A twist of Fate

Seriously wondering what the hell is wrong with me. I took a two month break from writing my novel (which by the way was close to a completely semi-finished first draft). I just suddenly was not motivated to continue and then I started focusing my attention on the short story which if you've been reading the blog you'll have seen at least one part of I'm sure. Finally yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and take a look at my other manuscript and try to do some more work on it.

That was possibly the worst mistake of my life. In the 10 minutes I worked on it I threw in a twist that was completely out of left field.  Now, it completely reworks the entire dynamic of the story and I have to go back and throw in hints and continue into the end while somehow working this extra tidbit into the basis of the story. I feel like this was some sort of form of procrastination, I was so close to being done and being done meant there was no where to go from there but into the editing process. Is changing the story my way of not finishing it?

That's what I thought, however taking another 10 minutes today, I added in a few sentences reworked a couple paragraphs and suddenly I realised I had connected the seemingly giant gap that had prevented me from deeming this draft complete. Somehow, it is finished. By no means complete, or publishing ready as there had major corrections I have yet to go back and make not to mention this new twist needs to be added in earlier. The bones of the story however are entirely finished. I can't even figure out how this happened and I'm shocked. Now it's just a matter of taking the corrections I received, applying them and reworking,  writing the story a little more until in my eyes it's acceptable to be viewed.

Only one other person, aside from myself has been able to read my writing but considering the amount of time that it took me to actually complete the beginning of the novel (though I had changed it since) reads like a different style. I'm hoping now that the stress of finishing the story is over I can really work on improving the flow of the tale. Fiction is great in the sense that you can write whatever you want, but over time my mind jumped around so much in the story that its a wonder any of it connects at all.

My chaotic mind is now working on formatting what I do have into a template and I will get to revise with my edits from that point. Wish me luck! Here's where the real work begins.

Daltons Part 5

The Dalton's Short Story, Fantasy Fiction continues with Part 5

PART ONE: http://thewriteaddictions.blogspot.ca/2013/04/a-daltons-short-story.html

PART TWO: http://thewriteaddictions.blogspot.ca/2013/07/a-daltons-short-story-ctd.html

