james-stark-the-writer-wips

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

hey, y'all sorry for basically vanishing for half a year but I was severely creatively burntout and I had hit a roadblock with one of the povs so I could barely get anything done. But! there is a new chapter of A Year At The Opera up to read as promised! It's about 5.5K words so it's shorter than my usual stuff but it is a fun little read. go read it here!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

Here's that chapter I promised, y'all! And it's a good sized chunk (8.2K words) and a big piece of the puzzle in terms of the plot so I hope y'all enjoy it! It's got a new pov👀, a bunch of plot stuff, some answers about Carson and even some development on the spell front! Anyway, I don't wanna spoil anything but this was honestly one of my favorite chapters to write (mostly because I'd been planning parts of it for almost 3 years now) but yeah! go read!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

I know I've been gone for like 2 months but with finals looming overhead it was hard to get anything done but now that the semester is over, I'm writing properly again and it's been pretty productive, I got 8K words and a whole chapter written just yesterday so y'all will be getting more content soon but for now, the new AYATO chapter is up, y'all!

this is just a tiny interlude to get Nate's overarching story really going but I hope y'all have fun reading it! episode 7's intro will be up soon, once I edit chapter 21. should be done and up in a few days as well!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE!!!

hiiiiii, everyone!! A new chapter of A Year At The Opera is up to read!! Sorry this one took a little longer than expected but this was a very hard chapter to nail down, especially bc we have a new character POV!! I hope y'all enjoy it!! Go read it here!!

I'm working on the next chapter rn and I have it all planned out unlike this chapter so hopefully it'll go much smoother!! Anyway, it should be out sometime in a month. Y'all know my process. But I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!! Let me know what you think about it!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE!!!!

The next chapter of A Year At The Opera is up to read! Sorry this took so long I took an unexpected hiatus over the summer but I'm getting back into the groove of writing again so that's fun. Anyway! We're beginning episode 6 of 9 and we've just gotten the first of four chapters out! Chapter 18 is up to read and I hope y'all enjoy it!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE!

Sorry this took so long I completely forgot to actually hit upload on the chapter!! But here it is!!! I'm working on the next chapter right now which is officially part of episode 6 so we've finally finished episode 5!! We're over halfway there!! Anyway, here's the link to the chapter and I hope you enjoy it!!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE!!!

I finished editing chapter 17!!! So it's 5.6K words rn and I will put it up in a few days. It didn't need too much editing to be readable because I liked most of what I'd written so that's good at least!!

I know it's been a while since the last update but what else is new with me? But seriously, figuring out the dynamics for this took so long bc the character dynamics just didn't feel right to me but I think they're at least tolerable now so!! New content coming your way soon!!!

Here's the rest of the book so far if you want to catch up!!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

Okay, so quick update on the writing thing. I'm really not going to be able to finish the second half of chapter 16 of AYATO by tonight so here's what I'm doing. I'm adding a tiny pov to the end of chapter 16 as a episode cliffhanger and both parts of interlude six, which follow Nathan as he goes to court, will be going up right now because I am going to stop the chapter in between (we stopped at a decent emotional resolution anyway so it works out well) and then we'll pick back up once the interlude is done. And then I'll put up part 2 of chapter 16 in a few weeks after spring break is done and my midterms are over. And then we're done with the episode!! I just made some minor edits to the interlude to make sure it's up to date with its info, and it's up to read!

I hope you have fun reading!!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

Hey, everyone! The next part of A Year At The Opera is up to read! Chapter 16 follows multiple people as they try to repair their relationships and the first half is officially up to read! I hope you have fun reading it!!

