Steven Paul Watson, Author

VisDare 6: Emerging

(Click the picture to check out all the other amazing entries to this weeks Visual Dare)

“Perfect”

I want to smile. He walks up behind her, kisses the side of her neck.

I want to scream.

“Except…her eyes, everything is a perfect comparison….but my eyes are green.”

Your hair is also a brighter shade of red.

“Her eyes are blue.”

Because they’re not your eyes I want to say, they are hers. The one he thinks about when he isn’t with you, the one he knows he can’t have. He looks for only a moment before he twirls her to face him with a half-smile.

“I’ll fix it.”

He lies. Not the one, like the drugs and alcohol, she is nothing but another dragon for him to chase. I watch as he pulls her close with a kiss. I want to scream but know tonight I will go to him. And he will smile as he looks into the eyes of the one he wants.

VisDare 5: Obscure

(click the image to go to Angela’s page and check out all of the other wonderful Visual Dare entries!)

It was just a kiss, but she had been the one. The one whose patience ran out and he smiled as she looked away flushed with embarrassment.

“I am sorry I’m not who you want me to be. I’m not aggressive… I hold back.”

Her eyes shifted back to him.

“This is…more than I expected. You are the best friend I have ever had, the only true friend I’ve ever had. I fell for you without ever knowing your touch. For who you are. The person who hides from anyone who may be looking.”

She turned to face him as he leaned in, their noses and foreheads touched and he smiled, blue eyes on the edge of tears.

“I am afraid one of us is going to get hurt. And I know it will be me…I can’t bear the thought of not having you in my life.

I love you.”

(150 words)

Flower Blossom: Planting Seeds

Previous Flower Blossom Post

Ayiana knew the look, Byrne with his glasses pulled down to the tip of his nose. He leaned against his cane and wheezed with each breath from a hard life. His jaw stood firm as another man spoke but she kept her eyes on his. Neither of the two paid much attention to the others in the room. She imagined they were the eyes of a father; he was the closest thing she ever had to compare. They kept their silence and posture until the gathering dispersed leaving only the two of them. “I am sorry I failed you.”

Byrne smiled his sideways smile, “It was a long shot flower. We always knew that and you cannot beat yourself up over it. You did all you could.”

“Did I?”

“You nearly died trying to complete your assignment, nothing else could be asked.”

“”We lost the advantage…she knows I am out here now.”

“And no doubt has already assigned a Hound or two to track you.” Byrne turned to look at the map on the wall, “Others have suggested to exile you…some have even said to use you as a decoy while we attempt another shot at taking the Hive down.”

Ayiana stood slowly, walking toward him as she favored her side with each step. It had been weeks since the attack on the Hive but she still felt the wound on her side with each step. “I will do whatever the council wishes.”

Byrne laughed as he glanced to the young woman now at his side, “A loyal soldier through and through.”

“If not for you, I would have been ash ages ago. I owe you.”

“You have paid your dues to me kid, ten times over,” Byrne turned placing his hand under her chin raising her eyes to meet his own. “You are your own person and your fate is in your hands. You owe no soul a sacrifice, not me or anyone else. You only owe it to yourself to live.”

Neither of the two had seen Lewis, a calmly, quiet young man with hollow eyes as he stopped in the doorway. He looked away from the two of them when they noticed him and with a frown said, “Ayiana, Collins wants to see you.”

Ayiana gave Byrne a look of thanks and forced smile as she walked away. She would seek the old man out later to finish their conversation.

The office was dark when she entered, the exception of a blinking display from the radio on the barren desk. “Hello?”

Ayiana had spoken to Collins twice before, days after she came to be a part of the unit. The second time was two days before the Hive assignment, and she found the nerves build in her stomach as she shut the door. She had heard others say Owen Collins was a politician before the collapse she did not know exactly what that meant. She just knew more people looked at the man with fear rather than respect.

“You wanted to see me?”

“You don’t belong here.” Collins was older than Byrne though he didn’t look it; he stepped from the shadows with a glass in his hand half filled with something dark. “But then you don’t really belong anywhere. That has to be the loneliest of feelings does it not? No family, friends, no past and possibly no future.”

“I am sorry sir…”

“You are a clone; tell me have you ever been in love? Can you feel love?”

