Post by fenris on Jun 30, 2009 8:24:13 GMT
To anyone who's following my multi-part fanfic The Virtual Third Season, I haven't abandoned it. At the time of writing, Episode #15 is about 90% finished. However, there's a couple of key scenes that I just cannot get to work, no matter how much I alter, tweak or completely rewrite them. So I've decided to take a break, in the hope that when I come back and look at the Episode again with a fresh pair of eyes, I'll be able to see how to put it right.
In the meantime, in order to keep the creative juices flowing, I've written the opening chapter of a short story that I've had rattling around in my skull for a couple of months. Hope you like it. Further chapters to follow. Any feedback is gratefully received, as always.
Unstoppable Force, meet Unmovable Object.
We’re going to die.
The sudden realisation felt almost physical to Ruby – like a cold, clammy hand had seized her stomach and was flexing it’s fingers, kneading her insides like dough.
It was supposed to have been a simple gig. Galvin had heard rumours that the Noisy Boys were up to something, and he, Luke, Mina and Ruby had barrelled into the pool/snooker hall location that a half-life snitch had given the American, only to discover that the ‘something’ was the Noisy Boys acting as security at a mass gathering of vampires. Which was how the four of them had ended up trying to fight off between thirty-to-forty nosferatu. Hopelessly outnumbered and lacking the right weaponry, they were losing.
Careless, over-confident, stupid bloody Yank, thought Ruby, glancing sideways at Galvin as the American repeatedly and uselessly fired his pulse gun at the surrounding bloodsuckers, his face frozen in a pained, frustrated grimace, his eyes darting nervously as the firearm’s blasts had no effect. If we weren’t dead already, I’d kill him myself, the teenager promised herself sourly.
Movement to her left made Ruby look over to where Luke – having been punched in the face several times and rendered semi-conscious – was being pushed to and thro by three of the vampires, who had clearly decided to amuse themselves with the last of the Van Helsings before killing him. Luke was stumbling between the trio of fanged attackers, his eyes unfocused, occasionally mumbling something unformed, only vaguely aware of what was happening. He almost fell a couple of times, only for one of the bloodsuckers to catch him and haul him upright before shoving him towards one of their fellow undead.
And several feet away was Mina, both her arms being held from behind by a large black vampire in mirror shades, while a blonde female nosferatu in a smooth white dress slit up the left thigh all the way to the waist stood in front of her, gently caressing the pianist’s face. Mina’s forehead was furrowed slightly in apprehension, but otherwise she appeared maddeningly calm, her sightless gaze giving nothing away. Having been talking to Mina in a language that sounded east-European, the blonde vampire suddenly grabbed the blind woman by the chin and twisted her head to one side. Bearing her fangs, the white-clad bloodsucker moved in towards Mina’s exposed neck.
It was seeing Mina in danger that spurred Ruby to action. Until then, the vampires had ignored her, clearly regarding her as being no threat, a snack they could indulge in after finishing her more troublesome friends. Her face a portrait of determination, the teenager ran and threw herself at the blonde, her shoulder striking the female nosferatu in the small of her back, causing the bloodsucker to pitch sideways and fall onto her knees, more out of surprise than due to the impact of Ruby’s charge. The blonde recovered instantly, spinning her head round to hiss menacingly at the girl through a mouth of pointed fangs, then moving at inhuman speed so that before Ruby realised what was happening, she found herself being held by the arms from behind, stood in front of Mina, their respective situations mirroring each other.
Smiling smugly, the blonde leaned her head forward and licked the side of Ruby’s neck, murmuring something as she did so.
“Mina?” Ruby wavered.
“She said she’s going to make you her undead slave,” the pianist translated matter-of-factly, “and torture you for over a century for daring to strike her.”
“She knows how to hold a grudge then.” The teenager joked nervously.
