Chapter 47
Cody yanked hard on her hair pulling her face up to his. She let out a grunt but didn't speak, just stared at him. He could see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes but she was putting on a brave face. He admired that. It made him hard. She looked away but he used one hand to roughly grab her cheeks and turn her face back towards him.
"I'm gonna hear you beg bitch. You can put on whatever brave face you want. But I WILL hear you beg."
He jerked her hair so hard a few strands pulled free and continued pulling her up the staircase of the hotel. She struggled but his grip was to strong. Her feet, knees, and shins smacked hard against the steps until he reached the top floor and she let out a few small grunts, but still no scream. Not yet. He kicked open the first room at the top and muscled Ally through the doorway, violently throwing her on the bed.
She tried to scramble off as soon as she hit the mattress but he was on top of her instantly. He pressed his weight on top of her and she tried to hit at him with her free hands but he used his legs to wedge one of them down. With his position and weight she couldn't get much leverage against him and he let out a smile as he ran a caressing finger along her cheek. He fondled the split he'd caused on her lip before she took a bite at his finger. His smile quickly lapsed into a frown as he punched her hard in the eye. That did ellicit a cry from her. He watched it welt and start to turn purple as she writhed beneath him.
"Now we'll really have some fun."
She tried squirming left, tugging at her free arm as he slid back on top of her a little. He grabbed one of her breasts hard as his free hand gripped the collar of her dress. He pulled at it, tearing fabric and popping buttons, exposing the tender white flesh beneath, still ripe with the bruises he had given her. That sick, thick grin came back as he used that hand to undo his gun belt, tossing it beside the bed. He kept his other hand around her throat, keeping her eyes on him anytime she tried to turn away. His fingers were stiff and cruel as he forced her to look at him as he spoke.
"You can start crying now."
He slapped her across the face again for good measure before tugging at the button on his pants. This would feel so good. He'd killed to many people to have ignored this urge this long. It had been days since that whore at the farmhouse, and this nectar was twice as sweet as she had been. He let go of her face and used both hands as he slipped his pants down, rising off her slightly in the process. It was in that momentary lapse in pressure that the whore made her move. Her arm suddenly free, he saw her hand blur and felt a searing pain across his eye. He let out a scream and fell backwards off the bed, red filling his vision. He clutched at the socket, feeling the flap of skin where his eye use to be and the salty flecks of blood dribbling on his lips from between his fingers.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH!"
With his good eye he saw her stand up, clutching the steak knife from her meal in her hands. The whole world was a vision of red and pain, but he still felt that white hot urge in his gut. He stumbled towards the bed, still holding his eye as he tried to stand up.
"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"
She drew close to him, her voice small and hard.
"It's okay to start screaming now."
He did scream then, after he felt her jam the knife into his stomach.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Flash Fiction: The Sea
The Sea
Everett flicked the tail end of the cigarette away, watching it spin end over end into the sea. He let loose the last remnants of the precious smoke from his lungs and brought the bottle to his lips. He drew a pull of the liquor, cheap, dark, and brown, but serviceable for his needs. He took several more pulls, wishing that hadn't been his only smoke and watched the tide push in its refuse, the beach resembling some waterlogged junkyard. He felt the booze burn his throat and wished it would dull some of his other senses, but it wasn't enough, not yet.
He sat on the shoreline until the tide began to lap at his feet, blending in with the rest of the trash on the beach. Everett laid on his back, holding the bottle in his hand and looked to the sky. It was dark, but the smog and carbon monoxide of the city formed a film over the skyline. Only the brightest stars shown through though and even then they were but a pale reflection behind a scummy veneer. He tuned to the moon, the only thing that held any light at all. On a night like this, he wished it had been full, bright and warm, lighting the darkness in its pale ether.
Instead the moon was but a sliver, a slim crack of light in the inky paleness of the night sky. Not even a crescent, just the barest of curvature hinting at the lunar globe. An outline of his loneliness. He held the bottle high, letting the sliver of light shine through the bottle, covering himself in a brown moon shadow. In an offered toast, he took one last drink and flung the bottle into the sea. Washed away to wash ashore again, unwanted by the land and the sea, just like him.
It was there he sat on the beach, letting the waves lap at his feet as he watched the moon circle across the sky. The chill of the water and the windy bite of the breeze didn't seem to faze him, nor did the graininess of the sand, wet and cold beneath him. The night seemed to pass in a mire, slowed by the wet slickness of the sea. It blended into the darkness of a night sky meeting a blackened sand. A dead sky meeting a dead beach. It was hard to tell where the horizon ended and the Earth began. A moment in space lost, lost among the refuse of the discarded.
