《Short Stories》Vortex
Advertisement
The wind brushed around me, pushing and pulling me towards the inevitable before me. A sickening lurch filled me as I stared down. The lights shone bright, mere pinpricks combining into an elaborate tapestry. Cold seeped into my clothes, my jacket flapping and tie whipping around. My shoes stuttered on the cold ledge, entirely unsuited for such a situation.
The sounds of good cheer behind me were like a dagger in my head, stabbing me at my very heart. A particular voice rang out, and the dagger twisted. How long had it been like this?
Light shone up at me, illuminating me against the backdrop of the night sky. A clear moon was visible, its luminesence battling the aggressive glow of the cityscape. I stood staring, the lead weight in my gut the anithesis of everything I saw. There was nothing left.
A bottle slipped from my fingers, its contents long since gone. It fell in a entrancing spin, end over end, for what seemed an age. Then it hit the distant floor. A faint tinkle, a smattering of glass. The shards glittered up at me, calling me with a pretty sparkle.
How easy it would be, how easy to take that step over. Just one motion, a final motion. A slow fall, the adrenaline amplifying everything. How would it feel - would the rush of the wind drown all else out, or would everything become enhanced? Would I tumble, or instead fall straight? And then the end.
What impact would happen? An instant could become an eternity - everything coalescing to a single moment of clarity and life. Or would it be intense panic - the realisation of an irrevocable choice? My fingers clenched, fist forming of their own volition.
I looked up, breaking my gaze into the abyss. It didn't matter. Like every other time I had been like this, I knew nothing would change. It would be the same as always. No new propulsion put me here. The laughter and cheer echoing out to me jarred me from my staring. A brief glance back, reassuring myself that I was still alone.
Advertisement
As I knew myself, so did I know the others. Were any to see me, standing on the ledge of the balcony, I knew what their reactions would be. Concern and comfort would be rushed out, smothering and patronising when all I craved was a release. The chains that bound me were the very things they would produce. I breathed out, steam leaking out to mingle into the sky.
There was nothing to do. The thought of continuing either direction repulsed me, and attracted me. I stood torn, my inner turmoil freezing me at the edge. I studied the city once more, hoping and dreading that I might see some kind of sign. An intake of breath behind me startled me.
"J-jake? What are you doing?" He said to me, eyes wide with incomprehension.
I stared at him, half-turned to face him, balancing with a little effort on the stone banister. My mind raced, struggling to decide on words, as I watched his face go through a kaleidoscope of emotions. Eventually it settled on fear - fear for me, and slightly of me.
"Why don't you... why don't you come inside and have a drink? W-we can talk if you want - or not! If you don't want to..." He said, voice stumbling and trailing off as he stared at me in horrified worry.
Some sick emotion grew in me. That he should find me, of all people, he should find me in such a situation. The sign, dreaded and longed for, had arrived. I turned to face him fully, a smile slowly growing on my face. He too began to smile, worry slowly morphing into something like relief, that what he had seen had not been what he feared. His face froze with my words.
"Eric. Sorry."
Advertisement
I saw his hand reach out, then he was gone, replaced by the suppressed night sky. With cold detachment I looked at the stars visible, impossibly small and bright, impossibly immobile. They remained, fixed and constant, as the building swiftly grew by my feet. The sensation of looseness filled me, my body dedicated to a force greater than I could resist. The inevitable rushed to me, black fluttering the edges of my sight as I was pulled down.
Intense pain shot through me for a second, then nothing. Oblivion consumed me, and I knew nothing.
Later I was told I'd been lucky. A fall like that should've killed me.
Advertisement
- In Serial72 Chapters
Vale… Is Not a Vampire?
Vale Bryce is a hunter because her dad wants her to be one. She is a loner because all hunters are. She is a drifter because that is how hunters find their jobs. Those are lies. Vale is none of those things, the lies the only thing keeping her alive. Until one day she slips up. A single moment of truth ruins it all, awakening a longing for a life not built on things she isn’t. Vale has to go back to lying. She has to. The Inquisition will kill her if she doesn’t. But the truth is too addictive. Vale is not a vampire. That is a lie. That is how she will die. Yet maybe... dying happy is better than dying a lie? First volume completed. Second volume in the works (estimated release fall 2022).
8 348 - In Serial72 Chapters
Emperor of Poker
"To outplay a man in poker is to own him in mind, wallet, and soul." - Joey Fiore, World Series of Poker champion. Have you ever dreamed of becoming a millionaire overnight? It was the start of the poker boom and that was the dream of millions of poker players around the world. All types of geniuses, gamblers, and hustlers flocked to poker rooms with ambitions of making it big. Follow Joey, a teenager with the special ability of an empath, as he rises to challenge the greatest poker players in existence. Empath: someone with the abnormal ability to experience the thoughts and emotions of others. (*This is a real life ability.) *Like other sports or game novels, you don’t need to understand poker to enjoy this novel. It’s written in a reader-friendly manner. While I’ll introduce poker basics at a gradual pace in the background, the focus will be on thrilling competitions and dramatic aspects that everyone can relate to. *A new chapter daily Mon-Thur.
8 224 - In Serial12 Chapters
Eldritch Bleak
Monsters are real. Felix didn't believe, but after a fateful encounter in the frozen mountains of Oregon that cost him more than just his ignorance, Felix has no choice but to believe in the sinister, unseen world that could swallow him in an instant.
8 206 - In Serial9 Chapters
Flutterdash-Love at sight
8 61 - In Serial17 Chapters
Sad Poetry
just some pieces I've put together, it's alright I suppose.
8 65 - In Serial12 Chapters
Powerful Bella
What if when Edward left, Bella was turned into a Vampire? What if Edward wasn't as perfect as he pretended to be? --"What do you know about the Vampire world" Victoria asked me, obviously curious "Well, that Red eyes mean they drink human blood and Gold eyes mean they drink animal blood..." I started"No no no, it's the other way around the Cullen's are not good, they drink human blood, most survive off animals in our world, the Volturi are not even in charge of the Vampire world aren't even that evil, a bit power hungry maybe but The Cullen's are just trying to turn you against the more powerful covens so that you wouldn't go to them if they injured you or something went wrong, Red eyes warn people that they are not human, Gold eyes can blend in better. Makes it easy to catch their food."
8 76