Tuesday Fan Entry

Bio:
Dani is a casual writer and one of Feather and Ink's friends. She has been our fan from the beginning, even before we created Feather and Ink. Here is her story based off the Movie Quote challenge.

Movie Quote: "I choose to be alone. I choose to jump face first; to not just kick back and enjoy the ride. I choose neither my future nor my past, but my present, my now"  -Dakota Skye

"I don't like this, Georgia. Why are we here again?" the little voice asked. A more mature, and irritated, voice responded with

"Well Lizzie-Beth we are here because some wack job thinks that Georgia needs to talk about our situation."

"Scarlet! Be nice to the doctor is sitting right here." Georgia softly chastised. The doctor wrote in a notebook and waited for an opportunity  He explained he wanted to speak to each of them privately starting with Lizzie-Beth then Scarlet ending with Georgia. They complied, with minimal complaint from Scarlet. Lizzie-Beth talked about her dolls and tea parties. Her voice softened into a frightened whisper as she clutched a pillow while she talked about the Monster Bear. Her and Georgia,or Georgy as she called her, had been together so long she was afraid to be apart. Scarlet breezed in confident and still slightly irritated. She was brash at times but it was only in her persistence to toughen Georgia up a bit. Other than that the doctor was surprised at the adventurous self assured woman who sat in front of him. She had her issues as well, which he brought up and she brushed aside saying she had gotten past that part of her life. Finally Georgia entered and sat nervously on the couch tapping her foot and biting her fingernails. She was lost in the world, stuck wondering who she truly was and what she wanted to do. Finally the doctor asked the question she had been dreading.

"Georgia, do you want Lizzie-Beth and Scarlet to go?" his eyebrows raised slightly at the expression on her face. "I see your hesitation. What are you afraid of if they leave?" Georgia sighed and shrugged. "Well they won't leave quickly. It won't be like tomorrow or maybe not even this year but if we keep talking we might be able to find the Georgia that i believe is inside. All you have to do is make that first step." Georgia studied his face, kind trustworthy eyes and a genuine smile. He really did want to help. Eventually Georgia smiled and nodded.

Two years later Georgia woke up and they were gone. She was the only person in her head and body and it was peaceful.

Monday Fan Entry

Bio: 
Bonnie is Feather's aunt. She has written mostly poetry over the years. She was our first fan friday submission. Here is her story that she wrote based on the Tattoo Challenge.

The Tattoo

I woke up in a heavy sweat.  It was just a dream.  I was in combat in another country and I did not recognize anyone that surrounded me.  They all had guns pointed at me and they were yelling that I was a spy and I should die.  How did I get this in my head?  I have never been in combat nor have I ever been to this country. 

It all started because I decided to get a tattoo of a sailor on my shoulder, for my brother.  He is serving in Afghanistan and I wanted to have him closer to me.   Could it be that the tattoo was a channel to his soul?  Was I feeling what he was feeling?  Is he okay?  It felt so real.  I can still feel the sweat dripping from my forehead as I recall the dream. 

I have never thought much about telepathy, but here I am feeling afraid and seeing a country that I have never seen before.  It must be the thoughts of my brother.   Is there someone that I could alert that my brother is in trouble?  

I pick up the telephone and call the number that he had left in case I needed him.  A man answers “He’s on a mission and can’t be reached”.  I explained the dream that I had to this man.  He laughed. “That is an everyday experience over here.  You should not worry”.  I explained that I was feeling pain and it was getting worse. 

It was two days before I received the call.  My brother had been caught in an ambush and was severely wounded.  He would be coming home to a hospital here soon. 

The tattoo has brought me closer to my brother than I had expected.  His thoughts were my thoughts.  His pain was my pain.  There is no doubt in my mind that there are forces beyond our understanding.

Fan Week!

Hello everyone!

This week is dedicated to our fans! From Monday-Thursday, we will choose a fan who has submitted a piece to us, let you get to know them, and share one of their works with you!

On Friday, we will post a video and share upcoming challenges, what has been going on with us, and what you can expect to see from us in the future! Maybe . . . If you would like us to answer any of your questions, please e-mail us at inkedfeathersfink@gmail.com!

See you all soon!

