《Will You Be Alone? After The End? Don't You Know We're All Still Here?》Maya & Ashley ~ 6
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"What are you two lazy little wenches doing asleep? It ain't even proper dark out yet!"
Ashley and Maya woke to see their mother standing over them, wearing her special clothes.
"Don't you two brats listen to anything I say? I TOLD you to stay awake until I got back, didn't I? Ah, up now anyway, up now."
Ashley was immediately suspicious of this apparent good mood—as she passed by her mother she sniffed, but it wasn't the stink of cheap booze that assaulted her nostrils, it was a perfume that was trying to imitate the scent of a rose and failing by a wide margin.
"Ashley, you're to stay here," Ashley heard her mother say, as she washed her face. "Mind the house and clean up a little. I've brought some bread home, you can have half of it if you get hungry."
Ashley glanced back at her mother, frowning, then she dried off her face and straightened.
"What about Maya?" she asked.
"Maya's coming with me. It's about time she started earning money for this little family."
"She already does, she helps me on my jobs—"
"Don't bring no more money in doing a job with her along than if you were alone, do it? No, no, not that one," said their mother, snatching the plain brown dress Maya was holding from her hands, "I've bought you a new dress, look at how pretty it is."
Ashley watched her sister's face as she looked at the dress—it was red with black buttons, cut short with a ruffled hemline.
"Oh, it's beautiful!"
"Don't I know beauty? Put it on now, let's see how you look in it."
"What kind of work is it?" Ashley asked, as Maya put on her new dress.
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"The kind that puts food in our bellies, there ain't nothing more you need know about it."
Ashley's eyes narrowed. "Maya's tired," she said. "She can't work tonight."
"You ain't tired, are you sweet?"
"No, I'm okay—Ash, it's fine, I want to help earn money."
"See? The useless daughter turns out to be a good girl in the end, just like a story," said their mother, fussing over Maya's hair, roughly combing it straight. "And we won't be long, won't take more'n an hour or two."
"No," Ashley said, stepping towards them. "Maya ain't working tonight."
"You'd best shut your mouth, Ashley Thompson. You ain't bigger'n your ma, not yet."
Ashley stood there, fists clenched at her sides, glaring at her mother, watching her prepare Maya for work. After a few seconds her mother glanced at Ashley again and laughed.
"Oh, don't be jealous now, grouch. You're doing well enough with your little jobs, Mr Amon's treating you right good, just because you ain't pretty enough to work like your mother—"
"Shut up. Shut up and get away from my sister." Ashley's voice was low and dangerous. She could feel herself getting hot, felt her face flush, her palms itching. "She ain't working, not like you do."
"Would you listen to your fool of a sister," their mother said to Maya, as she pinched her cheeks hard. "She doesn't know WHAT she's talking about, does she?"
"Hell if I don't!" said Ashley, her palms itching more now, the prickling sensation spreading to her fingers as she clenched her fists. "And hell if you're taking her out!"
"She ain't going on the streets, if that's what you're worried about," said their mother, pushing Maya's hair back away from her face before staggering suddenly, the force of Ashley's punch enough to unbalance her—but only for a second.
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"Ma, don't! Please! I don't mind working, I want to work, don't hurt her!"
Ashley squirmed in her mother's firm grip, legs kicking out, her hands grasping at her mother's thick arms.
"That temper of yours is gonna get you into a lot of trouble someday," their mother growled, as she held Ashley tight and slapped her across the face, hard enough to leave a harsh red mark on her cheek. Ashley growled, tears in her eyes as she glared at her mother.
"I hate you!" she screamed, before another slap, even harder than the first, sent her sprawling to the floor. She clutched at her cheek, crying in frustration and pain. "I HATE YOU!" she screamed again, as she twisted around, saw through blurry, teary eyes her mother pulling Maya towards the door, taking her out to—
Ashley pushed herself to her feet, the itch in her hands spreading to her knuckles, the prickle of before now more like a burning, but she ignored that as she burst through the door, running after her mother and sister, along narrow, dim corridors and down narrow, dim stairs, catching the two of them in the corridor leading outside.
"LET HER GO!" Ashley screamed, as her mother went to open the door leading out on to the streets.
"You ain't never been smart," her mother said. She looked down at Maya. "Stay here, sweet."
"Ma, PLEASE don't hurt her! She doesn't mean it, she's just upset—"
"Oh, I know she's upset, sweet. But that ain't never been an excuse, not in my book."
Ashley breathed hard, in and out, as she wiped her eyes and watched her mother approach, clenched her fists and put them up, like Mr Amon taught me, she thought, just—
Ashley shrieked as her mother reached out and grabbed her by the hair, lifting her off the ground.
