Apologies to you and everyone I know.

Life is a fickle thing that takes inspiration and crushes it at the most inopportune times. I loved a girl, loved an idea, and loved my life in that order, but fate has crushed all of my loves and left me with zero inspiration to see the movie in my mind that I gave to you all in the form of Ankoku no Ki.

It is a decision that I wish was not necessary, I am going to have to put the story on hiatus for as long as it takes my mind to filter out all that is wrong.

In the place of the weekly story, I will be posting simple poems. Again, I apologize to everyone and hope that there's enough patience to go around to wait for my mind to settle.

------------------------------------

"Barriers"

I stare at these blank walls
watchiing as poets turn to demons
and my demons turn to nightmares

I realize all the things that I could have done
to save you
and not misbehave...
to be a gentlemen
and not give up on you...

I can't believe
how fast your life did end
and how quickly from your side they sent me

There can be multiple answers
yet none thrill me as much
as you had when I held you so tenderly
kept you by my side
like the beautiful soul I knew you were

But now
I've lost myself
I've lost you
and there's nothing more that I can say

Fate drives me.
~Alex

Can you guess what'll happen next?

Here's the next installment of Ankoku no Ki for your entertainment.

Remember to said any questions or comments regarding me or my writing to brinque@msn.com

--------------------------------------------------------------

Birth

1.

            The metallic sound of the front door sliding open fled into the living room as Rachel stepped back into the apartment. A defeated feeling filled her mind to match the depressed expression she wore upon her face. Past failures occupied her mind and drew her focus away from reality. Letting her mind flee reality was not about to help her though, especially since the lack of focus caused her to walk right into Justin who was fully dressed and about to walk outside.

            Both of them recoiled in a daze, shaking their heads to try to shake off the dull pain of colliding with another human being. Justin was the first to come back to the situation at hand. With a sincere expression he looked at her with wild concern.

            “Are you okay?” he asked hurriedly.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” she responded meekly. “I didn’t run into you all that hard…”

            “I heard you scream outside and smelled smoke. I almost thought it was Angela lighting another fire, but then I realized that she was still asleep next to me—”

            “What’d you say?!” Rachel’s eyes went wide, causing Justin to jump back slightly in surprise.

            “Angela was lying next to me…” His uncertainty about what Rachel’s jealousy would make her do was evident in the expression upon his face.

            “What are you guys yelling about…?” asked Angela, sleepily walking into the living room from the hallway, wearing nothing but a large, plain black shirt that hung low below her shoulders and her waistline, and a pair of red panties. Rachel flashed a glare at Justin who raised his hands defensively and attempted to put distance between the angered woman and himself.

            “You’re telling me that she was still lying next to you while I was outside, screaming my head off, and being attacked by a bleeding spirit?!” her accent seeped into her words even more so as her emotions filled her voice.

            “Rachel, calm down…you know that you can’t control yourself when you get emotional…” Rachel rolled her eyes defiantly.

            “You don’t understand! Someone that looked like your….” She stopped herself from finishing her thought. “Someone that looked like Angela killed the spirit right before it was about to run me through.”

            “Someone…that looked like…me?” Angela asked in a sweet voice before yawning cutely.

            “Yes!”

            “Wait a second…why was the spirit about to run you through?” Justin asked curiously. “Haven’t I seen you slaughter beasts ten times your size just by looking at them?”

            “That’s not the point!!!” Rachel yelled, becoming overly frustrated with the entire situation.

            Suddenly, a loud, horrific scream, that was unmistakably male, sliced through the air from the hallway behind Angela, who jumped at the sound and almost fell over.

            “What was that??” Angela asked, still slightly delirious from sleep. “And, why do I smell smoke?” Both Rachel and Justin stood still in shock, staring at each other, without any clue of what to do.

            “What’s going on out there?” Huey yelled from inside his room. “Can’t a brother get some sleep?!” Then came a second scream, this time female, from the same directionality.

            “Guys!” screamed Melanie. “Come quickly! Something’s happened to the doctor!” Rachel’s heart sank into her stomach as her legs shattered her shock and carried her in a frenzied sprint to the doorway at the end of the hallway, Dr. Hartmann’s room, where Melanie stood gazing into the bleak room.

“Out of my way!” she yelled as she forcefully pushed Melanie aside to get into the room. Not far into the room, her legs stopped shakily as her eyes gazed down at the blackened sheets on the futon at the room’s center. Her knees collided with the hard floor below with a heavy thud and tears began to flow from her crystal colored eyes. Friedrick Hartmann’s body was burnt—scorched—severely from the neck down. The murderer had left the doctor’s head in tact as if to allow its open eyes to keep watching the world that it would never again traverse.

