《The Withering of Gold Vol. 3》 Oh, the places you wont go Life A staple of everything built upon the foundation of this world, where there are two essential paths of life that come into play. The first being the emotion of love. You know, the painfully fun dumb moments in your life where you¡¯re blinded by one person? Yeah, a moment in your life where either you act a complete dumbass, or try to act a full fledged badass. It doesn¡¯t matter what you love. It can be anything. Like a person. Or an object. Or even an idea! You can love pretty much any kind of thing in this world, with some ranging into murky water. Though the person aspect can prick if you touch the wrong sides. Then, there is death. An end game to life. Once this event happens, we could just poof and stop existing, or go to space and cool off with the angels, or just get reincarnated to some other world. There¡¯s pretty much only one way to find out where we go afterwards unless you know a damn handy trick of bringing yourself back before fully dying. But what about the paradoxes that follow death? For instance, not being able to come back once dying? Or what if you successfully self-revive, but it¡¯s not the you that originally died? Or what if¡­? If Once you think about death, or anything pertaining to a life threatening situation, that horrid conjunction appears. It makes you second guess, and your mind fills with anxiety, clouding your judgement, which then makes choosing a decision even harder. So then¡­ What if every life could be filled with a happy love story, where death was nowhere? Wouldn¡¯t life be so frickin dandy? Just up close with whatever makes you the happiest, all day. Now wouldn¡¯t that be heaven. Then when the time comes, it would be a finely tuned death. A peaceful, preferably natural occurring and a painless, way to leave this world. Life would be pretty aight if it was like that. If it was as simple as that. But it¡¯s not. Human desires always have a tail, somewhat like a rope, but more durable. Something like a chain sounds nice. We as people drag a chain behind everywhere we go, allowing it to clamp around the places we leave behind. Now imagine, not only yourself, but the other billions of people moving about, dragging their chains around. We¡¯re bound to get caught in others messes, aren¡¯t we? And if we get dragged with someone, then we¡¯re bound to start dragging another along with us, then them with another, and so on. Life just becomes a perpetual race of dragging others beside you while having little control of what you do, or how you affect your own actual chain. Only the person dragging you can slightly tilt the direction your being dragged in, while you can only change the life of the person dragging behind you.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Everyone you know is being dragged by someone greater than them, while also dragging someone along themselves. That¡¯s all there is to life. But then¡­ What about the people at the tippy top? The ones who drag everyone down with them; what drives them? ¡°Hey Mr?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± They have enough power to lead how they want to, theoretically without anyone controlling them from above, so why don¡¯t they really steer the world? ¡°Please, tell me: Why am I the only one left?¡± Silence surrounded the questioning boy as his eyes peered deeper for the answer. ¡°Hmm, you really oughta not know.¡± ¡°Oh, why not?¡± The answers simple really: We drag the people below us, but that doesn¡¯t mean they don¡¯t drag us with them as well. It¡¯s sort of like a metal fishnet. We toss it down, but our leg gets stuck with it, and soon the fish start dragging us with them. ¡°Because you¡¯re the sole survivor of this tragedy.¡± The words sounded as they were meant to bear some heavy burden, but they only flew right through the boy, as if he were a ghost. Or maybe the words themselves were ghastly. ¡°But isn¡¯t Effryn still with me? That doesn¡¯t necessarily mean I¡¯m the only one left in the family.¡± And once the jagged chains spread like threads, the cursed people from the bottom create a ripple, causing the top to crumble in their safe havens. ¡°Well...you¡¯re not wrong, but not right either.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°He¡¯s still here...but--Everything about him is dying, or maybe even already dead.