This Is What Happens When You Know People

            I woke up, hands tied behind my back and sitting on a chair. I could hear the click-clack of heels on the floor left my head down and my eyes closed as I listened on where I was and who my captors were. I, after all, had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was watching Lost Girl before a bright light flashed out from the screen and reached out like the light one would expect an angel to use when basking their chosen in their divine light.

            “How did someone manage to get into the Dál? Let alone a human?”

            “Hey!”

            “Sorry, Kenz.”

            “Yeah, you better be sorry Wolfman.”

            My head swung up and my eyes searched the room the speakers. They landed on the actors, who seemed to be playing their parts, for the show Lost Girl. There were no cameras in the room, the rope felt tight enough for this to not be a joke, and when Kris Holden-Ried looked at me, his eyes going into a yellow glow, I realized I must have been in a dream with a Lost Girl theme.

            “Yep … Way too many episodes of Lost Girl,” I mumbled to myself and I started to play with the knots keeping my hands together.

            “Who are you and how did you get in here,” Dyson asked, full imitation mode on as he leaned over my chair and put his wolf eyes inches from mine.

            “Yeah … I don’t really know that myself, bub. We should find out though, I have class tomorrow and it would suck to be stuck in a televi . . . Uhhh . . . Huhhuh . . . Uhhh . . . Yeah . . .” My eyes searched the room to find Trick and they settled on him. “Hey! Trick! Could you do me a small favor and see if there is something in your books about Fae sucking people into televisions or something? Cause . . . I need to get back.”

            Dyson backed off and looked at Trick. Trick looked at me with wide eyes and then at every other person in the room. Every person in the room looked from me to him. All we were missing were some guns so it could be a stand off.

            “How do you know who I am,” Trick asked, peering at me over his chin with his head held high enough for it to be an obstacle.

            “ . . . Television . . .”

            “Televison?”

            “Yes. Television.”

            And that’s what brought me here. To this sanitarium. There are other people here who know about the fae, a lot of them are actually nuts. I’m a bit bummed because I miss my friends and stuff . . . But the pudding here is pretty freaking awesome. And sometimes Bo visits me with Kenzi. They said they would try to help me out, but knowing what episode it was that I hopped into, I’m gonna be here a long while.

Paradoxes and Blue Boxes

It’s Saturday and as any Whovian knows, that means its Doctor Who day. I put on one of my many Doctor Who shirts. This one happens to have a Dalek on it. I grab my red fez and plop it on my head with an “Allons-y” and head to the living room. Suddenly I start speaking in a British accent and my family sighs. They’re pretty much used to this routine by now.
“Hey Mate; I need to watch the telly. Doctor Who is gonna be on.” I tell my brother. He grunts handing me the remote.  I change the channel to BBC AMERICA and patiently await the premiere of the new episode. From the table beside me I excitedly grab my sonic screwdriver. It buzzes with the familiar sound as I dance to the intro song of Doctor Who.
That’s when I think it. I wish I could just warp into Doctor Who or that the Doctor could come to our world. At the exact moment I think this, a shooting star flies by outside.
Suddenly I’m somewhere I thought I’d never be. The Tardis.
“What the hell?” I ask. The Doctor turns to me with a confused expression.
“How did you get in here?” He asks curiously. Clara stares at me with the same confused expression as the Doctor.
“Ooo a Fez!” Says the Doctor. “I happen to have one of them myself.” He proudly puts his hands on his hips, momentarily distracted by my fez.
“Doctor!” Says Clara.
“Right.” He takes out his real Sonic Screwdriver and buzzes it at me. He looks at the results and I begin to freak out.

