湛蓝 ZHANLANN

Category: Short Stories

Rhy | A-Z

May 15th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

RHY

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

RHY IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

“Rhy, I’ve been looking for you”. A masculine voice cropped up behind me. It was unfamiliar.

An arm slung itself across my shoulders heavily. I turned; the alley was too dark to properly see his face. But I didn’t know the guy. Andy, the name popped up—he looked like an Andy. So I breathed: “Andy.”

His head tilted, his fringe hung low, brushing his jaw. It shadowed his face.

“Let’s go.” He walked, steering my shoulders. I followed, almost melting in relief, thank you thank you for appearing and getting me out of there.

“Hey girlie, we’re not done.” They stepped closer.

He turned. I caught a glimpse of his earrings. And a messy bun. Oh dear goodness. Double piercings? Long hair? The wave of relief from before evaporated. A gulp lodged itself in my throat.

An icy chill hit me; I shivered. They stumbled, the drunken assholes, and tripped on something I didn’t see, sprawling on the ground.

He stared at the unmoving figured. I stared too. They were drunk, but I don’t remember them being that drunk.

He looked up. His hair fell back. I saw lips, and they were pinker than mine. “Can I borrow you for a moment?”

Borrow me?

He yanked my shoulders forward without a warning and sauntered in the opposite direction, arms still around my shoulders. He quickened his pace, I was pulled along to catch up.

“Run.”

Caught off guard, I stumbled. “What?” He dragged me along regardless.

“Where are you going?”

The alley twisted and turned, I felt like stepping into a maze, losing sight of the shortcut route I was well acquainted with.

“This way.” He turned the corner. I stuck close to him, confused as to why dread was settling in my stomach.

I saw murky swirls, vague ones. Not exactly see it, I think I’d felt it rather. Dark flashes at the back of my eyelids when I closed them. Shadowy substance-less aura closed in from behind us. I moved closer to him, confused at what my eyes were greeted with.

They spilled out from the alley, in front, in black vapour. From the left, the right, like fog, except I found myself finding it much more terrifying. I didn’t know why, my hands started shaking.

“Hold on.” His hand snaked around my waist. I squirmed away from it.

“What?” My voice pitched. The smoke was getting scarier by the moment. Why? And thicker, and closer.

He looked up. “We’re jumping.”

“What are you t—” My sentence broke off, and was replaced with a shriek when my shoes lifted off the ground.

My eyes flew shut. Wind whished past my ears, I felt my hair whipping my face. I clung on to his jacket for my dear life at the sensation of nothingness underneath my feet.

RHY IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: last one i could find so this is it for now; i seem to have a thing with flying/jumping… lolllll. Btw this was inspired by Beautiful Creatures, it’s a novel series by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, lol didn’t realise there were two authors; it was also adapted into a movie in 2013. I remember my desk mate had the entire series and i borrowed of the entire set of books back and bulldozed through half the series in a single sitting hahaah
Doen | A-Z

May 12th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

DOEN

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

DOEN IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

in which an insomniac meets
an inert somnolent

*

From ASMR to water mattress, from sleeping masks to night lights, Raye had tried everything, or at least his sister, had tried everything on him to make him fall asleep.

Ever since fifteen, he’s been banking on an average of three hours of sleep (on a good day) per day. While Raye’s beside himself with nonchalance about his unhealthy sleep life, Jade’s pulling her hair out worried sick about her little brother’s illness.

Jade, being the wacky nut-job of a sister she was, happened to have many friends as crazy as her, and they have started up businesses verging on absurdities.

So when Jade came crashing home one day with a girl in tow, claiming she found the antidote to his ail and then promptly proceeding with pushing the girl into his room in the middle of the night…

will it be another sleepless night?

*

“Little bro, come out. Look what you beloved sister found you!” Doen watched Jaye pounding the door to her brother’s room with unprecedented gusto, slightly amazed at how (selectively) ignorant Jaye was to the fact that it was in the dead of the night.

At the lack of sound from within, Jaye continued persistently: “You will absolutely love me for this. More than you love your computer and xbox and psp and nintendo and your secret sta—ahhahgh!” Jaye fell forward when the door flew open without a warning, and she would have splatted right on the ground if it hadn’t been Doen pulling her in time.

“Goddamnit dude, some warning would have be nice.” Jaye grumbled as she steadied herself, her arms hitching themselves on her hips in an exaggeratedly angry posture.

“What.” Doe heard a tired voice, husky from lethargy. It was too dark for her to see him save for a silhouette, but the faint glow of the shine-in-the-dark star stickers from the ceiling had her catching his dark brows that were scrunched up in an impatient frown.

“What what. I finally found a way to solve your problem.” Jaye started excitedly.

Doen saw him running a hand through his hair, and it stood up in a messy bird’s nest.

“It’s one a.m..” Was it possible for voices to sound rustic? Doen mused to herself, trying to ignore the twisting nervousness bubbling in her stomach.

“It’s not like you’re asleep anyway. So, little bro, look who I found you—” Jaye turned to grab the unprepared Doen, who noticeably jumped at the sudden touch, by her shoulders. “—a sleeping partner!”

With that being said, Jaye shoved Doen in his direction, which so happened to be right up into his face, and proceeded to add a push on the girl’s shoulder blades as if her shove wasn’t hard enough. Jaye then settled back, laughing silently as her little brother visibly flinched at the new addition of a living human being falling right into him.

It wasn’t just Raye whose heart skipped a beat, Doen’s too quickened when she lost her balance.

It was a well-known fact to everyone around her Doen had hand-eye coordination so atrocious it extended beyond the spectrum conceivable by human imagination. She highly suspected her gym teacher closed both eyes when grading her during the graded badminton assessment, because how can someone who hit a shuttlecock and swing her racket along with it across the court still mange to get a D grade?

Her breath choking in her throat, her hands shot out instinctively to grip the doorframe. Owing to her marvellously long human reaction time, her grip missed, and to her spiraling despair, her magnificent descent continued.