¡± From there, that is how the people at the bottom can control the ones at the top, and steer their nets to make changes for themselves. But only if you have everybody suffering together can this become feasible. Though¡­ ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± The boy understood now. The missing pieces were now starting to connect. But even if everything made sense, it didn¡¯t make the truth anymore bearable. ...a person can single handedly control that bottom group themselves, if they have the right pieces and know exactly where to put them. But only a few stupidly talented number of individuals can achieve those levels, and most are automatically born with the talent. So only the gifted of this world can dream of truly changing the world for themselves. -But don¡¯t exactly kill the entire idea off yet. What if someone were to undergo a series of events that would forcefully change their perspective on life, while consecutively changing around their inner workings as human? If a situation like that were to happen, and they went through an event that changed the wiring in their brain, then could they do it? Would they have the mindset and will to change and manipulate their surrounding world to fit life for them? ...and if they did, by what means would they do it? ¡°So there must have been a reason why Effryn killed father, right Eizer?¡± The boy asked the question that had been pressuring his mind ever since he hopped in the backseat of the car, and watched the passing world around him while rain tapped away at the glass. He let his gaze drift from the crying world, and focused it to the bigger kid sitting up front. ¡°I really, really hope so. ¡®Cause if not, then I really don¡¯t know what to do Gale.¡± Eizer muttered, looking back at the sleeping boy who was slightly older than him at the back seat. His corrupt snores indicated that this must be the first time he rested in a while. ¡°I really hope you have one, Effryn.¡± 1. To bandage a tragedy ¡°Drink up.¡± A fresh glass of coffee was given to Effryn. Steam slowly seething from the heat as he lifted to sip. It was too sweet. ¡°More blankets are in the closet if you get too cold, and there is an extra pillow incase this ain¡¯t high life enough for ya.¡± Eizer wiped the sweat off his brow, admiring his proud work of quickly making his once trashy waste room, into a bonafid guest room. Though who could really blame him? Everything happening was such a surprise shocker, that not even God would have seen it coming. ¡°Ah, and make sure to lie low for a minute. After all, coppers are sure to trail if you don¡¯t play dead.¡± Eizer tried laughing off the atmosphere, but only met an awkward silence. One boy was already trying to sleep, while the other sipped away at his drink, and made a sour face after each attempt. ¡°Well, I should get going.¡± he announced, stretching off the embarrassment. ¡°You two take care and be mindful. You never know what sort of shit will happen next if you do anything stupid.¡± He strode to the door, lightly opening it, before hesitating. His mouth moved as if something was urging to escape, but he bit his tongue. ¡°Good night you two.¡± And he left. Effryn took a sip of his drink, and peered over at the sleeping boy. His breath was quiet, but steady enough to be audible. ¡°I had to do it.¡± Effryn muttered. ¡°But why?¡± the boy whimpered. ¡°I did it for father, Gale. He showed me how much he loved me, as well as how much he hated me. So in return, I wanted to show how much I felt about him.¡± Gale twisted around in his covers, flipping his body away from Effryn, and covered his face. ¡°No matter how many times you respond with that insane answer, I¡¯ll never understand it.¡± Effryn wanted to say something to him, but he knew nothing would fix his mind. Not yet, anyways. ¡°Good night.¡± Gale didn¡¯t respond, only leaving the night sounds to answer. Effryn took another sip at his coffee, and made a sour expression. Why give me coffee as a beverage when it''s this late? Days ever so slowly crawled by as the two went on residing in Eizer¡¯s house. Three meals were brought into their rooms once a day, and they eat at their respective beds. Effryn made sure to gulp every bit of crumbs he could find, while Gale could hardly force any down. When night came, Effryn could often hear Gale softly whimpering away under his covers, whispering some kind of phrase over and over. But he never could understand what it was he kept whispering. He didn¡¯t need to. Not when the only thing he could make out was ¡°Frael.¡±. Though, Effryn couldn¡¯t really blame them him for crying. He probably loved her after all. Or at least he did in term for being a child. Life was passable for the time being, and if they kept it up, they could probably stay like this forever, hiding away from the dangers under the shield of Eizer until the dust settles. Just a few years away, maybe the bad people after Effryn would probably forget everything that ever happened, and just move idly along¡­ -But Effryn himself wouldn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t. Not after what they did. There was no love in their actions. There was no hate. It was purely a strategic move to get Effryn mentally, since they couldn¡¯t get hit him physically. ¡®The effects of US, and how it could change the world¡­¡¯ a current events headline read. Effryn tossed the paper aside, and switched the television hoping to relieve his boredom. ¡®...in recent news, the sudden arson of the Hope orphanage still remains a mystery as investigators are searching for the exact cause, but they speculate the flame was sparked by a group of individuals. The groups name, and their motive, still remain are also still being investigated at this time. Please stay tuned after these sponsors.