“Whoa whoa whoa..okay wait a second. Is this the Tardis?! Am I seriously in the Tardis?” I ask. The Doctor looks at me.
“Hm interesting. It doesn’t know where you’re from and neither do I.”
“I’m human Doctor and I’m from another Universe!” I say. Clara turns to the Doctor as if he has the answers. “But..Doctor..is that possible?” Clara asks.
“Not exactly.” Says the Doctor looking worried. He glances at my shirt. “What are you really?” He asks, squinting his eyes. I look down at my shirt with the Dalek.
“Oh no! It’s not what you think. Shit. Wait..oh I’m sorry you can’t cuss on Who. Um Bloody Hell?” I say. They look at me like I’m crazy, which I am since this must be a dream.
“Listen Doctor, I’m from another Universe and in this Universe..um…you’re a Television Show.” I say.
Clara and the Doctor look at each other and back at me. “That certainly explains her attire.” Says Clara looking at me from head to toe.
“But..But how is that possible?” The Doctor asks. He then walks over to the console of the Tardis and begins pressing buttons. Clara walks over to me and holds out her hand. “I’m Clara by the way.” I shake her hand. “I know..uh Clara Oswald right?” I say. She looks a bit scared. “Yeah..I pretty much know almost everything about The Doctor and just a bit about you.” I say. The Doctor whips around and stares at me. “Everything eh?” He asks.
What I say next feels like Moffat himself wrote it.
“I know about Rose Tyler.” I say, then immediately regret it. “I’m sorry..I don’t know why I said that I-“ The Doctor has a pained look on his face.
“Doctor, Listen as much as I would love to stay here because holyfreakingcrapi’mreallyinthetardisandomg I just don’t belong here.” I can’t believe I just said that. Of course I wanna stay here. Wait..is this part of the plot? “Well wherever you’re  from I don’t know how to get you back. If we try to fly the Tardis to your universe it could punch a hole in time and space.” He says.
“Yeah yeah, paradoxes and ripping of time and all that. Right. Trust me Doctor I’ve already seen that episode.” He seems deeply troubled by what I’m saying.
“Well, unfortunately we don’t have a script around here because this is apparently real so..hm.”
“Maybe you can take me to my home here and then maybe I can slip back through the t.v. there.” I say. The Doctor’s eyes go wide and a smile lights up his face. “YES! BRILLIANT IDEA!” He says turning back to the Tardis Console. He pulls levers and presses buttons.
“Where do you live?” He asks. “Reno, Nv.” I say. He pulls one more lever and suddenly the Tardis lurches and shakes and I have to hold onto the railing. The familiar sound of the Tardis fills my ears and it makes me want to cry with excitement.
We land with a thump and The Doctor leads us outside the Tardis. We’re parked directly in my backyard.
“Wait..I didn’t tell you my address.” I say. The Doctor smiles. “That wasn’t me that was the Tardis.” He says smiling.
It looks exactly like my backyard, nothing out of place. “Wait..what if I run into my parallel self?” I say.
“Oh..that could be a problem.” He says. I walk slowly towards the back door. The Doctor and Clara follow me. My house looks exactly the same. So far I don’t see anyone inside, but when I get to the living room the tv is on. Orphan Black is on and I realize something. I didn’t really leave..the Doctor really did come to me. I turn around and The Doctor and Clara are gone.
I’m so confused.
I shake my fist at the sky. “MOOFFAATTT!!” 

Challenge #23

Hello all!

The challenge for this week is to pick a day, a day when you watch tv, and write about what would happen if you were sucked into the television for that day!

If you would like to submit something awesome that has to do with this theme and is of your own creation, please send it to us for Fan Friday at inkedfeathersfink@gmail.com!

See you Wednesday!

Eyes of the Soul

            Kyros walked along the garden path, the pebbles crunching against his sandals as he strolled about. The spring air was crisp and clean. The moon glowed like a thousand fireflies in the sky, lighting the way to his beloved.

            He had met Madora three months ago in this very Eden. She had been sitting by a fountain, her fingers skimming the water while her back rested against the back of a statue that seemed to have a shocked expression on its masculine face. It seemed, to Kyros, that Madora’s hair was alive, as if she were under water and the tendrils were floating about her. On that night, when he approached and called her a fair maiden, she had made a small gasp that sounded like the last breath leaving a small mouse before she fled.

            He had tried to catch her, but she must have been a wood nymph, for she seemed to melt into the trees before him. The next month, her hair wasn’t alive and her eyes were covered with silk. She didn’t run this time, but prayed he would not try to see her eyes. They met every night after, learning more about the other and falling more and more in love.

            This, their third month, was special for Kyros. He had decided to marry Madora and have her meet his family. He had decided this when his parents had told him he was to marry and take over the family floral business that was expanding into Athens in the coming months. This would mean that he would have to leave, and Kyros did not wish to leave Madora behind. And as he waited for her at the fountain where they had first met he dreamed of their future together.

