#he's another black haired dragon loving freak with severe anger management issues <3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

screamingatanemptyroom · 7 years

Text

Short Story Contest Entry

Here’s my entry to @sharingwritingprompts writing contest. It was written using these 3 required writing prompts:

A crochet hook allows the wielder to snag things from other realities.

The shy goth kid everyone teases about being a vampire is actually, literally, a vampire bat.

Long dead philosophers are reanimated to fight crime, but they end up just marathoning episodes of their favorite TV show.

“Detective Weber! GET YOUR DESTRUCTIVE FAIRY ASS INTO MY OFFICE NOW!”

Jennifer sighed as the gruff shout of the goblin captain’s voice broke through the sounds of light chatter throughout the supernatural police office.

This was not going to be pretty.

She stood up, brushing the honey cake crumbs off her lap and tucking her wings safely into her suit jacket. No need to add a professionalism citation on top of whatever trouble she was in now. Maybe he just wanted to yell at her for accidentally setting the records room on fire…again. She just hoped he hadn’t heard about the 5th Street incident.

“MOVE BEFORE I RIP YOUR WINGS OFF AND MAKE YOU EAT THEM!”

Jennifer winced, walking quickly, almost running the rest of the way. She tried to smile at the captain, hoping he would smile back. Instead, the goblin pointed a yellow warty finger towards the chair in front of his desk.

“You. Sit. Now.”

His face, not attractive even at the best of times, was red with rage, looking almost cartoonish.

He definitely knew about the 5th Street incident.

“Captain, whatever you heard, I can assure you…”

“Shut up, Weber.”

“Shutting up, Sir.”

He stood up and paced the room.

“Detective, why is there a Supernatural Police Force?”

Surprised that he hadn’t just started in with the screaming, Jennifer thought about his question.

“Well Sir, the SPF is there to make sure that the supernatural beings follow the rules and don’t hurt normal people. We also protect supernatural folk from other more powerful beings. “

The Captain stopped and glared at her.

“What. Else?”

She cocked her head to the side, considering her next answer.

“And look fabulous doing it?” She smiled brightly, a few flowers popping out of thin air and falling around her. Captain, not impressed by the fairy glamor, slammed his fist against his desk with a loud BANG.

“NO YOU IDIOT! THE REST IS WITH AS LITTLE DAMAGE TO PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROPERTY AS POSSIBLE!” He threw up his hands. “It’s part of the SPF creed! It’s on our freaking sign!”

“I knew that Sir” She lied, trying to look innocent.

“No, Weber. You don’t know that. If you did I would not be getting calls about a DRAGON being summoned and destroying an ENTIRE BLOCK!”

He was shouting again, but Jennifer refused to shrink back, continuing to meet his gaze calmly.

“It was a Wyvern not a Dragon, and it took down a ring of magical artifact thieves, first of all! Secondly, sir, it was more like three-fourths of a block…but I see your point.” She quickly backtracked, seeing the murderous light in his tiny black eyes.

“I will definitely try harder in the future. “

“It’s not that easy this time.” The goblin sighed, rubbing his face in a frustrated manner. “Look, you’re a great detective, and with recent events I need every officer I got. Administration is on my back, Weber. They want me to confiscate your weapon.”

“THEY WHAT?!” She stood up in a panic, backing up until her back was flush with the office door. Her hand went to her waist and clutched at her wand.

A fairy was nothing without her wand. Jennifer had gotten hers when she first came of age 5 years ago. Her father, who had also been an SPF officer, although now retired, presented it to her. At the time she had been mildly disappointed. Fairy wands came in all shapes and sizes, no two were alike in appearance or abilities. Hers was a small golden crochet hook, rather unimpressive in appearance. The abilities it provided, however, more than made up for that. The hook allowed her to snag things from other realities, from small things like a cup of magical coffee, to much more powerful things, like the wyvern earlier today. So maybe that had been a bit much, but would they really strip her of her powers due to one…ok, several mishaps?

“If you take my wand, sir, you condemn me to the Dark Fae.” Jennifer’s voice sounded much more calm than she felt. Becoming Dark Fae meant losing a vital piece of her soul, the part with love and hope and happiness. Only anger and despair would remain. She had seen Dark Fae before. There was nothing of the light left in their eyes, only a desire for vengeance.

