Saturday, January 22, 2011
The No Name Boy (Excerpt from my novel, ch. 1)
Blood, so much blood…crimson in the dimly lit hallway mimicking each step I took. The brown door at the end of the hallway seemed to sink further into the wall as I slowly made my way towards it. Was the hallway tilting or was that just my imagination? Regardless of whether it was my imagination or not my body followed, tilting right along with it. I put my hand out ready to grasp the tiny round knob, when it opened on its own. A black form appeared in front of me and I heard a surprised exclamation, then a quickening of feet as more black shadows appeared. I felt my body give way as the black shadows enveloped me covering me in their darkness, devouring my light…would he be proud?
Chapter 1
It Blinked Blue as I Waited
The blue light above my head blinked annoyingly fast, illuminating the darkness for seconds at a time. I stared at it, annoyed yet fascinated. It was like seeing a man with a huge tumor covering his face or a morbidly obese woman eating a hamburger. You knew you shouldn’t stare but you found yourself doing so somehow fascinated by the small occurrence.
I closed my eyes and exhaled allowing the smoke to escape through my blood crusted lips. My eyes managed to capture the blinking light behind its eyelids and the tiny light danced around the darkness like the orb of a lost spirit. There was so escaping this was there? I opened my eyes and gazed around me lazily. The surrounding streets were darker than usual because of the moons absence behind rain stuffed cloud. I was sure my encampment beneath the blue light looked ominous. Laughing, I thought of what the late night joggers and rebellious teenagers would think if they saw me. They’d probably think I was some psycho criminal and take the other street…the long way home only to find themselves in real danger when they stumbled across the real crazies; the crazies that would beat you, rape you and leave you in some cold dark alley to rot.
The irony behind the fact that I wasn’t far from one of those people made me laugh again and this time I found myself caught in a coughing fit. Dormant cuts and bruises awoke with a vengeance, making me wince and cry out in pain. The black suitcase on my lap clattered to the ground and I bent to pick it up only to feel the cut on my chest open up. Warm blood ran down my chest and stained one of the last remnants of my white fleece. Cursing, I took the cigarette from my mouth and crushed it with my foot making it the scapegoat of the pain I was now in. Technically it was.
I sat back slowly and waited until the pain became nothing but a silent durable throb. No longer in pain but still angry, I downed the last bit of Vodka and threw the glass to the ground. It simply rolled into the shadows which made me angry for some reason. The stupid thing should’ve shattered. Realizing how stupid I was being, I told myself to calm down and enjoy this quiet moment. It was the only quiet moment in my hectic life. Despite what coming here meant, I tried to cherish every minute of it. It was my calm after the storm and before it. Being here meant I’d finished an assignment, I’d survived and that another one was bound to follow. I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was a quarter till 1:00. They would be here any minute.
Suddenly remembering the assignment, I opened the suitcase, shuffled around the money until I felt the cold hard pinkie. I took out the tiny finger and dislodged the ring around it placing the pinkie back in the suitcase. I’d thrown up many times before I was able to cut off a pinkie and hold it. That was a long time ago and I’d seen much worse since.
I held the ring towards the light and watched its many stones dance as they illuminated. I came to the conclusion that it was a pretty impressive ring, probably worth millions, but so were other things I’d been assigned to retrieve. But for some reason my father seemed more adamant about the retrieval of this ring than anything else. Maybe there was sentimental value.
Not really caring, I slipped the ring on and found it fit perfectly. Then I realized it was bad luck to wear a dead man’s ring and took it off just as my phone vibrated. I quickly put the ring in my pocket and answered the phone.
“Hai…sugu iku.” I responded in Japanese and hung up. I sighed and got up gathering my things when something flashed from the corner of my eye. Again?! I thought madly turning my head sharply to catch the culprit. This had happened the last time I was here. I ventured from the protective halo of the blue light and scanned the darkness. I saw nothing like last time. That had to be the flash from a camera! Who was taking the pictures? Maybe it was a cop! I had to be more careful, find a new meeting spot. I looked around one last time than turned and headed towards where my men said the car would be.
Like promised, the car was parked down a street around the corner in an alley. This whole area was under construction with promises of condos, five star restaurants and expensive boutiques. But, the project had lost funding a year ago so the contractors stopping working and the place became the ghost of a town that would never be.
Before I got to the car, the door opened and I entered without hesitation.
“You got it?” a voice from the passenger’s seat asked in throaty Japanese.
“Would I be here if I didn’t?” I responded nonchalantly.
“Don't speak English!” he said sharply. I laughed knowing how insecure he was about not being able to speak Englsih.
“Yeah, I got it.” I replied. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.
“Looks like they put up a fight.” He said in Japanese.
“Looks like I handled it.” I responded.
“Looks like you did…now lets get you home to daddy before curfew.” He snarled and motioned for the driver to leave.
I cursed angrily under my breath as we drove off. I was tipsy, sore and tired and the guy was pushing me. Leaning against the window, I watched the outside world pass by in a blur and found the effect to be soothing. I closed my eyes and began to drift, despite the blue orb that still danced in the darkness, and was pulled into the world known as dream.
copyright © 2007
dream.
