Dark Temptation

Chapter 1

It was a bright sunny morning, one where you would expect the day to be just as perfect. But that was not the case then. That day was one straight out of Hell!

I went out for my usual morning jog around the neighborhood; though, for some reason, I was a bit hesitant. There was an itch in the back of mind that I couldn't get rid of, but chalked it up to paranoia and shoved it aside as I kept going.

However, just as I reached the end of the street, I heard it. A loud, screeching sound that instantly had me covering my ears as my eyes squeezed shut, and I stood paralyzed as the sound continued.

After what seemed like hours but we're probably seconds, the sound stopped. Hesitantly, I pulled my hands away from my ears and looked up. There was no one around me and it was dead silent; not even the birds sang their melody nor the crickets made a sound. But then, my eyes locked onto the entrance to an alleyway a few feet from me.

I don't know what it was but something told that's where the sound came from. My feet moved on their own, carrying me to the entrance. Reaching the edge, I leaned back against the wall and inhaled deeply, before peering over the side into the alley.

There was nothing there!

The alley was empty except for the dumpster that sat next to a wall, by the back door of the restaurant.

I didn't know what to think. I was sure that noise came from there, my gut told me that much. Coming out from around the edge, I walked into the alley and glanced around; and it was then that I saw it...

The blood! 

Blogger Recognition Award

Okay, so I’m a little new to this; but, here goes…

I want to thank Yvonne Wabai of Randomly Creative for nominating me for the Blogger Recognition Award. It is a tremendous honor for me to have my writing accepted, appreciated, and loved by all those who share my passion for the art.

For those of you, who don't know what this award is all about, I'll give a brief introduction. This award is here to recognize the work, the effort, the hours, that go into writing each post, each draft. It is to show all bloggers that we hear you, we see you; your efforts do pay off.

So, if you’ve been nominated, there are a certain rules you need to follow:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you. 
• Write a post to show your award. 
• Give a brief history of how your blog came to be. 
• Give two pieces of advice for new bloggers 
• Select 15 of your fellow bloggers to give this award to. 
• Comment on their blog and let them know that you nominated them and provide a link to your post.

With that said… Let's go!

How I started Fiction is my Middle Name

I have always wanted to be a writer, a novelist to be specific and that dream begin when I watched the movie National Treasure. I loved the idea of my name written across the front cover of a book and people loving my writing, enjoying getting lost in the stories I create; it may sound conceited, but that was the dream.

Fiction is my Middle Name came about because I wanted to kick start my writing career - see where I can go and how far it can take me. Sad to say, i haven't given it much thought the way I should have but this award definitely makes me want to take it up again. So, thank you Randomly Creative.

Advice for Newbies:

Considering, I am not an expert myself, I can't give you professional advice. But, because I write for a living, I can tell you what I learned from experience.

First, don't lose hope! It's gonna be a bumpy ride. You're gonna need to put a lot of effort into writing new material every week, if not daily. And, you are going to need to go visit other bloggers, invite them to your blog and spread your name around the block. Honestly, it's tiring, exhausting, but if you enjoy writing, then keep at it, persevere for you know the saying “Good things comes to those who wait!”

Secondly, I would say, follow others bloggers on social media. Not just bloggers, but also blogger sharing groups like @FierceBloggers or @BlogBoxUK. They are for people like us, who have a passion for helping others, changing lives or creating alternate universe with the power of words. I would tell you to join those who understand you and help the community of bloggers grow.

Also, don't feel discouraged and disheartened if there are more accomplished bloggers than you. It is fact of life, that there is bound to be someone who is better than you at something. The key is to take it with a stride and learn from them; rather than feeling unsure of yourself. Be confident and learn to move at your own pace.

My Nominees for the Blogger Recognition Award

Iffat Tafseer of Add a Life

Madiha Jamal of Happy Living

Neverontimemum of Mummy's Memmories

Ade of Riches and Writers

Fi of My Life on Show

John Poehler of The Bipolar Battle

Purllsofwisdom of Purlls of Wisdom

Amy Jane of Beautifully Eurasian

Stephanie Jay of Variety Tales (website coming soon)

Anya Vitaly of My Fit Mind

Tahia Tabassum of The Brown Review

Morgie of Morgie Reacts

Molly of The Molly Map

Ashlee of This Girl Can Write A

Hannah of Frugal Bride to be

Attention!!!

I would just like to clarify that "If you had to choose between love and justice, what would you do?" is a work of fiction, which means the characters and places are made up. so most of the things i may mention in there are not real. thank you!

Chapter # 2!!

