《Memories of Madness: Illustrated Short Stories》I Only Have Eyes for You
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The night’s cold. November cold. Strange for June. That’s okay. The cold helps me think.
I light a cigarette. I inhale deep, holding the bitter smoke of the Marlboro Red at the back of my throat for as long as I can bear. It burns, but it burns so good. I find it comforting, like a lover’s embrace.
It’s time to report.
I’m at my usual payphone, the one on the corner of George St. and Croft. Call me old fashioned, but a payphone is as crucial in my line of work as a wrench to a mechanic. I’m no conspiracy nut, but phones can be traced, messages are saved to a cloud, and your emails will outlive you. If that makes me dated, then so be it. Old fashioned business requires an old fashioned touch.
I approach the payphone. There’s a crack in the side glass. It’s been there forever, and will probably be there forever more. There are flyers around the place: penis extension; call for a good time; suicide hotline. Why bother? Nobody uses the damn phone but me.
They’re watching me. I feel it. They’re tucked away at the edge of the square of light cast by the one functional streetlamp. Nosy bastards.
I punch the number and wait. The dial tone is deep and tinny. It’s soothing, familiar.
“Hello?”
“Hilary?” I ask.
It’s a stupid question. I could pick out her voice in a crowd of thousands. It’s that perfect blend between smooth and smoky. It’s a Marlboro Red voice.
“Yes?”
She’s playing dumb too. No problem, I’ve got time for her.
“You were right,” I say.
She exhales heavily into the mouthpiece. It sounds like someone’s crushing a ball of tin foil in my ear, but I’m used to it. It’s what they always do.
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“That son of a bitch,” she says.
“Your husband entered the Premier Inn by the Smithfield turn-off at around 1900 this evening. He was accompanied by a young lady – brunette, five-two, early twenties. They’re still there now.”
“He always did like them young.”
She laughed, but there was no humour to it. It was bitter. Cold.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
They seem to like it when I say I’m sorry.
“Did you see them yourself?”
“My eyes did.”
It’s a simple reply. Honest.
“Well, do you think you could have your eyes look into who this girl is?”
She pauses. She wants me to think that she’s making a decision. Theatrics. It’s a decision she made long before she picked up the phone.
“I’d like to send this girl a message,” she says, “How much to turn those eyes her way?”
I can already feel those same eyes widening, burning. They’re excited, although they’ll never admit it.
“Same as before,” I say.
“Same as before,” she confirms, “Good luck.”
There’s a soft click, like someone pulling back the hammer on a gun, and then the line goes dead. It would have been nice to talk to Ms. Hilary a little longer, but there’s work to do. Dreams of romance can wait.
I walk away from the phone booth, back to the edge of the light. I light another cigarette and pull hard. Damn, it burns so good.
It’s a few degrees colder now. That’s their doing. They’re crowding in. They’re keen. They always bring the damn cold.
Hilary thinks that I pay for the eyes. That makes me laugh. The eyes are always open, always watching. That’s not what costs me so damn much. It’s the mouths that are so fucking expensive.
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I pull my pocket knife out. It’s an old Leatherman, given to me by my dad when he still thought I might learn a trade, make something of my life. I open up the pliers.
I take another pull on my cigarette.
I clamp the pliers down on my right thumb nail.
I pull.
Fuck me, it hurts so bad. Those twisted little fuckers. I know it’s the pain they want.
It never gets any easier.
I look at my hands. They’re shaking. My cigarette slips from between my fingers. It bounces off the pavement. I crush it to dust. It’s a stupid thing to do - childish, petty. I breathe deep. I need to get a grip. Only three fingernails left. What then? Toenails? And after that? Will I be cut off then, or will the price just keep going up? At what point will I say it’s too much? When I can’t type? When I can’t taste? When I can’t see?
Questions for another time.
I toss the bloodied nail into the darkness. I lose sight of it instantly.
“Okay, Ixarith,” I say, “Let’s talk.”