He sat unmoving, numbness slipping into his limbs as the tell tale red trim of the sun approached to the west. The tide had begun to reduce, retreating into the cold green spray of the sea. He sat waiting, wondering if the dawn held the answers that the night had kept from him. Wondering if the beginning of today could be worse than the end of yesterday.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Flash Fiction: All I Ever Wanted
All I Ever Wanted
The place smelled of death. Slow rotting, antiseptic death. It was there, underneath the smells of bleach, sanitizer, and the squeaky rubber aroma of the nurses' orthopedic shoes. It permeated the place, underlying the offered lonely peace of the hospital bed. A peace belayed by the beeps of machinery and the sounds of respirators pumping oxygen into so many people who still clung to this precious life. Their time trickling away as they watched re-runs of Dr. Phil in the fading moments of a life well wasted.
In the time that we had left I had tried to cut those distractions away, the only sensation I wanted was the feel of her hand in mind, as we brushed each others fingers softly. She looked at me, tears in her eyes and I tried to smile through the lump in my throat. We didn't need words or sounds, just that soft touch, just the feel of her hand in mine. The knowlege of a life shared, of a dream come true. Of a dream that was soon to end.
She opened her mouth to speak but I softly shook my head no. Words couldn't come to me, not in that moment, not in this place. I closed my eyes and squeezed her hand tighter. I didnt want my last vision of her to be in this place. I wanted to remember her the way I do in my dreams. I wanted to remember that first day I saw her in school, holding her books and laughing at something someone had said. Her shy nod yes the first time I asked her out. The taste of her lips when we first kissed. The day she agreed to marry me. I wanted to remember her from everyday in our life. From every morning she woke, till every night when she slept. I wanted everyday... but not today.
I licked my lips and reached for my own words. How could I sum up everything this woman had meant to me? How could I put into words the meaning her life has had in mine? What do you tell the meaning of life?
I lifted her hand to my cheek slowly, nuzzling it every so gently. Weakness and time had wrought it's toll and life faded with each passing second. I tired to impart with touch what I couldn't with words. To put a lifetime of memories and love into each caress. I couldn't find my voice, but I hoped she heard my message.
We stayed like that a long time. I knew the end was close, creeping upon us. I could feel it coming, I knew our time was almost over. I tried to feel her hand, to let her know I was still here, but my limbs felt numb. I opened my mouth to speak but my voice had already failed me. The only thing that escaped my lips was one last breath, slow and drawn out, the last moments of my life leaving my body.
I wanted to stay with her. It was all I had ever wanted.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
The place smelled of death. Slow rotting, antiseptic death. It was there, underneath the smells of bleach, sanitizer, and the squeaky rubber aroma of the nurses' orthopedic shoes. It permeated the place, underlying the offered lonely peace of the hospital bed. A peace belayed by the beeps of machinery and the sounds of respirators pumping oxygen into so many people who still clung to this precious life. Their time trickling away as they watched re-runs of Dr. Phil in the fading moments of a life well wasted.
In the time that we had left I had tried to cut those distractions away, the only sensation I wanted was the feel of her hand in mind, as we brushed each others fingers softly. She looked at me, tears in her eyes and I tried to smile through the lump in my throat. We didn't need words or sounds, just that soft touch, just the feel of her hand in mine. The knowlege of a life shared, of a dream come true. Of a dream that was soon to end.
She opened her mouth to speak but I softly shook my head no. Words couldn't come to me, not in that moment, not in this place. I closed my eyes and squeezed her hand tighter. I didnt want my last vision of her to be in this place. I wanted to remember her the way I do in my dreams. I wanted to remember that first day I saw her in school, holding her books and laughing at something someone had said. Her shy nod yes the first time I asked her out. The taste of her lips when we first kissed. The day she agreed to marry me. I wanted to remember her from everyday in our life. From every morning she woke, till every night when she slept. I wanted everyday... but not today.
I licked my lips and reached for my own words. How could I sum up everything this woman had meant to me? How could I put into words the meaning her life has had in mine? What do you tell the meaning of life?
I lifted her hand to my cheek slowly, nuzzling it every so gently. Weakness and time had wrought it's toll and life faded with each passing second. I tired to impart with touch what I couldn't with words. To put a lifetime of memories and love into each caress. I couldn't find my voice, but I hoped she heard my message.
