IT'S SPOOKY MONTH!! HERE'S A SPOOKY SNIPPET FROM SPIRITWALKER

IT'S SPOOKY MONTH!! HERE'S A SPOOKY SNIPPET FROM SPIRITWALKER

The icy tiles warmed beneath my skin. No more waiting.

I pushed at the wall and the entire section behind the mosaic shuttered. My strange suspicion was correct—there was a hidden passageway in the tunnel—but I needed more force to open the door all the way.

I pressed my other hand to the wall and pushed harder, straining the muscles in my back and shoulders. The wall moved inwards this time, rotating like a cog, until it was just a sliver between two gaps. There was enough room for a witch to comfortably walk on either side.

I gestured to Maya. “Are you coming?”

The younger witch, ever loyal, followed me into the pitch black that awaited us. The smell of mold slapped me in the face, and I had to resist the urge to cover my nose in order to keep my grip on the wall. I stretched my foot as far as it would go, trying to gauge how far the passage went, but only felt emptiness. This vast, dark, unknown space should have frightened me, but instead I was struck with a strange familiarity. I had been here before—in my dreams.

Once we were both fully inside, I let go of the wall. Considering its weight, I assumed that it would gradually slide back into place. Instead it slammed shut, sealing me and Maya in the mysterious hole. I could hear her hands frantically scraping against the bricks, searching for a way out.

“What do we do, Lady Daron?” 

“I am sure that Ann Marie will open the door if we stay here for too long. As for the dark, you can leave it to me.”

I slipped my spirit dagger out from its hidden holster with one hand and used the other to locate a wall. When I could feel the solid surface, I stuck the tip of my dagger into the stone. It cut through easily as the brick was so old it chipped and crumbled upon force. Muscle memory took over, carving out the rune spell for light for me.

All of the walls illuminated brilliantly, as if a star was hidden inside of them. Keeping my dagger in my hand, I surveyed my surroundings. The room was smaller than I suspected, only large enough to fit about ten people. Moss and mold grew on the walls and weeds sprouted from cracks in the stone floor. How long had this place been forgotten?

Maya’s gasp echoed across the walls and I turned to see what startled her. In the corner was what appeared to be a girl, but she had no skin, no color. Her body was solely light, occasionally sparkling with the intensity of her energy. I tightened my grip on my spirit dagger.

“Hello,” the spirit said. “I would introduce myself, but I do not know who I am.”

Spiritwalker taglist (ask to be added or removed) @the-golden-comet @pixies-love-envy

Snippet Sunday

look. i tried to make this snip shorter. i really did. but we kind of need all the context for this to make sense. so have all the context! here's Vy and Jules(?) having a super fun conversation in Spark Signature:

cw: possession, self-harm, blood

There was a time when Jules’s apartment felt more like a home than Vy’s own. When they’d make the drive from the Othello Academy down to Rainier Beach, it was never with the looming dread of having to face people who only cared for them out of obligation—out of love for somebody else. When they went home with Jules, they weren’t going home to Erik and Minh; they were going home to no one.

At that time, more than anything else, that was what Vy had needed.

Jules’s apartment now is nothing like home and everything like a cage. And, in spite of Vy’s wishes, it’s anything but empty.

Jules paces the kitchen, running his hands along the countertops, over his arms, through his hair. His voice—a low, constant murmur—fills the air like haze, clinging to every surface and making Vy’s hair stand on end. He doesn’t even seem to hear the door open, doesn’t see Vy at all. Not until they’re standing across the bar from him, a world and an island and a foot-and-a-half away. He blinks—slow, catlike. “…Vy?”

The surreality, the incongruence, the wrongness of it all dries Vy’s mouth, coats their tongue in sand. But they have to say something, do something. “You, uh… you okay?”

“Fine.” He crosses his arms; his hand wraps around the flexed muscle of his biceps and he flinches. A moment of hesitation; he props his hip against the bar instead, tail lashing. “You’ve been out for a long time.”

“Just. You know. Working.” What is wrong with him? Does he know where Vy’s been, that Vy knows? Sure, Vy came back to tell him, to ask him what the fuck he thought he was doing, but that’d been when Vy thought they’d have the upper hand, the first shot, not that Jules would be lurking around the apartment, all—

“You smell… strange.”

