Prompt: “When did you figure it out? That I wasn’t him, I mean.” / “When you told me you love me. He’d never say that.” / “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“You aren’t Lance,” Gemma said, shaking her head. That was the thing with masked balls. No one knew who anyone was. She had thought he sounded like Lance, he looked kind of like Lance, but no, it couldn’t be Lance. It must be Allen. He looked kind of like Lance. Had some of the same mannerisms. In a masked ball, they could pass for twins. “When did you figure it out?” he asked, sitting her down with a cookie, “That I wasn’t Lance I mean.” “When you told me you love me,” Gemma said softly, heartbreakingly, “He’d never say that.” She shook her head tragically. Lance didn’t see her like that. Never would. He only saw her as a friend. Nothing more. Lance took a deep breath, trying to garner the courage to do what he had planned to do all along. Slowly, he began to remove his mask, revealing who he was. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Lance said softly as he revealed his face. Gemma couldn’t help but let out a gasp at the sight of Lance. Her mind was spinning as all the implications of what had it all meant coursed through her brain.
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Prompt: When your family consists of sociopaths and murderers you tend to hate the holidays.
“Merry Christmas!” Peggy sang as she waltzed into the room with presents. This was her favorite time of year. She loved the cold. She loved the snow. She loved the magic that always seemed to hang in the air from the first day of December until the last. “Ugh,” Marcos rolled his eyes at her and her happiness. Christmas was overrated. He hated the cold, the snow, and there wasn’t any magic, just people going about pretending to be something they weren’t and buying everything in sight. “Well hello Scrooge,” Peggy sat down next to Marcos, “What’s wrong with you?” “It’s a stupid holiday.” “It is not,” Peggy would defend the holiday with her life if necessary. This was a hill she was willing to die on. She wasn’t going to let it go until she got to the bottom of the situation. “Why don’t you like the holidays?” she continued. “Well,” Marcos sighed. He knew Peggy well enough to know that she wasn’t going to shut up about it or leave him alone, so if he wanted her out of his hair, which he desperately did, then he had to give her something. “When your family consists of sociopaths and murderers,” Marcos continued, “You tend to hate the holidays.” She nodded her head. That made sense. Prompt: She knew hearing music in the woods at night was usually a bad sign, but it was such a pretty tune.
The sound of a flute floated across the air, whispering through the trees. It was hauntingly beautiful. Aja knew that usually hearing music in the woods at night was usually a bad sign, but it was such a pretty tune that she couldn’t bring herself to be nervous about it. In fact, she found herself drawn in by the music, and it was sending her further and further into the woods. Deeper into a danger that she couldn’t comprehend. A danger that would change her life forever. With Thanksgiving we decided to take the day off, and then yesterday got away from me, and today almost did too, but they didn't! So here is a two in one! Hope you enjoy it.
Prompt: “No, I don’t like them! They’re too loud and obnoxious and I think that thing they do with their hands when they’re nervous is dumb.” “Kevin and Skye sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, second comes marriage, third comes baby in a baby carriage,” Ryan teased as the two of them walked into their hotel room after their double date. Ryan had seen Kevin and Skye with their heads close together, foreheads touching, whispering to each other as if they had a secret they had to keep from the world. They made quite the cute couple, and Ryan wanted to pounce on that. After all, she had come up with this challenge to make Henry fall in love with her partly because she wanted to give Charles and Alysha more time alone together so they could figure out their feelings for each other, and partly because she wanted to set Skye up. The last date Skye had been on had been before they had been kidnapped. Skye needed to start dating again. She needed to put herself out there. Ryan was sick of her excuses of being too busy or not interested. After all, Charles, Alysha, and Ryan were all just as busy as Skye was and they all still managed to go on dates. And now that this was literally part of their mission, Skye had no excuses as to why she couldn’t date and fall in love. “You like him,” Ryan continued to tease. “No,” Skye shook her head, “I don’t like him. He’s too loud and obnoxious,” Skye said. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks, causing them to turn red. “And I think that thing he does with his hair when he’s nervous is dumb,” she continued. That was the furthest thing from the truth. In fact, she thought that his nervous tick of running his fingers through his hair was endearing. She loved his little quirks and superstitions. Her hand instinctively went to her neck where a penny was hanging on a chain. It was the penny Kevin had found on one of their outings and had given to her. In a moment of sentimentality, she had drilled a hole through it and found a chain, long and thin enough that she could wear it under her shirt and no one would notice it. “I think thou doest protest too much,” Ryan smiled. Skye rolled her eyes and stormed into her bedroom. When she was alone she took the penny necklace off and stared at it. The horrifying realization flooded over her and she clenched it in her first, her stomach dropping. This was wrong. This was all wrong. She had to fix this. Prompt: “I hate the sight of blood.” / “Then maybe you shouldn’t kill for a living.” Darren looked positively green when Peggy saw him practically curled up in the corner of the room. She looked over to the place he was staring at. Blood had pooled onto the carpet. Peggy groaned inwardly. She was going to have to clean that up. She wished her employers wouldn’t kill people in the study. It was carpeted. If they were going to commit their crimes and make a mess, the least they could do was do it in a room that had hardwood floors. It was so much easier to clean the mess up when she didn’t have to deal with carpet. “What’s wrong?” Peggy asked. ‘I just hate the sight of blood,” Darren shuddered at even the word blood. “Well,” Peggy said, “Maybe you shouldn’t kill for a living then,” she shrugged. For someone who hated blood, going into the mob seemed like a bad choice. They were constantly killing people, or getting into scrapes where blood was involved. It was a daily experience. If he hated it that badly he certainly had chosen the wrong profession. “Believe me,’ Darren said, “I never anticipated becoming a killer. It just kind of happened.” Peggy nodded in understanding. While most people would probably think that getting into the mob was more difficult and would wonder how one just happened to find themselves involved with the mob, Peggy understood all too well how things like that could just happen without a person realizing it. After all, she had found herself apart of this whole mess purely by accident too, so why should Darren be any different? Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone! What are you thankful for this year?
