#andrew staring down a reporter with two braids in his hair | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whitecatindisguise · 4 years

Text

Let Me Make You Proud 21

The Saporians’ are finally ready to attack Corona. And Corona... is less than prepared.

------

It was the middle of the night. The moon was high in the sky, its light shining down on the bare fields. Varian could see the wall dividing them from Corona from where he was seated inside the automaton.

It was two days after his revelation about the true form of his power. No, not power. A curse. A curse that led to nothing else, but death. His hands curled on the handles controlling the machine, as he reminded himself of his decision. If it comes to the worst, he will find a way to use everything he got against the Saporians.

It still hurt whenever he came back to his last conversation with Zhan Tiri. He really did betray Corona, didn’t he? The proof was all around him. Saporians armed with alchemical weapons of his design. Himself, inside the automaton built to help them fight.

Traitors pay with their lives… The Saporian motto echoed in his mind and he laughed sadly at how true it was. His fate was already decided, wasn’t it? Whatever the outcome, he will die tonight. Whether it will be by Saporian or Coronan hands, or because of his curse.

His eyes moved up and he stared at the night sky. It was full moon tonight. According to what he learned, this was the time he was the most powerful. He… and Cass.

He looked down and looked at the woman standing in the shadows. She appeared yesterday, brought by Zhan Tiri. She was going to aid them in the attack, she said, as they had a common goal.

Varian still didn’t understand what happened to change her so much. She was the Princess’ Lady-in-waiting, her guard and best friend. How come she now had the powers Rapunzel was destined to claim, standing against the one she swore to protect.

He tried to talk to her the day she arrived at the hideout. Tried to understand her. And, most of all, to warn her about the curse she claimed together with the Moonstone. But she didn’t listen. She didn’t even spare him a glance, walking away with Zhan Tiri, leaving him alone in the hallway.

A movement somewhere to his left caught his attention. He saw a figure making its way towards where they were hiding, in the woods directly opposite the wall. The moon looked out from behind the clouds, and he noticed long black hair, braided and tied at the top of the head.

Juniper approached Andrew with a pleasant grin on her face.

“Only ten guards, spread all over the wall.” She reported quietly, but Varian was close enough to understand what she was saying. Andrew hummed thoughtfully in response and grabbed his chin, eyes scanning the perimeter of the wall.

“Which place is the least guarded?” He asked, his gaze staring into the distance.

“Surprisingly, the part they rebuilt last year, after it was broken down by the rocks.” Juniper laughed and pointed at the specific point. Even from the distance, Varian could see the difference in wall colour, showing exactly which part was renovated.

“Surprising, indeed.” Andrew nodded as he scanned the particular spot. “I figured they would guard it better, since it doesn’t have the resistance the other parts have gained through the years. And, it’s the part that connects to the old road.”

“Exactly my thoughts.” Juniper agreed and laughed again. “Coronans are really stupid, aren’t they?”

“Makes our job easier.” The male simply stated and turned to Cassandra. She was sitting on a nearby rock, sharpening her sword with a piece of black rock. “Think you can make a door for us, Cassie?”

“You don’t get to call me that, Hubert.” She seethed and few of the men chuckled at the response. Andrew glared at them and they quickly silenced.

“Whatever you say, Cassie.” He replied with a shrug. “Can you do it or not?”

“What I can or can’t do is not your concern.” Cass stood up and marched up closer, towering over the man. “But if you keep annoying me, I won’t hesitate to kill you. You need me, not the other way around.”

“Fine, fine.” Andrew lifted his hands in the air but the smirk didn’t leave his face. “Just do your part.”

“With pleasure.” Now Cassandra smirked too and turned towards the wall.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep exhale, before opening them again. She lifted one hand and black rocks sprouted from the ground. Slowly at first, they soon sped up, rushing towards the wall. Varian could pinpoint the exact moment the guards noticed them, as they froze at first and then started to scramble away.

The rocks reached the wall but didn’t stop, climbing up the stone bricks. When the last rocks appeared on the top of the wall, Cassandra clenched her fist.

The stones exploded, chunks of the wall falling down to the ground with a loud thud. The smoke covered the area and Andrew gave the signal to move. By the time the smoke started to clear, they were already climbing up the debris.

