J. Alva

First Murder - story

Fri, 06 Jan 2006 08:26:18 GMT

Holy shit, I actually wrote. Quite a bit, even. More then I usually do after I initially start writing something and cease. It's not a whole hell of a lot, and it's not done, but it's something. I'm gonna write more tommorow, maybe even finish it.

The story is a bit predictable, but hey, it's something. Read it, I'd appreciate some feedback. Please.

“Knocking. Someone’s knocking on the living room door.” He groaned, his eyes still closed as he lay on his bed. Taking the pillow off his head he slid out of bed and glanced at the clock: three in the afternoon. “Fuck. Slept all late.”

More knocking, urgent knocking. Probably the landlord Mister Greene, Thomas figured. Fucker never heard of renter’s rights. Always assumed that ‘cause he owned the building he could come in and do maintenance whenever he damned well pleased. If that’s what Greene wanted right now, so help him; Thom would take his ass to court.

Thom grabbed the bedroom doorknob. Locked.

“The hell?” He didn’t remember locking it last night when he went to sleep. Hell, he hardly even closes the door at that.

More knocking, louder. “Jesus Christ, I’m coming!” He shouted as he unlocked the door. Pulling the door open he was blasted with a sickening smell. He pulled his shirt over his nose. The sink must have backed up during the night or something. Maybe that’s why Greene wanted in so badly.

The keys of sound jangling and scratching the doorknob grabbed Thom’s attention. “Hey, wait up!” He quickly stepped toward the front door and made a grab for the knob. Before he could get there the door was pushed open and two men rushed in, each with the same sudden expression of disgust. Each paramedics. Mister Greene stood to one side of the door, his face wrinkled with worry.

“Whoa, what the shit are you doing?” Thom asked as he grabbed one of the paramedics by the arm. The medic pulled free without effort and joined the other in the kitchen.

The one who was squatting on the floor slowly stood up and mumbled something through his hand to the other. The second nodded and quickly turned and jogged out of the apartment. Thom watched as he left then turned his attention toward the other medic again.

“Wha-” There was something on the floor. It had human legs, a human body, human fingers and human blood. The blood had dried over the tile and had seeped into the carpet where mold now grew.

Thom took a step backward into the table and decided that it would make a good place to sit. The medic walked toward Mr. Greene, completely looking past Thom.

“You should go wait over by the stairs for the police to arrive, Mister Greene.” Greene nodded and glanced back inside one more time before stepping away.

The medic turned back into the room. Thom sat against the table, averting his eyes away from the macabre scene in his kitchen.

“What the hell happened here?” The medic asked, quietly.

Thom looked up at him and shrugged. “I have no fucking idea. I have no fucking idea, man. I’ve been in my room all night, I mean-” The medic walked out of the room. Thom stared at him. “Rude mother fucker.”

Thom followed him outside and went to stand near Mister Greene. They stayed near each other in silence, quietly contemplating what they’d both just seen. For a short time Greene sobbed to himself. Thom just stood and watched the street, waiting.

After a time the police showed up with the coroner. The men in black jackets emblazoned with their job description on their backs walked past pulling a stretcher with a folded up body bag on top. A man and woman stood by a truck across the street and watched, and smoked, and made jokes: Their first murder. Thom flipped them off when they weren’t looking.

A detective came up to them at the bottom of the stairs while another detective went past them and knocked on one of Thom’s neighbor’s door. Most likely to ask questions.

“Hi, I’m detective Irwin. I’m going to ask you a few questions, okay?” He said as he squatted down in front of Mr. Greene, holding a notepad and pen.

Mister Greene nodded, Thom said “Sure.”

Detective Irwin jotted down a quick note before asking “What room did it happen in?”

“Number three.” Greene responded, quietly but surely.

It was weird, Thom thought to himself. Usually Greene was that typical happy senile old man, always ready to offer an out dated joke or unfounded advice. He always had that jovial spirit to him. But, man, this really did something to him. He seemed so meek. So old.

“And who lived there?” Detective Irwin asked again, not looking up from the notepad as he jotted down notes.

“I did,” Thom offered.

“There’s two of them on the lease. Thomas Rowe and Neil Cim- something. I could never pronounce his last name.”

“Ciminelli.” Thom said.

“Do you know how to spell it?” The detective asked.

“C-I-M-” began Thom, but Mister Greene interjected.

“C-I-M-I-N-E-L-L-I, I think.” Thom almost shot Greene a dirty look, but thought better of it given the circumstances.

By now a small crowd had gathered across the street. There were no police telling them to move away, but they kept their distance of their own accord. But distance wasn’t good enough for Thom. What they were doing was just fucked up and inconsiderate.