“I know, that’s what I told the board. They backed off for now, but one more misstep and I won’t be able to protect you anymore.” His voice softened as much as was possible given that goblins really didn’t DO comforting. It wasn’t in their nature. “I don’t take joy in scaring you, Weber. I need you to take this seriously.”

She nodded, still sweating from the near heart attack his threat had caused her.

“I will. “

“Good, now lets get back to business, I have an assignment for you and your partner.” He turned towards the door and she winced as he shouted “PETRAUSKY! MY OFFICE NOW!”

There was an awkward silence as he waited for my partner to run in. When he finally arrived, he was wheezing a bit and gasping for air, one pale hand clutching the door.

“Sorry…that took…so long.” He struggled to catch his breath, “Running…harder than flying.”

The Captain smiled, an expression much more terrifying than it should be.

“That’s okay detective, take your time. I’ll start briefing you both once you’re ready.”

Jennifer snorted indelicately, and the Captain glared at her.

“Unlike some people I could mention, Detective Petrausky is always setting a good example, on time, never destroys things, never talks back.” He sighed wistfully, “If only ALL my detectives were that easy to manage.”

She swept her hair back, snagging a mocha latte from an alternate reality where coffee is an art form, and slouched back in her chair. “If we were all easy to manage you would be bored.”

Her partner Alex slowly raised his hand, preventing further argument. “I’m ok now. Thanks for being patient.” He was a slim, short young man, with pitch-black hair that fell messily in his face. He wore tight all black clothes that only further emphasized his pale skin, and sunglasses that protected his eyes from the bright lights in the office. Jessica knew that in high school he had been teased a lot and called a vampire because of his gothic appearance, but they were wrong about that.

Pretty close to the truth, but not quite accurate.

The Captain threw a file onto his desk in front of them, starting the briefing. “We’ve found three dead bodies of high profile supernatural beings within the last week.”

The detectives opened the file, and despite all she had seen over the past few years, Jessica couldn’t help but wince at the gruesome pictures. Each of them were sitting in a chair, slouching. If not for the large holes torn into their throats, you could almost pretend they were just watching television. One was a werewolf, his golden eyes glazed over with the haze of death, claws partially extended from the tips of his fingers. Another was an ogre, the large stone-like creature sprawled in the large armchair with a slightly surprised look on his face. The third one was a fairy, crystal tears dried on her violet skin, one wing bent and slightly broken. They all should be powerful beings in their own right. It was strange to see one murdered, even stranger that all three would be killed within a week of each other.

“Did they have anything in common?” Jessica asked, closing the file slowly, blocking the gruesome pictures from sight.

The goblin grunted, lighting up a cigar from a match struck against the “no smoking” sign the janitorial staff had left on his desk.

“All different species, but they were all working on the same project: The Dark Fae rehabilitation project.”

She sucked in a breath, ignoring the stench from the cigar smoke. She had heard of the project, everyone had. A charitable organization with the sole purpose of trying to guide the Dark Fae back into the light. She thought it was a fool’s errand, a waste of time. She more than anyone knew that once you became Dark Fae, there was nothing left. You could never trust a Dark Fae, because they never changed. Some might say she had trust issues, and they would be right. Having your mother try to kill you will do that to you.

Putting thoughts of her Dark Fae parent aside, she focused on the information before her.

“Do you think the Dark Fae are behind it? They wouldn’t like the kind of work that organization does.”

The Captain nodded at her words. “Seems likely, but it would have to be one powerful creature to take out supernatural beings like that. I want you two on it 24/7 until you have answers, you hear me? There’s already bad press in the making with three dead bodies so quickly. I DO NOT want a fourth.”

He turned to Alex, pointing the cigar in his face, spraying ashes on the carpet. “Petrausky. I want you to infiltrate the organization, gather information on who the top people are and who might be next on the target list. “ He turned to Jessica next, growling when she snagged an ash tray from another reality and shoved it into his hand.

“Weber, I don’t care how you do it, but go find some Dark Fae and MAKE THEM TALK. I don’t want to hear about any more property damage either, so keep it subtle. “ He paused, snorting derisively. “Or as subtle as you are capable of.” He swung around, putting his back to both of them. “Dismissed.”