            “Kyros,” Madora whispered against the wind. He smiled and turned towards her, believing that the goddess Aphrodite had made her just for him.

            “My love, Madora,” he crooned as he enveloped her into his arms and felt her hair play softly against his skin like running water. “My love, I have something important to speak to you about.”

            “What is it, sweet Kyros?”

            “I must leave in a few weeks, to Athens. I was hoping you would—“

            “No! I cannot,” Silence fell between them. Madora sat with her head bent towards the ground while Kyros stared at her, a smile frozen on his face that could not yet fall because he had not expected this answer. When there were finally words, Kyros’ hands and lips trembled.

            “C-Cannot,” He asked, trying to look at her face to see if he could define any emotion.

            “There are things you do not know of me. Things I have asked you never to ask of me to tell. These things separate us.”

            “Why must they separate us? I do not wish to part from you! Life would have no meaning otherwise!”

            Madora’s lip curled into a wisp of a smirk as she tilted her head towards him like a cat trying to hear its prey. She nodded, knowingly. She knew what was to come because it had happened a thousand times before, to many other men, but not the man she wished it to happen to. Not to him, the beast that tainted her soul and made her into this.

            “You would not leave me if you knew? You would love me always?”

            “Always and forever, my love! What is it that separates us so? It might bind us for eternity and fasten us to one another’s side! What is it, darling?”

            “It is this,” She cooed as she slipped off the silk from her eyes. Vermillion green flashed in her eyes. Her ink colored hair moved against the wind, alive and hissing. Her pale skin aged eons and her teeth sharpened as Kyros howled in fear and shock. “Yes, you will spend forever with me, my love.”

Of The Ashes

                When Chester Greenwhich woke up that morning, he could have sworn he tasted soot in his mouth. He coughed and gagged into his hands, but saw nothing. The dream was so vivid and scary. His hands tremble as he tries to remember the pieces. But all he remembers is the bright orange and red fire. It was like he could feel it inside of himself. Like his heart was burning from the inside out. Chester sits up and tries to shake it off. It was only a dream, he tells himself. He walks over to the mirror and stares at himself. For a minute he could swear he saw flames in his own eyes.

                Today is the day Chester is going to get a job. He dresses in his best pin striped suit and dark red tie and heads out the door. Northington is a small town with small people. Chester always finds himself looking down at people rather than looking them in the eye. There aren’t many places to get a job at. There’s the Inn, The Bakery, The Market, The Automobile Shop, The Hat Shop, The Dress Shop, and The Suit Shop. He had tried every one of them and still no luck. Nobody seemed to want to hire him. But he would not give up. Chester walked past Northington’s borders. He knew there might be another town close by. He walked with his head held high. But that dream kept seeping into his mind. He could almost feel the flames inside his chest. He loosened his tie a bit, and kept on walking.
The streets seemed dead and empty, no cars nor any people seemed to take this road. Chester was about to give up and try another road when he heard music. It was a cheery tune that seemed to carry through the breeze. Chester turned his head, looking for the source of the music. In the distance he spotted a bright white and red tent.
                The music became louder as he got closer. He noticed that the tent had small red flags connected to it and he finally knew why it looked so familiar. It was the Circus. He smiled wide with excitement. Sure, he’d never worked at Circus before, but maybe they could teach him a thing or two.
Nobody was outside of the tent when Chester got there. He walked up to the tent and peeked inside. A figure sat in the middle of the ring, his back turned towards Chester.
“Um..Excuse me.” He said softly. The figure didn’t move. “Uh exuse me..I’m here about a job.” He said a bit louder this time. The figure still didn’t move. Chester walked inside the tent and the music stopped abruptly. “…excuse me..I’m here about a job.” His voice quivered as he spoke. The figure stood up, and Chester could see that he had on a top hat. The man was tall, almost taller than Chester himself. He walked toward Chester.
                “You want job huh?” The man asked. The top hat cast a shadow over his eyes. His mustache was dark and black.
“Yes Sir.” Chester said. “My names Chester Greenwhich. I’m from the town of Northington..it’s about a mile away.”
“Well, what are you good at then?” Asked the man. Chester took a deep breath and thought for a moment. What was he good at? He could lift things, he could build things. He didn’t know too much about animals..and he was a bit frightened of heights. He thought for a long moment.
“Well sir..I..well I’m good at lifting things.” He said.
“Already got someone for that.” The man said. Chester sighed.
“Well I can..build things.” He said. The man chuckled.
“Already got someone for that.” Said the man again. Chester pursed his lips together and thought.