Ruby glanced over towards Luke and Galvin. Both were now laid spread-eagled on two of the pool tables, held down by the wrists and ankles by their captors. Ruby’s only potential rescuers were themselves in urgent need of rescue. The teenager again felt the blonde’s wet tongue on her neck. I thought we were all going to die, she thought. Only I won’t get to be that lucky.
“Listen to me.” Mina said, a note of urgency in her voice, and it took Ruby a moment to realise that the blind vampire was addressing the blonde, not her. “Don’t do this. You know who I am. You know what my blood can give you. Take me… take every last drop… and let her go.”
“Mina?” Ruby queried in puzzlement and growing alarm. “No. Don’t –“
“Quiet Ruby.” The pianist snapped firmly, in a tone that brooked no argument.
“But you can’t –“ The teenager began anyway.
“It’s my life to give.” Mina said, cutting her off. “And I’ve lived too long already. You’re only just starting. It’s a fair trade.”
The blind woman smiled as she spoke, again looking impossibly reasonable and calm. Ruby felt something trickle down her cheek and realised that it was a tear.
“I… I’ve never told you –“ She started, but Mina again interrupted;
“It’s alright Ruby. I know.” The pianist murmured, still smiling, and that only made the teenager feel worse.
The blonde nosferatu finally responded, speaking at length, an unmistakeable note of amusement in her voice. Ruby watched as Mina’s expression grew serious.
“Mina? Tell me.” She asked.
“She said they’re going to suck me dry anyway.” The blind vampire told her. “And the last thing I hear before they drain me will be the sound of you being turned. Being made a vampire. I’m sorry, Ruby.”
The teen felt the prick of sharp teeth pressing on her neck, and started to struggle and scream loudly, but the blonde held her firm. Mina went to shout, to make one last plea, but suddenly turned her face upwards, towards the skylight in the ceiling at the centre of the room. Even through her terror, Ruby noticed that the pianist’s alabaster skin had instantly and impossibly turned paler still.
“Oh no…” Mina whispered – then the skylight exploded and shattered glass rained down into the room.
And amongst the falling shards, something else. Someone. A figure in a long black leather coat that twirled and flapped as it’s wearer plunged down in the midst of the chaos, landing on both feet on the centre-most snooker table. Everyone in the pool hall – human and half-life – watched as the figure straightened from it’s crouched position, shards of glass still falling down around it, and stood coolly regarding it’s surroundings. Ruby gazed at the intruder in astonishment: it was a girl, who appeared to be Ruby’s age but was perhaps a few inches shorter. In addition to the coat, the newcomer was wearing black jeans, matching high-heeled boots, and an elaborately patterned but faded red top under a black corset. The stranger surveyed the vampires and their captives through eyes set under a fringe of vivid auburn hair, and when she spoke, it was with an English accent lacking any noticeable regional twang;
“Right,” She announced, “who’s first?”
And then everything kicked off. Moving at inhuman speed, little more than blurs, several bloodsuckers rushed the table from all four sides. But the girl was quicker still. She spun round and booted in the face the nosferatu who had been charging from behind her, then reached into her coat as she continued to spin and produced a sword that she used to slice the heads of two more vampires clean off at the neck. Another couple of the attacking undead tried to leap onto the table, but with the same continuous sweep of her blade the redhead cleaved both of them in two across the waist in midair, then she ducked as – still carried forward by their own momentum - the separated body parts sailed over the table and fell to the ground on the other side. Galvin had once told Ruby that only their own reactivated DNA or another vampire could kill the undead, but someone had clearly never told these nosferatu, as being cut into pieces seemed to be doing the job more than adequately. The black vampire restraining Mina released his hold on her and ran towards the sword-bearing girl, bellowing with rage. He half-leapt, half-dived headfirst towards her, whereupon she side-stepped and slammed an elbow into his back. The blow caused his chest and face to crash onto the green baize, and the redhead plunged her blade into his back, dissecting his heart and skewering him to the table. Leaving him impaled, she straightened as a trio of nosferatu rushed her from the front. Again, she was just too quick for them. Reaching into her coat with both hands, her arms crossed, she produced two halves of an interconnecting wooden staff and smoothly bought them together, horizontally in front of her in one swift, precise and familiar movement that she had clearly performed many times before. A bolt of blinding white energy instantly erupted from the staff and struck the bloodsucker in the middle of the attacking threesome, crackling tendrils leaping from him to strike the vampires either side. All three undead were tossed backwards through the air, blown head over heels, their clothes and hair bursting into flame.