Ayiana’s lips parted to answer but nothing escaped…

“Then most people don’t know what true love is, we were a society that went through our lives using people. Going from person to person thinking of mostly only what we could achieve. What was in it for us without much thought about anyone else…”

Collins walked the distance of the room and pushed the slender glass into her hand. “I see it in your eyes.” His hand went down the side of her face to the tip of her chin, “You haven’t. I believe it is likely even rarer for you… You were raised in a canister to an age; the process sped up to meet a goal. And then mostly nothing but slaves, you age slower, you heal faster and most are never given anything resembling affection. But then most…of us never knew true affection either.”

“You…wanted to see me sir…” Ayiana stuttered she glanced down to the glass and then back to him as he walked away.

“It is all about the eyes; it gives answers even when you have no idea how to utter the words. It tells the other whether you are in love which is almost always automatic when asked the question. Your lips smile, but there is a wonderment, a kind of ecstasy in the eyes when a person is in love. It is easier to see a person who has been in love and lost it…the eyes are broken. The soul is broken because when they can’t have that person in their lives and that never truly goes away. In your eyes…I saw nothing. Blankness of something you have never experienced.”

“What is this about sir?”

“I am sending you away Ayiana…”

VisDare 4: Steps

You are no one.

Engraved in ink across his arm, he had hit bottom. Pathetic and lost. It had been the worst thing to happen to him and his own fault. Regrets he would have to live with the rest of his life.

No one to turn to, he’d kept anyone who pretended to be a friend at arm’s length. He’d confessed all in a stranger’s arms. No pretense. No expectations. Just truth. Written across her face, the same thoughts he had of himself.

It was easier. To admit he had thought of taking his own life. Knowing no one would miss him once gone. He knew he was not strong enough, he had been better off before living a lie. He did not know where to begin, to pull himself up and walk towards the light.

He had gotten what he had wished for all along, he was invisible.

(to check out others for this weeks Visual Dare click on the picture)

Ulysses Flashback

So…my goal for the year was supposed to be edit. A whole lot of editing. As I ended 2012, I was working on a flashback in the 2nd Ulysses book and for some reason today I found myself wanting to return to it. As when I was working on it before there was always something missing. The 1st book has several flashback chapters that follow a character other than my main Mia. Book two is much the same just the flashback in the second book follows a different character. I’m leaving out his name, as it should keep most spoilers out of the way. Just liked it enough I wanted to share.

He felt the touch of the cool air on his face, eyes closed, he tasted the salt from the sea on his lips. He never cared for the water…but she loved it. Sailing was the only fear he ever had. He knew with each trip across the ocean the possibility of not returning to her was there. He would leave her alone and he had done that far too much in his life. She had married him when they barely knew each other but he never doubted her heart. He could see it in her blue eyes when she looked up into his. Most considered him a brute, too often he knew what he was, hired muscle to most and now he was returning to that way of life. But in her eyes she saw something else; the man behind his size was heart.

He knew his return to the States this time was different. He would not be coming back across the sea, at least not for her. He leaned against the edge of the ship opening his eyes to get a better look at the waves as they splashed against the hull. The crucifix fell from his shirt and floated out around his neck. He brought his hand to the tip and closed his large hand around the silver pendant and pulled until the chain broke but continued to tighten his grip until he felt the tips pierce skin.

Slowly he opened his hand to see the small droplets of blood. “Why?” he questioned out loud not worried if anyone was around to see or hear. “Why did you have to leave me? I promised I was done; I would spend the rest of my days at your side. I had paid my debts.”

He again closed his fist around the crucifix; it was the last thing of hers he had. Again he closed his eyes with no attempt to fight the tears. He could hear her whispers on the whistling wind. Her voice soft and kind brought a smile to his face. “I am sorry.” He replied to the conversation only he could hear. He could almost see her smile now as he brought his hand to his face pushing the tears from his eyes. “I love you my sweet Katrina. I never thought…” He paused as he took a deep breath reaching his hand out in front of him and let the necklace dangle for a moment before he released it to the sea below. “I never thought my sweet rose, I would say goodbye to you.”

Approaching Darkness

((Wrote this for something else awhile back but for some reason didn’t post it. May have been the length or maybe I just wasn’t happy with it. But find myself wanting to post it now.))