Rachel stared at the corpse, remembering everything that it had been and denying everything that it was.

2.

            “What are we going to do now, Friedrick? It’s not like we can go back to OSU…” Rachel asked the good doctor sitting across from her as both of them and Justin sat in a scarcely occupied car of a train taking them away from Ohio and their place of imprisonment for the past couple of months. A sense of depression had visibly come over her and Justin held her, trying to calm her nerves. “We’re fugitives! Where can fugitives go??” Small tears fell from her eyes.

            “Rachel,” spoke Dr. Hartmann in a soothing tone, “look at me.” Still crying, she complied with the doctor’s request. “Everything is going to be alright.” He smiled sweetly. “Just think happy thoughts, mein liebe. Happy thoughts will make the darkness go away.”

3.

            “Happy thoughts…” Rachel whispered as she stared sadly at the scorched body of her once savior. “Think happy thoughts…?” Anger had slipped into her voice. “You told me to think happy thoughts, and you go ahead and give me one more reason to despise this bloody world.” Her hair drooped below her face as she slouched were she kneeled, letting her tears cascade to the ground like a waterfall made of sorrow. “What happy thoughts are there left for me to think?”

            “Rachel!” yelled Justin from directly behind her. “C’mon, you shouldn’t be here?”

            “Then where should I be?” she mumbled.

            “Let’s go get some breakfast,” he continued, ignoring her words. With a calming hand, her reached out and rubbed her back softly.

            “Don’t touch me,” she stated harshly before dozens of small thorns appeared from beneath the skin on her back. Justin removed his hand quickly, but not before several of the thorns had pierced the flesh on his hand. Oblivious to the pain, he tried to approach her again.

            “Rachel, c’mon. We’ll get through this together. Let’s just get you out of here—”

            “Get the hell away from me!” she yelled before each thorn turned into the end of a long vine and sped outward towards Justin and the three other young adults who stood in the doorway, watching the sullen child who had just lost a parent-figure. He reeled back quickly, pushing everyone away from the doorway harshly and slamming it closed with extreme force. All of the vines collided with the door and continued forward.

            “RUN!!!” he yelled to the others who followed his lead and sprinted out of the apartment before the vines could catch any of them. They stopped running after fleeing down the steps in front of the building. Each of them inhaled and exhaled harshly as they each attempted to catch their breaths.

            “What’s happenin’ guys?” All of them turned their heads to look simultaneously at the voice’s source—a young asian man with straight, dark blue hair, wearing a plain black shirt resembling the one Angela wore, and a pair of faded blue jeans. Together, they laughed at the sight of the youngest of their group, Yoshiro Yami. Partly, they laughed at the innocence of his look in such a frantic situation, but mostly they laughed at the fortune of his appearance. There was no doubt amongst them that Yoshiro was the only one of them who rivaled Rachel strength.

Fate drives me.

~Alex

A word from Alex

 Hey everyone.

So, this week I was sitting in my local coffee shop, Coffee Beans and Brew, writing this weeks post, when the realism of life struck me like a brick flying into the side of my face. Those who don't know me personally obviously wouldn't know the kind of stress I'm under everyday from school, society, and all the idiots of the world. Every time I write, I try to take my stress and put it into figurative speech and, I guess, that's where Ankoku no Ki comes from. Yes, I understand the main character is a girl...I'm not a total idiot...but a lot of the situations each character is involved in is taken directly from a part of my life. Whether it be Rachel watching someone else date the person she wants to be with (but can't) or Yoshiro (as you'll see below) talking seriously and ecstatically about something he believes is important yet can get no one to really listen. Each character and event is part of me in a way, and I guess that's why I find so much pleasuring sharing my writing with everyone. Otherwise, I'd just be the guy that absolutely no one knew.

Well, here's this week's chapter of Ankoku no Ki. The story is moving slowly so far, I know, but there's a good reason, trust me. 

If you ever have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me at brinque@msn.com 

Thanks for reading.

------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The Truth is Fleeting

1.

