Today sees the beginning of a new feature on my blog. A Saturday Challenge. I start a story going with fifty words only, from a picture prompt. I challenge others to keep the story going but only 50 words per person. It can be be carried through to other blogs but the attribution must be put with the picture. Lets see how long we can keep it going and how far it snowballs. Each week a new story will start with a new picture.
Here goes:
Image courtesy of [image creator name] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Olivia stared outside, misty eyed in the early morning light. Pearls of dew were still visible on the newly mown lawn. Six long months had passed since Aaron had kissed her lips and placed a gardenia in her hair promising undying love. He had said goodbye but promised to return.
(Okay, that's my fifty, who's next?)
Now six months later Olivia stood by the window, as she had every morning since the day he had left, staring down the long gravel driveway to the house, hoping to see him walking back to her, safe. Yet every morning, no matter how long she waited, Aaron never returned.
ReplyDeleteShe had such news for him. News that could not wait very much longer.
ReplyDeleteHad she been stupid to believe in him?
She looked down at her swollen body and prayed that she had not.
Somewhere in the house the telephone was ringing. But she stayed, looking down the drive.
Longing to see her lover once more, Olivia felt the baby stir. Instinctively, she placed her hands over her swollen belly to relish the joy and love growing inside. On the fourth ring, the answering machine clicked in. Her heart began beating wildly. The baby moved, startled by the sound.
ReplyDelete*Hello - I can’t come to phone. At the tone, leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Beep*
ReplyDeleteStatic crackles on the line. “It’s Aaron, I can’t talk long. Olivia, I’m in trouble.” Suddenly, shouts erupt in the background, and then the call ends.
Olivia's heart dropped. It was Aaron and he was in trouble. How in the world was she going to help him when she didn't know where he was?
ReplyDeleteShe needed to do something, but what?
Richard, her former lover, was also a high ranking police officer. He said he would always help her if she needed it. However, after they broke up, they talked less & less. She was always worried about his dangerous career. He wanted to have a family with her. What would he say about Aaron and the child?
ReplyDeleteHe’d tell her to go to hell. He was a nice guy, but he had always been the dog and she the fire hydrant. What was she supposed to do? Show up at his job, knocked up with some other guy’s kid, and use him to save the man she loved. Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do.
ReplyDeleteThe sight of storm clouds caused Olivia to pause as they raced towards her, seemingly drawn to her by some unseen or unexplained attraction. The sky began to darken as an earsplitting crack of thunder jolted her back into a time long ago, when things were simple and uncomplicated...
ReplyDeleteShe remembered the smell of him, the fresh salt of the ocean that had dripped from his body as he stepped out of the surf to her. She remembered his weight, the sharp initial pain becoming soft desire as he took from her what she had given no other man.
ReplyDeleteAs she made her way to the phone to dial Richard, her body shook, trembled with the unknown that was about to take place. Would he help, talk to her even?
ReplyDeleteShe picked up the receiver and blew out a huge, unsteady breath. She had to save her baby’s father.
“Excuse me,” she asked nervously.
ReplyDeleteHer heart thumped loudly and her hands trembled.
“You, you’re her. The one that got him into this mess in the first place.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, the words barely leaving her lips.
“Don’t play dumb with me. You’re next.”
"Next?" Olivia asked not liking the tone in his voice in the slightest. "What do you mean?"
ReplyDelete"Oh don't play dumb with me Olivia I know all about the way you treated him."
The way he left her name hanging terrified Olivia and she quickly hung up, shaking with fear.
What the hell was going on? She still trembled. She couldn't do it. She swallowed hard. She could. She had to. Thoughts of Richard hurting filled her head, and she reached for the phone. It rang twice and the familiar nasal voice answered.
ReplyDelete“Rory, I need to speak with Antoine.”
"Hold please.”
ReplyDeleteOlivia banked the panic threatening to overtake her. Her brain fired up and her training kicked in. One doesn’t forget her unique brand of training.
Both Aaron and Richard were in trouble, and it seemed she was to blame.
It was time to call in the big guns.
Olivia closed her eyes as tendrils of fear wormed through her veins. The baby kicked and fur rolled under her skin. Her flesh ached and she fought the urge to shift. She bit her lip and clamped down on her fear.
ReplyDelete“Hello, this is Antoine”
“Call the pack,” she said.
Growling, Antoine’s voice was filled with disgust. “What have you done?”
ReplyDelete“Why do you think I’ve done anything?”
“Because I can hear the fear in your voice. Now tell me, what have you done?”
Realizing his increasing rage, she panicked and dragged her tongue across her canines. “I killed them.”
'It's my fault!' her voice rasped into the phone, choking back tears.
ReplyDelete'They need help, and I can't...' she sobbed. 'Please, call the 'The Company'! Arrange a rescue mission.'
'Why can't you summon V_ictor C_harlie?' he snapped.
'I...I...' Olivia couldn't tell him the truth. She was in enough trouble.
"No."
ReplyDeleteThat was it. Just that, and Antoine said it with finality. For a moment, pain forgotten, she stared at the phone. Calling him had been difficult, nearly impossible; but it was because of what he would require of her. It had never occurred to her that "no" was possible.
The nauseating wave of pain coursed through her body. Weary from the strain, she decided to tell him the real reason she needed help.
ReplyDelete'Antoine,' she whispered. 'The baby's coming.'
'What baby?' he growled.
'Agh!' Olivia's shattered breath echoed down the line as another bout of contractions rocked her core.
The telltale echo of the dial tone sounded like a death knell as the call dropped. Prickly heat radiated up her arms as tiny wolf hairs broke through her skin. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut and forced back the change. No! If she changed now, surely the baby would die.