Prompt: “What are you thankful for this year?” / “That I did not sell my soul for a pair of shoes.” Peggy sat down at the dinner table. It was her first Thanksgiving at her new job, it was the first real dinner they had had as well, and it was a big one. Thanksgiving. She wiped her hands on her jeans hoping to get rid of the moisture that was accumulating on her hands. Things were going off without a hitch. Aside from the fact that her boss looked way too comfortable carving a turkey, things seemed to be going just fine. No one was trying to murder anyone, no one had a knife in their gut. Yet. Her boss stood up and raised his glass. It immediately got everyone’s attention, and everyone silenced whatever conversation they were having and looked his way. He had that effect on people. “What are you thankful for this year?” he asked. He looked over at his niece. “That I did not sell my soul for a pair of shoes.” Peggy wasn’t sure whether it was a joke or not. For all she knew, with a family like that, she could have literally been tempted to sell her soul for a pair of shoes. Prompt: “You killed my sister!” / “No, I didn’t.” / “Yes, you did!” / “No.” / “You killed her right in front of me! Why are you saying you didn’t kill her?” / “Because, you’re talking to your sister, right now.”
Alejandra beat Patricia with her fists as anger swept over her. She couldn’t seem to control herself. “You killed my sister!” Alejandra said, each word accompanied with another hit of her fist. “No, I didn’t,” Patricia said, obviously confused by what was going on. “Yes, you did!” Alejandra panted. “No,” Patricia said simply. “You killed her right in front of me! Why are you saying that you didn’t kill her?” That was the biggest lie Alejandra had ever heard. She had watched Patricia kill Annie in cold blood. She had been standing there, watching as it all went down, and Patricia knew it. Patricia had seen Alejandra standing there, watching. To say that she hadn’t killed Annie was just insulting. “Because,” Patricia said slowly, “You’re talking to your sister,” Patricia reached up and began to take off her mask, “Right now.” The mask fell away, revealing Annie. Alejandra stared at Annie, unblinking. She couldn’t believe her eyes. “It’s a long story,” Patricia or Annie said with a shrug. “Well, since you lied to me and convinced me that you were dead for 11 years, I have time,” Alejandra said, sarcasm oozing from her voice. Annie took a deep breath and told her story. How she had dressed up like Patricia, and had killed the real Patricia and had been living under the guise of Patricia ever since. Prompt: “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you love me.” / “I can’t. It hurts.” / “Because you mean it or because you don’t?”
Peggy looked at Darren, and used her hand to turn his head so that he was looking at her. “What do you want from me?” Darren asked. She had never seen him so defeated before. He looked so broken, but he had asked the question, and she was going to answer hi. “Look me in the eyes,” she said. She was forcing him to look at her, and she wasn’t sure if that counted or not, but she would take it regardless. “And tell me that you love me,” she continued. She dropped her hand, and let him move his head once again, if only to see what he would do. As soon as she had released her hold on his face, Darren dropped his head and looked away. He couldn’t look her in the eye, and that made Peggy’s heart sink. “I can’t,” he said softly, “It hurts.” Those words caused a knife to go through her heart and she dropped even his hand that she was holding. “Because you mean it?” she asked, hoping that that was the truth. She held onto that glimmer of hope rising inside of her and held her breath, hoping beyond hope that he would say yes, that he meant it so much that it physically hurt. However, as the silence dragged on and Darren continued to refuse to look at her, Peggy knew in the very depths of her soul the real answer to that question. “Or because you don’t?” Peggy finished softly, almost inaudibly. Darren’s lack of answer gave her all the answers she needed. Prompt: “NO, I don’t tend to keep cyanide in my pantry, let alone in the amounts you’re after.”
