Rapture (long...you know how I get sometimes) (421 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.83 on 14 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by kre8rix (View user info) at 2007-03-13 16:36:32 EDT
*Just dusting off my writing muscles, nothing to see here*
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By the time they had left the theater, the rain had slowed to nothing more than a haze; reflections of the street lamps swimming lazily in their asphalt swimming pools. The sun had crawled back behind the horizon hours ago, but the autumn night had remained unseasonably warm.
"So, what did you think?"
Alexis refused to make eye contact with him.
"I think we need to catch a cab before it gets too late," She replied, "Some of us have to work in the morning."
"Don't start with me on that again."
"Well who else am I supposed to start it with?"
"It's not my fault you took that job, there are plenty of other jobs in this city that don't require a 5:00 am wake up call."
"We needed the money to get out of that shit hole of an apartment, and it's not like I could count on you to step up."
"That 'shit hole' used to be good enough for you..."
"Well, it's not anymore."
"Yeah, now we have an all new expensive shit hole."
The tension wafted through the air and the familiar silence encompassed the conversation in its indifferent embrace. They'd been having the same fight for months now; not with the same subject, but always with the same conclusion. Adam stared sharply at the back of her head for a moment as she waited on the curb, his frustration with her growing steadily. Her jet-black hair blended seamlessly with the rain-soaked twilight shadows and for a moment the muscles in his face softened. He reached out to her slowly.
"Hurry up, it's starting to rain again," she said coldly.
The scowl that had previously been subdued returned with tenacity; and with a reluctant sigh, he stepped up next to her to flag down the approaching cab.
"I don't see why you can't just hold up your arm and hail the cab yourself," He muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing..."
The forty-three block cab ride was mostly spent in silence; the reticence broken occasionally with one of them nitpicking about one insignificant thing or another.
Adam was 23 when he met Alexis. She had come in to the bar he worked at as part of an inebriated assemblage of very loud, very boisterous women celebrating the death of one of their friends' single status. It had been a slow night and he took note of all of them as they walked in, but hadn't noticed her in particular until she slammed a dildo-shaped glass on the bar; effectively shattering it and sending shards of glass into the ice bin on the other side. She spent the rest of the night apologizing for the glass, for the fight she started with the old man at the pool table, and for throwing up on the door to the bathroom; he spent the rest of the night nodding in silent acquiescence, and cursing under his breath as this walking disaster of a woman single handedly drove every customer, including her own friends, from the bar. After he closed up early, they went back to his apartment together.
That was 4 years ago.
He looked once again at the back of her head as she looked out the window and wondered what the hell he was thinking that night.
Alexis stared silently out the window, watching the rain-slicked buildings indistinctly drifted past. He was looking at her again; she could feel his eyes in the back of her head. She wanted to turn and say something, to re-open the communal discourse that used to flow so freely between them. They had moved in together shortly after their first night at the bar; or more accurately she had moved in with him. The speed in which their relationship progressed was matched only by the intensity of the arguments they had; at least in the beginning. Now she couldn't be bothered to do more than roll her eyes at him and remind him of how worthless he was. She didn't honestly think any of the impugning things that she told him, the subtle verbal insults that seemed to be the only communication between them lately; but she couldn't help rebutting every time he spoke to her. She had made a bet with herself to see how long she could go without making eye contact with him.
That was 4 days ago.
Adam stepped out of the cab before it had come to a complete stop. She glared at him as he walked away, and handed the driver the fare.
He had already gone inside by the time she had reached the top of the stairwell leading to their third floor apartment.
"No, it's ok, I'll get the cab," She said sardonically as she slammed the door to their minuscule, one-bedroom apartment.
"Great, thanks" Adam's voice echoed from the back bedroom, "I was going to grab some cash and come back down, but I had to clean the cat vomit off the bed."
"Well maybe if you would spend the extra money to get decent cat food, then you wouldn't have to worry about it."
"All the decent cat food in the world won't stop that animal from throwing up on everything I own. I swear she does it just to torture me."
"It's a fucking cat, Adam. Not a demon."
"Well she's your cat so you never know," He muttered as he walked into the bathroom.
"What did you say?" she asked, her accusatory tone dripping contempt.
He didn't answer and turned on the shower.
The undersized Siamese cat jumped lazily onto the bed, purring affectionately as Alexis sat down. Adam had given her the kitten as a gift, and now used it to start an argument if there wasn't another more pressing subject to argue about.
"Hey there little one," She said, petting the animal absentmindedly as she watched the steam rise up from under the bathroom door; clouding the second-hand vanity mirror next to it.
"He just has to take a 'super-hot' goddamn shower," She muttered accusingly and stood to adjust the temperature on the air conditioner.
"Damn it Adam, open the fucking window!"
Alexis threw herself back down on the bed and continued to curse him under her breath. She picked up the remote and began clicking through channels inconsciently. She had paused on comedy central when Adams screams reverberated through the small apartment.
