literature

A Matter of Destiny

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MoonlightWillow6's avatar
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Literature Text

Chapter Two

I came to the end of the page in shock. Standing there, I tried to process what I had just read. But only one thought stayed in my mind.

Jamie was truly dead. This wasn't just a dream. Jamie was dead. She was dead and never coming back.

However, before I could collect my thoughts, I heard a voice behind me.

"Ah. Miss Thompson, I didn't expect you here so soon."

I whipped around. It was Miss Destiny.

She stood in the doorway, her face angled down somewhat, so her long brown hair obscured most of it.

I recalled what I had read. Slight figure. Long brown hair. The story about yesterday morning. The prolouge, about Destiny.

Slowly, the pieces began to shift into place. Dread pooled in my gut.

"It's too bad you had to find out the truth this way," she said, tossing her hair back, revealing her eyes.

They were gold.

Everything clicked into place.

"You… " I whispered, taking a small step forward.

Her eyes, her beautiful golden eyes, narrowed slightly, then she broke out into a cruel grin.

I snapped.

"IT WAS YOU!" I shrieked, sprinting forward, my hands outstretched.

The force of my attack sent both of us to the floor. My hands curled around her neck and started to squeeze.

There was only one thought in my mind.

"THIS WAS YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED JAMIE!" I screeched, not caring who heard.

Destiny gave a breathless laugh. "Yup," she said in a croaky voice.

I screamed again, drew my fist back, and punched her in the face.

"YOU BITCH!" I shouted, drawing my hand back for a second blow.

"You might not want to do that."

I found my fist being grabbed by someone behind me. Then I found myself being pulled off of Destiny.

"Definitely a bad idea," said another, deeper voice.

"Let me go!" I hissed, not even looking at my captors, my eyes still glued to Destiny, smoldering with hatred.

"Sorry, no can do Mia."

"I SAID LET ME GO!" I screamed, wrestling free.

"For god's sake woman…" one of them muttered.

Suddenly, I found myself on the ground, trapped under the weight of someone.

I struggled in vain to break free.

"You done yet?"

My head snapped up. It was Alyssa, Destiny standing a few feet behind her.

I squirmed for a few more seconds, but to no avail.

Jut like that, all my adrenaline and anger faded. I slumped on the ground. Then, after a few moments, I looked back up at Alyssa and Destiny.

"Why…" I whispered, tears rolling down my cheeks.

This time, it was Destiny who spoke. "Sorry, but I'm afraid that's confidential information," she said in that cold, cruel, drawl of hers.

"That's not an answer!" I shouted, my voice broken by sobs. "Why… Why would you…" I trailed off into more sobs.

"Didn't I just say? That's confidential. Though I can tell you this."

I forced myself to stop crying so I could listen.

She leaned down close to my face. "Your friend's fate was predetermined, just like everybody else," she whispered. Then she paused and added on, "Well, everyone but you."

I took a sharp breath.

Miss Destiny continued on regardless. "You want to know why I killed her? It's because of you. It's because you're special. It's because your fate isn't set in stone."

And with that, she placed a cloth drenched in chloroform over my nose.

I felt myself grow drowsy and my body grow limp.

"Take her to her house," I could barely hear Destiny say.

"Yes Ma'm," Alyssa replied. I felt myself being lifted, and then I felt nothing at all.

~

I woke up warm.

That was odd, I hadn't been warm since Jamie. It was weird to think about, it had only been a day. But somehow, it felt like she had been missing forever.

With a sigh, I sat up.

Then I noticed I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday.

Suddenly, everything that had happened came crashing down on me.

I froze for a moment and then slumped back onto my bed.

Tears began to well up in my eyes. Tears of regret, tears of anger, tears of sadness. They all pooled in my eyes and before I knew it, I was sobbing. The blankets were clenched in my fists; the pillows damp with tears. I cried and cried and cried, not being able to take the fact that Jamie was gone.

After a while, the tears ran out and I slowly rose out of bed again.

I knew who to blame for all of this. The person who had pulled the trigger; ended Jamie's life.

After dragging myself off of the bed, I stumbled towards the door, not bothering with appearances.

It didn't matter what you looked like when you killed someone.

~


I stood at the base of the Fatum Publishing building, my hand hovering above the handle of the glass doors.

Why was this so hard?

I had staggered over here without any doubt in my mind.

And yet here I was, standing outside the building, too scared to even open the door.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, and I looked up at the building. From where I was standing, I could see Ms. Destiny's office. She was so close. It would be so easy, to just march up there and kill her.

With what?

That was something I hadn't thought about. A gun? A knife? Maybe my bare hands?

"Oh my god, what is wrong with me?"  I whispered out loud, as I was struck by how twisted my thoughts were.

I took a shaky step away from the door. This was insane. When did I become the kind of person who would plan murder?

"Oh my god." I repeated as I took another step. My hands started to tremble.

Forget about not thinking the weapon through, I hadn't thought anything else through either.

"What am I doing here?" I asked myself, horrified. What on Earth had possessed me to even think about killing someone?

"What's wrong?"

I yelped and whirled around, finding myself staring at an apron with coffee stains on it.

"Whoa, calm down. Are you okay?"

That voice sounded familiar. I looked up, it was the waiter from yesterday.

I stumbled backwards. "Oh! I….I'm so sorry. Y…you startled m…me," I said with a nervous giggle, trying to mask the horror in my mind.

"No problem. But seriously, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh y…yeah, I'm… I'm fine…" I said, unconvincingly.

The skeptic look on his face bored into me. I needed to divert his attention fast.

