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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Flickering Light [Part 14]

“Whoa, the hell was that?”

“Holy- Someone just bailed out.”

“Should we make sure they’re okay?”

“Of course not, rookie, we’re on a mission. We can’t afford any distrac-”


“Captain, I think that was our mark.”

The middle aged man pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and craned his neck around. His name was Roger, but he everybody called him Captain. He sat behind the driver, hearing too many bad experiences and warning stories of riding shotgun while on a mission. Firefights and car wrecks put more than enough officers out of commission - permanently or otherwise - and a rookie crew like his didn’t need a disaster for their first mission. He scratched at a scruffy, two-day beard and commanded the driver to pull over. The three others in the car were all new recruits, but had performed well in training. They turned their heads with him as the car rolled to a stop.

“That car matches the make, model, and color of his foster father’s car, and looking at the picture here I would say that our boy just bailed out of it,” said the agent in the front passenger seat, flipping through a small file folder.

“Alright, let’s go check it out. Remember, the kid’s real father will shoot to kill while the foster father’s more protective than anything and probably isn’t armed. Be cautious but friendly, like they taught you at training. I’ll do the talking. If the kid tries to run then follow him, don’t use excessive force. He’s been shot already, we don’t want him whining all the way back to base.”

A round of affirmatives were given as they exited the pure black work van, lethal and nonlethal weapons concealed under their plain clothes appearance. Captain took another drag of the cigarette before stomping it out in the road, hoping the young guns he was working with didn’t screw up their first time in the field.

* * *

Gotta...get up...

Cody stayed down in the dirt, still shaking off the adrenalin that followed him out of the car. He had rolled a long distance down the road and away into a ditch to the side. Dirt and grass had stained his clothes and he rolled over onto his stomach. When he tried to push himself up, a sharp pain stung up and down his right side stemming from his shoulder. Surprised, Cody dropped back down with a yelp.

“Cody! Cody, what on earth were you thinking? Come back to the car this instant!”

Hearing his fake father calling his name gave Cody the resolve to try again. He pushed off with his good arm, stood, and began trotting away while clutching his aching shoulder. Reinhart closed in quickly as Cody tried to hurry into the thin forest to escape. He passed over the first roots of the closest trees when an arm on his shoulder turned him around. Cody grunted with the forced movement, tensing up and glaring at the man pretending to be his dad.

“Don’t ever do that, Cody, I’m already worried sick about you and Ian. Look, your leg is bleeding and it seems like you pinched a nerve in your arm. It’s a miracle you weren’t hurt any worse pulling that little stunt. Come back to the car and I’ll get you a bandaid, I know your mom keeps them in the glove department for that-”

“She’s not my mom. And you’re not my dad.”

Reinhart’s expression instantly changed from annoyance to hurt, and he spoke more slowly. “Cody, I know you’d rather be with them, but she and I are doing everything we can to take care of you and give you a loving home. Weren’t you happy with us, with your own warm room and home cooked food? We tried our best to love you and your brother as if you were our own children.”

“But...” Cody started to hate himself. He looked down in dejection, turning his left leg to see the wound. There was a gash down the side that was a slippery red color that bled down to stain his white socks. Every day since he was adopted was a thousand times more comfortable than when he was on the run, so much so that he was uncertain if he would choose to go back to his real world. How could he tell this man that seeing his father made him want to throw it all away? Even if he did go back home, would things be any better than how he left?

Will I still have to keep running away?

Cody shivered. The sun was close to saying goodbye, and the temperature had begun dropping.


“Hey, bud, let’s head back home and talk it out. What do you think? Mom probably still has some of that hot chocolate and marshmallows that you said you really liked.”

The kid looked up as he felt his foster father’s arm around his shoulders. Cody’s eyes locked onto five figures that had pulled out of a dark van up by the road. Reinhart began to move forward, but Cody stayed put. The situation felt wrong - five grown men in dark clothing exiting a windowless van. Nobody else was traveling down the road. All sorts of alarms were going off in Cody’s head that were telling him to run. The arm tightening around his shoulder told him that the man next to him felt the same way.

“Stay close,” Reinhart whispered.

That’s the last thing I’m gonna do, thought Cody, shivering once again in the fading light of the sunset.


[Part 13][Part 15]

the second to last thing he's going to do is the chicken dance

Whoo! Part 14! And with what I've got planned in my head, I'm looking forward for at least five or six more parts. It almost seems like I'm going really fast, but this is nothing compared to how much crap I wrote last month...

And with that, I leave you with this.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Flickering Light [Part 13]

“Get out of my car and start walking.”

“Mr. Reinhart, listen to me-”

“I said, get out of my car and start walking.”

“And if I don’t? You’d kill a man in your own car, dump his body, and drive off back to your house with blood on your hands, all in plain daylight? Your wife is probably dead. If we stay here for any longer, we’re probably dead, or at the least, captured. These men don’t want you. You’re disposable, and I would doubt that you have enough training to fend off an entire warehouse worth of people chasing you. You certainly don’t have enough gas or a durable car for something like that.”

Reinhart swallowed. The cool, metal gun shook slightly in his hand. He couldn’t tell if it was from nerve or from anger. A quick glance at the door showed that whatever girl had walked up to the door had disappeared. Reinhart spoke quietly.

“You’re bluffing. Get out, start walking away from here, and don’t turn back.”