Before she threw all her face away, a brassbound grip of scalding intensity locked itself on her arms halted her fall. If only it was a second earlier, then maybe she needn’t endure the pain of having her nose bridge knocking against his iron-cast chest.

“Jaye. ” She heard him biting out.

At his words, Doen suddenly realised she had her palms pressed flat against his hard hard chest.

Flushing, her hands dropped, as though scalded, her little heart hammering away like a newborn deer in her rib cage, and she pulled away from their close proximity. Or at least far away enough not be able to smell his fresh aftershave.

Swallowing at her ungraceful display of balance, Doen had her gaze pinned to her shoes, or at least where she believed her shoes were since it was too dark to even see her fingers, and promptly decided she regretted her decision of even picking up any damn client. She shouldn’t have listened to her wonky sister.

“I don’t need a sleeping partner.” His voice was soft, but the icy glaze seeped right through.

Burning hands tightened their grip on her bare arms jolted her from her momentary daze, and he shoved her right back to where she came from—outside his room.

Even though it was dark out, Doen felt his glare drilling into her. It was cold, diametrical to his previous scorching touch against her bare skin.

She should have worn a jacket.

A sharp exhale, one of chilly enough intensity exhibiting his curt discontent, he stalked back into the darkness of his room, and the door fell slap with a forceful slam behind him, so hard Doen flinched when she felt the woosh of the wind against her cheeks. That how close her face was from the door—a goddamn hair’s breath away.

Still slightly taken aback by the fact that she was almost slapped in the face by a door, Doen stood solid.

“Tsk, killjoy.” Jaye, whose presence Doen completely forgot, grumbled. “Doen don’t mind him, he’s on his men-struation. He’s not usually this riled up. Now that I think of it, I’ve never seen him so agitated before, hmmm…” Jaye drawled her ending note, her fingers tapping her chin meaningfully.

“Jaye, so is my… service,” Doen winced at her own terrible choice of word, “still needed… tonight?” Doen mentally face-palmed at how she cheap she sounded. Can she turn back time? She’s absolutely regretting this. Why oh why did she agree to join her sister’s ambiguous company?

Biting her lips, Doen made a mental note to throttle her sister when she gets back tomorrow. Chloe can go and eat her foot.

“Yes! Of course it’s needed, you’re not done yet. C’mere. You brought your pajamas right.” Without waiting for a reply, Jaye pulled her along down the hallway, switching on her phone light along the way. “Watch your feet, the hallway lights are broken so it’s gonna be a little dark for a while.”

“Where are we going?” Doen tripped after Jaye, her head completely messed up by the thousand and one turns and corners and doors Jaye had pulled her past.

“We’re going to get you a pillow. And blankets.”

“Pillows? And blankets?” Doen echoed after her slowly. After being almost slammed right in the face by her client’s door, Doen didn’t know how to feel about the whole idea of being a sleeping partner anymore.

“Yes, here we are. Hold on,” Jaye pushed the door open, emerging shortly after with a huge-ass pillow, a bolster and a heavy duvet trailing on the ground after her.

“Here, take it. Oh wait, soft toy, do you need a soft toy? What’s your style of work? Chloe told me to be nice and stuff, so do you need any uh more apparatus to accompany you to sleep?”

“Apparatus?” Doen parroted after her, unaware of the bolster sliding from her grip.

Jaye bent to push the bolster back into her tiny arms. “Yeah, you know like, scented candles maybe? Or dolls? Music is also okay, I can lend you my portable speaker.”

“Music? Portable speaker?’ Doen repeated after her, befuddled. Wasn’t her job description, at least according to Chloe, to just sleep?

“No? Okay. Great, now come with me.” Jaye spun her around, and they retraced their steps back to the hallway they came from. Of course, to the directionally-challenged Doen, it was as good as telling her they were walking through a maze.

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, my brother’s name is Raye. Think stingray, but with an additional e behind.”

“Raye.” Doen chewed on her lips. He sure has a sunny name. “Where are we going?” Jaye pulled her past another corner. For some reason, Doen found the door they breezed past familiar.

“Of course we’re going back!”

“Back?” Her heart dropped. “Back where?”

“To Raye’s. Aren’t you starting tonight?” Jaye jingled Doen’s wrist she had grasped in her chilly hand.

“To-tonight? I thought we’re just gonna, you know get to know each other first or som—”

“Honey, we don’t have time for that.” Jaye skidded to a stop, and Doen trailing after her bumped into her, the bundle of stuff she was carrying dropped all over the floor in a puddle of softness.

“Just think of him as a stingray if it helps.” Jaye helped her pick up the pillow. “A very grumpy stingray at that.” She pushed the fallen bolster into Doen’s arms.

“All you have to do—” Jaye picked up the thick duvet and coiled it around Doen’s tiny shoulders, wrapping her up in a bundle of sushi that further emphasised her tiny frame. “—is to make that stingray fall asleep. Simple right?”

Without waiting for a response from Doen, Jaye pushed the unlocked door—thank goodness everything, including door locks, in their house ran on electricity and the electricity’s out—before them. A soft push on the cocoon forward had Doen diving straight into the darkness.

Stumbling to stand up straight, she turned to see the silhouette of Jaye flitting her fingers at her, and her heart dropped.

“Sweet dreams Doen.” Jaye blew the girl a kiss, amused at the deer-under-the-headlights stricken face Doen gave and the door slammed close with a click.

It only dawned on Jaye after she returned to her own room that she’d forgotten to bring Doen to get her pajamas in the living room.

“Oh well, as long as she wearing something anything will do.”

DOEN IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: lol, even had a blurb for this, was planning to write it but the idea never did bounce
Vee | A-Z

May 10th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

VEE

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

VEE IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

“I don’t like you.” She said, rifling through the drawers.

“I know, I’m not a nice guy.” The corner of his lips lifted.

“When will they be back?” She looked up, an added level of concern spreading on top of her buttery tone.

