z

Young Writers Society


The Inspection (Part 1 of 2)



User avatar
57 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 4569
Reviews: 57
Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:36 pm
Nephthys says...



Felix Van Doren was having a good day. He’d successfully tailed his mark up Downwards Street, down a couple alleys and made a note of the house she’d gone into on Widdershins Ave. He’d been followed by a couple of men in suits, but he’d lost them to the labyrinth of the Old City. He had no doubt that they were part of Allegra’s test.

The cobblestones flew beneath his feet.

If you asked Felix what his job was, he wouldn’t be able to give a good answer. Felix worked for The UnIncorporation, that much was certain. What he did was harder to describe. One day he’d be in Monaco selling diamonds, the next in Prussia, delivering a package – or, like today, he’d be following someone through the bustling streets of Luxembourg – the grandest city in the world. Some of his work was even legal. His boss Allegra never told him why she needed the crown jewels of Bohemia, or why the Duchess of Kent needed to be delivered a letter - and he never asked.

He followed his mark – a young woman, whose black and white checkered umbrella stood out in stark contrast to the muted tones of the city - as she left the house and headed a few streets uptown to a small hat shop. Colours weren’t the same in the city. Everything was washed out, in dirty shades of burgundy, yellow, grey and brown.

Checkmate. He dipped his pen in a bottle of golden coloured liquid and recorded the location of the hat shop. He smiled. He’d successfully recorded his mark's every move over the last twelve hours, without incurring suspicion of any kind. He’d heard that the Inspections were coming soon, and he had no doubt that he would pass his with flying colours. Felix Van Doren was good at his job.

Now, he’d have a quick smoke, report back to Headquarters (wherever it was this week), and celebrate his success. Felix was not a fortune teller, but he could see an impressive raise in the near future.

That is, until the manhole cover beneath his feet disappeared and he plummeted down under the city.

**************************

The stone floor wall cool beneath his hands. He stood up slowly, straightening his jacket. Felix was fairly certain that he’d sprained a wrist, and more alarmingly, had received couple of un-mendable rips in his suit. The darkness was staggeringly bright compared to the fading circle of daylight far above him. He was in a cavern. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see that there were a few steps leading further underground. A gentle glow came from the passage ahead. He followed it.

A figure was seated on the opposite wall of the cavern, dressed in a long black robe. The slow drip, drip, drip of water created shimmering patterns of light on one wall of the cave. Felix looked around and realized that he was not in fact in a cavern, but in an underground building that had once been a part of the Ancient City of Luxembourg. The walls were adorned with faded, peeling frescoes, and there were candles on old metal stands scattered around the room.

“And who might you be?” Felix straightened his sleeve cuffs.

The figure stood gracefully, its black robe billowing.

“A friend – or an enemy. It all depends on how cooperative you are.”

Felix raised an eyebrow. The voice was undoubtedly female, and the woman it belonged to didn’t look particularly threatening. “Cooperative? In what sense?”

“You will tell me everything you know about your job and your employer.”

“Or what?” Felix inspected a finely crafted mosaic, still mostly intact after centuries underground. He was wondering how much it would go for.

She shrugged. “I’ll kill you.”

Felix paused for a moment to gauge the sincerity of the threat. She seemed pretty sincere. He stood noticeably straighter.

“Well?” The figure motioned for him to continue, and her sleeve fell open, revealing a multitude of expensive rings.

Felix licked his lips, suddenly aware that his mouth was extremely dry. He surveyed the room. There was no other point of exit besides the way that he had come. Who had removed the manhole cover to make him fall? “Prove it.”

“What?”

“Prove that you’re going to kill me.”

There was a pause. The figure seemed speechless that he would react to her threat with anything but terror. “Very well.”

She picked up a small golden bell from a stand beside her, and rang it gently a few times. From the passageway behind Felix a second hooded figure emerged.

Carrying a knife.

A large knife. A very large knife. A very large freshly-sharpened knife. The kind of knife specifically designed to cleave through human flesh. Its blade glinted ominously in the candlelight.

