Future Infinite--Lilith Winters | |
Works-in-Progress Gaming Links Home | For this piece, the wordcount was 1340, the phrase was "He wanted to run away from it all" and the words were: seduce, freedom, clocks, and tiny.
�He longed to run away from it all, but he always stayed,� Mia said. �And that influenced the rest of his life. And because he was my older brother, that influenced the rest of my life too. He was a prick, let me tell you. And so�well�� �Come on,� Josh said. �Lots of people have horrible family members. That�s hardly a reason to run away.� �Show�s what you know,� was all Mia said. �Why don�t you tell us the rest of the story?� Josh asked. Mia turned away from him. �Because you don�t really want to hear it.� Josh shrugged. �Sure I do. But if you don�t believe me, I don�t care.� Mia moved her tongue around her mouth, trying to figure out what she could taste from Josh. It was weird, and she�d never felt it before. She couldn�t tell if that meant truth or lies or anything, because she was still so new at this. And she hated being new at things, because it meant that she looked inept, and she hated looking inept. That was the advantage of always staying on the run�she never stayed around long enough to look inept, or anything else. That and freedom� She was starting to miss her freedom. �Do you really want to hear the story?� she asked. �Of course,� he said. �Fine then,� she said, and started talking. �I suppose, looking back on it, that my home life was actually relatively normal and nothing to get upset about, except for the prickishness of my older brother. Anyway, my parents were Italian, and came over here just after they got married. So my siblings and I were all born her, and learned to speak English. Eventually, the pressure, the conflict between old world and new or whatever you want to call it�or maybe just the sense that my parents never really wanted to see who I actually was�lead me to run away. The way it actually happened was that I got my SAT scores back in the mail, saw that I had gotten a 1600�and started crying. I couldn�t figure out why, because you would think that I�d be happy about that score�most people would be happy with that score, wouldn�t they? �But I wasn�t. All I could think for the entire rest of the day was how I wanted to get away�and so I started making plans to do it.� �Mia, you do know that that doesn�t make any sense, right?� Josh asked. �What would possess you to do that?� �Well, I later learned that one of the things that was really driving me was my Awakening abilities. Didn�t you have that experience were you ended up finding your mentor?� Josh shrugged, and carefully said, �I have vague memories of the process, yes.� Mia matched his shrug, �Well, I guess I was the only one in my area or something, because something led me to withdraw my tiny amount of money from the bank, and just start running. �I didn�t know where I was going at first, and I wasn�t sure what I was looking for. Part of me was just happy to be away from tests and clocks and calendars and dates and grades, but the rest of me knew that there had to be something else going on too. It starting driving me crazy that I couldn�t figure it out. �After about a week, my money was about to run out. I knew that if I didn�t find out something soon, I was just going to have to go home.� Josh said, �Could you have, do you think? Do you ever wish that you had?� �No,� Mia said simply. �Some things are more powerful than we are.� �I suppose,� Josh admitted. �Trust me�some things are. But anyway�at that point, just when I was about to give up, I met the Youngs.� �And who were they?� �They were a family of�well, a clan of Awakened. I don�t know how that works�by the time I got inducted into their clan, I knew that I would have to leave. I had too many secrets that I had to hide from them�it never would have worked out.� �So you just ran again?� Josh asked. �Pretty much. But this time I was much better supplied, and much better prepared, and that�s how I ended up here.� �So why are you telling me all this?� Josh asked. �Because�� Mia sighed. �Because that story�s not over yet.� �I have no idea what you�re talking about.� �Because even though I�ve changed names, and neither of those groups of people know me as Mia White, they�re still looking for me.� �You�re going to get us charged with kidnapping, aren�t you?� Josh asked. Mia raised an eyebrow. �I know I don�t look that young,� she said. �And no. I just figured that it would be fair to tell you that there are two different groups of people who might be on my tail. Then again, they may not care, and then it would never bother me, would it?� Josh didn�t seem to have anything to say to that. �At least she�s not trying to seduce you,� Michael helpfully told him. Kathryn sighed. �Mike, way to get in the way of some emotional role-playing.� Avidan stretched, �That�s one hell of a backstory, Kathryn,� he said. �Where�d you get it?� �I don�t know,� she said. �Where do any characters come from? I think she was�I was trying to justify connections to the Rom for her, and that�s how I eventually did it.� �But why did you want her to have connections to gypsies?� Avidan asked. �Because originally she was going to be a Ravnos in a Vampire game.� �Ooooh�and suddenly your character makes so much more sense.� Kathryn smiled, �Yeah, I thought that might happen. But anyway, I like her, and I never got to use her for anything else, so I messed around with her backstory and stuff, and ended up with what you guys just heard. Or at least, that�s the condensed version.� �That was condensed?� Michael asked. �Sure�the long version is well�very long. I wanted it to be detailed.� When she saw the face of the rest of the group, she shrugged again. �Well, I what can I say? I was bored.� �Obviously we need to start keeping you better entertained,� Josh mumbled. �What did you say?� Kathryn asked. �It doesn�t matter,� Jason cut in. �Aren�t you guys supposed to be getting back to the game?� �Probably,� Kathryn said. �Actually, before that happens, I have a question,� Josh asked. �What is it?� Jason asked. �It�s not for you, it�s for Kathryn.� �What?� Kathryn asked. �How�s your forehead feeling? It doesn�t look like it�s healed at all from when you hit it.� �That�s weird,� Kathryn said. �I hadn�t really noticed anything.� She reached up to feel at the scar, and started. �That�s weird�it doesn�t feel right.� Josh walked over, and lifted a hand, �Do you mind if I?� he asked. �No, go ahead,� Katherine said, and she closed her eyes. She could feel his fingers lightly on her forehead, and then he started pressing harder. �Ow!� she cried. �That shouldn�t have hurt,� he said. He used the same amount of pressure on a different part of her forehead, and that didn�t hurt. �Weird,� he said, and he moved his hand much more lightly back to the center of her forehead. Suddenly, his hand stopped. �Kathryn, this isn�t going to make any sense�but it kind of feels like you have an eye in the middle of your forehead.� �You�re right, that doesn�t make sense.� �That�s not even possible,� Michael said. �Here, let me prove it,� Kathryn said. �It�s not an eyes�� moved her fingers up to the scar, and acted like she was going to open her eyes to put in her contacts. Josh was right, it did feel kind of strange�and she moved her fingers back down towards her eyes�they did feel sort of similar. That didn�t make any sense�very gently, she attempted to pry her fingers apart. And then it opened. |