“Hey!” He shouted at them. “Go home, you vultures.” He waved them away. One of them shouted something back Thom couldn’t hear and smiled. “What? You say something, bitch?” No response, but a few more of them started to smile.

Greene looked up and mumbled something under his breath. Detective Irwin looked up and saw a scavenger with a camera trying to argue his way into the building. “He live here?” The detective asked Greene.

Greene shook his head. Detective Irwin stood and shouted to the officer blocking the mans path. “If that guy says he lives here he’s a liar. And if he’s a liar, cuff him.” The officer nodded and looked back at the man with the camera and gave him a smug smile. The man backed off and started retreating, but not without shouting “This is an infringement on my freedom of press, pigs!”

“Oh, fuck off!” Thom shouted back at him. The man disappeared out of view behind the next building over.

Here's where I left off, I'll write more later.

Movie Poster - competition entry

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:19:24 GMT

I just made this poster for a competition. It took me a few hours to make, but I'm damned happy with the results. Come January 4th, you ALL have to fuggin' vote for me! I MUST WIIIIIIN! Please?

I'm not a whore... *puts on lipstick*

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/silenthill/

J Alva.net

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 06:34:31 GMT

J Alva.net
Coming soon.

This is my online portfolio, where I'm going to host my work and what have you. From my videos, to photos, to artwork, to soundscapes. I'll keep ya'll posted as to when it's coming up.

Go bookmark that shit now, kids.

Photos

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 07:22:35 GMT

I recently found a box full of photos I had never scanned in. So, I spent the day at school doing this rather than preparing for my finals.

Four new photos in the gallery "Parkour." Also several new galaries et al; Getty Museum, 11-21; Friends; Punk Rock Show; Location Scouting; and Getty Museum, Jan '05.

Within the week I'll be posting the photos from the photoshoot I did with my mom on sunday.

Buzznet mainpage.

I also was going to post my second chapter today since I never did do that. But I reread it and realized it was a piece of shit, so I'm rewriting it.

Until next time,
-Remy

Three 'New' movies

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 20:41:19 GMT

This is a video I did for school titled Sunset Stripped - Parkour. It's of the sport parkour, in which I (used to?) partake. It features my friends Alex, Jimy, and Jon as well as borrowed footage of several California tracuers. The Sunset Stripped part is from a tv show the school produces of the same title. We were told the assignment was to create a segement for it, but I guess it never really aired. Whatever, ya'll still get to see it.

Sunset Stripped - Parkour

This is called Mary: A Burn Victim. The original character, Mary, was created by an old friend Oscar Granados. I wrote the story, produced, and directed this piece of shit. It's fucking funny, but as a video it's seriously lacking. Animation by Oscar as well.

Mary: A Burn Victim

Here's some lighting homework I did for last quarter. Actually, it was my final. In any case, it's referenced from the movie Stir Of Echos. I based the lighting loosely off of it, changed things up, tweaked the ending, and threw in a very forgiving friend who didn't mind wearing full body make up and drag.

Stir Of Echos

Poetry and news

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 05:41:31 GMT

Man, today's been filled with all kinds of art things. I did a photo shoot with my mom 'cause she wanted proof that she, too, can be beautiful (that and she's on eHarmony.com now), plus I found a shit ton of old photos I never scanned in and stuff.

I bought some watercolors today as well for my yearly christmas present art display. This year for christmas I plan on giving my family, per usual, paintings. This year though I'm going to include a DVD of my work so far in school.

I'm also going to write/illustrate a short story for my little sister. She asked me to get her more books this year for christmas. Last year I was the first year I got her books; at first she bitched a lot, but she really learned to love them. And she used to love when I told her stories before she was going to school, so I figured it would be a fun little project for me to do.

Anyway, so along with finding photos earlier I also found some of my long lost poetry. Some of it good, most of it fuckin' awful. Thought I'd post the good stuff.

Alliterations ( Untitled #56413)

All alliterations aren't always atuned
     to the timed structure set forth
     by some sappy somebody nobody never knew
No, not an omnipotent hippopotumus wanna be bohemian
     nor another random man or woman deviant
Every evil living being creates chaos at its seems
     seemingly enveloping everything that it sees
We can win this war of words
     and worlds
          with what wisdom which preceeds us
     All we have to do
is Witness.