¡± So they still haven¡¯t found the bastards responsible for this. How incompetent. Flicking his fingers against one another, he began to grow impatient. ¡°Gah! How much more sitting around do we have to do?!¡± ¡°What else could we possibly do but listen to Eizer.¡± Gale unexpectedly answered with a sheepish groan. True, Eizer did say to stay inside for everything to blow away, but¡­ ¡°That doesn¡¯t necessarily mean we have to listen.¡± Effryn beamed with his answer. ¡°And that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean we have to break the rules.¡± Gale rebutted, making his position on staying clear. ¡°Besides, God knows what you¡¯ll do.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Effryn flicked his fingers with more force, and looked back at the boy hiding underneath his covers. ¡°You might hurt more people...the same like father.¡± ¡°There are times when you need to preserve yourself and your kin. I only did what I did in the name of family.¡± ¡°Then please¡­¡± he poked his head out from the covers, and peered with fearful eyes at Effryn¡¯s soul. ¡°...don¡¯t hurt me.¡± Effryn merely gazed at the boy, who was calculating everything in his mind. From what Effryn knew, Gale was a logical boy who used his brain to get out of every problem he encountered. So right now, he was probably thinking up ways to counter Effryn incase he did anything. ¡°Jeez, why would I do that?! The probability is practically zero!.¡± ¡°The ¡®probability¡¯ is a 27% chance.¡± ¡°Where are you getting these numbers?!¡± Effryn raised his fist to the sky, as if he were bickering like some housewife. For a moment, even this small skit nearly made Gale flash a smile. But he lowered himself to the covers once more, hiding himself. Ah, well maybe some other day. Effryn looked back to the television, which was playing some ads about an automatic clothing hanger. Maybe one day I can see my last remaining family member smile again. He could convince himself to the point of blind belief on pretty much anything, but Gale himself wasn¡¯t like that. There was always a bit of stubbornness following that boy. In the end, he always followed what was right and logical. Maybe that¡¯s why his brain was hurting? An ever nibbling attack on his conscious. ¡°Hey. Quick hitter: Are you mad about the parent thing?¡± Curious as he was, Effryn was still a bit shy asking the question. Sure he did kill father, but it really was out of survival. And for mother¡­ ¡°Of course not.¡± he flattly said, keeping quiet as if he were hesitating. ¡°Well¡­ I know it wasn¡¯t you exactly, but that doesn¡¯t change how I feel about them.¡± ¡°And you loved them?¡± ¡°-Only love.¡± he quickly added. ¡°No hatred.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± That isn¡¯t possible, but livestrong little brother. He thought. The television continued rambling as a mad man trying to sell them any and everything they could. Gale ruffled through the sheets, and from the corner of an eye, his body perked up. ¡°But they aren¡¯t the main ones I¡¯m wrapped around about. It¡¯s Frael¡­¡± Frael. A precious gift this world kindly received from the heavens, but humans just weren¡¯t ready for her. ¡°I-I really liked her. I mean, not like that! Or, I mean, I didn¡¯t like her as much as some people might do! NO! I mean¡­ I mean¡­ um¡­!¡± Gale frantically moved his small body around, trying to find the right words to finish. ¡°Love?¡± ¡°L-love¡­? How can I follow that? She¡¯s not father or mother, so that¡¯s out of the questio-¡± ¡°-So you did love her.¡± Gale¡¯s face flared red. He instinctively pulled the covers up to his face. ¡°N-no! I mean, yes I guess I did? But then wait, how would I even know what that feeling is if barely even ten?!¡± Effryn chuckled, releasing his fingers from the prison of tapping. ¡°Calm down. I¡¯m sure you loved her.¡± ¡°Yeah... I sure did.¡± Gale released the cover from his face to reveal a small stream parallel to one another down his face. He fell flat a moment later, burying himself once more. ¡°Why did she have to go of all people? Did she work herself to death by overworking on her one project? Why couldn¡¯t I do anything? Why¡­?