The figure approached, and grabbed Felix by the arm.

“Do you want me to cut him up a little to show him that we’re serious?” Based on her voice, Felix could tell that the second figure was also a woman, but considerably less elegantly spoken. And considerably more terrifying at the moment.

“That will not be necessary,” Felix said hastily. “I’ll tell you everything I know.”

The boss figure nodded to her minion to step down. She released him.

“I work for the UnIncorporation. My boss’s name is Allegra, but that is all I know about her. We meet at a new location every day, and she gives me a mission to complete.”

“I see.”

“Go on,” the minion encouraged, bringing her knife dangerously closer to his face.

“That’s all I can tell you.”

“He’s lying,” the first figure said. “Kill him.”

“Wait!” The knife stopped barely an inch from his neck. “How do I know that I can trust you? Swear that if I tell you everything, you’ll let me go.

The first figure was silent for a moment. She was not impressed. “You’re not really in a position to bargain here.”

He stared back defiantly.

“Very well, you have my word. Now continue.”

“I've already said that I work for the UnIncorporation. The specifics of my job are a little more difficult to describe. I do – well – everything. I steal things, deliver things, follow people. It all depends on the day. For instance, this evening I delivered a package containing the crown jewels of Bohemia to nine hundred and twenty three East Crescent, where there will be an important company meeting tonight. If you are interested in attending, Allegra will be there, and I’m sure she could tell you more about the activities of the UnIncorporation than I can. Will that do?”

The first figure nodded slowly, “I’ve heard enough.” Her voice was different. Strangely familiar. She removed her hood.

Allegra sighed. “I really am disappointed in you Felix. You showed great promise.” She let the truth sink in for a minute before she continued. “This was your test. You failed.”

“Daphne.” She gestured for the second figure, now revealed as her assistant Daphne, to proceed with his sentence. Knives were much too messy for Allegra. Instead, Daphne reached down to the floor and pulled open a sewer grate.

Allegra sighed again. “At least the alligators will be well fed.”

Daphne pushed Felix Van Doren down into the sewers of the Ancient City to his certain death.
Last edited by Nephthys on Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- There is no sin except stupidity - Oscar Wilde -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
  





User avatar
176 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 18529
Reviews: 176
Thu Mar 11, 2010 5:01 am
Lena.Wooldridge says...



Hey! I'll check this out for you.

NITPICKS
He recorded the location of the hat shop, and smiled.

The comma here is unnecessary.
He followed his mark: a young woman, whose black and white checkered umbrella stood out in stark contrast to the muted tones of the city- as she left the house and headed a few streets uptown up town to a small hat shop.
I generally hate the little dashed things in common prose, but luckily they are easy to remove :)
Now, he’d have a quick smoke, report back to Headquarters (wherever it was this week)
This sentence has an issue with verb tense. The blue words are in past tense and the red ones are present. You must commit to a single tense. Figure out how to fix that one.
A figure was seated on the opposite wall of the cavern, dressed in a long black robe.
This is an example of passive voice. Passive voice is where you say "the music was written by Mozart" instead of saying "Mozart wrote the music." This isn't horrible, but I would recommend rephrasing the sentence so it reads: "On the opposite wall of the cavern sat a figure dressed in a long black robe." Sounds better, aye?
He surveyed the cavern-room.
Why not just say cavern? That would sound better.
And considerably more terrifying at the moment.
This isn't a full sentence. You do this a lot throughout the piece, and most of those times I just sort of ignored it, as it is your style of prose. However, the "at the moment" part messes up the verb tense. Just say "and considerably more terrifying." Leave out the last bit.
bringing her knife dangerously close(r) to his face.
Take out that "(r)" part, it destroys the formality of your prose.
I do, well, everything.
Again with the dashies.
Daphne pushed Felix Van Doren down into the sewers of the Ancient City, to his certain death.
Take out the comma.

