Creative Writing Assignments

The Olive of my Eye

Click. Click. Click. The endless sounds of keyboard typing fill Olive's home office. She has been sitting in front of her computer screen for hours. Days even. She is clearly exhausted. If it were anyone else they would have most likely gone to bed by now. Olive is different.
                                                                Olive POV
I can feel my eyes dropping. The light from the computer screen is starting to hurt my eyes. Everything around me has been blocked out of my mind, everything except for what is on the screen in front of me. The words that paint the documents I'm reading start to blend together. My curly hair is frizzing and covering my face, I don't bother to move it out of the way. I'm exhausted, ready to fall into a deep sleep at any moment. I can't. I must figure out this case. I must...figure..out..this..case.
All I see is darkness, pitch black. No one is in sight. My surroundings are completely silent. I can't even see my hand in front of me. This is creepy. I reached for my department-issued gun. It's not there. I took off my utility belt. I'm without weapons, and stranded in a mysterious and unfamiliar area. Oh no.
Brian POV
It's three am. It's three am and my partner Olive hasn't responded to my phone calls. Sure, she may just be working, like always, but this was different. She's a police officer. She works long hours, without stopping, and often buries herself so deep in her work she blocks out everything around her. This was still different. I can feel it. I just know something has happened.
I know that something happened to her. Being friends for so long, we have a sort of bond. I know there is something amiss. What is it? I can't be the only one sensing this. Right? Someone else has too. "Brian?" That brought me out of my deep thoughts. Rosie was standing in the doorframe of our shared bathroom, her brown eyes filled with distress. She looked so adorable I almost zoned out again. "Have you heard from Olive?" Rosie was clutching her hair brush as she said this. She looks worried. "No. Not for hours." I responded. I knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear because of the way her eyes widened in fear. Rosie is a real transparent person. You can always tell what she is feeling, and right nwo she is worried, terrified even. "I feel something in my chest. Olive is in trouble." That statement sent a chill down my spine. I knew it.
Olive POV
The eerie silence is deafening. My own breathing is the only thing I can hear. Where am I? What is happening? How is this happening? Am I just dreaming? I pitched myself just to be sure this wasn't a dream. Ow. Yep definitely not dreaming. This is real.
I feel like I've been here for hours. How long has it been? Long enough to file a missing persons report? Mere minutes? Years? Who knows. All I know is that I'm trapped here. There's so obvious a way for me to escape, there may be no way out at all. I'm usually never one to ask for help, but please someone help me.
Rosie POV
"Rosie?" Brian said, while turning his head towards me. "Olive has never been MIA for this long." His face squirmed in concern. I know he loves Olive like a little sister. I love her dearly as well, she's been my best friend ever since she started in Brian's work department. I don't want to think about something horrible happening to her. That is why, now at five am. We head out of our middle class apartment, start up our shared car, and head towards Olive's home.
Olive POV
I can feel my strength leaving my body. It feels as though someone is soaking up my life energy straight from my body. Nothing has changed. I don't know how long it's been. For all I know it could be months or even years later. The darkness seems like it's closing in on me. There's nowhere for me to go.
Maniacal laughter suddenly sounds from the darkness. I jumped at the sudden noise, who or what was that? "Who's there?" I say timidly, chills traveling through my body. "You don't recognize my voice?" I heard in response. "I'm hurt Olli." That struck a nerve. Olli? I haven't been called that since I was eight. It's been so long, I don;t even remember who gave me that nickname. "What? Cat got your tongue?" The voice said this in a more threatening way. "Who are you? How do you know who I am?" I said trying to maintain my sanity. "You can call me..." The voice started to answer, but didn't finish. I looked around me, no one was there. A few seconds later a bright light flashed behind me. I turned around. A transparent girl, wearing a mid-length dress covered in stains was staring me in the eyes. Her hair was short, and wavy, it was a platinum blonde color. She looked gorgeous, especially her eyes. Her eyes were a sage green. A wonderful shade, however, they looked empty, almost lost. "Recognize me now Olli?" The girl said, coming closer with a devilish grin. My eyes widened in realization. "Ellie?" I mumbled out.
Third Person POV
Olive stared at the spirit in disbelief. Flashbacks plagued her mind. Memories of when she was a kid and Ellie Anderson would babysit her when her parents were away. Images of the fun they would have in the park and the woods behind her home. She remembered watching the newscast and her mother suddenly turning it off and telling her to go play with her toys. Memories of her asking her mom why she started staying with her grandmother and not Ellie anymore. She also remembered not getting an answer. It all came rushing back. She never saw Ellie again. She also never knew why.

