(June '16) Prompt #1- "Hold the door!" [Archive]

GelidPhantom

06-11-2016, 07:11 PM

Here's my entry for this. :) This is my first time doing one of these, and I figured if I did a little free-writing it might as well be productive, so... Enjoy!

Rated M for: Violence; Some Blood; Foul Language
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Drip... Drip... Drip...

A gruff snort came from her lips as water dripped from the ceiling above and onto her face. The figure jolted into an upright sitting position from the floor as her eyes tried to focus on the things around her. 'Everything looks a little blurry,' she thought to herself. The pungent smell of mold and damp musk hit her nose, causing her to suck air between her teeth. It tasted just as bad as it smelt. As her eyes began to focus in, she saw the moonlight coming in from a barred window and illuminating the floor.

The last thing she remembers was the sun was rising while she was in an alleyway, and then, darkness. She tousled a hand through the right side of her hair, feeling a small dent on the side of her head. While her memory was jumbled, and she wasn't quite sure how she ended up here, One thing was clear. Someone hit her hard enough to knock her out. Whoever they were, they had drug her all the way to this remote location. Where was she?

The woman rose from her sitting position as she began to fully take in her surroundings. Concrete walls and ceilings, dripping with water due to cracks. The sounds of rushing water from pipes above her, and periodic sounds of footsteps in all directions. Each one sounded as if it had a different weight behind it, but they all sounded barefoot.

She had been stripped of her usual combat gear and weapons and left in little to nothing. All she had on her was enough to cover her modesty. A pair of shorts, and a bra to cover her chest. Smart move on her kidnappers part. If they had left her even with her combat suit on, she would have been able to escape without any real planning.

Looking out of the window provided her the biggest hint of where she was. She saw brick buildings expanding beyond a thin layer of dead trees, and a wall that looked to be at least fifty feet high, topped with electric fencing. Guard towers were posted at every corner, and a large gate seemed to be locked shut. She guessed she was on the third floor of a building, and not just any building. The old abandoned prison down in the ruins of Detroit.

As she turned to look for the iron door, her eyes settled upon the right wall of her cell. Her vision caught words scrawled across the wall in what she knew to be blood, and it was fresh.

"I know what you are."

She froze. The look on her face went from deadpan detective to disgusted.

"Vampire hunters," She snorted. "It figures."

Whoever did this, though, had made some major amateur mistakes. Attacking her in daylight was a smart move, but when the sun hides away, she wakes. The second thing, they hadn't done nearly enough research on her. To think that she would have vampirism as the only trick up her sleeve would be an incorrect judgement. To think that a cell this tiny with no magical silencing spell would hold her would be foolish. Had they planned more carefully, they would have known this couldn't hold her.

She walked over to the bars on her cell, giving them a flick. The metal pinged, but it didn't bend in the slightest. That was actually remotely impressive. She decided to give them a shake instead, testing their strength.

"Don't try it," says a thickly voice to her left. "Its too strong to bend. If it wasn't, I would have been out of here by now."

"Fair enough," The woman responds. "How long have you been here?"

"There's seven marks on the wall, so a week," He answers. "I keep hearing noise from below. Sometimes it sounds like the grinding of saws, the use of knives, and various surgical tools. To be honest, that's not even the worst of it. At dawn, you can hear screaming from the courtyard."

"So. Are you a blood drinker, too?"

"Yeah. Didn't ask to be this way, but it happened. Didn't think it would land me in an old prison, held captive by a psychopath, though."

This caused the woman to pause in thought. Surgical tools and saws? There had to be electricity running through this place somewhere. That or wherever this person's lab or torture chamber was, there had to be a generator. That was some information she might be able to use to her advantage.

"Whats your name?" The thickly voice asks. "Mine's Esmond."

"I don't give my name to strangers," States the woman. "Sorry. Personal preference."

She looked through the bars and down the hallway. As she had suspected, there was a long walkway that went in a square, and a large hole that lead down to the indoor courtyard on the first floor. She could use this to her advantage. Her eyes fixated on the most shady spot on the floor below her that she could see. She then looked around for any cameras. Not finding any, she migrated to the darkest part of her cell and leaned against the shadow, falling back through it as she appeared a floor below on the shady spot she was just looking at. This shadow teleporting was a pattern she continued until she managed her way down to the first floor.

"Freedom," She said to herself in thought. "But what about this torturer? And more importantly, where is my gear?"

Footsteps caught her ear and the sounds of rattling metal. The woman froze in her spot, leaning into the shadow as she tried to blend into the dark. She knew that whoever was doing this was on this floor, but they were a few hundred feet away in a room with a closed door. However, she could hear them humming a happy, eerie little tune. The voice was masculine and silvery with a musical resonance. It made the cheerful dirge he was humming reverberate off of her mind in an unforgettable way.