* * *

Cody’s body was involuntarily twitching from the neck below. He kept his eyes shut tight, mind flashing back to his friend Ty, screaming as Cody plunged a knife into him. Cody’s hands tightened into fists, wanting to cover his ears to shut his friend up but holding himself steady to keep the real knife from slicing open his throat. Jeremy’s breath was hot and slow, warming the slippery blade which had remains of onion juice coating it.

The TV switched to commercials, and a loud knock came from the door. Cody dared to open one eye to find Jeremy’s frightened face. The knife moved away, Cody felt his hair released from Jeremy’s hand, and the college student whispered frantically to Cody.

“Fuck. Fuck, I’m sorry. Shit, I’m so sorry. Go hide in my room, it’s the one right over there, with all the swimming stuff. Just hide until we can talk for real.”

Cody stood still, wide-eyed, while Jeremy hurried over to the sink and dropped the knife in, as if it was a mud soaked rag. He rushed to the door to a second knock, voice almost cracking as he said “Just a minute!”

Jeremy desperately motioned for Cody to move, which broke him from his trance. He cautiously walked to Jeremy’s room, keeping both eyes on the man by the door. Cody nearly tripped on dirty clothes that lined the floor of Jeremy’s room. Closing the door, Cody looked around. A desktop, a TV with some gaming systems attached, swim trophies, a half-full trashcan, and posters decorated the place. Cody tried to ignore the speedo that was slung over one of the bedposts as he made an escape plan. There wasn’t much place to hide, and the window was covered by a screen that resisted any attempt at being pried off. Leaving it open, Cody took a second survey of the place and an idea sparked in his brain.

* * *

“So how’re you feeling?”

“Angry at the world. I just want to break something or to hurt somebody.”

“Have you?”

“Not yet.”

Jeremy leaned back on the couch, arms crossed. He sighed, staring at the half-eaten food on the table in front of him. Mary had come over to talk to him a bit. Tom’s death was a month ago, but Jeremy was still shaken up over it. Every time he entered the apartment, his eyes flickered over to the empty room where Tom had stayed.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright here by yourself?” Mary began rinsing off food and putting dishes in the washer.

“Yeah. I don’t think I could handle someone else moving in, anyway. It would feel like they were trying to replace him. You know how mad I can get at stupid little things.” The rest of the food got scraped up into a plastic container that Jeremy stuck somewhere in his fridge.

“Okay, but if you ever need me, just let me know. I’m only a block away, and it’s a quick walk.”

“Yeah, sure thing. Thanks for coming over, it helped a lot more than you know.”

Mary smiled at him, and left. Jeremy watched the door slowly close and nearly jumped up, jogging the short distance to his room. He rapped on the door twice and opened, looking for Cody.

“Hey, little dude, sorry about that. I-where’d you go?”

The open window blew a chilly wind in his direction. Jeremy hurried to it.

“Oh hell, you already left? Shit, now I know I’m a horrible person. Maybe I can catch-”

Cody had emerged from behind the door and crept up, heavy swim trophy in hand. He brought its granite base down on Jeremy’s head, knocking him out cold. Dropping the golden figure he used as a handle, Cody left the mess of a room and found the main door. Upon exiting, he ran to his foster father’s car and jumped in the back.

“We can’t stay here. Let’s go.”

The car peeled out of the parking spot as Cody fumbled with his seat belt. It clicked, and Cody sighed in relief. They drove out of the lot before realization struck Cody.

“Where’s my father?”

“He’s said he wanted you to stay with me, where it was safe,” Alex Reinhart lied to his adopted son.

“He wouldn’t do that. He’s been trying to find me for so long, he would never do that.”

“That’s what he told me. Just that he wanted to make sure you were safe, and that staying with him was far too dangerous.”

Trees flew by and the sun was slowly approaching the horizon. Cody stared at the reflected eyes in the rearview mirror. Seeing the deception in them, he tried a different question.

“How fast are we going?”

“About thirty-five. Why?”

“No reason.” Cody watched the scenery pass by while they traveled down the two lane road. He waited until there was a clear spot. Quickly releasing his seat belt, Cody unlocked the back door and flung himself out of the car.


===================

[Part 12][Part 14]

i'll say $5 that cody's wet himself after all these near death experiences

And we're back! I think I've found a new place to write - and that place is Chick Fil A. Free refills are a must if I'm going to be sitting down for two and a half hours and writing the entire time. Feel free to share/post this story in places - getting pageviews just warms my heart, in a non-gooey way.

Progress is being made on editing my NaNoWriMo novel, Not Through Choice. I'm still a long way off, but any progress is always acceptable.

And with that, I leave you with this.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Reboot!

Good evening!

Yes, nearly 3am is evening!

NaNoWriMo has been a success. I've got around 51,000 words that I've edited which need a second, then third, then fourth look through. I'm not doing much else over winter break, so my plan is to write, write, edit, edit, write, edit, edit, edit, and write some more. Expect updates to start happening again around these parts - I mean, I can't leave Cody with a knife to his throat forever, can I?

(I most certainly can, but I won't)

Writing Not Through Choice has sort of messed up my entire mindset with Flickering Light, though, so the next few posts might need a bit of time and probably revision before I'm personally okay with them. Heck, this blog is sort of my rough draft for the story anyway! In a few days' time, though, there should be a new post up.

Speaking of which, if I can get my novel edited and double/triple/quadruple checked, then I'll likely be electronically self-publishing. Hopefully I'll be able to put it up (along with maybe a few other short things) for download on the Kindle. I want to keep my stuff free, or at least a few of my things free, for people to enjoy.

Now that I've successfully wasted your time, here's something to listen to that came on Pandora as I typed.

Until next time
Wes(oteric)