#a warm up drawing while i try to get in gear to finish the feast requests fjdvskb

[the-insouciant-scientist]

@the-dye-stained-socialite oh how the turns table

[dragons-socks]

Baby Bumblebee chptr 4

////////Six Months Later\\\\\\\\\

Bee was walking home from school. Lennox and Ironhide were hunting down Decepticons in Europe, so he didn’t really have a ride today, which was fine. He didn’t mind not going back to the house when Lennox or Ironhide wasn’t there. It’s not that Bee didn’t like Sarah or Annabell, but they just didn’t really get each other. Annabell tried to poke at every nerve Bumblebee had, just testing his patience. And Sarah either babied him too much or acted as if he should already know how to do some complex human thing.

And then there was school. Apparently, Sarah was right about his name. Though Bee still didn’t understand how a girl in his class can be named ‘jasmine’ after a flower, but to be called after the insect that lets that flower grow and flourish… that’s taking it too weird? Not to mention no one in the institute knows morse code, and only a few, including his teacher know sign language. The school said they’d set him up with an interpreter. That has yet to be seen.

“Oh, hey, you’re Honey Bee, right?” Bumblebee jumped as a boy his physical age tapped him on the shoulder. Bee pulled out a small keyring of flash card that said common phrases to help him interact with people who couldn’t understand his other forms of communications. He tapped on the one with his actual name on it. “Oh, well I’m Raven.”

Bee made a saluting gesture; instead of his hand being horizontal and pushed in front of him, his palm was vertical and facing out while his hand moved away to the side of his temple. Then, Bee finger-spelt the boy’s name. Raven looked at his hands with wide eyes.

“Woah, you really can’t speak, can you?” Raven asked. Bee let out angry trills, glaring at the boy. He started to walk faster, getting away from the human. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that!”

Bee chittered, turning around and raising an eyebrow. You have one chance.

“I just didn’t want to believe Harvey. He’s always making up things about other people. My mom says he’s a bully.” Raven rambled. Bee nodded in agreement. Harvey was a larger kid in his class who kept trying to pick fights and make fun of Bumblebee. Bee would hand the kid’s ass to him, but he was still an Autobots and harming humans was still a big ‘no’ in his books. “We should be friends. I see you like Voltron. My favorite is the red lion, but the yellow one is alright too.”

Bumblebee shrugged, not knowing what this ‘Voltron’ was, but decided not to try to confuse the other with too complex interactions. This is the most pleasant conversation he’s had since being forced to partake in the human learning institution.

Soon Raven had to split off to go to his own home, but made Bee promise to meet up tomorrow to walk to school. Bee felt lighter for some reason, almost like he wasn’t so alone. Annabell picked up on his good mood as soon as he entered the house. A toy sailed through the air and whacked him in the forehead.

“Hey, Bee.” She smiled.

“Annabell, stop throwing toys. Go sit in the corner.” Sarah gawked. This turned into a ten minute scream-cry feast in which Annabell was forced to spend time in the corner for longer than her original sentence. Bumblebee was already set up at the table by this point, pulling out his homework. “How was school, Bee?” The woman said as she signed the words.

‘Good, I meet a new friend. His name is Raven.’ Bee signed, his feet kicking in the open air under the table.

“Oh, that’s nice, what did you guys talk about?” Sarah leaned over the counter, ruffling Bee’s hair. He huffed and waved her hand away.

‘He kept talking about some lion-show called Voltage or something? Said I liked it too, but I don’t know why he would think that.’

“You mean Voltron? Your bookbag is designed to look like one of the characters on the show. He probably thought you got the bag because you liked the show, not because it was yellow and black.” She explained, lifting up the bag in question. On the back in vinyl letters did read ‘Voltron’. “We could watch it. So you know what your friend is talking about.”

Bee shrugged at this. He’s tried to watch human entertainment, but nothing really caught his interest. Well, he’s only really seen whatever the Witwicky’s watched, and that was just through their living room window as he was parked in their driveway. Recently, Annabell has been making him watch her shows, which were all about learning numbers, colors, and being nice. At least she has her numbers and colors down.

“Yeah, it can be our thing, when you’re done with your homework we can watch a few episodes.” Sarah nodded to herself.

Annabell was returned from her sentencing. She shuffled up to Bumblebee, holding out the wooden block that she had thrown at him earlier.

“M’sorry, Bee.” She toed at the ground and gave him large puppy dog eyes. Bee huffed and took the block from her. He’s learned pretty fast to accept her peace offerings or have her throw another tantrum.

