jwalkernet

I've finally decided to begin my prose adaptation of my current Vampire chronicle, entitled En Prise. I'll post each new section here as I write it.

This section is merely a brief prologue, an introduction to the larger work.

EN PRISE
by J. Walker

Prologue

Samantha watched as the sun shrank under the horizon, casting the town into darkness. Soon, the Quick would return to slumber and the true masters of this world would rise to take their place. Her plan – okay, their plan, she corrected herself – would soon set into motion an epic chain of events. And the Quick would remain ignorant, as they always did, of the entire world shifting around them.

She laughed at herself. The entire world shifting around them…that’s deep, Sam. Fortunado would have had a good laugh at her expense if she’d said that out loud. Samantha held minor poetic aspirations, the end result of which was statements such as those. And Fortunado never missed an opportunity to offer his “constructive criticism.”

But where was Fortunado, anyway? He was at least thirty minutes late, which was twenty minutes later than usual. Samantha began to worry, more about her (their) plan falling apart than Fortunado’s safety.

She took a quick look at her surroundings. The small town around her offered little aesthetic beauty; seeing it through the Shroud didn’t help matters any. The roads below her were cracked and poorly paved, the houses in disrepair. From her vantage point, the town seemed to fade as the last rays of sunlight touched the tops of the trees and houses.

And suddenly, there he was, standing right next to her. “Sorry I’m late,” Fortunado said, throwing an arm around her as she jumped in alarm. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I frighten you?” A playful grin spread across his lips.

“Dammit, I told you to stop that.” She pushed him back with one hand while gripping the rail with the other, trying to regain her composure. Jesus, you’d think you’d be used to that by now. “I’m assuming that everything is okay?”

“Of course. What kind of idiot do you take me for? Don’t answer that,” he cut her off. He pulled his old cigarette lighter from a pocket and began idly twirling it in one hand. “Everything went exactly as we planned.”

“Then it begins tonight?”

“Looks like it.”

Samantha nodded. It felt so strange, knowing that the months – years – of preparation were coming to fruition soon.

Fortunado was peering over the rail, taking in the sight of the town below. “All this work and effort for this shitty town. Doesn’t seem right.”

“It’s not about the town. You know that.”

“Still doesn’t seem right.” He once again put an arm around her. “But here we are, fighting the good fight. You and me against the world, kiddo.”

And he makes fun of the way I talk. “I’m over a hundred years older than you. Don’t call me ‘kiddo’.”

Fortunado didn’t respond. Samantha didn’t bother moving his arm.

Together, they watched the sun disappear completely. Night reigned over the town.

As Samantha saw that complete darkness envelop the city around them, a fleeting panic washed over her. What if they wrong? Her predictions had never missed before, but they were sometimes less than fully accurate. She could have missed something, a detail, a miniscule detail, and the whole plan could be upset and thrown out of balance. They should stop it. There was still time, they could--

She felt Fortunado's mouth at her ear. He whispered kind words to her, soothing words. She always panicked in times like these. Fortunado knew it as well as she did, and knew just what to say to calm her. It was good having a friend like him. Even if he was an arrogant prick most of the time.

When she calmed completely, Fortunado released her and once again looked over the railing. "Doesn't seem right," he said once more, flicking absently at his lighter.

A few moments later, they saw a lone, familiar figure fiddling with the lock on a building down below them.

Fortunado leaned close again and whispered, “And so it begins….”


The first chapter will be posted soon. Feedback is appreciated.