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Post by Ivy on Jul 13, 2009 14:44:32 GMT -5
Hi,
To enter this contest you must submit a short story. This story must be at least 300 words and no longer than 1500 words. This story must include one of the following:
1.) Vampire 2.) Witch 3.) Fairy 4.) Shape shifter 5.) Dragon
The story must be written by you. All you have to do is email or PM the story to me. As soon as I receive it I will post it here. This contest will end on August 24, 2009. This contest is open to everyone. Voting will begin on August 25, 2009 and end on August 31, 2009. The winner will be announced on September 1, 2009.
Prizes:
1st Place: $25.00 Amazon.com e-certificate, a copy of "Mona Lisa Blossoming" and "Mona Lisa Awakening" by: Sunny
2nd Place: $15.00 Amazon.com e-certificate, a copy of "Staked" by: J.F. Lewis
3rd Place: $10.00 Amazon.com e-certificate, a copy of "Bitten" by: Kelley Armstrong
If you have any questions please contact me by email or PM.
ivybookreadertimes@live.com
Good Luck! ;D
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Post by Ivy on Jul 13, 2009 21:29:07 GMT -5
Entry #1
THE MAFIA DAME BY KATI L.
I sat at the bar sipping my drink with my hat tipped low. She was watching me. The dame in the back was watching my every move. The house band played slow jazz very lightly and she swayed to the music. The bartender walked by and I grabbed his sleeve. He bent low towards me with a disgruntled look upon his face.
“Hey, Mac. Who is the dame in the back?” I asked. Mac chuckled softly as if I was laying down a joke that was only remotely funny. “Hey now. I’m serious.” He shook my hand off of him.
“Alright alright. That dame… She’s dangerous. She’ll kiss you until your heart burns for her… then she’ll slip that pretty little silencer on that gun of hers and shoot you in the belly. That is, if she hasn’t sunk her fangs into your neck first… That dame… That dame right there Joe, she’s Mafia blood. And not our Mafia either... She’s with them blood suckers. Some sort of royalty they have I think. My advice? Don’t go near her Joe. Avoid her. Don’t even look at her.” Mac patted my shoulder and walked away with a grim look on his face. Seconds passed as I absorbed what Mac had said. Those seconds turned to minutes and those minutes felt like hours. I don’t know how long I sat there but it felt like forever.
“Hey sugar.” A soft and sultry voice said, snapping me out of my daze. It was her… The blood sucking Mafia dame. “Hey there,” I stuttered. The woman before me made my heart burn for her. She smiled at me, flashing only the barest hint of fang, and gave me an almost predatory once over. I knew there were things that went bump in the night, but I never thought one would walk up to me in a bar, and look so d**n attractive in a silky emerald green dress.
“You’re looking a little lonely.” She said as she sat next to me. I gulped hard, and stared down at the glass in my hand that was now empty of its contents. Her dress slithered over the right curves causing my heart to beat faster. I was sure I was going to lose my cool soon. Oh merciful god, how am I going to get out of here? She laid her hand on my arm and flashed me that devilish grin again. My heart felt as if it was going to explode out of my chest.
“Hey Joe!” Mac yelled from the back. “We’re closing this joint up for the night.”
“Thanks Mac.” I croaked. My throat was dry but my hair was doused with sweat. The dame and I gathered our things and walked out into the chilly night. Suddenly, she pushed me up against the wall.
“Joe. It is Joe right?” She said with a sexy pout. I nodded, not knowing what to do. “You walked to into the wrong joint tonight.” she whispered into my ear. Her lips grazed my ear causing shivers to take hold of my body. I groaned aloud, when she moved her mouth away. I was caught. Like a fly in a spider’s web. Struggling was useless. Not that I couldn’t, I just didn’t want to. Her very scent was intoxicating. She was the perfect predator, ready to pounce. She kissed my cheek sweetly and slowly. My heart burned with fierceness that I might’ve never known existed.
