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Exquisite Corpse:

We all write a story together. Each participants continues the previous paragraph written by someone else. You should only read the post immediately before yours when writing, not the whole story. You can write a post with the text "WRITING" to claim your turn and then post the text when you are finished.

The subject is free.

The texts should not be too long, around 150-200 words maximum.

The task is separate to 3 parts: Introduction, Body and Conclusion. You can participate in more than one part but only once per part.

Introduction: as from now until Sunday October 2nd
Body: after October 2nd, and until October 9th
Conclusion: after October 9th and until October 16th

This is mainly to avoid someone finishing the story too early, or not finishing the story.

Her hands were so cold that they were almost numb. She tried to warm them with her breath, but it didn’t help much. She should have brought warmer clothes. She shouldn’t have come. She had waited for so long; it was foolish to keep hoping for anything. She should go back. But she didn’t, and foolish as she knew it was, she keep waiting and hoping.

Just five minutes more, then I’ll go home.

Just half an hour more, then I’ll go home.

Just until midnight, then I’ll go home.

Just until…

A light! There was a light there! It was still so far but, through the gaps between the trees, she could see it coming down the road. It had to be it, right? It had to be.

Of course it was.

What else could have been?

Behind the flashing light, his broad silhouette could be discerned even against the darkened background. She recognized him immediately.

Without a word, she jumped to his arms and kissed him. A tear of happiness run freely through her pale cheek.

The flashlight fell from his hand and he hugged her back with passion.

- You made it - she said, embracing him and resting her head gently on his chest.

- Sorry I’m late, - he replied softly - I had to make sure nobody saw me escaping the plantation -

She shook in his arms when he heard that word. "Plantation". A hateful word for a hateful life. One where they had to hide in the night, like criminals or sinners while their peers went to mass every Sunday to hear that God is love, while at the same time showing her that not a single one of them knew what love truly was.

She did. Love was the here and now, being close to him. And if any of those two-faced hypocrites in her family found it, it will be the death of both of them. And the God they prayed to, that god of "love", would smile upon them. Cleansing their hearts from sin, and their hands from his blood.

Well. There were other gods, she had been told. There was Baron Samedi, and Mait Carrefour, ane Erzulie Dantor. Dark and terrible gods. Black gods from a black night, in a black land very far away from here. Gods that dealt in curses, sickness and death for their enemies. Gods that will demand a price.

She was willing to pay. Any god that could make this moment last, that could give her a life in that small space between his arms, she would pray to. She would pray to the Fallen Angel himself, if it would work.

Is everything... ready?- she asked, trembling like a leaf in both fear and trepidation, and clinging to him even closer.

Ready, please, she thought inside herself because the all plan took a lot of time. And it must be perfect. She knew it, and she hoped all would finish fine.

Maybe, she should ask him if he was ok or something like that, but she didn’t want to. She would rather think that he was fine, and that was it. The silence is comfortable, not knowing is wonderful sometimes.

She was nervous, and looked at him, only to check if he was like her. She wished his strength and courage. She may have them, but she didn’t know yet. It’s really a pity not knowing this kind of things.

She looked at him one more time. Was she in love? Did she love him? She didn’t know. Maybe she didn’t want to know it. But, she knew that when she was with him, everything changed. Everything was better. Having a life worth it.

She could smell his perfume. She liked it. But she forced herself to not have any distraction. Their plan was ready, and they had no time to talk about nonsense.

“Please, let’s go” she said, sitting up, and looked at him with shiny eyes. “Please”.

But, where exactly? 

-Yeah, it´s time to go - he answered and wiped away what looked like a tear from her blue eyes. His voice but a whisper in the night as he looked at her, and  in his heart he knew that nothing would ever be the same after tonight. She would not look at him with that kind of innocent trust, or love. No, she would not. Not after tonight. There are wounds that will never heal. Memories that will never fade into the distance. A blood that cannot be washed away from your hands.

-They had it coming. Now, it is done – he said and she froze, and shut her eyes. Then she broke away from his embrace, and took a step back, looking at him in horror. She could not make herself to pronounce the words that she was thinking. She wanted to believe he had found another way. But she knew. Deep down, she had always known. And now she would have to carry both the burden of knowing and the cross of silence in her heart. Like a shadow of a lie, it would stay with them forever, decaying everything that once was beautiful and pure.

But forever was still a long way ahead. Now, they had to put those thoughts aside. And run. Run as fast they could. Run, and never look back.

She went to the bedroom and without a word, took their suitcase. Two sweaters, several t-shirts, a skirt, two jeans... all was put inside the suitcase. I looked at her in silence, sad. After a minute, I went to the bathroom and took our toothbrush, a hair comb, my shaving machine...

When we had all we needed, we walked through the door. -Please, wait. Just one last look...- she bit her lip but she didn't turn, just as if she couldn't do it. One single tear fall down her cheek. I dried it with my finger -It' ok. Let's just go away...-

I opened the car, we sat and I began to drive without a destination. We were just running.

