IronQuill - Ashes to Ashes - Mary's Sweet Children

[tldanon]

"We got it, check it out!"

Michael said, clutching his grandfather’s knife, which was kept in a chest in his parent’s closet. It had a heavy straight blade made from iron. The rough hammering it took to make many years ago could still easily be made out. The handle was bound in simple leather, scratched and wearing towards the lower end. Although it had certainly seen better days, one thing clearly stood out. There was a small pearly Soulstone forged in a cage right in the hilt.

"I still don't see why you had to bring it. If your dad finds out, we're all going to

get it!" Kylie said, snatching it from Michael's hand.

"I told you, it's for defense!There's no telling what we're going to see down

there." Michael replied, taking the knife back.

"We've all heard the stories..." Andrew spoke up, "...noises, sometimes screaming.”

He rummaged through a scrap heap of metal and pulled out a section of pipe. Nearly as

long as he is tall, one end had a rather aggressive bend in it.

"Then why are you bringing that!?" Kylie challenged.

Rolling his eyes at Kylie, Andrew took a swing with the pipe. The cardboard box he

hit flew toward a pile of pulp,bursting into a cloud of dust.

The Old Paper Mill was at the edge of Malifaux's Slums, East of the polluted and soot

ridden Industrial Zone. It had been a playground for the children growing up in the

area. Their parents worked hard in the catacombs that were Malifaux’s sewage system.

A system in which always seemed to be backed up by the experiments from the

outlawed Resurrectionist. That or the robust rail way that transported not only the

rare ore the land has become known for, but was also the safest, fastest way

across Malifaux.

