Author: ava caroline

Society plays with pressure, boundaries, and ‘norms’ all the time. But where is the fun in that? Why let society write your story when you have the pen? Instead I’d like to live “be[ing] hated for who I am, than loved for who I’m not” (quote by Kurt Cobian). With that being said. Welcome! No one is forcing you to stay, but if you’re still here, I can’t wait to share the things that make me happy, curious and what I've chosen to write over what society thinks.

Missing or Dead pt.2: The Hind

Welcome back my peeps!!! This is a continuation of last week’s blog so let’s just go ahead and jump into it. (Also the underlined bits are the characters thoughts, because on the blog it’s not as noticable as it is on a google doc.)  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they face one another, both pairs of eyes searching the others for answers, the stranger’s confident grapes suddenly falters. 

“Elijah?” The stranger cries in disbelief. “No. You’re supposed to be at home. How did they find you?” He adds, thick panic layering each sentence. 

“Uncle Riche… where… is she?” Elijah pants out angrily. “Where. Is. Autumn?”

◈◈◈

Static cracks as the monitor pans to camera nine. A foreign set of eyes watches as the pixels on the screen paint the scene of Elijah being pinned down by Uncle Riche.

«Answer me!» Elijah’s voice breaks through. 

«Autumn?! Really? That’s who you are worried about right now?!» Uncle Riche’s distorted voice rings out next. The camera exploiting their private interaction as he dusts Elijah off, grabbing at his wrist. «Come on Elijah. We can talk later, but right now we need to go.»

The stranger sighs as he stares fixated into the blue lit screen. I thought you were different, Riche, but you’re just like your brother. The man signals for someone behind him. 

“Yes, sir?” A soft, innocent voice comes as a reply. 

“Bring me the boy.”

Without uttering another word, the soft spoken stranger leaves, returning the room to its silent static as the man watches from behind the cameras.  

◈◈◈

“NO!” Elijah stops, yanking his hand free. “I’m not leaving without her. Just tell me–” 

“Elijah! You don’t understand. It’s dangerous here. Please, for goodness sake get in the car, and I’ll explain everything.” Uncle Riche pleads with him, agitation dancing on his face, yet his words are laced with panic, urging Elijah out of the light and back into the safety of the black night. As the boys cross the barn yard, a beast-like figure dressed in gold and black blocks their path. 

Crap! They’re already here. Uncle Riche places himself between the two of them. “Elijah. Stay behind me.” He says cautiously moving the two of them backwards as the being slowly waltzes forwards. 

“What is that thing?” Elijah whispers. 

“That thing is called a ‘hind.’ They are dangerous people, El–” 

“Elijah.” A soft voice calls cutting Uncle Riche off. Elijah’s attention is immediately drawn from his uncle’s eyes to the lifeless eyes of the golden hind. 

Crap! Uncle Riche turns to face Elijah, grabbing ahold of his shoulders. “No. Elijah, look at me–”

But Elijah can’t pull his graze from the gold. Uncle Riche’s voice blurs into the background as the hind moves closer; its white gloved hands, reaching upwards to tug at its ears, pulling the golden head off. 

Elijah’s heart stops. “Autumn?!” He says, tears flooding his eyes, yet he holds them back. Autumn doesn’t respond, instead she opens her arms giggling as Elijah breaks free of his uncle’s safety, twirling her within his warm embrace. 

“I knew you were alive.” He says holding her closer than he ever had. “I just knew you– wait…” He pushes space between them, allowing the bitter air to kill any warmth that still lingered. “Why are you dressed like this?”

“What do you mean, silly?” Autumn tauntingly replies, pulling him close once more.

“Wait. Stop” He shoves away from her once more, this time looking for freedom not answers. As Elijah is turning to run, Autumn latches onto his wrist, yelling “NOW!” 

What? Elijah glances back before a blinding pain plagues his chest and an overbearing BANG! clogs his ears.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok thanks y’all and see you next week. Peace and Love!!

 

Story Time: Missing or Dead (pt 1?)