“The name’s Jessica.” She whispered as she thrust her head back and dove for my neck, fangs flashing brightly in the dim light from overhead. Grabbing her shoulders, I gasped. Momentary pain then sheer ecstasy flooded my body. I leaned my head to the side to allow better access. My mind was foggy and I couldn’t thing straight. Gasping for air as the pleasure increased, Jessica moaned into my neck and gulped greedily. She let out a wild moan and pulled away.
“So sweet.” She said quietly, bringing her hand to her mouth. She smeared the blood still on her lips. Licking the blood off of her fingers, she started to gather her things from the ground at my feet. One last fleeting look then she was gone.
All the feeling started to leave my body and I gasped as the euphoria slid off me like a sheet. Fear started to take over my mind. I was going to die and I d**n well knew it. I slid down the wall and landed in a rumpled heap on the ground. I clamped my hand over my neck, but I knew it was no use. I was done for. My breathing slowed and my heart stopped racing.
“Jessica…” I whispered in my last breath as blood started to flow freely from both my wound and my mouth, staining my crisp white shirt.
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Post by Ivy on Jul 19, 2009 20:00:08 GMT -5
The Fatal Sacrifice
"Hey, James, come over here before I kill you with a curse!"yelled my friend Callinda. She was in her traditional tribe attire, a long white skirt embroidered with strange symbols I could not understand, and a white blouse that was loose around her breasts and arms, but was tight around her waist. Her dark mahogany hair whipped around her heart-shaped face, and even scowling my best friend was gorgeous.
I was in my village-wear, brown hunting pants with a dark jacket on. My gun was strapped to my back and fell down to my hunting boots. I felt strange next to the beauty that was my friend, but sighed as I thought that I would never be with her, as it was already forbidden for us to see each other. Witches could not associate with villagers and vice versa.
Callinda saw my face grow sad, and ran back to where I was standing. "What's wrong now? Did I scare you? You have to know that I didn't mean anything by the curses!"she almost whimpered at me.
"I just wish that things were different between you and me," I said, and I saw her face turn mocking.
"Do you mean the villagers and my tribe? That will never happen, James, and you know that. I thought your impossible dreams and wishes had ended," she frowned," and I thought that you would know that, especially as your sister was killed for marrying one of my brethren. You above all others should learn from that punishment, and enjoy seeing me for the last time before I become a true Witch and marry Marlo. He is the one I am meant to spend my life with, and not some pathetic villager!" she yelled as she suddenly was wild with anger.
Callinda shoved against my arm that I was holding on to her hips with, and I realized that subconciously I was leaning in as if to kiss her cherry-red lips. I was filled with chagrin, and turned away to leave.
"Aw, James, you know I didn't mean that. But you have to know that we could never be. It is time for you to move on, and find someone within your village to start a family with. You must be happy that I found someone that I can do that with, and you must put your desire for me at rest. I could never love you, and that is how it is meant to be," she murmured softly.
"Callinda, I love you, and nothing will ever change that. I will always be there for you, even if you marry that man in your tribe. I must leave, as I cannot bear to see you marry him. Farewell, Callinda. I will leave you with something to remember me, as your eyes will always remind me of you," I said, close to tears. I pulled out a necklace made of blue and green stones, her favorite colors. Callinda smiled, and her eyes filled with tears as I slowly fastened it around her neck and kissed her softly on the cheek.
"It's beautiful", she mused, whispering to me from behind. I could hear her soft footsteps behind me, and shivered at her warm touch on my shoulder. She gently pulled me around to face her, and I could see that my gift to her had left streaks in the paint on her face. She closed her eyes and lifted her chin up.
Slowly, as if giving herself time to change her mind, she put her lips on mine, and I was dizzy. She kissed me passionately, and the taste of her lips made me want to kiss her forever.
Suddenly, she gasped, and I pulled away to see what had made her so upset. She had a smile on her face, and I could see a fire in her eyes that made me feel like I was standing in front of a hearth in my cottage. I smiled back at her, and I could see in her expression that now she knew she had another choice on her life-long partner.