“No idea. Not anytime soon.” He said, unfolding his arms.

“Why did the agency partner you up with me?” She sighed. She pushed the drawer back in without care, and turned to pick open the locked cabinet door beneath the table with practiced ease.

“Want one?” He unwrapped a lollipop.

“Do you have coke flavour?” Her voice resounded from below, a little echo-y.

He searched his pockets, his lollipop in his mouth. “I took the last one.”

She popped her head out from underneath the mahogany, along with an outstretched hand. “Sharing is caring.”

“I’m very selfish.” He sniffed, rubbing his fingers together to warm it up. “You’re so slow.”

“Then help me.” A thump—she closed the cabinet door with a little more force than necessary.

“I didn’t bring my gloves.” He wiggled his bare fingers.

“Then at least think. Where would you put your key?” She crawled across the carpeted floor to look under the sofa.

He leaned back on the desk with a thump, raising his legs to prop it up against the window edge. “I would put it…” he paused, thinking hard, while linking his fingers beneath his head to lie comfortably on the paperwork-filled desk, “…in my ceiling.” He finished, looking up at a protruding bump just beside from where the chandelier hung.

She stopped, and peered up.

A beat of silence crept past them before the two of them leapt into action. He rolled off the table, dragging the nearest chair to under where the chandelier hung. She got up and patted her hands of dust, then ran towards his raised knee. With the momentum on her side, she boosted herself up his leg, twisting to sit comfortably around his shoulders, her hand grasping his hair and pulled at it tightly in a pathetic attempt to get some revenge and to balance herself on his broad shoulder.

She looked up. The crystal shards hanging from the chandelier dangled teasingly in her face, but her hands were still far from the ceiling.

“Why are you so short?” She complained.

“It’s your arm that’s short.” He pushed off the chair, from his kneeling position, to stand up.

He heard an orchestra of noisy jangling from above. “Done?” He twirled the small lollipop in his mouth. It was almost finishing.

“No.” She stretched her hands to the max, her fingertips barely brushing the ceiling. “Who the heck designed this house, what’s the use of such high ceilings?” She tsk-ed, annoyed.

“To prevent people like us from stealing their keys.” He replied, very amused with his own answer. He unbuckled her shoes and threw it up at her. “Catch.”

She grabbed it, using it as some sort of a javelin, and launched it at the bump.

Her heel stabbed the plaster like a knife cutting into jelly, and it shattered pathetically, and dropped. “They’ve got a nice and friendly security though. To your left.” She clenched her thighs around his neck, like clamping on the hide of a horse to move it.

His hand shot out just in time to grab the falling flash of silver with his handkerchief. She bent forward to pull his lollipop out of his mouth, only to realize she was left with an empty stick. With a sound of irate, she stabbed it back into his mouth and pushed off his shoulder.

Graceful as a leopard, she leapt off, landing with a bare whisper, then stalked off. He laughed, chewing on his lollipop stick. He dialed for the agency, following her out, not forgetting to pick up her abandoned pink heels.

He tucked their mission item in his pocket, adjusting his suit smartly. With his phone between his shoulder and ear, he pulled his gloves on.

She stopped to glare at his gloves. “You lied.”

“Indeed.” He agreed cheerfully, passing her her heels.

The door slammed behind them as the two slinked off the front porch without sparing a thought about camouflage.

The dialing broke off after several rings with a faint ‘hello’ from the other side of the call.

He spoke into the phone: “We got the key.” Leaving no evidence of their visit save for the shattered plaster and an obviously raided house, the two strolled into the shadows, their silhouettes merging together with the darkness of the night.

VEE IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN
Tale | A-Z

May 2nd, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

TALE

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

TALE IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

‘Ree, I love you,’ He holds her tight, planting a featherlight kiss on her forehead. ‘You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’ His words are a whisper, because he can’t find it in himself to raise his voice without letting her hear the quiver he is trying hard to suppress.

‘Why are you saying this? Tale, what’s going on?’ Ree’s heart quickens, and her feet digs into the ground trying to stop their course.

A looming sense of foreboding crashes into her. ‘Is something wrong? Tale? Answer me!’ She tries to look up, but he presses her head into the crook of his shoulder. Arms wrapped around her tightly, he desperately cling on to the familiar warmth he probably will never have again.

‘I’m sorry Ree,’ he croaks, swallowing tightly.

The slit shimmers in the sunlight right in front of them, its heavenly glow mirroring the relief they should be feeling when returning to reality, where their friends and family awaits. Relief, for Ree.

But not for him.

Time pauses where they are, and with that, wounds heals. If he returns, he will regain to his post-car crash injuries.

Tale doesn’t tell her that. Because if she knows he’s met with a car crash before he slipped through, he knows she will never leave this place.

And he can’t have that, because she has to much too lose staying here. Even if she doesn’t regret, he will not have her sacrifice so much for him.

‘No, wait, Tale, what’s wrong? Did something happen to you?’ Ree struggles in his grip, growing increasingly anxious at his unusualness.

Past his shoulders, she sees the shimmery white crevasse she has accidentally slipped through a month ago. Her heart tightens at the thought of going back for some reason, as though… as though she is going to lose something, something important.

Tale releases his grip, and instead turns to interlock their fingers, pulling her towards the slit, where they can go back—back home.

‘Ree.’ He turns, smiling ever so gently at her, his eyes glassy. She stares at him, why did it feel like he is bidding farewell?

He steps into the shimmery white, Ree slugging after him. And in that flash of white light descending, he has his arms around her again, and his forehead pressed hard against hers.

The last thing she registers is the soft caress of his warm lips against hers, and she tasted salty moisture when he pressed his words against her lips: ‘I’m sorry’ before the world goes dark.

TALE IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: i swear i’m obessed with NOBODY by Blue.D (Feat. MINO of WINNER)
Myra | A-Z

April 30th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

MYRA

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

MYRA IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

“I can’t believe you did it.” She murmured into her phone in disbelief and made a dash across the road just as the green light threatened to stop blinking.