            “I realize the discomfort you all must feel adjusting to this new climate and my culture, but I guarantee that this will all be worth it when our goals are met,” addressed an eighteen year-old Japanese boy, Yoshiro Yami, to five young adults—Huey, Melanie, Angela, Justin, and Rachel. Each of the young adults sat on a couch near the entrance of their Tokyo apartment listening to Yoshi prep them on their new life in Japan. (That is, all of them except for Justin and Angela who were preoccupied stealing quick glances at each other every few minutes.) Behind Yoshi sat an older man by the name of Dr. Hartmann who sat with his hands clasped beneath his chin in a pensive pose. “If you weren’t aware already, you all were brought here to keep the world in balance. All five of you, elementals, the demon, and the gatekeeper, will be responsible not only for the safety of each other, but the task of searching for the gate between worlds so that we may secure the safety of every other person on this planet. Are you all ready to heroes?” With his final statement, Yoshi threw his fist in the air and yelled his words with a delighted smile.

            “Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?” Huey asked with a bit of sarcasm. Angela giggled, but more at something Justin had whispered in her ear than at Huey’s insensitive remarks. Rachel glared at the two with a growing envy.

            “Oh, throw him a bone, lard butt,” Melanie interjected. “Plus, I think he’s kinda hot when he talks about us bein’ heroes.” She winked at Yoshi, who proceeded to blush a deep red and turn away from the group of young adults. Dr. Hatmann remained still, staring off into space.

            “By the looks of you, you probably think all guys are ‘kinda hot,’” Huey defended. Immediately she turned and glared at him with knives.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

            “Nothing…just that you look like the time of girl who all the guys back home might like. And, yes, I do mean that in a perverted way.” Huey smiled wide at the now furious Melanie.

            “Well, you look like someone that owners of an all-you-can-eat buffet would love!”

            “Now guys—” Yoshi started.

            “Oooo a fat joke. What’s next? Are you going to make fun of me for being black?” He laughed heartily, making Melanie even more heated. Meanwhile, Justin and Angela had forgotten them all and talked lively about their favorite hobbies while holding hands. A small flower had begun to come out of Rachel’s shoulder. Yoshi’s eyes widened, feeling that something bad might happen. “I guess I shouldn’t expect so much from a stuck-up cracka like you, huh?”

            “You son of a bitch!” Melanie drew back her fist and brought it smoothly through the air quickly.

            “That’s enough!” Yoshi yelled with force as a gale of wind flew forth from somewhere behind him and slammed into each of the five troublemakers. Each of their bodies fell forward after impact almost in unison. All the air in their lungs had been forced out and pain now traveled up their abdomen as they coughed hard and attempted to gasp for air at the same time. Yoshi quickly regained his senses and reached out to help them up with a sincere expression on his face. “I’m so so sorry. I-I-I didn’t mean to do that.”

            “Do not apologize to them Yoshi,” Dr. Hartmann stated clearly, slowly standing up. “If you had not done what you did, who knows where their quarreling would have gone.”

            “It still hurts like a bitch…” Huey said breathlessly.

            “Maybe next time you will think first then before you start bickering with one of the people who will be responsible for guarding your life.” Justin helped Angela to her feet with consoling hands.

            “Are you okay?” he said to her.

            “Yes, I’m fine,” she responded meekly, blushing lightly. Rachel coughed lightly, still on the floor.

            “Thanks for the concern, Feldini…”

            “Rache, I’m sorry. I-I—”

            “It’s fine,” she stated harshly, getting to her feet. “I can help myself. I don’t need your help…”

2.

            Rachel opened her eyes to the sight of her plain bedroom wall. She sighed lightly. “Why do I keep dreaming about that day?” she whispered softly to herself before the sound of her roommate’s snoring brought her out of her small post-dream trance. She sat up, throwing her bedding off of her, and glanced over at Melanie who was sprawled out on her side across her futon, with her mouth wide open and a small stream of saliva spilling out onto the bedding. “I’m surprised to see her home so early…” Once more, Rachel sighed as she stood up and made her way to the door.

3.

            After a trip leaving her room, Rachel had made her way out the front door. Standing just outside her apartment building, she looked over the buildings to the darkened sky above while leaning on the wooden railing that they had been made specifically to make the steps to her right more necessary and safer. The sun was just making its way over the horizon, but from her field of vision she would have never known. Outside the apartment, everything was calm, with gentle noises in the distance from busier streets blocks away from the strangely silent road her apartment was located on. Her mind was heavy with dissatisfaction at the thought of how Justin had grown more attached to Angela and less attached to her.

