So I'm writing

Chatterbox: Inkwell

So I'm writing

So I'm writing a vampire story. It's set in the Victorian era, and the vampires are pre-Victorian animate corpses with intellects roughly at the level of some of the stupider predators of the animal kingdom.

The vampire, Mort, is enslaved by a witch, Morgan (remember them, Admin? Don't worry I'm not gonna post any bloody exerts!) who, ah, bathes in blood in order to preserve her youth.

So they kill one Dr. Alexander Johnson's brother and best friend. He's not very happy about that, obviously.

He contacts an old friend, a vampire hunter living in the north. Not sure where exactly, but far up. Like, dunno, northern Russia, maybe?

Anyway, that's all well and good, or it would be if the vampire hunter wasn't female (the Victorian era was famously misogynistic, for those who don't know). So Johnson, who was already reclusive and withdrawn due to a prolonged period of mourning for his wife and child, who died five years previously of a violent strain of cholera, anyway, Johnson is kind of ostracized by general society when this vampire hunter shows up. (Er... this is worse than it sounds, given the time period. Social status was, like, the top priority for the middle- and upper-classes. If you were shunned by your peers you basically failed at life).

So, anyway, the vampire hunter whose name, I think, is going to be Kira, and Johnson try to hunt down the vampire and the witch. Morgan finds out about this, and is very, very, unhappy. So she decides to play cat-and-mouse with Johnson and Kira in hopes of either discouraging them, or (optimally) driving them insane.

With Kira, it kind of works. Kind of. She's going to be a bit schizophrenic to begin with, I think, so Morgan's torment is going to push her over the edge, only really it's more of a light tap than a shove, 'cause she was teetering on the edge anyway.

The point being, Kira looses it and ends up completely bonkers, talking to herself, paranoia, wild eyes, the whole nine yards. Yeah. Also I might make her convince herself that she's turned into some kind of bird. And yes, the schizophrenic "voice" that she hears from the beginning will, in fact, be my voice. So, yeah, haha, I'll basically be self-inserting myself into a crazy characters mind. Should be fun.

Anyhoo, Johnson tries to coax Kira back to sanity with limited success; sometimes he manages to get her thinking straight enough to help him continue tracking the vampire and the witch; other times she thinks he's trying to capture her and turn her into a cockroach, so she tries to strangle him on several occasions.

Meanwhile Morgan switches tactics and suddenly starts killing everyone she can find who was connected to/talked with Johnson, hoping to guilt him into stopping his obsessive search. She leaves notes and clues hidden with each body, cryptic enough to keep the good doctor perpetually confused.

The breaking point for Johnson comes when Morgan attacks and brutally murders a former patient of his, a young girl who he had treated for a severe fever several years previously. He starts to slide down into madness and depression...

And then I don't know what happens. Any suggestions? 

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 29, 2009 - 11:30 pm)

Umm...read "Dracula?" That might give you some ideas.... 

submitted by Aliza, age 13, Vermont
(April 30, 2009 - 2:12 pm)

Already have, twice. But none of the characters in Dracula go mad, except Renfield and he was mad already.

So, yeah, I dunno. Probably Buffy would be a better source of ideas, given that Morgan's behaviour towards Johnson is semi-Angelus in nature. Anyway, the point being, again, Buffy doesn't go insane. 

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 30, 2009 - 4:46 pm)

*sees "Kira* *cracks up laughing*

Right. Sounds cool! The reason for my laughter is that there is this manga/anime/movie series called Death Notes, and one of the main characters, Light, has a Death Note, which is a notebook given to him by one of the Death Gods, and if he writes someones name in it, that person dies. He uses the Death Note to kill criminals, and people call him "Kira", as they don't know who is behind the murders of the convicts and other criminals. My mom lets me watch the movies, but she won't let me read the manga untill I'm 15. Anyway, I was thinking you might like it. And another of the main characters is sooo funny. "Super Detective codename "L"", who only eats sweet things, no really, all he ever eats is CANDY! It's a Japanese manga series, but you can find the books in the manga section in most Barnes&Nobles. 

submitted by Jenni T, age 12, Nowhere
(April 30, 2009 - 4:54 pm)

Well, Kira's the Russian female form of Cyrus, a name meaning "far sighted" and possibly relating to the Persian word "sun." It is also sometimes associated with a Greek word meaning "lord." Which, in a way, describes Kira's occupation and her relationship with the Voice (the schizo voice in her head, that is).

