《Shards of Crystal Memories》


 Chapter 1: The end of the beginning

    ¡°You''d better not! I won''t fucking forgive you!¡± She yelled out to me, yet I ignored her cries, even though it pained my heart to do so. I put one foot over the edge and I leaned forward. I closed my eyes and I felt my body go into freefall.


    I slowly approached my doom, yet I felt strangely at peace. It seemed as though there was no tension, no stress, like the melancholic feeling you get from listening to calming classical music.


    It was kind of ironic if you think about it. I had somehow become the tragic hero of my very own life even though I hated it at first. It went from being just a way to run away from it all, to it being the sole reason for my existence. It was... Pathetic? Sad? Unfulfilling? I couldn¡¯t think of a fitting adjective.


    As the end came closer, I began to think about the things I had never experienced. I will never experience the future, nor will I see the ending of that show I was watching. Perhaps when I arrive at the bottom, God himself will greet me with a glimpse into the future.


    Finally, I could feel like the ground was approaching. I began to wonder ¡°Will my body will just break, or if it will go ¡®Splat¡¯ like in the movies. Maybe I will just bounce? I might even survive if I tuck my head in?¡± yet I tossed those thoughts aside and began to mentally prepare myself. It was the end¡­


    I awoke in cold sweat. Not because of a nightmare, but because I had dozed off in class. I raised my head slowly and looked around. Luckily, neither the teachers nor my classmates had noticed. To be honest, nobody even cared. They were too busy either paying attention or dozing off themselves. Even the teacher sounded like he was about to fall asleep.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I pretended to take notes until the sweet release of the bell finally rung among the halls. You could hear the students flee into the halls. I too soon followed, after taking my bag, and I headed home.


    I walked through the desolate halls which lead to the back exit, which was located on the south side of my school. There were, at most, five people in that whole part of the school, and half of those people were the staff. It makes you wonder why they kept the south exit open. I didn¡¯t mind as it made my walk home shorter.


    I made my way to the exit and headed out. Finally, I was free of the social constraint that was school, but to my dismay, as I walked outside I was stopped by a very large and buff man. He seemed to be blocking.


    I mustered all of the courage I had and spoke in the softest tone I could.¡°Hey, may I pass, please?¡± The man looked at me as if he was looking at trash.


    ¡°No, you may fucking not.¡± He said in a voice so deep, I could drown in it. Before I spoke again, I peeked at what was happening behind him. What I saw was a three on one fight against one of my classmates.


    The guy standing in front of me noticed my staring and tried to push me away.¡°You wanna get beat up too!? Can I beat this one up too?¡± He yelled loudly without turning around, yet nobody responded. He slowly turned around, and to both of our surprise, the three bullies were out cold, and the only one standing was Kain¡­ my classmate.


    The big guy pushed me aside and took off running. Kain approached me and sat down right beside where I had fallen.¡°Yo¡­ um¡­ Jake, right?¡± He used his sleeve to remove some of the blood from where he seemed to have bitten his lip.


    ¡°Yeah, you got it right.¡± I wanted to stand up but I just couldn¡¯t find it in me.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Kain seemed genuinely worried for me. ¡°Did that guy hit you or something?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m just kind of tired.¡± I tried to make an excuse.


    ¡°Alright then. By the way, I¡¯m Kain.¡± He introduced himself, even though we were already classmates. ¡°Do you want to hang out sometime?¡±


    I wanted to say no, I wanted to refuse and to just go home and sleep. I didn¡¯t want to do anything, nor did I want to go anywhere. So, I stood up, gathered my courage and decided to refuse.¡°Sure, why not.¡±

 Chapter 2: An untimely demise...

    ¡°Please, stop!¡± Ignoring the boy¡¯s screams, the killer held him down with his own body and swiftly lifted his blade. The killer struck, but to his surprise he had missed. The boy gathered up his strength and pushed the killer away.


    The man stumbled back while the kid quickly stood up, and began running towards his supposed freedom. He ran faster than he had ever ran before, but it was all for naught. He reached a dead end, and he was about to meet his death at its end.


    The killer approached slowly, taking his time, knowing that the victim couldn¡¯t run. He finally arrived where the boy had crouched and was awaiting his demise. He lifted the knife again... and he didn¡¯t intend on missing this time¡­


    After accepting his invitation, Kain dragged me along on his seemingly endless journey around the city. I should not have agreed to go, but what else could I have said? (except for ¡®No, thanks¡¯...)


    Kain knew a surprising amount of places around the city. We went to spots which I have never even heard of¡­ Well, considering that I never go outside unless necessary, it¡¯s not as surprising as it sounds.


    It was getting darker out so Kain and I decided to finally go home. We headed to the nearest bus station. While making our way there, we happened to notice what seemed like a trail of blood. I had decided to ignore it, but Kain stopped.


    ¡°Hey¡­ isn¡¯t that blood? We should check it out..!¡± He began to approach the dark alleyway.


    ¡°Kain! We really shouldn¡¯t...¡± I tried to stop him, but it was as if he couldn¡¯t hear me. He continued onward and I reluctantly decided to follow him.


    We were in the most unsettling, maze-like back alleyways I have ever been to. It seemed as though so many of them just ended randomly. I was following Kain, and he himself was following the trail of blood. After walking, I began to think to myself ¡®Is that even was blood? It might be our misunderstanding¡­¡¯ but my thoughts were about to be disproven¡­You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Kain stopped and began to inspect the ground. After a bit of time, he called me over.


    ¡°Hey, Jack!¡± I made my way next to him and looked down at the ground. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that look like a knife mark...¡± he said while pointing at a small depression in the ground, which was next to a small puddle of blood.


    ¡°Kain, we really should get the fuck out of here.¡±


    ¡°Hell no, I just got really interested...¡± He stood up and began walking, albeit a bit more cautiously. I soon followed suit


    We finally arrived at the ending of the trail of blood. It was exactly as we were expecting¡­ there was a dead body. For some reason, I felt neither sickly nor anxious. Kain, on the other hand, began vomiting right after we arrived. While he was doing his thing, I decided to check on the body.


    I approached the body carefully. It seemed as though it was a guy, around my age. He was stabbed in the chest with a knife. I examined the surrounding area, only to find rubble and dirt. Actually, it was an unnatural amount of rubble and dirt, almost if it was set up as to hide something. I kicked over the small pieces of rubble and underneath I found a kitchen knife, along with a... finger!?


    I won¡¯t sugar coat it: I threw up. The finger still had blood on it. Kain, who was looking around noticed me and came and patted my back.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, did the body finally get to¡­¡± He noticed the finger ¡°Holy shit. Is that a..?¡± I nodded.


    We both had to take a little time to reflect as to what we had seen. I sat down beside the pile of rubble and just emptied my mind of unnecessary thoughts. Meditation, as people call it... Kain, on the other hand, was calling the police.


    While waiting for the police to come, I noticed a small bag next to the finger. I went over to look at it, and I was surprised by what I saw. It was like a bag of drugs. The bag had a small label, which said ¡®CPE¡¯. I emptied the bag on my hands and began trying to look at what it was.


    After some thought, I began to think that those little crystal rocks were actually methamphetamine. I worried for a moment as I had no idea how to dispose of them without looking suspicious. My worries were cut short by Kain.


    ¡°Hey! Is that Rock candy? Don¡¯t mind if I do!¡± and he grabbed a small piece and chugged it into his mouth. Immediately, his face turned sour. He seemingly reluctantly swallowed it and looked at me with this disgusted look on his face.


    ¡°What the fuck was that?¡±