Aliza Truman

Submitted into Contest #76 in response to: Write a story told exclusively through dialogue.... view prompt

3 comments

Drama Fantasy Sad

"This is the last Freak I'm giving you this week, and if you don't pay me two gold pieces, then you'll be losing your most trusted supplier."

 "You know the Knights are picky about the Freaks people bring in nowadays. It's not easy for me to just hand over one like I used to before. Aliza, I'm telling you, you should think yourself lucky for getting seven silver pieces. The Hunter that you just walked away received one bronze piece."

 "Listen, Xander, this Freak is different. This Freak can form objects out of light, and I've seen it do it. It's different from the lousy ones that could only breathe fire or control water."

 "...Two gold pieces. Give it to me."

 "Tut tut tut, only two? The price has gone up. Five gold pieces."

 "...Fine. Five gold pieces. No more."

 "Deal."

 "...Don't... let me die... please... Don't hand me over to him... Not the Knights..."

 "Shut your trap, Freak. You should be lucky that you'll be sacrificed for the greater good. Freaks like you only do harm to society and should die."

 "Thanks for the gold, Xander. You should be lucky that you have such a good Hunter like me."

 "Where are you going now, Aliza?"

 "To The Forest, you idiot. You're not the only supplier that depends on me. Don't worry, I'll only hand over the low-quality ones to the others."

...

 "There we go. Now, if you finally stop using your Curse, then we'll just neatly tie you up and hand you over to the Merchants."

 "No! They'll kill me! They'll murder me! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

 "Neither do I, you Freak! So if you don't want me to starve to death, you should stop squirming around!"

 "No! No! No!"

 "...Fuck. It's gone again. No worries. It's hurt anyway. It won't be able to go so far... I can hear you, you know! I'm going to follow you! I'm going to kill you if you don't cooperate!"

 "No! No! N-"

 "Ugh. I told you I didn't want to go this far. Now you've got blood on my boots. Do you know how rotten blood smells, you idiot? I don't want to waste my silver pieces on washing my shoes, Freak! You better be worth the silver that goes into cleaning my boots!"

...

 "Hello, Aliza. What have you got here?"

 "A Freak. What did you expect? I won't be asking much, only a few bronze pieces to get my boots clean. This fucking Freak's blood is disgusting."

 "Any Freak's blood is disgusting, Aliza. I'll give you two bronze pieces."

 "I'll take that. Thank you for your business."

...

 "Gah, it's evening already. All the Merchants would've closed their shops, and the ones that are still open are shady... I should just take this Freak to my house this time. Treat it to its last nice dinner."

 "..."

 "Have a nice meal. Bon appetit. And, now when you'll be hungrily devouring your food, I'll be sleeping. Keep quiet, Freak."

 "...Monster."

...

 "Die, you fucking monster!"

 "Wha- How did you free yourself!"

 "My ability is to melt my body to get through objects, and it's not a curse! I'm proud to have been born with my power!"

 "Shut up, you Freak- whether or not you think of it as a gift isn't important! It's what society thinks! And if society thinks it's a curse, then it's a curse! You should die!"

 "You killed my friends! You killed my family! You killed my people! You're a murderer! Your name is known all over The Forest, Aliza Truman! Maybe the Ordinaries don't know it yet, but we do! Your father was a 'Freak,' if that's what you like to call us!"

 "And I killed him! For society! For the greater good!"

 "Would the Ordinaries accept people with the same blood as a Freak? You yourself have a Curse! Stop denying it! Eugh!"

 "You talk a lot for a Freak, you know? Nobody likes tiresome, noisy, disgusting Freaks. I made the mistake of letting you eat food I paid for out of my own money."

 "Money you made by slaughtering us. Money you made by violence. Money you made by taking lives. You didn't earn that money, Aliza Truman, daughter of a Fre-"

 "...Cursed Freaks. All of you should burn in hell and die. Disgusting creatures."

...

 "Come back, Freak! I'm not done with you!"

 "I'm done with you, Truman! You're a Freak, too! You're Cursed! You're no different from the rest of us! For the greater good? What nonsense! Aliza Truman, you're a monster! You're nothing more than a murderer!"

 "A murderer who lives for the light that brings the world hope every day. You made me use my bow. Think of it as an honor. No ordinary Freak dies by my arrow."

 "...Ha. You used your Curse. You were one of us all along..."

 "Bullshit. My fast arrows aren't quick because of my Curse. It's because of the skills I've built up over the years."

 "...No. The wind. The wind helped you. The wind pushed the arrows faster, deeper... Aliza Truman. You can never run away from your fate. Accept your life as a Freak and make The Forest your home with your Curse..."

 "If I had a Curse, then I'd be able to push you off the ground, simply with winds. I cannot. I am not Cursed. I am not a Freak. I am not a daughter of the filthy Freak that lived in The Forest. I am Aliza Truman, most trusted Hunter within the Ordinaries."

 "...Try it. Try using your Curse. Try it..."

 "No. This cannot be happening. Answer me, you Freak. You did that, didn't you? You loathsome being. Don't try to trick me."

 "..."

 "Answer me. Don't- I can't be-"

 "..."

 "You fucking Freak, respond to me! Don't ignore me! I can't be Cursed! I can't be a Freak! I can't have my father's blood! It's your evil doings! I can't- I can't..."

...

 "...So I'm a Freak now, am I? I might've been a Freak from the start... A Freak ignoring my Curse... A Freak who denied itself."

 'Would the Ordinaries accept people with the same blood as a Freak? You yourself have a Curse! Stop denying it!'

 'You can never run away from your fate. Accept your life as a Freak and make The Forest your home with your Curse...'

 "You win, Fate. It seems that I cannot live as Aliza Truman anymore. It seems that I must live my days as a Cursed Freak. But I'm not going to let you win so easily. I won't accept my fate. And if I can't live as Aliza Truman, nor a Freak... then my options seem limited.

 ...Such a beautiful sunset. What a nice last moment on this earth. For the greater good. For society. For the Ordinaries."

January 09, 2021 15:01

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3 comments

Neveah Afternoon
05:21 Jan 24, 2021

Oh no- I made a mistake in the upper sentence- oh god-

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Debora Cutshall
14:47 Jan 21, 2021

Hello Aliza, I'm impressed that you created an entire world with just a few sentences, and did it well. The emotions were strong. My only suggestion is dialogue has a rhythm, and when there are too many unnecessary words that rhythm is lost. "It's not easy for me to just hand over one like I used to before." could become "It's not easy to hand one over like I used to." Well done! I'll be looking for more of your work.. good luck!

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Neveah Afternoon
05:19 Jan 24, 2021

Thank you! I was rushing with the story, so I couldn't really 'make it better'- but thank you so much! (❁´◡`❁)

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