Hey y’all, I’m planning on doing something a little different for these next couple blogs. If you saw my last one, you know that I gave some context on the cult figures. Following that theme, this week’s blog is going to be a part of a story series written by me. (please give any help feedback) I’m going to give you some more of Elijah’s story in a moment. Before I do, I want to say that you will be lost if you didn’t read my prose piece or my last blog. Sorry not sorry cause I’m not forcing you to be here. So, without further ado. Please enjoy. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

…As Elijah sets the letter down, a vibration escapes from his phone running on top of his skin. Retrieving it from his pocket, his screen lights up with a picture of his uncle dragging an unconscious Autumn on the ground. Before having time to process the scene in front of him, another message rings out. They’re coordinates; followed by a message from the same number that sent the photo, saying: 

Here. Save her.

Autumn! Elijah’s eyes widening as he stares into the blinding light of his phone. Without wasting another minute, he pulls the nearest hoodie over his head, grabbing the car keys from their glass home beside the door. He drives north into the empty night for half an hour or so. The GPS signals the car to take a slight right leading off the smooth pavement and onto a chaotic path cluttered with the forest’s overgrowth. 

As Elijah was driving, his phone sang with another unknown message. The text contained detailed instructions. They explained to Elijah that once he pulled off the road to drive for about five minutes. After those few minutes passed, he will see a small opening; there he will find a manchineel tree marked with a red ‘S.’ Elijah was then instructed to park his car under the tree and walk for about two kilometers. Which he did. 

Elijah did everything the text told him to with a pounding heart and a tear stained face. He was surrounded by trees, stuck in an unfamiliar place and vulnerable to the world encapsulating him, yet his heart hammered along for another. Dread came and blocked all reason and logic in Elijah’s mind. The last person he held concern for was himself as he ran blindly, the trees morphing into fuzzy blobs of deep greens and browns. His sweat, cold and bitter as it fell from down the nape of his neck; he continued onwards leaving all his hesitation locked within his car, only stopping when his narrow path finally broke into a clearing once more. This glade is bigger than the previous one. It houses a barn that’s caught between the teeth of youth and the jaws of time. Sitting neatly in the center as its dim eave lights create a moat, distinguishing the mysteries of dark from those living in the light. 

Relief shoots through Elijah’s heart, slowing the rhyme ever so slightly. This must be it. After catching his breath, Elijah crawls closer and closer to the barn, attempting to invade the innocent light without detection. In this moment, Elijah’s delusions finally dissolve allowing reality and reason to flood over him. His pace comes almost to a stop as he weighs every option. 

crack. His blood runs cold. 

“Damn it.” A familiar voice says close to Elijah’s ear. Without giving him time to react, the stranger shoves Elijah forwards forcing him into the light. He tries to fight back, but the stranger won’t allow him the opening to strike. Instead he is pinned to the wall with a thud, knocking the remaining air from his lungs. 

As they face one another, both pairs of eyes searching the others for answers, the stranger’s confident grapes suddenly falters. 

“Elijah?” The stranger cries in disbelief. “No. You’re supposed to be at home. How did they find you?” He adds, thick panic layering each sentence. 

“Uncle Riche… where is she?” Elijah pants out angrily. “Where is Autumn?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok thanks y’all. This is all for this week, but tune in next week to see what happens next to Elijah, Uncle Riche and Autumn.

(also I hope nothing messed up when I copy and pasted this)

 If You Read My Prose Piece

Hey y’all! Ok so, if you read my prose piece then hopefully you’ll like this blog, and if you didn’t read my prose piece then maybe you’ll want to after this? I don’t know. 

For those who didn’t read it, here is some background: There is this girl named Autumn who we find out in the beginning was missing, before breaking news informs everyone that Autumn is dead. Or is she? Detective Riche House is the lead officer on the case who also happens to be our main character, Elijah, his uncle. Now, Eljah has some sort of connection with Autumn, and when he hears that she is dead, he begins to spiral. However, that doesn’t last long before his attention is dragged first to the kitchen then to the front door. On the other side of his door is a hind, which I’ll explain later, and a box holding information about Autumn and his uncle who is planning to kill her. Or is he? 

Ok, so yeah. That is the beginning of the story and a snippet of my prose piece. I do plan on expanding on it because I went over word count and I wasn’t trying to get in trouble, so if you wanna read more of it, I might post it in the future for feedback but idk. Don’t hold me to it. 

BUT

I do want to give y’all a little background on the hind characters, and the inspo for them because they are key figures in Elijah’s story. 