This last event made the remaining nosferatu hesitate. The room was suddenly silent - apart from the three burning vampires howling in pain as they rolled about trying to put the flames out - and the redhead took advantage of this to speak;
“Enough.” She declared firmly, still holding the staff in front of her and slowly gazing around at the assorted half-life. “You all know who I am, if only by reputation. So, bearing that in mind… does anyone else want to try their luck?”
Ruby looked about nervously, but none of the vampires reacted to the challenge. Instead, they were all sullenly avoiding the redhead’s gaze, most of them staring at the floor. A few were even cowering or trembling slightly.
“Didn’t think so.” The girl announced, then she detached the two halves of the staff and stored them back inside her coat, before deftly pulling her sword out of both the incapacitated black vampire and the table beneath him.
Putting her boot to his face, she pushed him off the green baize and he slid limply to the floor. As she placed the blade within the inner folds of the coat, the blonde vampire holding Ruby thought she spotted a chance. Letting go of the teenager, the designer-clad bloodsucker rushed hissing towards the table on which the redhead still stood. The stranger didn’t even bat an eye – instead she simply kicked one of the red snooker balls at her feet so hard that it flew through the air, struck the nosferatu in the mouth - shattering her fangs - then ricocheted off somewhere. The blonde’s head was thrown back, a spray of blood and tooth fragments gushing out between her lips, and she collapsed unconscious onto the grubby carpet. A couple of the undead several feet directly behind the redhead took a step towards her.
“I wouldn’t.” She said simply, without turning round, and the two of them immediately froze.
The girl nimbly hopped off the table and nodded towards Ruby, Mina and the still-restrained Luke and Galvin;
“These people are with me.” She informed the room. ”And we’re leaving.”
The vampires holding down Luke and Galvin instantly relinquished their collective hold and moved several paces back. The American quickly clambered off his table and rushed over to Luke, helping the still-dazed young man sit upright, then move off the baize, and finally supporting him and taking some of his weight as he stood upright.
“Ruby?” Mina murmured, and the teenager moved next to the pianist so that the blind vampire could slip her hand around Ruby’s arm just above the elbow, enabling the younger woman to guide her.
After everything that had just happened, the sheer sense of reassurance and comfort that Mina’s touch gave her was stronger than anything Ruby could have previously imagined. The redhead walked up to them;
“Mina.” She addressed the pianist cordially.
“Ella.” Replied the vampire, an uncomfortable tone in her voice, but otherwise almost doing a good job of hiding how apprehensive she felt.
“Wait – you two know each other?” Blustered Ruby, looking from one of the women to the other.
“Later, Ruby.” Insisted Mina.
Two minutes later the five of them were in the street outside, the surviving vampires having glowered impotently at them as they exited the snooker hall. While keeping a firm hold on Luke, who still seemed only half-aware of what was happening, Galvin turned and stared down at the redhead through narrowed eyes;
“What are you going here?” He fumed, almost spitting out the words.
“Rupert knows her as well?” Ruby chirped in, and Mina squeezed her arm;
“Ruby, I told you, we’ll discuss it later.” The blind woman whispered urgently.
“What I’m doing,” the redhead replied sharply to the American’s question, “is saving your life despite the fact that your blundering has just ruined four months of round the clock surveillance and other hard work.”
She nodded towards Luke;
“I suggest you get him to a hospital. We’ll talk tomorrow night.”
Galvin went to say something, but the leather-clad woman didn’t give him the chance;
“No arguments.” She declared. “I’m going to spend the rest of tonight trying to salvage something from this mess. Tomorrow night. Nine o’clock. Stay out of my way ‘til then.”
