Writing Sample #2
Lightyears
This story is an idea that I love and has characters that I love, but lately I haven't been able to write much of it. It's an urban fantasy with sky pirates and floating islands. Basically, Alan's grandfather dies and leaves him with something everyone seems to want. It's very lightly inspired by the story Donkey Skin.
Someone was in Allan’s apartment, and whoever it was wasn’t intent on keeping his presence a secret. Either that or he was the worst burglar ever. Allan hoped it was the second, but as he reached to get out of bed to call the police, someone flicked on the lights.
“Bastard,” he hissed out between clenched teeth reaching up to cover his eyes with his forearm. He then remembered the danger he was in. He was already naked and in bed, being blind wouldn’t really help him solve his problem.
Squinting towards the door, Allan could see a kid; the man couldn’t have been older than twenty, standing against his now closed door. He was dressed in a simple light blue button down and black jeans, smirking.
“Who are you?” Allan pulled the covers over his stomach.
The young blond man crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “Victor Crane,” he said bowing with flourish. “At your service.”
“Um, get out?”
The man laughed, ocean blue eyes shining in mischievous amusement. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Drake.”He pushed off the wall and walked towards Allan.
“How did you get in here?” Allan scowled. He was sure he locked the door and all the windows before falling asleep.
“Well,” he said taking a seat on the bed. “You don’t want to ask me that. You should always ask the right question; it’s important.”
Allan’s eyes narrowed. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m sure I already answered that.” There was a certain confident arrogance to the kid that made Allan want to kick his ass.
“Fuck you, I am done with this.” Allan wrapped the covers tightly around his waist. “I’m calling the cops.” He got out of bed and stalked towards his desk where he was sure he’d left his cell phone.
Allan was barely a foot away from the phone when his heard the distinct click of a gun. A noise that he’d heard very often in various action movies, but never before in real life. And because he was an avid fan of action cinema, he knew better than to touch that phone. So he turned around slowly to face the now gun wielding kid.
“Yeah, I don’t think I should let you do that. You see, the cops will only complicate what I need to do.” The kid scrunched up his face in false apology. “Sorry.”
Allan closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the ceiling. He was standing in the middle of his bedroom, naked, with a crazy gun wielding dumbass. “What do you need to do?” Allan asked with a sigh.
“Good question.” The kid put the gun back into its holster and it was like it had never been there-no wonder Allan hadn’t noticed it before. “Why don’t you sit down first, Mr. Drake, and then we can discuss what’s going to happen.”
Not about to argue with an armed criminal-even Allan wasn’t that stubborn-he sat down at the very edge of his bed, as far away from the man as he could. “What do you want?”
“Well, to put it very simply, I want you.” The kid shot him a demented grin that belonged on a feral cat; it was all teeth and sparkling eyes.
“Look here kid, I mean Victor. I’m sure someone as good looking and charming as yourself shouldn’t have to resort to this sort of thing.”
“What?” The kid’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Come near me with anything that sticks out and I’m biting it off.”
The man’s eyes widened with realization, and then he started laughing. Allan’s pride was hurt to say the least. Sure, he was glad he wasn’t about to get raped by some lunatic, but still the idea that someone might want to sleep with him wasn’t that laughable.
“I’m sorry,” the kid said, face blank. “It’s not funny.” But just as Allan started to take him seriously, his face contorted and he started laughing again.
Well, if the damned kid was going to laugh like a fucking hyena, he was going to use that to his advantage. All he had to do was make it out of the apartment.
He walked slowly towards the exit of his room, every groan and creek going unheard because of the kid’s howling laughter. Allan had never been so grateful for all the mockery he inspired in people.
He’d just stepped into the living room when the laughter died and was replaced by thudding footsteps. Allan didn’t think to look behind him or even consider a plan of action; he just ran.
Allan liked to think that he was a few centimeters away from sweet freedom before the man tackled him, but the truth was that he’d barely made it five more inches before he was being introduced face first to his lovely cream colored carpet.
“That wasn’t very nice,” the kid said all hints of laughter gone from his voice.
Allan pressed his lips together and refused to speak. The man was sitting on him. To be more precise, the man was sitting on his back, and it was starting to hurt. Any attempt at freeing himself was futile because the little shit was heavier than he looked.
“I’m not going to rape you.”
But really, that was the last thing from Allan’s mind because he could feel the gun pressing into the back of his head.
“I won’t shoot you, as long as you don’t run again. If you do run, I will shoot you.”