     Later that night, when everybody had retired to their respective rooms, I lay in bed, recalling the events of the night in my head. Thinking with a clear head, I realized that I wasn't in love love with him. Intrigued? Yes. Curious? Most definitely. But it wasn't love. I wanted to solve the mystery. I wanted to figure out what exactly happened, what it was that I saw. True I could've simply told the police but then, where's the fun in that. An hour after the killer had left, the police arrived at the scene and started questioning potential witnesses. I was debating over what I should say to the police, when the officers came over and said, "Excuse me, miss! Are you Emma Ryan? The one who saw the suspect up close? I'm Detective Gray and this is my partner Detective Nolan." 

     "Uh.. yes!" I replied.

     "Can you tell us exactly what you saw?" said Detective Nolan.

     "Oh. Um. It was dark so I didn't really see anything clearly. But I could still make out his body type. He was tall, well-built, and was wearing suit pant with flip-flops and a T-shirt. It was a weird choice of clothes so kind of remembered that but...uh...that's all."

     "Did you see anything else? His hair color, or the color of his clothes, or anything else?" said Detective Gray.

     "No, like I said, it was dark so..." the two detectives exchanged a look, that made me think that maybe they suspected me of hiding something, but even so they didn't ask further questions. Before I could tell anyone what I saw, I needed to be sure of it my self. I didn't want to put an innocent man in danger because of a misunderstanding.

     "Well, thank you for your help Miss Emma. If you remember anything else, please contact us. Here is my card." said Detective Gray.

     "OK!" I said, as I took the card. The card was pretty plain, white-colored, rough textured. It had the detective's name, his precinct address and his office number printed on it.
     The detectives talked to other members of my family as well. After taking their statements, they left, saying they would call us if they had further questions.

***

     

     A week had passed since that night at the beach and almost everyone had forgotten about the incident. I, on the other hand, felt as if I was stuck in time, unable to move forward. I tried to drown myself into my school work, preparing my portfolio as an interior designer, so I could apply for employment soon. However, nothing I did helped me forget. I couldn't forget the guy I saw and he had been haunting me in my nightmares. Seeing the recurring dream I realized one thing, the fear I felt wasn't the fear you feel looking at a murderer but it was from not knowing who or where he was. I didn't fear him, but rather feared for him.
     The police was still nowhere near identifying the suspect nor had they gotten any further with the case. That seemed to put me at ease and agitate me at the same time. I wanted to know who he was. I was almost desperate for it.
     It was few weeks later when I walked into our neighborhood cafe that I saw him again. He was sitting at the corner table, reading the paper, with coffee in hand. His brown hair seemed lighter now than that night, but then it had been too dark to really see anything then, also he was wearing glasses today. I was stunned to see him all relaxed and carefree, that for a moment, I thought that maybe I had dreamt up the whole incident. I stared at him for quite some time, long enough for him take notice and look up at me, that was when I realized that I had unconsciously moved forward and was now standing right in front of him.
     "Can I help you?" he asked, with an accent I couldn't identify.
     "Uh....um..... H-hi!" I finally squeaked out, in a high-pitched voice, which I myself did not recognize. I shook my head a little to get my bearings, cleared my throat, then tried again. "Hey! My name's Emma. I was just wondering if we've met before, because you seem vaguely familiar, but I can't quite place where." Lie! I knew exactly where I've seen him before, and now looking into those glasses covered chocolate brown eyes, I'm even more sure. It felt like Clark Kent is Superman situation with those glasses. They suited him pretty well, but I know he wasn't wearing them that night.
     "Uh... I don't think so. I am sure I would've remembered meeting such a pretty young lady as yourself."
     Eek! he thinks I'm pretty. Wait! Get a hold of yourself Emma, more important matters to deal with here!! I mentally scolded myself. Right! Getting back on track I asked, "Are you sure? You-"
     "Yes! I am sure. I am Axel, Axel Knight, by the way. Please have a seat." he said, interrupting me and gesturing towards the empty chair beside him.
     Uh.. Okay. That was weird. Now I know he's hiding something. Why else would he cut me off like that. Either that or he thinks I'm annoying, but if it was that I doubt he'd ask me to sit with him. I shrugged it off and decided to just go with the flow of things, then I can figure out what he's hiding and what happened that night.
     "Uh.. Yeah! sure. Thanks.", I said in response to his offer and taking a seat. "So? What brings you here? Business or pleasure? Your accent doesn't sound from around here."
     "A bit of both, I would say. I am here because of a meeting with the CEO of a partner company, who also happens to be a very close friend of mine, and I came from Toronto, Canada."
     "Oh, really? How nice. What is it that you do?" I asked, as the waiter came over to take my order, seeing as Axel already had a cup in his hands. I told the waiter my order and we continued our conversation after he left.
     "I'm the CEO of Knight Enterprises."
     "Impressive. Don't mean to be rude but, you seem young to be a CEO."
     "Uh.. Yes, I'm 27 years old. My father started the company when he was young and I was supposed to take over after him but unfortunately fate intervened and I had to take over earlier than planned."
     "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't-"
     "No! No! It's okay. It's fine. It was a long time ago.", he smiled.
     Oh! My! Lord! He has dimples!! I think I died and went to Heaven. I shook my head to regain focus, and smiled in return. "So, uh.. how long are you here for?", I asked, as the waiter returned with my cold coffee.
     "The meeting was today. So, I'll be leaving in a day or two."
     "Oh! Really?", I asked, a little saddened at the thought of him leaving.
     "Yes, unfortunately." I looked at him questioningly, at which he continued,"It's shame that I might not be seeing you again anytime soon." he flashed a charming smile, showing his pearly white teeth, making me blush, deep red, and give him a shy, small smile in return. "So, You didn't tell me. What is it that you do?"
     "Oh...uh... I'm in my final year at NYU, studying to be an interior designer. After that hopefully, I'll be working at STILES design company."
     "How nice. Good for you. I hope you succeed."
     "Thank you." I replied, somewhat shyly. This guy is making me react so strangely. I mean, me and shy? My family is going to think I've gone crazy if the see me acting like this.
     After a bit of random talking, and more questions about each other, he looked at his wrist watch, which I realized was a latest model Rolex, super expensive. Guess rich people do have expensive taste. At least he's not completely snobbish and rude. "-going." I realized while I was lost in my thoughts I missed what he was saying.
     "I'm sorry, what?" I asked, coming back to the present.
     He laughed at my antics,"I said I must be going. It's getting late and there is somewhere I must be." he said, smiling his gorgeous smile.
     I looked at the time on my phone and saw that he was right. It was getting late. It was almost 7 in the evening and since it was almost winter, it gets darker earlier. "You're right. It's quite late. I must be going too. It was nice meeting you Axel, hope we can meet again soon." I smiled.
     "You too, Emma. Here's my number. Give me a call and we'll meet while I'm here." he gave me his card with his personal number and name written at the back.
     "Will do." We walked out the cafe together and said another good bye before going our separate ways. He asked if he could drop me off but I politely declined considering he had somewhere to be and I didn't want to be a bother. Also, I suspected him to have killed somebody and unless I prove it otherwise, I am not going anywhere alone with him. However, all things considered he didn't really come off as the murdering type. Then again, looks can be deceiving.

