Author: catstark

via Daily Prompt: Tend

Riley stared at his sister as she knelt in the rooftop garden. “I never figured you for someone who would garden.”

Ashley looked up and smiled. “I didn’t either, but it’s a nice distraction from work.”

He didn’t say anything but moved closer to sit on a stool nearby. “We still going to dinner?”

“Yep, in a few minutes. I want to tend to my garden while the sun is still shining. Reservations are for 6. We have time.”

“Reservations? Where are we going?”

“There’s a place around the corner. They get real busy. Figured it was best to make reservations, even on an off night.”

“Oh, ok.” He watched as Ashley dug out a weed for a few minutes. Bored with the silence, he got up and started to pace up and down the row. “So, why did you move out?”

“I couldn’t keep living with you and dad.”

“Why not?”

She didn’t answer for a moment, as she pruned a tomato plant. Done, she looked to Riley and waited until he was facing her. Once he was looking in her eyes, she asked her own question. “Are you aware that dad lets you get away with things you’re not supposed to get away with?”

He frowned. “That’s not true.”

“Last week, the Tut’s place. The Messengers took care of things, the Agency went in and things went missing. That vase you sold three days ago, where did you get it?”

He reeled back as if slapped. “Come on, Ashley, what the hell is this? An inquisition?”

“If this were an inquisition, we wouldn’t be in a garden.” She stood and faced her brother. “There are things that need to change, Riley. Things you need to change. It’s time you started to tend to your own garden and get things straightened out.”

He stared at her, the frown still prominent on his face. A moment later, the frown melted and understanding lit up his eyes. “Is this about when I used to tease you when we were kids?”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise, but then she shook her head. He had always been dense. “No, Riley. This is about your life now. About the things that have gone missing from places where your team goes. It’s about the money you have tucked away in an offshore account that you think no one has found. Get things in order, Riley. Stop overstepping your bounds.”

He looked at her, perplexed. “Am I your target?”

“Assignment, yeah.” She looked at him coldly. “I asked for this, Riley. I wanted to be the one to talk to you. You’re my brother. I love you. I’m telling you, you need to change, or things may go badly. Listen to what I’m saying, and all will be good. Straighten out.”

He frowned again. “This is bullshit. I’m going home.”

Riley turned and left. Ashley hung her head as he slammed the rooftop access door closed. She sighed deeply. He wasn’t going to change. She looked at her watch. It was time to get ready. She was meeting her dad at the restaurant at 6. Had Riley been amicable to talking, she would have brought him along as a surprise. Captain Renald didn’t know she had a meeting with Riley.

Ashley hoped she could talk to her dad and get him to change his attitude toward his oldest. Riley’s life depended on it.

via Daily Prompt: Bewildered

Day three of the same story I’ve been pursuing the past couple of days. We’ll call it Ashley’s Story.

_______

The young man looked up, bewildered. He stared at the woman in front of him for a long moment before saying her name. “Ashley Renald?”

She sighed. “Yes.”

They looked each other in the eyes for a long moment. He knew who she was, and she knew he knew. He finally looked at the paperwork and started typing into his computer.

“I’ll still need to see your ID.”

She handed it to him without hesitation.

He took the ID, typed for a moment more when a door close by opened. Seconds later, Ashley noticed a tall, thin man walk into the reception area. He walked with a cane and wore glasses. He came to the recruiter and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder but nodded to Ashley.

The young man looked up to his boss. “Lester?”

“I have her file in my office, James. Come with me, Ms. Renald.”

She looked the man up and down, then nodded. She stood and he led the way into his office. She noted that there was not a speck of lint on his impossibly black suit. It fit well but she could imagine that it was his favorite suit.

In the office, he indicated a chair for her. He rounded his large desk and sat in the dark red leather chair. She waited for him to speak as she found a comfortable spot in the chair.

“I’ve been waiting for you to apply, if you haven’t noticed.”

“You did send me the application, Mr. Zern.”

“The Valedictorian, and the top sniper, always gets an application. It’s very rare that is the same person.”