SITUATIONAL IRONY
You get an A+ for the irony. In this case, it's an unexpected ending. I honestly had no idea that the hooded figure was going to be Allegra. You totally dumbfounded me, and I really liked it! The idea of this is sort of cliched, I have to admit, but you do a brilliant job of making it as original as possible. Very nice work.

GEOGRAPHY
I have some issues with the geography in this.
:arrow: I don't know if you are aware of this, but Prussia is no longer a country. It hasn't been a country since after WWI.
:arrow: You say that Luxemborg is the grandest city in the world, but that's highly a matter of opinion. I've never really heard anyone say that Luxemborg is that great.. so hmmm. Plus, is there really an old Luxemborg underneath the new one? Do some research on that. If not, then find a city with an actual underground part. (How about Seattle? Me home town!)
:arrow: The street names... Make them actual street names in whatever city you've chosen.


Overall, I cannot wait to read the next installment :) This is very well written, keeps the reader entertained, etc. Keep writing!
Cheers,
Lena
stay gold, ponyboy
  





User avatar
261 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 1639
Reviews: 261
Thu Mar 11, 2010 6:59 pm
Mr.Knightley says...



Hi there, Nephthys! I'm here to review as you requested. :D Let's get started.

First off, I didn't find many nitpicks worth bringing up, so good job! I hate it when that's the only thing I can say about a work...:P There was only this that I didn't like:

You wrote: He’d successfully tailed his mark up Downwards St, down a couple alleys and made a note of the house she’d gone into on Widdershins Ave.


Okay... Up Downwards St.? Really? I'm not sure if this was supposed to be humorous contradiction, but either way it's really distracting. I had to read the entire sentence over and over to understand what you were saying. I would suggest rephrasing it a bit to clear it up; after all, it's never a good thing to start your story off this way, in any situation. :D

And as for the rest...I enjoyed it! The only thing I found that wasn't very great was the dialogue (I know, it's a pretty big thing). It's not "bad", per se, but it's kind of corny and distant, without much description in between to make me feel for the characters. I would suggest slowing it down a little, and try spicing it up. If you do that, you'll be all set! :D

Overall, I enjoyed this. The way you described Felix and his occupation at the beginning was just enough to get me started, while not too much to be a complete info dump. :D Good job!

Admittedly, I suspected that the cloaked woman was going to be Allegra, but it didn't take away from the story much. :D

If you have any questions or would like another review, please don't hesitate to PM me or post in my WRFF thread! Hope I could help.

-Knightley
"You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same."

Lady Gaga
  





User avatar
57 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 4569
Reviews: 57
Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:15 am
Nephthys says...



Thank you both very much for the excellent advice :)

I've gotten the comment about Prussia from someone else, too, so I think I should probably make it a little clearer that Felix lives in an alternate universe.

Basically, in the year 2020, Laertes Mann successfully invents a time machine. He travels back to the year 1600, and brings with him a deadly disease (the 2020 equivalent of swine flu). The disease becomes a pandemic, and kills a whole generation of scientists and thinkers before they can enlighten the world with their theories.

The story takes place in the year 2020, but because of the major slow down in the scientific revolution, it's a very different 2020 than the one that we will know.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- There is no sin except stupidity - Oscar Wilde -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
  





User avatar
553 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 58538
Reviews: 553
Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:48 am
MiaParamore says...



Hi. I am here as requested. I am in total awe. It was a wonderfully carved story. I am astonished that why it wasn't featured? I like your writing style. I totally fell for it. Would like to see how it moves along. You have definitely got talent. :D

A large knife. A very large knife. A very large freshly-sharpened knife. The kind of knife specifically designed to cleave through human flesh. Its blade glinted ominously in the candlelight.

Loved this line.. :elephant:

From the passageway behind Felix, a second hooded figure emerged.



Based on her voice, Felix could tell that the second figure was also a woman, but considerably less elegantly spoken
.
Can you just reframe this sentence. It looks odd to me.
Like: From her voice, Felix could tell that the second figure belonged to another woman, but considerably less elegant.
JUST AN ADVICE !!!!!!!! The sentence just looks odd to me. Maybe you can use the smae words but reconstruct it.