‘Yeah, I’m sure you are.’ Bee signed back. Annabell jumped around to her mom.

“Mom, what did he say?” Sarah shook her head at the young autobot. “He said, ‘apology accepted’.”

It didn’t take long to finish the easy equations or sentence structures his teachers assigned for his class. As soon as he put his work back into his bag, Sarah ushered him onto the couch and turned on their television.

“Get comfortable, sweetie, the first episode is the longest.” Bee wrapped himself in the yellow blanket that he’s since claimed as his own. As the episode went on, Bee found himself drawing parallels of his own life and the autobots to those of these characters. He was so immersed into this stupid cartoon that he didn’t even notice that Lennox had arrived and sat down next to his wife. Not until the episode was paused.

‘HEY!’ Bumblebee turned to Sarah, jumping a little when Lennox was also there.

“Hey to you too, kid.” Lennox said, his voice thick and his face contorted into worry. Bumblebee sat up.

‘Is Ironhide okay?’ Bee signed, trying to twist out of his cocoon to get a better look outside for the mech.

“He’s fine, Bee. But I do have some bad news. The Decepticons found the base. The Autobots had to be relocated and for your safety, we might not be getting their new location.”

‘But what about Ironhide? He still needs Energon to function. How will I find them once we’ve figured out how to change me back?’ Bee asked.

“They don’t think there’s a cure for you, Bee. Optimus thought it best to cut ties. Don’t worry about Ironhide. We’re still going to get shipments of Energon for him.” Lennox pulled Bee into his chest. Bee didn’t have room to sign his frustrations, but he also didn’t have energy to fight off his prison of warm arms. Instead he let Lennox’s voice swirl around his own thoughts that wanted to drown him.

_______________

Bee slipped out of the house. The moon, street lamps, and his blinking shoe steps were his only light to navigate out of the neighborhood and try to find his way back to Optimus. The mech might not want him, but that was where he belonged, and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

It wasn’t the first time that he realized that walking was much more time consuming than driving. This was just another time that the notion ingrained itself into his head. This was the first time Bumblebee found himself walking for a long time after sunset. It seemed to take longer in the dark. It took so much longer to reach the school than it usually does.

Maybe it wasn’t the darkness of night that had Bumblebee shuffling his feet. Maybe it was the thought of seeing Optimus and the others after a month of not seeing them. Maybe it was the knowledge that this was in direct opposition of Optimus’s orders. This is the most rebellious he’s been in a long time. Bumblebee finds his feet stopping. He looks around and realizes he’s walked himself all the way just a house past Sam’s. The chill has already settled into his skin, but he’s just noticed his minutely shivers. His teeth are chattering, and he feels tired seeping into the very marrow of his human bones. His feet and legs ache. It must have been half the night gone by now.

A rumbling sound brings the rest of the world back into focus. Cars race towards him, screeching to a halt and boxing him in. At first he thinks its normal bad humans, until he recognizes the cars and notices the Decepticons’ insignias.

“I don’t get it.” Starscream’s voice is audible from his vehicular mode. “There is but a human child where the signal emits. No energon, no Autobots. Nothing.”

Bumblebee’s heart spikes. He backs away from Megatron’s right-hand. The other ‘Cons have switched back to their natural state. They leer down at Bumblebee. One even tries to grab at him. He rolls to the side, and books it for a crack in their formation. Breakdown snagged Bee’s leg, scooping him upside-down, before he could make it. Bee kept hissing and sputtering at the Cons, but they weren’t intimidated.

“It appears, Starscream, that the boy is the origin of the signal. Maybe Knockout’s weapon wasn’t as defective as we had first thought. This human child does have a striking resemblance to their mute scout.” Breakdown muses.

Bee lets out sharp whistles, hoping the sleeping humans around them will awaken, but its almost no use. His vision starts to blur as the Cons start moving away. He doesn’t know what to do. He starts pushing against the metal fist around his leg, but with each shove the only result is his palms getting hotter.

Bumblebee can feel in his gut that Breakdown is about to shift. He can hear the t-cog clicking its gears in the split second preparation of turning into the alt mode. Bee panics, pulling his arm as far back as he could and smacking hard onto Breakdown’s grip. Instead of being halted by the warm living metal, his hand pushed in with no resistance. A shot of blue energy cut a path from his hand to the open sky. Breakdown drops Bee on the ground in surprise. Bee is able to twist himself to land on his back rather than just his head. He ignores the searing pain of smacking into the asphalt and scrambles away from his capture. The other Cons make a quick double-back, but not before Bee is on his feet. His palms and fingers tingle from the heat, but are unharmed from the powerful blast-ray. Cons surround him. He pulls his arm back and lets out another blast, sweeping his arm in an arc and taking out a line of the enemies, and also some of the residential appliances.