They walked out of his office, and Jessica noticed that Alex seemed pretty worked up. He looked up at her, frustration obvious even if she couldn’t see his whole expression behind the sunglasses. “He doesn’t trust me! It’s always stupid reconnaissance mission, running and hiding crap! I never get called in to do the cool stuff like you. I’m dangerous too you know!”

Jessica put a hand on his arm. “Woah there, buddy, I know you can fight, but we stick to our strengths. With your abilities, you are able to get in and out of buildings without anyone knowing. You hide in small spaces and no one knows you’re there. Me? Not so much.” She laughed at herself “Like the captain said, subtle really isn’t my thing.”

Alex didn’t seem pacified, he just stomped off, muttering to himself. As he reached the doorway, the air around him shimmered, and he assumed his other form.

Alex wasn’t a vampire. Vampires were evil, soulless creatures. Consumed by hunger for blood, they were far from the cultured, articulate versions in movies. Instead they more like robots, programmed with one and only one function: destruction. Fortunately they were rare, but the Dark Fae often tried to cultivate them for their own purposes. So despite looking like he stepped out of a bad teen vampire romance novel, Alex was NOT a vampire. He was, however, a vampire bat shifter. A were-bat, if you will. His tiny size and ability to fly made him perfect for information gathering, even if he wished he were larger and more intimidating.

Jessica frowned as she watched him fly off. He had been a lot more irritable lately, getting more and more frustrated with what he saw as the “sidelines” roles. She made a mental note to put aside some time to talk with him, give him a pep talk, even if she sucked at doing stuff like that. Putting the problems of her partner aside for the moment. Jessica started towards the “Intelligence” part of the SPF building.

It was time to find a Dark Fae.

The Intelligence section was in a dark abandoned wing of the building. No heat or air conditioning was wasted on this part to save on costs, it wasn’t like they would notice. Jessica could hear the shouting before she even opened the door.

“NO YOU FOOLS, ROSS AND RACHEL OBVIOUSLY ARE SOUL MATES AND WILL GET TOGETHER!”

Jessica sighed as she entered, encountering the three angry zombies within, arguing in front of an old TV set. Descartes as usual was talking. “I cannot believe we are still having this argument, Nietzsche, mon ami. You must accept the truth!”

The German philosopher snorted, twirling his great mustache with one decaying finger. “Nein, Descartes. You will sooner convince me that God exists than that Rachel and Ross will become a couple. You are lost in illusion.”

“What is illusion, though? How can you say what is real and true and what is not?”

Plato ignored the argument, staring at the TV where an episode of Friends was still playing. Of the three re-animated philosophers, he was the most decomposed, mostly just dead skin and bones, his lidless eyes wide as they remained fixed on the screen.

“Foolish argument,” he muttered, “It is all shadows upon a wall.”

“SHUT UP PLATO, we told you it’s a television!”

“That’s not what I…”

“GENTLEMAN!” Jessica shouted to be heard over the argument. “I need some help!”

All three stopped to stare at her. The Intelligence section of the SPF had been good in theory. Reanimate the world’s greatest philosophers and apply those minds to solving crime. Unfortunately upon being reborn into the modern world they quickly got addicted to 90’s sitcoms, and spent most of their time marathoning them and arguing plot points. Currently they were on the show Friends, and nothing productive had been done since they started. The SPF had given up on them becoming an active part of the force, but they still read through intelligence reports from informers and could sometimes provide some good pointers to push an investigation in the right direction.

Jessica quickly explained the case and her assignment to the three zombie philosophers.

“Any chance you guys know where I can find a Dark Fae who I could convince to help me out?”

Descartes stared at her, “So you need our help?”

Jessica didn’t like the tone he used, “Yes?”

Nietzsche grinned, showing off rotten teeth, and joined in. “What is this information worth to you?”

“How about a Season 4 DVD set? You won’t have to wait until the end of the month for your paychecks to buy the next season.”

The two philosophers discussed it quietly. Plato continued to disregard everyone.

“Season 4 AND 5.” Nietzsche announced finally.

