Chills & Thrills Anthology

Partners in Crime | Eyes

The following is a winning entry from our Partners in Crime contest. Congratulations to our winner!

The full list of winning entries can be found here.

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PROMPT

The biggest and baddest crime duo you never expected (or totally expected) are teaming up together against the forces of evil (or good). What could go wrong? In no more than 1000 words, write an original scene where either:

A) The most unexpected duo become partners in crime against the forces of good.

B) The most expected duo part ways and the world is left wondering who will stop the forces of evil.

  

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Eyes

by  JH_Foliage

  

Advertisement screens flickered in the rain as the city's sewers overflowed. A car drove past, spraying water onto the pavement and its pedestrians. Umbrellas scattered like flowers plucked from the wind. Thunder growled from above. Shop owners peeked out their windows, eyes on alert for criminals. Where there were places to hide, there was danger.

One could only imagine what crimes transpired within the shadows, and by whom. Some remain hidden. Those with virtuous hearts sought to bring these criminals to justice. But the pain would never disappear. Their crimes would linger, if only in the form of clouds which bore its weight on the world.

Today, the city bore a weight of a different kind.

The swarm of golden-white eyes blinked. Water dripped off her eyelashes before falling to the city below. Threads of unravelling silk outlined the pupils, lips, hands and teeth that coagulated in the sky. The Hive. A demon whose allegiance was as questionable as a stranger on the street. Only her son held faith in her. And soon, he would be gone.

Collecting herself, the demon followed the eastward wind that dragged across the sky. The outline of a hospital loomed through the mist. A light shone from a room on the fourth floor. All the other windows were shuttered.

The demon neared the room. On the other side of the glass, a middle aged man sat in his bed reading legal documents. Snippets of a radio broadcast mixed with the pummeling rain. The man looked up to the window.

Hive seeped through the window pane and into the warm hospital room. Fluorescent lights pricked her eyes. Blinking away the brightness, she saw a few papers had spilled onto the floor. Hive picked them up with delicate hands. She placed them on a table where pens, notes, a laptop and phone lay scattered.

Hive met her son's gaze.

Chase smiled dryly.

You're not helping yourself, Hive told him.

"I'm helping everyone. That's my job." Even when hospitalized, Chase continued to defend his clients from afar. The justice system feasted on criminals; it was why they ran to Chase. He fought for their lives as if it was his own. It was his way of fixing the world, changing one person at a time. Had Hive known he was the stubborn type, she would have chosen another vessel.

Hive glanced at the documents. You can't read those, can you.

Her son blinked, his gaze slightly unfocused. "I did just yesterday. But it's come back again. Damn, and I'm almost done with this case, too..." Slowly, steadily, he placed a hand on his head. Hive felt the strain that pulled at Chase's body, tugging on the strands that linked his soul to hers.

Pretend all you want, but I am no fool.

"I know! I know, but I have to try. My jah iz to hel..." Chase nodded off, nearly falling off the side of the bed before Hive caught him. Chase hissed as a tremor ran through his arm. His leg twitched beneath the covers. Hive held her son close until, finally, the tremors stopped. They let the radio fill in the silence. Reports of petty crimes, an interview, details of the next election. It was rare for the entire city to share a common interest, but there was no mention of what mattered most. "It's fine," Chase insisted, as if reading her thoughts. He let out a huff. "Just...people don't always show it. I'm okay with that. Even if you're not," he muttered.

I care about you.

"Same. But I also care about everyone else. They need me. Need us," Chase corrected. Disdain twisted the corners of Hive's lips. It disappeared as Chase faltered, his thoughts blurred by the sickness.

"You gave me a second chance. So that's why I'm going to do everything I can. I'm a lucky person." Her son smiled, a careless sort of gratitude that lit his features.

How different Chase was, from the terrified little boy Hive had first met all those years ago. A murderer had come close to killing the boy. Then Hive decided she'd had enough. Slowly, delicately, the demon feasted on the body of her previous host, shredding the killer's body from the inside out. She was tired of her old vessel. She needed a new one. The boy was perfect. His parents had abandoned him, and the doctor had declared he had only a few months left to live. He was weak, but nevertheless, Hive offered him a deal: in return for being her vessel, Hive would prolong his life. He accepted.

The loneliness that gnawed at Chase's heart was unlike anything Hive had experienced. It was a wonder that Chase turned out to be who he was. Despite Hive's presence, he'd carved a brighter path than most could ever find.

Lucky, Chase called himself.

She averted her eyes, but some of them lingered on her son. Yes. They were both lucky. Her pride had bloomed into a rich joy that seldom reached the demon's features. But Hive had only kept the sickness at bay. She couldn't grant his dream. She refused to. So Chase would fulfill his vision of a better world, but at the cost of himself.

Her son's sickness ate at his spine and his thoughts. It frayed the contract that fined their souls together. But no matter how painful it must be for Chase, what Hive felt was infinitely worse. It had to be.

Chase yawned. "I'll get some rest. Come back later?"

Of course. I'll be right here.

Hive watched her son drift to sleep, her fragile world held together by each breath that filled Chase's lungs. She savoured every one until his last.