The redhead turned and began to walk away, into the darkness.
“Where will we meet you?” Mina asked.
“My place.” The girl answered, without looking back.
In the meantime, in order to keep the creative juices flowing, I've written the opening chapter of a short story that I've had rattling around in my skull for a couple of months. Hope you like it. Further chapters to follow. Any feedback is gratefully received, as always.
Unstoppable Force, meet Unmovable Object.
We’re going to die.
The sudden realisation felt almost physical to Ruby – like a cold, clammy hand had seized her stomach and was flexing it’s fingers, kneading her insides like dough.
It was supposed to have been a simple gig. Galvin had heard rumours that the Noisy Boys were up to something, and he, Luke, Mina and Ruby had barrelled into the pool/snooker hall location that a half-life snitch had given the American, only to discover that the ‘something’ was the Noisy Boys acting as security at a mass gathering of vampires. Which was how the four of them had ended up trying to fight off between thirty-to-forty nosferatu. Hopelessly outnumbered and lacking the right weaponry, they were losing.
Careless, over-confident, stupid bloody Yank, thought Ruby, glancing sideways at Galvin as the American repeatedly and uselessly fired his pulse gun at the surrounding bloodsuckers, his face frozen in a pained, frustrated grimace, his eyes darting nervously as the firearm’s blasts had no effect. If we weren’t dead already, I’d kill him myself, the teenager promised herself sourly.
Movement to her left made Ruby look over to where Luke – having been punched in the face several times and rendered semi-conscious – was being pushed to and thro by three of the vampires, who had clearly decided to amuse themselves with the last of the Van Helsings before killing him. Luke was stumbling between the trio of fanged attackers, his eyes unfocused, occasionally mumbling something unformed, only vaguely aware of what was happening. He almost fell a couple of times, only for one of the bloodsuckers to catch him and haul him upright before shoving him towards one of their fellow undead.
And several feet away was Mina, both her arms being held from behind by a large black vampire in mirror shades, while a blonde female nosferatu in a smooth white dress slit up the left thigh all the way to the waist stood in front of her, gently caressing the pianist’s face. Mina’s forehead was furrowed slightly in apprehension, but otherwise she appeared maddeningly calm, her sightless gaze giving nothing away. Having been talking to Mina in a language that sounded east-European, the blonde vampire suddenly grabbed the blind woman by the chin and twisted her head to one side. Bearing her fangs, the white-clad bloodsucker moved in towards Mina’s exposed neck.
It was seeing Mina in danger that spurred Ruby to action. Until then, the vampires had ignored her, clearly regarding her as being no threat, a snack they could indulge in after finishing her more troublesome friends. Her face a portrait of determination, the teenager ran and threw herself at the blonde, her shoulder striking the female nosferatu in the small of her back, causing the bloodsucker to pitch sideways and fall onto her knees, more out of surprise than due to the impact of Ruby’s charge. The blonde recovered instantly, spinning her head round to hiss menacingly at the girl through a mouth of pointed fangs, then moving at inhuman speed so that before Ruby realised what was happening, she found herself being held by the arms from behind, stood in front of Mina, their respective situations mirroring each other.
Smiling smugly, the blonde leaned her head forward and licked the side of Ruby’s neck, murmuring something as she did so.
“Mina?” Ruby wavered.
“She said she’s going to make you her undead slave,” the pianist translated matter-of-factly, “and torture you for over a century for daring to strike her.”
“She knows how to hold a grudge then.” The teenager joked nervously.
Ruby glanced over towards Luke and Galvin. Both were now laid spread-eagled on two of the pool tables, held down by the wrists and ankles by their captors. Ruby’s only potential rescuers were themselves in urgent need of rescue. The teenager again felt the blonde’s wet tongue on her neck. I thought we were all going to die, she thought. Only I won’t get to be that lucky.
