@zennaphobia asked to hear about my oc Maggie Malone, so here’s a little snippet I threw together last night.
The first thing that people would say when hanging off a cliff over oceanside Greece would be “Don’t look down!” Maggie, however, couldn’t help but admire the view from a hundred feet over the sapphire blue waves. Even though her leg was bleeding, her arms were aching, her fingers were trembling as they clung to the white rock, and she might be seconds away from her own demise.
Still, the location couldn’t be beat.
Maggie struggled to pull herself up, so she could at least look her would-be, might-be killer in the eyes, like a decent victim. It took a while, but with her feet scrambling for a foothold and all of her remaining energy centered on what little biceps she had, she managed to get her forearms over the cliff and finally her chin. She resolved to do way more pull-ups when she got out of this. If she did.
She took a moment to survey the danger in front of her rather than the danger below. Four of Katsaros’s goons, all at least a foot taller than she was. One empty handed (save for his cell phone), three armed, one with his pistol pointed at Cherise, all four with annoyingly beautifully shaped noses. Oh, and Cherise. Cherise wouldn’t hurt her, but she did look rightfully pissed.
Okay, maybe Cherise would hurt her. But later, in the relative safety of Not Here.
“Is there any way we can talk this out, boys?” Maggie asked, still slightly out of breath from her near-plummet.
“Not a chance, Malone,” Cell Phone Goon said. “You have what Katsaros wants. Why don’t you give him the pendant so we can give it to him, huh? Then maybe we won’t shoot you. Or your little friend here.”
Maggie decided that out of all of them, his nose was the least handsome.
She slowly turned her head and surveyed the drop once more. It wasn’t horribly appealing.
“Okay buddy, last chance,” Maggie warned. “You let us go, and I won’t kick your ass later.”
He had the nerve to laugh. Slowly, the others began to laugh with him. One cheerfully poked Cherise on the shoulder with his gun. She did not appear quite as cheerful.
Cell Phone Goon calmed down after a moment. “You’re funny, Malone. I’m gonna miss you.”
“Well, that’s really sweet.” Maggie sighed, still clinging to the cliff. She would have to do this the hard way. “I just have one question. Before I fall to my death, or get shot or whatever.”
Cell Phone Goon shrugged. “Sure. What?”
“Oh, not for you. Cherise, pop quiz. How do you say ‘good bye’ in Greek?”
Cherise wrinkled her nose. “Easy. It’s antio.”
“That’s funny,” Maggie said. “I pronounce it jump.”
TA DA! A little extra info: Magnolia “Maggie” Maria Malone (just for the heck of it) is an archaeologist, in the Indiana Jones sense of the word. She is a disgraced Cambridge grad student, framed for a crime and still bitter about it. She travels the world with her assistant/best/only friend Cherise, uncovering ancient secrets with the only other archaeologists that still trust her after her expulsion and trying to avoid her ex best friend/roomate/worst enemy, Chesterfeld.
Here we see Maggie hunted down by goons, toting a valuable artifact that a sketchy collector wants. Now the only problem is how to get her out of this mess…
