done was succeed in allowing her to slice his arms open from the wrist up, blood spraying both of them as his adrenaline allowed him to keep fighting. They struggled long enough for her to manage to gut him, the sharp blade biting and sliding easily through the soft flesh of his middle, when one of his arms managed to knock the axe lower and still he fought on, screaming wordlessly at her. That is until the blade of the axe embedded into his head with a sickening crunch. It had taken about a minuet for him to die and she had watched every second of it. His mouth had fallen open on a silent scream, his green eyes slowly draining of life, the light literally going out of them until they were dull, the color of old money, and his body had gone limp.
She had to climb onto the bed and put her foot in his middle, toes squishing in the open wound there, and pull the axe out of his skull, her small body straining until the man's flesh and bone released the blade with a juicy sucking noise. Bending down over the body she patted his cheek, leaving a bloody hand print on his face. “You shouldn't have done it, daddy,” she said with a small, sad sigh. From there she had left the bedroom, leaving the smell of meat and bowels to permeate the air, and had gone to the living room. That was when the woman had died.
It had been the feel of the axe biting sharply into the wrist holding a large bottle of vodka that had woken the woman but even that pain hadn't been enough to chase away the haze covering her brain from dangerous amounts of booze. It was the second hit, the one that bit into her shoulder and nearly amputated the limb from her body, that had accomplished that. The screaming started shortly after but the woman hadn't the strength that the man upstairs and across the house had and all she had ben able to do was hold her her one working hand up over her face in a futile attempt to shield it. Again and again and again the axe rose and fell, biting into the vulnerable flesh until she too was killed with a blow to the head and her life gurgled from her throat. She had died much quicker than the man and the young girl felt the alcohol played a big part in that.
The young girl, she could be no more than 14, stood in the door looking in at her fathers body as she replayed the events over in her head a slow smile forming on her lips at the memory. It was over. They couldn't hurt her any more. A cry echoed through the house and her head whipped to look down the hall to where a door was cracked open. The handle of the axe clattered to the floor as the girl released it and turned to head down to the source of that cry. Her feet continued to track blood along the hall, her fingers smearing the substance across the face of the door with the name 'Bradly' spelled out in fabric baby blocks that were strung across it. As the door opened the cry became louder and the girl padded into the room and over to the crib holding the beautiful baby boy that shared her hazel eyes, though his were bright with tears, and dark chocolate colored hair.
“Shh...shhh...it's all right, Bradly,” the young girl cooed as she reached into the crib with bloody arms and lifted the child from where he lay to cuddle him to her chest. “It's okay, you're all right, shh now, shhh.” she slowly rocked the baby until his cries quieted into hiccups and she moved to settle herself into the rocking chair across from the crib. She cared not that his perfect blue onesie was now covered in the blood of those she had killed, that as she caressed his cheek she left tracks of it on his porcelain skin. She had no idea how long she sat there with him, humming softly under her breath, and even when he started to cry again – his screams piercing - she didn't move.
It was a neighbor that found her like that, sitting in that rocking chair clutching the screeching child, both of them covered in blood. It was only when the police arrived and tried to take the child from her that she even reacted. She lashed out the moment the baby had been taken from her, her fingers forming claws that left gouges down one cops face when he had been trying to be gentle with her. From there she had been taken down, pinned to the floor and cuffed both hand and feet and loaded into the police car where she was taken away. She didn't say a word when they questioned her after she had finally calmed down and they had cleaned her up, she had just stared at a wall humming under her breath. They had put her in one of those rooms reserved for questioning children, the kind with happy colors and toys any child would want and it was there she saw the doll.
In the middle of a question the child psychiatrist had been asking her she had stood and walked over to the chest tucked in the corner of the room where donated toys lived while they weren't being used. Almost completely hidden between an oversized stuffed bear, a plush tiger, and a plastic baby doll, sat the object of her attention. Pushing the unwanted toys out of the way she lifted the porcelain doll from where it had been sitting and stroked its cool face with the tips of her fingers. There was a crack running from where the soft brown curls of the doll started all the way down to the corner of her painted red lips. The girl brushed her fingers across the soft curls, the eyelashes rimming the luminescent blue eyes, and smoothed the old fashioned frills and lace dress covering the rest of the dolls fragile body.