Second To None

We are the rhapsody generation
       a beat generation
       a fucked up generation
We are the haves
     and the want nots
We are the greedy
       the lazy
       the misinformed
       the most informed
Narrow
Fuck them all
     makin' your own way
I give up
     I give up
          I give up
                    on you
We are better than you
       less than you
                     think
And we thank you
                 for making the world a safer
                                        better
                                        child-proof
Place

Identity

I have no identity
When I die,
            I want my ashes spread across the globe
My legs across the Mexican-US border
     so I can run some more
My arms across Europe
     so I can feel strength fleeting
My heart belongs to Africa
     to be with mother Eve
My mind spilled in the oceans
     to know what the living never will
My cock in San Fransisco
     'cause, well, they'd get the joke
And I'd want my soul to remain
     to see my family though their pains
                                   struggles
                                   trials
                                   tribulations
I have no identity
     but I'd be damned if I don't know who I am

Updates

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 03:44:27 GMT

Alright all, so I've deleted most of my other posts aside from In - Chapter 1. I'm starting fresh, this is now my all around art and writing journal. Mostly my writing one since I already have, like, three other art pages across the web (linked in my profile).

So, I should be updating more often.

Monkey pants ... I'm tired, shut up. Don't you fuckin' judge me. I'm not here to entertain you.

In - Chapter 1

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 08:48:37 GMT

…so that’s how it happened.

It was the scratching that woke Jack up. The scratching and the shuffling. He glanced over toward the right where Emily, his girlfriend, sat rummaging through her backpack.

“Hon,” He asked, eyes half closed. Emily’s whole body jerked in shock at the sudden sound. She looked up at him wide eyed. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m hungry.” She replied meekly, holding up her backpack. “Was I being too loud?”

“Nah, I like being woken before daylight.” Sarcasm dripping. He yawned and scratched his stomach through the blanket.

The windows had iced over during the night, though the darkness was still prevalent outside. Jack couldn’t even see the trees on the side of the road. Or even the road for that matter.

Jack shuddered beneath the blanket as he sat in the drivers seat. He wished that they’d decided to stop at a motel or something, but they didn’t have enough for a room between the four of them. Both Marie and Craig were sleeping in the backseats, rounding off the group of poor college students.

It had been Marie’s idea in the first place to take a road trip up north. She said she’d had enough money saved up from her job to just make a quick three-day weekend trip to Seattle. The city was fun, and the motel nice and warm. But none of them had realized that they needed to save money for the trip home as well. And, well, now…

Marie stirred. “What’s going on?” She asked tiredly, not bothering to open her eyes.

Emily turned in her seat. “Was I really that loud?”

Marie smiled and rested her arm over her eyes. Emily took a bite off her granola bar then offered it to Jack.

“Bite?”

“I’m cool,” he stated dryly. He rubbed his hands together gingerly and started the car. The ensuing blast of warm air from the vents was a welcome relief from the burning cold that had set on his face over the night. It almost literally felt like his face was melting, and that felt good.

Emily let out a sigh of contentment. “I was hoping you’d do that.” Marie sat up in her seat and leaned forward, bathing herself in warmth.

“Of all the gods, technology is my favorite.” She said with a content smile.

Emily laughed. Jack just gave her a peculiar sideways glance. Craig, meanwhile, softly snored in the back of the van, huddled in his sleeping bag.

The ice veneer on the car slowly began to melt away as color returned to their faces. Nobody said anything. Emily sat in her seat crunching on her granola bar while Marie rested her head on Jack’s shoulder. Jack did everything he could to try and get more rest.

Marie didn’t seem to notice though. “How much longer ‘til we hit L.A?” She asked softly.

Emily shrugged. “I don’t even know where we are now.”

“Not too far from Napa.” Jack murmured sleepily.

“That’s, what, maybe six hours from home?”

Jack shrugged, disrupting Marie’s head-on-shoulder comfort. She groaned. “Shouldn’t we just get going if it’s that close?” He shrugged again, she groaned.

“We might as well get going if it’s that close,” said Emily. “If you’re that tired I can drive. I’m totally awake and alive.”

Jack sat there in a moment of silence. “Nah, I’ll do it.” He groaned as he sat up straight in his seat and rubbed his face.

“You sure? I mean, I-”

“I can do it.”

“...Okay.”

The road was eerily lonesome as they drove along. The air had a certain thickness to it too. The whole setting just seemed eerie and wrong, in its own way. The group drove along in uncomfortable silence.

“What time is it?” Marie’s sudden intrusion on the silence didn’t so much scare the other two who were awake; it just seemed… unnerving.

Emily pulled out here cell phone. “Um… Ah shit, battery’s dead. Where’s your phone, honey?” She asked Jack.

It didn’t feel right to speak.

“It’s in the back.”

It seemed like they were breaking some sort of cardinal rule by doing so.

“Where in the back?” Marie asked.

As if they were disturbing existence.

“I don’t fuckin’ know. It’s in my pack.”

