One push and they’d fall into the sea.
Lucas and Zehra were sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea. It wasn’t very steep, so the fall wouldn’t be fatal.“You should talk to him,” Zehra said, swinging her legs and enjoying the sea breeze.
“Don’t swing your legs so much, it’s dangerous.”
“What’s your problem?”“What?”“Why are you so overprotective?”He shrugged. “You were saying?”Zehra smirked. “I was saying you should talk to Ryder.”“No.”Zehra kicked, punched and clawed as hard as she could. She tried to recall all the karate moves she’d learned as she fought hard.Choodan uke. Middle punch.Star One aimed for her head.Jodan suki. Upper block.Alpha Star lunged at her from behind and she turned.Gadan uke. Lower punch.He screamed out in pain and bent over. After delivering a quick punch at Star One, Zehra fled. She ran to her car and drove off as quickly as she could.Zehra was still trembling when she parked the car in front of Nora’s home. She managed to reach the front door without falling and was about to knock, when the door opened and she was face-to-face with Mrs. Williams, who was holding a large black bag of trash.“Well, hello there, Zehra. What happened?”“I-I need to see Nora&hell
Alpha Star and Star One paced up and down."I can't believe this," muttered Star One. "Two against one and we still lost!""Who knew miss terrorist was a freakin' ninja," Alpha Star said angrily.Suddenly their pager beeped. It was a frantic voice message from their controller."How could you let us down like this? Things are going from bad to worse. This little prodigy of a terrorist has performed the unbelievable. She dug up information about us, lads. Dirty information. Terrorist has dug up filth. If that girl isn't eliminated immediately, there will be dire consequences. I don't care what you do, as long as she is no longer a concern. You will soon receive two loaded pistols. Let's just hope you won't have to use them. Make sure the whole affair is executed in the least messy way possible. There should be no traces, got that? No evidence. Make it quic
“Well well, that was fairly easy, wasn’t it? I have to say, I'm kinda disappointed,” Alpha Star said smugly.Zehra's heart thudded frantically in her chest and she couldn't help but feel like a trapped rabbit. Alpha Star and Star One were leaning casually against the door, their mask of nonchalance betrayed by the evident triumph in their voice.“I told you the phosphorescent wisps would work,” replied Star One.Zehra crossed her arms and gathered all her courage to appear calm and unruffled.“If you’re done with your little moment of victory, I’d like to leave. I’ve got better things to do.”Alpha Star stepped forward. “Oh no, darling. You’re not going anywhere. Not this time.”And then he took something out of his pocket, something that made her blood run cold. Star One did the sa
She could see it in her peripheral vision. It was there, out in the open. The muted moonlight filtering through the high windows gave it a sinister gleam. But how could she take it? There were so many people around... too many witnesses. Keeping it in sight, she moved forward nonchalantly, hands tucked into the pockets of her dark robes. Her pulse increased as she neared it and slowly, casually she stretched her hand out, almost reaching it. People around her began to notice so she extended her outstretched hand, just a little more but–Zehra woke up with a start. She lay in bed with her eyes wide open in the dark, breathing heavily. As usual, she tried to remember what the object in the dream was. What had she been reaching out for? The dreams always ended in the same place, abruptly. It was making her nervous; strange recurring dreams just weren’t her cup of tea.Breathe in, breathe out.“Zea!” her mother yell
Nora closed the medicine cabinet with a sigh. The pills were nearly over. She sat on her bed and thought about how far she’d come. She had early memories of travelling all around the world with her gypsy parents. The carnivals, circuses, parades. Endless nights in the Sahara Desert and the pure, unadulterated joy of seeing the pyramids. Travelling by ship to India and seeing the grand splendor of Taj Mahal. The journey that was worth the exhaustion when they saw Machu Pichu. Those had been good days. But soon, too soon, trouble had arrived. Their happy little gypsy community turned in on itself. And that wretched, fateful night when a drunken brawl led to the death of her beloved father and later, her mother...Nora had been trying to forget her terrible past for years now, but it still appeared when she least expected it. Sometimes it still haunted her, the vivid images of her father’s death and the day she heard that her mother plummeted to death f
The two people sat next to each other on the worn-out couch. The only source of illumination in the dark, dank basement was the laptop in front of them. They were wearing identical black hoodies and black jeans, with a metallic mask covering the lower half of their face. It distorted their voices, which was convenient because they weren’t supposed to know each other’s identity.“We need code names,” one said to the other, typing away on the laptop.“Alright, I’ll be Star One,”“I guess that makes me Star Two?”“Yes, of course.”“Ha ha. Not happening. If you’re Star One, I’m Alpha Star.”“That’s not–”“Deal?”Star One sighed. “Deal.”"I'm assuming you're a guy...?" asked Alpha Star.Star One rolled their eyes. "Assume whatever you want,""Okay bas
After dinner Zehra had wandered off while Nora had gone to the washroom. She wondered where Zehra was, and remembered that Zehra had wanted to check out Nora’s grand piano. Nora was not musically inclined but her adoptive parents loved music and had a music room where they kept all their instruments and speakers.Nora walked into the music room and found Zehra at the piano. She knew that Zehra liked to play the piano but she wasn’t aware the Zehra was this good at it. Nora stood at the doorway as Zehra sang softly.“And you can’t see my covered hair, so you sit there and you stare, and you judge me with your eyes, you’re sure I’m in despair! But are you not aware... under the scarf that I wear, I have feelings, and I do care...”Nora smiled, and sat beside Zehra. She nodded at Nora and continued to sing. The words flowed out of her and Nora was reminded of what a beautiful voice Zehra had.
“I shouldn’t have gone to the stupid party!” Ivanka shouted, tears streaming down her face.She was finally home; she’d hunted Hugo down and got home as soon as possible. She felt uncomfortably cold, even after having taken a warm bath and wearing warm clothes. Hurt and anger stirred in her chest and she felt awful. Humiliation filled her as she remembered the raucous laughter of the jocks who'd been in the pool when she fell. The water and loose dress combined with the mascara on her face had made her look like a total idiot. Ivanka squeezed her eyes shut, willing the embarrassing images to go away. What was it it about her that was so disastrous? How did she always land in such situations and wind up embarrassing herself? Why had she gone to the stupid party in the first place?!“It was your decision. I didn’t force you to come,” Hugo bit back. "In fact, you persuaded me to take you along with you,"