First off, let me explain what a hind even is. Hind has many definitions; however, as a noun it refers to the traditionally used term in Britain and other parts of Europe to specifically talk about an adult female red deer. I know the general term that we all know which is doe, but doe isn’t intimidating enough for the story and it refers to all female deer. Another reason I chose hind was because of an important figure in the story, the Red Stag which if you couldn’t guess is the traditional name that refers to a male red deer. 

Now these characters aren’t actually animals. They are key figures in the religious cult that the story is centered around. The Red Stag is like the head honcho of the cult; who can talk to the “god” while the hinds (we only met one but there are 2) are the second in command under the Red Stag. Oh and the deer heads are like their mask if you couldn’t tell, which was actually inspired by the game studio called Rusty Lake. 

If you don’t know them, they’re a studio that produces escape room games called Cube Escapes. They’re really fun and most are free, so I would definitely check them out if you haven’t. I love them, and I love how all the games are connected. Sooooo, go check them out. Trust me it’s worth it.  

But anyway one of their characters, Mr. Deer inspired the deer head look; along with Hannibal, the 2013 series starring Mads Mikkelsen. Because in the show, Will Graham is continuously being haunted by this giant black stag and I really liked the idea so that’s why I chose to pick a stag in specific. I highly recommend this show!!!

Also if you haven’t connected the dots, I love the idea of masks. I love how they are a curse disguised as a blessing. I love the mysteries they contain and how they hide from the world. I also hate them because even though everyone has a mask they use, the mask begins to take. The longer you hide behind a mask the more you forget the person you truly want to be, and you’re shaped to be the person society thinks is acceptable. You know, we usually call people who use a mask fake or two faced, but lets be honest who hasn’t hid behind a mask? You may do it willingly or you might not. But honestly no human has ever lived life without acting like someone they’re not because society won’t let you. (If I’m wrong please correct me)

Wow sorry I drifted. And I don’t wanna make this too long so to sum up: hinds are female red deer. They are important to the cult run by the Red Stag (a male red deer). The hind was the creature pounding on Elijah’s door and gave him that present. But why would a religious cult want to warn Elijah about his uncle and Autumn? Strange. Makes you think doesn’t it?  

Everyone Has a Gem in Their Life, Right?

If you don’t know me, then babes come say hi! I promise I won’t bite. But… I want to warn you that if we are friends then you’ll hear a lot about a precious gem in my life. Her name is Ruby Sage and she is my sister. I literally love this girl to the moon and back. In my opinion there is no else on this living planet that is prettier than my sister. Sorry not sorry.

Okay, let’s be so for real now ya’ll. Everyone has a gem in their life. You know, that special someone you unconsciously. The one you involuntarily start looking for in a crowd, even if you don’t mean too. Or heck, it’s the person you turn to when you need a shoulder to lean on. The one you know will answer when you call and listen without judging, or at least if they do judge, it’s in a kind protective way, maybe. Except, my sissy is still learning how to answer my calls the first time (when she isn’t at work), but that’s not the point. 

We all have those people or that person. But… Now I have a question for you. Why did you choose them? What makes that person so special, that you place them in a secret category apart from everyone else? What did they do that made you put (almost) all your trust in them?

Actually to be honest I didn’t think I had someone that special to me. That was until someone ‘kindly’ pointed out that I talk about my sister constantly. Which I don’t. Only about 80% of the time, and only when it is relevant. I promise you, I’m not that obsessive. Wait no. I’m not obsessive at all. I just love her, y’all. We have a strong bond. At least I hope. 

Okay back to the point of this entire blog. Basically, I’m curious to know if you know who your gem is? Have you ever even thought about it? Or have you taken them for granted? Do you realize how much they mean to you, or how much trust you are allowing them to hold? 

Because in reality, I took for granted how much I loved and depended on my sister. I never knew how close I held her until she left for college and wasn’t by me 24/7 anymore. She wasn’t in her room next door able to hold me when I needed to cry or help me when I was stuck. Now I have to call and hope she answers the first darn time, but I wish it wasn’t like that. So, come on babes! Figure out who your gem is and let them know how crazy special they are. 

Cause everyone has a gem in their life, right? Or am I just a crazy little white girl? 

K, byeeeeeeee!