Ashley nodded but stayed silent. She didn’t know what to say.

“Tell me why you want to join the Messengers, Ms. Renald.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My family has been a part of the Agency for as long as there has been an Agency.” She looked Mr. Zern in the eye. “It has come to my attention that maybe this isn’t a good thing.”

“How so?”

“It’s possible people are starting to ignore the things they do. It’s possible people with my last name may or may not be breaking rules, and higher ups are ignoring them due to the family’s longevity with the Agency.”

Mr. Zern crossed his arms. “It has come to my attention that this may be the case, as well.”

They stared at each other for a moment across the desk. Mr. Zern nodded and reached into the top desk drawer on his right. He pulled out a hand gun and handed it to Ashley. She took it, checked to see if it was loaded and placed it on the desk in front of her. Mr. Zern clicked the intercom.

“James, come in here please.”

“Sure thing.”

There was a knock on the door, but James didn’t wait for an answer. He came in and closed the door.

“Yes?”

“Stand against the far wall.” He stood and nodded to Ashley.

Ashley stood as well.

“Take the gun.”

She frowned but did as told. James placed his back to the wall and waited to see what was going on. He had a small frown on his face but seemed calm. Mr. Zern led Ashley to about ten feet away from James.

“Kill him.”

Ashley had the gun in her hands, ready to use it, but it was pointed toward the floor. She looked to Mr. Zern. “Why?”

“Are you questioning my orders?”

“Yes. The Messengers don’t kill indiscriminately. If they did, I wouldn’t’ be here. Why do you want me to kill him?  What has he done to deserve death?”

Mr. Zern held out his hand for the gun. Ashley clicked the safety on and handed it to him. He nodded to James and the man left.

“The gun is filled with blanks. Do you know how many people just shoot?”

“How many?”

“About 90 percent.”

“How many of the ones that shoot were excepted into the Messengers?”

“A few.”

Ashley nodded. “Does this mean I passed?”

“The initial application process is well underway, Ms. Renald.” He held his hand out to her. “Welcome to the Messengers.”

Ashley smiled and shook his hand.

via Daily Prompt: Enroll

This is a continuation to what I wrote yesterday. albeit earlier in the story. Which makes me happy. Enjoy!

____

“Did you enroll yet?”

Ashley Renald stared at her cup of coffee and sighed heavily. “No.”

“Enrollment is only for a few more days, Ashley.”

“Dad, I know!” She looked to the large man sitting on the diner bench across from her. She looked away as he raised his eyebrow in surprise. She didn’t usually yell at her dad.

“Ashley, what’s been going on? Ever since graduation, you’ve been acting strangely.”

Graduation was a month ago. She was top of her class; valedictorian. There were several other cadets who did just as well as she did in most weapons. She excelled with the sniper rifle. No one else could do as well as she could. Ashley was able to find the target, aim and fire quicker than any other cadet, by more than five seconds. It didn’t seem like much, but five seconds could mean a lot in tight situations.

Ashley looked to Captain Renald. “Dad, I don’t know if I want to be part of the Agency. Or, well, what if I want to join the Agency, but to be a Messenger?”

He looked taken aback, but the look slowly faded. “I wanted to be surprised, but I guess I’m not.” He sighed. “Ashley, you’re 20. You’re an adult. You can do what you want. You have a few days to think about it. Please think carefully.”

She nodded and watched as her dad moved out of the booth and went to join his cronies. Ashley finished her coffee, left money and went for a long walk to figure out what she wanted to do.

via Daily Prompt: Permit

“Do you have a permit?” The stern voice stated from behind her.

Ashley turned around and saw an agent close by. He already had his badge out for her inspection. She knew his body cams would be on as well. Though she knew the man, she still took a good look at his badge. Mostly to annoy him. Once she was satisfied, Ashley nodded and set the sniper rifle down. She took off her ski mask and breathed a sigh of relief as the air cooled her warm skin. She pulled out her ID, her L2K, and her permit. She handed it all to the agent and waited as he used his electronic device to scan everything in.