PART THREE: http://thewriteaddictions.blogspot.ca/2013/07/daltons-part-3.html

PART FOUR: http://thewriteaddictions.blogspot.ca/2013/07/daltons-part-4.html

Lia sighed as she heard the phone click on the other end. She felt like screaming, he had every right to be upset, she'd promised the ring would be safe with her and in the few minutes she'd let it out of her sight it had vanished. That guy, at the bar she should have known he was up to something, possibly even a demon, she hadn't bothered to check, that was how distracted she had been. When she'd kissed him, she hadn't been expecting to feel anything she had really just been trying to hide from her brothers. The trouble was, she had felt something, something far more than she'd ever expected and in those few seconds she'd allowed herself to be distracted enough to let the ring slip from her possession and now that idiot was wandering around town doing god knows what with it. This was where she hated to admit that Jake was right, he never let himself get distracted by a girl and in the one time she had everything had backfired on her, guys were trouble plain and simple. That rude, conceited, self absorbed pretty boy had her ring, Tristan's ring and there was nothing she could do about it until she found him. She hadn't even been able to tell her brothers the whole truth, she'd told them part of the truth, she had talked to a guy and he'd managed to take the ring from her. She'd left out the whole hiding and kissing part, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them and she didn't feel like having to deal with their superiority complex right now. Putting her phone back in her bag she got out of the charger and started patrolling the town. He wasn't from there, but she hadn't really been interested enough to find out what he was doing there, she had nothing to go on but a first name and a vague description. If it had been a demon there was a good chance they'd stashed the ring and switched bodies to ensure she couldn't find them. God, she was an idiot; she had never considered herself a stupid person, but in that moment she was almost positive there wasn't a dumber hunter on the entire planet. As she made her way through town she kept her green eyes alert searching for any hint of him. Her first stop was the bar, if her instincts about this guy was right, he probably patrolled there on a regular basis which meant someone would have to recognize him, maybe even have an address for her. As she stepped up to the corner she heard her phone go off in her bag. Reaching in she answered it quickly "What is it Jimmy?" she paused for a moment listening to her brothers voice on the other end "You found him? No, don't, just watch him this is something I need to take care of myself" she told her brother. There was a score to settle and she had to be the one to do it.
****
"She said to leave him" Jimmy told his older brother with a shrug.
"What? You're kidding me right? She sends us out on a man hunt and tells us to stand down?" Jake was already suspicious of this whole situation but even just as he got a look of this guy  his protective instincts went up. Lia was the only sister he had, and the youngest in the family. Once their parents had died, then their Grandfather to follow it had been up to him to step into father mode and that meant making sure nothing happened to anyone else that he cared about. "I'm getting to old for this" he said running a hand along his cropped blond hair twenty-eight was by no means old, but he'd been doing this for fourteen years already, keeping his sister safe, keeping everyone safe, it was his job. Lia would be the death of him, and he didn't mean it in a bad sense. It was never a joke he would make out loud either because he knew, despite her tough exterior, that she blamed herself for the deaths of their family. He still didn't know how an eight year old could possibly rationalize blame for a brutal murder but somehow, she had and continued to do so. Everytime she was out of his sight he worried, what if she got hurt, killed, raped, pregnant, heart broken. He knew he'd trained her well, that their Grandfather had trained them all well but he couldn't stop worrying. He knew that if anything happened to Lia or Jimmy he would just give up on life, there wouldn't be anything left worth protecting, not for him at least. So, he was the hard-ass, he had to be to make sure they listened, to make sure they were safe. He would never be adventurous like Lia, or Carefree like Jimmy but he was the reason they could be both of those things, even if they never knew it. His cold blue eyes narrowed and focused on the guy inside, he was young and didn't look like much a demon but he also knew in their line of work you couldn't judge a book by it's cover. "Lets go" He stated moving inside the diner.
"Jake Wait!" Jimmy said but followed him in anyway pulling him into the furthest booth from the guy. "She said to leave it!" he hissed quietly, normally he wasn't one to disobey his brothers lead but he also wanted to give Lia a chance to fix whatever exactly was going on here which she wouldn't be able to do, if Jake went all Big brother on the guy.
"She also said to keep an eye on him...that's all we're doing relax" Jake said straightening himself up in the seat as his eyes fell back to the kid. "He doesn't look like a demon, an idiot yes, a demon no" he said quietly. The kid was staring at the ring like it was the answer to all of his problems. If Jake didn't know any better he might have classified the guy as lovesick.
"How does he look like an idiot?" Jimmy asked curiously glancing over his shoulder for a good glimpse of the kid. "He looks... like a normal twenty something guy" he said confused.
"Exactly...so an idiot" Jake offered.
"Hey!" Jimmy said turning back to face his brother. "I'm a twenty something guy"