“Bee?” It’s Sam’s voice as he scampers out of his house in a shirt and boxers. “Where’s Lennox? Why are you here?” Bee doesn’t answer. He can’t answer. He sidesteps a blast from the Cons. Its not enough, Bee is grabbed again. His arms are pinned to his side in Starscream’s hand.

“I’ve got him, retreat.” Starscream proclaimed, ignoring Bee’s chitters and Sam’s shouts. A ground bridge was opened a few feet away. Starscream watched his men walk into the portal before turning to Sam with a viscous grin. “Till the next time, Witwick-”

Bee was once again hitting the ground. His back is singing and his ears are ringing from the gunshot. His vision is blurry, but he can still make out Mikaela cocking back a rifle as Sam ran to him. Sam carefully moved Bee away from the Decepticon, who was clutching his shot-up hand. There was a moment where it looked like Starscream was going to exact revenge. Luckily the portal behind him started to close and if he wanted a ride back home he couldn’t fight the humans. Everyone sighed with relief until they looked down at Bee.

The worried shouts of his friends were cut short as Bee’s small body finally gave it quits and fell asleep.

[livinglikearoyal]

Spring Day in His Shirt : BTS Scenario Series || Namjoon

Jin / Yoongi / Hoseok / Namjoon / Jimin / Taehyung / Jungkook

Original Request: “Can you do a reaction where BTS walks into the room and finds you in nothing but your underwear and their shirt as you dance to Spring Day” A/N: I will be posting a piece for each of the members with this prompt. To make sure they are not too repetitive, some won’t strictly follow the request but will contain the main parts of it. These don’t have much of a plot to them; they are more of a scene. I hope you enjoy!  Links at the top of this post will be updated as I post other members!

Namjoon- Let Me Spoil You

Looking at the clock for the millionth time that night, you sigh.

He is late. Again.

Namjoon literally just got back from some promotions that took him out of the country for several weeks. He had surprised you last night by sneaking into bed and curling up behind you. He placed a sweet kiss on your shoulder as he wrapped you in his embrace and his breathing quickly evened out. Your boy was understandably exhausted.

You had seen him for a short time this morning--long enough to see him emerging from the bathroom, water droplets still clinging to his skin and hair slicked back. The two of you briefly caught up over a quick breakfast that you were able to produce with the limited groceries in your kitchen. On his way out the door, he had wrapped you in the warmest hug ever and whispered a promise to come home to you early this evening. Your touches lingered as long as possible, skin touching until your bodies couldn’t stretch out anymore to make up for the growing space between you. He smiled softly before pulling his hood over his ears, turning around, and walking away with his head bowed. You watched from the doorway until you couldn’t see him anymore before closing the door and preparing to get ready for your day.

That was over thirteen hours ago.

Five hours ago you had returned home from your busy day. You had stopped by the grocer's on the way home and started to prepare the small feast you had planned to celebrate Joon being home. Once the ingredients are prepped and in the process of cooking, you make a pitstop by your closet then quickly hop in the shower. The next hour is spent going between the kitchen to work on the meal and setting up the living room so that it looks like the vision you created while daydreaming at work.

Three hours ago, everything was ready--except the fact that the guest of honor was still absent.

You have been restlessly waiting for three hours. You had been working on your computer while in a cocoon of blankets on the couch. You haven’t been the most productive; your mind has been wandering to your boyfriend. What is he doing? Why isn’t he home? Hasn’t he missed you? Did he forget about you? The food isn’t going to be edible if he doesn’t get home soon. Gently rubbing your eyes, you look at the clock yet again. Grabbing your phone, you minimize your music player and pull up your messages. Nothing.

You: Is everything okay?

You press send and rest your head on the back of the sofa. Right as you are starting to drift to sleep, your phone alerts you to a message.

Joon Bug: Yeah. Practice ran late. Home soon.

You: Ok. 😘

Joon Bug: 💖

Setting the phone down beside you, you look out the window. The sky is dark so your reflection stares back at you. You stew in your own thoughts for a while before turning back to your computer and finishing the project that you had been working on.

Two hours later, you close the screen. It is finished. Your chest rises and falls in a disheartening breath. Glancing at your phone, you know you haven’t missed any new messages. Namjoon is still out.

Gently pulling the skin inside of your cheek between your teeth, you get up to clean up the books and other supplies you had been working with.

