Terminus | The Ink Well February 2023 Fiction Prompt : Storm

Author's note: Getting back to writing is not easy at the moment, but I do want to close this chapter of the story before I could keep going. The last part prior to the finale was published a few days before Mom's passing. That was in May 2021. I have to admit that I'm still not okay. I suppose it takes time to accept that the loss is permanent. Grieving is a process. I'm still in the middle of it.

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Where it all began... My InkWell Story Map. It all began in The Ink Well Fast and Furious Festival and continues on The Ink Well Weekly Fiction Prompt. This is the finale, submitted to The Ink Well February 2023 fiction prompt -- storm. This is just in case anyone is interested in reading the entire series from beginning to end. Can you now decipher the hidden acrostic for the series?

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I'm still trying to get back to writing regularly, but I intend to use my writing account @rbhayes for my next journey.

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Image by Zhenia Guzic from Pixabay

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The last thing I remembered hearing was the crash and the searing pain that came as the feel of broken glass slowly dug itself at my temple as I hang haphazardly upside down inside my wrecked car. I also remembered the sleek pair of boots that slowly came towards me just as the flames slowly started alive, I funnily thought then that maybe that was Death's style, just before everything went dark.

But maybe what I really wanted to remember from that day-- just minutes before the accident-- was the exhilaration of my independence that came with graduation and the prospect of moving out from the family villa.

My father never really had the confidence in me to think I'd hang on this long despite inheriting my mother's 'illness' as he's come to call it. And my sister, cool and composed Linette, she was everything father wanted me to be-- a prodigy in his political ambitions. His quest for insurmountable amounts of wealth and power neatly kept behind a veil of benevolence, keeping under wraps how he wouldn't hesitate to even dabble into the ludicrous workings of the occult.

Is that why you were willing to hold onto me even for a little while longer, Linette? You had an inkling didn't you, what our dear father had planned for me that day? It was just that you didn't expect it to go up in flames, maybe horrified at the thought that you'd be next the moment you'd decide to take my place.

I'll never blame you for any of this, Linny. Because all I ever wanted to have was a sister.

Those were my first conscious thoughts as I felt the coma-inducing drugs start to seep out of my body, groggily observing how the nurses were in a hush panic as police started to get involved in the mix.

"The coordinates--"

"Here!"

Were among the snippets of conversation I caught on to before I dazedly realized I was encased in warm embraces smelling of lotus incenses and the well-loved pages of books.

"Hey..." I croaked out in short greeting, my throat straining from unuse after all this time.

"It's you! I knew you were alive Betty..." came the quiet yet relieved sobs from Roe, my hand weakly but surely patting the dark ringlets that made up her hair in assurance.

"Linette led us to you, before she..." The steadying calmness Cole afforded us in her embrace turned hesitant as she tried to find the words she'd next deliver.

It was only then did I look up pass my two best friends, to notice a man stood at the far end of my hospital bed, leaning by the windows. His jade-green eyes briefly caught mine in recognition, too quick for me to associate a memory to his face, before he steadily continued to peer out the window with a hand to his temple in thought.

I too would find myself lost in thought as I took in the dire situation I just woke up from, and what would possibly come of this predicament. Either way, in the arms of the only people I had of this world, I knew I was home and I hope she'd find her way too.

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It'd be a long way home till I found my footing in this new situation I dug for myself, but it was worth all the planning and sacrifice now that I felt the storm of anxiety slowly quell into a lump of unease as I looked up to see the simple gesture from Napoleon that Betty was now conscious and relatively safe.

"Well little Emperor, how about we make a deal?"

The moment I pulled that soot-stained kid from his hiding place all those years back was when my plans started into motion. He'd need someone to keep tabs on the man who murdered his parents until he was old enough to avenge them, while I'd need someone to cover my tracks by the time I'd wanted out from the bastard I called dad.

"I left her at the coordinates you gave me." Having grown under Detective Entale's tutelage and rising from the ranks as the feared 'Emperor' amongst his peers, Inspector Napoleon Jourdain now gave me a resolute look to express how he was through with my shit.

"I may owe you my life Linette, but this is--"

"Where we part ways." I stopped him mid-sentence as I stared back at him, the same way I stared at him now as I stood outside the godforsaken place I had to keep Betty away from our father's clutches.

I gave him a terse nod as I backed away, not looking back until I reached the confines of my car, it was only then did I gather up the courage to sneak a peek at my rearview mirror. There in its deceptively harmless pastels lay the Portrait of a Lady, and just as the early morning rays of dawn touched its surface did a combination of letters appear...

a code that leads to insurmountable wealth that no mortal should ever be able to get their hands on.

I knew my father's tyranny didn't end here, and if I wanted to make amends by washing my hands clean of it all, I'd need to have the resources for it. And right now, I knew just where to start.

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My books are now available:

Never Bother

Don't You Cry No More

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_{DYCNM Book cover design by @viking-ventures
More credits: Commissioned Cover 1, part 3 - Viking Visual Art Tutorial
NB Book cover design by @ilovewintergem}

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