After much haggling, they finally came to an agreement on special edition DVD set of season 4 with director’s commentary. They handed her a piece of paper with the name and location of the lucky Dark Fae she owed a surprise visit to. As Jessica left she heard Plato grumble: “Phoebe is the best character anyways.”

She quickly walked out of the building trying to ignore the sounds of angry shouting.

After a quick stop at home to change into more appropriate clothing, Jessica made her way to the nightclub Glow, a special nightclub that catered to supernatural beings. Even if normal humans wandered in, they would given a memory wipe and dropped off at home, thinking they had drunk too much. Jessica wasn’t a big fan of the club scene, being more of a coffee fan. She frequented places like Witches’ Brew the coffee shop with late hours for supernatural creatures. Glow was the place listed on her piece of paper, however, so she braced herself for the noise, nodded at the bouncer, who was a golem friend of hers, and entered the club.

Even though she was prepared for it, Jessica still winced at the loud music. The Sirens must be performing tonight. She quickly scanned the crowd, ignoring the variety of shapes, sizes and species that filled the room. Finally she spotted the Dark Fae in the corner, clutching a drink and chatting up a ghost. The signs were subtle: the fairy’s skin was a little too pale, the hair a few shades darker than was normal, the nails were longer and more pointed and when he smiled his teeth were slightly pointed as well. The real clue, however, was the eyes. Black irises, blending in with the pupils, made the fairy frightening to look at, as if all that existed on the inside was emptiness and darkness. Jessica brushed away a ghost of a memory, her mother staring at her with dark eyes, holding a bloody knife. Now was not the time to deal with childhood trauma. She had a Dark Fae to catch.

She camped at the bar on the other side of the club, waiting for the right time to strike. Finally when the dark fairy stood up, obviously looking for a restroom, Jessica followed closely and silently. When they turned the corner out of sight of the main crowd, she grabbed her target, striking him on the head and pulling him into the janitor’s closet.

With the fairy unconscious, Jessica quickly bound his wrists with silver wire to one of the supply shelves, locked the door behind her, and sat down. He awoke a few minutes later with a hiss, baring his pointed teeth at her. Jessica expected this, however, and responded with a punch to the face. The silver knuckles she wore on her right hand burned his skin on contact. He howled in pain, the sound obscured by the loud music outside the closet.

Silver and sunlight: the two things Dark Fae hate the most. Any contact would hurt them, and although they were normally rapid healers, silver burns took a long time to fade, and were very painful.

The Dark Fae fell silent, glaring at her balefully. On his cheek the imprint of her knuckles could be seen, bright red against the pale skin.

“I’m looking for some information.” Her captive chuckled, but she ignored it, “People in the Dark Fae Rehabilitation Project are dying, and I need to know things. Who is doing it, why are they doing it, and where is the next target?”

“Why should I help you?” He spit at her, a small amount of bloody phlegm clinging to Jessica’s jacket. She sighed, taking off the soiled piece of clothing. She LIKED that jacket. She had pulled it from an alternate reality which, unfortunately, no longer existed, so no chance to replace it even with her powers.

“You are going to help me because if you don’t I will hurt you… badly.”

The Dark Fae laughed. “You don’t scare me, fairy! I’m not afraid of death.”

Jessica’s eyes were darker then normal as she used her wand to snag a silver mace from another world, testing a few swings in her hands.

“You should be afraid, dark one. There are many things worse than death.”

Fifteen minutes later Jessica left the club, armed with new information. She had let the Dark Fae live, although he wouldn’t thank her for it. She pushed what had happened in that closet out her thoughts, knowing it would haunt her regardless. Sometimes she wondered if she wasn’t more like her Dark Fae mother than she thought.

She called the chief, setting up a projection spell for communication. His ugly face appeared before her, eyes narrowed. “Weber, REPORT!”

So much for pleasantries.

“There is an assassin, hired by the Dark Fae to take out the leaders of the rehabilitation project. My informant didn’t know the name or location. The next victim will be a lion shape-shifter named Hormandy who will be attacked before morning. We need to place him in protective custody NOW!”

The captain stared at her, unimpressed. “That’s not what your partner found.”

“What?”

“It was an inside job. Some goblin, Orlack, was fired from the project last week. He was overheard planning his next attack for tonight by Detective Petrausky. It actually has nothing to do with the Dark Fae.” He shook his head, “It sounds like a simple revenge motive.”