Callinda stepped slowly toward me, a mischeivious grin on her face. I was ecstatic that she was feeling this way about me, just as I had felt for years before I told her of my feelings. I pulled her face to mine, and her taste hit me again, and I felt light-headed. She moaned softly, and then the intensity of the kiss brought us to the ground of the forest, and I was so startled that I stopped and pushed myself away.
I laughed, and she started to laugh with me when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I turned around so quickly that I twisted my ankle. I gasped in pain as I fell to the ground, and I knew that someone from my village knew that I had just kissed a Witch. Callinda was sobbing, and I knew that she was just as afraid as I was.
I crawled towards her, and I held her as she cried, staining my shirt with tears. Somehow, my instincts told me that we had to leave. I got to my feet and pulled Callinda up. I limped to the nearest cave, pulling her along. As soon as we were shrouded in darkness, I kissed her on the forehead, and I motioned for her to not say a word.
Soon after, a group of men from my village came on horses, guns strapped to their backs, and yelled my name. One of them found my gun on the ground and threw it to another. One man followed the footprints I had no time to cover to the cave, where he yelled for the others to follow. Callinda and I straddled ourselves against the wall, and waited for all the men to pass before we quietly tiptoed out of the cave.
I was blinded as the light of the sun fell on my eyes. I could not see where I was going, and I fell into a hole. The villagers must have heard the noise, for in about thirty seconds they came out and investigated me.
The men glanced around for Callinda, but they found nobody other than me. I smiled smugly at them, for if they killed me, then Callinda would be safe, and I was happy to sacrifice my life for her. I prayed to God that Callinda stayed away, but He did not answer my prayers, for Callinda came running back with her wand from the tribe. She waved the wand in many patterns, weaving invisible threads to make a work of art. Three of the men beside me dropped dead, and I saw two more drop before one man hiding in the bushes thingyed his gun.
I saw him point the gun at Callinda, and saw him smile as his fingers flexed to pull the trigger.
I ran as fast as I could to block the bullet from hitting Callinda, and was incapacitated with pain. My lungs were bursting with pain, and I coughed a wet sound. Callinda yelled in anger and, with one motion, killed the remaining villagers.
She ran to me from her stance, threw her wand to the side, and held my hand as I coughed up blood. Her eyes teared up, as she knew I could not recover from this injury. Her eyes closed, as I saw tears run down her cheeks and onto my chest.
I cleared my throat as much as possible, and said to her with a dying breath, "Sing me to sleep, my only love. I want to die hearing your voice, and I want you to help my passing easy". I stuttered and slurred many of the words, but she understood my request. With shaking shoulders, she recited to me a blessing in the form of a song:
"Dearest one on this worldly Earth, I send you this blessing in hope that you may have a place in Paradise, where the mighty one may take you under his arm and keep you. May he keep you safe until I may reunite with you when it is time for me to pass, and then I will kiss you for eternity in the heavens. I love you, James, dearest one to me, and I must ask the mighty power to keep you safe, so that you may take me to Paradise when the time comes. I will love you forever, and when you reach the place you are going, send me a sign that you are safe and know my request. James, I give this blessing to you."
With that last line, her voice broke and she was a weeping angel. I felt light-headed and was suddenly floating above the scene where my death would take place. She yelled my name three times before I was soaring to the stars. I was on clouds, and heard my name being called by a booming voice. I turned around, and saw gates of gold being opened for me, and saw my God standing before me. He said, "I will keep the promise that my daughter Callinda has asked of me. You are to be her guardian angel, James, and will give her passage to this world. My son, never forget how much I love you."
With that, I was thrown back to my world, but was not James anymore. I saw my dead body, but all I really saw was Callinda. She was my charge, and I would keep her safe. When she would be in danger, I would be the voice whispering in her head. I would be the one to spend eternity with her, and I would hold her hand as she passed on to Paradise, where we would be together forever.