“I’d do anything for daddy, you know that.” Lyla purred into the phone on the other side.

“You sure you can handle it?” She brisk-walked down the pavement, scanning for a cafe, she was in a desperate need of some sort of caffeine boost to clear her muddied state of mind; she’s half convinced her brain’s still asleep.

“Gasp! Myra, are you offering to help?” She could almost imagine the sly smirk crawling up her sister’s face at the other side in her blurry mind.

“You know I don’t dabble in his business.” Myra said.

“It’s my business now too; Myra I’m insulted.”

She pressed her shoulder up to hold her phone while she rummaged though her bag for the papers and replied: “You’ve got Jonathan.”

“Yes, thank god for Johnny, but still Myra, I need my sister by my side as well…”

“He’s good enough to be the quadruple of me.” She said, rubbing her eyelids. Goodness, why did she feel like she’s having a hangover?

“Yes, he’s great, but God knows what he’s into, he doesn’t want to help me!” Neither did she. She opened her bag wider, where were the papers?

“I already have a job, sis.” Not exactly true, but it will be, on very very technical terms.

“Are you seriously giving up this potential spot I’m going to offer you for some crappy job in some shady country?” Her sister’s voice raised a little.

“My job’s perfectly fine.” She protested, her mind refusing to cooperate to spit out some possible jobs she could lie about. Her bag refused to spit out her résumé either, she swore she brought it along.

“Yes yes, sure it is Myra. But come on, help me out here, daddy and everybody else are brilliant and supplying the brawn side, but I need your amazing brains.” Lyla appealed to her childishly. It was amazing to think a woman like that can hold up a whatever-million company.

“You have the entire company workers at your pick.” She said.

“Myra! This is a family business, there’s no way I’m going to hire some outsider to do it. Besides, your office is already set up and painted in your favorite ice mint colour.” Myra had to applaud her sister for an attempted bribery, but she wasn’t very good at it.

“I have to study.”

“Studying can wait, this can’t wait. C’mon Myra, for your favourite da jie?” Lyla threw in some Mandarin to soften her up, she knew Myra always held a special spot for her mother tongue.

“Exam’s in half a year’s time.” And she couldn’t find her papers.

Her sister exhaled a loud breath in the phone, a sigh which Myra perked up at. She was very well acquainted with this sigh, and it just so happened to be the favourite word of hers to exit Lyla’s blabbing mouth—it was the sigh that told her her sister was relenting; Lyla’s too soft sometimes. “Fine. But this won’t be the end of it, you’ll hear from me very soon!” She could hear Lyla huffing. Lyla being Lyla, would very much so torture her with her persistent calls.

“Of course, sis.” Ah-ha! She found it. She clamped her papers between her lips then proceeded to reach up to untangle her hair, and hopefully smoothen it into a nice ponytail or something.

“Come home for Christmas ‘kay?” Her sister asked in her nice voice, it didn’t sound like a request though. Myra tugged her hair back painfully, her mind racing with worry. At the rate the plane ticket prices were skyrocketing, she doubt she could even afford a one-way trip to the country next door.

“Mmmm, bhmm-ii.” She hummed a vague reply and a muffled goodbye, and quickly hung up before her sister’s torrent of insists rained down on her. She learnt this trick the hard way after enduring lectures that costed her phone bill, too, to skyrocket. She sighed. Lots of things were skyrocketing nowadays, especially for her. She’s almost surprised she still planted to the ground and not skyrocketing into galaxy along with her endless bills.

She quickened her steps, managing to hold her hair up with a stray pencil she found somewhere in her bag. She rubbed her nose, a telltale sign of her erupting nervousness for the forthcoming interview, which she was starting doubt she’ll be able to make it in time.

Her kitten heels broke yesterday and she spilled milk on her new black blazer this morning. She could only hope her possible future employer would forgive her poor clothing replacement– her bright green high-top converse and a white polka-dotted cardigan she’d discovered at the bottom of her wardrobe.

At the rate she was going, she’ll crash and burn before her plane of independence even lifted off the runway of her miserable life. She’ll never get a job, face the possibility of getting kicked out of the apartment, stand by and watch the interest pile up on her student loan, not be able to even afford flying business class home, face the wrath of her sisters, and her father, and ultimately, her family forcing her to drop her studies and, again, her sisters, and father, blackmailing her into that blasted family business of theirs.

Oh goodness, she needed a job. She needed this job, badly.

She felt a headache threatening to pound her mind just thinking about the many zeros on the bills she’ll be facing when she check her letterbox. Gahh.

Myra marched down the pavement, wiggling her way through the crowd. She unfolded her papers she had been holding, and stared at it. Was it enough? It didn’t look too bad, but then again, she’d spent less than an hour on it. Okay, maybe she should have gotten a folder or something for her poor excuse of a résumé, which had been somehow got crumpled and wrinkled in her bag and came out like crinkled seaweed. But it’s the quality, not the quantity, right? Or in this case, the quality of her achievements not the quality of the paper.

She ran through her speech she’d mentally prepared and a list of possible interview question they may throw her and nodded to herself. Yes, she would get the job, she would get her salary, she would pay her electricity bills, she would spit out the money for her student loan, she would be able to afford dry cleaning, she would restock her fridge. Yes, yes she would. Now all she had to do was to get a job. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?

She round the corner and turned into the street, 5th Avenue. She wrinkled her nose at the irony. Well, one way or another, she’s got to get this job. Imagine her mother’s gaping horror and her father’s disdain, not to mention Lyla’s smugness, Kyla’s I-knew-this-was-going-to-happen look, Ryla’s pitiful pat on the back and Cyra’s cutting apathy when they hear of her struggling to survive on her own.

Her tearing up her drafted future and hopping on the first flight out of the country in her early years was already categorised as an outrageous rebellion of some sort (she’s pretty proud she’s the first to do so amongst her sisters), she wouldn’t want to be dragged back home by the ear and be pinned to responsibilities she never intended fulfill all over again.