From her hiding place, she saw the door open. Out wandered a young man who seemed to be just fresh out of his teenage years. His freckled visage wore a pleasant smile, pearly whites peeking through stretched lips. His eyes were clear, and vibrantly blue. His blonde hair was spiked upwards in the front, revealing a short forehead. Covering his muscular frame was a white lab coat, freshly cleaned. She could smell the vinegar mixture he used to remove the blood from here.

"Lets see, lets see... Who is on my schedule today?" he asks, pulling a small clipboard from his coat. "Floor Three, Cell Sixty Seven. Perfect."

The woman narrowed her eyes as she stared at the young man. He seemed oddly dressed up and clean for someone who was murdering vampires. Was he trying to impress someone? More importantly, if he was, who? Even more important, why did he seem so confident? His confidence is what made her worry. She wouldn't attack him... Yet. Not until she knew how big of a threat he was.

As he climbed his way up to the third floor, she followed him in the shadows. She was staying her distance behind him, and careful not to stare at him too hard. The last thing she wanted to do was get caught because of that sixth sensational feeling someone gets when they are being watched. The young man was arrogant, however, and hadn't thought twice of looking back to see if there was anyone following him.

Once he worked his way to the third floor, he stopped in front of a cell with a beaming smile on his face.

"There you are!" He laughed jovially.

The person inside was a young man with brown hair. He snapped at the young man's voice as he threw himself at the bars. His eyes had gone feral, fingers wrapping tightly around the bars as his fangs came out. He looked disheveled and dirty, the concrete around him dented heavily with marks from him trying to escape.

"Oh aren't you eager?" Chuckled the freckled human. "I guess that's what happens when you don't feed for a week."

"Don't give into him, Jared!" Shouted a female voice from the next cell as she threw herself on the bars. "You're stronger than this! Don't let your hunger beat you!"

"I'm going to RIP YOU APART!" Jared snarled raucously.

"Your brother seems rather famished, Jan! Its a good thing you ate or you would be just like this right now."

The woman's gaze went heavy as her legs trembled. Her knees buckled as she hugged the bars. Dirty, mid-length hair hid her eyes from view as she stared at her lap.

"I... I couldn't help myself," Jan whimpered, her voice brittle.

The young man pulled out a set of keys from one of his lab coat pockets as he thumbed through them. Jared was snapping his teeth at him all the while, swiping his hands out to the young man.

"No, No, Jared! No! Hold the door! Don't swipe at him!" Jan panicked.

The young man's eyes flicked to Jan as he looked back to Jared, then her. A dark grin crossed his face as he fished around his own neckline with his free hand as if he were searching for something.

"You and Jared were Jewish before you were turned, right?" He asks.

"... No. Please, no," Jan sniffed. "Please."

The young man shrugs.

"Alright. I won't... Unless he snaps at me."

This made Jan's eyes widen in horror as she looked to Jared. He was little more than a ravenous beast. In his eyes, the man that stood between their cells was a living meal, and one he would willingly risk his life to drain.

Soon, the young man held up a key, showing it to the pair of them with a chuckle.

"I seem to have found the right cell key. Now lets see what happens if I open it..."

He pulls a necklace off from around his neck, squeezing the pendant on it in his palm. Then, he takes the key to the cell door and slides it into the lock. With a click it unlocks, and near instantly, Jared flies out at the young man with exposed fangs. His thin body looks malnourished, ribs showing as he tries to tackle the young man into the ground. Being as starved as he is, however, he doesn't have the strength to knock him over.

The young man's footing spreads as he grounds himself. He drops the keys as Jared's neck finds its way into the young man's now free hand. He instantly begins to squeeze Jared's neck to hold him in place. A cheeky grin comes across the young man's face as he chuckles, Jared's eyes widening with a loud snarl in protest.

"Jared, no! We've talked about this!" Jan shrieks.

The young man tsks, shaking his head side to side as Jared keeps trying to shake his way out of the mans grip. The young man takes the necklace in his hand and places it around Jared's neck. Jared screams as the Star of David pendant on the necklace begins to burn his skin. He finds himself trying to pull at it as it saps his strength, making him unable to remove it. He crumples like a paper ball onto the floor, clawing at his own neck. Jan is yelling as she tries to shake the bars.

"That's a shame for you, Jan, but it makes my job a lot easier!" Shouts the young man, a penetrating cackle escaping his lungs afterwards.

He kneels next to Jared and pulls out a set of handcuffs from the interior of his coat, pinning Jared's arms behind his back and shackling his wrists together. A handkerchief is next, which gets tied around the vampires mouth to muffle his screaming. His feet are still kicking, however, and the young man ends up handcuffing his ankles as well. Now with Jared bound, gagged, and sapped of his strength, he is thrown over the shoulder of the young man, who begins his walk back to the torture room.

"Jared! No! Jared!" Screams Jan, now slamming her entire body against the bars.

"Don't worry, sweetheart! You'll get your turn next!" The young man shouts behind him, still carrying Jared over his shoulder.

Jan finally gives up as her hands drop. Her head hangs as she falls down onto the floor on her hands and knees, laying her face into her palms as she sobs. Jan's entire body shakes as the woman in the shadows hears her muffled, sniveling voice.

