juniperashwrites

[juniperashwrites]

Fire & Ice

There was a small town named Arcadia. It was cut off from most of the world due to a radiation leak. There was a laboratory dedicated to studying the radiation “Shadowwalk Labs”. Run by the well known Dr. Shadowwalk and his best friend and main researcher Dr. Sephiran. But the radiation spread into the air. Soon, many of the residents discovered abilities. Gas masks became a common thing on almost every resident. Those that had already been affected tended to not wear masks. 

Most of these abilities were simply just enhancements on the abilities that they already had. A marathon runner gained speed faster than any human had ever reported. A swimmer given the ability to hold his breath for longer than what was thought humanly possible. Weightlifters, able to lift more than before. 

It wasn’t long before the doctors and staff began experimenting with the radiation and what it could do to humans. They had gained many children to participate in these experiments. Mostly orphans from various places. Two of them however were the children of Shadowwalk and Sephiran. A boy and a girl born about 5 years apart. Iclyn Shadowwalk and Flint Sephiran. Their fathers both had full control over each of their children’s experiments. Although they were supposed to be opposites. Iclyn was always isolated in the cold. Whereas Flint was always surrounded by heat. Both were frequently exposed to the radiation. 

The plan was to make the human be able to withstand extreme heat and extreme cold. This plan somewhat backfired when the heat and cold respectively fused with their bodies allowing them to control the temperatures. Iclyn was able to control cold, while Flint was able to control heat. 

Iclyn was the model experiment, she did everything just as she was told. While she often heard her father talk about the ever difficult “Flint” or “The Fire Experiment”. Although she was never able to meet him. In fact, she didn’t know many people at all. Mostly just the doctors and staff at the laboratory. 

Flint on the other hand was quite unruly. He didn’t like that he was being experimented on. It didn’t help that his fire powers were very difficult to control. He burned almost everyone he touched. This made him isolated even more. He only ever interacted with his father. A very angry man that was jealous of his friend with the perfect child. To make matters worse in Dr. Sephiran’s eyes, his child had the illusion that he was actually supposed to be a girl. He began to hate his child. This lead to abuse and crossing lines in experiments. 

This was until one day, The Fire Experiment, determined that she was a girl and that she wanted out of this hell; escaped her cell and burned down almost the entire lab. Killing almost everyone inside except the other experiments. 

They were each kept in individual cells that were resistant to the powers that they had gained. This kept them safe from the girl’s explosion of power. 

Iclyn however, was with her father in the security room, which was not protected as the cells were. She watched as her father ran out, demanding her to stay in the room. She stared at the screens in horror as she watched everything she had ever known go up in flames. She watched as what she guessed was called “The Fire Experiment” seemed to take the form of a Phoenix. Her emotions took control of her as she watched her father become engulfed in flames. The entire room became coated in ice. Many of the screens went black due to being burned in the fire. 

She fell to the floor screaming and crying, as she knew her father was now dead. The temperature around her dropped well below freezing. Her hair completely froze and stood out like a tree covered in snow. 

She stayed on the floor of the iceberg that she created, she stayed there for what seemed like days. Then the thought occurred to her, the other experiments, are they still okay?

She got up looking through the security footage to see if the other kids were okay. She knew the codes to unlock everything in the lab. Perks of being the owner's perfect daughter I guess. She began looking through the files on the different experiments. She looked more at the Fire Experiment. 

She found a recent audio log: 

“Flint seems to believe that he is a girl, as if he couldn’t get any more of a disappointment.” She recognized the voice as Dr. Sephiran’s. 

“Well, if he thinks he’s a girl, I think we should respect that. Our children need to be comfortable.” She teared up at the sound of her father’s voice. 

“What? Are you kidding me? Of course not. He has a penis, he can’t be a girl. What about yours? What if Iclyn came up and said she wanted to be a boy? Then what would you do?” 

“Well, then I would have a wonderful son.” Dr. Shadowwalk replied. This was something that had never occurred to her. Sure she wasn’t very feminine, but she could be a boy? Hearing her father say “son” made her feel good. 

“Oh please, you have the perfect kid. You spoil her too much!” 

“I would accept my child as they feel they are. They are people too and they deserve love and respect!” They argued. 

“No, they are experiments, they’ll probably just die like the others before them.”

Iclyn gasped. “Others?” She whispered to herself. She went out of this audio log to find a folder labeled “Failed Experiments”. 