¡± As Gale spewed out more questions, the more he tensed. His grip grew shaky, and he felt a rush of asphyxia overtake him. That was, before Effryn reached over and gave his head area a head pat. ¡°Don¡¯t think like that, or you¡¯ll create a snowfall of thoughts. Take your time to rest up on her, but I¡¯m sure you know best we¡¯ll have to move on from this.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ And please stop rubbing my chest. It feels weird.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± He lifted his hand from the area he mistook for a chest. After awkwardly smiling as apology, Effryn faced back towards the television. Forget, huh? Cause that¡¯s exactly what I can do. To hell with that, I can¡¯t ever move on from Evvryn. As his thoughts were completely enveloped in thought, the prior news network returned to its program in an unnecessary manner: ¡®Good evening Heeth city! I¡¯m James, your news host, and today we have received some information regarding the orphanage case, and instructions if you fall in the following position.¡¯ Effryn focused on the words, while Gale¡¯s ears poked from the covers. ¡®For this story, we have chief detective Knox giving information on what is known and available for the case. Detective Knox, if you may.¡¯ A man who Effryn had never seen leaned closer to the microphone. He thought nothing of it, since he¡¯d never seen him, but he noticed Gale act differently. His mouth was frozen in the air, and his gaze was purely on the man. ¡°Ahem, yes. Though we don¡¯t have much information now, we can spare some. For starters, we know the orphanage Saint hope¡¯s building was burned, and nearly every child currently residing there was found dead or murdered. Nearly, with one exception. Now, in normal circumstances, regulations prevent us from releasing a child¡¯s name due to their safety, but for this occasion, we agree it¡¯s the best decision.¡± The knox chief guy inhaled deeply, staring right at the camera as if he were looking at a specific thing. ¡°The child is Gale Lander, and our intel informs us he is in a currently dangerous position. A week prior, we entered the estate searching for a crazed man named only Effryn who had been in an earlier incident this year, and we confirmed a connection of him recently visiting the orphanage and the other incident. So with this information, we have reason to believe he is the primary suspect in this case, and we want any eyes who spot him to alert the police immediately. That is all the in-¡± ¡°Bullshit!! Why is he pinning the blame on me?! I did nothing here, so why bring me up?!¡± Effryn suddenly erupted while the chief was still announcing his speech. ¡°-formation we have now. Please bear with us and deliver any tips to the police immediately. Thanks for the time.¡± The detective tilted his head down at the camera, before completely walking away. ¡°That son of a¡­! How does he even know I was there before?!¡± ¡°I knew he was rash, but this is insane at this point.¡± ¡°Do you know this jackass?!¡± Effryn quickly turned to face Gale, who was left staring at the pictures on the screen. Though he may not know it himself, his expression was that of pure annoyance. ¡°I had the opportunity of meeting him once. He swung by home asking questions about whether you showed up or not.¡± ¡°And did you answer him?¡± ¡°I tried looking out for you, but that guy really knows how to get in your mind. He got in mine easily.¡± Gale slumped back down on the bed, and embraced the comfortable green sheets he grew to appreciate. ¡°Did you notice the way he said and acted everything?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Effryn responded, not knowing what Gale was getting at. ¡°He looked at the camera, sure. But to me, it was more like he was staring at a specific someone. That someone being you.¡± ¡°Why do that?¡± ¡°I think¡­ No, I know he knows everything he just said was a lie. He wanted to get more eyes on you. That¡¯s why he said everything.¡± Astonished that someone would do so much just to get him, Effryn felt his hands tremble. Tremble with anger. ¡°B-but that¡¯s illegal! Can¡¯t we just arrest him for false incrimination of evidence or something?¡± ¡°We may not have done anything, but that doesn¡¯t mean much. I see this in two ways, which is either we have the upper hand in them not having evidence, or them lying about having evidence and using this as leverage to bring out attention to us. Or more specifically, you.¡± Why do all to chase after me damnit?! I¡¯m not even the one who did anything, so go after the real criminals!! As Effryn felt his index nail digging in the tip of his thumb, the news grabbed his attention once more when two photographs appeared on screen. ¡®Here we have are the photos of young Gale Lander on the left, and the prime suspect of the case, Effryn, on the right. Please alert the authorities on any information about these two. Thank you, and continuing to our next story¡­¡¯ ¡°Damnit!