Well, I'm not going to make the deadline… sorry…

Hello everyone. KyuubiMakai009 here with a bit of bad news. Due to hitting the annoying speed-bump known largely as writer's block, I am sad to say that my Darkness Displaced story will be delayed by at least a day or more, possibly even up to two months if my luck turns out to be just that shitty. I understand that I promised to release it on the agreed deadline of Halloween (today, in other words), but I'm stuck on this one scene and have been blocked from filling in the blanks at every turn. In an effort to appease the masses, I will be releasing a small preview of what I currently have typed up, and will do so very shortly.

I thank you all for your patience and understanding.

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[KyuubiMakai009]

If there's one thing I've learned over the twenty-plus years I've been alive, it's that when life throws you a curveball, you never see it coming. Never. Today's a pretty good example of that fact.

As my alarm clock blared its annoying tune, my hand shot out from under the covers and slammed on the snooze button. Hard. It was honestly way too fucking early to be waking up. I was honestly considering just getting rid of the damn thing. Glancing up at the digital clock, I read the time, glaring at the hunk of junk that ruined my sleep. I then glanced at the calendar behind it, and my glare faded away.

There's only one reason why I'd get up at five-o'clock in the fucking morning on a Saturday: ComiCon.

Getting up with a groan, I flung my arms out to the sides and stretched them back, hearing a few cracks as my spine popped into a more comfortable alignment. Hopping out of bed, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and chowed down on my breakfast. Once done with that, I walked into my bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the water run until it got warm before stepping in. After my usual routine of scrubbing myself clean and rinsing off, I stepped out and rubbed a towel across the wet mess of my black shoulder-length hair, before doing the same with the rest of my body. Once dry, I slipped on my boxers and slapped on some deodorant, then picked around in my closet for my desired cosplay outfit, laying it out on my bed before putting it on one article of clothing at a time.

First was a white button-up dress shirt, on which I purposely left the top two buttons undone. Next were a pair of long, thin gray socks that stretched halfway up my calf muscles. A pair of black slacks were pulled on before I looped a black leather belt through them. A black fabric vest was put on over the dress shirt, held closed by a pair of black buttons. A pair of black boots were slipped on over my socks. Last but not least was a black trench coat that reached almost to the floor. Looking in the hanging mirror, I fixed what I needed to fix to look like the character I decided to cosplay as for the Con: Jackie Estacado.

Heading back into the bathroom, I combed my hair to make it slightly neater before comparing it to the picture I had on my smartphone. It looked similar enough, so I sprayed it with hairspray to keep it that way. I never liked putting gel in my hair; it always made it look greasy. Hairspray didn’t, and it kept my hair in place just as well as hair gel did, so I just used that instead. Plus it made my hair smell nice, so that’s a bonus.

After brushing my teeth, I grabbed my wallet, ticket, keys and phone and stuffed them in my pockets before heading out the door to my apartment, locking up as I stepped out. From there I headed to the elevator, pressing the downward call button. I barely had to wait a single moment before the door opened, and I stepped in and pressed the button for the ground floor, causing the door to close and the elevator to start heading down the levels. The doors opened with a ding! upon reaching the ground floor, and I immediately headed to the front lobby and out of the apartment complex. Turning left, I trekked along the sidewalk, my destination being the city convention center.

I was honestly surprised that they were admitting convention-goers at six-thirty in the morning. Upon showing them my ticket, the attendants waved me in without a second glance, leaving me free to wander around and browse the couple dozen kiosks they had up and running so far. More were still in the process of being set up. Heading to the vending machines, I slipped in a five and received the desired can of Monster, popping the tab and taking a sip of the energy drink. My throat tingled as it went down, and I felt slightly more awake and ready to explore the Con within moments. I checked the time — quarter ‘til seven, still pretty early.

“Hey, Jackie!”

My attention was drawn to a cosplay prop kiosk one aisle down. The guy running it was dressed in a rather convincing costume of the Merchant from Resident Evil 4. He wore a tattered black trench-coat along with a large sandy backpack. A purple piece of fabric covered the lower portion of his face. The inside of his coat contained a number of belts, packs and pockets, all packed full of merchandise by the looks of it. I had to give him credit, he really knew how to pull it off. He even got the rough Cockney voice right.

“Yeah?” I shouted back as I approached. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “Just admiring the costume. Good one, too.”

“Thanks.” I took another sip of Monster. “Yours isn't too bad either.”

“Why, thank you, stranger.” He paused, rubbing his chin in thought, before snapping his fingers in a realization known only to him. “I think I have something that would interest you.” He dug through the interior pockets of his coat, and within moments he retrieved what he was looking for. The items were twin Colt MK IV Series 70 handguns — A.K.A.: M1911A1s — with nickel plating and custom black-filled engraving, exact replicas of the ones Mikey gave to Jackie at the beginning of the first Darkness game. Just what I needed to finish my costume.

“Hey, I've been looking for those for a month!” I said in surprise. “Where'd you find these?”

He chuckled. “I actually made them myself.”

What. The. Fuck. Is he serious? “…Say again?”

“I made them myself,” he repeated. “Eighty bucks and they're yours.”

I immediately pulled out my wallet, rifling through the bills before I slapped four twenties on the glass countertop of his kiosk. He pushed the twin handguns toward me as he took the cash. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he said. “Have fun.”

“Likewise.”

The chuckle he gave sent shivers down my spine. I suddenly felt as if I’d just made a deal with the Devil himself. As I turned to walk away, my vision turned dark for a moment, and I started to feel pretty woozy. I had to lean on the counter to steady myself, or I’d have fallen over. Then as soon as it began, it was over, leaving me startled and confused. I quickly made my way over to the bathrooms, a knot forming in the pit of my stomach so tight I felt nauseous. My vision went dark again, this time for a bit longer before it cleared.

I pretty much stumbled into one of the stalls, vomiting the contents of my stomach into the toilet as soon as I reached it. Half a minute passed before I felt good enough to pull my head back up. Grabbing a wad of toilet paper, I wiped off the bile and tossed it in before flushing it. Goodbye, breakfast. You will be missed.

My vision went dark for a third time, lingering for a full minute before it began to start clearing. However, just as it was on the brink of clearing in totality, it suddenly resurged five-fold. I could do nothing to fight it in my weakened state. My strength was running on fumes now that my stomach was empty from vomiting. My vision quickly went black, and my world soon followed moments later…

I hope this is enough to satisfy you guys in the meantime while I try to work around my writer's block. If you liked the preview, leave a like (thumbs-up), write to me in the comments if you have ideas on how to make this scene better… and I hope you enjoy!

[Royal7]

Take your time When a writer has more than one story going at a time it can get pretty stressful.

[Sornos]

i wouldnt know how to make this better. in fact i could learn a thing or two from you.