She decided she didn’t want to know. She went back to the security table, looking through the cameras. There were cameras in all of their rooms. All of the kids were okay! She had to help them. 

She thought for a second. Then I would have a wonderful son. Her father’s voice repeated in her thoughts. What if I am a boy?

She opened the cells to all of the other kids’ rooms. She left the security room on the second floor and looked down as several kids slowly walked out of their rooms. 

“Hey everyone! Um. So, I don’t really know what happened, but I guess the lab burned down.” 

They all looked around to see ash everywhere around them, the only things intact were the rooms they had just emerged from. She looked around at the lost kids’ faces. She seemed to be the oldest. 

“Look guys, we’re free now, but we need to stick together!” 

Suddenly a purple void opened next to her, and a boy came out of it and it closed behind him. 

“Hi! I’m Felix! I like your hair, it looks like a tree covered in snow. Like... Like a Juniper tree!” He then disappeared into a purple void again back to the ground floor near another kid, making a comment on their appearance.

Juniper. I like that. It fits better than Iclyn. Maybe I am a boy... He thought to himself. 

“I’m gonna go look for the girl that burned this down. She needs to know she’s safe, and that she can come back.” I also want to know why she did it. I want to know her side. “I’m gonna find us some food. Can you guys try to clean up a little and see if anything can be saved?” 

The kids agreed and began working. One girl approached her. “Um.. I think I can help you find her. If I can see a picture of her, I should be able to find her.” 

“Oh? Is that your ability?”

“I guess so? They’ve had me finding things for basically my whole life now. It started because I just liked finding things in those pictures that have a ton of other things in them. I could find one of the adults anywhere in the lab as long as I knew what they looked like.” She spoke quietly as if she was unsure of herself. “I wanna help.” 

“That would be wonderful. Thank you. What’s your name?” They began walking back up to the stairs back to the security room. 

“Sevyn. What’s yours?” 

“That’s a pretty name.” He paused for a moment, debating what to say. “Um.. Juniper.” 

“That’s a cool name.” She smiled.

[juniperashwrites]

[juniperashwrites]

Scarlet Shadows - J’s Backstory

He stood there in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil. It feels as if he had been staring for hours. Realistically, it's probably been about 5 minutes. The faint screams of parents in the other room were deafening and muffled at the same time. 

The fight was completely irrelevant to him. They barely even noticed he existed. He learned to stop feeling years ago when he kept getting yelled at for having emotions. 

Of course, his father thought that men shouldn’t have emotions. And mom. Well, she was too busy fucking around with dad’s friends or passed out drunk. Not that she gave a flying fuck about him. He decided he was done with this existence. He decided to just go to bed without finishing his dinner. 

He had planned to make macaroni and cheese. He just went to his room. He collapsed on his bed with his face in the pillow. He wanted to let out some emotion, but nothing happened. He laid there struggling to breathe with his face in the pillow. Eventually he turned over, staring at the ceiling for a while until he fell asleep. He woke up to a siren outside. He opened his eyes, but couldn’t see much, the whole room was filled with smoke.

[juniperashwrites]

I watched the mysterious man walk up the sidewalk to the corner of my street. I felt a little wave of panic and ducked down below the window. I sit by the window everyday and usually I watch the birds or the few cars go by and appreciate nature. But recently it’s been different. This man has been coming to my street almost everyday this week. Whenever I see him I usually duck down and hide because last time I watched someone walk by, they complained that I was creepy. Normally I would just hide when someone walks by and they leave within a minute or so. But this man stays there for a while. I’m not sure how long, I haven’t watched him long enough to know.

    I peeked back up to see if the man was still there, he was. Just standing there. Staring down the street. I couldn’t tell if he was looking at anyone or anything. I couldn’t see down that side of the street. He started walking very slowly down the street. I watched him go, thankful that he didn’t look up at me. I decided that I would be ready for him and tell my family that I would go for a walk. I would follow him, I don’t trust him. It’s probably nothing. But it gives me a bad feeling.

    The next day I waited. He never showed up. I waited for a few days. He finally came back after almost a week. I didn’t know why he disappeared, but I did know that it was finally my chance to follow him. I grabbed a flashlight knowing that it would be dark soon, I knew this would also double as a weapon if need be. I double checked my pocket for the lighter that my dad had given me years ago before he died. I used it as a good luck charm, I never took it out of my pocket. I ran downstairs and out the front door, as I knew that he couldn’t see me from there. I snuck around the corner to discover he wasn’t in the same place. He had already started walking. I hurried after him, using the trees and bushes next to the sidewalk as an advantage. I tried to make as little noise as possible. Thankfully the wind hid any rustling that I was causing.