You are lost in thought and swaying back and forth to the music that is still playing from your phone. The melancholy playlist you selected probably isn’t helping your mood at the moment but you can’t bring yourself to care. You are having a pity party for one and you need a soundtrack. Placing the books back on the shelf, computer back in your bag, and phone on the charger, you find yourself absentmindedly looking over the sleeping city while getting lost in the music.

Namjoon opens the door as quietly as possible, knowing that you’re probably asleep by this time. He would be asleep if the producers hadn’t wanted him to make some last minute changes to the tracks that were to be presented to management tomorrow. Well, today.

He slowly latches and locks the door behind him, leaving his shoes on the small rug in the foyer. The delicious aromas lingering from your dinner make his mouth water as he makes his way to the living room, where he normally drops his bag. Turning at the kitchen, he sees the warming tray of the oven still turned on. Curious, he takes a detour and pulls the handle down. The tantalizing dishes on the rack appear to be untouched. Closing the door, he glances around the kitchen and notices a few other items that look freshly made but completely intact.

His mouth draws into a tight line.  Noticing music in the background, he returns to his original path to the living room.

What he sees stops him in his tracks.

The lights are dim and candles that are mainly flaming liquid illuminate nearly every flat surface within the small space. Some of them contain no flame and just hardening wax, having gone out on their own. Your fuzziest blankets are scattered haphazardly all over the couch, Netflix is scrolling over the tv screen waiting for you to pick your poison, and a single mug sets on a coaster on the table between the two. Namjoon can see evidence of hot chocolate, most likely spiked with your favorite liquor, around the top rim. Music is playing from your phone on the cabinet. Actually, it is a song that he helped write. “Spring Day”.

What leaves him breathless isn’t the lighting, candles, or music. It is you.

You are facing the window, arms wrapped around yourself. You are wearing the white button up that he had left discarded on the floor last night before crawling into bed with you. It comes to mid-thigh on you, still leaving plenty of skin for his eyes to devour. He can see the outline of red lingerie underneath the thin material that is pulled tighter around your back because of your arm placement. Your body is moving like a tree in a slight breeze to the melody. He can’t tell if your eyes are closed or not, but he stays frozen in place watching as your calf muscles tense and relax, your hips sway from side to side, and your head comes down to look at the floor. It is this moment he realizes that this is all for him. You did this for him.  

Not able to take it anymore, he noiselessly makes his way to you--desperate to hold you in his arms.

He is so focused on his destination, you, that he doesn’t realize why a screech has sounded from his mouth until he is doubled over in pain, hands holding his foot.

Damn table.

You turn around, shocked to find that you are no longer alone. Namjoon looks up at you through the tears that are welling up in his eyes.

“Hey, babe.” He shyly smiles, now leaning heavily against the arm of the couch with his foot still cradled in his hand.

“Namjoon.” You nod as you bring your arms back to their previous position around your body.

He sets his foot down gingerly testing it before placing his full weight back on it. Slowly walking toward you, he takes you in. Your lips in a line. Your eyes tired. Only the middle few buttons are secured on his shirt so he can appreciate the fine red lace peeking through. The defensive stance that you have assumed makes him stop before he is able to touch you.

“What is all of this for?” he cautiously asks.

“Well, it was supposed to be for you but…” you raise your eyebrow as you look at the clock “...that was hours ago.”

“Babe?”

The confusion in his voice is the breaking point.

“You told me you’d be home early. Hell, you told me you’d be home soon HOURS ago. I just wanted an evening with my boyfriend. An evening where I could spoil you and show you how much you mean to me. All you had to do was be here.”

You look up at him, willing the moisture collecting along your water lines to stay where it is. This evening has just been so frustrating. 

“But you weren’t.”

“Y/N.”

“I just wanted to surprise you, Namjoon.” He almost flinches at the use of his proper name. “I wanted to...I wanted to treat you and help you relax.”

You bring your hands down to your side defeatedly.

“But I get that work is more important. Dinner is in the kitchen--help yourself. I’m going to head to bed now that I know you’re okay.”

You don’t look at him as you walk past him. If you had, you would see the metaphorical gears turning in his mind...trying to catch up and understand everything that just happened. Before you can make it out of the living room a soft hand grasps your wrist and stops you where you stand.

“I’m sorry.” You hear him nearly plead from behind you. His hand gently comes to your hip to coax your body around so you are facing him.

“I told you I’d be home early and I completely blanked on it. I got so busy with work that I...I…” he runs a hand nervously along the back of his neck, “...I didn’t think about how you were expecting me home.”