            “What’s so special about her?” she thought aloud. “So what if she can make fire and knows some karate or whatever? Justin and I have known each other for so long and have been through so much…Why would he choose that Hispanic bimbo over me?” Leaning harder against the railing with crossed arms, she placed her head in defeat onto her wrists. “Maybe it’s just because she’s more attractive than I am. That’s probably it, what kind of guy would want a plain, pale-skinned, nothing-special girl like me? Only the creepers, that’s who…”

That’s when she began to hear a small sound, like the gentle pitter-patter of feet upon the ground. Looking up, she tried to find the source. “Hello?” she asked the empty air. “Who’s there?” At that moment, a small, white rabbit with red eyes seemed to hop into existence out of nowhere. “What’s a rabbit like that doing here?” she said absent-mindedly. The rabbit stopped about a meter from the platform on which she stood and stared up at her with cute eyes. Softly a smile was brought to her eyes by the animal’s cuteness, until she realized that small fang protruded from the right side of its mouth. “That can’t be…” Quickly, the cute rabbit’s body exploded into a collage of grotesque shapes and figures which slowly began to form together into a gruesome creature the size of a grown man, who flew on gigantic moth’s wings, and whose mouth had been sewn shut and eyes had been replaced with seemingly endless rows of sharp fangs. Its six arms/legs were jagged claws with twisted nails that looked strange on the hovering monster.

 Its teeth holes suddenly widened as the creature loosened a high-pitched screech that stung Rachel’s ears. She grimaced lightly and tried to focus enough to do her job. Jumping straight up, her feet landed on top of the railing as she stared down at the monstrosity. “It’s 7 a.m. Why must I kill again?” With a sigh, she tried to make her vines come out from beneath her skin, but the more she tried, the more her mind seemed to focus on Justin. After a moment she stared in defenseless terror at the monster that now lunged at her. Jumping forward, she missed a swing of his strange claws by mere centimeters. Landing wrong several meters away, pain shot up her legs upon contact with the hard ground and her body was forced to collapse to the ground.

“Damnit…”  she spoke harshly at her unwelcomed pain. The monster quickly turned to face her and rushed in her direction headfirst. Once more, Rachel tried to make her vines appear, but Justin clouded her mind too much. “DAMN YOU!!” she yelled as her arms quickly flew up to block the monstrosity that grew ever-closer to her. Unable to bear the sight of her impending doom, she squeezed her eyes shut as a whirling sound flew by her left side. Warmth consumed her body as if she were laying next to a campfire.

When she opened her eyes Rachel could see a ring of fire circling the area where she lay, the monster backing up in fear from the flames, and Angela standing almost in the flames in a singed, black robe, paying no attention to neither the heat nor Rachel.

Suddenly, the Spanish girl raised her right hand above her hand and drew a circle in the air in front of her. Wherever her finder went, a trail of fire followed. At the closing of the circle, the loop of fire twirled up and wrapped itself tensely around Angela’s arm, enveloping it in a tangible rope of orange flames. She smirked defiantly, before she launched herself towards the fearful creature and slammed her fist into the center of its body. The rope untwisted quickly and spun down her arm and into the creature as it proceeded to incinerate its body, leaving the only remnants of the being as the singed ashes which floated upwards into the atmosphere.

Rachel stared with uncertainty at the girl she despised as the girl stood still, tinted by the flames, taking in the results of her actions. A moment later, Angela’s right hand snapped loudly and all the flames faded. The sun was slowly peeking up from behind the buildings and now shone light on the front of the apartment building in front of them. Slowly Rachel got to her feet as Angela walked silently back up the stairs and disappeared into the apartment.

“Why do I hate her so much?” Rachel thought aloud, her weaknesses brought alive before her eyes.

Provehito in altum

~Alex

Life in contrast

Hey folks, here's your fill of Ankoku no Ki for the week. This chapter highlights the new character Melanie Carter, a seductive 22 year-old from NYC. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11:

Someone Save Me

1.

            “Someone kill me” was the sum of Melanie Carter’s thoughts as she sat at a small table in a small café in downtown Tokyo whose name she had already forgotten. Across the table was a young Japanese boy in his mid twenties. When they had first met, Melanie had that the boy was cute, but now, as he rambled on about his view on the Union’s government, she was tired of him.

            At the age of twenty-two, Melanie was the second oldest of her roommates—Dr. Hartmann being the first—and frequently acted the part. Her blond hair, hazel eyes, smooth and tan skin, and curvy body always guaranteed that she would find a date whenever she wanted. Not to mention, whenever her looks didn’t get the job done, she always knew the right words to make a man sweat with nervousness as he was seduced by her soft voice. In the olden days, she would have probably been liked to siren, only prettier, with the way she lured men in only to crush their hearts. But such wasn’t always her fault. I mean, the girl’s libido was constantly bigger than the valedictorian brain in her skull. In the palm of her hands she held the potential to advance the world far beyond its current state, yet chose to primarily indulge herself in carnal passion.