Varian could hear the guards shouting commands to step away. Probably the villagers heard the commotion and went out to see, what’s happening. The thought made his stomach drop, as he remembered where he was. The moment they see the alchemy bombs, or the automaton, they will know it’s him. And they didn’t really forgive him for his previous mistakes. He was only adding oil to the flame.

~~~~~~

Rapunzel was grinning. She kept on pestering her dad for days, since Ruddiger came with the message. She didn’t feel at ease with sending only two additional guards to the border of the kingdom. So she asked and asked, dropped hints until the King decided to give her some men to go and check out the wall herself.

She knew, it was only so she stop asking and he didn’t really believe the message was true, but it was more than enough. So this was how Rapunzel found herself sitting in front of Eugene on Maximus, following Captain and other guards towards Old Corona and the border. It was the middle of the night, but the Princess refused to wait until the morning, and her father reluctantly agreed to go now.

She could already see the village in the distance. The sight made her stomach drop, as he remembered the big castle-like building by the wall. She visited Quirin the same day Ruddiger returned. She brought the raccoon with her and relayed whatever she managed to learn.

She remembered the moment she jumped down from Max’s back, Quirin meeting her in the doorway. His eyes lit up when he saw the raccoon but dulled soon after, when he realized his son wasn’t with him. She felt tears threatening to fall, as the man kneeled down to pick up the animal and hugged it to his chest, praying for Varian’s safety. She didn’t stay long after, deciding to leave the two alone.

And now she was back, entering the village with a group of guards, heading for the wall. She looked up and saw two guards, frantically scrambling away from a particular part of the stone. Captain noticed it too, and gave a sign to stop, his eyes staring into the wall.

That’s when she heard it. A familiar sound, something she dreaded to hear again. It went up the wall and reached the top. Everything went silent for a few moments. And then the wall blew up. The stones and bricks exploded, falling down in large chunks. The smoke and dust reached them in no time, irritating her eyes and throat.

“Everyone to the wall!” She heard Captain yelling and felt Max moving through the smoke.

She heard aroused voices of the villagers, leaving their homes to check what happened. The guards tried to stop the crowd from approaching, shouting to stay away. The smoke slowly cleared out and she coughed to clear her throat.

“Knock knock, Corona.” A too-familiar voice sounded in the night and her eyes flew to the damaged part of the wall.

There, standing on the debris, stood Cass. Her blue hair moved gently in the wind and she smirked evilly at the gathered crowd. More figures climbed the debris and her stomach dropped as she noticed the Saporians. And then, as if it wasn’t enough already, something even bigger made its way up the broken wall. The mechanical head with red-coloured glass window appeared over the bricks, before the whole machine stood at the top, behind the Saporians.

Rapunzel’s stomach dropped even more, when she noticed a person sitting inside. There, staring right at her with wide blue eyes… was Varian.

#tts #varian #let me make you proud #saporians #rapunzel

26 notes · View notes

blanchecking-blog · 6 years

Text

Nuts, Chapter 1

NUTS

Chapter 1

My reverend once said only God serves as a control for the truth, the referee between dreams and delusions. The rest we must discover for ourselves: the sights we cannot see, the voices we cannot hear--

“Ms. Dane.”

The sound of my name jolted me back to the doctor’s office. I shook my head. The woman sat behind her desk, my report in hand, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her muttering seeped into my head, slow like a mist, rolling, as if passing through my forehead instead of ears.

“Do you believe you can see spirits?”

Her clipboard knocked against the mahogany desk, a divider that sat between us, the sane and insane, its edges flawlessly varnished on her side and chipped on mine. I counted the scratches along my edge of the wood: ten, twenty… a deep set paralleled my chest, just inches apart. One of the patients had been a child. Maybe five. Six, at most.

“Ms. Dane.”

I looked up.

“Ghosts,” I said. “Imprints of the dearly departed. No one can see spirits. They’re souls. They don’t have shape.”

Mother’s nails dug into my shoulder. Father interested himself in the curtains.

“And these ghosts,” said the doctor. “Are they here with you?”

I glanced at Titus.

“Are there ghosts here with you, Ms. Dane?”

He shook his head.

“Lucy, answer the question,” said my mother.

Titus adjusted his collar in the mirror.

“Ms. Dane.”