"Damn it, Jared. We talked about this. You said you'd hold the door to keep from attacking him... You promised you'd hold the door."

I plan on taking inspiration from M139 and making this a three part series to go along with this month. Stay tuned for more! :>

m139

06-28-2016, 03:56 AM

Glad to see another face in this section! And good luck to you! Your story is awesome so far, can't wait for the next installment!

And here is my piece for this prompt. For this particular prompt, I enter a song... Please excuse the lack of consistent punctuation and capitalization

Hold the door

rushing from one place to another
shouting "hold the door" as I dash into the elevator
going up, up, up past floors I will never know
rushing from one place to another
passing faces that might have been sister or brother
but who they are, I will never know

there's a strange unanimity of the people on the street
oh, each one that I meet, seems cutout from the truth
I'm floating in a sea that's colored gray
without one distinct face, and I am fading in it all

where am I- in this sea of faces, in this sea of places, tell me where am I
who am I- the child of tomorrow, the sum of hopes and sorrows, oh tell me who I am
I do not know where I'm going, I do not know where I'm from
All my life has just been rushing, I try to go somewhere far away -
But I do not know if I have ever
begun
Where's the start? Where's the end? How can I even begin?
Is this a race? Is this my face? Who am I? I ask: who am I

people shouting as loud as they are able
shouting lies and myths and fables
Trying to find something that they can hold and grasp
people shouting as loud as they are able
but where is truth upon this table?
If it is there, why hasn't it been grasped

all I can see, pressing in from every side
and no falsehoods are the key out of emptiness inside
I'm falling down a pit as black as night
And there's no sign of light, and I am fading in it all

where am I- in this sea of faces, in this sea of places, tell me where am I
ooo-
who am I- the child of tomorrow, the sum of hopes and sorrow, oh tell me who I am
I do not know where I'm going, I do not know where I'm from
All my life has just been rushing, I try to go somewhere far away -
But I do not know if I have ever
begun
Where's the start? Where's the end? How can I even begin?
Is this a race? Is this my face? Who am I? I ask: who am I?

Looking in a cloudy silver mirror
wondering which of me is dearer
this gilded image, or the person whose behind
looking in a cloudy silver mirror
here is this message bearer:
it questions who I am behind

What is truth? An image or reflection
or an ancient recollection, passed on from age to age
I've dropped into a pit without a floor
and there are no open doors, and I am fading in it all

where am I- in this sea of faces, in this sea of places, tell me where am I
ooo-
who am I- the child of tomorrow, the sum of hopes and sorrow, oh tell me who I am
I do not know where I'm going, I do not know where I'm from
All my life has just been rushing, I try to go somewhere far away -
But I do not know if I have ever
begun
Where's the start? Where's the end? How can I even begin?
Is this a race? Is this my face? Who am I? I ask: who am I?

Trying to get through an invisible solid door
out of this room without ceiling walls or floor
is there even a way to get out of this gloom
trying to get through an invisible solid door
hoping outside there might be more
more than sorrows and tears, unending gloom

what's outside, is there something I can grasp
or is it like an empty flask, making you regret what was inside
Fears don't hide, they are filling up my life
filling it with strife, and I'm fading in them all

where am I- in this sea of faces, in this sea of places, tell me where am I
ooo-
who am I- the child of tomorrow, the sum of hopes and sorrow, oh tell me who I am
I do not know where I'm going, I do not know where I'm from
All my life has just been rushing, I try to go somewhere far away -
But I do not know if I have ever
begun
Where's the start? Where's the end? How can I even begin?
Is this a race? Is this my face? Who am I? I ask: who am I?

I wait for the answer, and I am waiting still.
I wait in deep dark valleys, and I wait on morning's hill.
I wait for the answer, and nothing I have heard,
Not a single pin drop, or even a small bird

I wait for the answer, oh please, a bit of truth!
I've waited days and days and days and nothings come!

... am I done?

Is the race I never started run?
Is all my life just the setting of a dying sun?
The colors seem to fade, and I melt into a shade,
melting, fading away.
I shall die inside tonight,
with the dying of the light,
If what's inside of me cn ever die..
After all the, question remains:
Who am I?

But can I die never knowing?
Can I die with this question growing?
Can I stop my song? Before it has gone on long?
Before it has yet even begun?
Before the first note even has been sung?

NO!

I shall go on!

Yah!
where am I- in this sea of faces, in this sea of places, tell me where am I
oh! Tell me where I am!
Oh! who am I- the child of tomorrow, the sum of hopes and sorrow, oh tell me who I am.
Tell me who I am!
I do not know where I'm going, I do not know where I'm from
All my life has just been rushing, I try to go somewhere far away -
But I do not know if I have ever
begun
Where's the start? Where's the end? How can I even begin?
Is this a race? Is this my face? Who am I? I ask: who am I?

The answer has not come,
But I ask still!