“You know, you were called in.” Agent Riley Renald sounded slightly surprised.

“I was told not to be too careful. This is a warning, not a final notice.”

Her cold tone of voice made the agent look into her eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, then he nodded and looked back to her information.

“There’s a request out for you. The department is looking for good people. Interested?”

“Not yet.”

“Ashley, Captain Renald would be proud if you came to work for us. A lot of us would be.”

She looked at him but didn’t answer. After a moment, he looked back to the paperwork. Agent Riley finished scanning and documenting everything and handed her back the stack.

“Everything is in order.”

“Isn’t it always?”

He sighed as she put her things away, drew the mask back over her face and turned back to the sniper rifle. Agent Riley watched as Ashley took aim and fired at her target. A glass window on the skyscraper across the street exploded in red paint. She wasn’t using bullets, this was a warning. If it were the real deal, no one would have seen her, and she would not have been aiming at the skyscraper’s windows. Those were treated and bulletproof.

Ashley hit the window three more times with red paint, then put away her rifle. Once all her equipment was put away, including her mask, she turned back to Riley.

“Breakfast?”

He chuckled. “That’d be great. sis.”

She smiled and all the coldness of earlier melted away. Riley shook his head and the two left the rooftop.

via Daily Prompt: Creature

This is from “Raven’s Blood”. The book is finished and is about piracy (sort of) and people helping creatures that I made up.

Eesan walked across the gangplank, listening to the gasps of the crew members. Some gasped in disgust, some in surprise and one in sheer joy. That person stepped forward in unabashed curiosity and stopped in front of the Oorii.

It was beautiful. It wore no clothing, had no hair, but beautiful yellow eyes, no nose, but it did have nostrils. There were no ears, but there was a flap of skin over what could be ears. It had fins that rose from the top of its head and ran down to the back of its neck, and had no genitals to speak of. Its scales gleamed a rainbow green in the sun. Denny could see its gills on its neck and the web between its fingers and toes. It stood taller then most humans and had two arms, two legs, ten fingers and ten toes.

Curiosity taking over, Denny reached out and placed his hand on the creatures slightly protruding brow. In the second their skin connected, Raven could no longer think of herself as Denny. Eesan’s thoughts were invading her own, greeting her and making her feel very welcomed. He knew of her and was very happy to meet her and see her.

Raven’s hand traveled down the Oorii’s face and rested on his shoulder. Eesan took her hand and placed it over his heart. She could feel it beating strongly against her palm. She smiled at the feel and stepped closer as the Oorii placed his hand on the back of her neck. They stepped closer again and rested their foreheads against each other.

Their thoughts connected fully and Eesan knew her story and why she was really here. Raven saw his story as well and saw how much the Oorii thought about her. She was a little embarrassed, but her heart was warmed by the sentiment. Once their thoughts were shared, Eesan pulled away. He bowed to Raven, then went to Captain Dawson. Eesan placed a hand on Captain Dawson’s shoulder and the Captain copied the gesture. In a moment, the human nodded and the two separated. Captain Dawson went to stand in front of Raven and nodded to her.

via Daily Prompt: Sympathize

From book two of The Grey House Trilogy: Inside The Grey House

There were three people shackled to the wall. Their mouths were gagged. There was a chair on the wall opposite the Slayers and several empty shackles. Dean was a mess. His clothing was torn and bloody. She could see the ripped flesh through his tattered pants. His upper half seemed unscathed, but she was amazed he was still alive. Apparently the werewolves knew how to attack without killing. Shaking her head in sympathy, she went to him and untied his gag. Natalia then walked to the chair, picked it up, set it closer to Dean and sat down. She crossed her legs and arms, watching him with close scrutiny.

via Daily Prompt: Puzzled

This is not from the trilogy. It is from a book I haven’t finished yet. It’s called “Feed the Piggies”. It is a love story, of sorts. And that’s all I’m telling you.

_________

She frowned. “I don’t understand. How do they not know about you?”