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Post by Ivy on Aug 28, 2009 21:19:26 GMT -5
How High Does She Fly, How High
“Pay close attention, Alessandra. For every thing on this earth, there needs to be a minder, something to keep it in line, to keep it balanced. Good exists for the sake of evil, just as the dawn exists for the sake of the darkness. Just as death exists for the sake of life. This balance is not necessarily one of good and evil, because good can commit just as many crimes for a cause. You are not good. Your battle is not for the sake of good. Your battle is for the sake of this balance. You will maintain this balance.” A silence was born, it grew, and was then slain by the Scale. “Yes, teacher. I understand.”
Fifteen Years Later
The damp cold was a shock to her system, bringing her back to herself more effectively than she had hoped for as she walked outside. Her thoughts, however, remained indistinct, unclear. Vague. A problem had arisen, one she was unsure of. What was it? Who was it? She had been foolish, ignoring her responsibilities. The quiet around her seems to say, this is what happens, a whisper, this is what happens when you forget your obligations. The wind whipped around her still frame, castigating her for thinking her job was finished. I’ve solved my last imbalance! She raged internally. I don't want any part of it anymore, I’ve done everything I was supposed to! It had only been the month before that everything ended, that the conflict had come to a close. A month since she had slain the last of the self-proclaimed “noble” vampires, the ones who had been systematically capturing humans, to either kill them—not something that changed the balance much—or turn them—a different matter all together. A month since the vampire slayer had retired, to live her life with her own vampire—Wesley. But nothing had ended, nothing was over! The snow covering the ground made her feel the loneliness more solidly, as though it was a physical manifestation to blind her sight of the things she would never get, would never keep for long. Friends, a family, peace—none of it was hers to hold, to savor, and love. The wind blew in a sharp burst and she fell to her knees with a gasp. Her eyes closed against the pure whiteness. And she concentrated on the feeling, the presence, the voice that guided all of her actions. She concentrated until she swayed inside the cold, no longer felt the cold, was instead a part of the cold. Her body was no longer a tangible thing, no longer corporeal. A question, an inquiry. Alessandra snapped back into physicality and threw her arms wide, to the sky. Snow began to fall again, falling from the heavens to earth, to stain the ground paler. Minutes she spent in that pose, breathing heavily. A single tear froze on her face, but she didn’t feel it. So this was the end. After the snow had covered her in a fine layer, she heard the creak of a door opening nearby. “Alessa?” Wesley’s voice searched for her in the white darkness. “I’m here, “she called back, climbing unsteadily to her feet. Her first two steps were faltering, but she stabilized. “I’m here.” He grabbed her hand with a soft smile as she stepped inside, taking off her coat. She looked back at him, expression serious. The smile faded. His dark eyes were calm, but the muscles under his flawlessly pale skin tightened. She stepped slightly away from him, though she let him keep her hand. “I wish things could be different,” she told him gravely. She loved him so much, no matter what he was. But he was not hers to keep forever, the happiness he brought her was a fleeting thing. He let her hand drop from his. She thought of the beginning of her life as she walked serenely to the room she called her own. There had been a disadvantage, between the humans and the vampires. An unbalance of power that had been corrected, corrected with Alessandra’s birth. She had killed her first vampire by the time she was thirteen. And the numbers were uphill from there. So many lives she had made into so many numbers, numbers she had defined herself with, had never forgotten, had made with her own hands. When she was fifteen, she had let her first vampire live. The Scale had been weighed in his favor, and his life would serve a purpose. Infrequently this occurred, but she was grateful for the respite from the endless parade of lost lives, all in the name of equity. She was a tool, a weapon, a possession. The Scale of Power. She touched the tips of her fingers to the gun in her nightstand. The cold black metal she had imbued with her very essence. She had given up too much of her life for her mission. She had fallen too far from neutral. She was not a force of good. Neither was she evil. She was not the one that got to decide when things were over. No, that power was something higher, something greater than she could understand. Her fingers slid down the barrel, respecting the numbers this very tool had created. The numbers she had naively assumed to be stable, fixed after the grand conflict had ended. The mistake was mine, she thought calmly. I assumed too much. There were still more lives that needed to be taken to secure the balance. There was still something she had to do. Her husband-to-be had stayed near the doorway, looking nervous, fearful. He should not have feared her so, she was not an evil presence. She was only doing her calling, not indulging in a selfish hatred like so many others. “Alessandra… Are you alright?” The unease knit his brow together, the concern lent a weight to his words that would not tip the balance for what needed to be done. I assumed too much, she thought again. I assumed I got to live when it ended. And she put the barrel to her head and pulled the trigger.
