Our Affliction (16)- Love and Lies

Welcome Everyone! I hope you’re somewhere cozy and ready for another instalment of this week’s Weekend Writing Warrior’s 8 Sunday Snippet! It is a magical time of the week where writers post 8-10 lines of their novels or WIPs. After you’re finished here, check out the rest of the participants and discover something new! There’s something for everyone.

This week we are doing something different. Today we’re going backwards. It was mentioned in last week’s post that Natalie had a vision which might have shown Lucas. I decided to include that vision now. Scene set up: In this scene Natalie (POV) returns to her dorm after Art Club. She relaxes alone in her room siting at Siobhan’s desk (because it’s closer to the window) drinking a cup of tea. As she brings the cup to her mouth something slams against the glass:

Snippet:
I jump from my chair, spilling my cup over the desk. I yank my gloves off as the hot tea burns my fingers. The tea slides over the veneer, drips over the edge and pools at my feet threatening some of Siobhan’s papers. Instinctively, I reach for a handkerchief next to her pencil but when I do my bare fingers tingle and the air around me vibrates. I hear the blood pulsing in my ears; growing louder and louder until my vision blackens and my knees give out.

I feel like I’m falling. It’s slow and drags on until I open my eyes and wake up in a crowded classroom. Students, arranged in groups, sit writing at their desks. I walk around the obstacles of chairs and backpacks unnoticed. My hands shake and I struggle to breath.

That’s the WWW 10 lines but I here’s more for your reading pleasure:

Not again. I’m so stupid. I need to leave, but something tells me I can’t return until I see what it wants me to see. Laughter, like a bell, rings through the air; coming from the group in the back. Sitting in the beam of the afternoon sun is Siobhan. She’s a bit younger, with shorter hair but still tied in ribbons. Whispering in her ear is the boy who plays rugby with Conor. He’s younger and quite handsome. He plants a delicate kiss on her cheek. Embarrassed, she shoos him away with her handkerchief which slips from her fingers. As it falls to the floor, time slows and the light fades. The space whirls around me changing from a classroom to a bench outside. Her laugh is gone and she folds her hands in her lap. The boy sits at the opposite end of the bench. Before he was practically in her lap; now he can’t look at her. 

“I thought you loved me,” her lips tremble. 

Well, that’s one loaded statement. How will Lucas respond to this one? Is their relationship as happy as he told police or did Natalie stumble upon a hole in his story? Visit next week to see how it ends. Until then, stay safe everyone!

*Previously titled: Locked Away

Update: Full Prologue can be found here