“Listen to me.” Mina said, a note of urgency in her voice, and it took Ruby a moment to realise that the blind vampire was addressing the blonde, not her. “Don’t do this. You know who I am. You know what my blood can give you. Take me… take every last drop… and let her go.”
“Mina?” Ruby queried in puzzlement and growing alarm. “No. Don’t –“
“Quiet Ruby.” The pianist snapped firmly, in a tone that brooked no argument.
“But you can’t –“ The teenager began anyway.
“It’s my life to give.” Mina said, cutting her off. “And I’ve lived too long already. You’re only just starting. It’s a fair trade.”
The blind woman smiled as she spoke, again looking impossibly reasonable and calm. Ruby felt something trickle down her cheek and realised that it was a tear.
“I… I’ve never told you –“ She started, but Mina again interrupted;
“It’s alright Ruby. I know.” The pianist murmured, still smiling, and that only made the teenager feel worse.
The blonde nosferatu finally responded, speaking at length, an unmistakeable note of amusement in her voice. Ruby watched as Mina’s expression grew serious.
“Mina? Tell me.” She asked.
“She said they’re going to suck me dry anyway.” The blind vampire told her. “And the last thing I hear before they drain me will be the sound of you being turned. Being made a vampire. I’m sorry, Ruby.”
The teen felt the prick of sharp teeth pressing on her neck, and started to struggle and scream loudly, but the blonde held her firm. Mina went to shout, to make one last plea, but suddenly turned her face upwards, towards the skylight in the ceiling at the centre of the room. Even through her terror, Ruby noticed that the pianist’s alabaster skin had instantly and impossibly turned paler still.
“Oh no…” Mina whispered – then the skylight exploded and shattered glass rained down into the room.
And amongst the falling shards, something else. Someone. A figure in a long black leather coat that twirled and flapped as it’s wearer plunged down in the midst of the chaos, landing on both feet on the centre-most snooker table. Everyone in the pool hall – human and half-life – watched as the figure straightened from it’s crouched position, shards of glass still falling down around it, and stood coolly regarding it’s surroundings. Ruby gazed at the intruder in astonishment: it was a girl, who appeared to be Ruby’s age but was perhaps a few inches shorter. In addition to the coat, the newcomer was wearing black jeans, matching high-heeled boots, and an elaborately patterned but faded red top under a black corset. The stranger surveyed the vampires and their captives through eyes set under a fringe of vivid auburn hair, and when she spoke, it was with an English accent lacking any noticeable regional twang;
“Right,” She announced, “who’s first?”
And then everything kicked off. Moving at inhuman speed, little more than blurs, several bloodsuckers rushed the table from all four sides. But the girl was quicker still. She spun round and booted in the face the nosferatu who had been charging from behind her, then reached into her coat as she continued to spin and produced a sword that she used to slice the heads of two more vampires clean off at the neck. Another couple of the attacking undead tried to leap onto the table, but with the same continuous sweep of her blade the redhead cleaved both of them in two across the waist in midair, then she ducked as – still carried forward by their own momentum - the separated body parts sailed over the table and fell to the ground on the other side. Galvin had once told Ruby that only their own reactivated DNA or another vampire could kill the undead, but someone had clearly never told these nosferatu, as being cut into pieces seemed to be doing the job more than adequately. The black vampire restraining Mina released his hold on her and ran towards the sword-bearing girl, bellowing with rage. He half-leapt, half-dived headfirst towards her, whereupon she side-stepped and slammed an elbow into his back. The blow caused his chest and face to crash onto the green baize, and the redhead plunged her blade into his back, dissecting his heart and skewering him to the table. Leaving him impaled, she straightened as a trio of nosferatu rushed her from the front. Again, she was just too quick for them. Reaching into her coat with both hands, her arms crossed, she produced two halves of an interconnecting wooden staff and smoothly bought them together, horizontally in front of her in one swift, precise and familiar movement that she had clearly performed many times before. A bolt of blinding white energy instantly erupted from the staff and struck the bloodsucker in the middle of the attacking threesome, crackling tendrils leaping from him to strike the vampires either side. All three undead were tossed backwards through the air, blown head over heels, their clothes and hair bursting into flame.