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Scarlet Finale!
This is the story that takes place when everyone's worlds come together in the City of Light. A strange invitation led Faith, a quiet and serious prodigy who closed off his heart, and Wish, an eccentric girl who didn't belong in this world, to Glint City – a desolate and mysterious metropolis. From the small ambitions of a single heart to the hidden truth of the world, they have all gathered here. Choosing their own path, each protagonist will now step into the secrets of the city that stands at the crossroads of luminescence. Now, let the velvet threads entangle it all and burst beyond the event horizon.
8 140Ember in the Ashes
During the Fall of the Kingdoms, two royal siblings torn apart. Kale and Melody Lione were stolen from their futures as keepers of the Lione Kingdom and split down two different paths. Kael finds himself hurried away across the AlBlu Sea to a remote place hidden by mountains where men and women dedicate themselves to murder for the “greater good.” A new destiny is forced upon him by his saviors/captors and he is trained to use his blade to unmake rulers rather than become one himself. After a fiery betrayal from a man he trusted that cost him a second home and a second chance at stability, Kael becomes lost once more without a future so he clings to the only thing he knows; vengeance against the one responsible for his misfortune. Melody is raised in a remote village by people loyal to her lost parents. It is from these people that she learns to see the beauty that lies within every part of existence, especially in music. Music becomes her escape and her happiness. After a dear friend and mentor is taken from her by the ignorance of the same people from whom she once learned kindness, she leaves to find something more and to share her love for music on the other side of the Alblu Sea. With kingdoms becoming obsolete to the modern world of Embre, her choice to be a musician over trying to get back the royal life stolen from her leads her to dark places in a big and dangerous city. When they meet again, Kael has the chance to learn forgiveness from his long-lost sister and Melody has the chance to be corrupted by Kael’s need for revenge. Kael has the army Melody needs and Melody had the home Kael needs, but they cannot both have what they want. For Melody to surive a dark threat, she would have to accept the path of violence. For Kael return to the life he lost, he’d have to abandon the strength to keep his sister safe.
8 179The Chains of Time
The inhabitants of Damruel have always try to change the world to their liking. Each and every effort, every decision, no matter succeed or fail left behind a chain. A chain that surrounds them, their family, their descendants and Damruel itself. Years past, and every individual struggles on with their life carrying these chains, each has different weight and story behind. While trying to break free from the past, they realize that they have created even more chains on themselves, links after links, never ending. The chains of time never end.
8 1911D Bromance One-Shots [COMPLETE]
Collection of one-shots and one imagine. Completed.Part1: consists of older works dated from 2014 to 2016
8 97True Love [BxB] (Unedited)
Jeon Jungkook , the only heir to The Heartless Dragon mafia is exactly what you would expect from a future mafia leader. He's ruthless, vindictive, heartless and cruel. He derives pleasure from hurting others and cares for nothing and no one but power. He has not a single thread of humanity in him, and after recently being betrayed by his right hand man and having to personally execute the man he came to love, the last bit of what could be called as humanity left within Jungkook , has been sniffed out. He closes himself off with the belief that no one can truly love him as he recalls the last words of his love.."You're unlovable"Kim Taehyung, a poor college student struggling to make ends meet along with working three jobs to pay for his sick mother's hospital bills and medication after his good for nothing father walked out on them finds himself with an opportunity of a lifetime when the head of one of the most dangerous mafia gangs in the whole of South Korea, knocks at his door with the proposal of becoming a right hand man to his son, the heir. The job would pay for college as well his mother's expenses, but that would mean losing himself in the process..Can he truly be what the young and ruthless heir needs? Can he sacrifice what he believes in to survive in the mafia world or will it eventually all suffocate him?NOTE: THIS BOOK IS TITLED "BXB" MEANING THERE IS DEFINITELY GOING TO BE SEXUAL INTERACTION BETWEEN MALES.
8 87WHAT IF...? ( Completed)
IPKKND 9th Anniversary Special OS
8 81