S11: Beginnings and Ends
My favorite pair of openings and closings out of this list is from “Why We Broke Up” by Daniel Handler. The whole story is written as a letter and I love how unique the writing style is.
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow”
“He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning”
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
“Only three people were left under the red and white awning of the grease joint: Grady, me, and the fry cook.”
“For this old man, this is home”
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
“Dear Ed, In a sec you’ll hear a thunk. At your front door, the one nobody uses. It’ll rattle the hinges a bit when it lands, because it’s so weighty and important, a little jangle along with the thunk, and Joan will look up from whatever she’s cooking”
“I’m telling you, Ed, I’m telling Al now, I have a feeling. Love, Min”
Why We Broke Up, Daniel Handler
“In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul.”
“While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine–history will call us wives.”
Dune, Frank Herbert
“The primroses were over.”
“Hazel followed; and together they slipped away, running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom.”
Watership Down, Richard Adams
“It was a tiny shop, tucked discreetly in among the other shops along London’s Oxford Street.”
“‘You will live, Papa,’ Elsa whispered. ‘And when I tell you why I must go back, you will understand.’ “A million little reasons,” you will say. And you will understand.’”
Vienna Prelude, Bodie & Brock Thoene
“As the first crack of thunder broke over Cresent Moon Bay, Grace Tempest opened her eyes.”
“‘So it ends. So it begins.’”
Vampirates, Justin Somper
“I have just returned from a visit to my landlord–the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with”
“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how any one could ever imagine the unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
“I am what they call in our village ‘one who has not yet died’ –a widow, eighty years old.”
“I’m reaching out to Snow Flower and the others who witnessed it all. Please hear my words. Please forgive me.”
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See
“When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.”
“In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.”
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
The Mysterious Adventures of Captain Dirk Drake Chapter 9: Deadly Diseases and Deceptions
For those of you new to the story, here are the chapter links and a brief summary
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven| Eight
Captain Dirk Drake is Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s favorite agent who has spent the last two years recovering from an injury from his previous mission in Africa. Still adapting to his mechanical arm, Capt. Dirk is given the dangerous mission of investigating the ever-growing cloud of deadly smog rising out of the slums of London. He’s been given a new assistant on this case, Miss Theo Minksy, and they’ve been given a lead. After meeting their informant at the notorious nightclub “White Mink” a name, The Gideon Rose Syndicate, has arisen. Following a further lead, the duo set off to a secret meeting for Syndicate members where they uncovered a shocking truth. The Syndicate believes that becoming Ravagers is part of a sacred spiritual process called the Enlightenment. Struggling to find answers, Dirk and Theo set off for the Slums in hopes of uncovering the truth. Down there, the duo encounter a hoard of Ravagers and find themselves lost in the smoggy London slums. Barely escaping with their lives, Dirk returns home to find an ominous message waiting for him. Deciding to investigate further, he returns to White Mink to find more answers. After an unexpected encounter with Yvette and Jack, Theo returns to the lab to unravel the mysteries of the Enlightenment.
Several hours later, Dirk returned to his office and quietly made his way downstairs to Theo’s lab. Checking his appearance in the reflective glass of the door, Dirk knocked hesitantly.
There was no reply.
Opening the door cautiously, Dirk poked his head in. “Theo?”
Theo’s red head popped up from behind a microscope. Her face was scrunched up in annoyance at being interrupted.
“What is it, Captain?”
“After I…erm…finished my business with Yvette, I looked for you around White Mink, but the barkeeper said you’d already left. Mrs. White said I’d find you he–”
“Sh!” Theo held up her hand. Dirk paused, watching with interest as Theo stirred some opaque liquid in one of the various beakers lining the metal countertops. Grabbing a pipette, she carefully placed several drops of the liquid onto the contents of the petri dish under the microscope. Dirk walked across the room, joining Theo in front of the microscope.
“What are you–”
“Sh! Just wait.”
The duo sat in silence, watching the petri dish intently. A few moments later, there was a sizzle and puff of smoke.
“Hm…that’s interesting.” Theo scribbled down her observations in her notebook, her ink-stained fingers leaving smudges on the pristine paper. The messy writing was illegible to all but the author.
Unsure if he was allowed to speak yet, Dirk cautiously cleared his throat. Barely looking up from her work, Theo raised a curious eyebrow.
“Yes?”
“What exactly is that you’re working on?”
“Well, by running a battery of tests on this organic tissue sample, I’ve come to discover the pathogen responsible–”
“In english, please?”
Theo rolled her eyes. “In plain english, I’ve been working with some Ravager-bits to try and figure out what is causing their alarming transformation.”
“And..?”
“And I’ve found that this transformation, which is caused by an aggressive virus that…well, I won’t get into that right now. All you need to know is that what we’re dealing with isn’t found in the natural world. Someone created this virus for one purpose: to turn people into Ravagers.”
“What? How is that even possible? The skill and technology required for such a thing would enormous! Who could do this?”
Theo crossed her arms, giving the Captain a skeptical look. “I was hoping you could tell me that, Captain. After all, you were part of the Africa mission that had the first encounter with the Ravagers.”
“How did you–”
“Read the file after our run in with the Ravagers last night. There isn’t much in the file, but it was enough to make me curious, care to enlighten me, Captain?”
Dirk was silent for a moment, rubbing his mechanical arm thoughtfully.
