Inkling 2023 - Flipbook - Page 13
The orange-eyed stranger stayed
silent for a moment.
Suddenly, the orange-eyed man
thrust his hand out from his side.
I saw a hand with black engraved
tattoos and smoke circled around
it magically like an aura. The smoke
dissipated under his nimble fingers
and the smoke curled towards the
doctor. The man in the coat rose
in the air, the smoke holding him
captive, hands of gray around his
neck. He started choking, and he was
slammed against the back of the wall.
He kicked his feet, flailing in the
invisible grip that the orange eyed
man had him in.
He thrashed around and tried to
gasp for air. His face was beet-red as
he tried to talk and pry himself from
the grip. His knuckles turned white
as he stopped kicking his feet. He
tried to move his lips, but the oxygen
deprivation had set in. The orange
eyes didn’t flinch, he just watched.
Finally, he dropped his hand. The
smoke went back into his cloak
quickly. The man in the white coat
dropped from the air and fell to the
ground. He rolled around, greedily
gasping for air. He doubled down
on his knees, clutching his head
in his hands. He slowed down his
breath and slowly lifted his head.
His breathing was still irregular and
I could see the faint bruises forming
on his face, but he gingerly got up.
“I will not tolerate anything from
my employees,” the orange-eyed man
growled, “you have not the faintest idea
of what is going on here. Understood?”
Once again, it bugged me how the man
spoke very properly, making me wonder
how old he was. Or what he was. He did
not use contractions and he spoke like
a man who’s seen too much. Already
experienced life. The man in the coat
rubbed his neck, and refused to look
back at the orange-eyed man. “I’m very
sorry, my coryphaeus.”
The man left, and the doctor murmured
something. His eyes went above my
head and frowned. “Now that’s not
good,” he whispered and came closer
to me. I heard typing on the computer
and he chuckled to himself. “At least we
caught it in time.”
I heard a clicking sound and felt a needle
pierce my flesh. I inhaled sharply, but I
didn’t move.
Then, I was drowning in darkness.
Falling, slipping into the empty void. I
tried to stay awake, fight whatever he
was giving me, but my body shut down.
The darkness swallowed me whole.
When I woke up, I was Evangeline Osolio
who was told that I had a bad dream.
I don’t believe that.
Isabelle is the 2nd
place winner in the
Short Story category
for this year’s Teen
Writing Contest.
INKLING 2023 | 13