We stayed like that a long time. I knew the end was close, creeping upon us. I could feel it coming, I knew our time was almost over. I tried to feel her hand, to let her know I was still here, but my limbs felt numb. I opened my mouth to speak but my voice had already failed me. The only thing that escaped my lips was one last breath, slow and drawn out, the last moments of my life leaving my body.
I wanted to stay with her. It was all I had ever wanted.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Poetry: Still and Stark
Hey all,
I've really been feeling some poetry lately so wanted to try my hand at crafting another poem. This is based on an image I saw on TV about a old man looking at himself in the mirror. The subject matter was completely different than the topic of the poem, but I like how easy this was to write. Maybe a total of 30 minutes all together? It just came really easy.
Anyway, enjoy.
Still and Stark
Softly lit under light bulbs glow,
The darkened recess ebbed of flow,
And the mirror shown in sheerest sheen,
Revealing a haggard man, a sight unseen.
His bristled face a mask of age,
Lines and wrinkles, a time wrought cage.
Hair gone white, thinned and bald,
With sallowed skin, whitened and palled.
He brushed his mouth with gnarled hands,
Withered with hurt, from hour wrought sands.
Eyes grown milky, dimmed from time,
The lust of life so far from its prime.
He knew his time was near the end,
Days gone by, just moments to send.
He touched his echo in reflection's gleam,
Fingers tracing death wrote seam.
His voice croaked from chappened lip,
Muttered prayers of regrets let slip.
He closed his eyes and reached on high,
Smashing the bulb with nary a sigh.
And in the dark he waited still,
As life blood's flow waned to nil.
In the quiet and lonely dark,
He died a death, still and stark.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
I've really been feeling some poetry lately so wanted to try my hand at crafting another poem. This is based on an image I saw on TV about a old man looking at himself in the mirror. The subject matter was completely different than the topic of the poem, but I like how easy this was to write. Maybe a total of 30 minutes all together? It just came really easy.
Anyway, enjoy.
Still and Stark
Softly lit under light bulbs glow,
The darkened recess ebbed of flow,
And the mirror shown in sheerest sheen,
Revealing a haggard man, a sight unseen.
His bristled face a mask of age,
Lines and wrinkles, a time wrought cage.
Hair gone white, thinned and bald,
With sallowed skin, whitened and palled.
He brushed his mouth with gnarled hands,
Withered with hurt, from hour wrought sands.
Eyes grown milky, dimmed from time,
The lust of life so far from its prime.
He knew his time was near the end,
Days gone by, just moments to send.
He touched his echo in reflection's gleam,
Fingers tracing death wrote seam.
His voice croaked from chappened lip,
Muttered prayers of regrets let slip.
He closed his eyes and reached on high,
Smashing the bulb with nary a sigh.
And in the dark he waited still,
As life blood's flow waned to nil.
In the quiet and lonely dark,
He died a death, still and stark.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Flash Fiction: Under a Dead Sun: Past Sins
Chapter 46:
Morgan's Winchester thundered as he barrelled towards the female rider. She had already mounted her horse and was spurring it towards the stalled stage. He glanced as he rode by, the huddled mass of undead tearing at the body of the downed rider, gore and viscera flinging madly about in the mixture of claws and fangs. He tried not to let the image root in his brain. Morgan shifted the reins to his teeth as he chambered new rounds into the rifle and angled his horse around the herd with his knees. He spurred the horse faster and rode hard.
He watched the female swing free from her saddle and open the door of the stage. She was in such a hurry she didn't see the monster coming up from behind her. Morgan smashed another creature with the butt of his rifle and drew a bead on the one bearing down on the female. She was pulling at someone inside the cabin, her back exposed. His rifle cracked, bucking hard into his shoulder and teh creatures head exploded in a shower of brains and pus. Morgan was impressed watching the woman spin around and snapping up her pistol incredibly fast. they locked eyes momentarily before Morgan fired again, catching another of the monsters as it rounded the back of the stage.
He drew his horse up and looked at the woman. She was shapely, almost poured into the tight leather chaps and shirt she was wearing, but looked comfortable with the feel of the pistol in her hand. She kept the gun pointed at him but he reined the horse about, putting his back to her, unconcerned.
"Best be quick ma'am. There's more of these bastards than I've got bullet's for. I also reckon you may have some business with that fellow who killed yer friend."
Morgan watched as more of the masses drew closer to them and fired two more shots, two more kills. Then he laughed to himself. Killing what was already dead. God damn.
"Listen mister, I don't know who the fuck you are or what the fuck your angle is. But if you help me get my father out of here, I'll make it worth your while. You help me get that sonuvabitch who killed my friends, and you can name your price."
