Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-28467653-20160521132150

''NOTES: OK, this is my second attempt here, hope it'll be better than last time. As a guy who only speaks English as a second language, I hope everything is grammatically correct. :) Enjoy, and if you have a few tips for me, don't hold back!''

 Ashley woke up to the sound of lightning. When she looked outside her window, she saw terrified seagulls escaping the brewing storm, dodging chairs in the air. For a brief moment, she couldn’t understand the situation; then she realised those are her parents’ chairs, and the wind must had picked them up. Great, she thought. ''Not only this place is boring, now we have a fucking Apocalypse on our porch, and the nearest human being is miles away in that little, shitty Millerville where nothing ever happens. Great job moving out here, mom.''  She quickly ran to her room’s door, with the intention to help her parents with bringing everything inside the house, when she encountered a strange problem: her door was locked. She didn’t even know her door had a lock.  ”Mom? Dad? I can’t get out of my room, this stupid door’s locked.” she shouted. There was no answer, so she tried again, and again, with no success. In the first hour, she was simply annoyed: ''they are probably out there, saving their precious garden from the storm. Yeah. But what if they aren’t? ''she asked herself in the second hour. Annoyance became nervousness, then, after four hours trapped in her own bedroom, Ashley was scared. She saw only the darkened sky and the sea outside: no living being was there to comfort her, to tell her it’s okay, they will come back. They won’t leave you alone. They are not like that. ''They are my foster parents, for fucks sake; what kind of a person adopts a child only to abandon it later? ''  Eight hours had passed, and nothing happened. Ashley was on the verge of crying when she finally heard a faint noise from the middle of her room, as if a little animal was scratching the floor from below. She retreated to her bed, but the sound didn’t stop. It actually became louder and louder as time went by, then, suddenly, it stopped for a second. Ashley, shaking nervously, looked at the middle of her room.  Then it exploded. A loud explosion was heard and the boards of the floor flew up in the air. Ashley screamed, in spite of knowing that nobody will hear her.

 From the hole in the floor, a strange creature climbed out. It was black as the night, ugly, but also little, like a child from kindergarten. It had claws, sharp teeth in his deformed mouth, and three eyes on his face. All these eyes gazed upon Ashley, the way a lion would gaze upon it’s prey.

 ”You Ashley?” asked the creature. Ashley didn’t say anything, just nodded, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

 ”Good. That’s good. Come with me.”

 ”No.” sobbed Ashley. The creature offered it’s hand to her. Ashley looked away in disgust; the creature’s arms were deformed, with the left one being a long, useless tentacle, seemingly without any bones or joints, and the other one being a short, baby-like arm.

 ”I don’t wanna go with you.”

 ”You want to live?” Ashley nodded. ”Then shut up, and come with me. I’m good guy.”

 Ashely hesitated for a few moments, but then she shrugged her shoulders. What else could she do? She didn’t trust the little monster, but spending another minute in that hollow room would drive her crazy, she was sure of it.

 ”If you do anything suspicious…”

 ”Yeah, you kill me. Heard it before. If you want defend yourself, here you go.” said the monster, then it took out an old knife (with rust stains on it) from its jacket, and threw it in front of Ashley. Ashley picked up the knife. The creature didn’t even wait for her, it simply vanished in the hole it made. ''Is that really such a good idea? ''asked a voice inside Ashley, but she tried to ignore it. A lot of questions had popped up in her mind in the past eight hours, and following that creature had the possibility of getting a few of them answered. Down the rabbit hole, she thought grimly, then she took a deep breath and jumped after the monster.

 She found herself in a darkened tunnel. Muffled voices filled the air; Ashley felt like she was being observed by monsters, monsters like the one walking in front of her. They hid in the dark, whispering to each other, evaluating her. Don’t turn back now, she told herself, there is nothing behind you.