15 years earlier...

 
Ellie(Past) POV
School today was awful. Why do I need to learn algebra? It's not like I'm ever gonna use it outside of school anyway. At least it's a nice day out. I should call Mandy and see if she wants to hang out today.
"Hey!" I hear a voice say from behind me. I turn around and I start to immediately feel faint. Fumes fill my senses, I can't my limbs. My mind is like mush. I hear faint  voices, speaking incoherently. I can't make out what they are saying. My eyes feel heavy. Suddenly everything goes dark.
Ellie(Present) POV
Olive standing in front of me reminds me of the times before everything went down. The days I was happy. I had great friends, a wonderful family, and an amazing little girl to hang out with every Wednesday and Saturday. That's part of the reason I sought her out. I wanted to be reminded of what I was before I became like I am now. Unfortunately, happy memories aren't the only ones to return.
I remember waking up in a dark basement. It was completely dark and entirely silent. The sounds that could be heard each day was the sound of the basement door opening and closing and the locks being checked throughout the day. A middle-aged man coming down the basement steps everyday at the same time. I remember the chains that burnt into my skin and rubbed against me constantly. I remember the constant beatings that made me feel like I was going to perish at any given second. There were multiple of them a day. At least three, one for each meal. The beatings consisted of whipping, kicking, and occasional knife carving. Each point of contact felt like I was in a never ending avalanche. It felt like rocks and sharp ice shards were continuously ramming themselves into me. I remember him carving things into my skin and descriptively telling me how he felt while doing so. It brought him immense pleasure seeing me be so hurt I was on the edge of death. He took pride in how he handled me, how much he hurt me everyday. I remember him tightening the chains around my wrists and ankles every night. I could feel him touch me in my sleep. I remember being sick, violently ill for days on end. No medicine, constant beatings. I remember my last day, how everything went like usual. Whipping, carvings, rape, starvation, and pure torture. This particular day, he was more harsh. He spoke of how he had tired of me and needed someone new. A new specimen. I can clearly picture him holding a gun in his right hand and a bat in his left. I remember him beating me with the bat for an hour and then suddenly, without any warning, pulling the trigger.  "Elektra." I said coldly. "My name is Elektra now. Ellie is gone."
Olive POV
I stayed silent. I didn't know what to do. It was like I was frozen in place. "Why so silent Olli?" Ellie–Elektra said. "Aren't you happy to see me?" She looked at me with a menacing facial expression. I remained silent. "You're the officer assigned the Brinlee Agman case, correct?" Elektra said while slowly coming closer to me. I backed away. I could sense that this wasn't the same sweet, compassionate Ellie I knew when I was young. Her nature has changed, she is angry, vengeful and dangerous. I can feel it. "Yes." I responded. I felt faint. My head was spinning and I could hear Elektra laughing. "Good answer." That was the last thing I heard.
Brian POV
We pulled into Olive's driveway. Her house was dark, not a single light was on. Rosie quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. I followed suit and got out of the car. We ran towards the door and discovered it was unlocked. Olive never left her door unlocked. Something happened. We entered the house and everything looked to be in order, except one thing. All of Olive's personal belongings were gone. Her phone, her makeup, her favorite jewelry. Everything except for the furnishing that came with the house was missing. I entered her home office. No one was there. I walked over to the desk in the corner of the room. "Rosie!" I yelled. Rosie came running into the office. "What is it?" she said in a panicked voice. Her black hair was disheveled and looked a mess. I nodded her over to the desk and we both stared down at a notepad. Written in red ink and mysterious handwriting was...

    "The dove returned to the ark with a wild Olive branch."