#fff72

A/N: Just bonding time with the Blasted Scorn crew before the real story starts. My research was kinda limited because there aren’t enough mythical creatures in the sea. I’d make up with one but even I can’t consider anything more scary than a siren or a kraken. Enjoy.^^

Word Count: 937

TW: talk about lethal creatures

***

"You're telling us," Eubha starts, keeping elbows on her sides. "There's a ghost hiding under the sea?"

Light that lantern, prowl the darkness, and get in the halloween spirit with our final spooky prompt of the month!

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[#FFF71 Hidden in the Shadows]

Demonic beings? Phantoms? Eldritch horrors looming high? What’s lurking just beyond that beam of light? 

Go write, write, write! We want to know what nightmares you find.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Hidden in the shadows Are the secrets we keep The bits of our soul, Hidden under lock and key The deepest, darkest parts of our true selves The ones we are reticent to expose to anyone else.

Hidden in the shadows Is my love for you, Unwavering, ever growing, Honest and true.

Laid bare is my heart It beats, will beat, has always beaten for you But alas, this you will never know For I am too shy, too frightened to show To take you by the hand and lead you into the darkness deep To show you the secrets of my heart

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial​‘s prompt: FFF72 Hidden in the Shadows. Again, standalone piece. Enjoy!)

The silence stretches. It pulls and extends like a tension that doesn’t know how to be released. The two figures up on the roof stare out onto the city, remembering another place at another time.

             The place of memory was a beautiful one. It was not lit by streetlamps but by trees with softly glowing leaves. It had shining streets that were always covered by fog, but always strangely solid beneath one’s feet. It had space that folded it on itself, that could be folded on itself if one knew how to do it.

             Now, the night winds howled somewhere in the distance, rushing through buildings lit up from the inside. The streetlamps, powered by electricity rather than natural energy, shone down on the streets below, casting long, dark shadows into alleyways. Somewhere below, a raccoon steals something from a bin. Somewhere, someone is working when they should probably be sleeping.

             It is impossible to ask for answers when you don’t even know where to start asking the correct questions. It is hard to hold pain when you’re only starting to remember why you hurt. It is hard to grieve when you don’t even know what you’ve lost.

             “Why didn’t you tell me?”

             The other figure doesn’t meet their friend’s eyes. “You were so young.”

             “You knew, didn’t you. Even back then…”

           “We did. I wondered when you would figure it out.”

           “Why didn’t you tell me?”

             The first figure’s voice breaks but composes themself outwardly. Their coat sways. The other keeps looking out on the city, even as they answer quietly with all the age that they shouldn’t have had to carry coming out.

             “You were so young. You were so small and you looked so happy. You came alive when you were there and we couldn’t take that away from you. It’s not like you would have believed us at the time either. You were in love with that place and you thrived. You came alive and we… the two of us wondered. What kind of situation you were coming from, that you were happiest when you were in a place that was actively trying to kill you all the time.”

             Below, a car alarm goes off. The loud wails cut through the night like a siren.

             “You wouldn’t have listened. And no, don’t say you would have. We couldn’t stop you and. We did our best. We kept you safe as far as we could-“

           “The times you taught me the games.” The realisation came on cold and sharp.

           “Yes.” The other figure sighs, running their fingers along the cold railing and pressing the pads of their thumbs onto the rust. “But also the times we taught you how to find out information. How to listen and how to ask questions.”

           “How did I never realise?” The first figure turns away from the railing to pace. The clack of their boots echo in the night air, their shadow stretching as they walked nearer the lantern laid on the ground. “I should have noticed that something wasn’t right. All the signs were there. You choosing a fox as your symbol. Her refusing to choose a symbol at all. Then I just… I chose an owl and they thought- I thought-“

           “You were a child.” The second figure snaps. “You were placed in a terrible situation that you should have never been in. And it’s not your fault. At all.”

           “But I still should have known! It was… too good to be true.” The first figure laughs brokenly. “A place where I was accepted and loved and where my skills were good and people liked me and-“

           “That’s not your fault. And you should have gotten that, regardless. And I’m sorry you didn’t.”

             The first figure kicks a wall and just stomps around a bit, sending up a small cloud of dust. The wall flakes. The other figure watches.

             “A place with no shadows… And somehow, all the lies in the world.” They bite their laugh. “And it took you and her leaving for Hell and I still didn’t…”

           “They were exceptional at deception. And you were getting something that you needed from there. And also, may I repeat, you were a child.”

             “I was a fool.” They finally sit down, head tilting back to stare at the sky.  “How’s she doing?”

             “She’s doing fine. She was raised in Hell, remember. She loves the shadows. We went to see her old home the other day. She’s now trying to figure out how to be a therapist for demons.”

           “And you?”

           “It’s an experience. I’ll figure myself out.”

           “You loved the light and the earth.”

           The other figure smiles, unseen in the shadow cast by the wall. “Well, there’s certainly a lot of earth. The shadows aren’t that bad either.”

             “Do you… all the hiding… do you ever…”

           “Do I miss Cloud? Sometimes, yes. But I don’t know.” The other figure cocks their head. “I hear something.”

             There’s a rustling. The first figure tenses, gripping the inside of their coat.

             “Come out.” The other figure calls, lightly.

             “It’s nearly midnight.” The third figure says as they swing onto the roof, coming into view. The darkness of the clothing makes them look dangerous. The sharp white of their fangs gleam in the limited light. “We need to get moving soon or the gate will close.”

             The first figure startles. “I thought you died.”