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Post by Ivy on Aug 28, 2009 21:21:38 GMT -5
Tinted Blue, Painted spring
My blue dress waved in the wind, blowing me towards the ocean. I wanted to go out to the ocean and just let it pull me under. Let the current carry me away. Let the water surround me and hold me and never let me go. That was the nature of water. To take. I wanted her to take me and never let me go. To fill my lungs and to pull me down. I was tired of being a fey living in the human’s world. Living in the lives of one of those disgusting, nature-destroying fiends who didn’t give a d**n about the way that they were destroying themselves. As long as they could live in the ease and luxury of that moment. I hated it. I reached the cliff, stood at the edge on my tip toes, looking down into the dark depths, trying to see if there was anything there besides water. I didn’t want to land on a rock. I wanted water. I’d had enough of land. I was born of spring and of spring I was raised. In my human facade, I was in the blossom of my youth. I was tanned and adventurous and as carefree as the rest of the mortals. But in my true form, I was beautiful as the season. My white hair was meant to sweep forest floors, vines growing from my roots and entwining in my hair. I had blossoms on those vines. Blossoms that changed color and wilted and bloomed with my mood. My skin was as white as my hair, a tint of green being my veins, snaking on my body. I had green eyes. The shade of green that you acquired by holding up a baby leaf, waxy and small, up to the pale spring sun. I disgusted myself. I wanted to be like the water fey. Blue tinted skin with seaweed and water dripping form their hair, blue eyes as light or dark as the water they inhabited. I wanted to swim with them. I didn’t want to run. I felt like a reverse Arial from the little mermaid. How could she be so foolish as to want to leave the ocean? Such a beautiful place. So mysterious. Dark. Not like Spring. “Hemane,” the voice of my friend, lover, and reason for staying in existence for so long, a spring fey like myself, was barely a sigh over the powerful waves. “Don’t do this.” I glanced back at him negligibly then looked back to the ocean, “I hate being of spring. I hate the sun and the grass and the fields and the trees and the smell of supposed new beginnings forever on my nose.” “Why?” Sahale asked. “You used to be the most enthusiastic about spring’s arrival. You, who used to rejoice and laugh the loudest, have flowers lean towards you, have new blooms wherever you took a step.” “Because there’s no mystery,” I exhaled, my breath coming out as a stream of bluebells, trying express what I meant through my body arms, my words not conveying my meaning well enough. “Everything is laid bare before everyone. Your feelings, your wishes, desires, secrets, nothing is sacred.” “We hold life, beginnings, happiness sacred. Nothing is secret for the simple reason of why. We‘re as beautiful as our season,” Sahale explained in typical springtime fey words. Coated with honey but blind. “We are not beautiful,” I shook my head vehemently, white orchid petals from my hair flying in the sea breeze, the white fleeting and insignificant in the force of the ocean. “We are lies, hypocrites. There is no such thing as a new beginning except in the ultimate creation of something that has not been brought to life yet. No such thing as true happiness. A beginning means there was nothing before it. True happiness means there was no sadness.” “I’m sorry we could not keep you happy,” I heard Sahale move forward, his feet only barely touching the soft, spry grass, but still enough that I could almost feel the grass bending. “I’m sorry that....I could not make you happy. I wish you would stay.” “The waters are for me,” I laughed, throwing my head back. “Do not be sad. I am going to where I was born to go. Even if I was the most spring of us all at the start, all things must come to an end. I am choosing to end where I should have begun. Don’t be sorry for me. I’ll finally belong.” “Please, rethink your decision,” Sahale’s hands crept around my waist and pulled me towards him. “Or at least....consider taking me with you.” “What?” my voice turned