This was a really fun chapter to write!! part 2 will be up soon next week bc I'm still working on it but part 1 is still a good chunk of content!! So go read it!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

So I'm working on Chapter 16 at the moment and I'm almost done with half the chapter so it will probably be out sometime next week (that's after the upcoming Sunday) but!! Chapter 15 is up to read!! It's officially past the midpoint of the book and now I finally have faith I can finish this draft by the end of the year if I find some motivation!!! Book 1 could be a fully finished product by next year!! I just need to work a little harder!! Anyway, the point is that Chapter 15 is up to read and is the first turning point of the story from being more slice-of-life into being more mystery (although ofc we'll still have slice-of-life stuff) since I do want to wrap everything up as neatly as I can since I do want, at a minimum, Season/Book One to be able to be read standalone and feel like you got a full story. Chapter 15 follows the Chaudhary's as they report a missing person and Chapter 16 will explore some aspects of the investigation (but it is mostly a slice-of-life chapter which leads to Chapter 17 which is mostly a investigation chapter)!! You can read Chapter 15 on Wattpad!! here's a link!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

Alright besties I know I've been gone for... Well, like 6 months for a lot of reasons that are not important at the moment but!! I have so much content for y'all to read! Figuring out how everything in the book fit together took a lot of work and I'm still working on figuring out a satisfying conclusion but! I have a ton of stuff figured out and a ton of content up for y'all to read! I left off with the first bit of Chapter 14 which has since been finished and the next interlude and chapter are all up to read! It's around 15K words of content that's new and there's another 18-20K that's coming in the next few weeks!! So now is a great time to catch up with A Year At The Opera!! I really hope y'all have fun reading!!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE!!

Sorry I’ve been gone a while but I have been working and I've finally put up part 1 of Chapter 14 of A Year At The Opera up for you to read! We're beginning a new episode & I can't wait for y'all to see the things I have in store! Here's the beginning of the episode/new part! Go read it!

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AYATO taglist: @inexorableblob @hell-yeah-fantasy @lilac-written @aurumni-writes @vviciously @the-real-rg @three-seas-writes @cawolters @emilymustwrite @westviews @ashestoashesdusttodust @berryspaceship @mariahwritesstuff @rcvolutions @noxcomic @death-over-coffee @ohlooksheswriting @your-art-is-gay @grimmwrites @leo-november @vhum @mendeled @adventurebeneaththewords @shamelesslypoetic @bettsican

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

A Year At The Opera - An Excerpt

WC: 2500 words.

This is still mostly a first draft and I might add more stuff to it later as I need to but this is a pretty complete piece :)

Chapter 14, Part 1: Thea

Thea arrived home around 4pm. Like every day before, she unlocked the doors, stepped in and headed straight for the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed the triple chocolate ice cream cake sitting right in front.

She’d eaten half of it last night and she intended to finish the rest today. She opened one of the drawers, grabbed a spoon and took a bite.

As it slowly dissolved in her mouth, she wandered into the living room and waltzed over to the thermostat. She lowered the temperature to 50F and took a seat on the couch. She stretched out her feet on the center table and let herself drown in the cold comfort of the couch as she took another bite of the cake.

As Theadora continued to reminisce on her day today, the door opened and her mother stepped in.

Ah, Haley Rockwell, retired actress now turned real estate agent, married her co-star Nicolas Belfry about ten years ago and had since then been the bane of Thea’s existence. Haley Rockwell had everything Thea hated in a person: her holier-than-thou attitude, her complete lack of self awareness, her perfect figure, her ‘love’ for Thea’s dad. Most of all, Thea hated that her dad seemed to love Haley more.

Thea swore Haley had just married her father for the money but Nicolas refused to hear it.

“Eating again, are we?” Haley remarked coldly as she slipped out of her trench coat and gently placed her St. Louis purse on the couch.

Haley loved that purse more than her own life. On occasion Thea had considered burning it or trashing it as payback for ruining her life but had stayed her hand for the appropriate time. She didn’t want to waste the opportunity if she could avoid it.

“What do you care, anyway?” Thea replied just as coldly, barely bothering to turn her attention away from the plate of cake in her hand.

She took another bite and faked a moan. She held the cake out to Haley. “Want some?” Thea asked, putting on her best baby voice and puppy dog eyes.

Haley scowled, walked over and slapped Thea. Thea barely flinched. This was nothing new. No, in fact this was practically routine.

Haley turned around and grabbed her phone from her coat.

“Guess that’s a no, then.” Thea smiled cheekily.

