urban fantasy – Kenzie Leong's Creations

Lucy

A shadow has infinite forms, and yet it was not until ages and eons past my birth, when my daughter’s blood soaked my feet, that I first took the shape of a fool.

I am a thing of cold and dark. When this world first formed, a fragment of the blackness between stars broke away and walked upon its cooling surface. When the world first sprouted Life, the blackness swallowed a piece and became me. When Life learned to think and speak, I laughed at their attempts to give me a name.

I have had many names. I have only had one daughter.

Aggressive Mimicry (3/3)

They found Trent’s car at the Bird Island parking lot.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Nolan said. “Actually you probably shouldn’t.”

Rosalie was already unbuckling her seatbelt. “Go to hell,” she said without much venom. “Do you have ear plugs?”

“Uh.”

Rosalie reached into her purse, pulled out one pair, and made to toss a second in his direction before hesitating. “Wait, you don’t—like you’re not into girls, right? Or guys? Or… people? Will they even—”

“They almost got me once,” Nolan admitted. “The song told me there were night heron hatchlings on Bird Island.”

“God, you are such a nerd.” She flung the earplugs at him, then herself out of the car.

Aggressive Mimicry (2/3)

A knock at his bedroom door dragged Nolan away from his class notes on estuarine wetlands, with great reluctance. He looked over his shoulder with a bleary-eyed glower to find Trent cracking the door open, poking in his head and one bare shoulder.

Nolan was beginning to wonder if his roommate actually owned any shirts.

“Hey, there’s a thing at the door, can you deal with it?” Trent asked. “I’m with Mel right now.”

“I’m busy,” Nolan replied. Trent was already gone, but the damage was done. Now that he wasn’t up to his eyeballs in marine ecology notes, he could register the muffled thuds. Someone was at the apartment door, knocking with increasing urgency. Grimacing, Nolan heaved himself away from his desk and went to answer it.

Aggressive Mimicry (1/3)

“You know, if you need a girlfriend that bad, you could’ve just asked.”

Nolan was only half-listening; it wasn’t until his hand was on the door that he fully registered what Trent had actually said.

He looked back. “What?”

“I’m just saying.” Trent was lounging on the couch in nothing but boxers. The bathroom door was closed, with the running shower slightly muffling the high-pitched, melodious humming within. “If you’re that desperate, I know some single girls who’re into shut-in nerds.”

“I’m… good?” Nolan said.

Trent shrugged. “You do you. But some of the guys say they’re always fatter than you think they’ll be.” He paused. “Unless you’re into that.”

“I’m going hiking,” Nolan said slowly. “Where do you think I’m going?”