¡± Effryn yelled as he slammed his fist against the table, which shook a glass, causing it to wobble but not enough to fall. ¡°I never would have thought he¡¯d pull something like this.¡± Gale muttered. ¡°This is practically cheating at this point!¡± A trap built upon a lie. That¡¯s what this was. It relied on the extra eye¡¯s gained from the people after relaying information of a dangerous man on the loose. -It was as brilliant as it was illegal. If that¡¯s how your playing your cards, then I might as well start setting up my deck. Switching the television off, Effryn picked himself up and went to the bathroom to change. ¡°And where do you plan to go?¡± ¡°I have some things I rather take care of soon.¡± For a moment, there was no response. But after a bit of silent awkwardness, Gale finally replied in a low tone. ¡°Please don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t make any promises.¡± Afterward, Effryn went to the bathroom to get ready for today¡¯s plan. ~Heeth city police station~ ¡°Sir?!?! Do you fully understand the implications of everything you just said?!¡± Looks like Watt isn¡¯t too happy about my recent push for developments. ¡°I have my reasons, rookie.¡± ¡°I mean no disrespect to you sir, but I don¡¯t think anything can justify this!¡± With the city-wide broadcast he set out earlier, the police had the eyes of the entire city with them. Though his partner may have rushed to his work station as soon as he got back, it was an event he knew would happen. ¡°Calm down rookie, or your face will rot off. I have my reasons for this.¡± ¡°And what could they be?!¡± The chief reached into his pocket sleeve and pulled out a cigar. He gently surrounded his lips around the bud, and lit. ¡°I can hardly care for that boy, Effryn. But It¡¯s still my job to find a missing person, and I¡¯m more than positive Gale is with him.¡± Watt slammed against the desk, with anger surging through his fist. ¡°Then solve it conventionally without putting the kids at unnecessary risk!¡± The chief heard the fierce words, but only continued puffing on his cigar. ¡°I would, but they aren¡¯t even my main target with this. No where close.¡± ¡°Then what is?!¡± Watt looked at the chief puzzled, scratching his head, until the answer dawned on him. ¡°Wait¡­ You don¡¯t mean for that rising group in the streets?¡± ¡°Atta boy. That¡¯s my partner for you. I used the broadcast not for the people, but for the group, or mouse. I¡¯m hoping I can get them to lure out each other in a way we won¡¯t have to do anything.¡± ¡°S-sir¡­¡± Watt stood deadpanning, without any words to say. Leave it to his chief to use a totally irrational plan and make it fully work for him. Though¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t this a bit dangerous sir? I mean, what if the children get hurt?¡± Placing his finished cigar down, the chief casually stood from his chair, grabbing his coat. ¡°Well, I thought about such a thing happening, but I placed it on the low scale. And besides¡­¡± The chief stopped himself for a moment, with his arm about to slip through the sleeve. ...besides, that kid Effryn knows how to take care of himself already, so I doubt they can get him just yet. ¡°And besides?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Follow me, we have a call for traffic duty.¡± ¡°Nothing? Wait, traffic duty?! Aww, we just did that yesterday!¡± Watt cried, pulling over the yellow jacket that was made mandatory for the boring job. ~Deep within the city~ Patterned nightlights began illuminating everywhere, almost as if they lit on their own discretion. Though normal life in the city died hours ago, another life style was just being born. This time of night, bars start to shine, lust fills the lungs as rapid as oxygen, and the true monsters come out from hiding. ¡°Hear the news? The orphanage was set ablaze, and they know who did it.¡± ¡°Do they know? Who could have done such a horrible deed¡­¡± ¡°Apparently, the detective announcing the news pushed that one of the kids who lived there did the whole thing, and want the city to keep an eye out for him.¡± ¡°And what was his name?¡± ¡°Ooh, I wonder, how old is he?!¡± ¡°Quiet down. Was there anything else?¡± ¡°Nope!¡± ¡°Nothing at all¡­¡± ¡°So it seems.¡± ¡­ ¡°Hazzah!! Those dumbass pigs really thought they were on to something, and they even had me fooled!¡± ¡°Haha, I know right! What a bunch of zero-valued workers hitting their work off the board!¡± ¡°So are we free bound? ¡®Cause I really am tired of looking for that Effryn kid.¡± The assembly fell silent, waiting for the response from the leader of the rig. