City of IF

[Syranore]

Just a bit of a teaser.

Perfect Insanity


Prologue-

William looked at the distorted landscape around him. He stood in a desert, what would normally be a plain, barren wasteland forsaken of all life, if not for the twisted spectrum of colors surrounding him, yet it held a strange fixation for the young man. The blood-red sand was highlighted by the amber sky. Jagged violet rocks jutted into the air, the eerie sound of the wind howling through them the only noise. As he walked through this bizarre mockery of the real world, William spotted one last bastion of beauty in this ugly land. It was a flower, a perfect rose, the red petals flawless, and the leaves a lush green. Smiling, William reached down and plucked the rose, its fragrant scent so refreshing in this wretched waste it left him feeling light-headed, almost euphoric.

As the scent faded, so did the world around William, and he found himself standing in a worn-down apartment building. Taking a moment to survey this dim, dismal place that he had been thrust into, he saw hands that he vaguely registered as his own. One of them was holding a knife, dripping with a strange red substance that he figured must be what roses were made of. In front of him was a bed, and on it was a person covered with the rose essence. William wondered why the person looked so unhappy when they were in such close proximity with this beautiful substance. After gathering as much of the red liquid as his bottle would hold, William cleaned himself and his knife carefully, and stowed the knife and the bottle at his side, before leaping out of the window, into the dark, scum-filled streets below. Allowing himself one last smile, William headed back home to water his garden…

[Adalia]

How very interesting... I'm intrigued.

[shy_blu_eyes]

You kept you word, it is a teaser.

Not much to comment on though, you'd better write more soon. ;)

[DeadManWalking]

Sounds interesting.

Waits with Baited Breath (and has caught two herring and a rather large pike with it already).

[NeverNeverGirl]

hey there!

i like the cut of your jib... the imagery is beautiful...

[Reasoner]

Insane murderer with no purpose but killing, hmmm, my kind of story.

[Lilith]

I really like it Syra, very vivid. I hope we can see more of this one.

[Syranore]

I'm getting it done. This one will have to go a bit slower than Twisted did, as I can only really do any good writing it when in just the right mood.

[Syranore]

Perfect Insanity-Chapter One

William opened his door silently. The after-effects of his latest excursion had already begun to take their toll on him. He staggered over to his bed, his head throbbing, and he readily collapsed onto it, sinking into a cold, uneasy sleep almost immediately. As he slept, his mind was still wide awake, mentally tossing and turning, struggling and thrashing like a patient in an insane asylum.

Within this mind in turmoil was a dream. In this dream, William stood in the barren waste that represented his mind. This time, the sky was pitch-black, and the sand was crimson. He didn’t know where he was, or why. This strange land frightened and confused him.

William began to walk, in hopes that he could find some help, or some comfort in this horrible place, something to placate the feeling of emptiness pervading him. The once bright and colorful landscape was now dark and dreary. He continued to walk, occasionally stumbling over one of the dark gray rocks that littered the ground. As the young man progressed through this nightmare of a world, weeds began to grow around him, moving slowly toward him when he wasn’t looking. When William came upon the place where he had once found the flower, instead he found the crumbling remains of the rose being overgrown by the evil-looking weeds. As he reached down to yank the weeds up, they suddenly twisted, wrapping around his wrist, and pulling him down. As thorns were driven further into his flesh, and the menacing plants engulfed his body, William found that he couldn’t move, couldn’t resist.

William let out a soundless scream, and he felt the scratch of thorns in his mouth, and down his throat. As everything began to fade into black, he desperately reached out toward the withered petals lying so close to him, yet so far out of his reach, as the weeds restrained his body, smothering him, choking him, consuming him…

---

William awoke with a start, feeling empty, devoid of all emotion, and all willpower. Dragging himself up from his bed, he made himself move towards the shower, avoiding all of the bottles and cans left over from various caffeine-filled energy drinks. William dropped his clothes in an overflowing hamper, and stepped into the shower. As the scalding water poured over his body, William relaxed somewhat, letting the sweat from his uneasy night wash away. After cleaning himself thoroughly, William stepped out of the shower, feeling a little more awake. He dressed himself, dragging some worn jeans and a t-shirt that looked like it had been through a meat grinder onto his body.