"What the fuck are you doing Alexis?" he accused as he stormed out of the bathroom dripping water and soap, half covered with a towel. His skin echoed sunburn where it wasn't covered up with the meager cloth. She looked at him lasciviously, momentarily forgetting that he was yelling at her for something.
"You think it's funny to flush the damn toilet when I'm in the shower?"
She stared in silence for a moment, looking into his prosecuting stare before remembering silently to herself that she had just lost her bet and quickly looked down.
"Seriously Lexi, What the fuck is wrong with you? I can't even take a shower without you fucking with me now?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" She retorted, focusing on the stubble on his chin as she silently reset the 'no-eye-contact' clock. "I didn't even go into the fucking bathroom."
"You are so damn childish sometimes," He spat, "Why can't you grow the fuck up?"
"Yeah, you're really one to talk about being childish,"
"I'm getting really fucking sick of all this bullsh..."
An explosion from outside shook the foundation of the small, 5-story structure; the concussion knocking Adam to the floor. Glass from the windows ruptured inward, a fusillade of glass bombarding the interior of the room.
"Lex, get down!" Adam shouted, pulling her violently from the bed as another explosion reported; the plaster on the walls shaking loose.
"We have to get outside, Now,"
Adam pulled Alexis close to his body and they started making their way towards the door, dodging picture frames as the fell free from the walls. They paused briefly as a crack appeared in the faded hardwood floor, continuing to grow as concussion after concussion warped the building.
"Hurry..." Alexis whispered.
The two raced through the door as a horrendous cracking sound reverberated through the building.
"Go, GO!" Adam yelled as his neighbors tripped over each other, frantically trying to escape. They made it to the second floor and Adam pulled Alexis away from the mêlée on the staircase.
"This way,"
They slowed as the sound of detonations stopped, leaving them enveloped in a surreal silence as they walked. The lights above them showered sparks intermittently, temporarily lighting the hallway, and igniting small fires in the decrepit carpeting. Adam kicked open the door at the end of the hallway and walked in.
"Hello?" He called out, a hint of malice in his voice.
When no one answered he again pulled Alexis close and walked through the apartment, and to the window that led to the fire escape. Echoes of people screaming bled with the steady whine of sirens that echoed down the brick walls of the narrow alleyway. Adam went down ahead of Alexis in a now rare display of chivalry she hadn't seen from him in a while. The explosions had started again, though this time it seemed they were further away. Adam led Alexis out of the alleyway, and into Chaos.
The world was on fire.
The sky was a nightmarish torrent of black and red clouds, swirling turbulently as fire poured out in a molten deluge, melting the exposed steel of damaged buildings and igniting people instantly as they ran for cover.
Huge shadows swooped down from the sky, abducting people from the ground and tearing them in half before throwing them back to earth where they were eagerly devoured by behemoth wolves bathed in fire.
The ground cracked and split a few feet from where Adam an Alexis had stopped, and a large, glossy black hand grasped the edge. The Hellion pulled itself slowly from the crack in the earth, asphalt dripping from its body as it stood. It looked down at them and smiled, its razor-grin punctuated by its hollow, fire-wreathed eyes.
"You will not be a victim of the Blackguard-Cerberus, or of the Penumbra," It seethed, its voice a deep resonating whisper, "You will be the first of many to fall by my hand."
They stood mutely as the Hellion began to laugh.
Alexis gripped Adam's hand tightly, and whispered.
"I just know that somehow, this is your fault..."
User Reviews
Submitted by Alter (user info) at 2007-09-26 22:30:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No, Comment.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2007-03-14 19:46:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-03-14 12:57:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, that last line kicked ass.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2007-03-14 18:01:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ha!
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2007-03-14 16:34:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
vety nioiiice
Submitted by Kre8rix (user info) at 2007-03-14 15:35:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
hey Jonny, good to see ya. Still stirrin' up shit?
Submitted by Kre8rix (user info) at 2007-03-14 15:31:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2007-03-14 15:14:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You write very well. A quick english question: Is it grammatically correct to start a new paragraph every time there is spoken dialog or is that just for effect?
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Not sure...while I think each quotation needs a new paragraph, I can't say for sure. I have a tendency to write how it sounds in my head, and so some of it is for effect.
That and I can never gauge how Ubers formatting may or may not screw up, so I break it up to make it easier on the eyes as well.
Submitted by FartSmeller (user info) at 2007-03-14 15:14:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You write very well. A quick english question: Is it grammatically correct to start a new paragraph every time there is spoken dialog or is that just for effect?
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-03-14 14:22:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-03-14 12:57:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, that last line kicked ass.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-03-13 18:52:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
you get a +2 just for being a badass...
Submitted by mossimo1213 (user info) at 2007-03-13 18:03:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
hahaha that was good shit. The ending was great.
Submitted by tiaprae (user info) at 2007-03-13 17:38:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Zebra (user info) at 2007-03-13 16:55:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Hiredugan (user info) at 2007-03-13 16:52:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The last line just made me crack-up. Thanks for the laugh!