It’s be utterly humiliating, and her freedom will once again be stripped away from her. No. She didn’t want that sort of life then, and she didn’t intend to have that sort of life again.

MYRA IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN
Rebekka | A-Z

April 29th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

REBEKKA

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

REBEKKA IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

He slowly lifted the thin white veil that separated the two of them.

Her hands fisted at her sides, dangerously picking at the sparkling sequins of her white dress.

Her eyes burned—with indignant tears that were brimming with anger. The menacing air around her coupled with a sizzling glare that could roast a person alive eluded from the girl.

Yet, the pair of pale hands did not pause, nor did it stutter.

She fumed silently, for that was all she could do. She was fuming at her father for marrying her off without a second thought, fuming at herself for her inability to do anything about it, and fuming at the man standing before her.

The pair of hands pushed her veil back gently.

She clenched her teeth, her glare firmly planted on his bowtie, refusing to even look at him.

A hand leisurely stretched forward to tilt her chin up. The other cupped her cheeks.

His cool fingers made her shiver. Shiver not in pleasure, nor in excitement, but in frightening realisation of the bleak future of her marriage awaiting her.

Her eyebrows pinched together. Exactly what did she do wrong to earn herself such a torturous life sentence?

Her lips clamped tightly together, her mind set on tilting away when he leaned in for the kiss. Her eyes now fixed on the pair of foreign lips pinker than hers leaning in, she could not help but lean backwards to maintain their fixed proximity.

Suddenly, the pair of lips she had been staring at lifted into the slightest of grins she’d almost missed if not for his whisper.

“Relax.”

He leaned in, his head tilting sideways, and to her utmost surprise, lightly pecked the end of her lips, almost on her cheeks rather than lips. The light caress slid away before she had time to react. The hand on her cheeks shielding his illusory kiss from the audience’s eyes, too, fell away.

Rebekka stared at his suit of white in a slight daze, unsure whether to feel insulted or relieved. Only till now, she realised she had not once looked up to see his face.

Her gaze slid up the crisp white suit, tracing his side profile hesitantly. His lips were rosier than hers—that alone made her boil enviously. Her gaze cautiously skimmed up, slowing down as she took in the gentle arch of his nose, the slanted almond-shaped eyes.

He turned to look at her, his gaze a sea of calm; his irises were a startling shade of emerald green.

Despite maintaining a calm exterior composure, she found herself almost jolting at his direct gaze in return to her obvious scrutiny.

For one reason or another, his relaxed expression looked as though he knew something she didn’t know. It made her uncomfortable.

He held out a hand. She placed hers in his, feeling the coolness of his touch.

His fingers curled to very lightly to grasp hers.

She stared at his, again, butterfly-like caress. It gave her the feeling he was restraining himself from touching her. She couldn’t tell whether it was something good or bad.

He led her to the dance floor, bowing with practiced ease. “Shall we?”

She curtseyed. It wasn’t as though she had a choice to refuse.

He pulled her towards him, closing the gap between them till it looked as though there was a barely any gap between them.

A soft sigh of relief escaped as she took in their close-but-not-that-close proximity. Rebekka caught her instinctive reflex a step too late, and wondered if she had accidentally snubbed him.

His lack of reaction told her otherwise, however.

Rebekka nodded to herself, and sighed again, then once again catching hold of herself too late.

REBEKKA IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN
Xavier | A-Z

April 25th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

XAVIER

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

XAVIER IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

She was running, breathless, her beating slamming a crazy staccato in her chest. Her head whipped back for a second, and the endless sea of dark fur of the evtrée chasing in her wake had another scream bubbling in her dry throat.

She had accidentally turned a wrong corner, and, not only lost her group mates, but also, very tragically, ran into an entire nest of evtrée. She remember freezing, paralyzed with fear.

It was the first time she froze, from fear, from terror, from dread.

She shuddered just recalling the thousand pairs of piercingly glowing eyes lighting up the dark cave. A hair-raising yowl, and before she knew it, she saw beams flying at her.

She’d dropped her baggage, and just ran.

She’d learnt about evtrées back in the academy. Predators, these carnivore beasts are at the top of the food chain. They had been countlessly warned to not provoke any. Or even come into the sight of any.

Oh goddess, she’d been running, for a record-breakingly long while, even longer than the torturous runs she endured during the hellish training back at the academy.

Ave stumbled, her numb legs threatened to give out under her. A whimper threatened to escape her throat, but hand shot up to cover her mouth. She swallowed it back.

Ave had never whimpered before. Not when she fell of the cliff, not when she sunk into the parasytic waters, not when she was on missions. Perhaps she knew they were only academy-based missions, that’s why the element of fear was absent.

This time was the first time her party ventured into the caves. And perhaps it would be her last time. Her eyes swum with tears, the vision before her eyes blurring.

*

He glided along the darkened hallways, a ball of light dancing in his open palms. Xavier turned the corner, his ear perking at the thunderous footsteps miles away. He fisted his open palm, extinguishing the pulsing bob of light smoothly. He stepped off his glider, and the material misted before disintegrating into nothing.

He bent down, his fingers grazing the uneven ground. He could feel the trembles, from so far away.

He walked towards the tremors, a crestfallen tilt of his lips hung solemnly on his face.

A fleeting tinge of bloodlust sparked in his eyes as he flexed his fingers. His footsteps remained steady, cold. He walked, unruffled, towards the source of the earthquake-like tremors, his eyes darkening in fervor.

He turned in the next corner, the tremors dying down as he effortlessly whizzed past the maze-like cave, emerging at a junction ahead of the route of the impending tremors.

His blade flickered out; he gripped it, his fingers itching to feel the slice of the cool metal through flesh, itching to smell the metallic twang of blood in the air.

He paused before the corner, his back against the cave, waiting, patiently, a leopard eyeing its prey.

The pattering of footsteps lighter than he expected sounded, and just as his gaze swept up, she greeted him with a solid slam, a marvelous shriek erupting.