(Don’t own the picture, found it on goggle)

His heart raced as if it was going to explode. It was just a simple message. The smile on his face and the feeling in his stomach was something he had not felt in ages. Though it was nothing more, a simple hello but it had been months since they had spoken. A year since he had seen her even if every time he closed his eyes he saw her beautiful smile as if it had been a minute before. They were no longer the friends they were let alone the couple they had been. He knew his faults; he was far from perfect and the first to admit it. So much of it was his own doing. Too often he knew the thoughts in his mind and just didn’t know how to say them as he had never felt that way before. He didn’t know how to say those words in the way they deserved. The enormity of how much she meant to him. He had never loved anyone before her. Not like that, not when every thought was of her. Not when he would find himself smiling for no reason other than she was a part of his life. He knew he had never let anyone into his life, his mind, like he did her. She had begged it of him over and over but it only seemed he could say it on paper and even then it was too late for them. He could say ‘I love you’ but knew that wasn’t enough. It did not adequately describe just how he felt about her and she deserved more. He knew she deserved more than he could ever give her in life, the only thing he could offer was his heart. She still had it even now after all this time even though he knew she had moved on. He had returned the message, just as simplistic as hers but in his mind the thoughts were there knowing what he wanted to say but couldn’t. Not now. That she was enough. She was more than anything he could have ever imagined for himself. She was all he ever wanted. She was perfect. Friends had told him there would be others. He had told himself there would be others. But he knew none would quite fill his heart with the happiness she did. He left the message off with a simple I miss you as he shut his laptop and looked out at the approaching darkness.

Unexpected Turn

Yes, this is a small continuation of Unexpected Storm.

(Found the picture on the net)

She crossed the snow covered yard, her tracks the only sign of life as she came to the icy road. He continued to try to spin his way out of the small incline of the drive but he was only sliding further into captivity. Devon with arms crossed against her chest felt the sun on her face and she could almost hear his curses over the roar of the engine. Her eyes opened when the screaming of tires stopped and she watched as he exited his truck slamming the door in anger. “I don’t think you are going anywhere Hun.”

He stopped giving her a wide eyed look of annoyance, “she is going to kill me.”

“As she should.”

“Don’t start.”

“You knew this day was coming, sooner or later you would get caught.”

Devon arrived at the back of the truck just as he approached the tailgate inspecting the rut his truck had slid into. She stepped in front of him as he tried to circle away from her. “Stop.”

She smiled her devilish grin as she stepped closer to him. “Why?”

“I have to go…I love her.”

“If you loved her, you would not be here with me.”

“This is just…”

“This is just what? Sex?” Devon placed her hand on the side of his face. “If you loved her like you claimed, you would not find a reason to come to me…”

“This is over…”

Devon slowly brought her hand down the side of his face, fingernails grazing the skin harder until she reached his chin and pulled fiercely cutting into flesh. She bit down on her lower lip fighting against the smile and giggle as he pulled away.

Moonlight Masquerade

My entry into Meg McNulty’s Masquerade blog hop 🙂

And the picture I used as inspiration for my entry (funny it isn’t the picture that made me want to write for this blog hop).

Tell No One!

It was the first rule and the hardest to keep. Nathan had spent the month since the mysterious package arrived trying to figure out which of his friends, small in number, had invited him to a masquerade. He almost didn’t come but so much about it begged him to step out of his comfort zone. He knew he would regret not taking the chance to see what it was about. He looked at his own reflection, the black mask covering most of his face and the horns that fell down the sides.

The horse drawn carriage stopped, lanterns hung to each side of the driver as if he had traveled from old London to retrieve him. The driver, in a hood that kept his face covered jumped down and opened the door letting him inside. The interior to the carriage was plush and velvet red, but he was surprised to see he wasn’t alone. A woman sat across from him, with a purple masquerade mask very different from his own with feathers sprouting out all around of different more lively colors. Her distinct blue eyes shined bright surrounded by the glowing purple.

The carriage began to move she smiled and leaned forward, “Where are we going?”

Nathan could not stop staring at her lips, red as the ripest of strawberries, “I don’t know…”

“I received this,” she motioned towards her dress and mask, “I still don’t know who it was from.”

“Me either…are we crazy?”

