Cassie's Mistakes #1

Cassie looked in the mirror one last time. For past weeks she tried her best to look perfect. She found peace in finding that perfection in her skin, on her hair, or in her everyday outfits. As never before, her every step, every word, every move was planned out throughly. It was almost as if she was a robot, but it was the only way she could keep her mind somewhat sane. She didn't let her feelings overcome her.

Claded in a dress much too elegant for the occassion, she put on heels similarly special. Finally, it was time. Leaving her safe zone, her little apartment was always hard, but she pushed through. Called taxi and was ready to survive that evening.

___

Arriving at the family house, she was greeted with confused looks. Her elegant dress looked indeed weird amongst sweaters, jeans and simple skirts. "Looks like I am a bit overdressed tonight." She joked with one of those fake giggles she mastered. Nobody laughed with her. Her mother quickly leaded her towards her chair, trying to ignore that little scene that just happened..

Was it a nice evening? Cassie wouldn't know. Her mind was focused on perfecting her reactions, and when it wasn't, it drifted away. To the land of her own fantasies and wishes that could not ever become true. She knew they wouldn't, yet, she had to dream of them. It was quite masochistic, but Cassie needed this. As much as she needed this faked perfection...

As soon as she could, she excused herself, and called taxi. A quiet ride home. Once again she was in her only safe place. The only place where she could be herself.. As she took off her coat and decided it's time to wash off her make-up, she heard a doorbell. It right away pushed her out of her routine, and she really did not like that. Nobody was supposed to come over, and anyway it was getting late already. 

With a little sigh, Cassie went to see who it was, and froze as soon as door opened. Her skin became pale, and her eyes widened. One would think she saw a ghost but it wasn't a ghost at all.

"Caleb."

Right in front of her stood young man, a cause of all that "unhuman" behaviour. Although, this time his outfit was more special than usual, even fitting her dress a little. And first time ever she saw him with a bouqet of roses in his hand.

"Hi." He said quietly. "Here..." He handled her the roses. "It's for you."

Cassie remained silent, but she took the roses in her hand. She looked them over before her eyes returneed to his face, her eyebrow rising in confusion.

Silence. She did not let him inside at all, and he did not ask to be let in. Which she was grateful for. Caleb hid his hands in his pockets and chuckled awkwardly. "That will sound cheesy, but I, uhm, I missed you."

Sounding cheesy is one thing. Yet, those words together with what he did a few months ago, how he broke her world in pieces, well... those words sounded really rude. She looked at roses one more time, before she threw them right into his face and slammed the door shut.

"Fuck! Ouch, Cassie, damn!" It probably hurt. Roses were dangerous in the way. Cassie had to admit she did not think about that. She was breathing heavily, almost panicking, her mind going crazy. She did not know what to think. "Cassie... Fuck, I am sorry, alright. I really miss you!"

Silence. And then sound of her footsteps. She left the little hall and returned to her bedroom. Curled up and let her tears destroy the beautiful make-up she spend almost hours on. Outside the door, Caleb sighed and left.

__

Murderous Love #1

My try at writing something out of the crime. It was supposed to be short, but became something much longer in my head. I will try and work on this more, so you might expect more pieces featuring Daniel and Miss Cadren (again, I need character sheets for the two).

If you have suggestions how the story should develop, let me know! I am eager to have some fun with this one and experiment, so changing it to how people want the story to go could be interesting.

***

Things like this do not happen in real life. She read stories,watched documentaries of similar happenings.. it seemed to happen to people all around, as well, but at the same time it felt so surreal. For her all the victims seemed so... stupid. How could you fall for something like this? Ridiculous. That's why it happens in books, mostly. It's fiction. Story directed by people to hype the public and get more views. After all, nobody would watch things they can encounter in everyday life, right? They want something surreal, something crazy like this.

And then, it turns out it's not fiction, and if the victims were stupid, then she was too.

***

Daniel looked at the blond locks of the woman. She looked like 40 years old right now, but she was only 32. Her hair was dirty and tangled, her face didn't look better. No make up showed a few wrinkles here and there. From their last meeting, her shape became even slimmer... A sign they don't feed her well here. No surprise to him, they never do. As Daniel looked at her, he thought how pretty she was just after a shower and proper meal, but he also knew she had little chances for that.

- I am telling you, it wasn't me. You need to get Cyrus... you need to catch him! - she spoke, making Daniel rub his temples.

- Miss Cadren. - he began. - I am no policeman. They are looking for him. But he disappeared, and evidence points at you. Let's just calm down, shall we? Best that we could do right now was to...