He scowled at the interruption, his arm flicking backwards, his sword dissipating as though it never existed.

Her frozen body registered a foreign body, but her mind sagged in relief. Someone. There was someone here. “The… the evtrée, they’re… they’re…” Her trembling voice dragged out.

An arm wound around her dainty waist, pressing the trembling girl against the side of the cave wall, his body warm against hers.

“Shh.” His voice sounded beside her ears, pushing her against the cave wall, the two melting into the shadows.

Her shoulders slumped, in tiredness, and her alertness drooped as well, and she leaned into her savior, eyes squeezed shut, her hands clutching the material of his coat tightly.

She inhaled to calm her pulsating fear, her word trembling like a leaf. She could barely work up any voice to talk.

“Help me.”

Outside the arch of the tiny notch she’d inserted her into, thunderous galloping shook the ground.

In the pale glow of the cave, she caught a glimpse of silver. A mask, dulled with scratches, shielded the upper half of his features, leaving only his eyes and mouth visible. She stared into where she’d assumed his eyes were, hers eyes searchingly dilating in terror.

In the darkness, his eyes clearly made out her dainty features, her bright green eyes brimming with tears, her button nose, and her pale lips dyed red with blood.

He released her, turning to leave.

“Don’t, it’s dangerous!” She pulled his coat, stopping him just in time as a zip of light shot past where he would have been if she had not stopped him.

He turned, his quiet gaze on her quivering hands gripping his coat.

His warm hands covered hers, releasing her grip on his coat. He turned around again.

Her cold hands, desperate, clipped on to his warm ones instead, pulling him in place. “Don’t leave me.”

Terror griped her heart at the thought of being alone in this dark cave. Ave exhaled, shakingly. She never knew she was such a coward.

“Then run.” He pulled her in tow, seamlessly ducking past the streams of shooting beams.

Ave stumbled after him, choking on a scream at his recklessness, somehow, also, managing to evade the beams that would have normally hit her. Her numb legs cried out to her, she bit her lips, wanting to slow down, to rest, but she couldn’t just stop. “Where are we going?”

She watched, choking on a gasp as he sidestepped another shot, the light zipping past just a hair’s breathe away from his face. Her eyes widened, half in amazement, and another half in an almost heart attack.

“Exit.” He hurried along and zipped skillfully along the thick cave wall, pausing against a wall of cement.

“You know the way?”

“We’re cutting through.” He said calmly.

Her heartbeat shot up again, her grip on his hand tightened. “Are you crazy?” A short exhale of absurd laughter erupted from her already breathless voice. “Unless you’re Xavier Vontere, you’ll die. We’ll die.” She dumped out the name of the charts-topping adventurer as a poor comparison. Not that he would ever appear in these middle-low regions.

His corner of his lips lifted just the tiniest bit. That’s him.

Her voice lowered to a mere whisper. “I don’t want to die.”

His dropped her wrist he had dragged her by, stretching both arms out to flick out two glinting blades. The cold metal clipped her heartbeat as dread settled in the pits of her stomach.

“We won’t.”

And in that moment, she almost believed him.

XAVIER IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: this was actually inspired by this webtoon i’d read really long ago, i suddenly can’t quite remember the name, i cant even remember the name of the MC *covers face*, but it’s a korean webtoon about a boy who had to climb a tower, apparently reaching the top could grant you one wish or something like that and he’d face lots of obstacles during his climb up, he also became super OP as the novel progresses; it was a (soz for the caps but) FKING GOOD read, not too sure if it’s completed or still ongoing, it was super popular i remember. Oh i think this was probably around the same time when the Noblesse webtoon was trending hahaha (oh and i heard Noblesse’s getting some sort adaptation?!?!), Noblesse was absolutely awesome too T^T the authors and/or illustrators are so goddamn talented ahhh!!!
Leon | A-Z

April 20th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

LEON

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

LEON IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

He wilted on the sidewalk, gnawing his knuckles in frustration.

She was nowhere to be found.

Shit.

His hand ran through the mess of bedridden hair atop his head; what was he supposed to do now?

She’s definitely gone. Kit’s the impatient type; she won’t wait even without a flight to catch.

That girl, she’d just sprouted this on him this morning (with a text), and proceeded to break up with him (with a text). She told him she’s going to the big apple. He knew well how random she can be, but not to an extent of suddenly flying off to New York, without even a word to him.

What the heck?

He couldn’t reach her number; the apartment she rented was vacated. It was like she disappeared off the face of earth. He didn’t even get a chance to ask for her boarding time. He tried all her friends; they were useless.

Gabe had shot him a text earlier, saying he saw Kit around here, and it didn’t look like she was leaving anytime soon. Of course, being the idiot he was, he jumped off the bus to the airport and sprinted like mad here. And ended up, unfortunately, Kit-less.

Hitching his guitar bag up, he inserted a hand into his pocket and slumped his way through the crowd. At this time, the square was packed with people—so much he was displaced from the sidewalk to the opposite pavement without walking.

He meandered aimlessly around with unfocused eyes; the fact that his girlfriend had just broken up with him still hasn’t properly registered.

For some reason or another, he caught his gaze wandering the crowd, searching for a tiny frame with a mob of purple streaked hair. Her familiar petite silhouette was the one thing his eyes won’t not recognize.

The familiar scene of the square blurred before his eyes. The glint of the afternoon sun reflected back on the window displays blinked like a kaleidoscope of colour back at him.

For a fleeting moment, he thought he saw a flash of purple winking at him.

He paused.

Purple.

His eyes closed.

Purple.

Pulse raced.

Purple hair.

Hands fisted.

He bit his lips hard enough to taste blood. “Fvck.”

He didn’t even feel the chafing friction of his sneakers against the rough pavement as he swerved a hundred-eighty turn back.

He ran.

Her hair.

His guitar thumped against his back.

It was purple.

He definitely saw purple hair reflected on the display window.

He elbowed his way across the gushing river of people.