She knew Haley couldn’t have the cake anyway. Poor little lactose intolerant Haley.

“I’ve had an incredibly stressful day, I do not need your fucking sass, Thea.”

“Oh, why don’t you ask dad to buy you something then?” Thea replied.

Another slap. This one hit harder. Blood pooled under Thea’s cheeks and her skin felt warm.

“Well, at least you’re getting better at something in life.” Thea said, taking another bite of her cake.

Haley groaned angrily. “Is this the fucking antartic? Why is it freezing in here?” She walked over to the thermostat.

“It’s hot out.” Thea replied.

“Do you want me to get frostbite?”

“It’s 50 fahrenheit. You literally can’t get frostbite.”

“Oh, you’re so smart, aren’t you?” Haley grit her teeth.

“I like to think so, yes.” Thea remarked.

Haley exhaled sharply, shook her head in frustration, turned the corner and fucked off to her room.

Thea smiled contentedly, taking another bite of her cake. She grabbed the remote and flipped the TV on, finding a boring reality show to distract her. No matter how bad life got, she could at least remind herself she wasn’t like the pathetic bitches of rando city.

All the whining and bitching and crying. Thea almost felt bad for them. They’d never learned what true power felt like, locked in their terrible marriage in their stupid town.

Thea was determined to be better. She was determined to be smarter. She’d sworn to never let a man affect her and yet, last summer, she’d slipped. Thea was not the kind of person to get angry. No, she just got even.

But last summer, as the news dropped, Thea distinctly remembered feeling rage inside her and letting just a little bit out. Thankfully no one had seen her or figured out that the messed up classroom and the shattered green-board was her doing. Her reputation was still intact, even after last summer’s events. And she planned on getting revenge.

As the TV droned on in the background and the hours passed by, Thea spent her time planning out how things would go when she would finally get her revenge. There had to be some weak link in their relationship she could exploit.

Her interactions today with Mason practically spelled it out for her: they were having relationship issues. What she couldn’t figure out though was the best way to do it. She could make them turn on each other or turn the class against them (she figured that would be the easiest given how everyone pretty much already considered them freaks) or perhaps the situation would need a gentler, subtler approach. She couldn’t let anyone figure out she played a part in it or they would just get back together again. No, whatever needed to happen needed to be public and damning. She wanted to make Ingram the outcast. So much so even the losers wouldn’t associate with him.

She played all the scenarios over in her head, wondering which one would do the most damage. She imagined herself standing in the cafeteria, watching Ingram and Mason confront each other about something and then breaking out into a fight. Embarrass themselves publicly, certainly at least as humiliating and public as it was for her.

It was so vivid in her head it was practically a movie. The people would surround them, like they had on the first day of the semester, during the fight. They would publicly breakup and in his lowest moment, separated from everyone who even thought of loving him, Ingram would crawl his way back – wait that didn’t sound right. What she meant was: he’d feel completely and utterly destroyed and feel just like she did. Hurt and angry… Thea’s eyes widened as if she’d had an epiphany. It was not the first time she had thought about Ingram hurting like she had but it was the first time the thought had struck her in a different way. Why had a man made her feel weak, hurt? Almost jealous?

It reminded her of how she felt around her father: ignored, betrayed. Perhaps it was precisely why she was so angry. What Ingram did to her was what her father had done to–

“Are you gonna lay there all day?” Haley’s voice yanked Thea out of her stream of consciousness and back to reality.

Haley stood in the hallway, arms crossed, glaring Thea down. “What do you want?”

“Theadora, get off the damn couch and go do your homework or something.” Haley chided. “Your father doesn’t need to worry about you anymore than he already does, you waste of skin.” Haley spat from her crimson lips.

Thea groaned as she stood up. Her ass felt numb and she hadn’t even realized how long it had been. Probably over six hours, as the TV had switched off. She stretched her arms and let out a yawn. “I’m just gonna go sleep.”

Haley turned around and sauntered back to her room.

Thea sulked her way up the stairs and into her room. She pulled back her chair and opened her laptop.