But they couldn’t stop, it felt like they were acting out a part in a play and couldn’t stop.

“Where’s your bag, then?”

Like a bad dream.

“I don’t know, look behind you.” He said, turning in his seat.

A premonition.

“Jack! Watch out!”

He turned his eyes back on the road just in time to feel the van hit something and roll over it. He slammed on the breaks bringing the van to a skidding stop. Yells filled the car as everyone was thrown about.

“What the shit was that about?!” Craig asked from the vans floor, rubbing his head.

Tense silence.

He pulled himself back up into the seat. “Seriously-”

“Craig, shut up!” Jack screamed.

“Dude-”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” He hit the steering wheel with the palms of his hands. “Is everyone okay?”

Emily nodded, her hands over her mouth and her eyes gone wide, while Marie grunted. Craig sat in the back, bewildered.

Jack put his hand on the door handle and hesitated. He didn’t want to know what he hit. Whatever it was had to be pretty big, there was a painful looking dent in the cars hood. After a moment of silence he opened the door and stepped out.

Emily sat motionless, tears in her eyes. Marie leaned up and awkwardly hugged her from behind. “Ems? Are you okay?”

She shook her head. Jack had walked around to the front of the car and stood there, hand to mouth.

Emily sniffed. “It was a little boy.”

“Oh my god,” Craig whispered. He peeked out the back window cautiously, but the ice was still too thick to see. But there was a tinge of red noticeable on the road. A sick feeling crept up behind his jaw.

The three watched as Jack made his way to the back of the van. Marie caught his eye for a moment as he walked along the side and felt a knot in her stomach.

There was a moment that none of them could see Jack through the iced over windows. Their muscles tensed up as every second passed. Craig glanced back toward Marie and Emily briefly with a questioning look.

“There’s nothing there.” Jack said as he opened the door, making the three of them jump. Jack didn’t notice. “I mean, there’s… there’s blood, for sure. But nobody- I mean, nothing there.”

He stared forward for a moment. His face was set and emotionless. “No foot steps around it either.”

“Did you check under the car?” Emily offered.

Jack stared at her with a dumb founded look. “Of course I fucking looked under the car. What do you think took me so long?” He turned forward again and put his head against the steering wheel.

They sat in silence.

Marie cleared her throat. “I saw a house back down the road.” She paused awaiting objections. “Maybe… we should call the cops.”

Jack squeezed his eye tight.

Craig spoke up. “Jack, we can’t-”

“I know we can’t, Craig.” Jack snapped. “We have to call the police, I know.” He paused. “I’m just scared, okay?”

Emily leaned in and hugged him.

“How far was the house, Marie?” He asked after a moment.

“Not far.”

“What about the kid?” Emily demanded, agitated. She was shaken up and a pale in the cheeks.

Jack turned the key for the engine bringing the van to life. “He’s not there.”

“He has to be-”

“Back the other way, right Marie?”

“Jack!”

“Emily!” He slammed his fist on the steering wheel. “He’s not there, damnit. He’s not fucking there, I saw for myself. You can go check for yourself if you want, but he’s not there!”

“But the blood…” Craig interjected.

“There’s blood. There’s a shit ton of blood, but there’s no one, nothing there. There’s no foot prints, no body, and nothing underneath. There’s no one there.” He turned toward Marie. “Back down the road, right?”

Craig volunteered to go knock on the door with Jack. The lights were off and in any other situation Jack would feel bad about disrupting the peace within the home. He glanced back at the van once before turning toward Craig.

“You want the honor, or should I?” Craig took a polite step backward and gestured for Jack to take the lead.

Jack took a deep breath and rapped on the door. He waited for a moment, listening. Craig’s rhythmic breathing was the only thing filling the silence.

He knocked again, more urgently, and waited.

The two exchanged glances. Craig shrugged and raised a hand to knock on the door.

“Who’s there?” Came a woman’s voice from inside. Craig froze mid strike.

“Uh- Sorry to wake you up, but there’s been an accident.”

There was a pause. “What kind of accident?”

“We hit someone,” Craig said. Jack hit him and gave him an annoyed look. Craig ignored him. “I mean, we think we did. There was no one there when we looked.”

“You didn’t see the person you hit?” The woman on the other side of the door asked suspiciously.

“No-”

“It’s dark,” Jack interrupted. “Only one of us saw them just before we hit ‘em. But what he means is that when I got out of the car to see if they were okay, there was no one there.”

There was a long pause. The two exchanged glances again.

“What do you want me to do?” She asked.

“Could we use your phone, please?” Craig replied, hopeful.