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t see why we should even bother anymore, so no, call it off. Though someone else has recently decided to start a feud with us.¡± ¡°Who the hell would wanna start something like that?!¡± ¡°Boss, just tell us the person, and I¡¯ll personally go fetch their corpse for ya!¡± Voices began shouting, and the room fell into disdained chaos. ¡°Shut the hell up, all of ya! We already got the situation under control, so no need to worry.¡± The boss shot Glares at everybody in the room. ¡°Sheesh, we already got the identity and name of the person, so no need to worry about it. Anyhow, I¡¯d say it¡¯s about time we end this meeting, so scram! And remember, never pass by opportunity!¡± ¡°¡±Right!¡±¡± the halls echoed, leaving everyone with high spirits. ¡°Hunter.¡± ¡°Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir Sir S-!!¡± ¡°Quiet yourself. I need you to hunt down this troublesome man. Can you do it?¡± A picture was flashed to him, revealing an older male covered in medical garments. ¡°A joke? Joke. You''re joking with me! You have to be! I can kill him. I can maul him! I can pierce him! I can severe him!¡± ¡°Stop.¡± The hunter immediately stopped, and began vigorously taping over his mouth until there wasn¡¯t a piece of tape left on the roll. ¡°Now go. And please, kill him before he gets you. Don¡¯t underestimate him, he¡¯s killed plenty of our men already.¡± ¡°HmmHMMMMhmmMMMMMM!!!¡± he spoke, ripping his nails underneath his skin to dig out of the tape. Luckily, he was able to puncture blood from below and slip the tape off. ¡°Count on me Sir!¡± *** I hate the city life. Night and day. The style of life had easily switched from serious work and business, to play and foolery. Like the flick of a light switch. Though this switch was much more annoying than useful. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Effryn tucked his face deeper under his face-covering bandages as he walked through the city crowds. That was one thing he made sure to change in the bathroom, but that didn¡¯t make it any less of a pain in the ass. Sure, people shot stares, and probably thought ¡®What the hell is this kid wearing, some kind of edgy fashioned zombie?¡¯ But they couldn¡¯t recognize him with only glances. The photo they used was much older, somewhere around six months or so, and was nowhere near how he looked now with his injuries, so he was in the clear for a moment. I hope Eizer doesn¡¯t get too mad at me. A thought crossed his mind. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Eizer, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± he muttered, pulling his hoodie even more over his head. ¡°If I may ask, where are you going?¡± Then, a voice erupted in his mind, one he hadn¡¯t heard in a good while. It was familiar as he remembered, with a stinging touch. -The voice of someone he loved, but while not being that person. ¡°Where have you been?¡± ¡°With your persistent presence with that younger child, it created an environment impossible for communication.¡± ¡°Sorry we live with each other.¡± ... Their conversation ended there, leaving the wind as the main background noise. Half an hour passed, or at least it felt like it. And neither the ghost or Effryn had muttered a word. He¡¯d only just blindly walked around, hoping to find something, before a question popped in his mind. ¡°Sudden: Why are you still here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recall needing a validating source to remain.¡± ¡°But your goal is complete; is it not?¡± Now there was something that was only a couple weeks ago, yet felt like they happened in a never world. A deal to ¡®find the keeper¡¯ or something, and in return, the ghost would revive Evvryn. The deed was done, but at a greater cost than Effryn could have hoped for. Not only did he pay with Frael and his family, his wish was never granted. But now of all times might be¡­ ¡°Hey ghost. I have a request for you.¡± ¡°Depending on what you may seek, I will do my best in listening.¡± ¡°About earlier, can you rivi-¡± Hmpf! Seconds away from asking his prize of getting back his friend, he accidentally bumped someone passing. ¡°O-oh, I¡¯m sorry, excuse me¡­¡± But as Effryn looked up in the middle of his apology, his thoughts were wiped from everything except one emotion. Fear. ¡°Oh my oh my oh my oh my oh myyyy!! Forgive me for pressing into on such a busy, sleeping night, but may I ask a question for such a busy body like yourself???¡± ¡°Eh? I uh¡­sure.¡± Effryn tried backing off from this weird guy was coming on his, but each time he tried moving back, the guy moved closer. ¡°Here is the particular person I need help finding, so if you may please deeply press this image in your mind and relinquish any thoughts or feelings you have on this man!