"I dunno..."

~~~~~

The Mill seemed massive to the little legs of the children. It was a long walk to the

other side. The rumor had been that terror awaits those that entered the forbidden

area. Past the barricade made up of pallets and barbed wire, the area seems to fade

into a whole other realm. The sun basked Mill became a darkened place, a corridor

leading to,well, that's exactly what the kids were going to find out!

"Are you sure you want to dot his?" Andrew said, turning to Angela, the youngest of

the crew who, for as long as the children played together, never said a word. "We can

still turn back if you want."

Angela shook her head and reached out for Kylie's hand, pulling her down the

corridor. Michael was already working on a chain that was holding the two large

doors closed; yanking and twisting a large metal bar between the links.

"You guys, come and help, will ya?!"

Andrew shrugged and followed behind hesitantly. He was trying to be tough in front of

the little girl, he really was quite frightened.

Angela placed her ear to one of the doors and made a silencing motion to Michael,

hushing him so she could hear over his struggling. He stopped moving and, faintly,

music could be heard coming from the other side. Pointing excitedly, Angela's eyes

widened with a smile as she jumped up and down at the sound of a stringed instrument.

"We hear it too!" Kylie said and stepped up; placing a hand on the bar Michael was

working with.

"Yeah, why is there music playing all the way down here?" Andrew kept his back

turned, facing the light from where they had come.

Mike gripped the bar again and planted his feet.

"Kylie, pull down, I'll push,come on. We have to keep going now!"

He pushed up with all his might as Kylie pulled, putting all of her 6 stone onto the

bar. With a loud metallic snap, the chain gave way causing her to fall to her knee.

The bar came crashing down with the chain. If anyone else was in the Mill and weren't

aware of the children, they certainly knew now.

With a slow grinding creak, the door swung open. A soft mist fell, pouring out and

coated the ground around the children's feet. With a glance towards one another, they

knew there was no turning back. Michael readied his father's knife, Andrew held on

tight to the pipe he took from the stash, and always the brave one; Kylie lead the

way reassuringly holding Angela’s hand. Hunched over and silent, they explored the

new area with curious intent.

The music drew them in, the deep strings humming hypnotically as they played softly

through the corridors. Winding around, causing the kids to turn at numerous

intersections, climbing up and down ladders and stairways, the Mill transformed from

a once, haven of play to a dark labyrinth of eerie fog.

Angela pointed up ahead and tugged on Kylie's blouse. Through the fog, looking

closely, seen could be two soft green orbs floating about. They moved slowly to and

fro, a moment later another pair appeared, moving in unison. Kylie held her arm out

halting the young adventuring party.

"You guys see what I'm seeing?" She said in a whisper.

Michael leaned forward, squinting slowly to adjust his eyes to the darkness ahead,

trying to catch glimpse of anything the soft glow from the orbs were making. A moment

later his knees buckled as his jaw dropped.

"They...They're kids!" He said frighteningly as Andrew turned to look over him.

Angela hid her eyes in Kylie's side as she started to back away. Andrew grabbed the

shoulder of Michael, who was stunned with horror, tugging him back. The four children

turned and began speedily making their way back from where they came. Angela darted

off ahead and took to one direction, at a puzzling intersection; the others followed

but they were no match for Angela's tiny legs carrying her like the wind.

"Angela, wait!" Kylie called out.

None of the children but Michael caught such a close eye on the creatures that had

been ahead of them; the orbs,they weren't eyes but the twisted souls of what used to

be the children, sickly glowing inside of the eyeless, lifeless husks their own age. They shuffled forward, swaying with the sound of the music coming from somewhere within this darkened, place.

"Ange! Ange, I can't see you,where are you?!" Kylie shouted, having lost sight of

the little girl.

They found themselves in the center of an intersection calling out for her together

each looking desperately inside themselves for the best direction to go when suddenly

from each direction the music as echoing and the orbs grew by the numbers.

Leading the way from one direction was little Angela holding a shard of metal in one

hand followed by three more pairs of eyes. A woman approached from the other with a

Violin in her hands,she raised it and played the strings beautifully and, as she did

the children,Michael, Andrew and Kylie all fell weak. Their souls began to writhe

from inside and they too felt themselves becoming one of them.

Having an affinity with the ancient blade that had been in his Acranist family for

over a century, Leonard knew there was trouble. Gripping his massive rail hammer he

took to the catacombs near the rail he was working, telling his companion that there

was trouble near the Old Mill and to get Ramos.

Leonard knew the catacombs well and his chimeric eyes guided him through the thick

fog with ease, following the eerie, distant sound of a violin playing a darkened

melody. There they were,Michael and his friends, standing in the center of an

intersection, one direction heading straight into the Quarantine Zone.

A woman stood in the corridor, her necromantic music controlling the children that

surrounded his son and his friends. Without hesitation Leonard shoved the boy and his

friends down,snatching the heavy knife from his hands and tossing it in the air. It

hovered and spun by the hilt where the stone was caged for a moment before finding

its trajectory and darting at the woman.

She ripped into the strings and one of her deformed undead automatons jumped in the

way, taking the knife straight into its chest.

Not my boy, witch! Leonard shouted and dove at the woman. Cocking back his mechanical

arm, a work of Ramos' strange expertise after a similar run in with the vile coming

from the Zone, he slammed another of her zombie children to the ground. He gripped a

wrench from his belt and burst the empty skull cavity of another. In the midst of the

short confrontation Angela darted off behind the woman who, in a magical fog, began to

fade down the corridor.

This conflict was over but, it was just the beginning of a new Resurrectionist making

her mark in the area. One that Leonard would not forgive.

End.

I think about 1498 words, the '~~~~~' are counting as words so, somewhere around there.

Used the Violin for my new Resurrectionist Master, Mary, who will be featured in my RP campaign (can't wait till it comes out!!!!). I also managed to work in the line 'sure you wanna do this' and, haphazardly, the One-Armed Man, Michael's father who was in a rail line accident. -D

Enjoy!

Edited June 1, 2013 by tldanon

[tldanon]

Well, when I pasted the document from my writing program to here the formatting got all messed up...

[Mako]

I liked it. Good characters, and a nice story. A few bits where you switched tense or used punctuation that nudged me out of the story a touch, but that's not a big thing (and it's easy to lose tenses when you're writing, I always have to go back and check mine for that sort of thing!).

[tldanon]

I liked it. Good characters, and a nice story. A few bits where you switched tense or used punctuation that nudged me out of the story a touch, but that's not a big thing (and it's easy to lose tenses when you're writing, I always have to go back and check mine for that sort of thing!).

Thanks for the feeback!!

Yeh, I actually polished it up quite a bit from the tense changes and such before I had posted it here...I guess it was pretty bad, haha.

Congrats on your story!!