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HiddenHeartsCry
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 Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 8:54 pm Post subject: Rumor -Chapter one edit- |
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I swear to stick with it this time 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prologue
I’ve spent the past seven years of my life wishing with all my might that I had never left the house that day, cursing the decision to allow Alice to go. Why didn’t I stop her? I was older, stronger, wiser… well, obviously not wiser. Our lives were far more than fine; Hell, we were privileged. My sister and I had both our mother and father in the same house, a stable environment, pets, cell phones. Anything we wanted, we got. That fact never went to our heads; Don’t get me wrong, not to brag or anything but we were damn fine kids. All it took was one simple mistake, one simple twinge of curiously to end that life and plunge the two of us into another one. Because I let Alice go, because I followed her, I caused hell to rain down on the two of us. God, how I regret it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One: Cryptic
For the most part the woods had been quiet, serene. Scents of summer were everywhere, clashing with the heat to form a cocktail of pine, dust and honey-suckle. The two of us were drunk with it but the smells and sights weren't why we wandered. A week or so before our hike Alice had, quite unfortunately, heard the wolf pack rumor and of course decided she had to know. Nobody could really understand how a pack of wolves could survive so close to a city or how they'd even gotten there, but maybe that's why it's still classified as just a rumor. My little sister, however, sought to change that.
Tuesday morning we'd packed, left a note for our parents, then made it out before the sun peeked over the mountains. Our home was towards a more rural part of California so it hadn't taken very long for us to become secluded, barred off from the urban jungle by an army of trees and rocks. Armed with lunches, water and cameras, we searched for hours, picking at tracks, listening to the sounds the forest made. Birds crooning from their acropolis, far above our heads, foliage crunching beneath our somewhat klutzy steps, and the sounds of our breathing kept my eyes from ringing. Every so often one of us would speak, but banter couldn’t really be kept steady. I didn’t really want to be out there, trudging through weeds and brush in summer heat, searching for something that probably didn’t even exist that I honestly didn’t care about. But I was the older one, the big brother. I’d fallen into that role well and held it for a while. Big brother mode suited me; I was the protector, the role model. I should have been the leader, but for me to say I was would have been a complete lie. Alice held the reins in our sibling way of life, I merely followed, and it was she that called lunch.
A location was chosen and we sat, sandwiches, chips and water bottles removed quickly from their packaging, ready for consumption. Our conversation was quiet, idle, accompanied by birds and wind but it all ended with a petite, “Shh. . .” Alice’s eyes were rapidly frozen on the distance behind me, body rigid while she watched. I mouthed a ‘what?’ and my silence was quickly shushed again. “Something’s moving.”
Cautiously I turned to watch, half expecting her to yell or throw something to try and scare me, but I saw it too. A lanky black figure slunk through the underbrush, skulking with a low cranium towards us. Strangely, and quite contrary to earlier that morning, I was mesmerized. There was great doubt that I could’ve moved had I wanted to and on some level I did. Something about this wasn’t right. The figure crept closer until it was clear to us both, sun gleaming against its too clean coat.
The wolf was huge, far large than any domestic dog, coyote or zoo wolf I’d ever seen. Her body was slender, streamlined from her erect ears to the tail that stood rigid behind her haunches. Her amber eyes, too wise, too human, made me nauseous in a way, but I couldn’t look away. Her front paws were crossed, overlapping one another in a strong yet feminine way. Alice and I looked at each other then back and I was aware that the two of us were kneeling, leaning forward. It still wasn’t right. No wild wolf was this assimilated to humans. This was ridiculous. This was surreal. This was a trick.
“Danny!” The sudden scream broke me from my trance, giving me just enough time to see Alice being dragged away from me, a large, pastel figure latched around her ankles. The speed at which she left me was rapid enough to send leafs wafting into the air, leaving her as nothing more than a blur to me.
I shot to my feet, leaving everything behind, running as fast as my legs could take me. I kept screaming her name, running faster with each echo of silence that responded. All I could hear were her screams and even they were distanced from me so that they sounded like nothing more than whispers. . . until eventually they disappeared. I stopped, spinning in a desperate circle of exhaustion and confusion, lungs burning. Then suddenly there were eyes all around me. I couldn’t see them, but I felt them, like wretchedly hot knifes burrowing into my flesh. My spinning continued. “Alice!?” There was nothing, then a small crunch-leaves being broken. It was like I couldn’t move. The trees held my stare on them now. Something was behind me, something I should’ve feared, something I should’ve ran from, but I couldn’t. A sharp whistle came, like the one a baseball makes after someone hits it. Then came a sharp wallop to the back of my skull, a pain rushing through my head. Darkness came faster than the forest floor.
~~~
As I recall, the place was damp and cold; It smelled of mold and urine. In the darkness of it all, as I was waking, I heard a quiet dripping sound accompanied by a nearly silent sob. Some sort of wire bound my wrists and ankles, the rough material smoothed over with blood. It was more than difficult to move, but the floor was icy, dirty and littered with various types of debris. Eventually I was able to maneuver away from where I lay and sit upright, back pressed against a wall. Despite the thundering pain in my head, my eyes adjusted to the dark. I immediately began searching the room, too afraid to speak but curious about whom was there with me. Then I remembered something. Where’s Alice? I began to panic, breathing increasing two-fold, heart falling deep into my stomach. They’d taken her first and now I didn’t have a clue where she was. Maybe the one who was sobbing was her. Almost soundlessly, I whispered, “Alice… is that you?”
