WIP Wednesday

I literally just ended a meeting with my best friend/writing partner Katie. We edited our screenplay that's been in the works since 2005. It was also a good-bye breakfast, as she leaves for another year in Texas in less than twenty-four hours. Sad :( But it all went very well and we have big plans for it.

As for WIP Wednesday, here's something I'm not sure if I shared before, but even if I have, I'm going to again :p Here's a clip from Q/Quarantined.

Eliza’s parents left around six o’clock that night. She tried to distract herself with a book, but soon closed it. At 7:02, she would have her final birthday. The idea didn’t astonish her as much as it did when she was first admitted. However, she couldn’t help thinking that spending her last three years stuck in a single room was not exactly living life to the fullest.

Impulsively, she crossed to the refrigerator and took out the box containing the second cupcake her parents had left for her. Placing it on her desk, she opened the package. Inside, she found not only the cake, but another candle and match. Was it cheating if she made another wish?

No, she decided. It was her birthday. Her last birthday. And if she wanted to make two wishes, who was going to stop her?

Placing the candle in the middle of the cupcake, she lit the wick and blew out the match. She watched the unmoving flame as it glowed. What did she want this time? She really only wanted one thing. Could you wish for the same thing twice?

Well, she was already cheating by making two wishes, so she might as well go for broke. She kept her eyes open this time as she thought, ‘I want my life back.’ Eliza blew out the candle. And as the flame went out, so did everything else. The room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

In her nearly three years at St. Claire’s, she had never experienced a power outage. What might happen to her - to everyone here - if they didn’t get everything up and working again?

“Sorry, my bad.”

When the voice spoke from the darkness, Eliza screamed and flattened herself against the wall.

“Wh-who’s in here?” she stammered.

“Hang on… crap, I can’t find the switch.” The voice was young and male and anomalously casual, given the situation.

“What are you doing here?” Eliza asked, wishing the fear would leave her voice. How did someone get in here?

“Wait - okay, found it.” The lights suddenly came back on, leaving Eliza squinting.

Across the room stood a tall, skinny, dark-haired boy of about sixteen. He leaned casually against the doorframe as though he broke into terminally ill girls’ rooms all the time.

“Who are you?” Eliza asked. “And how did you get in here? Where’s Darren? You should leave - you could get sick.”

After a moment, the boy spoke. “I guess I’ll take those one at a time. My name is Jonah Teagan. I came through the door. Darren is busy trying to figure out a way out of the storeroom he’s locked in. And calm down - I can’t catch AV from you. Or from anyone, for that matter. Which means you don’t have to stick yourself to that wall if you don’t want to.”

Eliza stepped away from the wall, but didn’t approach him. “I don’t understand- what do you mean you can’t catch AV? No one but me has been in this room for almost three years because they said I’m highly contagious.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you are. Just not to me.”

“What does that mean?” Eliza inquired disbelievingly. In her opinion, this Jonah guy was at this very moment taking his final uninfected breath, especially if he kept coming closer.

Jonah took a few more steps toward her so that he was almost an arm’s length away. “It means,” he said, looking her directly in the eye. “That I have an offer to make you. Care to listen?”