Titus drifted to where my father stood, sat down on the couch, and folded his arms. He was a relic from the golden age of sailing, a permanently wet boy, physically, as if recently dredged from the sea. More than once, I tried to towel him off, only to have him remain sopping, much to my consternation.

“Don’t follow me with your eyes,” said Titus. “The doctor can tell.”

I shifted my gaze to the doctor’s face. Its wrinkled prune-like texture wrapped tightly around her heavy jawbone. She looked as if someone drained the juice in her face with a syringe, or at least, had tried and found only dust. Her head bent downward, just enough to show the degrees hanging on the wall behind her: Harvard college, Harvard medical school.

“Ms. Dane!”

The doctor snapped her fingers. “Is there a ghost in here with you?”

I stared past them at her nose. It tilted upward, advertising the imprints on either side of her bridge and noting that, at least that part of her anatomy had been constantly rubbed.

“Lucy, answer the doctor,” said my father.

I fixated on her nose.

“Lucy!”

I blinked. “Would you believe me if I said ‘no?’”

A wail escaped my mother. Titus stood.

“Your daughter shows symptoms of schizophrenia,” the doctor said to my father. “The hallucinations, the hostility, even the conviction that she alone is correct in her perception of the world.”

My father’s hands clenched at his sides. “Is there no cure?”

“I’m afraid not,” said the doctor. “There was the possibility of therapy during the early stages, or of electroshock therapy years ago, but with government regulations and Lucy’s condition being what they are, your only solution is to have the patient committed and hope for a miracle. I will provide you with a list of available hospitals.”

Mother’s sobs grew louder. Father patted her back.

“What about here?” he said. “Dover Hill has a unique reputation, a new hospital with revolutionary methods. I saw it in the news. Many of your patients have recovered despite their hopeless cases. Can’t you take Lucy?”

“We have limited space,” said the doctor. “Due to high demand, we only offer in-patient care for a substantial fee. It’s not the money. It’s to ensure our quality of care stays high. We are a new hospital after all, you understand.”

“Of course,” said my father. He chewed on his lower lip. “How much will it be?”

While the doctor and my father negotiated, Titus crossed the room in two strides and grabbed my arm.

“We’re leaving,” he said. “They’ll lock you up if we don’t leave.”

“I don’t mind,” I said.

Titus pulled, but I remained in my seat. I didn’t want to go home. Dover Hill had a garden full of tulips and petunias. I hadn’t seen a garden in months. I hadn’t seen anything in months, and I heard Dover Hill allowed its residents to watch TV on the weekends.

“We’re leaving, now,” said Titus.

The doctor’s head turned sharply in our direction.

“Do not try to escape. You will not make it out of this room.”

We both stared at my floating arm. Titus released me.

“This is not your fight, doctor. Why must Lucy be confined for your lack of foresight?”

The doctor ignored him. So did everyone else.

“Old woman!”

The doctor continued to ignore him.

“This is the necessary paperwork,” she said to my father. “If you complete them now, I shall have the orderlies arrange a room for Lucy in the next hour.”

With an apologetic look at my mother, Father took the papers and began to write.

“How-how long does Lucy have to be here?” said Mother.

The doctor took off her glasses. “We can’t be sure. Short of a miracle, late stage schizophrenia cannot be cured, only quarantined. We will do our best for her.”

“There’s nothing wrong with her!”

Titus’ voice rose above the scratch of my father’s pen.

“You can’t just lock up a fifteen year-old because she can see things you cannot. What kind of monsters are you?”

“Initial here,” said the doctor, pointing to a spot on the page in front of my father.

Titus’ eyes glowed, and I suddenly became aware of the sound of waves and sea shanties. An antique wooden clock shook on the doctor’s shelf. Titus pointed two fingers at the doctor. A revolver appeared in his hand: old, rusty, loaded--

“Stop,” I said. “It’s not worth it.”

“Who are you talking to?” said the doctor.

I grabbed Titus’ sleeve. “You know what happens to ghosts who harm the living.”

“For God’s sake, Lucy, sit still,” said Mother.

Titus shot me a pained look. “This is my fault.”

“Nonsense,” I said. “I asked you to stay. If you hadn’t, I might have actually gone insane.”

“Andrew, it’s happening again,” said Mother.

My father stopped writing and pushed my arm down by my side.

“Enough!”

His eyes bore into mine with a hatred I had only seen once before, when he found me introducing Titus to the neighbors.

“Lucy...” The revolver wavered in Titus’ hand.

“Please,” I said.

He pointed his own chest.

“That won’t work either,” I said. “They’ll put me away, with or without you here. ”