She’d closed the laptop last night while shopping for the Halloween dance party next month. She’d had her eyes set on a gorgeous lavender silk dress with an intricate see-through lace front, although the price tag had made her hesitate. She loved Halloween and she wanted to be the best dressed but, even for a hand sewn dress, thirty thousand dollars was a lot of money. Which meant she would have to ask her dad.

Thea immediately rolled her eyes at the thought. She rarely found him alone; all the time that he was actually home and not at work or out golfing with some client he spent by Haley’s side. Thea couldn’t even remember the last time she had seen him crack a smile. Even on his birthday last February, he’d come home an hour early from work, downed half a bottle of whiskey and gone straight to bed. Not a single word to anyone. He was always the stoic, quiet man for as long as she could remember. And the thought of asking him to buy something for her, especially something that expensive, in front of Haley was a lecture Thea didn’t need.

Haley would play the naïve fool whenever Nicolas was around. Thea would point the slightest bit of criticism at Haley and Nicolas’s mood would automatically sour.

And so, putting aside the thought of buying the dress, Thea scrolled through the website, looking for more stuff she could actually get.

And as she scrolled through the countless dresses, Thea found her thought’s wandering…

It was suddenly last March – the day of the final exam and Thea had just handed in her exam. She grabbed her stuff and placed her hand on the door handle.

Just outside, the cacophony of inescapable and unintelligible chattering filled the entire sound space. Thea turned the door handle and stepped out. A sudden wave of dread passed over her. She could feel the wind change, as it were.

But she didn’t know why she was suddenly feeling like that. It couldn’t have been the exam; she’d done excellently and she was pretty much guaranteed an A+. As she took a few more steps, turning to walk to her locker, she noticed people’s subtle glances. She was used to being looked at in awe, in pure deification even – but these were very different glances. Just quick looks here and there, thinking she wouldn’t notice. These were curious glances. These were almost malevolent glances. She even thought she heard a few people whispering about her as she passed by.

No, it had to be her imagination. These low-lifes would never dare talk about her, certainly not like this.

Thea turned the corner and disappeared into the crowd as she walked to her locker. She opened her locker and grabbed her phone from inside. She reached to unlock it.

“Stop!” Thea heard a familiar voice and turned around.

The lean figure of Chrissy sprinted over and caught her breath. “Stop.” She bent down and caught her thighs.

“What is it?” Thea asked.

“Don’t open your phone.” She said.

“Why not?”

“You deserve better.”

Thea scrunched her face. “Better what, exactly?”

“Look, let’s just go somewhere a little private and I’ll tell you everything.”

“Tell me what, Chrissy? You’re scaring me, you know?”

“Just put your phone down and come with me. Please.” She pleaded.

“Fine.” Thea groaned.

“Come on, over here.” She grabbed Thea’s hand and gently led her away.

As they continued to drift past people, Thea noticed even more people staring at her.

“What are you all looking at?” Thea shouted and everyone turned away.

“What the fuck is going on, Chrissy?”

“There’s a big problem.” She stopped outside an empty classroom. “In here.”

She opened the door and led Thea in.

“Will you just tell me already?” Thea asked, annoyed.

She closed the door. “Okay, I want you to try not to freak out but Sarah Schulman–” She gulped.

“Spit it out already!” Thea yelled.

“Sarah Schulman saw Ingram making out with a guy in the bathroom!” She covered her mouth like she wanted to stop speaking.

Thea’s jaw dropped. She could feel the blood rushing out of her brain and into her balled fists. “She what?!”

“She told everyone.” She said calmly.

Thea couldn’t even process the thought. Thea felt lightheaded and stumbled backwards. Chrissy outstretched her hand to grab Thea but Thea brushed her away and leaned against the table. “Leave me alone.” Thea whispered through gritted teeth.

Chrissy’s legs shook uncontrollably as she nodded and sprinted out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Thea looked up at the ceiling, trying to get the thought through her brain.

Ingram Shaw. Kissing a boy. And everyone at school knew. Before she did. Maybe if he’d told her himself, she could’ve broken up with him, saved herself… but now all she could think was to break something.