“I know this is weird,” Jack interjected. “But if you want you can call the cops for us, we can wait out by the van. We aren’t lying or anything, we just need to tell them what happened.”

There was a long silence behind the door. The two of them exchanged glances.

“Ma’am?”

“I’ll call the cops.” She trailed off as she moved away from the door.

Jack looked at the other man. “Does that mean we should go back to the van?” Craig shrugged and hesitated before turning heel and heading back for the van; Jack not far behind.

“What happened?” Marie asked as they got into the vehicle.

Jack shook off the cold as he closed the van’s door. “We wait here.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Did you talk to her?”

“She’s calling the cops.”

“Ah,” she sighed. “Well that’s good. When you were out there Emily remembered about our phones,” Jack gave her a confused look. “Don’t freak too hard. None of them work.” She held it up to illustrate her point then tossed it back into the bag. “I knew we should have brought the chargers.”

“Why didn’t anyone remember the phones when we were still over there?” Craig asked.

She shrugged. “Stress?” She offered. No one spoke.

Jack rested his head on the steering wheel, Emily leaning against him stroking his arm. Craig and Marie sat next to each other without actually being near each other. Marie drummed her fingers on the back of the chair.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She watched the house. The lights were still off, nearly camouflaging it against the woods behind it in the dark.

“I wonder if they’re coming.” She asked, breaking the silence.

Emily raised her hand toward the front window. “They’re here.”

Everyone looked.

“That was fast.”

“Well, holy shit. That’s a big mess.” Officer James strode down the middle of the road toward the red streak, his car lights shining down on it. “You sure you hit someone?”

Jack nodded, mostly to himself. “Yeah. I mean, I think I-”

“-didn’t see for yourself.” Officer James finished. He nodded. “You mentioned that. But you said one of your friends did?”

Jack nodded. “Emily.”

“Right. And you were driving?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And why weren’t you watching the road?” He squatted down beside the streak, analyzing the scene.

“I only took my eyes off for a second.”

“That’s all it takes, kiddo.”

Jack nodded. “I know. I know, I really didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Officer James stood up and adjusted his jacket. “And you say you stopped right after?”

“Yes, sir.”

“No body.”

“Nothing.”

Officer James nodded and turned back to look at the frozen blood in the road.

“I swear.” Jack hesitated before continuing. “There weren’t any foot prints-”

“Or blood leading away.” Officer James offered.

“No. Nothing. I didn’t know what to do. That’s why we called for you.”

Officer James turned back toward the vehicles down the road. “Come with me to my car.”

Officer James opened the car door and ducked inside, motioning for Jack to follow suit. “Hope you don’t mind,” said the officer. “Much warmer in here.”

Jack shook is head. “Nah, it’s okay. Didn’t really wanna be out there anyway.”

Officer James nodded. “Okay, so here’s how it is. I’m gonna need to bring you lot back to the station with me, okay?” Jack nodded. “You’re not under arrest. For all we really know, there hasn’t been a crime here. There’s no evidence-” Jack began to protest but Officer James waved him back. “There’s no body, and although something’s obviously happened by the looks of your car we really don’t have much else.”

Jack nodded and looked down at the dashboard. Officer James ruffled through some papers and jotted down a few notes under the flashlight.

“Now,” continued Officer James. “here’s what we’re gonna do. You go ahead and get back in your van and follow me down to the station, okay? And we’ll spend some time filling out reports. I know it’s not a proper way to spend a Sunday, but soon as everything’s situated you can get ahead on your way.”

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. “Just like that?”

“Yeah,” Then he shook his head. “I mean, no. We’ll have all your information. Hopefully you brought your I.D.s?” He glanced at Jack expectantly for a second, and then looked back down at his work. “Okay. So just go ahead and head back to your van. I’ll lead the way.”

Jack stepped out of the car and began treading back toward his van. Officer James rolled down the window and hollered out to him. “Keep close, okay? These roads get windy and you can easily get lost if you don’t know the way.”

Jack turned and nodded then got into his van.

Emily turned to him. “Something wrong?” He shook his head. “What’re we gonna do then?”

“We’re going with him.”

Emily nodded.

The two cars traveled back down the road back up the way they had come from. The ride was silent, Jack staying hunched over the steering wheel. Emily kept a worried gaze on him, never wavering. She had a diligent look of caution, if not fear or even protection.

Craig had taken up his spot lying in the far backseat, resting his arm over his eyes.

Marie kept her eyes on the world outside of the van though. She watched the trees pass outside in the dark world. Her mind couldn’t work out what was going on. It felt as if she were dreaming, that this wasn’t happening to her.

They passed a house. The same house they had stopped at earlier. A light shone through a window this time around.