Your characters are nice and interesting. Just one thing: Was Felix supposed to be a hitman or dangerous man? If yes then shouldn't he be having some weapon and why did he got scared so easily?(Just question which popped into my mind. Don't mind if this question makes no sense)
BESTO OF LUCK!! And PM me when you come up with other part. Waiting to read it. This is all I could point out.
"Next time you point a finger
I might have to bend it back
Or break it, break it off
Next time you point a finger
I'll point you to the mirror"

— Paramore
  





User avatar
2631 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 6235
Reviews: 2631
Mon Mar 15, 2010 1:04 am
Rydia says...



Hey there! A few specific comments first and then I'll try to summarise:

Felix Van Doren was having a good day. He’d successfully tailed his mark up Downwards St, [Should either be Downwards Street or Downwards St. in which case you can't really have the comma.] down a couple alleys and made a note of the house she’d gone into [Maybe entered instead of gone into?] on Widdershins Ave. He’d been followed by a couple [I really want to see of here. I know you're trying to give the impression of an individual dialogue but it's rather irritating to follow.] men in suits, but he’d lost them to the labyrinth of the Old City. He had no doubt that they were part of Allegra’s test.


If you asked Felix what his job was, he wouldn’t be able to give a good answer. Felix worked for The UnIncorporation, that much was for sure.
[Maybe that much was certain? Or that much was true.]

Good details and descriptions. Loved the washed out line and the ripped suit mattering more than the broken wrist. That added good characterisation. I'm not sure about un-mendable though. This character strikes me as the type who would buy a new suit rather than mend an old one so why do they have to be unmendable rips? Anything can be fixed with a sewing kit and some material but he stikes me as too classy to wear patches. Try not to give double images of your characters.

Felix paused for a moment to gauge the sincerity of the threat. She seemed pretty sincere. He stood noticeably straighter.
[Either he thinks she's sincere or he doesn't. Isn't this man's job about judging people and always being alert? I don't think pretty sincere cuts it. Choose your wording carefully.]

“Go on,” the minion encouraged, bringing her knife dangerously close(r) [I don't like this. Pick one or the other. Close would sound better.] to his face.


In general I liked this. You set the tone nicely and though the ending wasn't entirely unexpected, that's only because I'm a big fan of the genre.

Characters

They're currently very flat and typical of the genre which wouldn't be so bad if you at least stuck with that. The main trouble with your MC is that he's inconsistent. In places you get that professionality straight on but then suddenly he's an idiot. You need to personalise his idioms, give him some realistic dialogue and expand on how he's feeling, what he's thinking. Is he disapointed in himself for falling for such an easy trick? I would be. Hell, I'm not a hit man but even I'd be suspicious or someone demanding I tell them everything or they kill me. There isn't any bargaining power there. What's a promise worth?

Here's a line of dialogue I found fake:

“That will not be necessary,” Felix said hastily. “I’ll tell you everything I know.”
That's wordy for someone who might only have three words to live. She's threatening to kill him. In the time it takes for him to tell her to stop, she could have his head rolling across the floor. A man's instinct would be to scream No! First, stop that knife, then explain. Or if he's really clever it would be to spill what they want to know, very quickly give them a reason not to kill him. Like: 'Wait! I can tell you where she is."

“That’s all I can tell you.” He shrugged.
You need to fix his actions here. Shrugging is a very dangerous move when a lady is holding a knife close to your face. That's the way to lose body parts. Okay so maybe exageration there but seriously, not moving is essential when in such a situation.

That's all for now. I'd have to read more to comment on the plot and such. If you have the second part done and want a review, send a pm my way or write on the thread again. I hope this helps,

Heather xx
Writing Gooder

~Previously KittyKatSparklesExplosion15~

The light shines brightest in the darkest places.
  





User avatar
34 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 6826
Reviews: 34
Thu Mar 18, 2010 11:05 pm
Valentine says...