           The newcomer swivels, stepping lightly from side. “That could be said. It could also be said that I went into hiding in the shadows.”

           “I thought they killed you.”

           The newcomer hums. “They kind of did, if you look at it from a certain perspective.”

             The light catches on the thin white scars along the newcomer’s skin when they approach the lamp. “You could say I was reborn.”

           The newcomer clicks their tongue. The other figure nods once and stands, brushing off their clothing. The other figure approaches the one still sitting on the ground.

             “Call. Or write. I miss you.”

           “You’ll see them at Halloween. That’s barely a month or two from now.” The newcomer adjusts their coat, tugging at the lapels of the other figure’s jacket. The one on the ground stands up.

             “Thank you for talking to me about this.”

They called me out to the fire-ridden field

A land of white and flame and snow

And told me to fight for he I didn't know

Until his soul was finally healed

A world of experts made me a fool

But still I never should've trusted their words

The opportunity gone like wing-flaps of birds

I don't wish to be their tool

Hidden in shadows, I shall remain

Until the time to finally strike comes

Until he's gone and his power succumbs

They haven't known yet true pain

He had been messy, a fool in his game

But I will fight with my own style

Sure, it may take quite a while

But I'll win unlike he did all the same

I know every move, my power is greater

You will lose this forsaken fight

Hidden in shadows, away from the light

Anyone could've been the traitor

Learn well, heroes, I shall prevail

And perhaps I'll win, and then you'll see

You never should've forsaken me

I will end this sorry tale

...

You call yourself the ruler of all

But I am not so easily fooled

You thought it was I who you ruled

But now this game will be your fall

You can't stop my masterful attack

And this game you started, I will win

Even if I become the story's villain

Hidden in shadows, I'll put the pieces back

Last one for a while! I’m taking November to focus on Nanowrimo, see you all in December...just in time for Christmas flash fiction ❄️

A glance behind will guard you from getting lost, especially on unfamiliar trails. Whatever they say about hindsight, the reverse is always unfamiliar.

Of course, the shadows should not be moving when you look over your shoulder.

The odd vanished when she blinked, just a normal forest. A soggy, damp forest, but one with normal trees and normal shadows.

She’d lost track of time. She had to be back before practice was over, to pick Tim up from ballet. Glancing over her shoulder again, she reached for the pocket watch usually on a chain around her neck. Her fingers itched.Always reaching for that which had been lost. She felt naked.

She was a fork in the trail, marked with a rusted horseshoe badly painted in red. She veered to the left, her feet taking their own path.

Right.

Well.

Ah, I wrote the piece listening to this: https://youtu.be/Tb7yhXrPfC4

Word counter: 122

The sounds of your bare feet

echoes in this unnatural warm night

Your honey-sweet amber eyes

I see shining under the lantern light

Your ghostly thin skin under my fingers

delicate like peonies, pale like ivory

In the morning it’ll only be a distant vision

as I see, I see you fade

In the dread of the blinding daylight

I will, I will wait

When the darkness will fall again

you’ll be in my room, without a creek

Dressed in spectral shadows

Your stone-cold eerie eyes

I’ll see glowing in your peony lantern light

The morning won’t come, this time

The sounds of my bare feet will echo yours

An eternal embrace, hidden in the shadows

@flashfictionfridayofficial Thank you for today's prompt!

Family Spirit

Words count: 570

Tw: ghost, death mention, car accident mention

I died on February 10th, two years ago.

Oh don't be sad or anything! Honestly it's not that bad! It was a stupid car accident, I didn't even feel anything. One moment I was driving home from work and the next I was a guest at my own funeral, sitting on the coffin as my mother read my eulogy. I didn't like the photo they picked of me: my haricut looks stupid, I had the flash in my face and the christmas sweater was especially ugly this year. But it was a little late to complain so I let my mother tell (again) the story of why I named my first dog Snuffletootputty… Everyone knew already but she loved it and it's a funny story. Remind me to tell it to you sometimes!

Anyway It's been two years and nothing much has changed: my brother graduated from high school and is majoring in literature in the local college. My father still work as a nurse. My mother is running her library. I wasn't there much for the five last years of my life, I worked and traveled and (subtly) dodged family gatherings. If you were me you would have too. You too must have an uncle Bradley asking you why you were still single everytime you saw him or some five to eight year old little cousins who absolutely needed you to play hide and seek with them even though you didn't fit in any hidding spot anymore (obviously they couldn't count higher than twelve but insisted on counting anyway).

Anyway I grumble but my family is not that bad, once seen from another point of view. Said point of view being hovering above the table as an ectoplasm. So for the past two year I have been at every family reunion, swinging from the fan (as you do) and watching aunt Susan getting one too much drink. She was also generously filling my cousin Peter's glass because "You don't turn twenty one every day!". Obviously his little sister and all the youngest children got jealous and my father had to pretend the sparkling cider was champagne to stop the protest. My, they were growing up fast! Thinking about it, I kinda sound like my grandma but since no one can hear me I don't care. 

Talking about my grandma, she was trying to get my mother's attention, asking in her soft, cracking, old person voice.

"And where's Ashley? It's been a long time since I've seen my oldest grandchild!"

I'm so glad no one heard it. She was already beginning to loose her memory two years ago and it didn't improved since. I got down from the ceiling and blow a ghost kiss on her wrinkled cheek. I'm here grandma, and I'm sorry. I miss you too.

I didn't realise it before. I have been a selfish jerk and didn't really got the chance to make amend for it...