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purplefictionmom · 7 years ago

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Original Content

I asked if you guys wanted to read it and I actually got more of a response than I thought, haha

A few scenes are under the cut, and if you guys are interested in more, let me know!

(All the scenes are from the same manuscript)

Shadows played with light, and Coriander Bellows could smell the dew of morning in her nostrils. She howled in rage and tried to hide from the coming morning, wanting just one more moment in the cool darkness, one more moment free and wild.

In the distance, her house stood, backlit by the glow of coming morning, and Corie ducked through fields of corn and wheat and as she got closer she could hear movements in the house, no doubt her parents awake for the day and preparing to work.

But she didn’t stop, her body was moving without her consent and she burst through the front doors and her mother’s scream of agony finally woke her.

Corie sat up in her bed while it was still dark outside. Sweat poured down her face as she relived the dream that she’d had almost every night without fail for the past two weeks.

Glancing around, Corie took in her dark and plain bedroom. Her bookshelf was bare, except for a few books she deemed that she could leave without heartache. Her top dresser drawer stood open and empty of her undergarments, but the rest of her clothes were still folded neatly in the closed drawers, much to her mother’s dismay.

‘I won’t be needing them,’ Corie remembered telling her mother, ‘They said to pack essentials--they’ll provide my clothing.’

‘But what about your days off from work? Just a few pairs of pants and blouses, dear…’

Her mother’s voice was deeper than Corie’s own, but she found comfort in her mother’s low notes.

Corie glanced out the window at the wheat fields her Da kept (and at the Corn fields behind, which belonged to their neighbors who lived on the other side of the fields), half expecting to see some beast or another ducking through the stalks.

A flash of light overhead distracted her and Corie glanced at the sky.

Streaks of red, purple and green were up in the sky. A flash of gold and then Corie saw what could be mistaken for a meteor crashing towards earth. Another flash of gold and red and Corie saw the grid pattern of the Atmosphere Shield appear and then quickly disappear.

Another battle, the thought crossed her mind quickly, So close to Earth…

Corie put her thoughts away as she laid back down on the bed. She turned away from the window and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about the interstellar war that was happening almost directly above her head. She turned her mind instead on the wound on her arm.

It still throbbed dully, even though she had gotten it three weeks earlier. The bandage started to turn red in places and Corie knew she should change it now, but didn’t have the will or energy to do it just then. Corie strained her mind, trying to remember the night she got bitten.

A hazy memory formed in her mind; a full moon, the dead lands that were a few miles south of her home, and a face. So familiar and yet a stranger, Corie tried hardest to remember the face that she had seen. The harder she tried to remember it, the more hazed and in shadow it grew.

She jumped as the face morphed into that of a wolf and lunged at her.

Corie tried to regain her breath, but the wolf’s face hovered above her in the darkness, like it was burned into her sight. Corie turned over again and tried to fall back asleep, though she knew sleep would be hard to find.

Sleep finally came just as she thought she saw the hazy beginnings of the dawn, and was surprised when her mother didn’t wake her until lunch time.

~*~

“The spokesperson said that your pickup time is at sunset, Corie,” Jorge said, “Are you all packed?”

Corie nodded slowly and jumped when her mother burst into a rage.

“But my baby is too young to go to war,” Eldra scowled, “I don’t care if she’s required because she’s a werewolf!”

The room quieted, except for Eldra’s frustrated tears. Corie knew that both of her parents had avoided saying the ‘w’ word for the past three weeks, even after the military spokesperson came (with her two flunkies who kept poking and prodding Corie, and asking embarrassing personal questions), and even after the letter that stated she’d been drafted and what for.

Corie appreciated it, but her mother saying the word now seemed almost to break a spell and now Corie began to feel nervous.

What would military life be like? How would she cope with going into space? Would she ever get to see home again?

“Eldra,” Jorge’s voice cut off Corie’s thoughts, “Now, you and I both know what will happen if Corie doesn’t go. Plus, there are the rebels to think about.”

Eldra’s face froze and Corie saw her mother swallow, “I-I know, Da; I know, it’s just…I can’t bear sending my daughter off to those killing fields.”

“I know,” Jorge patted Eldra’s hand, perhaps a promise of comfort later; it sated Eldra and Jorge turned to Corie, “As soon as you’re finished, I want you up in your room and double checking your luggage.”

“Yes, Da,” Corie said into her bowl.

Corie made her way upstairs after lunch and tried to ignore the sound of her mother’s tears. Her father’s deep voice rumbled softly through the house, saying whatever comforts he was too proud to say in front of his daughter.