Here I am at last1 Sorry it took so long...

I must say, I really like this. :D

Good job!

The plot was original, and was the point of view. You had a solid style of telling,which is okay if you remain consistent. I assume you will take a different approach during the next chapter, looking deep into this Felix character's mind. Something I noticed were some cliche sentences. Here are some:

Its blade glinted ominously in the candlelight.

its black robe billowing.


Although the first sentence is a descriptive one, it's very unoriginal. The second one is the same deal. For some reasons, cloaks always billow....

“And who might you be?” Felix straightened his sleeve cuffs.


This seems very odd. He falls down a hall, sprains his wrist, seeing a hooded figure, and say this? Does he feel fear?

“That will not be necessary,” Felix said hastily. “I’ll tell you everything I know.”


Although this line shows his fear. I would like some descriptions of his facial features and maybe stuttering. If somebody threatens so cut you apart, you're gonna be scared.

This leads me to a final conclusion. I thought I liked you style of telling the reader what is happening, but i don't. A story becomes boring when you tell everything. It is much more fun when the author shows what is happening, letting the reader paint the picture in their mind. If you do that, it will make this ten times better. Good JOb! I overall liked it!
"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain- TDK"

-My Bloody Valentine Reviews-
  





User avatar
199 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 4832
Reviews: 199
Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:38 am
smorgishborg says...



Sloppy and way too short.

Spoiler! :
Nephthys wrote:Felix Van Doren was having a good day. He’d successfully tailed his mark up Downwards Street, Change street name. down a couple alleys and made a note of the house she’d gone into on Widdershins Ave. He’d been followed by a couple of men in suits, but he’d lost them to in the labyrinth of the Old City. He had no doubt that they were part of Allegra’s test.

The cobblestones flew beneath his feet. This should not be its own paragraph.

If you asked Felix what his job was, he wouldn’t be able to give a good answer. He couldn't give a good answer? Make it "If you asked anyone what... they wouldn't..." --- At the same time, immediately after saying something like this, it's incumbent upon you to try to give us an answer; such as 'Part-time detective, part-time pawn broker, part-time international man of mystery' or something along those lines. Otherwise you leave us with a question that you promptly ignored. Felix worked for The UnIncorporation, that much was certain. What he did was harder to describe. One day he’d be in Monaco selling diamonds, the next in Prussia, delivering a package – or, like today, he’d be following someone through the bustling streets of Luxembourg – the grandest city in the world. Adjectives like 'grandest' are better shown, not told. Some of his work was even legal. We've never been given the hint that his work was illegal, although we can guess. The word 'even' is amateurish and unnecessary in this context. His boss Allegra never told him why she needed the crown jewels of Bohemia, or why the Duchess of Kent needed to be delivered a letter - and he never asked.

He followed his mark This should be in the past tense or imperfect, really- see line #1 – a young woman, whose black and white checkered umbrella stood out in stark contrast to the muted tones of the city Black and white can be muted tones. Make the umbrella colorful. - as she left the house and headed a few streets uptown to a small hat shop. Colours weren’t the same in the city. Everything was washed out, in dirty shades of burgundy, yellow, grey and brown.

Checkmate. Where does this come from? He dipped his pen in a bottle of golden coloured liquid and recorded the location of the hat shop. He smiled. He’d successfully recorded his mark's every move over the last twelve hours, without incurring suspicion of any kind. He’d heard that the Inspections were coming soon, and he had no doubt that he would pass his with flying colours. This all happens way too fast. Write an extra page of description, and small action. Your aim is to entertain us by showing that FVD is good at his job, not telling us that. Felix Van Doren was good at his job.

Now, he’d have a quick smoke, report back to Headquarters (wherever it was this week), and celebrate his success. Felix was not a fortune teller, but he could see an impressive raise in the near future. Terrible sentence. Strike, and re-write.