“It doesn’t seem real.” The carriage had moved maybe a mile when it stopped and both companions moved to the edge of the seats to look out. “Oh my gosh,” she muttered.

The carriage driver opened the door for them. Nathan stepped out and turned taking the mystery woman by her hand helping her from the carriage. The area was lined with torches and lanterns, the full moon high above finished lighting the area where nearly thirty people all in decorative masks, costumes, and dresses gathered. “Who…” Nathan went to raise his mask but was caught by his companion, her hand on his wrist.

“Second rule.”

Never remove the mask.

Nathan smiled at her as he lowered his hand, her fingers still tight around his wrist as she walked forward pulling him along. Nathan kept pace until they came to the head high stone columns as they turned to get a better look at the magical assembly. Nathan could now see the crowd clearly and the wonderment of it as people danced and talked. The gathering looked like it was plucked out of a book. Nathan felt his heart race as he turned to look at his carriage companion, her eyes as lost in wonder as his own and he knew his own smile mirrored hers. And he remembered the third and final rule.

Prepare for the night of your life.

Click the image to check out the other entries.

Be Inspired Blog Hop… Howling Moon

I said I was going to do this back in the summer for all of my current full manuscripts…I only did it for Ulysses and I figured it is time I should do it for Howling Moon. Mostly because it is the novel I am concentrating on the most at the start of 2013. And really as I’m writing this blog I just got to chapter 10 with my current edit/read through….

Now for the questions:

1.) What is the title of your book? Howling Moon

2.) Where did the idea for the book come from? This is one of those projects that I kicked around writing for several years, had a loose plot written up and everything as far back as 2009. In 2011 when I was preparing for NaNoWriMo, this was my third choice the month before. I’ve basically been a fan of werewolves since I was a kid…the first exposure to it was probably the old Werewolf television show and I guess I’ve been hooked on them ever since. Probably seen most werewolf movies ever made and have written and plotted out other werewolf stories in the past. But this is one that I was sort of just drawn to from the moment I plotted it. Once I got started writing it there were times it really just seemed to write itself.

3.) What genre would your book fall under? Horror, Suspense

4.) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Emily (Kate Mara)

Ashley (Meaghan Rath)

Colin (Eric Christan Olsen)

Bradley (Sam Elliott)

Lauren (Lauren Cohen)

5.) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? (Ignoring the one sentence rule here) Emily Meyer is in a terrible car accident and attacked by a mysterious creature when she wakes in the hospital days later and her life is turned upside down. She begins to have horrifying nightmares and her body begins to change as she starts to realize what it was that attacked her. She realizes she is being hunted by the beast even now and fears she may be becoming one herself.

6.) Is your book published or represented? No/No

7.) How long did it take you to write? I had a completed 70 k rough drafted completed during nano 2011.

8.) What other books within your genre would you compare it to? I haven’t read near enough Werewolf novels to compare it too… But this is definitely more in the vein of classic werewolf, horror stories.

9.) Which authors inspired you to write this book?

10.) Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.

It’s an emotional struggle, as Emily has to not only deal with being hunted. Her family. But the changes she is going through as she realizes the greatest threat to her family and friends maybe herself.

Sneak Peak:

Guess spoilers ahead…as this sneak peak is taken from Chapter 9 but has a lot to do with the first chapter.

“The pretty girl can humor me with her help but you don’t mind given us a moment or two to talk do you Dwight…” Colin took a step back, he never even tried to correct the old man when he called him by his father’s name.

Emily took the old man by the hand but could tell he did not need help as they entered the cabin. She paused just inside the door and looked back at Colin whose back was now to her looking off towards the woods. Then she saw the old hound, only a couple steps behind he kept an eye on her with a quivering lip showing his aged teeth. The very presence of the dog caused her to take a couple clumsy steps forward into the cabin. “Shut the door,” she broke from her gaze on his dog just as she shut the door. As Emily turned she noticed the armory in the living room, which also doubled as a dining room and possibly the bedroom of the cabin. The table was covered with ammunition, a couple rifles and three hand guns she turned as she felt him step close to her. “Have you a snort,” Bradley stated as he handed the glass to her, she did not even ask as she brought it to her lips and swallowed. Not even a cough as the bitter tasting liquor burned her tongue, down her throat and to her chest she could feel it. “An experienced drinker,” he said with a smile as he took the glass and returned to the small kitchen area. A stove, a fridge, and a couple big fridge size cabinets made up the most of the room. It was separated from the other room only by a bar counter very similar to the one in her own home.