The stairs creaked under her weight and Corie knew better than to hold the handrail, unless she wanted a splinter. The house itself groaned quietly to itself and she thought of all the repairs she had helped her father with over the years. None of it really seemed to help the old house.

She knew her family wasn’t rich, but well off enough to keep from living off promissory bonds; bonds which always started with a family member going into the military.

Corie sat on her bed and tried not to think about sunset, though it seemed fast approaching. She laid on her bed and didn’t bother with her luggage. It had been packed two days ago and both her and her mother had checked it numerous times. As the sun sank lower, Corie wished her father hadn’t excused her from her chores today; the thought had been a nice reprieve a week ago, but today it left her with only her thoughts and worries.

~*~

“What’s Day One?” Ella asked, leaning against the window to look at the city they had entered an hour before.

Vicks answered this question, “Day One is August 5th of every year, little lady.”

“Well, I think she’s asking what it means,” Corie leaned toward Ella’s window to watch the people who had stopped their daily routine to watch the black Humvees roll by.

“It’s the day you’re required to be at the nearest base if you’re registered,” Howe said shortly.

Corie remembered her registration. After she was attacked, her father had made a phone call that lasted over three hours and days later strange, black suited people came to see her. They had done many things, asked her questions, swabbed the inside of her cheek and they had taken her blood. Corie shuddered a little. There were other things they had required that she didn’t want to think about.

Now it made sense to Corie why everything had happened so fast. Corie had only been bit three weeks ago, and in a whirlwind of the registration, her packing, even the rushed medical exam they had given her for the bite. It was all so she would be at Kindred in time for Day One.

“There it is,” Vicks finally said, “Compound Delta-762.”

Both girls moved to look out the windshield and Ella gasped.

It turned out that ‘compound’ was a term used to describe one of the bases the military headquartered at in certain areas. The compound itself was a large grey building that stood taller than most of the surrounding buildings, but it had a domed appearance, with its corners tilted upward. It seemed flat, looking wider than it was tall.

~*~

“My name’s Bella,” She said, oblivious to Corie’s staring, “It’s spelled B-E-L-L-A, but mam’s a Spanish beauty, so it’s Bella, with the Y-sound. Dad’s Irish, ginger head and freckles all, and he never says my name that way, he says that if my mam wanted it to be said that way, then mam should have spelled it with a y.”

“Uh,” Corie stumbled for a moment, “Well, my name’s Coriander, but just call me Corie.”

Ella, who had been attached to Corie’s waist spoke up, “I’m Ella-Anne, and you can call me Ella…or Anne, really.”

Bella smiled brightly, “So, why are you two here? It might not be polite to ask, my mam said that I shouldn’t ask, but dad said to just be myself; so, why’re you both here?”

“I’m a vampire,” Ella was getting caught up with Bella’s cheerful and energetic demeanor, and to be honest, Corie was too.

“I was bit by a werewolf,” Corie answered.

“Oh, now those are two nasty ones to go through, or so I’m told,” Bella nodded slowly, her energy dampened a bit before she opened her mouth to perhaps reciprocate her own circumstance, but she was cut off.

“Don’t tell me; you’re here because you’re an albino freak who shouldn’t be around normal people.”

The three girls stopped talking and turned to look at the voice. It belonged to a boy standing just near them; a boy who Corie decidedly did not like instantly. She wasn’t sure if it was the smug look on his face or the agonizing amount of cologne he was wearing that sealed the deal, but it was definitely his statement that made it clear that she would not like this young man.

Bella glared lightly, “Half-albino, thank you.”

“Hence why you aren’t locked away from all human contact,” the boy answered in turn.

Bella glared hard before smirking, “Careful, Victor; you’ve got a something small, just there--on your shoulder.”

Corie gaped and started to back away, her eyes glued to Victor’s shoulder, which was now quite suddenly on fire.

Victor saw out of the corner of his eye and dropped like a rag doll. People all around him were backing away and Victor was rolling around trying to put the fire out when a booming voice broke in.

“Byrne put that flame out now,” Howe was standing near the three girls and glaring down at Bella.

Bella nearly squeaked before she hurried turned to stare at Victor, the fire leaving his shoulder to float above the crowd before it died in mid-air.

“I have never seen a sorrier self-control,” Howe was suddenly leaning down into Bella’s face, “You will button that mouth shut when I’m near you and if I ever see a fire in this complex, you better believe I’m coming to kick your door in.”

“But he started it,” Corie tried to interrupt, but Howe’s glare silenced her.

#original content #original work #purplemom writes #hope you guys like it #i love feedback

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