“It started out as an experiment…”
South Africa
January, 1881
During the days, the hot African sun beat down on the pale-skinned Englishmen, causing their fair skin to burn and peel. The nights weren’t much better, swarms of bugs would wiggle through mosquito nets, stealing blood and leaving disease. But tonight was different. Tonight two fair-skinned Englishmen were silently making their way through the camp of tents, out towards the rocky outcroppings surrounding the camp.
These two had been working for weeks, testing a new strand of virus Her Majesty’s Secret Service had developed. It would bring an end to the loss of loyal British troops. Jack was one of the leaders of the project, the project to create a “new generation” of soldier. One that didn’t feel fear, pain, or remorse.
“Jack, do you really think it’s time for this? It’s the middle of the bloody night, I think we should wait until we run this by the General, don’t you?” Captain Dirk asked, wiping his brow with his handkerchief. Despite the sunless sky above them, temperatures still reached unpleasant highs during the night.
“Nonsense!” Dirk’s blonde-haired companion replied, “We’ve got to act now or we’ll lose the element of surprise! We know the enemy’s location for tonight, but they might have moved by tomorrow. We can’t lose an opportunity like this, I’ve run the experiments myself. Don’t worry, it’ll work.” With this proclamation, Jack continued to make his way around the rocky formations and into the caves hidden within them. Sighing, Dirk followed his friend and partner up the winding path, praying this wasn’t a mistake.
After a treacherous twenty minutes of climbing, the duo arrived at a darkened cave opening. Jack went in first, lighting the lamps placed all over the cave. As light illuminated the cave, medical tools, a work table, and shelves lined with vials became visible. There was also an empty cage with the door torn open.
“Damn!” Jack cursed, glancing worriedly around the cave. “Dirk, look around! It can’t have gotten far, we’ve got to locate it before it reaches camp!” With a stream of curses, Jack drew his rifle and started picking up the scattered notes on the workbench.
Dirk drew his rifle and started cautiously moving around the cave, looking for any signs of movement. “I thought you said this’d be perfectly safe! How the bloody hell are we supposed to find this thing anyways? We’ve no idea where to start looking,” Dirk exclaimed angrily. “I’m heading back to camp to see if it’s tried to make it’s way down there. We’ll have hell to pay if we don’t have this whole mess sorted by morning.”
“Yes, yes. Splendid idea,” Jack murmured distractedly as he poured over his notes. “This is impossible, it shouldn’t have been able to move around for another hour at least. Maybe I miscalculated…” Jack trailed off as he recalculated equations in his head. Dirk laughed at his brilliant friend’s distractedness, causing his partner to burst into a fit of ungentlemanly giggles. Their laughter was cut short by an inhuman moan from the mouth of the cave.
The stench of rotting flesh filled the air, making both men dry heave and reach for their handkerchiefs. Turning around in fearful horror, Dirk muttered “I guess we won’t have a problem finding it.” Dirk raised his rifle and prepared to fire. Nothing was heard except for the heavy breathing of the Captain and the shuffling of inhuman feet. Dirk pulled the trigger, staggering backwards at the harsh recoil, and watched the bullet slowly sink into the grey flesh of the monster. No blood spurted from the bullet hole.
The creature looked down, an expression of surprise on its disfigured face, before curling its lips back in an angry snarl, showing rotten teeth and decaying gums. It continued lumbering towards the two terrified soldiers, no longer clumsy, but agile and angry. Dirk fired two shots in quick succession but with no effect. Reaching for his knife, Dirk threw his last line of defense and watched as it slid between two protruding ribs. The experiment didn’t even slow down. Dirk watched in horror as the once-human brute closed in on him.
London
May, 1883
“…we lost control.” Dirk’s voice was hoarse, his hands trembling.
“Captain.” Theo rested a reassuring hand on his shaking shoulder.
“I was the lucky one. The doctors were able to stop the infection by amputating my arm. Jack…good ol’ Union Jack, well he wasn’t so lucky. Don’t know quite what happened, I was out of commission for quite awhile. All I know is that he wasn’t with the organization when I got back.”
“I’m sorry Captain….Captain! Look at this!” Theo motioned gravely to the sample under the microscope. Looking at the vague blobs and moving bits under the microscope didn’t do much to help Dirk understand.
“The smog, God I’ve been so blind, it’s in the smog! That’s how they’re planning this ‘Enlightenment!’ They’ve made the virus airborne, it’s incubating in the smog right now!”
“But…we were just down there…and the smog was already spreading…we don’t have much time at all! Is there anything we can do to stop it?”
“I’ll start work on an antidote immediately, but it could be awhile. Captain I think you need to warn the Crown of what’s coming.”
Grabbing his coat, Dirk rushed to the door. “I’ll be back soon Theo, you just keep working!”
Slamming the door behind him, Dirk took off down the empty street. He was about ten blocks away from his apartment when the first tendrils of smog creeped through the quiet streets. It was another two blocks before he broke down into deep, shuddering coughs. The air was thick with the toxic virus. It was too late to reach the Crown by foot.
~
Theo was in the middle of her work when she heard the door close behind her.
“Back so soon, Captain?’
There was no reply.
“Captai–” Theo was silenced by a gloved hand covering her mouth. It did not belong to the Captain.
“Well done, my dear Theo. Oh so clever, figuring out my clues and games. Now you’re just so close, aren’t you?”
Theo struggled against the iron-like grip of her captor. Craning her neck, she caught a glimpse of the blond-hair and scarred face of her captain.
“Jack…” Theo whispered, horrified.
“Now now dear, let’s not run. After all, I think it’s time The Doctor gave you some medicine.”
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Leave me a comment!
Links to later chapters (Check Back Weekly):
| Ten |
Whimsicality 