He takes your hands in his and guides you to sit on top of the cloud of blankets covering the couch. “You are always so understanding and patient with me and my work. You don’t ask for much. Today, I took advantage of that and I’m sorry.”

The guilt is heavy in his posture as he continues. “I understand that you are upset with me right now. Understandably so. You did so much for me today...took so much time out of your day to spoil me only for me to spoil it. I’m sorry.”

“You are such a beautiful person, inside and out. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I count my blessings every day. Even when it feels like I might not, like this evening, I am always missing you and wanting to be next to you. Yes, work is important but you are even more valuable to me and I need to show you that more. Please know that I love you.” He ends, gripping your hands a little harder as if he is afraid you’ll run from the room. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” You breathe. “You didn’t know what I had planned. How could you? I didn’t tell you.”

“But I…”

“Shh, I get it. You get lost in your work quite a bit. I get it.” You scoot closer to him. “You’re home now though. Can we just cuddle, Joon? Please?”

His entire being looks like it melts at that moment. Eyes soften even more than they were before, shoulders relax, neck muscles become less tense, and he lets out a breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“Of course, love. Come here.” He wraps his arm around your waist, using the other to pull your legs over his. He wrestles a blanket from underneath the two of you and covers your legs with it. His free hand comes to rest on your hip, fingertips grazing the edge of your panties.

“What did I do to deserve you?” He whispers, forehead coming to rest on your shoulder.

“You must’ve been a saint in a previous life.” You joke.

“Must have,” he hums peacefully while watching his hand. “You know, now that I have you right here, I don’t think I ever want to leave.”

“I don’t think the boys would like that.” You respond with false concern, knowing that he wasn’t serious.

“Ahhh...they’ll be fine.”

“I don’t need an angry Yoongi busting down my door to get you.” You pause and gasp. “Or worse, Jin.”

Namjoon chuckles. “True. Let me rephrase that. I won’t ever leave you unless I absolutely have to and then I’ll always come back as soon as possible.”

“I like that.” You smile up at him.

“And I love you.” He smirks as he places a kiss on your jaw, right under your ear.

Your stomach betrays you at that moment, growling like a junkyard guard dog.

Namjoon pulls away, laughter evident in his face. He is trying to hold it in as he unwraps himself from you and pulls you up from the couch.

“Come on, my love. Let’s dine on the feast that you made and then we can cuddle until an angry Jin comes to pull me from my princess’s grasp.” He says.

“You are so corny.”

“But you love it.”

“I do.”

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! This one got away from me a little bit...as all of my Namjoon pieces do. Let me know what you think!

Ask ● Master List ● WIP

[rose-blossm-blog]

“ ᶠʳᵒᶻᵉᶰ ʰᵉᵃʳᵗˢ ᶤᶰ ᵃ ˡᵒᵛᵉʳ'ˢ ᵍʳᵃᵛᵉˑ ”

PLACE: BARCELONA, SPAIN.

TIME PERIOD: 1742 A.D. 

‹ ᵗʷ → ᵇˡᵒᵒᵈ˒ ᵍᵒʳᵉˑ ›

 She knew they’d all be boisterously indulging on the delectable feast ahead of them. For as the woman who owned the estate beckoned them in with her warm invitation, giving them free passage of her property, they would laugh. Laugh loudly, she noted, with their carefree tone and polished wardrobe that only the finest seamstress could tailor so fittingly to their bodies. It was a display of wealth wherever they traveled, a high born's signature collared coat and their beautiful woman strapped underneath their arm.

“Boy, polish that silverware and prepare to pour the wine,” an old, battered woman who was obviously hypnotized to serve under the vampires’ every waking demand, shouted to the ‘boy’ who was spotlessly finishing the last touches on the silverware. Silverware.. It was a fairly new concept in that day, particularly geared for more mannerly folk in the courts and nobles ranging far and wide. In attendance to this party were the most well-off guests in Spain, traveling bureaucrats who collected shares and financial endeavors wherever they went. Oh, and the servant who was recruited by the woman, knew perfectly well their luxurious, comfortable lifestyle.

“The men upstairs have requested more wine,” another servant girl announces for the teeming wait staff to hear, and a noticeable gash on her neck goes seemingly unnoticed as she scurries out of the room again.

“Boy, didn’t ya hear ‘er?” the eldest woman who spoke before, now impatiently badgers her sole recipitator of her demands. The boy who keeps his head down and eyes trained on his silverware, doesn’t voice a response and instead scurries to handle the wine pitcher before the lead staff member can torment him with her God-awful screech once more. Hasty steps lead him to the stairway, in which the men of the party would be participating in their usual agenda. Fang-deep in some poor lass in a frilly dress, discussing politics and their promiscuity in the court’s halls. The servant boy could recite word for word the jargon they’d be exchanging by the fireplace, barely getting a full few sentences in without stopping to drain their pretty blood supply.