Where was she?

He faced the huge monument scraping the clouds. He turned towards the dainty shops sitting along the alley. He tore towards the sidewalk. The café? The mall? The square? Alcove Street? Where?

“Damnit.” He bit out, scrubbing his hair roughly. “I saw her. I definitely saw. Kit. Where are you?” He clenched his teeth.

Desperation clawed at him.

He rolled his gaze skyward.

A ribbon of purple flashed at the edge of his sight. Purple.

“Kit.”

He saw her.

That familiar purple streaks fading into pale lavender.

He ran.

Her tiny shoulders brushed past the crowd.

He ran.

Don’t go. Kit.

He reached out for her hands, his fingers desperately seeking her warmth, to trace the familiar curve of her pink nails.

An unfamiliar brand of giddiness enveloped him, it felt like the time he downed a glass of brandy behind his parent’s back; it had a drunkenness feeling to it.

He reached for her hand dangling invitingly at her side.

A step forward, and his hands clasped hers.

Warmth invaded him. Adrenaline rushed in.

He gripped her fingers and drew it towards him, spinning the girl sideways, and into him.

Her streaks flew, staining his vision a screen of purple.

His hand cupped her chin, tilting her chin up. Before she can vocalize her surprise, his lips closed over hers.

A shiver of delight rippled through his skin.

“Don’t go.” He whispered against her lips, lightheadedly.

She didn’t move as the pair of lips descended against hers. Still frozen, her mind whirled, not quite processing what was happening.

Her heat skittered in her chest wildly, tingles shooting up her spine.

There’s a boy, and he’s got his lips against her in the middle of the street.

Her eyes widened at the dawn of realization, yet she couldn’t find it in her to push him away and slap the crap out of him.

She stared at the face so close to hers. Dark bangs shielded his face; she couldn’t see much of him save for his thick eyelashes glistening like stardust. His pale porcelain skin brushed against her face as he leaned into her.

Warm, his lips were warm. Hot, scorching.

And it tasted of strawberry.

His hand slid across her neck along her jawline.

Oh god. She shivered at his touch. What’s with this physical chemistry?

She leaned into the hand cradling her neck. She was kissing a stranger, which was wrong on so many levels.

But somehow, she’s not getting chills of disgust. She’s not edging away from his touch.

His hand wounded around her waist, pulling her against him. She gasped against his mouth at the sudden lack of distance between them.

No no. Where did her unceasing wariness disappear to?

As if on instinct, her hands gripped his hoodie, tugging him closer.

The alarm bells in her head were going berserk. What the hell was she doing?

Her pulse raced, so loudly she could hear it roaring in her ears.

Who was he? Why was he… Ah. Her mind quivered. His scorching lips against hers crippled her ability to think straight.

Shit.

She leaned into his warmth.

He broke away, leaning his forehead against hers gently, staring down at his shoes.

She caught a glimpse of his pale eyes peering out from underneath his coffee-brown hair; he’d had her hands clasped tightly in his, his fingers brushing hers.

“Don’t go. Please don’t go, Kit.” He whispered, his husky voice tingling her skin.

Something in her snapped at the unfamiliar name that’d spilled out of the lips she’d just kissed.

Her eyes narrowed. Her hands slipped out of his, and backed away from their close proximity.

He matched her steps. “Wait, Ki—”

“Who are you?”

He froze. And then it shattered, the bubble.

The cacophony of noise in the background surged back up, crashing into him in a tsunami. A sense of dread coiled in his guts.

He raised his gaze, trailing it slowly up the ripped shorts and oversized sweatshirt, and to the pair of large owlish eyes glowering back at him.

The unfamiliar face of the girl he’d just kissed stared back at him

“Fvck me.”

LEON IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: lol
Kalista | A-Z

April 14th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

KALISTA

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.20

KALISTA IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

Run.

She gasped, in pain, against the callous grip of the cold. The frosty gale was biting, burning her skin; she forced her way through the amassing slush, desperately trying to hasten her escape.

Faster.

She willed her legs to speed up, waving aside the splitting agony. She tightened the makeshift cloth wrapped around her waist, swearing as blood stained through. The pain slowed her down considerably.

Don’t you dare stop.

She stumbled, the thickened snow in the forest made it tougher to move. She battled against the lashing gale, climbing, or trying to climb, unswervingly onwards, away from the silhouette of the town she used to call home. The pelting snow was hail against her. Her previously snug cloak whipped out behind her in an icy flare, its suffocating choke mercilessly gripped at her throat. She was swimming against a raging tide in this mess of a snowstorm.

Her thighs ached. Her arms hurt. Her waist throbbed. The numbing cold of the dead winter seeping into her bones worsened her shivering.

Where was she? She didn’t know.

Don’t die. Not yet.

She couldn’t comprehend how the inferno could rage on under the pouring thunderstorm in the town she left behind. Bel had said it was the works of dark magic. She didn’t believe him. He’d told her to run. She didn’t want to.

Don’t you dare die here, you idiot.

This mess was her fault. Her foolish recklessness ended her up in this situation. There wasn’t anyone to blame but her stubborn self.

Just run.

Run till the town was a puddle of shadows. Run till the town was a speck of blaze in the distance. Run till she see no more but a patch of snowstorm in her wake.

She vision blurred. Was she crying? She wiped away the wetness, and blamed the rain, the snow.

She clutched at her cloak, leeching off whatever warmth her tattered garments provided. She swallowed, her throat singed. She was tired, exhausted. She couldn’t feel her legs.

A flash of white seized her vision, her side seared in red-hot agony. The echoing cry of anguish— hers— owed to the reopened wound at her side. Her nose tinged frozen red, the puff of her breath, a hazy swirl of a mist, grew shallower. She didn’t feel like continuing. She had no idea where she was headed. He only told her to run. So she ran.

She stumbled, her foot tripping over an invisible force. Her hands splayed out in an effort to regain her balance. She panted, her knees trembled.

Too numb.

