Alice

I recently found a horror magazine called Sanitarium ( http://sanitariummagazine.com/ ) and, until recently they were running a short story competition where they gave you word or phrase and you enter a story based on it.  The story had to be 500 words or less and you had 1 week to wright it.  Unfortunately I had missed the competition but, as my writing seems to have a habit of running away with me I thought I'd give it a go.  The first of the competitions just had the word Alice, this is the story I wrote.

Come and play

New woods

After school

Alice

Dave smiled as he read the note, he’d looked after Alice since her dad had died and he had played his ‘games’ with her since her brother had disappeared.  As he reached his car Dave finished the cup cake that had been sent with the note, as he dropped the empty case onto the floor he shuddered slightly at the thought of Alice’s other treats he would get to sample that night.

 Fifteen minuets later Dave pulled into the secluded car park and grabbed the rucksack off the passengers seat ‘you can’t play games without toys’ he thought.  As he lifted the rucksack out of the car he was surprised at how much heavier it felt. He mumbled to himself

“Hope I’m not coming down with something”

But then he remembered what was waiting for him in the woods and this cheered him up.

As he approached a clearing Dave saw Alice sitting on a rug with a tea set, there was a cat on her lap.  As he approached Dave was struck with the feeling that something was not right and he thought he saw a figure standing against a tree at the end of the clearing, he was struck by how dark it seemed to be.  As he entered the clearing Dave moved the heavy rucksack so it would be easier to put down.  Alice saw him and poured a drink from an old teapot a fly walked across the cloth she was sitting on, she looked up at him.

“You came, I wasn’t sure if you would.  Did you like the cake?”

Dave nodded and went to sit next to her on a log, his body felt heavy and he slipped, knocking the cat of Alice’s lap, it hit the floor with a thud, not moving, a mass of flies left it’s body.  Alice lent forward and picked up the dead cat.

“After Daddy left kitty tried to leave as well but I gave him some special food and now he stays with me.”

Alice pointed at the shadowy figure at the end of the clearing.

“Not long after, Johnny stopped playing with me but after I made him cake he’s never left my side”

Dave was confused, Johnny was her brother, he disappeared months ago and what did cake have to do with anything.  Then he remembered the cake that was with the note.  In a panic Dave tried to get away but his body wasn’t responding, he fell forward, landing on the picnic mat and darkness took over him

Alice used rope from Dave’s rucksack to tie his body to a stake; she moved her brother’s body to the mat and poured a drink for both of them.

“Now we can all play together forever” said Alice with a smile. 

© Rhinhart Morningstar (Neil Armstrong) 2013

Back to writing

It's been a while since I've sat down and even started a story and even longer since I've finished one.  The problem is not that I have no idea but that they keep changing, that's the advantage of writing fan fiction (like the Evil Ernie story on my previous post), the world already exists and, as the writer you have to live within a set of rules, even cross overs follow some pre-defined ideas. 
These pre set rules don't exist when you have original work, the world and characters are yours to create and use as you wish, this gives you unlimited freedom which has its advantages but the characters and story's can run away with you.  This is what happened to me, I have a set of characters, loosely known as the family of the tree, I know how the main story line is going to go but it is epic and I also have a short story in the works.  Due to a few bits of bad luck I left my writing (and my other film review blog) and when I came back to it I had even more ideas and the story started to change again.  Then I had a new idea, a new story line that has nothing to do with the family of the tree and one that it would be hard to bring them into (unless I went down the way of the multiverse and I don't want to go there) so I've put the family away for a bit and started the new story.  This story is already running away with me, I already have ideas for a sequel and a prequel but I have started to wright this one as soon as the idea came to me and, although it is already longer than I thought it is coming along nicely.  I have found that I am having a problem with the tense, the story really needs to be kept in the present but I do find myself in the past.  That said I hope to have the story finished soon and up on this blog, all I ask is, if you read it please be kind.

Evil Ernie, Crossroads

So here is the first story I have written, a short bit of fan fiction based on the second incarnation of the comic character Evil Ernie it is meant to follow on from the 'Evil Ernie in San ta Fey' story.

Evil Ernie - Crossroads

`Evil` Ernie Fairchild was lost, he had been ripped from his earth by a nuclear blast and now finds himself in on an earth where no one other than his ever present companion, Smiley has heard of him.

Since arriving on this earth Ernie has found himself limiting how he controls the dead, instead of sending them out on a blood thirst rampage he has only used them as a tool to help punish the wicked. He has lost all contact with love of his life, Lady Death and, after his meeting with Cassandra Hack he believes that the endless graveyard, Lady Death`s home has ceased to exist. There is also a chance that Ernie's decisions are being influenced by Lucifer.

After leaving San ta fey Ernie has been travelling around America trying to work out what to next until, four days ago when he came to a crossroads, as he approached the centre of the crossroads Ernie started to hear the thoughts of the dead crying out in distress and he has spent the last four days telepathically searching for the source of these cries. Ernie's concentration was broken when something hit him, as he looked down he saw a needle containing a yellow substance sticking out of his rib. As he looked the yellow liquid came out of the needle and started to react with the arcane energy that gave Ernie his powers and Ernie found that he was unable to move.