- No way!  - she stood up, angered. Not the first time during their little talks. -Find him, just, somehow! Of course he disappeared. He planned it, for God's sake! - Her voice echoed in the room and guard was already holding her by the shoulders, escorting back to her cell. That would not help her, or him. Daniel sighed and slowly stood up. He left the room by the door on the other side.

As he drove through the city, he wasn't focused on road, but on Caroline Cadren and her story. A story straight from some drama. But, he trusted her. It didn't happen often in his field... He always did murder cases. Daniel knew how murderers talk or look. One thing reassured him about Caroline innocence: she never mixed details of her story. And she gave him plenty of details, for God's sake! How Cyrus would speak, what he would do or wear, what was his favorite meal. No matter how many times she told it, everything was always the same. Nobody can lie this perfectly. Finally, you will forget something, it's bound to happen, and Daniel always found people who would lie. But not Caroline. Caroline never mixed anything, making him reassured she speaks of what happened to her.

And if she was lying, then she deserved to be thought of as innocent, because such genius is rare.

But this wouldn't be enough to get her out of this shitty situation. Finally he arrived, and quickly got into his office. He was in his 40s already, and he surely looked like it. Daniel's work made him over stressed everyday, but still he loved it. For his whole career, he believed that he was doing his best to help people who regretted their deeds, or killed out of anger, jealousy or other emotions. It was still a terrible deed, but its different than what serial killers do. People who enjoy killing... For those he made it look as if he tried his best but in reality he made sure they get punished.

Yes, Daniel was playing God. But he believed there are special people in the world who can do that, and was confident he was one of those people. Fixing his suit, he realized he probably should visit gym more often... Daniel was a handsome man, dark hair, tall, just a bit of facial hair. His attitude scared ladies away, though. Daniel never had anybody close enough to call girlfriend or wife. His relationships lasted a few months... or weeks, depending how much the woman could take.

But he was married to his work, and it made him happy. And now, Miss Cadren will screw his history of perfect cases. Every case went like he wanted it to go. At least, since the moment he realized his mission. But, getting Miss Cadren out of this situation was simply impossible. Real murderer was gone, and he made evidence look like it was her. If they would catch him... get anything out of him, Daniel would have something to work with. But right now? Caroline was doomed.

...but nobody ever said it's going to be easy. So, Daniel sat by his desk and began working on getting Caroline Cadren out of jail. Cyrus was the real murderer and that means he is going to make a mistake, and let's hope he will make it soon.

Azuriel

A little bit short but have some good ideas for this one. Possibly will post character sheet for Azuriel in future. Hopefully.

***

"That is just not humanly possible. I mean, we are witches, but there are limits to everything Azuriel." Blue-haired woman tilted her head to the side. She was lost in her book until her friend spoke. They both were doing research on very specific topic: mermen. There are legends of life under water, and in Azuriel mind if there are legends of something, it was real at some point in time.

"They said the same about unicorns, and many other creatures, places... How come there are so many legends about them and that we know so many details of their lives? It's not a coincidence, Tao." Azuriel answered, making her ginger friend roll her eyes.

"Even if you're right, what you want to do? Turn yourself in a mermaid or what?" Tao said putting books down on the table with a loud thump.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. Just imagine... the reward we will be given when we prove it! This is a research of a lifetime, Tao!  We can become famous... rich... and -"

"Wait, wait. We? When did I sign up?  Sure, I can help you with looking it up, but I am not going into the field, or vouch for you with this craziness. Nobody will believe you until you get proof. And getting real proof, not some theories, will be hard without any funding, Azuriel. I can't help you with that."

Blue-haired witch crossed her arms. "You could, if you wanted to, Tao."

"Yeah, and screw up my own life. You ask for a lot, Azuriel..." Tao sighed. "Look, I need to look out for myself, too..."

Azuriel rised an eyebrow before standing up. "To get anywhere, you need to take risks sometimes, Tao. Want boring, easy life? Go ahead. I want more than that." She took her notes and books and left ginger witch alone. Tao looked into the desk, wondering if she really has made a good choice. Hearing Azuriel's tone, Tao just lost a friend, a very dear friend to her.

***
Azuriel wasn't just any witch. Her ideas and plans were very specific, possibly strange to some, but that's also because of her powers. Generally, witches had one main power they mastered and were more or less skilled with other abilities, depending on their schooling. But that wasn't a case with Azuriel.

Azuriel had three perfectly mastered abilities, and she was good at pretty much anything she tried. She was a genius, and nobody knew where the genius came from, as she was an orphan Her favorite talent was alchemy, but she also knew of telekinesis and was a famous spellcaster.