    I followed him for what seemed like forever. I heard a noise behind me and I turned around to make sure no one was following me. But when I turned back, He was gone. I stood up straight from my hiding spot and looked around. There were two ways he could have gone. There were two streets in front of him before he disappeared. I snuck up to the fork in the road. I looked down the street one way. Suddenly I noticed that it was getting darker as the sun was setting. The first street had a few lights down it. As I turned my head, I suddenly noticed that I was looking at his back. I gasped quietly as I jumped back. I quickly dove into a bush to hide in case he heard me and turned around. I was thankful for the still blowing wind. I stayed in the bush for a bit, then I peeked out. I looked back to where he had been standing, and now he was walking down that street. I followed him quietly, realizing there were no lights on this street. There was still enough light as the sun was setting, but I knew that it would be gone soon. 

    He went into a very old beaten down looking house in front of a forest. It was a small house, it looked like it had been through hell and back. I watched him go inside, but he left the door open just a crack. I watched from a bush, waiting. For something, anything to happen. After what seemed like forever, I gave up watching and slowly went up to the house. The sun had set completely by now, so the only light I had was just the moon. I walked up the creaky steps. Suddenly, I got a wave of confidence. I walked up and creaked the door open. I had no idea what I was going to see, or what might happen. I had absolutely no plan for going in here, but I knew I had to. I knew that was a bad idea, but I couldn’t stop myself. I looked inside, I couldn’t see anything. When I stuck my head in, I noticed a strange smell. I knew that I should know what the smell was, but I couldn’t place it. I decided to ignore it for the time being. I held the flashlight tighter as I fumbled around with it to turn it on. It switched on briefly before it quickly flipped off. I pressed the button a few more times, only earning one more flash of light before going completely dead. 

    I gave up on the flashlight, reaching in my pocket for the lighter. I flicked it open and turned it on. Light finally filled the room. It was an empty living room. I didn’t see anything but walls and the floor. I made sure to leave the door open. I searched around the house, I found absolutely nothing. There were no closed doors, except the back door. I wondered if he maybe went out the back door into the forest. But now the door was open, just cracked open, like the front door was. I walked towards it, suddenly a gust of wind swung the door open and blew the flame of my lighter out. The wind then slammed the door closed, scaring me causing me to jump backwards. I slipped and fell backwards, the lighter flew out of my hand and on the ground behind me. 

    The ground was slightly wet, and of course since I had just fallen, it was all over me. I suddenly realized that the liquid on the ground was the source of the strange smell I noticed earlier. I began feeling around for my lighter. I wondered if the liquid all over the ground was blood or something. He seemed like someone who would be capable of murder. Maybe he was just covering it up this way. But it didn’t smell like blood. 

    I found my lighter, I stood up, holding my hand closer to my face to smell it as I lit the lighter with my other hand. I realized what the smell was as soon as I flicked the lighter on. The liquid was gasoline. Which was now all over me. As I was lighting the lighter. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. My hand burst into flames. My genius instinct was to pat it on my pants. In my panic, I dropped the lighter. Suddenly there was fire everywhere. I watched it all happen, I could hear myself screaming from pain. I desperately looked around for an exit that wasn’t blocked off. There fire was everywhere. It seemed to be in a circle around me. It just kept spreading. I screamed for help, still desperately trying to put the fire on myself out. Then there was a new smell, I looked at my hand that I had flicked the lighter on with. It was black and sizzling. I was going to die, and that smell was my own skin burning off. This is not what I had planned.

[juniperashwrites]

Day 1: Fear

You walked down the street with a horrendous feeling in your heart. Not completely sure why it was there, you continued on your walk. You felt the cool breeze of the fall air you've been waiting for. But then the chills find their way up your spine, the hair on the back of your neck standing on end. You take a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself down. But right about then comes the oh so stereotypical hoot of an owl that causes you to jump a bit. You laugh at yourself for a moment, then look around to the leaves falling off in the wind around you. The fall makes you feel so good and invited, but you can't shake that feeling that is stuck in the back of your mind. That feeling that just won't shake. It's Fear.