sharp and I spun around to glare up at him. “Why would you wish death upon yourself?” “Why would I want to live when my other half is gone? We were born and carved from the same tree with the same words coming from the same mouth,” he whispered in my ear. “Can you not feel it too? Without one, the other of us cannot go on.” “But you are firmly of spring,” I reminded him, my hands clenched in fists. “You still want to live. You still want to witness your ‘new beginnings‘. Happiness is still a tangible thing for you. Still something you can feel.” “And do you feel no happiness, even with me?” he brushed back my hair from my face and kissed my forehead tenderly, his lips as soft as a flower petal on one’s cheek. “I feel happiness with you,” I kissed his lips lightly, entwining my fingers in his feathery brown hair. “I feel so much happiness with you that it hurts. I feel as if a tree has rooted in my chest and then I feel life but when you leave, it feels as if the tree has been uprooted, yanked out carelessly and the holes that the roots caused, the complex tunnels, cannot be filled in the same. So you just make new holes. My heart is so riddled with the holes that I feel when I’m with you, that it is scarcely there at all. I don’t have room to be torn apart anymore. I promise I will break.” “Well, what if I don’t leave?” he grabbed my hands. “What if I root in your heart, and I never let go? What if we both jump? I’ll never leave your side in death.” “You would die? Just so I wouldn’t be torn apart again?” I let my fingers trace his jaw line, face turning pink. “Yes,” he nodded resolutely. “I know I cannot be here without you. We must be together. I need your warmth, your smiles. I love your secrets and your expressions and your difference from the other spring girls. I love you.” I smiled softly and examined Sahale. I loved him too. From his brown as tree bark hair to his pale blue eyes that were like the sky on days when the sun was still leery of the return of winter’s chill. I loved his height that seemed to let his head touch the clouds that were taking away the snow and his smile that induced Indian Paintbrushes, Shooting stars, and Passion Flowers. His skin was like the freshly revealed earth after you scrape away the last of winter’s chill. He was more spring than I. He pulled a flower from my hair and held it tenderly in his hands, saying, “Pasque flowers. They always suited you best. They’re blooming in your hair now.” I closed my eyes and breathed slowly and deeply, “I love you Sahale.” His blue eyes had little sunflowers unfurling inside of them, “Thank you.” “I love you so much, that I think I can take another uprooting,” I turned my back on him and squeezed my eyes shut against the sweet white violets that were my tears. “You need to live, Sahale. You need to live so that you can find someone who matches you. We are not of the same tree, nor from the same words of the same mouth. We’re completely different. You are of spring that is full of life. The dreamy spring that people wish for to come back after it has passed.” “Opposites come from each other. You’re white spring. Winter hasn’t rescinded it’s claws from you,” he grabbed my wrist. “If you jump, regardless of if you accept my death wish, I jump in after you.” A violet escaped, “I can’t kill you.” “You will if you leave me,” he stepped closer to the edge of the cliff. “I love you. We’ll jump together. Please accept this.” “d**n you, Sahale,” I choked out. “I can’t leave you here.” “On three,” he stepped forward again so we were side by side. “One,” I began, screwing my eyes shut. “Two,” he continued. I felt a calm rush through me. This felt right. “Three.”
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Post by vilmarys on Aug 31, 2009 21:02:36 GMT -5
The short story contest has ended! The winners are as follows:
1st Place: Mafia Dame 2nd Place: Fatal Sacrifice 3rd Place: Tinted Blue, Painted Spring
Winners please PM Ivy with mailing information and email address where you would like the e-voucher emailed too! Thank you all for participating. All entries were great! ;D
[glow=red,2,300]CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS!!!!![/glow]
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