If you had to choose between your love and justice, what would you do?

It was an ordinary morning. We were preparing for a picnic at the beach. The whole family was going so it would've been a time well worth remembering. Only, I was wrong, I hadn't expected it to turn out the way it did...
We set of for the beach at 8:00 sharp and, due to the morning rush it was quite a while later when we reached our destination. By the time we arrived and had settled down, the sun was well above our head, making the water below glisten. A scene that seemed right out of a fairy tale. Had I not seen it, I wouldn't be able to understand nor imagine its beauty.
The party had now dispursed into three groups: the adults had settled down for mindless chitchat while the children played in the water and us, young-adults and teenagers were in our own world of gossip and high-pitched laughter. In the evening the sky was aglow with the most beautiful orange you could ever see. It had been quite some time since any of us saw a scene this magnificent, what with our busy schedule none of really had time to spare for such things. The adults obviously had their jobs, while the rest had their school/universities and/or part-time jobs. No one really had time to even meet anymore, unless we did something like this every now and then. Though whenever we did meet, it had always been fun. A time well spent is what I call it. This was no different, even with the "groupings", we were all having fun regardless of whether we did any extraordinary activity. And the view of the setting sun was something we were glad to be able to share with each other.
As the night came on, we decided to retire to the hut for some dinner. My mom called to us all, "come on in guys. Time for dinner." We answered, in unison, "coming!" Some went ahead the others who were dragging the little ones along with them. I was the furthest behind them all. I was taking my time with the scenery trying to imprint it in my memory so that I could recall it if I ever thought of writing again. I watched my cousins and siblings run towards the hut, and the one furthest ahead yelled,"hey!! Hurry up! Or the food will run out." It was supposed to be a taunt but wasn't really far from the truth either, especially with all of us starving. "Yeah yeah! I'm coming.", I replied. As I took a step forward, I noticed something moving in the shadow behind the hut. It looked like a figure of a man. He looked suspicious, with all his sneaking around. Curiosity taking the better of me, I inched closer, slowly, trying not to spook him and at the same time get a better look at what he was doing.
By now everyone was inside and the beach was almost empty except for a few couples taking a stroll near the shore. Which meant I was the only one who saw the man. As I got closer I could see the man clearly. He was tall, with broad shoulders, wearing a pair of flip-flops with a suitpant and a T-shirt. Sort of an odd combo, isn't it? And the closer I got I could see that he was hovering over something with his fists clenched around an object in his hand.
I inched closer and stepped on a twig, which snapped under the pressure. The noise startled the man and as he turned around, I saw he looked young, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties. His brown hair disheveled with a mixture of sweat and humidity. Under the clouded moonlight, I could see the panic in his eyes as he saw me and when he stared at me I lost myself in those deep brown eyes that seemed to stretch for eternity. The chocolate brown depthness of his eyes seemed to engulf me whole. His ruggedly handsome face, though masked with fright was still beautiful as if carved from marble. He bolted, frightened, away from me, dropping the object he was gripping, and towards the road. I kept looking at his back as he ran away. When he disappeared, I looked back to where he was standing. With the moon now out from behind the clouds, everything became clear and I froze in my step as I saw the unveiling scene. I was still frozen when my childhood friend, Harris, came out saying,"Hey! What are you doing? Everybody has been looking for you." When I didn't answer, he came to my side, saying, "he-", and stopped mid-sentence as he saw the fear on my face. He turned in the direction I was looking, to see what had scared me. There was blood sprayed on the wall in front of us and the body of the man laying beneath was covered with it, enough to hide the entry sight of the wound. As it flowed toward us, in the sand, Harris jolted me back to reality, saying, "get a hold of yourself, Emma." He supported me with his arms as I got myself together, and as he dialled 911 my eyes drifted to the "object" I had seen the man holding. I left Harris and went towards it. It was a knife covered in the victim's blood. Seeing the knife, realisation hit me and I knew the man I saw before did this. He was a murderer.
As the whole situation sank in, I had a bigger problem than the dead man lying in the sand. The problem of the heart. I realised that in the brief moment our eyes met, I had fallen in love with him.

