SS - Cat's Game

Cat's Game

from "Dansero" (Richard Hayman)

Twinkling lights. Brilliant Colours. Sultry heat. Dana loved the boardwalk after sunset. It came alive in a way you’d never see during the day. Different sounds. Different people. A different taste in the air. The tourist shops closed and the night clubs opened.

The moving sidewalk buzzed against Dana’s bare feet and soothed away the ache of standing on her feet all day. Neon signs flashed by on either side. She pulled out a tube of fuschia lipstick and reapplied it liberally. The reflection in her compact mirror showed her that her make up was immaculate -as always- and that the man in blue was following her again. Perfect. She snapped the mirror shut and stowed it away in her clutch.

The vibrant green fountains of the Portagio whirled and spit just ahead to her left. Dana pulled free the alligator clip from her hair and stepped off the sidewalk onto the splashed tiles. Mist swirled around her as she shook her tight curls into an organized disarray. She didn’t need a mirror to know that he was watching. Shall we dance, dear mouse? If worse comes to worst, I would like to have seen your face first. She gave her hair a last flounce and strode up the blue-lit steps to the Portagio’s mirrored front doors. She caught a glimpse of him stumbling in his attempt to exit the briskly moving sidewalk -definitely a foreigner- in the door’s reflection as she passed inside the club.

TL - Epicness

Just this.

SS - Ambush

Ambush

from "Underworld" (Alexandre Desplat)

    If Marko had not known what he was watching for, he would have missed it. The Artimaeus Train blended almost seamlessly into the shadows of the glen. There was only the barest hint of its massive lumbering shape as it emerged from the forest at the valley’s mouth and any noise it made in its passing could not be heard over the music of the valley’s crickets. An occasional flare of red sparks from the railroad tracks beneath the ensorcelled train betrayed the magic that hid the train from sight and hearing. It had come -at last!- but it was late and moving slowly.

     The others who waited at the far end of the glen needed to be signalled but Marko hesitated. His hands shook with suppressed adrenaline. He fumbled with his darklight receiver and dropped it. Blast. He bent to retrieve it and felt something sting the top of his ear and side of his head. He dropped flat in the tall grass. What was that? Clutching the receiver, he peered down the hill. The train had suddenly picked up speed. Marko flicked the top off the receiver and sent the warning signal. The receiver buzzed softly in confirmation that it had sent.

     The train was halfway through the glen and still accelerating, red sparks popped and spit in greater frequency. What if Marko had been too late? Blast and conflagration! They had put too much into this for it all to come apart now.

     His ear throbbed and something wet oozed down the side of his neck. Blood. The realization of his own danger came roaring back into his mind.  The tracks immediately downhill from him were empty now that the train had passed. The grass wasn’t so tall that anyone could have hidden from him on the slope. The shooter must have been on the train.

      But how could anyone on the train have known he was here?
    
     An ear splitting shriek shattered the quiet. The trap had been sprung! Glancing around once more, Marko pushed himself up to run. He took a step and was hauled back and off his feet by an invisible hand.
   
     “In a hurry, boy?”