Yawing repeatedly, William stumbled over to the kitchen, a small, polluted corner of his apartment, and poured some cereal. As he munched slowly on the wheat-and-sugar concoction, he realized he had forgotten to pour milk into it. Avoiding more energy drink cans and bottles, he made his way back to his refrigerator. Upon realizing that he had run out of milk a week ago, he mourned silently, and returned to finish his bowl of dry cereal, topping it off with an energy drink. Afterward, he returned to his bedroom to slide on his shoes and socks. As he glanced at the tattered and torn calendar barely hanging from his wall, he remembered that he no longer had a job, as he had been fired at the beginning of the week for showing up late again. In a sudden burst of frustration, William yanked his alarm clock from the wall, and tossed it against the wall, watching as the pieces scattered across his already trashed floor. As the feeling of frustration ebbed, it was replaced by a hopeless feeling mixed with a sense of worthlessness. William collapsed onto his bed, crying uninhibitedly for what seemed like days, eventually falling into another exhaustion-fueled sleep that even the heavy doses of caffeine couldn’t forestall.

When he awoke, several hours later, it was nearly dark. William groaned, and rolled out of his bed, dragging himself up a few seconds later. Sighing dejectedly, William decided to take a walk though the suburbs to clear his aching head. As he walked the scum-filled streets, William noted the bums clamoring for enough cash to buy their next bottle of cheap beer, right alongside the beggars who honestly needed the money. Frowning, and shaking his head, he moved on to his favorite destination. As he walked by the florist’s shop, he took a long, careful look at the roses on display, noting how dry and withered they looked. It was a travesty, in William’s eyes. There were too few things in the world that held beauty, and to not take care of those was a cardinal sin, to him.

Not paying attention to where he was going, he stumbled into a young woman walking out of the shop. Looking at the ground, William muttered a fumbled apology, and picked up the flowers that had fallen from her grip, returning them to her. The woman laughed, and said it was nothing. As the woman walked off, William allowed himself to catch a glance at the retreating figure, which was quite attractive. After a few seconds, he tore his eyes away, and continued on his route. He couldn’t afford such thoughts, especially in his situation. He was jobless, soon to be homeless, sustained almost purely by energy drinks, and overall, a pathetic excuse for a human being. His eyes returned to the worn, trash-covered sidewalk.

William lost track of time as he stalked down the crowded streets, and before he knew it, the streets were almost deserted, and it was dark. Oh, crap…’, he thought to himself. Now that it was dark, the less desirable people of the city would come out soon, and he would have to be careful if he didn’t want to get mugged, killed, or worse. His walking speed increased, and when he thought he had heard a noise in a nearby alley, William took off into a sprint, racing down the vacated street.

William ran for what seemed like ages, and eventually had to stop. As he huffed and puffed for air, William noticed some dark silhouettes in the distance. One of them appeared to be holding a baseball bat. William’s panicked mind went blank, and he stood there foolishly while the figures advanced, unsure if they had seen him or not, yet unable to bring himself to run. Time seemed to slow down as the gang advanced, and William wondered if there was even a point in running if he could. He had nothing, nothing to live for, no reason to put off dying, which was what was going to happen to him if he didn’t move, he was certain.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt himself yanked by the arm into one of the buildings next to him, followed by an angry-sounding whisper. “Are you crazy? A few more seconds and you’d have been done for. Are you trying to get yourself killed? Crazy, absolutely crazy.” William shook himself out of his stupor, and turned to view his rescuer…

DP-Who is the rescuer, and can he/she be trusted?

[Lilith]

Again, love the imagery....

DP: The girl from the florist shop

[Sasuke]

Nice, good thing I popped in early, or I would have regretted it later, I f5 Lily, who posted a few seconds before I was going to arghhh.

[NeverNeverGirl]

Its an old bum named St John by his peers, for some obscure reason that has nothing at all to do with the actual name or the saint.

St John takes in strays and teaches them how to survive on the streets... but he has an ulterior motive

Oh yes is anyone getting flashbacks to Edward Norton in fightclub?





Just a note on DPs>> you should check out the discussion in OF about them as i think that you are perhaps giving us too much power as player... we are choosing plot not actions and if you have a specific plot in mind this can be dangerous. but if you just want to utilise your talents (which you obviously have) then ignore me.

[NeverNeverGirl]

I voted my own choice. Mostly because i want it too be someone with a sinister motive.

Please don't turn this into a vampire/werewolf story as while i love those.. i don't want you to lose the streak that this is painting..

i know that makes no sense but i know what i mean lol.

if the girl wins - make her a psycho.. again the chick from Fight Club is a good example (though not crazy enough)