Fanwriting: Writing Holiday, Day 9

[nebroadwe]

Saturday's Word Count:

1266 (first draft of an untitled novella in the "House of Anubis" fandom)

Sample Text:

      Sixty years' experience of London had taught Rufus a knowledge of the city no cabbie could equal. As his vision cleared he worked his way south through a warren of narrow by-ways toward his nearest bolt-hole. His chest ached as though it had been kicked; each breath scraped down his dry throat like sandpaper. When he could go no further he paused in the deeply recessed doorway of a building so thoroughly abandoned even its graffiti were weathering away. He dared not sit or close his still smarting eyes, but he braced his back against the lintel and took what rest he could. His fingers, making an automatic inventory of his pockets, found an old cough sweet. He unwrapped and sucked on it gratefully.

      As his discomfort receded a little his anger returned, igniting his thoughts like a pilot. Somehow it had all gone wrong. Again. His menaces must not have been subtle enough to bypass the bond between this Chosen One and her Osirian. But why? They were no more than friends; he hardly danced attendance upon her. Or perhaps Rufus had spoken truer than he knew, and Fabian Rutter's good fortune was more than mere luck.

      The last of the cough sweet melted on his tongue. Rufus pushed himself upright and brushed brick dust from his jacket. One way or another, he'd have them all -- Rutter, Williamson, Sweet and Martin -- and write his challenge to Victor in their blood. Not even the Chosen One herself would stop him, though her voice haunt him from beyond the grave.

      I thought you liked me ...

      He bent his head and threaded his way into the deeper darkness.

Wow! The last line of the sample text is where I thought I'd stop, at the end of part one, but then part two rolled out ahead of me so fluidly I could barely keep up. I stopped only to watch the U.S. Olympic gymnastic trials. :-) I won't have much time to write today, but if I keep hearing everyone's voices so vividly, I might get a fair amount drafted again. And then it's back to work tomorrow, sigh ...