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 30, 2009 - 6:13 pm)

@ TNO (we all know what comes here): I talk to myself, have wide eyes, and get paranoid. Am I going to start hearing your voice in my head (now, THAT would be CREEPY) and acting like a bird (actually, I did a groundhog imitation the other day... long story)?

But I think it sounds like a really good story, a definite improvement on other vampire stories. *coughcoughtwilightcoughcough* Unfortunately, I can offer little help--unless you'd like to hear some stuff about how it feels to talk to yourself, be paranoid, and have wide eyes, in which case I can be extremely helpful. *nodnod*

submitted by Mary W., age 11.25, NJ
(April 30, 2009 - 6:51 pm)

Sounds pretty good!!  I personally like it, because I know this pretty annoying girl named Kira (except she spells it 'Kyra'), and that pretty much descibes her already...  She does talk to herself, and yeah, pretty much everything you said.  I think I'll try to convince her that she's a bird.... :)

submitted by Paige
(April 30, 2009 - 5:33 pm)

Tee hee hee... :D:D:D:D

submitted by Megan M., age 13, Ohio
(May 3, 2009 - 12:48 pm)

:):):) One time, (I think it was when TNO disappeared, so we needed some sort of laugh) I invited her to this site, but she never came on...

submitted by Paige
(May 5, 2009 - 6:45 pm)

Hmmm. Sounds like Frankenstein. Had to read that for co-op and didn't like it especially, but it's got an ending that would fit right on, although I always find it unfulfilling to copy someone else's ending. Anywho, the witch lady needs to start running all over the place - Arctic, desert, etc. and Johnson and Kira follow them everywhere until they die and then Morgan kills herself from remorse. Or something like that. Frankenstein fits to a T.

 

Or my ending would be that they catch up and kill the vampire dude, which restores their sense of worth and keeps them (or Johnson at least) from going off the deep end. Then either a) they're in mortal danger and the witch lady, struck with remorse, sacrifices herself for them or b) Johnson and the witch lady fall in love and one or both of them dies or c) the Kira lady and Johnson fall in love and the witch lady ummm... either kills them both and then commits suicide or, d) again, sacrifices herself for them. That was a long sentence. I'd go with either a or d, just because I can never write falling-in-love thingies with a straight face. Nor do I like doing it. Hope it helps!

 

-EH

submitted by Emily H., age 13, Sparks, NV
(April 30, 2009 - 7:58 pm)

Hm, apparently a risk factor of paranoid schizophrenia is "stressful life situations". ...Like, hunting feral, bloodsucking corpses maybe? XD 

submitted by TNÖ, age 15, Deep Space
(April 30, 2009 - 10:36 pm)

Yeah, placed in that situation, I can see myself stressing a bit too. *nod*

submitted by Mary W., age 11.25, NJ
(May 1, 2009 - 3:00 pm)

Do you usually write depressing stories?

submitted by a Cricket reader
(May 1, 2009 - 4:05 pm)

How is that depressing, just out of interest? I mean, sure, a bunch of insanity and death, but it has a aura of mystery and adventure (I think), not ultra-depressing sorrow.

*shrug*

submitted by Mary W., age 11.25, NJ
(May 2, 2009 - 3:14 pm)

Just because I think happy-happy-fun-time stories are boring to write and read...?

submitted by TNÖ, age Deep Space, 15
(May 3, 2009 - 5:28 pm)

*nods in agreement* I read Hoot, for example, and it was SOOOOOOO boring . . . Anyway, why is everyone writing vampire stories now?  Don't y'all have any other ideas?  *waves arms around wildly*

submitted by BellaTrix ✌ ♡
(May 4, 2009 - 11:33 am)