She grabbed one of the chairs in front of her and threw it at the green-board – it shattered like a mirror and the chair clattered to the floor. Thea put her arm up to her mouth and let out a scream.

All she felt was betrayed and hurt and angry and all she could think about was what everyone would say about her. She would have to control the situation before it spread anymore. A tear streaked down her cheek and she wiped it off. She couldn’t afford to lose her head right now. She had to fix this.

She took out her phone and walked out of the classroom.

Thea shook her head and just like that she was back in her room, scrolling through dresses again. She scrolled for a while more, found some she liked and closed her laptop. She quickly finished up some schoolwork, answered some texts from Kitty about going out shopping and then climbed into bed. Tomorrow could not come soon enough, and Thea couldn’t wait to get to scheming.

-

It was September the 12th and a warm noon on a Wednesday, aka the next day, when Thea finally found an opportunity to get more information. There she was, grabbing her stuff from her locker at the end of school when everyone was shuffling out and Mason Carmichael was standing outside the gym.

She cleared her throat, checked her breath and quickly caught up to him.

“Mason!” She placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped.

“Oh, Thea. It’s you.” Mason said, taking a deep breath. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Why so jumpy?” She asked.

“Nah, just nervous.” He leaned forward and looked down the hallway. “You know, first real session of the year.”

“Come on. now. What’s there to be nervous about? You’re like our Kobe.” Thea took a step back. Even with her heels, Thea had to look up to talk to Mason.

“It’s nothing.” Mason said, leaning against the wall.

“Well, you know if it is something, you can talk to me, right?” She said innocently.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Mason took out his phone.

“Well, good luck, then. With the game.” Thea said, turning around.

Well that was fucking useless. She would just have to try again later.

*

AYATO taglist: @inexorableblob @hell-yeah-fantasy @lilac-written @aurumni-writes @vviciously @the-real-rg @three-seas-writes @cawolters @emilymustwrite @westviews @ashestoashesdusttodust @berryspaceship @mariahwritesstuff @rcvolutions @noxcomic @death-over-coffee @ohlooksheswriting @your-art-is-gay @grimmwrites @leo-november @vhum @mendeled @adventurebeneaththewords @shamelesslypoetic @bettsican

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

So I know I’ve been silent for a while but I’ve been working out all the ins and outs of a massive chapter with a lot of time and characters to keep track of. so, basically-

Yeah, I am suffering. Plus online classes have started and they are annoying as fuck and really stressful and time consuming so shit is going to be slow but on the upside, I am almost done with the first POV of the chapter. Don’t know exactly how I’ll structure it yet with the rest of the chapter but I have most of the stuff down so we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully I will have at least some content for you by the end of next week. Anyway, i hope this isn’t too sad lol. Time delays are nothing new with me but hopefully the content at the end is worth the wait. talk more soon xx

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AYATO taglist: @inexorableblob @hell-yeah-fantasy @lilac-written @aurumni-writes @vviciously @the-real-rg @three-seas-writes @cawolters @emilymustwrite @westviews @ashestoashesdusttodust @berryspaceship @mariahwritesstuff @rcvolutions @noxcomic @death-over-coffee @ohlooksheswriting @your-art-is-gay @grimmwrites @leo-november @vhum @mendeled @adventurebeneaththewords @shamelesslypoetic @bettsican

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

AYATO UPDATE

sorry i’ve been silent for a while but i’ve been writing and i wanna update y’all on some stuff!! this is a lot obviously but im gonna be posting more snippets here again once i figure out chapter 14 so we’ll see how that goes. anyway, at least you get to read the latter half of Chapter 13 tomorrow!

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

A Year At The Opera - Excerpt

Chapter 12, Part 10: Aaron and Eleanor

Word Count: 1000 words

Here's that drama I promised :)

*

“Oh god not them.” Ryan muttered under his breath as he turned to see who had just arrived. “Anyone but them.”

“Where is he?” Asked the most-likely leader of this group of leather wearing men with chains around their waist— fuck this was a gang wasn't it…

Fun fact about Athea: they barely have a police force. Athea does not have a fucking gang. And appropriately, Aaron didn't even have the slightest idea of how he could process this. 