The door pushes open and the servant goes quietly unnoticed, such as most of the human population occupying the room. Girls giggling their innocent giggles as the rough men enjoy their playful natured banter, before said bright girl’s timely demise. It’s a cycle, rooted in the system of the clan and how utterly hard it was for the boy to contain himself when breezing past the displays.

“Only the finest wine will pour tonight, gentlemen!” a loud voice bellowed in the room, signaling a stream of ‘hoor-ahs’, closely followed by their clinking of glasses. The servant boy, who served each man their share of wine, did so in a manner that worked like clockwork. They would not drink immediately when served; drinks would flow as soon as the leader of the lot would announce a toast, thus everyone would drink their cup simultaneously. With swift steps, going unnoticed in the room, fingers softly click the door’s locked and his back presses against the door.

Watchful, keen gaze locked on the men as the glasses pressed to their lips, inspecting as the wine swam down until every last drop was ingested. Fists begin to tighten, knuckles turning white as sweaty palms are now grasping the wooden dagger that the servant hid effectively in their belt.

It’s a quick process, really. A fairly reliable source of poison would only take moments to ensue, and the entire jolly group of men from before were now hunched over, gasping and choking on the wine they so gluttonously lived on. Some were brought to their knees, while others would grip onto the edges of the walls, the fireplace, tables- anything to keep them upright. One man screamed out, in the midst of ensuing chaos.

“The wine- It was poisoned!” he croaked out, his lungs now certainly aflame from the herb now burning the walls of the organ as it traveled to their stomachs. Continuing to weaken them, and the burning of rage was evident in the way the same man jutted his index finger in the servant boy’s direction.

“You! Go find whoever is responsible, and bring them to me!”

The fiery words, threatening, a clear death sentence by all means- Yet.. the servant could not help but bite back a grin. As he watched the man so weakly drag his inhibited body from the ground, like his limbs had suddenly become numb- it brought a humored chuckle to the servant. Bewildered by the servant’s clear disobedience, the man’s face contorted in even more detestment.

“Even in such a pathetic state, you still bark orders.. Are you daft?” the servant’s voice was brought to light for the first time that entire evening. Some thought the boy was a mute, and by his status in the servant rank, no one questioned it. But as the ‘boy’ began to speak, other men in the room were tuned in, now trying to get themselves up to take on this intruder of their feast.

“The whole lot of you.. Crippled by a little witch’s brew. I’m rather embarrassed for you, to tell the truth,” the servant spoke again, and in the voice, there’s a clear distinction that is not entirely male.. No, it does not have the timbre of a standard male’s tune, nor follow the same octave. In fact, not male at all.

“When the witches heard of how I sought to bring hell on your little club of merry dead men, they practically rejoiced. You were the ones who were responsible for burning their aspiring youth, their elderly and such, so.. Suppose we shared a similar desire for revenge. How does the saying go..? ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’.. Something like that,” it was now clear that the servant was responsible for the poisoning of the wine, and the men were either stunned, or trying to fling themselves from their spots to grasp at the intruder’s throat. Either way, they’d be weakened for a good half an hour or so.

“And.. you.” The servant propped themselves down on their knees in front of the man who spoke earlier, fisting the hair of him before bringing the blade to his throat. It was only moments in which the man laid his eyes upon the ‘servant boy’, that he, too, began to slowly recognize the identity of his enemy.

“Isabelle.. But you can’t..” he began to trail off with a dazed look of confusion, slowly morphing into spiteful anger- as one would expect. Isabelle simply lets out a dry, gruff laugh before inserting the blade all the way into his neck, watching the man howl and grimace as blood began to flow down his pristine whine, buttoned shirt.

“That is for Bartolomé.. Who you threw into your accusations of witchcraft and made me watch as the flames engulfed him.. Slowly..” she begins twisting the blade as her voice drips with animosity, the grief she had been stricken with- now rotting and turning into a form of classified insanity. “I loved him.. Oh, I loved him so. The other half of my heart, the one who was going to take me to the new world.. A gentle man, pure of heart, so much life in his eyes..” she hissed to him, voice breaking and trying to stay collected as the man’s painful expression continued to plead her with his eyes. “And you killed him,” she growled lastly, removing the knife and easily using her grasp of his hair to tear his head from the rest of the body.