He could feel the flames again, crawling up his spine this time.
“You seem like your good at being Quiet.” Said the man.  Instead of saying anything, Chester only swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Hm. That’s what I thought. Well Mr. Greenwhich I might have the job for you.”
“Really?” Chester smiled. The man grabbed him by the neck of his shirt.
He pulled out a knife and put it up to Chester’s lips. Chester screamed and tried to fight as the man began cutting out his tongue.
“I think we need a new Mime!” Said the man looking into Chester’s eyes. He could see the bright orange and red flames in the man’s eyes. The same flames he saw that very morning in his own eyes. Chester tried screaming again, he could feel the flames taking over his body, but he was silent. As silent as a Mime.

Challenge #22

Hello everyone!!

The challenge for this week is to take a story the other has written, and rewrite it! Meaning, Ink will rewrite Feather and Feather will rewrite Ink!

If you would like to join us, just pick one of our stories and rewrite it! Or, take a picture in a different way, rewrite a famous poem, short story, or redraw someone else's work. With permission of course! Just be sure to send your submission to us at inkedfeathersfink@gmail.com!

See you all on Wednesday!

Taken down for editing

Challenge: Write a story based off of a nightmare.

Ink's story has been taken down for editing.

The Emptiness

The singing never seemed to stop. It was the whaling and moaning of screaming vocal chords. The more I tried to cover my ears, the singing only became louder. I tried to yell, but my voice was lost in the senseless noise all around me.
All at once the singing stopped, my ears ringing and then suddenly I could feel cold lips touch my ear.
“She is mine.” The voice whispered. In that moment I felt a panic greater than anything before. My heart almost stopped beating and the air was stolen from my lungs. I turn to find the voice, to find the body that it belongs to and rip its heart out. But all I reach for is a dark and lonely emptiness. I keep reaching, desperately throwing my hands out in front of me. My rage turns into fear and I keep trying to grab the emptiness. The voice is gone, replaced with silence. It’s all I can feel: the silence, the dark, the emptiness. It begins to engulf me until I’m just a hollow porcelain being, no longer who I once was, and then I’m falling. Faster and faster I’m falling and I close my eyes and brace for impact. But it never comes, only an eternity of falling into the emptiness.

                I wake up on hardwood floors. Slowly I sit up and take in my surroundings. It’s dark, just like my dream. For a minute I begin to panic and I can feel an attack coming, creeping into my mind and slowly I start to sway. But then I hear the stairs creek and I know I’m in the living room.
“Neil?” My little sister calls out. I sigh in relief. “Neil is that you?” She asks coming down the stairs. I stand up slowly. My shirt is drenched with sweat and my legs wobble as I walk. “Yeah, it’s me Sophie.”
I say and head towards her. The light from the streetlight seeps in through the curtains and I see tears on her face. “Mom said you were better…” Her voice quivers and my heart breaks.  I take a deep breath before kissing her on the forehead. “I’m fine Soph..I was just getting a glass of water.” I lie. She stares up at me, deciding if I’m lying or not. I smile down at her in reassurance. 
“If you were getting water..then where’s your glass?” She’s caught me. I swallow nervously, waiting for the next lie to fall from my lips. But before I can say anything she runs back up the stairs.
“Sophie, wait!” I try to call after her, but she’s already to the top. I want to scream until there’s nothing left of me.