The weight lifted off of him, but Allan still wasn’t sure if he could stand yet. So he hefted himself up on his elbows. “Will you shoot me if I stand up?”
The kid shook his head and grinned amicably.
Allan slowly stood up. He was afraid that sudden movement might startle the lunatic into shooting him.
But said lunatic had his eyes fixed on Allan’s midsection and was licking his lips leisurely.
Allan hoisted the slipping sheets up, and narrowed his eyes at the kid, who at least had the decency to look sheepish. “Any chances you’ll let me get dressed?”
“I’d say they were pretty decent.” The kid grabbed Allan’s arm, and led him to the room, only chuckling slightly when Allan flinched. “Make it quick please; I’d like to get going before the sun rises.”
Allan glanced over at his alarm clock. It was a little past one. He’d hardly been asleep an hour before the guy had broken in; how come he didn’t wake up sooner?
The kid was watching him closely. Allan may not have been exactly shy, but he also wasn’t so comfortable getting changed in front of a complete stranger without the promise of sex.
“Well?” Allan asked crossing his arms over his chest and quirking and eyebrow.
“Well what?” The kid mimicked his expression almost perfectly.
“I can’t change with you watching me!”
“Why not? You’re already naked.”
“Goddamn it kid, I’m not a stripper.”
Allan was never sleeping naked again.
He gritted his teeth and focused on changing as fast as possible while ignoring the little bastard. He made sure he was decent before turning back to face him.
“That was nice.” The man grinned, grabbing hold of Allan’s arm again. “Let’s go back to the living room. Would you like some coffee?”
“No! Why can’t you just tell me what you want, so we can go on with our lives?”
The kid shrugged his shoulders and plopped down on Allan’s hand-me-down couch. “Just trying to make this pleasant for you.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you.”
Allan could feel his teeth grinding and his jaw tensing. He was about to provoke death. And without any further thought, he lifted a fisted hand and punched the man’s face. Having not fought since he was in junior high left Allan not knowing what to exactly expect. But the second the kid looked distracted enough, Allan made his escape. He ran towards his door, shoeless and mortified because he was certain that the man was going to shoot him now. And when his head burst into unbelievable pain, and his world started going black, the only thing he thought about was maybe he should stop being an idiot.
This story is an idea that I love and has characters that I love, but lately I haven't been able to write much of it. It's an urban fantasy with sky pirates and floating islands. Basically, Alan's grandfather dies and leaves him with something everyone seems to want. It's very lightly inspired by the story Donkey Skin.
Someone was in Allan’s apartment, and whoever it was wasn’t intent on keeping his presence a secret. Either that or he was the worst burglar ever. Allan hoped it was the second, but as he reached to get out of bed to call the police, someone flicked on the lights.
“Bastard,” he hissed out between clenched teeth reaching up to cover his eyes with his forearm. He then remembered the danger he was in. He was already naked and in bed, being blind wouldn’t really help him solve his problem.
Squinting towards the door, Allan could see a kid; the man couldn’t have been older than twenty, standing against his now closed door. He was dressed in a simple light blue button down and black jeans, smirking.
“Who are you?” Allan pulled the covers over his stomach.
The young blond man crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “Victor Crane,” he said bowing with flourish. “At your service.”
“Um, get out?”
The man laughed, ocean blue eyes shining in mischievous amusement. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Drake.”He pushed off the wall and walked towards Allan.
“How did you get in here?” Allan scowled. He was sure he locked the door and all the windows before falling asleep.
“Well,” he said taking a seat on the bed. “You don’t want to ask me that. You should always ask the right question; it’s important.”
Allan’s eyes narrowed. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m sure I already answered that.” There was a certain confident arrogance to the kid that made Allan want to kick his ass.
“Fuck you, I am done with this.” Allan wrapped the covers tightly around his waist. “I’m calling the cops.” He got out of bed and stalked towards his desk where he was sure he’d left his cell phone.
Allan was barely a foot away from the phone when his heard the distinct click of a gun. A noise that he’d heard very often in various action movies, but never before in real life. And because he was an avid fan of action cinema, he knew better than to touch that phone. So he turned around slowly to face the now gun wielding kid.
“Yeah, I don’t think I should let you do that. You see, the cops will only complicate what I need to do.” The kid scrunched up his face in false apology. “Sorry.”
Allan closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the ceiling. He was standing in the middle of his bedroom, naked, with a crazy gun wielding dumbass. “What do you need to do?” Allan asked with a sigh.