"Hey… um… thanks… you know… for yesterday… and um… not kidnapping me… or something… um… yeah…"

"Not a problem. So, what brings you here?"

I looked up at Miss Destiny's office, my earlier problems coming back to me. "Just… um… thinking," I lied. Not planning on killing someone or anything.

Actually, thinking sounded like a really good idea right now, before I went completely insane.

The waiter raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. Turning to face him, I said, "Um, would… would it be alright if I, you know, came over to the Coffee Corner?"

He blinked several times, surprised, and then replied, "Sure. I was just on my way there."

I nodded and we walked over to the shop in silence. Once we got there, he went about cleaning up the shop for opening, as I sat down in an empty corner, staring off into space.

I took a deep breath, suppressing all emotion, and tried to look at things from a logical standpoint.

So far, I knew two things.

Firstly, Miss Destiny was a literal personification of destiny. She, or whoever had written that book, knew several things that she had no way of knowing. While it was true that there were many, equally implausible ways of explaining why, the fact that she was literally destiny was the only one I had been given so far. Maybe she wasn't, but that didn't change the fact that she was the one who had killed my best friend.

That was point two. Destiny killed her. Destiny murdered Jamie.

Report her to the police. That was the obvious conclusion, one I had been too distraught to make earlier.

But of course, there was point one to take into account. If Miss Destiny was in control of destiny, then reporting her to the police would solve nothing. And even if she wasn't, I wasn't helping anyone by rushing in without thinking. I needed to wait, think, and plan. I couldn't act until I had more information about what I was dealing with.

The book. That was how I would acquire that information, if I ever managed to figure out how it worked.

And after I figured out exactly who Destiny was, I could plan what to do next.

"Excuse me," I heard a voice say, jerking me out of my thoughts. It was the waiter. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Oh! N…no, I… I'm fine," I said, a bit too quickly.

"You seem awfully fond of using that line," he commented dryly, taking a seat beside me.

I sighed. I needed to tell him something, or he'd never get off my case. "Alright," I conceded, "I was fired yesterday." That was true enough. Though it was more like I had quit. Either way, I wasn't going back to Fatum Publishing.

"Oh…" he said, though I could see in his eyes, he knew my story didn't match how I was acting yesterday. He didn't push the subject though.

An awkward silence set over us, something that was becoming a common occurrence.

Then, after a few moments, the waiter spoke up.  "I'd hate to impose, but if you don't have a job, would you like to work here?"

I nodded, not really listening. Then what he had just said hit me.

"Wh…wait what? You… you're serious!"

"Yes, we need help in the mornings. You'll have to have an interview of course, but I personally don't think you'll have much trouble. We've hit hard times lately and not many people are applying."

"Um… well… this is a bit sudden and all that. And um… there's a lot of stuff going on right now… so um… could I think about?"

"Yes, of course. That wouldn't be a problem at all. Could you give me your answer within the next week?"

Within the next week, I'd either be a witness to murder, or a murderer myself.

I gathered my things and stood up to leave. "Um… yeah sure. I'll give you my answer next week."

If he noticed my rushed exit, he didn't comment on it. Within moments, I was back outside, with only the faintest traces of a plan.

First things first, I decided, I needed to look at Destiny's book. That was where I'd start.
Okay, Chapter Two is finally done. This one is quite a bit shorter than the first, but in my opinion, twice as hard to write. Gosh, I hate writing guys/ romance.

So what did you think?
Was Mia's characterization consistent between chapters one and two?
Do you think I portrayed her grief naturally. Was it too much? Too little?
Did the story seem abrupt anywhere?
What about Will? Was he alright? Did he seem cliche? Boring?
Did the dialogue between Mia and Will seem natural? Or was it forced?
What about Destiny? Do you feel curious to learn more about here?
Was the story too confusing? Anything I should elaborate on?
Also, should this be mature tagged for the language?

Please tell me your thoughts!
© 2012 - 2024 MoonlightWillow6
Comments6
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BluRasberryRaindrop's avatar
Great job! I have to say, I feel that you could have led more smoothly into the second part. It goes from fast action and suddenly she's in a coffee shop. As to answer your questions. :
* Somewhat. The beginning, Nope. But I can understand the sudden swing, and it fits with the story.
*I have to say, the grief was portrayed mainly in the beginning, and it just abruptly stopped. I would have liked to see it gradually fade. Might I suggest that you can add that something in the coffee shop reminded Mia of Jamie? It's a more natural take, as grief hits hard, then gradually fades. You must remember that grief stays forever, and never truly disappears. Be sure to keep that in mind when writing.
*Like I said, I think you could have led more smoothly into the second portion, as I feel that it swung rather unexpectedly. She got over it TOO quick, and I feel this could have been better emphasized.
*All I can say is... Will's MINE! :o :heart:
*I liked it, but felt that it was a bit forced. I feel Mia should have been a bit more open, like Will.
*Yes, she is confusing. She's cruel, mean, yet there is something intriguing about her. I'd love to know what exactly made her that way.
(Will we ever find that out?)
*I agree with wh0rem0ans :iconwh0rem0ans:, and it is a bit confusing, and there are too many words. Some things can be added later or in a more subtle way.
*I also felt the beginning was a bit choppy. You may want to elaborate a tad bit.
*Nah. I highly doubt the word "bitch" will affect anyone. All stories need a bit of profanity at times like that. I felt it helped propel into the action.
*Overall good job, just a few tweaks would make it better! I hope my comment helped, and I look forward to the next chapter!