                The next morning at breakfast Sophie won’t look me in the eye. It only makes it worse and I find myself biting my lip until it bleeds, peeling my nails until only stubs are left. Mom knows something is off.
“Neil is everything okay?” She asks. Ever since the incident, I’ve heard that question more than a dozen times. “Yeah I’m fine, just got a big exam this morning.” I lie and that’s when Sophie looks up at me. Her eyes stare into mine, cutting me into a thousand pieces. I know I deserve it.
                I’m pretty bad when I get to school. The dream flashes into my everyday consciousness, making me look twice over my shoulder. I meet Dave by the lockers and when he sees me he knows.
“Whoa Neil..you look like shit. What’s up man? What happened?” He asks. I tell him about the sleepwalking and the dream.
“The dream is back? Oh dude..I don’t know man maybe you should tell some-“ He grabs my arm and I realize it’s bleeding. I don’t even remember feeling my nails drag into my skin. “Neil.” He says. But I refuse to look him in the eye. If I look him in the eye I’m afraid he’ll see the emptiness slowly taking me over.
“I think you need help man, maybe you could talk to your Doctor..” He says. But I can’t hold it in anymore, I’m breaking inside.
“NO!” I yell taking back my arm. The blood trickles down onto the linoleum floor. Everyone in the hall stares at me as if they were expecting it. “You don’t get it DAVE! NO ONE DOES! IT ISN’T JUST SOME FUCKING DREAM OKAY? IT’S GOING TO HAPPEN! IT ALREADY ALMOST DID!” The memory of last year floods into my mind until I’m drowning in it.

~

                I’d been having the dream for weeks.  I didn’t tell anyone, just moved along like everyone else. But that night I was bad, I was on the floor practically tearing my hair out and the singing began. It was loud and screeching and it came closer and closer. I could feel the emptiness starting in my gut. It was taking me over and I couldn’t stop it. Something moved my legs and arms until I was at Sophie’s door. The voice screamed into my ears until I hovered above Sophie’s bed, the knife just inches away from her pale cheek. I try to move my arm, but the emptiness won’t let me. “Neil? NEIL?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” My mother screams and I can finally move my arm. I fall to my knees, the knife drops from my palm and I cry. “Help me!” I scream. My mother couldn’t see it in the darkness, but in the reflection from the knife I could see my eyes. They were pure black and empty.

~

                I run away from Dave and the scared curious eyes of the students. I run and run barely knowing where I’m going. The singing begins again, the high pitched wailing that makes me want to stab my ears. I run into the empty boys’ locker room. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I try to scream over the singing. But I can feel the emptiness just like I did last time. It’s stronger this time, and faster. I curl my hands into fists and punch the lockers over and over again until my knuckles are bright red with blood. “YOU CAN’T HAVE HER! YOU CAN’T HAVE ME!” I scream. I run over to the mirror in the bathroom. One of my eyes is already black and empty and I can feel the rest of me turning. “NO!!” I scream, punching the mirror. I can’t let the Emptiness take me. Then I feel the cold lips, just like in my dream. “She will be mine.” It whispers. I reach for a piece of the broken mirror. My arm twitches, rebelling against me. I finally grab the piece trying to lift it towards my throat. It cuts into my hand. I see the black taking over my eye slowly and I know I have to do this. I have to save Sophie from myself, and the emptiness inside. I take a deep breathe. “For you Sophie.” I say and quickly slice into my neck.

               

                The singing turns into deep and guttural laughing. I wake up.
I’m sitting in a white room, bound in a strait jacket, and I panic. I begin to shake back and forth screaming until my throat is raw. “What’s wrong Neil?” The voice asks. “Did you have a nightmare?” I look over at the voice. Sophie smiles back at me, her eyes black and empty.

Challenge #21

Hey everyone!

Last week was our 20th challenge! Exciting, right?

Anywho~ The challenge for this week is to write a story based off of a nightmare! If you would like to join us by submitting something of your own, please send it to inkedfeathersfink@gmail.com!

If you have been sending us submissions, and have not seen them up we are very sorry. Try sending them also to redlipdrops@yahoo.com, ask us if we have received them on our facebook page, or spam us with your works!

We have been notified that some submissions have not been making it though the treacherous web, so sending it to us in as many ways possible is a good assurance of your work getting seen by us to be posted.

Sorry for any inconveniences, see you all Wednesday!

It's The End of the World as We Know It

            “Bella? Hey! Can you hear me?” The clash of thunder overhead made my words sound like a cricket’s chirp in a tornado. I called out to Bella through the empty house, running around each room to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. We were running away, we didn’t know where, but we had to. They were coming, and we couldn’t fight them. We didn’t have the technology to fight them, the force, or the knowhow.

