LadyPendragon
Some doors should never be open.
Some things are forbidden for a reason.
She peered over his shoulder as his deft fingers wove stitch through frame. "It doesn't look like much," she said with a sniff.
"Not yet," he said, smiling back at her. "But it will. So it goes with all things."
She sniffed again, young and not caring much for the old weaver's sayings. He sighed and continued his work as she scampered off. The night drew closer.
A bird, a huge, black crow flew over the car as she climbed into the passenger's seat. For a brief second, fear seized her heart. Crows were omens of darkness and bad luck in literature. Always. Black birds meant death.
She dismissed her terrors with an uncomfortable shake of her head. It was just her wild imagination, late night, and piles of lit homework sneaking up on her. She was being ridiculous.
"Ready to go?" her brother said from the driver's seat.
"All set," she answered, and started to buckle up as he pulled out of the driveway.
He never saw the van pulling out behind him.
Ninepins was once considered a game of kings, but that time has long since passed. Well, maybe not passed so much as evolved. These days the king is just as likely to bowl with the severed head of his enemies as with a ball.
It was a political move, she kept telling herself. Purely political. Which didn't make her feel any better, if she was being completely honest with herself. Queens must make sacrifices. Heck, queens must be sacrificed sometimes, though in this case it was the queen working the move.
The mantra did not take the sting out of the sacrifice. Winning felt suspiciously like losing.
The thing about subways are that they're teeming with life. Which, if you're a college student who just got turned down by the woman of his dreams and found out he defaulted on his student loans, may not be the best thing for you right now.
It was a tethering of sorts, that simple kiss on the cheek. It didn't mean anything, not really, but it was a good deal more than he'd ever had before. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to put down roots with a friend.