Jessica was confused, her methods may have been… questionable, but she had a truth detection spell in place the entire time. The Dark Fae may have wanted her dead the entire time, would lie through his teeth given the chance, but the information he gave was solid.

“I don’t think we should count the Dark Fae out entirely, boss. It may be this goblin, but he’s got to be working with them.”

“Weber, we’ve got the guy. Meet the team outside the address I send you. By the time you get there we’ll have a warrant ready to take this scumbag down. “

She didn’t want to argue, but felt she had to say something. “What about the target, Hormandy? He could be in danger!”

The captain growled. “He won’t be if we get this guy. Now meet us at the house, Weber. No detours.”

“But…”

“NO. DETOURS.” With that he cut the call short.

Jessica stared at the now empty space in front of her. She wasn’t sure how Alex’s information fit in with hers, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something. Her gut told her to follow the lead, but she was already on thin ice with the Captain. If she disregarded a direct order… Jessica shuddered at the thought of her wand being taken. She didn’t know what to do.

The room was dark, the only light being from the moon filtering in from the window. A figure sat in a large armchair, barely visible. All was still, a sense of anticipation hung in the air. A small breeze shifted through the rooms, a shadow detaching itself from the ceiling, coming to stand behind the chair. It extended claws, the white glint of giant fangs the only warning of the coming strike.

It was enough.

Suddenly the room was filled with a bright light. The creature screamed in pain, cringing away, but unable to escape. Jessica stood up from the chair, holding a silver sword. She was glad she had thought to snag UV lamps and place them all around the room; it was definitely doing some damage.

“Hormandy is in hiding, assassin.” She sneered, using the tip of her sword to flip the attacker over. “Let’s see who you really a…”

She stopped, and the world seemed to stop with her.

Not a faceless assassin. Not some random Dark Fae.

“Alex.”

Looking even younger as he cowered on the floor, hissing as the UV light slowly scorched his skin, Alex glared up at her, giving her the first true glimpse of his eyes in a while.

The irises were black.

Jessica cursed, angry at herself for being fooled. She had believed him when he started wearing the sunglasses for “light sensitivity, because she had wanted to believe him.

“You’re Dark Fae.”

It wasn’t a question.

He laughed at her bitterly, “What? Sad they took your little buddy away? You wanted me to be WEAK. You kept trying to protect me! They took me seriously. They gave me REAL power!” His smile revealed large fangs, almost too long for his mouth.

“Vampire!”

Jessica spit the word out, revolted. It was a bad joke, the vampire bat shape shifter becoming an actual vampire, but the punch line was the real killer.

“Now that you’re infected, the virus will take you over. It will turn you into a mindless killing machine. Oh, Alex what have you done?”

The sword in Jessica’s hand trembled as she fought back tears. Her friend was gone. The dark had taken over and there was nothing left of the smiling young partner she’d grown to care for like a brother.

Alex saw her hesitation and seized the chance. Knocking her over he jumped to the ceiling, crawling towards the window and away from the burning rays of the UV lamps. He flipped over the ledge, hanging for a moment over a 10-story drop, and smiled at her.

“By the way, your mom says ‘hello!’”

With that he disappeared, a small bat flying off into the distance.

Jessica stared after him, her heart heavy at the words her former partner left behind.

Mom is back, huh? The thought had her gripping the sword in her hands tightly, wishing for something to swing at. She looked around at the now-empty room in dismay and tried to cheer herself up. She may have disobeyed a direct order and let the assassin escape, but she DID save the next victim, and with minimal property damage!

With that thought the room was plunged into darkness as the power went out, and a quick glance out the window confirmed it was the whole city block. All the otherworldly UV lamps she had snagged had probably messed up the power grid. Jessica supposed they weren’t actually meant to be used in this universe.

Captain’s going to have a field day.

Jessica trudged down the steps, grateful for the long walk towards the SPF office downtown. It would give her some time to process all that had happened, and what had to be done next. One thing was for sure, though, with Alex and possibly her mother still on the loose:

This wasn’t over.

#writing #writing prompt #short story #contest entry #fantasy #urban fantasy

97 notes · View notes