Writing Excerpts

Basically? Time Vampires

Note: The [] brackets indicate a missing word, or, in this case, a missing name. I also surround words in brackets when it's not quite the right word but I'm not sure what ought to go in its place.

She stands on the outskirts of the streets, hands in her deep pockets. She's feeling old again, too tall. Her hands are slim and shaky and coated with sweat because it's far too hot outside today. She turns the stopwatch in her pocket and she feels the now slimy surface and shudders.

The crowd in front of her is wary. Not for any particular reason. They eye each other, brows furrowed and deeply wrinkled. Then she sees him, and he sees no one.

He saunters forward and expects them to move out of his way. His face is clear and smooth, his eyes bright and young. He looks like a teenager, but she knows better. He's too cocky, too sure of himself. She slips out into the crowd and follows, careful not to bump into anyone, not to look so confident in herself. She starts to go faster, hunching over to look as if she's in a rush, flicking her gaze from person to person but making sure he's still in her line of sight. He makes it easy. Commotion follows his swaggering walk.

Then he turns onto a smaller street. Only a few people are around him. She slows as he turns onto the street, yawning and blinking her eyes in the hopes of looking tired. He doesn't seem to notice, but she can't see his face so she isn't sure. She speeds up again as the crowd around them thins. The gap between them gradually closes.

He turns suddenly, pivoting on his heels. She stops too, hoping she looks startled enough for it to seem like an accident. To be fair, she is quite startled.

"You're one of []'s, right?" He says, his voice cold but not unfriendly. She doesn't say anything, only takes a small step forward. "Yeah, you are! The one he brags about." She flinches and slips her hands in her pockets, grabbing at her stopwatch. In a split second, he lunges forward and narrowly misses her as she slides out of his way. Her hand passes by his pocket and she makes a grab for it. She just barely finds the chain and whips it from his pocket [to] behind her back.

His lips turn downward into a snarl, and she sees his fangs in the corner of his mouth. She startles and fumbles for the clasp on his stopwatch, opening it in front of her face. He immediately freezes and stumbles back, growing in front of her eyes. She shrinks to a comfortable height and sighs contentedly.