Okay, what the actual fuck? “I… took the maglev?”

“No. Strange like blood, strange like…” His nostrils flare. His wings twitch. Not that nervous twitch, that Jules twitch. This feels… preparatory. Predatory. “What did you see?”

The answer comes out like thinking, like breathing. They couldn’t hold it in if they tried. “You.” It hangs in the air between them, a ghost of what Vy’d witnessed, what Jules had done. When he says nothing, they continue: “That person—Dr. Poole—what happened? What’d you do?”

“Nothing.” It’s not a word; it’s a hiss. A baring of teeth. “Nothing they didn’t deserve.”

It’s not him. It’s not him, but it’s fierce and feral and familiar. It’s bloodstained lips on a holoscreen, eyes like frozen blood glaring across a pub table.

Vy’s never believed in possession; people, once dead, were content to stay that way. But, before Jules, they’d never heard of Sparks lingering after separating from their bodies, either.

Jules found the Ether by accident; who’s to say nobody in the Ether noticed? What would stop someone from using him to hitch a ride back to the material plane?

“Jules, if you can hear me?” Vy edges away from the counter, back towards the door. “I need you to come back, now.”

“What did you see, exactly?” Not-Jules slinks around the kitchen counter, into striking range. “It’s easy to… misinterpret a situation, isn’t it?”

“Totally. So easy.” Their combats scuff over the entryway’s mat. “You know, that’s… probably it. I just misunderstood. Silly me! I’ll just…” their fingers search for the button, the door’s interior release, “head back out. See what else I can find today—”

“No. This is more important.” Claws click across the vinyl stone floor. “We need to clear this up. We wouldn’t want the wrong information getting—”

Vy’s hand finds the button. The door hisses open behind them.

Not-Jules stops. “Vy.” They tilt their head, a razorblade smile splitting their lips. “Don’t run from me.”

Vy stumbles back, through the door into the hallway. The stairwell’s enclosed; if they go that way, they’ll have nowhere to run. The elevator can be stopped remotely; it’s even worse. They turn and sprint towards the end of the hall—the fire escape.

“Vy!” They glance over their shoulder; Not-Jules stands in the hallway, claws digging into their own forearms. Blood wells in their wake, flowing and glowing and crackling.

Hemomancer. Not-Jules is a hemomancer.

“Don’t fucking run from me.”

Spark Signature taglist (ask to be added or removed): @leah-yasmin-writes, @unrepentantcheeseaddict, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @mundanemoongirl

i love in fantasy when its like “king galamir the mighty golden eagle and his most trusted advisor who would never betray him, gruelworm bloodeye the treacherous”

Out of Context Line Tag

thanks for the tag, @winterandwords! go check out their line here

📝 Share a line from your WIP with no context.

have a no-context line from Spark Signature:

A little bit. They just have to kill him a little bit.

tag! @thepeculiarbird, @cowboybrunch, @the-down-upside-finch, @squarebracket-trickster, @kaylinalexanderbooks

Spark Signature taglist (ask to be added or removed): @leah-yasmin-writes, @unrepentantcheeseaddict, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @mundanemoongirl

the real question is, why do i spend more time making playlists for my characters than actually writing about them?

Catalina's Playlist

Spotify Link

Description: This playlist consists of mostly folk music and anything I thought sounded earthy because Catalina is a grounded character. There are especially songs about plants because her powers revolve around plants and eating poison. There are also themes of finding yourself and your strength because that is her arc. You will also hear bits about family and protection because Catalina is a momma's girl and takes on a maternal role in her friend group.

Tracklist:

Rises the Moon - Liana Flores

Found - Tems, Brent Faiyaz

The Bug Collector - Haley Heynderickx

My Rose - Beyoncé

Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars

Posion Tree - Grouper

Fairy Fountain - Super Guitar Bros

Butterfly - Corinne Bailey Rae

Superbloom - Misterwives

Appletree - Erykah Badu

I am Woman - Emmy Meli

Les Fleurs - Minnie Riperton

Letter to my 13 Year Old Self - Laufey

Everything Stays - Olivia Olson

Wella - Delaney Bailey

II Most Wanted - Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus

Spiritwalker taglist (ask to be added or removed): @the-golden-comet @pixies-love-envy