            Taking a long, loud sip of tea she disappeared into her mind for a bit, thinking of how she wanted the boy before her—whose name she also had forgotten—to shut up so she could take him back to her apartment and tear his close off. The warm liquid jump softly out of its resting place as her lips softly touched the cold ceramic cup. The warm liquid slid easily down her throat as she imagined the tongue of the vociferous boy in front of her in its place.

            “Melanie?” asked the boy, shaking her from her thoughts.

            “Yes?” she asked sweetly.

            “What were you thinking about just now?”

            “Nothin’ but you, hot stuff.” Melanie winked flirtatiously then slowly licked the remnants of her tea from her top lip as she lowered the cup from her mouth. The boy laughed lightly with a light grin forming about his face. Attempting to push the boy to where she wanted, she smiled back at him in a promiscuous fashion, letting her beautiful hair drape down over her right eye. She looked even cuter when she played her little games and was almost certain that her trick had worked when the boy grabbed her hand from across the table. Unfortunately, all that happened next was his opinions about how the U.S. should give up their war efforts.

            Melanie continued to smile her fake little smile that anyone other than the oblivious socialist in front of her could have seen through. Softly she sighed, gently rubbing her finger pointer finger over the boy’s white hand, thinking to herself, “I’m never gonna get laid, am I?”

2.

            Darkness had covered the colorful Japanese sky overhead as Melanie started home with disappointment on both her mind and her face. Her date night had ended when she ditched her boring date on the third hour of his speech on the fallacy of supercapitalism. “All I’d wanted was a lil lovin’,” she said to herself. “Why do boys have to be such morons?” She sighed heavily as she turned a corner a mile from her apartment.

            The street she was on was scarcely populated by only a few pedestrians walking briskly on the opposite side of the street and the distinct, distant sound of motorcycles cutting gently through the dead air. With the bad reputation of the area and only a few residences in the run-down buildings along the street, it was no wonder why very few people traveled such a deserted path. “I wonder if there’s still a way to turn this night around.”

            Quickly the distant, gently hum of the motorcycles grew to a loud racket of roaring motors and drunken voices. As the first bike passed by, the rider yelled to his fellow gang members and they circled back around towards Melanie. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the bikers pass by once more, only centimeters from the curb.

            She stopped walking as the first of the bikes parked a little over a decameter away, with the rest of the bikes close behind the first.

            “I guess they’ll hafta do…” she thought aloud with a girlish smile as six buff, Asian bikers dismounted their vehicles.

[For the record, the bikers were Japanese (who would have known, right?). This entire interaction was spoken in complete Japanese and has been thoroughly translated for your convenience.]

            “Hey there, girlie,” the leader and largest member of the pack said in a low voice with a perverted grin. “You wanna take a ride?” The rest of the bikers chuckled loudly in the background.

            “Not today, gentlemen. You see, I’m horny as hell and desperately need something to fill my empty hole that’s been aching all night, if you know what I mean.” She smiled flirtatiously at the leading man who proceeded to laugh coolly at the situation and advance towards the fragile-looking young woman. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and pulled her tightly against his body which clearly dwarfed hers.

            “I have just what you need, little lady. I can easily help you fill your hole, if you know what I mean.”

            “I’m sure I do,” she whispered seductively, allowing him to take her body even tighter into his and her lips to draw closer to his. “But, I’m afraid that the two of us are on two completely separate pages tonight.” She jabbed two of her fingers deep into his right thigh, making the gangster cry out in pain.

            “You bitch!” he screamed. She laughed devilishly as she slowly drew her fingers out of his thigh and the light out of his eyes. Her fingers took a curved path which ended with her two digits pointing upwards towards the darkened sky and a stream of dirty water snaking from the gangster’s wound up Melanie’s extended arm. His entire body gradually imploded itself as all the liquid in his body escaped to surround Melanie’s arm and solidify into a clear blade of what appeared to be crystallized water. She smiled at her acquisition.

            “It’s too bad really,” she spoke to the rest of the gang who now cowered in fear at the sight of the intimidating woman. “He should have approached me earlier when all I wanted was sex.” She giggled lightly with glee. “Oh well, I guess you’re all at a loss.” With an excited yell, Melanie ran at the gang of men slicing through each of their bodies with the blade on her arm, their blood becoming part of her blade the second it escaped into the air. The clear blade had become crimson by the time the last body had fallen. “Well, whadya know. All of them are dead. Oh well, I had fun.” With a large smile she drove her blade into the ground and pulled her arm out from amidst the crystal, the solid mass becoming liquid once more when it no longer touched her soft, seductive body.