That is, until the manhole cover beneath his feet disappeared and he plummeted down under the city. Incredibly sudden, and totally misses any emotion the reader might feel. I don't give a damn about this character right now, and while I certainly wouldn't have guessed that he'd get swallowed up by the street, I'm not interested enough in your story to even be surprised. My assignment to you; this entire opening section should be at least five pages double spaced in size 12 Times New Roman font, with normal margins. Build the exposition.

Just based on this first bit, I will confidently make the prediction that this entire story will try to cram way too much action into a very tiny space. I'll check back on this at the bottom.


**************************

The stone floor wall cool beneath his hands. He stood up slowly, straightening his jacket. The first thing he does is straightens his jacket? What? Did he not fall that far? Did he not hurt his head? Any part of his body? He straightens his jacket after a surprising fall into a manhole? No. Felix was fairly certain that he’d sprained a wrist, ...and he straightens his jacket. Seriously, you need to be thinking about these things. and more alarmingly, had received couple of un-mendable rips in his suit. The reader demands to know why this is more alarming than a sprained wrist. The darkness was staggeringly bright compared to the fading circle of daylight far above him. I'm sorry, what? That last sentence makes absolutely no sense. He was in a cavern. Please describe said cavern. Not all caverns are alike, and therefore, the word 'cavern' is hardly descriptive. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see that there were a few steps leading further underground. A gentle glow came from the passage ahead. He followed it. What did he follow? To follow something, that other thing has to be moving, or leading somewhere. He followed the staircase? Okay. He followed a glow coming from a staircase? Wrong.

A figure was seated on the opposite wall of the cavern, Where are we? You never even explained that there was a room at the bottom of the staircase. dressed in a long black robe. The slow drip, drip, drip of water created shimmering patterns of light on one wall of the cave. Where is this water coming from? Felix looked around and realized that he was not in fact in a cavern, but in an underground building that had once been a part of the Ancient City of Luxembourg. You seriously cannot just make up an entire historical backstory to your world, and then explain it away with one line. We needed to know about this old city long beforehand. The walls were adorned with faded, peeling frescoes, and there were candles on old metal stands scattered around the room.

“And who might you be?” Felix straightened his sleeve cuffs. I despise this dialogue already.

The figure stood gracefully, its black robe billowing. Where did the wind come from?

“A friend – or an enemy. It all depends on how cooperative you are.” This is horrible dialogue, devoid of imagination, and built out of paper cliché.

Felix raised an eyebrow. The voice was undoubtedly female, and the woman it belonged to didn’t look particularly threatening. “Cooperative? In what sense?”

“You will tell me everything you know about your job and your employer.”

“Or what?” Felix inspected a finely crafted mosaic, still mostly intact after centuries underground. He was wondering how much it would go for.

She shrugged. “I’ll kill you.” Where are the stakes in this scene, WHERE ARE THE STAKES?

Felix paused for a moment to gauge the sincerity of the threat. She seemed pretty sincere. He stood noticeably straighter.

“Well?” The figure motioned for him to continue, and her sleeve fell open, Her sleeve 'fell open'? How does that work? revealing a multitude of expensive rings. How did he know they were expensive?

Felix licked his lips, suddenly aware that his mouth was extremely dry. Too little characterization, too late. This needs to be all throughout this story. He surveyed the room. There was no other point of exit besides the way that he had come. Who had removed the manhole cover to make him fall? Wait, someone removed the manhole cover? I'm confused now, I thought he was standing on this manhole cover, and you're saying that someone went ahead and somehow moved it while he was standing on it, and he somehow stayed exactly where he was, and plummeted down, like Wil-e-coyote? And he didn't notice somebody near the manhole cover when he fell? You seriously need to figure out how your story works logistically before writing it. This makes no sense, and you're getting hammered on little continuity errors. “Prove it.”

“What?”

“Prove that you’re going to kill me.”

There was a pause. The figure seemed speechless that he would react to her threat with anything but terror. “Very well.” So we're told that this character is stunned at FVD's boldness, yet her next line is as cool calm and collected as her others?

I stopped reading here. (Well, I skimmed the end.)

