Putting Myself Out There - Fan Fiction

I do not profess to be a "writer." I enjoy writing. I actually don't think I'm half bad (don't burst my bubble). I mean, I'm in marketing and public relations to bring home the bacon. Writing IS part of my daily job.

But, honestly, I could never be an "author." It's hard for me to put myself out there for critique and criticism when I'm trying to be creative. MAD props to all those people out there who can.

In the fall, Jennifer L. Armentrout and several other authors got together to host a fan fiction contest, with the winner being awarded an all-expense paid trip to the RT Convention in May. I submitted an entry. I did it on a whim - wrote my entry in only about an hour. And, it was... fun. I didn't win, but I was weirdly okay with that. I was going to keep my piece a relative secret, and then I figured, what the hell.

This is the fan fiction piece I wrote that takes place in Jennifer Armentrout's Lux world. It takes place after the events of Opal (Lux #3), so if you haven't read it yet, you might not want to continue.

SHELTER (Lux #3.1)

Dawson

As our group escaped into the night, I felt like I was being torn in two. Part of me was aching for my brother. I knew first-hand what he was going through right now. The fear. The rage. Most of all, the desperation. I looked behind me to see Matthew literally dragging Daemon along, and I wished that there was something I could do.

And yet…

I looked down at the small figure huddled in my arms, and I immediately felt my concern morph into something closer to elation.

Beth.

She seemed so tiny – so much frailer than the last time I saw her. And, didn’t that make me want to smash my fist into something, or better yet, someone. But, for now, she was here, and she was safe. Finally.

As the cars came into view, I saw Ash, Andrew and Dee waiting off to the side. As soon as we slowed down to a walk, Dee ran to meet us and threw her arms around both Beth and me.

“Dawson, thank God! I’ve been worried sick – you should’ve been back a long time ago!” She glanced down at Beth then and murmured, “It’s good to have you back, Beth.”

The corners of Beth’s mouth turned up, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Not by a mile. We were going to have to talk sometime soon about what she had been doing for the DOD the past few months while I wasted my time going to school. But, that was a conversation for another day. Right now, I just wanted to get her home and tucked into my bed, where I intended to just hold her all night long to convince myself that she was real.

I put Beth down as Dee looked behind me, and confusion worked its way into her face. “What’s wrong with Daemon?” As her eyes met mine, I saw fear and comprehension start to dance across them. “Dawson, where’s Katy?”

“Dee…” I couldn’t form the words. I knew that Dee still loved her like the sister she never had, despite the events of the past few months, and that this news would crush her all over again.

“Dawson – Where. Is. Katy?”

“They took her,” said a small voice beside me. Beth was looking over Dee’s shoulder, into the trees. “The quiet rooms, the promises they make, the things she’ll see…” Her voice trailed off, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. “They took her, and they will never give her back. Not as she was. Not as she could’ve been.”

Dee’s eyes met mine over Beth’s head, and I saw them widen as tears started to form. I forced my brain to stop reading between the lines of what she had said. No. My Beth was here. With me. And everything will be fine now.

Except, at that moment, Matthew and Daemon reached us, and I was reminded of how not fine things were at the moment.

“Get your damn hands off me!” roared Daemon. He grabbed Matthew’s wrists and shoved him against the side of the car so hard, a Matthew-shaped dent appeared in the metal.

“This is your fault!” Daemon was so worked up his eyes were glowing and he started blurring at the edges. “If you hadn’t stopped me, I could’ve reached her. I was right there. I could’ve gotten her out! You’ve never liked her. You’ve never wanted her around. And, now she’s… she’s not…” Daemon’s voice broke, and he sank to his knees, his fingers digging into the cold earth as he struggled to regain the control he was famous for. 

Tears flowed freely down Dee’s face now, as she turned around and walked to the other side of the SUV. Even Ash and Andrew looked visibly upset. I glanced at Beth, and saw her looking at Daemon with an expression that scared the shit out of me. Pity. For her to look at Daemon like that, I knew that what was ahead of Kat was something that Daemon didn’t need to know about.

I leaned down and murmured in Beth’s ear, “Why don’t you get in and rest? I’ll be there in just a minute.” As her head turned up and she looked at me with those beautiful eyes, my heart stuttered. Dammit, I loved her so much.

As if she could hear my thoughts, she reached up and laid her hand on my cheek. “I love you, Dawson. Thank you.”

And, at that, my heart did stop for a second, I forgot to breathe and all logical thought left my brain. I knew it was bad timing. My brother had just lost the love of his life to our mortal enemy. My sister was grieving for the second time this year. And, I had this feeling in the back of my brain that the shit had not even begun to start hitting the fan where the DOD was concerned. But, in that perfect moment, there wasn’t a force on Earth that could’ve prevented me from bringing my lips down to meet hers.

They were softer and warmer than I had remembered. My hands came to her face, and I stroked her cheeks with my thumbs. I felt her hands fist in my shirt as she increased the pressure on my lips. I could lose myself in her right here and right now. But, my brother needed me more at the moment. I had all the time in the world with Beth now that she was out of there.

“I love you,” I breathed, as I pulled away and rested my forehead against hers. “Go sit down. You look exhausted. I’m going to talk to Daemon, and then, we’re going… home. Together. Okay?”

Beth caught her bottom lip in her teeth and nodded before turning and climbing into the SUV. At that look, I had to tell all my outer extremities to settle the hell down. We had bigger problems on our hands at the moment.

Matthew now stood off to the side, talking quietly with Andrew. Daemon was still on the ground, his head hanging between his shoulders. I leaned down and rested my hand on his shoulder.

“What am I going to do, Dawson?” he asked, hoarsely. “Everyone always looks to me for the answers, and for the first time, I don’t have any. All I know is that I need to get Kat out of there. I can’t live knowing they are doing everything they can to destroy her. I can’t… I can’t live without her. You understand that, don’t you?”

I couldn’t stand the desperate look in his eyes as he was begging me for something I didn’t know if I could give him.

“I understand, Daemon. I do. But, there’s nothing more we can do here tonight. Let’s go home and get some rest. We’ll talk more about what to do tomorrow.”

Suddenly, Daemon surged to his feet. “NO. We aren’t waiting another day. Another minute. Another second.” He fisted his hands in his hair while he looked around, frantically. “I need to go see Luc. He might have some ideas. Wait. Has anyone see that bastard, Blake? I swear, I’m going to kill that motherfu-“

Just like that, Daemon hit the ground, revealing Matthew behind him, his hand glowing brightly, as he lowered it back to his side.

“What the hell was that for?” I growled

“Daemon is out of control at the moment and not thinking rationally about the situation,” Matthew said, entirely too calmly. “I know a place where we can take him until he’s calmed down enough to look at things logically. Andrew and I can take care of it while you get Beth, Dee and Ash home safely.”

“’A place?’” I asked. “You’re treating Daemon as if he’s not someone who has put his life on the line for you – for all of us – before. He needs our support now more than a padded cell.”

“Dawson, have you already forgotten Daemon’s reasons for preventing you from charging after Beth when you first came home?” Matthew gripped both my shoulders in his hands and forced me to look into his eyes. “You, Daemon and Dee are like my own children. I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. If we let Daemon go off on his own now, it will only be a matter of hours before he’s also captured by the DOD. Or worse.”

I really hated to admit it, but Matthew had a good point. I just got my family back. I didn’t want to lose any of them again. But, if I allowed them to take Daemon away, he would hate me for it later.

I looked inside the car window and saw Beth looking out at me. She was my shelter now from whatever shit storm was blowing down our pipe. As long as I had her, I could face anything.

“Okay,” I said. “Do it.”