“Good question.” The kid put the gun back into its holster and it was like it had never been there-no wonder Allan hadn’t noticed it before. “Why don’t you sit down first, Mr. Drake, and then we can discuss what’s going to happen.”
Not about to argue with an armed criminal-even Allan wasn’t that stubborn-he sat down at the very edge of his bed, as far away from the man as he could. “What do you want?”
“Well, to put it very simply, I want you.” The kid shot him a demented grin that belonged on a feral cat; it was all teeth and sparkling eyes.
“Look here kid, I mean Victor. I’m sure someone as good looking and charming as yourself shouldn’t have to resort to this sort of thing.”
“What?” The kid’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Come near me with anything that sticks out and I’m biting it off.”
The man’s eyes widened with realization, and then he started laughing. Allan’s pride was hurt to say the least. Sure, he was glad he wasn’t about to get raped by some lunatic, but still the idea that someone might want to sleep with him wasn’t that laughable.
“I’m sorry,” the kid said, face blank. “It’s not funny.” But just as Allan started to take him seriously, his face contorted and he started laughing again.
Well, if the damned kid was going to laugh like a fucking hyena, he was going to use that to his advantage. All he had to do was make it out of the apartment.
He walked slowly towards the exit of his room, every groan and creek going unheard because of the kid’s howling laughter. Allan had never been so grateful for all the mockery he inspired in people.
He’d just stepped into the living room when the laughter died and was replaced by thudding footsteps. Allan didn’t think to look behind him or even consider a plan of action; he just ran.
Allan liked to think that he was a few centimeters away from sweet freedom before the man tackled him, but the truth was that he’d barely made it five more inches before he was being introduced face first to his lovely cream colored carpet.
“That wasn’t very nice,” the kid said all hints of laughter gone from his voice.
Allan pressed his lips together and refused to speak. The man was sitting on him. To be more precise, the man was sitting on his back, and it was starting to hurt. Any attempt at freeing himself was futile because the little shit was heavier than he looked.
“I’m not going to rape you.”
But really, that was the last thing from Allan’s mind because he could feel the gun pressing into the back of his head.
“I won’t shoot you, as long as you don’t run again. If you do run, I will shoot you.”
The weight lifted off of him, but Allan still wasn’t sure if he could stand yet. So he hefted himself up on his elbows. “Will you shoot me if I stand up?”
The kid shook his head and grinned amicably.
Allan slowly stood up. He was afraid that sudden movement might startle the lunatic into shooting him.
But said lunatic had his eyes fixed on Allan’s midsection and was licking his lips leisurely.
Allan hoisted the slipping sheets up, and narrowed his eyes at the kid, who at least had the decency to look sheepish. “Any chances you’ll let me get dressed?”
“I’d say they were pretty decent.” The kid grabbed Allan’s arm, and led him to the room, only chuckling slightly when Allan flinched. “Make it quick please; I’d like to get going before the sun rises.”
Allan glanced over at his alarm clock. It was a little past one. He’d hardly been asleep an hour before the guy had broken in; how come he didn’t wake up sooner?
The kid was watching him closely. Allan may not have been exactly shy, but he also wasn’t so comfortable getting changed in front of a complete stranger without the promise of sex.
“Well?” Allan asked crossing his arms over his chest and quirking and eyebrow.
“Well what?” The kid mimicked his expression almost perfectly.
“I can’t change with you watching me!”
“Why not? You’re already naked.”
“Goddamn it kid, I’m not a stripper.”
Allan was never sleeping naked again.
He gritted his teeth and focused on changing as fast as possible while ignoring the little bastard. He made sure he was decent before turning back to face him.
“That was nice.” The man grinned, grabbing hold of Allan’s arm again. “Let’s go back to the living room. Would you like some coffee?”
“No! Why can’t you just tell me what you want, so we can go on with our lives?”
The kid shrugged his shoulders and plopped down on Allan’s hand-me-down couch. “Just trying to make this pleasant for you.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you.”
Allan could feel his teeth grinding and his jaw tensing. He was about to provoke death. And without any further thought, he lifted a fisted hand and punched the man’s face. Having not fought since he was in junior high left Allan not knowing what to exactly expect. But the second the kid looked distracted enough, Allan made his escape. He ran towards his door, shoeless and mortified because he was certain that the man was going to shoot him now. And when his head burst into unbelievable pain, and his world started going black, the only thing he thought about was maybe he should stop being an idiot.