Saturday 27 June 2015

National Flash Fiction Day

Late last night I learned that National Flash Fiction day was a thing, and that it was to happen on June 27th this year. I checked my calendar and realised that was today. I'm a pretty big fan of flash fiction so I wanted to do something for it. So I spoke to my friend Jay for a word count and a prompt and they delivered. I had 500 words to write about an "opportunity I decided to miss".

Challenge Accepted!

The resulting piece actually fills out some back story for a character in a film I helped make called Codex Noctumbra. You probably don't have to watch the film for it to make sense, but it would certainly be nice if you did. It definitely leaves things open for the story to continue, so watch this space.



Codex Redux


Susan flopped down on the bed beside me, a mischievous grin on her face.
My reaction was immediate and instinctive “No.”
She pouted. “But Trish,” she said stretching the vowel out into a whine. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
“Your ideas always end up with me getting in trouble. The answer is no.”
She lay on the bed in silence for a few minutes, no doubt planning her next attack run on my sensibilities. I battened down the hatches and raised my shields.
“You’re my favourite twin…”
“I’m your only twin. That’s how it generally works.”
The pout deepened. “Fine. Don’t come with me. But I’m gonna have a great time without you. This guy Adam is showing us all sorts of wicked occult stuff…”
“Come on Susie, you know I’m not into that stuff. Besides, isn’t it kinda dangerous?”
“Not when you know what you’re doing.” Haughtiness and condescension dripped from her voice. I’d fucked up, and now she was pissed. “And Adam knows what he’s doing. He’s done this stuff before.”
I sighed. She’d made up her mind, there would be no stopping her now. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Do you want to come with me? It would be good to have someone there that I know. Please?”
She looked so earnest, completely abandoning the serious goth she tried to be most of the time. I was tempted.
“I’m fine, thank you. You be careful though.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, nothing will go wrong.”

***

Everything had gone wrong. When the police started talking about chunks I had to leave the room to throw up and I couldn’t make myself go back in, not even to support mum. I sat in the hallway shaking and sobbing, calling out for my baby sister.
I later learned that she was one of the lucky (ha!) ones. She hadn’t been reduced to her constituent parts like some of the others. Susan died almost instantly after some sort of barb pierced her brain. There shouldn’t have been much pain. Somehow that wasn’t much comfort.
The police had no idea what had happened. The best theory they could come up with was a mysterious axe murderer but there was little to no evidence of that. Whoever—or whatever—had killed my sister and her friends had left almost to trace behind. I thought the police were wrong.
I struggled with the guilt for a long time. I should have gone with her, but then I’d probably be dead too, and mum would be all alone. Just another mysterious death in an unsolved case. As much as it hurts to live on without the other half of me, I’m glad I stayed home.
I never believed in the occult nonsense Susan was into. Not until she died. I think they summoned something that night, something that was stronger than they were and it tore them apart for their arrogance.

One day, I’m going to find whatever did this, and kill it.