The rest of the men were now twitching in their spot on the ground, groans of agony encompassing the atmosphere of the room as the fireplace continued to cackle in the distance. Isabelle stood upright, her short strands of hair now decorated with blood from the insertion of the blade hitting an artery, some splattered on her cheek and on the worn clothes she dressed in.

“You needn’t fear the poison, gentlemen,” she stood up and announced to the rest of the group, leisurely walking around the room and stepping over the limp bodies that scattered randomly across the room. “You have much greater things to tremble at in your near future,” she says with authority clear in her voice, gaze darkened from her masked expression. Nothing but bitterness.. The desire for revenge, for blood to flow for the unjust killing of her lover.

She sees one of the woman in a total fright, shock in her widened eyes and the color washed from her face. She can see her trying to push one of the weakened men awake, presumably in hopes of helping her escape this situation. Isabelle is quick to sink her claws into her hair and stretch her mouth to bare a set of carnal fangs, that of which disappear into her neck to draw out a long cry.  Wailing for her life until that same life is drained from her eyes. Throwing the body down to the ground when she disposes of it.

She sees the fireplace in the back of the room, her eyes peeled on the little sparks that’d erupt from the dance of the flames. Something in her stomach churned, and she had to- she simply had to - push her feelings aside. Taking a torch that she easily found from one of the stands in the room, collecting a flame atop it and trying to grip the handle tighter to stop the shakiness in her fingers. She hated fire, absolutely detested, abhorred it. But she had to make them suffer.

One by one, she lit each of them aflame- Already taking the liberty of compelling the maids to coat their rich fabric in a flammable tender cloth to ensure the flames would devour the body whole without any interruptions. High-pitched shrieks and cries of mercy were bouncing off the walls, as each of the vampires were sentenced to the cruel death they inflicted upon her love.

“How does it feel? To drown in the flames that eat at your flesh, to beg for your life as no one — NO ONE— comes to rescue you!?” she shouts in the rooms, her lips twitching as a sick grin starts to play at her lips as she watches the almost ravishing display of revenge in it’s most raw, just form. She stands at the doorway and watches their writhing corpses begin to die off, one by one.

“May God have mercy on your damned souls,” she says, voice bordering a near whisper as she throws the stake into the middle of the room. Watching the furniture and such catch fire in the process of the element beginning to spread, consuming everything in it’s path.

With that, her back turned, she opened the door to exit, and was out of sight before the sun came up again.

[susannaprouse]

Fifty Three - Iquitos

After a restless night we both were awake very early so took the opportunity to get up and get to our destination for the morning early. Our activity for the day was something I'd been looking forward to for so long and was one of the major factors of us going to the Amazon from Iquitos. The place was called Isla de Los Monos and was a rescue and rehabilitation centre for monkeys.

As we'd trialled the route before (when we were trying to work out how to get there) we knew exactly where to go. We walked through the busy fruit market to the rickety dock area full of planks of wood precariously nailed together to form platforms. Entering these docks was like going into a film where we were definitely 'not from around these parts'. People were going around their daily business and it felt like a world away from what we knew.

We found the boats and luckily there were two spare seats on one so we didn't have to wait and immediately we were off. The boat was noisy and crammed with people. I tried not to think about how dangerous it was and instead enjoyed the view of the passing land and fishing boats.

After around 20 minutes the boat stopped and a couple got off. I saw a sign proclaiming 'Isla de Los Monos' and we quickly struggled through people to get to the front, lucky for us as the boat was about to head off to whatever the next destination was.

On land we found the very muddy trail to the centre and were glad we'd decided to wear our jungle gear, watching another couple struggle with their trainers. Five minutes in we quickly got on our long sleeve tops as we were being bitten by mosquitos. We couldn't put on any repellent or sun cream as it's toxic to the monkeys so we came prepared.

After twenty minutes of walking we came to an open area with some wooden structures. Following the signs instructions we walked to the purple hut and were met by a man who owned the centre. While he was explaining what the centre does and the monkeys they had I could make out something moving by his feet. I got excited thinking it might be a dog but when I moved closer I saw a monkey!!! I bent down and saw a tiny Saki monkey playing and being completely adorable. The man explained how when she arrived her coxis was broken and she had a bullet in her. Apparently people hunt Saki monkeys to make feather dusters from their bushy tails. I will never get over how cruel and desperate humans can be.