Blood, so much blood…crimson in the dimly lit hallway mimicking each step I took. The brown door at the end of the hallway seemed to sink further into the wall as I slowly made my way towards it. Was the hallway tilting or was that just my imagination? Regardless of whether it was my imagination or not my body followed, tilting right along with it. I put my hand out ready to grasp the tiny round knob, when it opened on its own. A black form appeared in front of me and I heard a surprised exclamation, then a quickening of feet as more black shadows appeared. I felt my body give way as the black shadows enveloped me covering me in their darkness, devouring my light…would he be proud?
Chapter 1
It Blinked Blue as I Waited
The blue light above my head blinked annoyingly fast, illuminating the darkness for seconds at a time. I stared at it, annoyed yet fascinated. It was like seeing a man with a huge tumor covering his face or a morbidly obese woman eating a hamburger. You knew you shouldn’t stare but you found yourself doing so somehow fascinated by the small occurrence.
I closed my eyes and exhaled allowing the smoke to escape through my blood crusted lips. My eyes managed to capture the blinking light behind its eyelids and the tiny light danced around the darkness like the orb of a lost spirit. There was so escaping this was there? I opened my eyes and gazed around me lazily. The surrounding streets were darker than usual because of the moons absence behind rain stuffed cloud. I was sure my encampment beneath the blue light looked ominous. Laughing, I thought of what the late night joggers and rebellious teenagers would think if they saw me. They’d probably think I was some psycho criminal and take the other street…the long way home only to find themselves in real danger when they stumbled across the real crazies; the crazies that would beat you, rape you and leave you in some cold dark alley to rot.
The irony behind the fact that I wasn’t far from one of those people made me laugh again and this time I found myself caught in a coughing fit. Dormant cuts and bruises awoke with a vengeance, making me wince and cry out in pain. The black suitcase on my lap clattered to the ground and I bent to pick it up only to feel the cut on my chest open up. Warm blood ran down my chest and stained one of the last remnants of my white fleece. Cursing, I took the cigarette from my mouth and crushed it with my foot making it the scapegoat of the pain I was now in. Technically it was.
I sat back slowly and waited until the pain became nothing but a silent durable throb. No longer in pain but still angry, I downed the last bit of Vodka and threw the glass to the ground. It simply rolled into the shadows which made me angry for some reason. The stupid thing should’ve shattered. Realizing how stupid I was being, I told myself to calm down and enjoy this quiet moment. It was the only quiet moment in my hectic life. Despite what coming here meant, I tried to cherish every minute of it. It was my calm after the storm and before it. Being here meant I’d finished an assignment, I’d survived and that another one was bound to follow. I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was a quarter till 1:00. They would be here any minute.
Suddenly remembering the assignment, I opened the suitcase, shuffled around the money until I felt the cold hard pinkie. I took out the tiny finger and dislodged the ring around it placing the pinkie back in the suitcase. I’d thrown up many times before I was able to cut off a pinkie and hold it. That was a long time ago and I’d seen much worse since.
I held the ring towards the light and watched its many stones dance as they illuminated. I came to the conclusion that it was a pretty impressive ring, probably worth millions, but so were other things I’d been assigned to retrieve. But for some reason my father seemed more adamant about the retrieval of this ring than anything else. Maybe there was sentimental value.
Not really caring, I slipped the ring on and found it fit perfectly. Then I realized it was bad luck to wear a dead man’s ring and took it off just as my phone vibrated. I quickly put the ring in my pocket and answered the phone.
“Hai…sugu iku.” I responded in Japanese and hung up. I sighed and got up gathering my things when something flashed from the corner of my eye. Again?! I thought madly turning my head sharply to catch the culprit. This had happened the last time I was here. I ventured from the protective halo of the blue light and scanned the darkness. I saw nothing like last time. That had to be the flash from a camera! Who was taking the pictures? Maybe it was a cop! I had to be more careful, find a new meeting spot. I looked around one last time than turned and headed towards where my men said the car would be.
Like promised, the car was parked down a street around the corner in an alley. This whole area was under construction with promises of condos, five star restaurants and expensive boutiques. But, the project had lost funding a year ago so the contractors stopping working and the place became the ghost of a town that would never be.
Before I got to the car, the door opened and I entered without hesitation.
“You got it?” a voice from the passenger’s seat asked in throaty Japanese.
“Would I be here if I didn’t?” I responded nonchalantly.
“Don't speak English!” he said sharply. I laughed knowing how insecure he was about not being able to speak Englsih.
“Yeah, I got it.” I replied. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.
“Looks like they put up a fight.” He said in Japanese.
“Looks like I handled it.” I responded.
“Looks like you did…now lets get you home to daddy before curfew.” He snarled and motioned for the driver to leave.
I cursed angrily under my breath as we drove off. I was tipsy, sore and tired and the guy was pushing me. Leaning against the window, I watched the outside world pass by in a blur and found the effect to be soothing. I closed my eyes and began to drift, despite the blue orb that still danced in the darkness, and was pulled into the world known as dream.
copyright © 2007
dream.
The End, 10:43 AM.