 ”What do you know about parents?” asked the monster suddenly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”What do you care? They’re nice.” she said, not very convincingly. The monster snorted.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”They are bad. They kill you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”What?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”They want to kill you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”No, they don’t.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”They kill you. They crazy.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Fuck you.” said Ashley. She stopped, and for a second, she considered going back to her room, but she suspected that the road behind her is not just a straight line, and she knew that she has no chance finding her way back to the room in the dark. The monster turned around.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Why stop?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I should just kill you, you evil bastard.” hissed Ashley with anger in her voice. The monster spat on the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Yes. Go, kill me with knife I gave you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> The monster looked directly in Ashley’s eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I don’t hurt you. Why would I give knife to you, if I want hurt you? I help you.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> A few moments passed, then Ashley said:”Fine. Let’s go.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> They emerged from the tunnel a few minutes later. The environment was familiar to Ashley: they were in the garden, standing next to her mom’s precious flowers, under a sky that was still throwing lightning at the ground below it. Cold raindrops raced down the face of Ashley.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Thanks for this, whatever you are. Now, I’ll find my parents, and…”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”No!” shouted the monster. ”Too dangerous! They kill you!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Yeah, right. Thanks for getting me out of that room, now fuck off.” said Ashley. She walked towards the house. The monster started shouting behind her, but she was already trying to imagine the conversation she and her parents will have about this whole situation and the creepy monster below their home. She walked up to the porch, and she was about to open the front door, when the door suddenly opened up by itself. Her father froze down on the doorstep.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Dad? Finally!” she shouted in joy, opening her arms for a hug, but her father pushed her away instead.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”What are you doing out here?” he asked with confusion in his voice. ”You should be…damn.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> The little monster caught up with Ashley just when her father pushed her away from the porch. The sight of the strange creature stopped Ashley’s dad for a moment.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”What the hell’s that?” he asked. The monster ignored him, instead, it yelled at Ashley:”Kill him!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> That was the moment when her father noticed the knife in her hand. His eyes lit up, madness found its way into his mind.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”You want to kill me with that? You bitch. I always knew we shouldn’t trust you.” he said. With the speed of a wolf, he jumped at Ashley, throwing her at the ground, hitting her face a few times. Ashley felt something in her nose cracking, then warm blood started pouring down her cheeks. She tried to scream, but the shock of her father hitting her face silenced her. Pain distorted her thoughts, just as madness distorted the face of the man who had been her father not too long ago. Then she heard a faint scream from somewhere nearby:”Use the knife! The knife, only knife!” It was like an advice from the sky: she lifted her arm and, without hesitation, plunged the knife into her father’s belly. It wasn’t something she had planned; it was a simple instinct, she was just trying to defend herself against a man who wanted to kill her. Did he want to kill me? she asked herself, but it was too late, and her father’s body fell on her fragile body. She gazed into his dead eyes in disbelief. She wanted to scream, but by then the little monster was already there. It pulled her father’s lifeless body down from Ashley, then it helped her stand up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”You did good. Not easy, but good.” said the monster, and, as incredible as it may seem, it actually seemed like it was a little worried about Ashley. It picked up the knife from the grass (its blade was stained with blood) and put it back into Ashley’s hands.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”One more. You need kill mother too.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I don’t want to. I didn’t want to…”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I know. But you must. If not, they kill you. You want death?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”No!” cried Ashley. She looked at the knife that she had used to kill her own father. She felt sick, but she also felt a strange happiness inside. Not some deranged happiness from killing, but the simple joy that she’s alive, that she had successfully cheated death itself. It was a strange, bittersweet feeling.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Storm bad. Need to hurry.” said the monster. Ashley shook her head.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I won’t kill my mother. No way.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”It’s already bad. She kill you, remember? You want this?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Fuck that. This is just a nightmare, right? It can’t be real.” laughed Ashley. In that storm, she didn’t know what else she could do.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”No, it’s real, sweetie. Please, put the knife down.” said a familiar voice behind her. From the corner of her eyes, Ashley saw her mother on the doorstep, with some kind of pistol in her hands. She stepped outside. That was the moment she noticed her husband’s corpse on the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Is that…” she started, but she couldn’t finish the sentence. Her eyes filled with tears of rage. Ashley took a step back, her grip on the knife unwittingly became stronger.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I can’t believe it. You really did it, right? You ungrateful…”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> Ashley didn’t get to hear the end of that sentence. Her mother pulled the gun on her, shaking in anger. Her aim wasn’t that good, but when she pulled the trigger, Ashley felt a new kind of pain exploding in her left shoulder. She fell on the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I’m sorry, baby, but it has to be done.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> The mother stepped beside her. She kneeled down to her, with a face that looked like it was going to melt down from the grief and anger it contained. She put the gun to her daughter’s head.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”I tried, I really tried. Sorry, baby.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> Ashley’s instincts once again took over her mind, forcing her to do the one thing that’s important: survive. She stabbed her mother, right in the belly, where she had stabbed her father before. Her mother collapsed like a bag of potatoes. She didn’t seem threatening now, her gun landed in the grass. The look in her eyes was filled with regret and sadness. Ashley choked up a little.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Can’t believe you did it. I thought moving here would be a good way to…escape that stupid story.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> Her mother’s words started to become unintelligible as blood filled her mouth. Under the stormy sky, she seemed tired, sleepy, as if she was laying down on her bed at the end of a long day.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Fuck that gypsy… and her prophecy. Why did you do it?” she murmured as her heart finally gave up. Ashley gazed at her in silence, not knowing the answer to her question.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> The little monster walked up to her. For a moment, it seemed sad, a faint expression of solidarity filled its ugly face. Then it grabbed the knife which was still soaked in Ashley’s parents’ blood. The monster didn’t hesitate: it plunged the knife into Ashley’s chest.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”What the…”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> Ashley wanted to escape, but the cut was too deep, part of her knew she wouldn’t survive it. The monster stepped back.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Thanks for kill.” it said. From the corner of her eyes Ashley saw similar creatures emerging from the hole in the garden: ugly little fuckers with deformed bodies, black skin, and an evil look in their eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Why?” she wanted to ask, but only blood came out of her mouth. The monster seemed to understand, though.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”Staying in this realm hard. Hanged God wants sacrifice, so that he lets us stay in this realm. He wants child who kill parents. Then child has to be killed by same weapon child used to kill parents. Has to be killed by one of us. Hanged God is tricky god.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> The other monsters drew nearer and nearer. One of them released a gurgling sound that Ashley suspected was supposed to be laughing. A few of them looked like they were celebrating.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> ”That’s deal we made with Hanged God, long ago, millenniums ago. You’re just pawn. No personal.” said the monster. Ashley felt her body slowly dying. Rage filled her mind, and she wanted to use her last moments to spit on the monster in front of her, but she was too tired for that. Instead, she looked the monster in its three eyes, and said:”They were my foster parents, you evil fuck.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> And the monster shivered in the storm, for it suddenly heard the Hanged God’s furious voice in the howling of the wind. <ac_metadata title="Stormy Day (Unreviewed)"> </ac_metadata>