“They’ve found two of my kills, but never connected it to me. The rest are thought to be runaways.”

Once the chipper was apart enough, and the motor out of the way, he grabbed the hose and turned the water on low. He used the low pressure to get the bigger pieces and collected those as he could. With the bigger pieces gone, he turned the water on higher and sprayed down the wood chipper.

There was a drain in the barn that flowed into a special septic tank that was not attached to the one for the main house. This tank’s outflow pipes led into the forest. Willem cleared out the septic tank often to make sure it didn’t back up. He was very careful with how he got rid of the remains. Jail was not an option. Sasha watched Willem for a few minutes, a puzzled look on her face. She had no idea what he was doing. Willem saw the look and wondered how she could miss the obvious.

Sasha shook her head to clear it. “Why don’t you want them to know what you’ve done?”

He nearly glared at her. “I don’t want to get caught.”

“But if they know that you’re killing and they can’t catch you, or don’t know who’s doing the killings, that’s a real thrill.”

“I don’t want to end up in jail or dead myself. I prefer the anonymity. You like that they found your kills? You like that they gave you a nickname?”

It was more statement than question, but she nodded and smiled. “They don’t have a clue who I am. Before all this started, I never had a record, never once talked to the police. They don’t have my fingerprints or DNA or anything. It’s great!”

He nodded and didn’t say anything. The police had her fingerprints and her DNA, but didn’t have a name for the person attached to it. At some point, she would make a mistake. She wasn’t careful enough.

“So, what are you doing anyway? Do you chop a lot of wood?”

He paused and tried not to laugh at her ignorance. There had been traces of blood and bone on the chipper when she walked into the barn. The huge plastic collection bag had traces of blood on it and tough the bag was black, the blood was still noticeable. Willem looked at Sasha for a moment, wondering if this were a game. She could be trying to look dumber than she was. Some people did that as a defensive mechanism.

Willem decided to let her figure it out and shrugged. “Just cleaning up some things that were lying around. I’ve got to finish cleaning up. Why don’t you go inside and I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

via Daily Prompt: Conveyor

‘Conveyor’ didn’t spark anything, so I’m going with ‘convey’ and posting another paragraph from The Grey House Trilogy. This is from book two, Inside the Grey House.

Natalia looked up at Joseph for a moment before trying to stand, amazed that he was capable of speaking more then just a couple sentences. This was the most he had ever conveyed to her. There was an amused look on his face that seemed to suggest he understood what she was thinking. Natalia shook her head then stood slowly. “What happens now?”

via Daily Prompt: Cavity

So a story idea came to me. I didn’t realize it would be so sad. Take care of each other, please. Let’s not end up like the people in this story.

The Bridge

Detective Cavity stood on the bridge, staring out at the city. Nearby, the fog horn blew. The lights and fog along the river were obscuring his view, but he loved this time of night. The lights had halos; the colors of the buildings and the noise from the restaurants and bars were muted. He took a breath and allowed the stillness to seep into his bones. This was his favorite place in the city. Unfortunately, this spot was used a lot by suicidal individuals.

 

The end.

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And if you need it:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

via Daily Prompt: Stifle

From The Grey House Book One:

The overpowering stench of werewolf and blood rushed into her nostrils, knocking any calm she encountered. Blindly, she searched for the cool metal doorknob, yanking open the door, hoping the outside world would remove the image from her mind. The blaring sun, now low on the horizon, fought hard to burn the image more fully into her retinas. Stifling a cry, Natalia stumbled across the street to the bus shelter, falling against the glass and sliding into the hard unyielding seat.

 

 

 

 

 

The overpowering stench of werewolf and blood rushed into her nostrils, knocking any calm she encountered. Blindly, she searched for the cool metal doorknob, yanking open the door, hoping the outside world would remove the image from her mind. The blaring sun, now low on the horizon, fought hard to burn the image more fully into her retinas. Stifling a cry, Natalia stumbled across the street to the bus shelter, falling against the glass and sliding into the hard unyielding seat.