Now, Spellcasters could choose the kind of spells they wanted to focus on, or simply the kind of energy needed for spells, but again, Azuriel knew more than one. Her favorite was water, but she could perform simple spells from every energy given and more advanced ones from most of them. She could even mix up energies for a very specific and strong spells, which was a rare talent.

Basically, she was bored with all of that that. She was just eighteen and she already couldn't learn much more. Her life became boring before she graduated Academy of Magic. Oh, but she could have done that before, however Azuriel always had one goal - to graduate like a genius she is. She wont do just anything; she will prove everyone mermen are real. She was sure they are, they were just smart enough to make everyone believe they aren't.

Witches in the past showed others the true about unicorns, dragons and many more. It was her time to rise and shine. Tao was right... Alone this will be a tough job, but Azuriel was determined. And she was gonna make it.

Mysterious Phone Call (Warm Up)

This is a very little piece, which was more to see if I can still do this. It took me somewhere between 10-15 minutes. I kind of liked what I started here so I might come back to this next time. We shall see.

***

Kaitlyn stretched a little and looked again at the screen of her laptop. Not much was happening there, especially that she was just watching it, again and again, with an empty word document open. Apparently today wasn’t a day to write an essay either. She stood up, walked to her kitchen and made some coffee in hope that it will help her brain work. She just did not have energy or willpower to write that essay. Subject was exceptionally boring, the book they were reading right now was the worst thing she has ever read. Apparently, it won some awards and Kaitlyn had to find something special in the story. For her, it wasn’t exactly possible.

That’s why she hated this. She wanted to study literature and hoped for some amazing pieces to work with, but she ended with this crap. She now had to live alone, away from everyone and read stories which for her were simply the worst. The style, the contents, the pace… Everything was terrible. If they got awards then surely she should get some for anything she writes. Maybe even just for that damned essay. What people have seen in those stories? What magic is hidden there? Why she can't see it?

It was getting late. She should work on this… She truly should. Just as that thought passed through her mind she heard her phone ring. It was a bit… surprising. It was late, and she knew her friends usually didn't call this late. Looking at her phone, it showed unknown number. Usually, she wouldn’t pick up such calls but something pushed her to do that tonight. Maybe it was just a boredom of the essay, maybe she just wanted her mind to escape for a moment or two.

“Hello? Who is this?” Her gentle voiced showed that she was a bit nervous. Laughter she heard on the other side sounded familiar, but she wasn’t sure to whom it belonged.

“Have you written your essay yes, Miss Perfect?” Voice was taunting her, and that feeling was similar too. As if she knew that person from somewhere. But from where?

She took a cup of her coffee and made her way back to the room. “Miss Perfect? I think you called a wrong number.” She tried to be sassy but obviously failed, and felt exceptionally cringy that those words left her mouth. She sat down on her bed, put the coffee away. And another burst of laughter on the other side.

“It’s so easy to trick you, Kaitlyn. Too easy, you know.”

“Just tell me who you are. Are you from the Mr. Cardberry’s course?”

“Garret. Have you already forgotten me, Beauty?”

Oh, Garret. Now she remembered. She sighed deeply. Garret having her number was one of the mistakes of that… grand party. There was no food, and plenty of alcohol. Not a good mix at all. Kaitlyn made a lot of bad choices on this party, one of them was giving Garret her number. “Miss Perfect” was probably about how she always finished her homework early. Kaitlyn was sure she shares a few lectures with Garret. Which, once again, didn’t work out so well.

Yeah, she went to the party, she wanted to be a nice, cool girl. Instead of being a weirdo everybody avoided. But, instead she got drunk, and made out with this guy. Garret. Playful and arrogant. A type she always avoids. Yet, that night he seemed so attractive to her…

“Well, um, hey Garret. It took you a while to call.” She commented, knowing it's just a prank, probably. Types like Garret only do booty calls, and Kaitlyn wasn't that kind of girl. Maybe she made out with him, but wouldn’t go further than that.

“Yeah, well, sorry about that. I was thinking if you wanna go out tonight?” He asked in quite serious tone. Kaitlyn was shocked. But then again, he might have want another booty call.

“Where to?” If he invites her to his home, then she’s out.

“Well, you know. Some bar, grab a few drinks. What do you think?” Once again, she wasn’t sure how to react. Well, she doesn’t have to get drunk, right? It seems the evening would be more interesting than she expected.

This time, she wouldn’t finish essay earlier than others, though.