I didn't want to leave the Saki monkey but soon our guide arrived and we had to follow him. We went outside, walked to some trees and immediately we could see black bodies above and around us. Little wooly monkeys scampered in the trees, playing with each other and coming down for food on the feeding platform. It was completely amazing and I wanted to cry. Our guide told us how all the monkeys could roam wherever they wanted on the 40 hectare island. They'd all been rescued from the pet or meat trade and were young. When they got to around four years old they'd be taken somewhere without human contact so they could then release them.

The monkeys came down for food and weren't phased by us at all. They occasionally reached out a hand to us to touch us which was completely magical. Their fur was so soft and wooly (funny that!). They were unbelievably cute, so much like a child's drawing of a monkey.

After a while another couple joined us and while they did another breed of monkey came down. A tiny red baby howler monkey that was so timid and so cute. Our guide pointed over in the distance and said there was another. But this one was on the back of one of the other young wooly monkeys as it walked over to us. The wooly monkey had adopted the baby howler monkey and it made my heart swell, it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen!!!

As the monkeys got more comfortable with us they started to use us as climbing frames to jump onto trees or play fight together. Soon Mike had a wooly monkey on him and I had the timid baby howler monkey wrapped around me, watching the woolys from a safe distance. I couldn't believe it was happening and how the little monkeys trusted us and wanted to be with us already. It was the most amazing thing ever.

Although I didn't want to leave the troop of monkeys our guide led us through to the jungle trail. While we were walking some of the wooly monkeys followed us and before we knew it Mike had one on his head while walking. The guide told us because they didn't have mothers they needed love and also liked to hitch a ride. The monkey loved Mike and did not want to get off (at one point I was so jealous Mike said I could have a turn holding it but it clung onto Mike so we let it be). We walked along the trail like this with the baby monkey grabbing leaves to eat on the way.

It wasn't long before another wooly monkey had jumped onto me and was sat on my shoulders like a toddler. The weight of the monkey and the way it's tail wrapped around my arm like another hand was so unbelievably lovely I was again close to tears. So there we were walking through the forest with our new monkey babies. As we walked we saw other monkeys, a mix of wild and rescued that weren't as clingy as the woolys. We saw white crested marmosets, a lonely tiki that was abandoned by its troop and the tiniest of all the primates, pygmy marmosets - the size of my palms (which are tiny enough!).

As we walked my wooly monkey started to lick my face. I asked our guide if it was OK and he said she's just licking the salt. Well she was in for a feast with my sweaty head. While others might be disgusted with this I absolutely loved it. I could feel her tiny warm breath as she licked, smelling a bit like green tea.

We continued to walk to the end of the trail but before we got there my little monkey gestured to the floor. I assumed she wanted a leaf as she had been doing this the whole walk but I looked down to see a big snails shell on the forest floor. I bent down and she reached out to pick it up. I soon realised the shell was full of water and she wanted to drink it! She proceeded to do this pouring the water all over my head while trying.

Feeling like one of the troop we walked over to some more monkeys, a bigger Saki monkey, little tamarins and another red tiki. The woolys and the tiki took it in turns to climb onto our shoulders until Mike and I had both felt the little red tiki around our shoulders like a scarf. It was completely amazing to see all these breeds together and so close. I can't describe how happy I was.

Finally our walk came to an end and we had to let the monkeys go. Safe to say I really didn't want to. I kept saying to Mike, can't we stay? Do you think we can pay more and hang out with the woolys some more? Luckily I had the baby Saki monkey in the hut to take my mind off that fact that we had to leave. I consoled myself with the fact that we'd had this most amazing experience and we can't stay longer as it wouldn't be good for the monkeys.

The whole morning was maybe my best morning ever. I've always loved animals and this felt like a combination of that deep seated love and my maternal instincts melding together to make one giant emotion. It's amazing I didn't explode. It's kind of pathetic but I can't believe how much I loved those baby monkeys and how much I felt like I needed to care for them. Plus they were so soft.

Walking back to the boat I felt an absolute mix of emotions - complete euphoria at having seen and held the monkeys, complete sadness at having to leave them and an overwhelming anger at the greedy humans that had harmed them. I could see they were being well looked after so that was the only consolation.

The boat ride back went quickly and we got back to the hostel, showered and sorted out our very muddy clothes. After we went out for lunch, repeatedly looking at our photos and videos of the morning not quite believing how lucky we were.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the hostel before heading back out for dinner. That night we went to a local place that served kebabs. When we arrived we were shown a fridge full of different kebabs that we could choose from. We opted for some fish, stuffed peppers, potato and cheese with pineapple. Each one came with vegetables and a salad and were delicious!

To finish off one of my best days of the whole trip we went to the ice cream place and got ice cream smothered in chocolate sauce. What a day!