They drove for miles and miles, mostly on dirt roads, sometimes on paths barely wide enough for the car, avoiding the principal roads wherever possible. The radio had no news about them. Maybe they were safe for now or maybe the police didn't want to alert them about the persecution too soon, but that meant a bit more liberty. At least they could buy groceries and gas without people recognizing them..

They would need two days, maybe three, to reach the frontier. Then, they would be free. They could build a life. They could be happy or miserable, they could succeed or fail, but they would have choices, and those would be their own.

If they could do it. Everything was still far away, out of their reach for now.

They had barely slept, so they decided to stop the car in a hidden forest and rest for a while. She was not able to close their eyes, even though she felt exhausted. Her heart pounded from anxiety and fear, as she carried the weight of a strange feeling which was unknown to her over her shoulders.

She looked at him. His head was lying on the wheel, but he seemed to be at ease in that position. The sight of him sleeping, after everything that had happened, put a gentle smile on her face. She caressed her face, and kissed him on the forehead. Her life was full of colors and joy since the moment he came into her life. That warm feeling made her feel better, so she decided to close their eyes and have a well deserved rest but, suddenly, she saw a woman approaching the car. She did not know her, and she hoped that she did not, either.  

-Hi there - the woman greeted the two. She was in her thirties, wearing a tracksuit and her hair was glued to her sweaty forehead. She had been running in and exercising in the woods when she saw the vehicle.

-Are you two alright? - she asked. It wasn't common to see anyone driving up that dirt road. -Car problems?

The noises woke him up, and he got up on his feet quickly looking at the unknown woman. -Yeah, something must have got into the engine... - he started but he had no clue as to how to continue. He knew nothing about cars. -The fuse, maybe - he said scratching his head. 

-Ah, I know a thing or two about automobiles!, she said and moved closer to open the hood. -Now, let me see... I'm Kate by the way...

He looked at his companion while Kate had her head somewhere beneath the hood. She fiddled with the cables now, and it would be only a matter of time before she would find out they were lying. Or recognize them from the news. Or even if she didn't, she would later remember and talk to the police. They could not take that risk.

He approached her from behind, and grabbed a leash Kate had left on the ground. He tied the ends to his own hands, and with a quick movement he wrapped Kate's throat and pulled hard.

His partner looked in horror how he killed an innocent person who only had offered to help. Then she realized something... If there was a leash, there must be a dog.

Even before the question of the dog had fully wormed its way into her horrified brain, the answer came. Somewhere, out of her field of view, there was a growl and a sharp, loud bark. As she opened her mouth to let out a cry of warning, there was another sound. A short, dry snap, loud and clear as gunfire. Then, a loud whimper that quickly lost strength and faded into an ominous silence.

Then, nothing.

She got out of the car, her heart hammering against her ribs. Her mouth was dry, and yet she felt a strange taste on it. Like the remnant of an old scent, moldy and so pungently sweet it clogged her throat, drowning the words that fought to get out.

What have you done.

What have we become.

Why is this happening.

He was standing over the fallen body of the dog. Only the head was visible, turned at an unnatural angle, with its bright pink tongue hanging like a forlorn party streamer amongst the foam and blood-caked teeth.

"No... why... this was not... this is not how it was meant to be..."

The words came out and seemed to hang in mid-air between them, suspended in something thick and viscous. The air seemed solid, saturated of some kind of substance. It gave her no comfort when it entered her lungs as she spoke. It only brought more of that acrid, sickeningly sweet smell. It scraped at the walls of her nose and throat and stung her eyes, already wet with tears. It hadn't been there. Where was it coming from? He opened her mouth to ask him. He must have realised this sudden shift as well. That smell entered her mouth again.

And then it hit her. 

He hadn't felt it. He still didn't feel it, or if he did, it didn't bother him. That smell, she realised. Smell of mold and rotting matter. The smell of the grave. It came from him.

"Why..."

A voice answered. A strangled croak, like broken cogs still trying to spin around in a some kind of alien mechanism, coming from behind her. She turned in time to look at the lips of the dead woman- Kate, was it?- as he formed the words from a crushed throat.

"Didn't the loas told you there will be a price?"

He turned. That stagnant, dead air swirled around him. He looked at her, but as their eyes locked, she realised that the tar pits that gave only the faintest reflection of her own face had ceased to be those eyes she loved so much. They had come during the night. The dark gods that had delivered them from their captors wanted payment for their services.

"There is always a price. A guardian for Carrefour, the master of crossways. A human for Papa Legba, who stands between human and spirit. And the most beloved thing, the purest sacrificial lamb, for Erzulie, who watches over love. The most exquisite corpse for the most exquisite feeling. Two sacrifices have been accepted, but one remains. A deal must be honored, a price must be payed. There is always a price"

The leash snapped in his hands...