"Nuh. You ain't near big enough to—"
With a roar of powerless anger Ashley swung her arm out, catching her mother across the cheek with a weak slap, the itching, burning feeling in her hand intense as she felt the impact, felt something more than the impact, and then her mother was screaming, and there was a horrible smell, and Ashley felt a hard shock as she was dropped, fell heavily against the wall of the narrow corridor, was dazed for a moment—and then she saw her mother, still screaming in terror and pain, on her hands and knees but with one hand cradling her face, and beneath her hand Ashley could see the charred and burnt skin beneath, and then she looked up to see Maya, her sister's eyes wider than she'd ever seen them, and then Ashley was reaching out, grabbing her sister's wrist, and they were running, out of the door leading to the street, out of the building they'd lived in for the past few weeks, out of their neighbourhood, out of Unity ... just out.
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Two Worlds
Two Worlds is a military sci-fi web serial set several hundred years in the future. It will follow multiple characters in an expansive universe as they fight to survive where things aren’t always as they seem; or they are and they’re just [email protected]#t out of luck. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. The Two Worlds universe is being reviewed, edited, and pubished in eBook form. Own your own piece of the Two Worlds Saga starting with Two Worlds: Rags & Riches Don't forget to check out the Two Worlds stand alone story The First Shot
8 156Ascension & Damnation
Every year on her birthday, Mirus tries to rescue his mother's soul from the underworld. Every year for a decade, he has failed. As the dark magic he practices threatens his position as the king's court mage, the highest honor an elf may obtain in a land of humans, he stands on the cusp of losing everything. Once his assistant, Syma, uncovers his dark secret, they work together to pierce the veil that separates their world from the underworld. They encounter mad professors, wicked monsters, and challenges that put their very souls at stake. With his goal in sight, the salvation of his mother's soul, he's forced with a sacrifice that makes him consider the price. [Series Complete] (Cover by Vlad Bagacian and used per the conditions from Pexel.com)
8 136Beyond The Game (Abandoned)
Kaine sighed as his foe advanced once more, never letting up, barely giving him time to breathe. He pressed forward as well, excited and ready, welcoming the bloodshed that was to come. His short blade, meeting the bestial warrior's bone-made longsword. Their weapons clattering sound into each of their ears when they clashed. Kaine pushed, as did his foe, beginning the contest of strength. A dance which Kaine controlled the steps of. As their eyes met, both of them weary, but Kaine's expression was resolved...maddened almost. Whilst his foe's was fear-struck, the creature was terrified down to its core. As were its comrades which surrounded them, watching, waiting for an opening to have at Kaine themselves. Seeing many...but they faltered, as the dead had seen the same openings before. Their battered, broken and still freshly bleeding bodies laying sprawled about their surroundings. It is just one... One of them thought in shaken disbelief. Just...Just one man but he kills so many...smiling even! Glancing from the dead, and back at Kaine as he slew another. No...this is no man... Was its panicked conclusion. This one's a monster! As Kaine turned to face it, weapon ready and grinning widely throughout his approach.
8 168The Portable Dungeon
Drake, a game developer, after finally finishing creating his new game called "Dungeons and Mayhem", gets sucked into a parallel world where swords and magic rule the continent, as well as where various monsters and dangerous creatures roam about. The only forgiving thing is that he was transported with a benefit where he doesn't know left to right, and that is the power to view and manipulate the status! Of a dungeon of course.
8 184The Journey of a Lazy Magician
As the state of the world grew dangerous everyday as the Demon Lord whom have the capability to destroy the world, will be un-sealed soon and the attacks of the demon forces' became more frequent, what better time it would be to be held as one of the richest person in the world. Only a sane person with the right mind would do that. Having to acquire something before an inevitable and hopeless end is the best option rather than trying to find the solution for the end of the world. I mean, the device used to re-seal the Demon Lord is gone. It could be under the ocean for all we know so why waste you're energy on stupid things like that? Of course, why would I waste my energy to do my incredibly hard goal when I can have my fellow party members to do it. Saving their "lives" from lesser goblins using a stick as a weapon usually does the trick to get someone on board so I think I'm pretty much set. *The cover photo is mine :3* AN: And thus, a schedule has been formed! I would be posting new chapter ever 2-3 days and if i haven't posted in this time, then something happened to me personally that makes me unable to post chapters in the scheduled time. The reason will mostly be school or i just have a lot of things scheduled in a certain day, etc. Sorry if it did happen as i am a very busy senior high student and could only write in his free time. Anyway, that is all and have a good day/night, the person who is reading this!
8 75There are no Gods, Only Pornstars.
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8 192