"You just keep making my point" Jake added with a bit of a smirk. Jimmy was not, a textbook idiot in the most obvious sense. He knew Latin, they all did and were fluent in it. He could recite most, if not all urban legends and pagan myths from memory, or at  least know where he needed to look to find the answers. He was however, a kid at heart which Jake usually had no time for. "Wow you don't even have a clever counter for that?" he asked. He had thought they were done with this town, the vampires had been taken care of and they were supposed to get in the car and book it until they found another case. Then, Lia had found that stupid ring and now they were stuck here until she figured out what it meant. Personally he would have just let the guy handle it himself, it wasn't their problem, if his Dad was missing he had probably been messing around in things he never should have been and it had come back to bite him in the ass. "I just want to get the hell out of dodge if you know what I mean" he said his eyes still staring at the kid a few tables away. He had a bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling.
"I'm kind of more interested in this Tristan kid" Jimmy admitted and Jake couldn't help but agree, he'd been thinking the same thing.
"Yeah, the fact that he had that ring in the first place is suspicious enough, but he didn't put it on... he didn't do anything with it, that makes me think he knows a lot more than Lia seems to think he does" he said thoughtfully. If he had something that belonged to his parents, the last thing he'd found of theirs, he'd probably wear it. In fact, he did wear his father's wedding ring on his right hand and he knew Lia had their mothers on a chain around her neck. Jimmy, hadn't wanted anything he said he didn't need them to remember and Jake had never pushed it further than that. Thinking back to Tristan, the kid had also dropped the ring on the middle of the street? If it was his one and only key to finding his father you would think he'd want to be more careful than that. "None of it adds up" he stated, but he still didn't think Tristan was as much of a threat as this kid they were minding now. They could handle whatever came their way, that he was certain of.
****
Pushing through the doors of the diner she heard the bells go off as she entered. Her eyes scanned the room and settled on two familiar faces she hadn't been planning to see inside. Her denfensive nature rose as she saw her brothers there. They shouldn't have been inside, to her it meant they didn't think she could handle herself and there was nothing more infuriating than that. She saw her target at the other end but she wans't even going there until she got them out. Moving to the booth she leaned on the table with her elbows. "So what part of don't do anything was unclear?" she asked her voice was dripping with obvious annoyance and there was nothing she could do to hide it, nor did she want to. "Get out.. I said I would handle this I don't need you hovering" she snapped.
"Fine but this spells trouble Lia I don't like this kid" Jake said
"You don't like anyone" she reminded him but remained steady on her point. "Out! Now" she straightened again and watched them both her green eyes glowing dangerously as she waited for them to listen. After a few brief moments of standing her ground she watched as both her brothers surrendered and stood from the booth moving past her Jake grabbed her wrist as he passed and pulled her to face him.
"I mean it Lia... get the ring and get out" he warned before letting her go and walking out. She was a little shaken by Jake's reaction, he'd always been 'in charge' but he seemed a little more intense than usual and that was enough to put her on edge.Taking a moment to recover she remembered quickly why she'd come there in the first place and quickly turned back around. She slammed directly into someone and it took one look to realise it was Hunter.
"I thought that was you" he said with a grin. "Sorry... I didn't think you were going to head this way" he took a slight step back but was still too close for comfort. Lia had not exactly been expecting to run into him like that, she'd had it all planned out in her mind and this one hitch seemed to have jumbled her thoughts completely. Gaining her composure she looked at him and nodded her head to the door.
"Follow me" she said and turned heading outside. As she moved she slipped a bottle from her bag and once they were safely outside she turned and threw the contents of it in his face.
"What in the hell was that for?" he asked. It wasn't the first drink he'd had thrown in his face he would admit that but usually those were of the alcoholic variety, this just seemed to be water.
"...You're human" she observed. The bottle had been holy water, and there was no way it was faulty she'd created it herself.
"Excuse me?" he asked and she realised quickly he really was just a stupid guy who'd thought it would be funny to take her ring, either that or some kind of common thief. Now it was time to back peddle.
"That! Was for taking my ring you arrogant ass" she said and while that was not the whole truth, it was a substantial part of it.
"This ring?" he asked holding it out for her but pulled his hand back quickly as she reached for it. "One date"
"...what?" she asked. Was he really seriously right now, this was no time for negotiations. "How about you hand it over and I don't kick your ass" and she could see he was amused at the thought as though she wouldn't be able to. He was tall, she'd give him that otherwise she normally would have been able to have it back in a matter of seconds but it was completely out of her natural reach.
"What's one date? I'll give you the ring back at the end. If you don't have a good time I'll leave you alone" he offered and she could feel herself fuming. Of all the low handed tricks he thought he could bargain her into a date with him? It was seriously pathetic, but she also knew it was somewhat working. She wasn't going to have a good time so at least she could assure he'd stop bothering her and well, he was right, what was one date.
"Fine... but you give me the ring now" she said after all it wasn't her ring.
"No way! That's my only leverage babe it sticks with me" he said.
"Don't call me that..." she warned and it was only the crowds of people pushing by that were ensuring his safety at the moment, she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, not if they were stuck in town for a couple more days. "Meet me here at five with the ring" she said. The grin that appeared on his face, she may as well have been proving to a kid that Santa Claus was real, which of course he was.... but that was a terrifying reality she didn't wish to relive anytime soon.
"You got it" he stated and rolling her eyes she turned on her heels and walked away, only one thing certain on her mind; Jake was not going to be happy.