“You are not welcome here.” Ryan walked up to the man. 

The other five men took a step forward but the leader motioned for them to stay back.

Aaron had never seen his dad so angry. He was practically fuming: nostrils flaring, hand balled into a fist, ready to throw a punch. This was so insanely out of character Aaron could do little but stare wide eyed. He'd barely ever seen Ryan snap back at someone or raise his voice. This had to be really fucking bad.

“He was more my family than he was ever yours. I have more right to be here than you do.” The man spat. 

Ryan clenched his jaw, the words little more than a whisper. “Don't make me throw you out. Do not fucking ruin my brother's funeral, Holton.”

“Try putting a fucking finger on me and it'll be cut off before your next breath.”

Ryan narrowed his brows. With every word out of Holton's mouth Ryan seemed to get angrier and angrier. “Who even fucking told you this was happening?” 

“You thought you would hold a funeral for one of our brothers in this town and I wouldn't find out about it?” 

Ryan took a step closer to Holton. Ryan was tall and fairly well built but Holton looked like he lived in a gym, almost comically oversized biceps and pecs big enough to rival the best big titty goth girls around. Holton would fucking down Ryan Ina single punch if it came down to it. 

But Holton took a step back. 

“Look,” Holton began. “We both loved Joe and I don't want to make a scene. None of us do. We just want to pay our respects. For everything he did for us.”

Ryan unclenched his jaw and his fist, relaxing a little. “You get five minutes. Then I want you and your goons out of here.”

“Thank you.” Holton said. 

The chains on their side rubbed against their jeans as they walked up to the casket. 

“Hey, Mary.” Holton whispered. 

“Hey,” She said. “That could have gone better.”

“Eh, I can handle Ryan.” Holton chuckled. 

Ryan stood in place, staring them down from afar. 

Holton turned to casket. The thin, almost lanky, man next to him asked, “Do we know what happened?” 

“Well, Ash, they're refusing to give out any details but they're saying it was a leak at the plant.”

“Well someone must know what happened.” Another man spoke from the group.

“Well if they do, they're not talking.” Mary replied. 

“Promise me you'll find out who did this.” Holton said, choking up. 

“If it was an accident, there's nothing to find.”

“Someone is responsible for accidents too, Mary. Just promise me you'll do whatever you can to find who did this.”

“I promise I'll do what I can.” She sighed.

“Thank you. I knew I could trust you.” Holton said. 

Asher ran a hand through his blonde curls as he stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. And in the middle of all this, that was all Eleanor could focus on: Asher Blake. Or Ash as he liked to be called. Eleanor was not focused on the funeral services, she was not focused on her friend next to her. Instead, her eyes and her whole being immediately wanted Asher Blake at first sight. And god she was trying not to show it. After all, Aaron needed her right now. He was going through something traumatic, she couldn't be distracted. And yet she couldn't force herself to look away. His jawline, his nose, his eyes, his hair, the slight slouch he walked with, his deep voice, his rings, the leather, the chains, his cliché but somehow still attractive skull necklace, his rainbow nail polish. To her credit, it was hard to look away from the guy. 

Holton reached for the casket handle but Mary stopped him. “There's nothing to see.” Holton withdrew his hand. “There's a reason it's closed.”

“Just promise me you'll find whichever son of a bitch did this, okay?” Holton growled. 

Mary nodded. 

As if on cue, the priest announced, “Its time.”

“Uh, actually, if you don't mind, we'd like to carry our fallen brother.” Holton said. 

Mary looked at Ryan who just shrugged. 

“Alright then, let's uh, go outside.” Holton turned to Asher. “Get it from the other side, boy.”

Ash rushed to the other side and picked up the casket. Two other men besides Holton picked up the lower end of the casket. The other two provided light support in the middle and with the directions of the priest they all began to move outside. 

All Aaron could even do was just sit in his corner and watch it unfold. He'd stopped processing things a while back. All Eleanor could focus on was the way Asher's shirt slightly lifted up as he carried the casket away, revealing his abs. But as he disappeared out her door along with everyone else in the room, Eleanor could finally put her attention back to Aaron.