Morgan looked back as she was pulling out an old man from the stage's cab. He could see the man's withered legs and the look on his face, grimacing in pain. He glanced back at the shambling masses heading towards them. he pulled out his Cavalry revolver and clocked the hammer.
"Well the we'd best make this quick if either of us want to live to cash in on those promises."
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Morgan's Winchester thundered as he barrelled towards the female rider. She had already mounted her horse and was spurring it towards the stalled stage. He glanced as he rode by, the huddled mass of undead tearing at the body of the downed rider, gore and viscera flinging madly about in the mixture of claws and fangs. He tried not to let the image root in his brain. Morgan shifted the reins to his teeth as he chambered new rounds into the rifle and angled his horse around the herd with his knees. He spurred the horse faster and rode hard.
He watched the female swing free from her saddle and open the door of the stage. She was in such a hurry she didn't see the monster coming up from behind her. Morgan smashed another creature with the butt of his rifle and drew a bead on the one bearing down on the female. She was pulling at someone inside the cabin, her back exposed. His rifle cracked, bucking hard into his shoulder and teh creatures head exploded in a shower of brains and pus. Morgan was impressed watching the woman spin around and snapping up her pistol incredibly fast. they locked eyes momentarily before Morgan fired again, catching another of the monsters as it rounded the back of the stage.
He drew his horse up and looked at the woman. She was shapely, almost poured into the tight leather chaps and shirt she was wearing, but looked comfortable with the feel of the pistol in her hand. She kept the gun pointed at him but he reined the horse about, putting his back to her, unconcerned.
"Best be quick ma'am. There's more of these bastards than I've got bullet's for. I also reckon you may have some business with that fellow who killed yer friend."
Morgan watched as more of the masses drew closer to them and fired two more shots, two more kills. Then he laughed to himself. Killing what was already dead. God damn.
"Listen mister, I don't know who the fuck you are or what the fuck your angle is. But if you help me get my father out of here, I'll make it worth your while. You help me get that sonuvabitch who killed my friends, and you can name your price."
Morgan looked back as she was pulling out an old man from the stage's cab. He could see the man's withered legs and the look on his face, grimacing in pain. He glanced back at the shambling masses heading towards them. he pulled out his Cavalry revolver and clocked the hammer.
"Well the we'd best make this quick if either of us want to live to cash in on those promises."
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Poetry: Bare to the Earth
Hey all,
Minor activity abounds here at the old blog. It feels like a very long time since I have posted but I am really trying to get back to writing with some regularity. I intend to dial into more of Under A Dead Sun very soon. I really want to finish this tale that I feel like I started so very long ago.
As to poetry, this is the first one I've written in a very long time. I wanted to take the sort of excuses and bullshit of life and strip it away, the same sense I am trying to apply to getting back into writing. Welcome back and enjoy.
Bare to the Earth
Hardened beats upon the petals blade,
The spine of rain sluices the glade.
Earthen grass of greenest flush,
'Neath waters hail of skyfall's rush.
Trees wain in windy frowns,
From the gale of heaven stormy downs.
I stand in the meadow of the deluge,
Awash in those thoughts I can't refuse.
I don't feel the cold or shivers of chill,
The water overflows, my vessels at fill.
The past and present, futures are told,
In this momentary storm, they come, unfold.
Niether wind nor weather can purchase a gain.
Nor will water's fall wash away the pain.
But torrents peal still in hammering blows,
Battering at the truth, as if it already knows.
Nature's attack is mirrored in soul,
Patience and time unending in their toll.
I spread my arms to welcome the sky,
It's thundering clouds and lightning's cry,
Cracking to earth in bolts of pure rage,
Shattering the illusions I've cast with age.
Left bare to the Earth, I lay unfurled.
A rebirth in the storm, newborn to the world.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Minor activity abounds here at the old blog. It feels like a very long time since I have posted but I am really trying to get back to writing with some regularity. I intend to dial into more of Under A Dead Sun very soon. I really want to finish this tale that I feel like I started so very long ago.
As to poetry, this is the first one I've written in a very long time. I wanted to take the sort of excuses and bullshit of life and strip it away, the same sense I am trying to apply to getting back into writing. Welcome back and enjoy.
Bare to the Earth
Hardened beats upon the petals blade,
The spine of rain sluices the glade.
Earthen grass of greenest flush,
'Neath waters hail of skyfall's rush.
Trees wain in windy frowns,
From the gale of heaven stormy downs.
I stand in the meadow of the deluge,
Awash in those thoughts I can't refuse.
