Chapter One: When Dusk Turns Dark (Excerpt from Game of Death)
With no shoes on, she was small. She had quite a willowy, delicate frame that only added to her elegance despite the fact she was perceived as weak and frail. Her skin was as pale and as smooth as porcelain, making the girl almost look like a china doll, with her short, blonde hair framing her face delicately, not a strand out of place. Her eyes seemed to resemble polished sapphires, glistening in the moonlight, and her lips were ruby red. Her dress draped around her body, fitting perfectly just like a glove to a hand.The skirt was fashioned out of smooth, milky white, frothy organza that reached her knees. A satin sash pulled in her waist, making it looking smaller than it already was. The bodice of her simple yet glamorous dress was encrusted with tiny little gems and beads that caught the soft moonlight and glowed. The girl walked with the grace of a nimble gazelle and was as bewitching as a peacock showing off her beautiful feathers.
The girl, known as Pearl, had never felt more terrified and insecure. All her life, she had spoken every word strongly and surely, each command strong. Now, for the first time in her life she found herself faced with uncertainty.
The moment she’d volunteered for the elemental games, everyone had been so certain that she would return victorious, and had completely disregarded the rest of the competition. And despite all their words of encouragement, she knew that she was incapable of winning. Which was the main reason for her sneaking out in the middle of the night for a calm walk in the woods.
She let out a sigh and leaned against a tree, the scent of petrichor infiltrating her nostrils. Terrified, she thought of the upcoming morning. There would be tears and goodbyes as she departed for the games, no doubt about it, but she couldn’t help but feel that she might never see any of her family or friends ever again.
Suddenly, an arrow nicked her ear as it flew past, thudding into a nearby tree. Pearl was immediately alert. No one from her tribe went hunting this late at night, and there could only be one possible explanation. It was an invasion.
But then, Pearl thought in a moment of confusion, Why aren't there any horses? Where is the army? The soldiers adorned in shining silver armor should have been visible under the light of the moon.
She trembled as she attempted to come up with an explanation. But before she could form a single thought, a tall figure leapt over the brush in front of her, landing with a light thud, so soft she barely heard it. She automatically reached for her knife, but realized that she was unarmed, wearing only a thin nightgown. There was only one option, she realized as the figure nocked an arrow. She turned and fled into the darkness.
She heard the whizzing sound, and she rolled on the forest floor as five arrows sailed overhead. Her thoughts raced as she ran. No archer she knew could shoot that many arrows in one shot, and there was no possible explanation nor reason some other tribe would send a single man to kill her. That's when it dawned upon her that it was none other than an assassination attempt. This one thought compelled her to move faster.
The assassin wasted no time in following after her. They took to the trees, leaping from branch to branch covering ground ten times quicker than their target. In the faint moonlight that shone through the trees, it was clear to see the girl as she fled towards her village, her nightgown a white beacon in the dark night.
Breathing hard, Pearl came to a halt. She spun around, trying to catch a glimpse of her attacker, but there was no one to be seen around. Relieved, she turned towards her village gates, which was just beyond the edge of the wilderness, no more than a few feet away.
And that's when the arrow pierced her leg. She let out a guttural cry as she collapsed on the forest floor, a pool of blood already forming around her. A hooded figure stepped out of the shadows, and Pearl scrambled up, struggling to see her attacker through the tears that formed in her eyes.
“What do you want?” She cried, as the figure advanced. “Help! Help!”
She threw a desperate look to the edge of the woods. Why was no one coming? Could no guard hear her cries?
The figure laughed, advancing, and Pearl choked back a sob.
“Who are you?” She whispered, staring up into the cold merciless eyes of her killer. She would never get her answer. She gasped as something pierced her lower abdomen. Looking down she saw a knife buried deep inside her stomach. Tears pooled in her eyes, and then she felt something deep inside her give up and turn off. She became limp and motionless, dead in a pool of her own blood.
The hooded figure smirked, before withdrawing a small pendant. She placed it atop the pool of blood and the necklace went from blue to a bright shade of scarlet. She placed it around her neck and a bright flash light illuminated the woods. In the place where the assassin stood a girl that looked exactly like Pearl, blonde hair, green eyes, everything accounted for except for clothing.
She smiled down at the dead body at her feet.
“Isn’t it obvious?” She asked. “I’m Pearl Evelyn Wavecrest of the Water tribe.”
Why She’s Scared of Love
Gasping for oxygen and praying for life is something no one expects to go through. Pain so powerful that it blinds you for a couple of seconds, and in those seconds you wish for death. You want to die. Claire Saint did too, she wanted it all to end. She watched the pleading in her brown eyes in the bathroom mirror, but would then make contact with his brown eyes.
Jayden, the name that shook her to her core. All of the "I love you's", all of the apologies, all of the lies that would spew out of his mouth and then rot where they landed. Never was one good promise kept, but others involving beatings and verbal and emotional torture were. Claire's swollen black eye was flooded with tears as well as the other one which was in proper condition. Jayden twisted her wrist behind her back, all she could hear was "crack, crack, CRACK!" Claire screamed for someone to help. Instead, Jayden released her long brown hair and covered her mouth and said,
"I thought you were supposed to be clever, Saint. You're the best detective there is, right? Well how did you not anticipate me, you worthless bitch?!"
He was right, she didn't anticipate him. In fact, Claire loved him so much he thought his hate and beatings were apart of it. All of the times she let his bullshit slide made her livid. She hated herself for it, she felt so useless and stupid. All of these though swirled around her head, and she started to notice that it wasn't just her tears making her vision go or of focus.
It was also the cut off of her oxygen supply. Her wrist kept bending in ways it shouldn't, and she kept screaming into Jayden's hand. He loved doing this to her, he liked the rush he felt when he hurt her. It was sick and twisted, something happened to him to make him this way. Claire wasn't sure if she wanted to stick around and find out what it was.
"You know, I always enjoyed seeing the look on your face whenever you caught me cheating on you" Jayden hissed into Claire's ear. "But I enjoy doing this even more."
More tears came flooding into Claire's eyes, she began to panic even more. Her fidgeting turned even more violent as she tried to escape his grasp. Claire tried to get ahold of his jeans or his plaid shirt, to perhaps rip it enough for him to be distracted. For her to make her move towards the door of her apartment. Claire's heart pounded and begged with her to survive this.
"What do you think your doing you piece of shit?!" Jayden shouted and released Claire only to greet her with a punch square in the nose.
At that point, Claire couldn't feel anything anymore. Blood poured down her mouth and chin, creating a small puddle below her. Before Claire even had the time to collapse, Jayden snatched her by her already ripped black dress and white cardigan. He threw Claire onto cold, hard floor of her bathroom. Her head made a fast and painful impact with the bathtub, and by then she couldn't see clearly at all. Every sound became more and more distant the more and more her vision went dark.
Jayden huffed and caught his breath, and then started crying. "What have I done? Claire, I'm so sorry."
She felt a tug at her heart, she wanted to believe him so badly. Her mind fought against its reminding her of all of his broken promises. Of his unfaithfulness. Of his malicious intents.
He began to sob and covered his face with his hands. "I'm being bad, I know I am..."
Her heart pounded against her ribcage, she just wanted to be left there to die. He would become even more angry and do worse.
"Claire, I love you."
Those last three words echoed in her head as the world around her spun.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
She blacked out, left to bleed and die.
No, Claire's mind wandered, no you don't.