This last event made the remaining nosferatu hesitate. The room was suddenly silent - apart from the three burning vampires howling in pain as they rolled about trying to put the flames out - and the redhead took advantage of this to speak;
“Enough.” She declared firmly, still holding the staff in front of her and slowly gazing around at the assorted half-life. “You all know who I am, if only by reputation. So, bearing that in mind… does anyone else want to try their luck?”
Ruby looked about nervously, but none of the vampires reacted to the challenge. Instead, they were all sullenly avoiding the redhead’s gaze, most of them staring at the floor. A few were even cowering or trembling slightly.
“Didn’t think so.” The girl announced, then she detached the two halves of the staff and stored them back inside her coat, before deftly pulling her sword out of both the incapacitated black vampire and the table beneath him.
Putting her boot to his face, she pushed him off the green baize and he slid limply to the floor. As she placed the blade within the inner folds of the coat, the blonde vampire holding Ruby thought she spotted a chance. Letting go of the teenager, the designer-clad bloodsucker rushed hissing towards the table on which the redhead still stood. The stranger didn’t even bat an eye – instead she simply kicked one of the red snooker balls at her feet so hard that it flew through the air, struck the nosferatu in the mouth - shattering her fangs - then ricocheted off somewhere. The blonde’s head was thrown back, a spray of blood and tooth fragments gushing out between her lips, and she collapsed unconscious onto the grubby carpet. A couple of the undead several feet directly behind the redhead took a step towards her.
“I wouldn’t.” She said simply, without turning round, and the two of them immediately froze.
The girl nimbly hopped off the table and nodded towards Ruby, Mina and the still-restrained Luke and Galvin;
“These people are with me.” She informed the room. ”And we’re leaving.”
The vampires holding down Luke and Galvin instantly relinquished their collective hold and moved several paces back. The American quickly clambered off his table and rushed over to Luke, helping the still-dazed young man sit upright, then move off the baize, and finally supporting him and taking some of his weight as he stood upright.
“Ruby?” Mina murmured, and the teenager moved next to the pianist so that the blind vampire could slip her hand around Ruby’s arm just above the elbow, enabling the younger woman to guide her.
After everything that had just happened, the sheer sense of reassurance and comfort that Mina’s touch gave her was stronger than anything Ruby could have previously imagined. The redhead walked up to them;
“Mina.” She addressed the pianist cordially.
“Ella.” Replied the vampire, an uncomfortable tone in her voice, but otherwise almost doing a good job of hiding how apprehensive she felt.
“Wait – you two know each other?” Blustered Ruby, looking from one of the women to the other.
“Later, Ruby.” Insisted Mina.
Two minutes later the five of them were in the street outside, the surviving vampires having glowered impotently at them as they exited the snooker hall. While keeping a firm hold on Luke, who still seemed only half-aware of what was happening, Galvin turned and stared down at the redhead through narrowed eyes;
“What are you going here?” He fumed, almost spitting out the words.
“Rupert knows her as well?” Ruby chirped in, and Mina squeezed her arm;
“Ruby, I told you, we’ll discuss it later.” The blind woman whispered urgently.
“What I’m doing,” the redhead replied sharply to the American’s question, “is saving your life despite the fact that your blundering has just ruined four months of round the clock surveillance and other hard work.”
She nodded towards Luke;
“I suggest you get him to a hospital. We’ll talk tomorrow night.”
Galvin went to say something, but the leather-clad woman didn’t give him the chance;
“No arguments.” She declared. “I’m going to spend the rest of tonight trying to salvage something from this mess. Tomorrow night. Nine o’clock. Stay out of my way ‘til then.”
The redhead turned and began to walk away, into the darkness.
“Where will we meet you?” Mina asked.
“My place.” The girl answered, without looking back.
