Snippet Sunday: November 29, 2015

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.

In honor of me taking a dive off the deep end into more insanity for the month with NaNoWriMo, I am continuing my snippets from the fantasy novel I am working on for NaNo, Darkness Becomes Her. Though I have had a total author crisis and am realizing that title works so much better with a book down the line in the series. So guess what? That title is probably changing soon. To what though, I have not a clue yet. Let’s just say my snippets will be from Book 1 of the Dark Heir Chronicles now. (If I ever figure out that new title, I will change this, but we all know how titles go…)

Previously on Sunday Snippets: Four year old Heather was being dragged, bound and gagged, through the manor home of her kidnapper’s in a magic filled realm towards the fate that is to befall her now at the hands of he woman clad in black. Now she is been taken down to the lowest level of the manor, the dungeons, and into a rather terrifying workroom, where she was thrown in a cell.

Skipping ahead just a tiny bit from last week’s snippet, moving past Heather’s desperate pleading to be let go, and now getting to the revealing parts. Heather speaks first. (Some sentences may have been creatively punctuated to try to fit the ten sentence limit. I’ll admit, way over this week again, but I haven’t been over in a couple weeks and it was too good to cut off.)

—-

“W-What do y-you w-want with m-me?” she asked in a shaking voice.

The woman stopped what she was doing and turned back towards the cell. She swept back over to the bars, her cloak fluttering out behind her as she walked. Heather shrank back against the wall as she stopped at the bars, whimpering like a scared pup in a thunderstorm. The woman reached up and flipped her hood down finally, revealing her features: dark, forest green eyes that flashed wickedly pierced Heather’s hazel gaze, and straight, jet black hair that came past her shoulders fanned around her. Her features were sharp and angled, almost chiseled, and dark red lips were pulled back in a terrifying, satisfied grin as she looked smugly down at the cowering child.

“You wish to know what it is I want of you?” she repeated. Heather nodded tentatively, looking up at the woman in fear as she curled up on herself.

The woman grinned. “It’s quite simple. I want a Heir, and you, dear, fit my requirements. Unlike the rest of those failures I trained, you have what I know they did not.”

Heather’s eyes widened. There…There had been others before her? In this very same position? What…What had happened to them?

“W-What others?” she asked quietly, tentatively.

“Twelve others. All failures when it came down to it. Some of them started out rather well, but then fell to their own vices.” She sounded disgusted by that fact, and not at all pleased. Her tone had taken on a dark edge, an angry one. “Others merely would never have what it would take to be my Heir. They were worthless when it came down to it.”

“B-But if you h-have them, w-why need m-me?”

The woman scowled for a moment down at her, before a gleeful, twisted expression lit up her features. She knelt down so she was level with Heather, her nose wrinkling up at the smell around her yet. Disgusting, pathetic mortal. She would have to do something about that before she began; but the fact that the child, as scared as she was, was asking questions was the sign she wanted. There was a curiosity in the girl, a curiosity that could be manipulated into a liking for something she didn’t want. It would only take one trip, one shove over the edge, and she would have her hooked and molding just how she wished.

“Simple. They failed my requirements, so I had to dispose of them. They are all dead,” she answered with a sweetly sick voice, like she had enjoyed their deaths.

—-

This story is not yet on Wattpad because it is my baby that I hope to publish one day, and if no one will publish me, I am self publishing. But it’s also not on Wattpad because it’s in first draft phases yet. So there will be no “if you wish to read more…” And I do technically have a cover made but since my little crisis in changing the title…that’s going to change now, too.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I do have finished, you can hop on over to my profile on Wattpad and check out what I have to offer. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,

hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!