“Then on my honor I swear I will get you out,” said Titus.

I giggled. “So dramatic,” I said. “Come with me to Dover Hill. The house might be boring after I leave.”

The doctor pressed a button under her desk.

“We need escorts for Ms. Dane. Prepare a room for immediate transport.”

A voice on the other end answered in the affirmative.

Within the hour, orderlies arrived to escort me to my ride home. I tried to smile at my parents before the door closed, but they wouldn’t look in my direction. My mother cried. Father patted her back as he stared at his signature on the dotted line.

…

My parents took me home to collect my things. Mother sobbed quietly into a napkin on the way. Father drove. When we got out of the car, he ushered me into the house and up the stairs. Titus followed me into my room. Father disappeared for a moment, then brought a suitcase into my room, along with the books and toys I had left around the house. He threw them on my bed, then turned on his heels, careful to avoid eye contact. I guessed he made peace with the fact that he has no child.

As I packed, I heard the door click behind me.

“They locked you in,” said Titus.

“They’re afraid I’ll run away.”

I rummaged through the piles of my belonging. The ruffled dresses, the paperback novels, the dolls whose hairs I had meticulously braided. Everything I owned had to fit in the five-by-five suitcase. Whatever I didn’t take with me would end up in the trash.

“You don’t…” Titus held up a bear my father had given me for my fifth birthday. Its fluff had worn out from years of hugs and snuggles, and one of its eyes was loose. I held it for a second. It had been my favorite toy for years before I realized I could see dead people.

A thud against my window drew my attention outside. Pebbles bounced against the glass.

“Hey Crazy! Is it true you’re really crazy?”

The voice belonged to a boy from next door.

“My mother says you’re a nutter!”

Another voice giggled, little Suzie’s, from across the street.

“Go away Crazy! No one likes you.”

“God hates you,” said the boy. “God’s going to punish you.”

A potted plant broke through the window, shattering against the wooden floor. Soil spilled over my clothes. Titus got to his feet.

“It’s fine,” I said. “Someone else will get rid of them.”

Moments later, my father’s voice sounded, yelling at the children to get off his property. I heard their screams of mirth and mocking fear, then the pitter-patter of footsteps told me they had run away.

I dusted myself off. A pair of hands joined mine, brushing dirt from my midriff.

“Why are you doing this?” said Titus.

I took his hands in mine and pushed them into the soil. A tiny, shriveled crisp crumbled under the pressure.

“Can you feel it between your fingers?” I said. “It's dry. Too dry to keep the flowers alive.”

His fingers shook as I curved them into a scoop. We watched dirt trickle across the floor.

“No one’s watered them in months,” I said. “Not since you came. Not since we’ve been locked in here.”

“I don’t--”

“They need water, Titus, just like us. When hydrated, soil is solid, but without, it cracks little by little until it turns to sand. I don’t want to crack, Titus. I don’t want to be swiss cheese. Father’s kept me here for over six months. Six months without fresh air or company, except you, of course. If I stay any longer, I shall actually go mad.”

He stared at the soil, then uncupped his hands and let the soil plop.

“I’ll help you pack.”

We loaded my suitcase with clothes and toys. I put my father’s bear in the discard pile and took instead an extra sweater. Titus suggested we bring some tape, in case we need something immediately fixed.

An hour later, the door clicked and my father appeared. He picked up my suitcase and towed me towards the car. I asked where Mother was. He did not answer.

In the hallway I caught a glimpse of a shadow peeking out of my parent’s room. I waved at Mother. I guess it was her way of saying goodbye. I tried to smile, but my father pushed me out the door before I could open my mouth. As the car pulled away, I saw a face by the window. It was the last time I saw my mother’s face. I don’t remember what she was wearing or what her expression was, but I felt warm, knowing she had come to see me off.

Outside, the car waited on the seemingly abandoned road. The neighbors’ windows were open, many with their curtains drawn and the silhouettes of people visible through them. Father ushered me into the back seat. We drove in silence, Father obscured from my view by his headrest. Titus rode in silence beside me.

Three men in white stood at the gates of Dover Hill. One spoke with Father while the others collected me and my things. I looked back at my father. He looked older than I remembered. I tried to smile at him. He did not smile back.

#fiction #ghost stories #psychological #thriller #nuts #asylum #horror #free books

0 notes