This week, one of the prompts we could use was a "storm" so that's exactly what I've done. As a quick reminder on what happened last week (You can read it here): Bethany was waiting for a man to appear, she's nervous but tries not to show it. Finally, the man arrived and her final line before today's flash was:
“General Hodgins, I presume?”
“General Hodgins, I presume?”
Light of Time 2
He came to
stand a few feet away from her. Bethany’s breath caught and her stays seemed to
dig into her ribs but she managed to remain still as a statue and not gasp for
air like she wished to do.
The man did
not confirm his identity. Not that he needed to. She’d heard the stories and
there was no confusing him. He was tall as the northern folk and his hair was
gold like wheat bathed by the sun, but it was the scar on his skull what gave
him away. He wore his long hair tied back in a ponytail and the sides of his
head shaved, a long pink scar coming from the back of his left year to the back
of his right. That scar was a reminder of the vulnerability of her position.
Women talked of how handsome General Hodgins was, but men, men talked about the
war, the blood, the deaths. They talked about Hummingbird 121 and all the men
that went down with that Zeppelin. All except one: General A. Hodgins. No one
knew how he survived, but he had. Unwillingly, Bethany shivered.
As if
sensing her discomfort, Hodgins finally bowed his head in silent answer to her
question. Bethany’s pulse jumped. It was him. There were so many questions that
needed answering, so many things that she didn’t understand but he did. Or so
he claimed. He had been the one to seek her out and contrary to what everyone
had advised, she had accepted seeing him.
“B. G.
Deléger,” he said, straightening his back. His voice was deep, with a husky
quality to it that made it seem like he was whispering or about to. Bethany
stiffened. Though his face was an unreadable mask and his eyes were hidden behind
dark golden rimmed glasses she had a feeling that he was observing her and
measuring her. Was she up to his
standards?
“Perhaps we
shall go inside, General Hodgins?” Bethany smiled. Her hands were shaking inside
her pockets but her voice had remained steady and she was proud of the feat.
“Do you
fear the storm, B.G.?”
Her smile disappeared
as readily as it had come. Her heart climbed to her throat and a memory she had
long thought buried reappeared in her mind.
“Do not call
me that,” she ground out the words, and absentmindedly clutched the watch at
her neck.
“My
apologies.” Hodgins bowed his head, his long hair swaying from side to side. “but
you have not answered my question.” Bethany swallowed, nerves fluttering in her
belly as Hodgins grasped the right leg of his glasses and pulled them off. Her
tiny gasp was swallowed by the loud crack of thunder that shook the world
around them. “Do you fear the storm, Beth?”
Bethany hurried
to look away. She glanced at the Church’s dimly lit garden and pathway. Gone
was the comfort of the lamp lighter. Gone was the warmth of the bright lamps.
Now, their metal structures quivered and the fires captured within their glass
domes trembled with them, drawing eerie shadows in the pavement. The trees that
once offered shade to the Nuold’s believers now shook with the onslaught of a wind
that grew bolder with every passing second. Her gaze went to the sky. The stars
were gone and in its stead a grey mass illuminated by bolts of lightning took
control of the skies.
Hodgins
moved to her side to watch the oncoming storm. He wasn’t touching her, but he
had moved closer and her body felt his heat as if his long fingers were resting
on her body.
Was she
afraid of the storm? No. She had seen countless storms since the day of her
birth in this sad planet. Every day at eight o’clock the world would tremble
and become pelted with heavy drops of water. No, she didn’t fear nature.
“No.”
What she
feared were the eyes she felt gazing down at her and the man that possessed
them.
To be continued...
And now go check out the rest of this week Briefers!
Love this. Your voice is so compelling. Fantastic last line.
ReplyDeleteSo short! I like it though; it almost seems like it might be another world ... since it doesn't storm regularly on Earth at any time. I can't wait to see what happens next and more of the back story of Beth and the general.
ReplyDeleteDo I sense a budding VERY passionate romance blooming? Maybe? The calm before the storm ;)
ReplyDelete