ReplyDelete###
ReplyDeleteSomething was different in his dim cell, Aaron sensed. His blurred vision couldn't show him what as his captor's round of torturous "discussion" had ended with one eye swollen shut. At last the rush of blood, and the racing beat of his heart faded into the background. He heard it.
The shrill howl of the newborn. He felt it, heard it through his very being. He had to escape, had to rescue them. He knew the authorities were beginning to round them up, starting with him but he had told them nothing. It wasn't enough, he knew they would all be hunted down
ReplyDeleteAaron struggled, the metal shackles cut into his wrists. He was bleeding. The hard floor felt uncomfortable but it was useless trying to stand up. He resigned himself to the hunched position for now, desperately wondering how to get away. Then a chill ran through him as a voice said,
ReplyDelete"Have patience."
ReplyDeleteAaron recognized the man's gruff authority, but it didn't compel obedience from him. This man might be alpha of his own pack, but, Aaron didn't give a fuck. He'd sensed his child growing over the months, but his undercover work was vital to the survival of their race.
But was it more vital than the life of his child.. and the survival of Olivia, the mother of his child?
ReplyDeleteHe did't have time to be patient. He had to get out of here. He had to get back to them. If Antoine got there first.. Well he didn't dare think.
She must have summoned them. No! If she did, then her fate and that of the child were at risk. Tugging on his restraints again, Aaron felt the fire surge through his blood.
ReplyDelete'It's too soon, Aaron!' he heard the gruff voice once more.
Fuck it!
Aaron morphed, breaking free.
Olivia sobbed. The pain increased and she feared for the baby. Bloody Antoine. Aaron was in trouble and God knows what had happened to Richard. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door.
ReplyDelete"Sis? It’s Felix. Can I come in? I sensed you were in trouble and needed me."
Through tears, she tried to respond. A sharp pain traveled up from her womb and breasts to the crown of her head and back down her spine. No words would come and the edges of her vision blurred. As darkness came, she vaguely heard her brother calling, “Liv? Liv? Olivia!”
ReplyDeleteThe distant wail of a newborn drifted through the darkness.
ReplyDelete'My baby needs me.' But what was it? A boy, girl or perhaps something much darker?
Struggling against her restraints, Olivia heard Aaron's calm voice cut through the gloom...
'Don't trust Felix.'
'Aaron! Help me!' Olivia's plea echoed around her.
"What's happening?" sobbed Olivia. "I can hear but can’t see you Aaron. Where is my baby? I was blamed for Richard's disappearance. Why shouldn't I trust Felix?"
ReplyDeleteAaron said, "He was brainwashed. He and Antoine work together now. For the other side. They stole your baby boy."
"Noo!" She screamed.
Aaron, returned to his human form, calmed down and put his arms around Olivia, giving her a reassuring hug.
ReplyDelete"Didn’t I say I would always take care of you? You have to trust me." He kissed her, then crouched by the door. "But you must promise me you’ll keep quiet."
Felix turned on Aaron, "Don’t even try to escape, if you know what's good for you and your girlfriend," he growled. "Follow me."
ReplyDeleteHe led them down a dingy corridor to another room. Hands grabbed Olivia undoing her clothing. "We've orders to collect your milk for the baby," someone said.
"Don't touch me!" Olivia shouted. She tried wrestling herself free of the many womens' hands, but they held firm.
ReplyDelete"Why are you letting this happen?" Aaron protested as he moved to help Olivia.
"I've warned you already, Arron." Felix moved on Arron and restrained him. "The baby needs her milk."
Richard glanced down at Olivia, who was sprawled out on the floor. He noticed Arron held her firm in his armms. Holding her,that was the place he ought to be. Had he made it in time? Was he too late to save her and the baby? From the looks of things he wasn't sure.
ReplyDelete"Olivia, l am sorry l am so late."
ReplyDelete"The baby Richard, they've taken the baby."
"I know, but Olivia it's for the best, l'm sorry."
"Richard?" Olivia searched his face for answers.
"Aaron, can l speak to Olivia alone?"
Aaron reluctantly released her noticing that all the women were subdued in Richard's presense.
"I knew about it, all of it" Richard spoke,
ReplyDelete"We have been watching their pack for weeks,"
"You knew they'd take my baby?" Olivia asked.
"It was one of them." Richard said darkly,
"He was a part of me too Richard."
"Antoine wants him, stay away Olivia." Richard begged her.
She nodded slightly to Aaron and they both attacked with vigor. Claws out, teeth bared and screaming like wild banshees, or rather, pissed off wolves.
ReplyDeleteThere was little training, only instinct and the pressure to kill those who dared harm her son.
"Get the baby and Go!" Richard screamed to the others. Olivia turned...
…and sank her fangs into Richard's arm, clamping down tightly as Aaron tore through the screaming women. He lunged at Felix, claws extended, and ripped open the man's back as he dropped on him. They fell in a heap and Olivia released Richard and sprang to protect her wailing child.
ReplyDeleteWith the baby safe in his mother's gentle jaws, Olivia bounded across the ground to a safe, hidden cave.
ReplyDeleteAaron followed soon after and kicked up the earth to seal the entrance. Together they morphed back, safe for the time being.
With leaves providing warmth, Olivia fed her baby son.
She looked down and crooned lovingly as she fed the baby, holding him close to her body. I’ll never let them have you, Olivia silently vowed. You are my baby. I will always protect you.
ReplyDeleteAaron, who had been keeping watch, suddenly hissed, “Hush. I can sense them close by.”
Olivia held her breath and pulled the baby even closer. She too sensed the foul stench of the enemy pack, hovering outside the mouth of the cave. She shot Aaron a frightened look and he put his arm around her. "Don’t worry," he whispered. "I promise to protect you both."
ReplyDelete