Look, you asked me to read and review Part II of your story. Unfortunately, I can't read Part II, if I can't get through Part I. I don't care about these characters, the dialogue is flawed to the point of unreadability, and the plot is so bare, details to absent, that there's really no reason for the reader to hang on to this.

You look like you've done some work here, and I genuinely believe in your interest in working with this story, and so my advice is for you to immediately rewrite the opening half of 'Part I', with the aim of writing ten times as much. Describe absolutely every minuscule detail of this environment. Then in revision, cut it down and down, until you have something tighter that also manages to give the reader a workable plot and interesting, developed, characters.

Then we can talk about how to progress.





***




She picked up a small golden bell from a stand beside her, and rang it gently a few times. From the passageway behind Felix a second hooded figure emerged.

Carrying a knife.

A large knife. A very large knife. A very large freshly-sharpened knife. The kind of knife specifically designed to cleave through human flesh. Its blade glinted ominously in the candlelight.

The figure approached, and grabbed Felix by the arm.

“Do you want me to cut him up a little to show him that we’re serious?” Based on her voice, Felix could tell that the second figure was also a woman, but considerably less elegantly spoken. And considerably more terrifying at the moment.

“That will not be necessary,” Felix said hastily. “I’ll tell you everything I know.”

The boss figure nodded to her minion to step down. She released him.

“I work for the UnIncorporation. My boss’s name is Allegra, but that is all I know about her. We meet at a new location every day, and she gives me a mission to complete.”

“I see.”

“Go on,” the minion encouraged, bringing her knife dangerously closer to his face.

“That’s all I can tell you.”

“He’s lying,” the first figure said. “Kill him.”

“Wait!” The knife stopped barely an inch from his neck. “How do I know that I can trust you? Swear that if I tell you everything, you’ll let me go.

The first figure was silent for a moment. She was not impressed. “You’re not really in a position to bargain here.”

He stared back defiantly.

“Very well, you have my word. Now continue.”

“I've already said that I work for the UnIncorporation. The specifics of my job are a little more difficult to describe. I do – well – everything. I steal things, deliver things, follow people. It all depends on the day. For instance, this evening I delivered a package containing the crown jewels of Bohemia to nine hundred and twenty three East Crescent, where there will be an important company meeting tonight. If you are interested in attending, Allegra will be there, and I’m sure she could tell you more about the activities of the UnIncorporation than I can. Will that do?”

The first figure nodded slowly, “I’ve heard enough.” Her voice was different. Strangely familiar. She removed her hood.

Allegra sighed. “I really am disappointed in you Felix. You showed great promise.” She let the truth sink in for a minute before she continued. “This was your test. You failed.”

“Daphne.” She gestured for the second figure, now revealed as her assistant Daphne, to proceed with his sentence. Knives were much too messy for Allegra. Instead, Daphne reached down to the floor and pulled open a sewer grate.

Allegra sighed again. “At least the alligators will be well fed.”

Daphne pushed Felix Van Doren down into the sewers of the Ancient City to his certain death.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
- Robert Frost

It cost $7 million to build the Titanic, and $200 million to make a film about it.
The plastic ties on the end of shoelaces are called aglets
  





User avatar
75 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 5950
Reviews: 75
Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:25 am
Maddy says...



I'm not going to nitpick this, because it seems, by the reviews above me, that pleasure has been stripped away. I just want to say:

THAT WAS TERRIFIC!

Honestly, a really great start. I pictured everything beautifully, and I loved the twist ending. I got a feeling of dark and depressing times, is this the image you were going for? Sure, it was cliche, but it only highlighted the essence of the setting. All you need is a touch of proof editing, and this piece will shine.

Wish yourself lucky: Maddy rarely gives out good reviews.
-Maddy
-If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you!
-"Careful with that light at the end of the tunnel, it might be another train coming."

This awesome post bought to you by me. :)
  








The world is your oyster. Well, it’s my oyster, but you can have some of it.
— Feltrix