[Fic] Ruin Our Lives in a Day
Muse: Jules Shepard
Word count: 720 words
Prompt: From Camelot (1967): "All we've been through, for nothing but an idea! Something that you cannot taste, smell, or feel; without substance, life, reality, memory." for morganichele
There's something chilling about walking through the Valley of Death, gun in hand, with the Devil leading the way, acting as your guide. Maybe it's just the name--Valley of Death. It's creepy, and the valley itself is pretty damn creepy. It's silent and foggy and seems to be controlled by some kind of sentient alien force, because although I could feel the freezing wind as it blasted against my skin, I couldn't hear anything. It was like I was suddenly and profoundly deaf, and it was more than a little eerie.
"If you wanna pray, it doesn't matter to me," the Devil's voice popped into my head. "'Though I walk through the Valley of Death', that whole thing might feel particularly appropriate right now. It's fine, I can't really hear you anyway." I looked up quickly at his back, and even though he wasn't facing me, I could feel his smirk. "Aw, come on. You didn't seriously think I wasn't psychic. Come on, kid. Get on top of your game. You're gonna need it, when we finally get to Israel and his buddies."
My ears burned even more than they had been from the freezing wind. Had he been hearing my thoughts this whole time? Did he know exactly what I'd been thinking every step of the way? I felt violated, dirty, as if the sucking mud around my ankles had suddenly consumed my entire body.
"What is this, Candy Land? I would have told you if Gloppy the Molasses Monster was here, by the way. It sounds ridiculous, especially coming from me, but you gotta trust me."
I almost snorted at the thought. Here was the Devil, telling me to trust him. Then again, considering he was my only ally and he was personally leading me through the Valley of death, I probably should have held some kind of trust in him, as stupid as that sounded in my head. Unless he screwed with people's thoughts and was just now convincing me that I should trust him.
"Hey!" the Devil protested. "Come on. I've got more respect for you than that. Have I done some prodding in the past, um, yeah, but not to you, Jillian. Never to you."
I winced. That sounded like he was hitting on me, and I was married, although my husband was dead and his ghost had left me a second time, because he couldn't "in good faith, work with the Devil". The whole rest of my team had followed him--well, really, he had followed them, left just that note behind.
...What the hell was I doing? What kind of crazy person leaevs behind everything she knows to follow the Devil to the end of the earth and beyond--even when every single person that they know tells them it's a bad idea? What was the point of doing this, anyway? I was following the Devil through the Valley of Death, a place I had never really believed in before I had seen it, and I was doing it to fight a corrupt angel who had hired me to kill the Devil--who I was now working with. I had a team consisting of three teenagers and my dead husband, but they had refused to join me in following the Devil. I trusted the Devil--who could hear and very well manipulate my thoughts.
"I told you, I wouldn't do that to you ever," the Devil said. "You're my champion, Jules--you're doing something no one has ever done before. You're in the undiscovered country now, and it's up to you what you're going to do next. There's no going back, Jules. You can't climb back up the rabbit hole."
We walked in silence as I mulled it over. I had made this choice long, long ago--this choice to fight all the wrongs of the world at once, to leave everything I knew to be true behind. There could be no more second-guessing, because it was too late to turn back now. No matter what happened, I had to see this thing through to the end.
"Good," the Devil said. "Now, tell me you brought snacks. I have been craving corn nuts something fierce ever since we left Terre Mater."
I sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long trip.
Word count: 720 words
Prompt: From Camelot (1967): "All we've been through, for nothing but an idea! Something that you cannot taste, smell, or feel; without substance, life, reality, memory." for morganichele
There's something chilling about walking through the Valley of Death, gun in hand, with the Devil leading the way, acting as your guide. Maybe it's just the name--Valley of Death. It's creepy, and the valley itself is pretty damn creepy. It's silent and foggy and seems to be controlled by some kind of sentient alien force, because although I could feel the freezing wind as it blasted against my skin, I couldn't hear anything. It was like I was suddenly and profoundly deaf, and it was more than a little eerie.
"If you wanna pray, it doesn't matter to me," the Devil's voice popped into my head. "'Though I walk through the Valley of Death', that whole thing might feel particularly appropriate right now. It's fine, I can't really hear you anyway." I looked up quickly at his back, and even though he wasn't facing me, I could feel his smirk. "Aw, come on. You didn't seriously think I wasn't psychic. Come on, kid. Get on top of your game. You're gonna need it, when we finally get to Israel and his buddies."
My ears burned even more than they had been from the freezing wind. Had he been hearing my thoughts this whole time? Did he know exactly what I'd been thinking every step of the way? I felt violated, dirty, as if the sucking mud around my ankles had suddenly consumed my entire body.
"What is this, Candy Land? I would have told you if Gloppy the Molasses Monster was here, by the way. It sounds ridiculous, especially coming from me, but you gotta trust me."
I almost snorted at the thought. Here was the Devil, telling me to trust him. Then again, considering he was my only ally and he was personally leading me through the Valley of death, I probably should have held some kind of trust in him, as stupid as that sounded in my head. Unless he screwed with people's thoughts and was just now convincing me that I should trust him.
"Hey!" the Devil protested. "Come on. I've got more respect for you than that. Have I done some prodding in the past, um, yeah, but not to you, Jillian. Never to you."
I winced. That sounded like he was hitting on me, and I was married, although my husband was dead and his ghost had left me a second time, because he couldn't "in good faith, work with the Devil". The whole rest of my team had followed him--well, really, he had followed them, left just that note behind.
...What the hell was I doing? What kind of crazy person leaevs behind everything she knows to follow the Devil to the end of the earth and beyond--even when every single person that they know tells them it's a bad idea? What was the point of doing this, anyway? I was following the Devil through the Valley of Death, a place I had never really believed in before I had seen it, and I was doing it to fight a corrupt angel who had hired me to kill the Devil--who I was now working with. I had a team consisting of three teenagers and my dead husband, but they had refused to join me in following the Devil. I trusted the Devil--who could hear and very well manipulate my thoughts.
"I told you, I wouldn't do that to you ever," the Devil said. "You're my champion, Jules--you're doing something no one has ever done before. You're in the undiscovered country now, and it's up to you what you're going to do next. There's no going back, Jules. You can't climb back up the rabbit hole."
We walked in silence as I mulled it over. I had made this choice long, long ago--this choice to fight all the wrongs of the world at once, to leave everything I knew to be true behind. There could be no more second-guessing, because it was too late to turn back now. No matter what happened, I had to see this thing through to the end.
"Good," the Devil said. "Now, tell me you brought snacks. I have been craving corn nuts something fierce ever since we left Terre Mater."
I sighed inwardly. This was going to be a long trip.