“I have had my share,” Emily replied again she turned to look at the living area, a couch pulled out as a bed, covers and pillows scattered about and several duffle bags of clothing and other accessories scattered around the room.

“I bet young lady,” she smiled at the thought of the conversation being about her experience in the consumption of alcohol but he still called her ‘lady’. Emily saw yet another handgun as it peaked out from under the pillow of the make shift bed. She turned to look behind her, as it was hidden by the door there sat a shotgun and a large machete. “Another?” she turned just as he stepped back into the room, she showed no hesitation as she took the glass and in unison they both took down their shots. She handed back her glass and returned his smile. “So you are here because you wanted to know what an old man saw.”

“You did see it didn’t you?” Emily questioned, she watched as he returned to the counter and began to pour a couple more shots.

“To be honest sweetheart I don’t know what I saw that night,” he replied a glance back over his shoulder at her. “I almost didn’t see you there in the road,” he took another drink of his own before he refilled his glass and approached her. “I wasn’t driving fast or anything of the sort when I came into those curves but see my judgment may have been slightly obscured…” Bradley lifted his glass into the air with a smile. “What happened in that last curve was enough to sober up just about anyone.” He finished off his drink and watched as Emily did the same, he took both glasses back to the sink but did not refill them. He walked past her and took a seat at the table. “I never actually saw the animal miss, was a feeling as I came out of that last curve something kept my attention off the road and to the embankment where you wrecked. The truth I never even saw your car until after I picked your broken body from the pavement. I only saw shadows…I was nearly on top of you before I saw you there, swerved to miss and was several car lengths past before I even realized what you were.” Emily’s complexion was of shock, she did not know what to think of the fact the reason she was alive was due to man drinking and driving. “Something about that night, in that moment…I almost couldn’t make myself get out of the truck. I was startled but it was more than just about hitting you, something inside scared me shitless. I backed my truck, locked my driver’s door and scooted across the seat. I wasn’t outside of the truck…a minute total as I scooped you off the ground and put you in the truck. Even bumped your head on the door in the process…I never looked at your wounds, you were covered in blood. I just knew I had to get you out of there. Even over the roar of my engine I heard it in the darkness, the intense hate filled growl like no dog I have ever heard. I pulled the door shut and locked it, crawled over top of you back to my seat and really I could not get out of their fast enough. You just kept muttering for god to help you dear.”

“I am thankful you were there,” Emily said she had not moved from her position just inside the door of the cabin. For the first time she saw the papers at her feet, scattered and opened they were all about the attacks.

“That’s not all…” the old man looked ashamed to finish, she could see him shake and the fear set in on his face. “As I drove away I saw something in my rear view, it was mostly just a shadow but at the very spot where you laid I saw it. As tall as any man it stood and stretched and I swear I was a mile away, music on…the sound of your wounded breathing and mumbling, my own heart I still heard it whelp out in anger over a missed meal.”

Unexpected Storm

No Prompt….was just hit with a bit of inspiration this morning and felt like posting it…. Don’t own the picture, found it on goggle. 🙂

Unexpected Storm

Snow fell at a perfect speed; the forecast had only called for overcast skies and a chance of flurries. None were prepared for the coat that now covered the land with no stop in sight. Ice and snow clung to the trees making everything glisten in the sunlight as it fought to melt the chill but only made it stand stronger in its stubbornness.

Red hair clung to pale skin and redder lips bit at the cold with a smile of innocence. She kicked at the snow with ill fitted unlaced boots, watching it dust over the nearby bushes. She tugged at her white dress with exposed sleeveless arms, keeping the slip of fragile cloth from dragging at the snow, the cold air drifted up her bare legs and the exposed snarling wolf tattoo. She always did enjoy winter.

She fought at the giggle as the sound of squealing tires broke her from the wonderment of the falling snow, a glance back to her home. She still remembered his words, how he needed to get back to her. Her lips smiled exposing teeth with delight; it was to be a snow day for all as her eyes looked on with devilish intent.