                                                To be continued...

"The Family Feast"

All you food enthusiasts out there, there is a new and exciting food joint just waiting for you to come and try it out.. this place called, "The Family Feast" is family owned new food joint. its not really a restaurant, but a place that takes in orders and delivers them. Have a home-cooked meal at your doorstep without having to make anything yourself.. the dream of any single people living alone, eating home-cooked, healthy meal that's just one phone call away. check out the link below for more details.. I'm sure many people would rather enjoy home cooked meals than fast food that is neither healthy nor does it have variety. look at the link below to check out some amazing dishes at reasonable prices. home cooked meal now just a phone call away.
https://www.facebook.com/Thefamilyfeast?fref=ts

The Trip to Churna Island!!

Yesterday me and a couple of my friends went to this awesome place called Churna Island, in Balochistan, Pakistan. We had arranged to go there via a tour company called Pak Scuba. They took us to a village called Mubarak Village via bus and from there in a boat to the island. the boat ride, itself, was amazing. hence, the excitement had increased ten fold by the time we reached the island.
At the Island, we swam in the deep crystal clear sea, dived off a 21 feet high cliff and took an underwater photography.. sadly we couldn't do deep sea diving because of our inexperience as a swimmer. but still it was an adventure worth remembering. I especially have no idea on how to swim. mainly because i don't go to water parks or beaches all that often.
anyway yesterday, me and friends, who by the way also didn't know how to swim, plunged into the deep clear waters at Churna Island. the water was so clear you could see below it without having to actually go under.. :D

the cliff dive was super scary at first especially because of not knowing how to swim.. and i was really reluctant to jump off of it.. but that was the only way down, other than that climbing down was more tricky than climbing up and a lot more dangerous. anyway, i followed my friends and up the cliff but even after being there i was determined to not dive off of it. but then one by one my friends dived. first it was a boy a friend from university and then two of my friend's sisters dived, after a couple of other people, after them it was me, and my two friends. we were, at first, telling each other to go first, and the one of the friends, a guy, who by the way was also scared of jumping, said that no no ladies first..:p well anyway, after a bit of that discussion i went ahead first and while standing on the edge i took God's name, closed my eyes and jumped. the ones left up came later. the girl first and the guy a bit after her and a couple of other people.. :P
the jump was so amazing. it was simply thrilling. the time i spent in the air felt so long and when i finally hit the water it was like the most awesome thing ever. although i hit the water at a bad angle which lead to pain in my lower body, waist below all the way down to my toes.. the pain was excruciating and yet strangely not that bad to feel.. the time i spent underwater after the jump also felt long but not as long as it took to reach the water..
just before we were leaving we took an underwater photograph, individually. one by one we held our breaths when on of the supervisors pushed us under the water and other one took the photo. i had my eyes closed unfortunately but it was
still fun, sort of like when i jumped off the cliff and went under water for a few seconds. 
more than anything though we only roamed around in the water and learned to swim or more appropriately learned to stay afloat.. by the time we were ready to leave i had finally learned how to swim.. all in all it was an experience.. and i can't wait to go again in the future..!!