Too cold.

It hurt.

Everything.

You can’t. Not yet.

Can’t give up, she knows. She knew all along. She could hear her pulse roaring, so loudly, she needed to run.

Fear churned in her gut in a hurricane of dread. Run where? Run, how? She felt like dying. Maybe she was already dead. A dreadful dream was all this was. She must have fallen asleep in her bathtub of icy water. That’s why it was so cold.

Wake up.

The gale whipped her cloak between her legs. She tripped on the heavy drapes in a futile attempt to get up, sinking face down into the sludge once again. The snow, the cold, she felt it, on her back. It seeped through her pathetic cloak. The never-ending sleet rained down on her. It bit into her skin, eating away her warmth. Her energy seeped away; she wanted to lay unmoving in the snow.

She was wrong. This was not a dream; she was not drowning in a bathtub—this was a living nightmare; she was drowning in this tornado of a snowstorm.

Don’t die.

Can’t, not yet.

Get up.

She crawled to her feet, her body swaying oddly.

Walk.

How? She couldn’t feel them, her legs.

Her skin tingled. She blinked, her consciousness quivering.

Zzz.

A sizzle in the distance, she heard. The cold had dulled her sensitivity to circuits, but she heard it. She sensed it, actually. It woke her. Circuits. Magic circuits.

They’re here.

Fear rose anew, her skin trembled at the thought of them catching up to her.

No. No no no no.

Run.

Run.

They cannot. She cannot let them. Catch her, that was.

Run.

Panic jolted her sense; she picked up her pace, her head in a daze of pain and numbness.

Forest. Up ahead.

Almost there.

She just needed to get in there; the cover of trees could shield her.

She trudged, hastily, desperately. Stopping suddenly, she turned to survey the murky background behind.

She gasped at the trail of disturbed snow she left in her wake. Her footsteps! She waved her hand, her own circuit crackling pathetically. She had to wipe away traces of her journey. The snow rolled back and filled its holes, flattening itself.

“It worked,” she rasped, her voice giving out on her.

ZZZ.

A sizzle. Closer. Louder.

Multiple circuits.

Hurry.

Hurry.

She hurried, stumbling clumsily forward. Her hands clawed the air, slicing the wind as though it’d made her move faster.

She moved towards dense vegetation engulfed in white. Her sight danced.

A little bit more.

Almost.

She pushed her legs forward; she could hear her frenzied heartbeat thumping. She could hear the crackling, like lightning.

Her hand stretched out, yearning for the touch of rough wood against her fingers, the rustle of leaves in the wind. A sharp zap of burning agony paralyzed her in place.

Her eyelids sunk against her will, with forest just before her sight.

No.

So close.

Her knees buckled, and collapsed beneath her. The girl slumped onto the ground with a lifeless thump, her outstretched hands digging into the snow.

She mouth opened, forming incoherent words as her voice failed her. Darkness doused her sight, closing with a last glimpse of a drowsy silhouette against the bleached background of the snowstorm.

Hands reached out to gather the unmoving girl in his arms. He lifted her off the ground; his lithe movements sharp even against the cold.

He stared at the pale, drained face, and at the tangled hair that had once glistened like blazing embers.

“Found you.”

KALISTA IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: one of the longer ones
Jesse | A-Z

April 8th, 2020

[ A TO Z ]

JESSE

last edited on ZLT: 29.02.19

JESSE IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

“I can’t do it.”

I backed away from the edge, bumping into Jesse. His warm breath caressed my neck as he leaned in and brushed a curl off my face. “You said it ‘wasn’t a biggie’.”

I inhaled sharply.

“What happened to that?” His smothering voice sent my pulse scrambling. I blinked at his words, trying to shake off his persuasion.

“That was before!” I protested weakly, trying to sway myself more than him.

“Too much of a scaredy-cat after all?” I could almost hear the grin in his tone.

I stiffened.

“Well?”

I glanced back in time to catch another dark grin; this one seemed to dare me to do it.

“Last chance, Rae.” He whispered into my ear, sending shudders rippling through my body.

There was a count of silence; I could almost hear my blood roaring in my ears.

“I’m scared.” I admitted pathetically, clinging on to his shirt behind.

“I’ll catch you, I promise,” he murmured into my hair. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I do,” I swallowed. “It’s me I don’t trust.”

“We’re not even that high up, Rae.”

I shook my head stubbornly; I was not taking another step forward.

“Fine.” He let go of a sigh. “You like amusement parks?”

“I—what?” I blinked at the sudden change of subject.

“Roller coasters?”

“I… guess so?”

“Well then,” he grinned, “enjoy the ride.” With that, he shoved me off the edge.

A scream tore its way out of my throat as my foot slipped off the roof.

I plummeted down the hundred feet drop; air whistled past my ear, my stomach clenched in fright. Tears blurred the background into a mess of grey, a stark contrast against the seemingly illuminated dawn backdrop as I plunged downwards.

I really don’t want to die young.

A swish of air swept past me. Jesse dived after me, his regal wings unfurling in a majestic gleam of white. With a single swoop, he caught me by the elbow and swept me into his arms, his wings stretching out in an arc.

Breathless, I clung on to his shirt again, only tighter this time, my breath hitching as tears threatened to spill out.

“I got you.” His charcoal eyes sparkled mischievously. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“I almost died of a heart attack!” I cried, still trying to get through the shock of being pushed off a building. “I’m never trying that again!” My voice wobbled as I tried to blink my tears away.

“Don’t cry, Rae. Shit I’m sorry.” He pressed his lips against my cheek, kissing the tear away.

“I’m not crying.” I sniffed as he quirked an eyebrow. “I’m not!” I buried my in the crook of his neck, praying fervently he didn’t notice the blush creeping up my neck. I pressed myself closer to him, suddenly appreciating the warmth emitted from his heavenly glow.

“Okay,” he grinned down at me playfully. “But it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

JESSE IS HOSTED AT ZHANLANN

A/N: one of my fav ❤