There was a long pause, the silence it would have created filled by the quiet sobs. “Alice, it’s Danny.” The name clicked and finally I was graced with a response other than sobs.
“I’m scared.” The answer was brief but good enough to relieve the weight on my chest.
“Are you hurt? Where are you?”
Even words as quiet as ours were bouncing from wall to wall and our voices seemed to be coming from all directions. She didn’t answer me after that, not until I asked again, anyway. “Not really. I’m kind o’ sore but not really hurt.” I was, though, not badly, but enough so that I stung and throbbed. “Where are we?” She asked.
It wasn’t as if I could have answered her. I merely shook my head, as if she could see it in the darkness. All I could make out at that point was the way her hair stood out from the darkness: Red on black. She repeated her question which made me realize that she hadn’t seen me shake my head. “I don’t have a clue. I think we’re in someone’s basement.” Other children our age may have been quivering, soaked in their own urine or crying, but not us. Alice was finished with her sobbing, and I had no plans to start. We were calm children, reasonable children, practical children. Our lives, though well fulfilled, had never centered on material things or the ditzy pleasures that most other children enjoyed. The two of us were intelligent and reflective. The wire that tethered my joints felt as though it were embedding itself into my skin and I couldn’t take it anymore. “Are you tied up?”
“No… Are you?!” Her voice echoed from wall to wall, ringing until the very last vibration had disintegrated.
“Shhh, someone’ll hear us.” And the last thing I wanted was for our kidnappers to know we were awake before I’d had the chance to find some way to escape: a window or something. “Come untie me.” I doubted she could see. "I'm not too far from you. You're back's to me, actually. Turn around and shuffle straight ahead. You'll bump into me.”
“Ok.” I heard her begin to shuffle through the darkness, feeling her way towards me. It took only a few moments after that for her to actually make contact with me, and as if it were a reflex, my hands jutted out first.
“Here, untwist this wire.” I assumed it was twisted. Surely they hadn’t welded it together. I felt her thick fingers work with the stubborn cable until a sudden relief let blood flow back into my hands. Straight away I rubbed the feeling and warmth back into them then unbound my ankles. “I wonder why we’re here…” I muttered. Alice merely shook her head then settled in beside me.
Her smooth hands ran over mine, smearing the drying blood over the rest of my fingers and knuckles. “Danny, where else are you bleeding?” I remember shaking my head and Alice staying quiet after that. I can’t recall now if we fell asleep or not, but quite some time passed after that then a door cracked open, revealing a long, sagging staircase.
Voices echoed from a world unseen, male and female, two or three at least. They discussed us. “Yes, two of them. Litter mates I’m sure,” One of them said.
The female voice added, “Yeah, but the girl’s fat. I don’t think anyone would really want her, if the truth be told.”
Another laughed. “Don’t worry. She’ll easily be slimed down, if not by us then by someone else. They don’t always buy for work you know.” I pulled Alice closer to me, wrapping both my arms around her protectively.
“How old are they?” One said.
“Oh, judging from their scent I’d say the boy’s a teenager, around fifteen or sixteen.” Fourteen, actually. “The girl’s about nine or ten.” Ten; how was it they guessed closer to her?
“She’s never been bred… She’s not even been in heat yet.” A male interjected; That made me angry.
The female laughed. “Well, that usually means the same thing among humans as it does with us. She’ll go for a higher price.” The group laughed together and their footsteps grew louder. “The male looks like he would be a good worker. He seems stout, strong. I noticed his hands are rough.” I could just image her nodding along with the rest of her group. “Anyway, I left them down here, if the two of you would like to see?” I could imagine that the both of them nodded.
Suddenly a light flipped on, illuminating the entire crypt. Blinking, I was sickened by what I saw. The walls were lined in cages and dog crates. Inside of every one of them were children, except for two.
I heard a mumble. “No, I didn’t assign them kennels yet.”
~~~~~~~
^-^
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Last edited by HiddenHeartsCry on Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:44 pm; edited 5 times in total
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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Creepy.  And well written.
Welcome back HHC! Good to see a new one from you.
I'm not sure whether you're looking for DP suggestions for this chapter, I couldn't see anything obvious...?
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HiddenHeartsCry
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| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Teehee, I thanks you -bows-
 Haha, I've figured something out. Before I posted it I spent a good twenty or so minutes deciding whether to put it under StoryGames or Linear. But boredom often breeds imagination, so I've thought of something. I'll have it up in just a short while ^-^'
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Smee
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| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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Am I still not seeing a decision point?
But otherwise I agree with Crunchy, good writing and a little creepy. Keep it going.
Happy Writing 
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HiddenHeartsCry
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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Yhey, teh poll's up
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"Write in the dark and watch your words take on a whole new light." HiddenHeartsCry
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:00 am Post subject: |
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Bit of a no-brainer for this one I think.... 
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Muaddib
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| Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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Very interesting prologue and first chapter.
| Quote: | | No wild wolf was this assimilated to humans |
Just wondering if this is right? Would it be "assimilated with?"
Also I voted the second option. Just to be contradictory .
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Vishal Muralidharan
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| Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:12 am Post subject: |
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I missed the poll????
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| May be a little early... but, which do you think? Should: |
| The kids get a chance to explore the place a bit? |
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75% |
[ 3 ] |
| The group keeping coming down the stairs and cage them? |
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25% |
[ 1 ] |
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| Total Votes : 4 |
| Who Voted: Crunchyfrog, HiddenHeartsCry, Muaddib, Smee |
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