Five men came from behind Ernie, all of them dressed in camouflage outfits.

"This is what all the fuss is about; he was taken out with one dart"

"Check him but be careful, if the boss thinks he's dangerous then we gota' watch it."

As one of the assailants started to check Ernie's body his hand brushed against the badge on his jacket, as he went to move his hand away the badge seemed to move and a pain shot though his hand as if he had been bitten. The assailant swore and removed the badge to look at it. The badge was a round yellow face with two bones crossed on the edge, the mouth was formed into an evil smile.

"God look at this ugly looking thing" the assailant said as he held the badge in his hand.

"You aint’ no rose garden bub."

The voice came from the badge the man holding it looked down at his hand. As he watched the badge moved, using the lower crossbones to stand up it winked at the man holding it, laughed and jumped back driving the pin on its clasp into the assailants hand, it then rolled off the hand and onto Ernie's jacket dislodging the dart as it landed. The injured assailant looked from the badge to his hand; he pushed one of his colleges away and ran off away from roads. Ernie managed to move his head slightly and looked down at the badge as it attached itself to his jacket.

"Thanks Smile I feel better already."

The remaining attackers moved towards Ernie and they each took an arm or a leg, the affects of the drug were still preventing Ernie from moving. Three more men approached, one of whom carried a tranquilizer gun. As he took aim at Ernie’s prone body a strange rasping bird call came from the sky and a small bird fell towards the armed man and, as it fell to the height of the man’s head it spread its wings, which were rotten and holey and flew into his face. Two more decaying birds fell down and attacked the gun man. His colleges ran towards him trying to swat the birds away.

"Hay boss are those yours" a puzzled Smiley asked.

"Nay button you know I don’t do road kill"

As Ernie started to move a voice shouted over the fighting.

"Stay down if you want to keep your head" the voice was female and Ernie could hear that she was straining.

Ernie lay back as the sound of hooves grew closer. The shape of a deer passed over Ernie and something wet hit him in the face, Ernie wiped his face and found that he had been hit with a bit of deer gut. Looking over at the deer Ernie could see that, like the birds it was dead its face and side had been crushed and still had the imprint of car tires on it.

The girl moved towards Ernie she looked to be about eighteen.

"Hurry up; I can't keep them distracted for long"

As Ernie stood up the three of the armed men moved towards him.

"Where do you think you’re going freak"

As they approached Ernie heard a crunch as the undead deer crushed the skull of the man with the tranquilizer gun. Ernie smiled.

"Too late"

Ernie raised his arm towards the corps, the green arcane energy flared up.

"Rise"

As Ernie spoke the corpses stood up.

"Kill" Ernie commanded

The corps moved towards his colleges and, as it reached the first of them it ripped him apart with its bare hands. At the same time the deer was charging at another man. The zombie finished off the first man it attacked and moved on to the next and the newly dead stood up and joined his undead college in attacking the living. One of the men ran, trying to get away from the massacre, Ernie grabbed him by his throat, dug his bone fingers through his flesh and pulled his windpipe out, the man reanimated before he even hit the ground.

"Just like old times hay boss" Smiley quipped

The fight was over in less than ten minutes and Ernie and his new zombies stood facing the girl with the dead deer and birds.

"Who are you" Ernie asked

"What’s with the attitude dude, I did just save you"

She walked forward and looked at the zombies.

"Impressive, I’ve never been able to a human. That’s about my limit" She pointed to the deer.

Ernie reached into his pocket and took out a spinning top with eight numbers on it, he placed it on his hand and spun it, and it landed on six. Ernie raised his hand and all the zombies dropped to the ground.

"What was that about?" The girl asked.

"The boss thinks that the devil may be trying to control his decisions so he's adding the element of chance to his actions" Smiley explained.

The girl stood, thinking for a minute playing with one of her black pigtails as she did so.

"Maybe we can help each other" she paused and then gestured to the corpses "They are from the Grendel Academy and they have taken my brother. They seem to be collecting magic users and supernatural creators like you." She paused and gave Ernie a smile "My brother is a demonologist, he should be able to tell if there is any demonic influence on you and what you can do about it"

"Seems a bit convenient, you showing up with a solution to my problem"

"Grendel are after you, it would be in your interest to take the fight to them. But suite yourself"

With that the girl turned and started to walk down the road. As she moved away the birds and deer fell to the ground, dead.

"She does have a nice ass boss, it would be a shame to let that go" Smiley said.

Ernie grunted and spun the top again.

"Wait up" he shouted after her as he started to move down the road towards her. She stopped and turned to wait for him. As he got closer Ernie suddenly stopped and spun the top again, when it stopped he turned and looked at the corpses'.

"Dead onez rise" he commanded, he looked towards the girl "Just in case any of their friends come looking for the"

Ernie carried on forwards towards the girl.

"Nice touch" she said "By the way the names Chrystal"

Ernie just grunted leaving the introductions to Smiley. As Chrystal, Smiley and Ernie headed along the road towards the next town Ernie couldn’t help but notice they were heading towards the dead he had heard earlier.

Story and all characters (c) Copyright Rhinhart Morningstar (Neil Armstrong) 01/12/2011  except 'Evil' Ernie, Smiley & the lady which are (C) copyright Chaos Comics