“Dude, holy shit.” She sat down next to him on the floor. She drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin on it. “That was so much.”

“You're telling me.”

“You didn't tell me your uncle hung out with Legion?” 

They're called Legion? God, please pick a worse name.

“I didn't know either lol.”

“Well are you okay?” She asked sincerely. 

“Yes, I'm fine, I just need to process the last ten minutes. I'll be okay.”

“Good.” She smiled, stretching her legs. 

“Go.” He said, turning to her and giving her a half smile. 

“What?” She asked, confused. 

“Girl, I saw you looking at him. Go. Before he's gone.”

“Do you know that I literally love you.” A statement. Not a question. 

“Yes, now go, dumbass.”

El giggled as she stood up. “I'll be right back.”

She gracefully walked out of the room and shut the door behind her, leaving Aaron alone with his thoughts. Exactly what he needed right now.

*

[james-stark-the-writer-wips]

A Year At The Opera - Excerpt

Chapter 12, Part 9:Joe

Word Count: 700 words

*

After getting the information, Joe spent the next three hours painstakingly interviewing everyone in the accounting department and getting their alibis and learning basic things about Carson. Here’s the main points. Almost everyone genuinely seemed to like Carson, even the newbies who hadn’t even been here for long. No one he asked knew of anyone who hated Carson. Certainly no one who hated him enough to kill and then bury him. 

Everyone he asked said Carson didn’t like mixing personal life and business and no one really knew anything about him other than what little he told them. So, basically, if all these people were to be believed, this was practically a waste of time. But he still had to verify all their alibis so he couldn’t rule them out just yet.

After this exhausting day, all Joe wanted to do was go home and sleep it off and now, after an exhausting almost 2 hour drive back home, Joe felt relieved as he stepped into 5467, Patriot Street. 

His apartment building lay silent tonight and he heard barely anything but jangling keys as he turned his lock. His apartment was small but he liked it that way. In fact he'd downgraded just a few years ago from a townhouse to his current two bedroom apartment. He'd soundproofed (?) his walls the day he'd moved in and so patterned black foam covered almost every inch of every wall. He needed his silence but he also liked knowing people were around him more. And this was the best compromise. 

He tossed his jacket on the couch and placed his holstered gun next to his key tray. He undid his pants — the relief of them not suffocating his stomach felt amazing. He always did his belt a little too tight and it got really uncomfortable really quickly but he'd learned to live with it. He flung them off to the side and walked into the bathroom.

After quickly washing his face, it was straight to lying face down in bed. He couldn't even think another thought. 

-

It was 8am when Joe was awoken by his phone ringing. 

“Hello?” He asked, still half asleep, wiping saliva from the edge of his lips. His eyes stayed closed. 

“Bossman! It's me, your favorite annoyance!” 

“God, Trey what fucking time is it?”

“I'm not sure honestly. I think it's like early morning. I didn't wake you, right? Sorry about that.”

“Ugh, it's fine.” Joe grumbled, turning on his side. “What do you want?”

“I have good news! Remember that coin you had me analyze from the crime scene?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“Well I finished the analysis last night and I got some partial prints off it. Nothing seemed too viable but I let it run through the database to see if it matched anything we've remotely found before and there's absolutely no matches. None at all.”

“How is this good news, Trey?” Joe had to sit up at this point. He rubbed his eyes open. A singular column of light shone in from the gap in the curtains but it was enough to light up the whole room.

“Well it means it's no one we have in the system so it's not a repeat offender. And it's one less lead for you to chase.”

“Okay, that is actually good news.” Joe said. Less work was always good news especially when it was as dreary as paperwork. Thankfully Trey loved doing paperwork. He was a good kid. Ambitious, talented and surprisingly optimistic. 

“Alright that was all, bossman. See you at work!” 

“Yeah, okay.” Joe cut the call and fell back into bed. Work was going to be really boring today. He had to go around and verify the alibis of everyone he even remotely suspected as being involved which was going to be exhausting. And he needed all the rest he could get.

*