“Natalie,” the voice came from behind her and the girl turned, clutching the doll to her chest, “if I let you keep that doll will you tell me what happened?”
'It's okay to talk to her,' a voice breathed through her mind and her eyes snapped back towards the doll as it smiled at her, 'I'll keep you safe, I promise. Tell the lady what the bad man did and I will make everything okay.'
Nodding the girl turned and walked back to where she had been sitting, settling the doll neatly in her lap, she opened her mouth and began to speak.
That night the news explained it all:
“What happened last night is a tragedy, no one is denying that, but the greater tragedy is that which sparked the actions of 14 year old Natalie Bumonte. People have been asking why a girl would murder her own parents at such a young age and now we know the real story.
Natalie killed her parents to protect herself and her little brother, a brother we now know is actually the child of Natalie herself. Since she was a child Natalie's father had been sexually abusing her while her mother did nothing but drink and psychically abuse the girl. Eventually Natalie became pregnant by her father and her parents passed the baby off as theirs, sending the 13 year old and Mrs. Bumonte to the country to better pass off the child as a sibling. It was only when Mrs. Bumonte started to abuse the little boy, who shall remain nameless, and the sexual abuse began again that Natalie snapped.”
The news went on to say that Natalie would be put in foster care as she had no relatives on either of her parents sides and would continue to get psychiatric help. Natalie's story doesn't end there however as once again she was found covered in blood and surrounded by the bodies of her foster family only instead of cuddling a baby she sat with that porcelain doll in her lap only that doll didn't have a single drop of blood on it while the entire house was covered in it. Once again she was questioned and the only thing she said was the following: “They were mean to me...so Dolly told me to kill them.” When they tried to take the doll from her she flipped, screaming and clawing at anyone who came near her and she even bit the ear off of one person when they managed to get close enough to touch the doll. The moment they left her and the doll alone she calmed down and that's when she was sent to live in St. Helen's, Home for the Mentally unstable.
From there Natalie spent her days sitting in the common room by the window with that doll in her lap seemingly talking to herself. In reality she was holding conversations with the doll; speaking only when Dolly tells her it's alright, doing only what Dolly tells her to do and just keeping to herself. As long as the staff at St. Helen's are kind to her Natalie is the perfect little ward but god forbid if someone says something to her she or Dolly doesn't like. Many staff have been harmed by Natalie, some have even gone missing, and while no one will say it most are sure it is the quiet girl and her doll that have done away with the missing personnel of St. Helen's.
Flash forward seven years later to a stormy night where lightning has knocked out all power in the facility and the night shift is short handed. Just one security guard and one night nurse are on duty and they know they have to go check rooms and both are dreading checking the one labeled 'N. Bumonte.'
“It's just one girl,” the guard said with a nervous laugh as he and the night nurse walked down the hall to the last room of the night, flashlights lighting their way.
“Yeah...one girl, you're right. Besides, I've got this,” the nurse smiled and held up the syringe filled with sedatives then slipped it back into her pocket as they came upon the door. They both stood there, staring at it for a moment, and then looked at each other. “Okay...unlock it,” the nurse said, voice shaking.
Taking a deep breath the guard took out his key ring, the keys clattering as his hand shook, found the right key and slipped it into the lock. Both he and the nurse held their breath as he turned the key and pushed the door open on silent hinges. As the door fully opened they both swallowed and forced themselves to shine their lights in towards the bed where Natalie should be sleeping. She wasn't there. Lightning flashed and thunder snapped drowning out the screams that followed.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drop after drop of crimson blood pattered to the floor from the tips of the girls fingers, fingers curled around a blood covered syringe, as she padded down the hallway, bare feet leaving bloody foot prints behind with every step she took. Her soft humming filled the quiet halls as thunder rolled in the sky, the storm moving away from St. Helen's.
'We are free now, Natalie,' Dolly's voice echoed in the woman's head and her fingers uncurled to let the syringe clatter to the floor.
“Yes...finally.” As she reached the door that would lead to the outside world Natalie took the key ring from where she had tucked it in the pocket of her robe and let herself out. “Mommy's coming Bradly.” Lightning lit up the sky as the girl stepped outside, for the first time in years, and vanished into the darkness.
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The story of one of my OC's