Marcus was frantically flinging the cupboard doors open, pulling out drawers so hard that they nearly came off their tracks. “What are you looking for?” Peggy asked as she stepped inside her apartment. “Cyanide,” Marcus said, “20 pounds of it, but I’ll settle for less if I have to.” Marcus glanced over at Peggy. “Do you have any?” he asked, hope twinkling in his eyes. “No,” she said slowly, shaking her head, “I don’t tend to keep cyanide in my pantry, let alone in the amount you’re after.” Marcus groaned in frustration. He needed that cyanide yesterday. Prompt: Picture prompt (go to my Instagram to check it out)
Peggy curled up on the floor of the den, with a blanket covering her as the fire crackled in the fireplace. All that warmth was doing little to keep the cold out of her very bones, a cold that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room, but a bone chilling cold that came from a person’s very being, their very soul, it was rooted in their bones. Books were piled high around her. She had raided the library, picking books at random, whatever book happened to jump out at her at that moment. She had given them precious little thought, and had wound up with over a hundred books surrounding her. She couldn’t seem to focus on any of the stories that had promised to hold her attention when she had been picking through them. Every few minutes she would close one book, toss it aside, and reach for another book. She flipped through the pages, breathing in the scent of the pages, letting the story whisper its secrets as she thumbed through the pages. Her eyes scanned the words, hoping for something to jump out at her, some word or sentence that would capture her attention and pull her in deeper, but that never came and once again, a book was discarded and yet another one was given a chance. “You know you’re supposed to start from the beginning,” Marcus said, coming into the ever darkening den, “Not from the middle.” He had been standing there, watching her for the past four books. It was starting to get too dark to even see a hand in front of your face, let alone read, but Peggy didn’t seem the least bit deterred by the darkness. Peggy jumped slightly at the sound of a voice above her. “Oh,” she said, calming her heartbeat. “That’s what I love about you,” Marcus joked as he sat down beside her, “You always make me feel so special and wanted.” “Sorry,” Peggy said, “I don’t….” she didn’t know what to say, her mind just didn’t seem to be cooperating with life in general, let alone trying to have a full conversation with someone. “Hey,” Marcus said, taking her hand in his, “What’s going on?” He hadn’t meant for things to get so serious. He was meaning it for a joke. Peggy never took him seriously, that must mean that something was seriously wrong. He hated to see it. Peggy stared at Marcus and suddenly, an overwhelming urge came over her. An urge she had never felt before, and if she had been in her right mind, she wouldn’t be feeling now. Still, the urge was too strong, and she found herself, without thinking about what she was doing or what was going to happen next, grabbing Marcus’ jacket and pulling him toward her. When he was close enough, she planted her lips on his and kissed him. The suddenness and unexpected nature of the kiss momentarily threw an unflappable Marcus off his guard. He froze as his mind tried to catch up with what was going on. By the time he was attempting to kiss Peggy back, she had come back to her senses and pulled away from the kiss and released her hold on Marcus’ jacket. “Sorry,” she said, almost ashamed at what she had done, “I just…I um…well,” the words stumbled out of Peggy’s mouth before she could think of what she was going to say. “I should,” Marcus said, using his thumb to gesture that he should get going, “Yeah, I’m gonna,’ he nodded his head and got to his feet and practically ran out of the room. Prompt: “So? What’s so urgent that you had to call me out at one in the morning?” / “I just wanted to see you again.”
Kevin raced to the bungalow Skye and Ryan were staying at. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he couldn’t breathe. Something must have gone terribly wrong. What happened to the agent who was on duty? A million thoughts raced through his head and he couldn’t push them away. He barely managed to put the car in park before he jumped out and raced into the safe house. Nothing seemed to be amiss, at least in the living room. Keeping quiet, so as not to alarm any possible intruder, he made his way up the stairs, his hand ready to pull his gun in a moment’s notice. “Oh hey Kevin,” Ryan laughed as Kevin came storming through the door. Skye looked curiously over at Ryan and Alysha. What had they done? “What’s going on?” Skye asked, her eyes bouncing from Ryan to Alysha and back again. “Nothing,” Ryan said, but everyone could tell she was lying, she wasn’t trying too hard to hide that fact. “So?” Kevin said slowly, drawing the word out as he looked between the three females, “What’s so urgent that you had to call me out at one in the morning?” Skye shrunk back. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that they had done something crazy. Alysha and Ryan both smiled at each other and pushed Skye forward, towards Kevin. Skye looked nervously back at her friends as they non verbally argued about what was going on and what she should do. “I hate you,” Skye mouthed. Ryan smiled haughtily and turned Skye toward Kevin. “So?” Kevin asked, standing there, running his fingers through his hair as he waited for an answer to what was going on. “I…” Skye stammered, “Well I….” she couldn’t form the words. She looked back at her friends, shaking her head. She couldn’t do this. Alysha nodded her head encouragingly and then took Ryan’s hand and led her out of the room. Although, while they may have left the room, Kevin and Skye were under no delusion that they were out of ear shot. They both knew that Alysha and Ryan were pressed up against the door, listening to everything that was said. “Now,” Kevin said when the door closed, “What’s wrong?” He took a step toward her, reaching his hand out to Skye. “Nothing,” Skye said, shaking her head, “I just….I wanted to see you again,” Skye finally admitted. A smile split open Kevin’s whole face and he wrapped Skye in an embrace. |
Skye BallantyneI am very excited to welcome you to my blog! Hope you enjoy! Categories |