I don't feel the cold or shivers of chill,
The water overflows, my vessels at fill.
The past and present, futures are told,
In this momentary storm, they come, unfold.
Niether wind nor weather can purchase a gain.
Nor will water's fall wash away the pain.
But torrents peal still in hammering blows,
Battering at the truth, as if it already knows.
Nature's attack is mirrored in soul,
Patience and time unending in their toll.
I spread my arms to welcome the sky,
It's thundering clouds and lightning's cry,
Cracking to earth in bolts of pure rage,
Shattering the illusions I've cast with age.
Left bare to the Earth, I lay unfurled.
A rebirth in the storm, newborn to the world.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Flash Fiction: Under a Dead Sun:Past Sins
Chapter 45
Ally's scream echoed in the small hotel lobby. It was him, the man who had taken everything from her. Her family, her life...gone. His blond hair and oily smile were locked into her brain, no amount of undead or death would scrub that image from her memory. She saw the strangers eyes light up when he saw her and he held his arms wide open in greeting.
"My my my.... If it isn't my lost little love. I seem to remember you and I missing an appointment earlier. You certainly must have been missing me ever so bad to come all this way for little ole me."
Ally's eyes went wide with fright and she clawed at the worn Colt still around her waist. the stranger thought was so fast, his hands a blur going to his own revolvers.
"Now now honey.... dead or alive, I'm going to take what I want. You couldn't do a damn thing before, and you'll not do a damn thing now."
"Van Cleft, get their guns."
"Aye Cody."
The one eyed man ripped the gun from her waist and pushed her back down into her seat.
"Now Padre, I'm not sure what relationship you have with my litttle bird here, but I'm not inclined to kill a man of the cloth, but do not mistake this as mercy. No, no... I'd as soon fill you full of lead as piss on your boots if you get in my way."
She watched as Van Cleft took Enrico's gun as Cody sauntered over to her. He shoved Enrico down to his chair and looked over his shoulder as Cody loomed large above, terror and memory flooding her. He smacked her hard across the face, splitting the scab on her lip. Ally looked back up at him, her eyes filled with tears and fresh blood trickled down her lip. She didn't make a sound though. She tried to steel herself for what she knew was coming.
Cody turned, flashing one of his Colts free and pointing it at Clement.
"Put the Padre here with the others Clem and then get yer fat ass on the wall."
He tossed the saddle bags he'd had slung over his shoulders to Van Cleft as he grabbed Ally by the hair, yanking it so hard she inadvertently let out a small shriek.
"Get the boat ready, the lassie and I have a date."
Fresh tears spilled from her eyes as Cody dragged her up the stairs.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
Ally's scream echoed in the small hotel lobby. It was him, the man who had taken everything from her. Her family, her life...gone. His blond hair and oily smile were locked into her brain, no amount of undead or death would scrub that image from her memory. She saw the strangers eyes light up when he saw her and he held his arms wide open in greeting.
"My my my.... If it isn't my lost little love. I seem to remember you and I missing an appointment earlier. You certainly must have been missing me ever so bad to come all this way for little ole me."
Ally's eyes went wide with fright and she clawed at the worn Colt still around her waist. the stranger thought was so fast, his hands a blur going to his own revolvers.
"Now now honey.... dead or alive, I'm going to take what I want. You couldn't do a damn thing before, and you'll not do a damn thing now."
"Van Cleft, get their guns."
"Aye Cody."
The one eyed man ripped the gun from her waist and pushed her back down into her seat.
"Now Padre, I'm not sure what relationship you have with my litttle bird here, but I'm not inclined to kill a man of the cloth, but do not mistake this as mercy. No, no... I'd as soon fill you full of lead as piss on your boots if you get in my way."
She watched as Van Cleft took Enrico's gun as Cody sauntered over to her. He shoved Enrico down to his chair and looked over his shoulder as Cody loomed large above, terror and memory flooding her. He smacked her hard across the face, splitting the scab on her lip. Ally looked back up at him, her eyes filled with tears and fresh blood trickled down her lip. She didn't make a sound though. She tried to steel herself for what she knew was coming.
Cody turned, flashing one of his Colts free and pointing it at Clement.
"Put the Padre here with the others Clem and then get yer fat ass on the wall."
He tossed the saddle bags he'd had slung over his shoulders to Van Cleft as he grabbed Ally by the hair, yanking it so hard she inadvertently let out a small shriek.
"Get the boat ready, the lassie and I have a date."
Fresh tears spilled from her eyes as Cody dragged her up the stairs.
End of Line.
Gerrad!
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