            They were some sort of mutation from the vaccine they were trying to make for HIV and AIDS. The test subjects seemed fine for the first few weeks after the start of the trial, but then they started to change. The virus they were trying to fight mutated with the drug and became something else. The white blood cells not knowing what to attack started to attack everything, and the red blood cells started to copy the mutations only. It only took three in a half weeks for blood transfers to come into the equation.

            “Bella, kiddo, time to go! C’mon,” I called up the stairs as I pat my hands over my pockets to make sure I had my keys. I didn’t need them for the house, the house wasn’t important; I needed them for the car. Once I was reassured by the hard form in my coat pocket, I looked up the stairs and called her name again. My pulse started to hammer into my ribcage, threatening to break free of its cell and run out on its own.

            The thunder clashed again, for the fourth time in the past five minutes, making me jump a few feet and start upstairs. It was like a push in the direction I didn’t want to go. Every piece of tissue in my body was screaming and clawing at me, trying to get me to get in the car and get away. But I couldn’t. Everything I did was for her.

           

            Bella’s mother, Tess, died four years ago from AIDS. Bella got the disease from birth, and I didn’t care about it because I loved them both. Besides, I was a scientist in the medical field. I was so sure that I would be among the first to find a cure, or something. Anything to fight it off and protect them. But I didn’t protect Tess. And now I failed at protecting Bella.

            As soon as I found out that we were cleared for human trials I jumped at the chance to get Bella onto the test group that got the drug. My friend Beth was in charge of the test groups and she knew how much this meant to me. She tried to talk me out of it, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer. God, how I wish I had taken that answer.

            Creeping up the stairs I walked along the hall to Bella’s room. Her door was slightly open and I could hear the curtain rippling in the wind. She wouldn’t have left, she wouldn’t have. She loved me as much as I loved her, she wouldn’t have left without me. Not my little girl.

            Slowly opening the door before entering, I saw that the window had been broken from the outside. So I rushed in and cried out Bella’s name. I didn’t see her, but I saw a smear of blood running along the floor, up the wall, and following it, I looked to the ceiling. Patient 32-D was grappling my baby in his arms with his head bent into her neck. I screamed and fell back against the glass on the floor, cutting my hands. He looked up at me from his sitting position on the ceiling and smiled. My daughter’s blood smeared against his lips as he laughed. I could hear the living room door being smashed open and a sort of growling coming from downstairs as he dropped Bella to the floor. I heard her skull crack and my stomach twisted.

            As I kept backing away, I prayed that God forgive me for what I had done. Prayed that Bella was still alive, and prayed for salvation that never came.

            We live in the dark now. Only those who had the AIDS or HIV virus in their human life are able to walk into the sun. Lucky them. Bella can be outside, she often leaves and brings me things from there. I’m cooped up in my lab though, making more blood for the rising population. Millions of humans died and were reborn into what we are now. Any humans left alive are in a breeding and donor program, which I doubt will last long.

            Humans have always wanted to be the ones in control, and look at what happened. We tried to control a disease only to spread a new one. I’m sure, one day, that the humans will fight back and they will be able to kill us all off. I just hope that day comes before we all starve to death and wipe them out.

One by One

The lights go off one by one. She grips the bat tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her forehead is dotted with sweat and her heart beats fast. They’re coming for her.

The door bursts open, and one by one they step into the room. The light from their bodies illuminates the room. They can smell her.

The bat crashes against they’re skulls; their dark purple blood splatters on to her face. One by one she takes them down.  She thinks they’re all dead.

He comes into the doorway, his black eyes staring down at the bodies. One by one he checks their pulses. He is scared. She turns around and sees him, her blood splattered bat held high and ready to strike.

He cannot tell her he’s scared. He cannot tell her that he won’t hurt her. He cannot tell her to stop.

The bat flies down onto his head, crushing in his face and skull. She burns the bodies one by one.
They are the enemies, they are the aliens, they killed half of human kind.

One lie by one she repeats to herself. She needs a reason to believe that its survival, it’s self-defense, it’s not
Murder. 

Challenge #20

The challenge this week is to write a story around an apocalypse!

If you would like to join us for Fan Friday, please do! Send in your own stories, art, poems, whatever you like! Send your submissions to inkedfeathersfink@gmail.com!

See you Wednesday!