¡± He reached in his pockets, and fastly pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, putting it in Effryn¡¯s hands. Effryn looked at the paper, puzzled at what to do, and looked up at the guy. He shook his head slowly at first, cocking his head at a fairly slow pace, until each passing moment his head increased in speed. Up and down, up and down. -A wicked smile was wildly plastered on his face. ¡°Sorry, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll recognize anyone¡­¡± Effryn didn¡¯t think he would know anyone out in the city. How could he? He was a shut-in, turned bed ridden kinda guy his whole life, so what were the odds he would know someone? ¡°Hehe, that look gives me the tingles and says that you do know said person! Great! Now if you can tell me his name, address, work place, city area, distance of police from his estate, and any known family members, that would be highly appreciated!¡± The insane person had been practically yelling in his face at this point, with a strange tone of dying excitement. ¡°Oh yeah, and his methods of killing!¡± Who the hell is this?! Why is he on me like this, and how does he know the doctor? Though not knowing the reason as to why this strange man was in his face, Effryn could tell one thing: His next words hold the value of his life. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I don¡¯t know this person.¡± In the next moment, the crazy person¡¯s brown coat brushed against the wind, and his smirk was crushed. ¡°You lie. You lie. You are lying. YOU DARE LIE?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s the truth.¡± ¡°Nonsense. Nonsense. Utter idiocracy! Then explain to me your previous attitude towards my earlier remark!!¡± ¡°Can you really blame me? He looked like a serial killer doctor.¡± Calmly staring back at the hatred oozing eyes of the crazy man, Effryn did his best not to push him anymore. He thought silence was best in this situation. Actually, he would have thought silence was the best in this situation if his mind weren¡¯t on another topic: I¡±m dead. I¡¯m seriously dead. This fricking nut-guy is gonna kill me! I¡¯m gonna die from some jackass just because I just so happen to know the doctor! Why, why God, why do this to me¡­ ¡°Fine.¡± Huh? ¡°Fine. I¡¯m bored of watching your lost eyes anyways. Now get lost; I want to have food, so I¡¯m going home!¡± More confused than ever, the man who sounded as if he were going to kill Effryn a second earlier was now walking away as if nothing had ever occurred. Guess I live today. ¡°Oh yeah,¡± he called out, appearing from what seemed the fibers of space. ¡°The name is hunter, and don¡¯t you bother to forget it. I doubt you should, ¡®cause I got the feeling I might have to kill you someday!¡± And hunter disappeared in the crowd. There were some stares at him, but most brushed it off as merely a cosplay. ¡°That was unexpectedly annoying.¡± ¡°That was could have been a very costly situation. And with certainty, I would have wagered your life with how you responded.¡± And since now there were no person directly talking with Effryn, the ghost could pop out of nowhere and say whatever it wanted. ¡°I feel like if I did say I knew doctor labor, it would have saved me the time of having to deal with a troublesome man like him.¡± ¡°So why falter?¡± ¡°Because I kinda felt it was one of those times where they ask ¡®how are you connected to his person? Are you working for him?!¡¯ or some crap. And then kill me.¡± In any other situation, if there was an actually competent and sane hitman after the doctor, he would have told them his entire info, practically doxxing them. But for the psycho¡­ ¡°Hmm, I perceive this. You were worried about your life, weren¡¯t you? Quite a different turn from merely a week earlier, when you wished death upon yourself after every step.¡± A dreamy radio, cheering on the nearing dead come of the sun. ¡°Well duh, even a dream can be born from hell.¡± And to this response, the ghost fell silent for a moment, only to return with a chilling, spiteful tone: ¡°Is that so? Well, we shall see if dreams can not only be born from hell, but also survive a hell as well.¡± Today was especially bright, and the sun even made its own aurora borealis kinda effect. Y¡¯know, the kind that looks like a far stretch of sunlight in the sky reaching from the contours of the stratosphere? Well kinda like those. The ghost sounded playful, almost as if were mocking Effryn. This came as a surprise to him, as the ghost who always sounded one-sided was now showing a small bit of her emotions. ¡°Goodluck, human.¡± But something happened in a moment unlike any other. There was no explanation why, but no matter how much I tried to turn down the radio, the volume only went up. At least, I think that¡¯s what I wanted it to do? ¡°G-goodluck for what? Hello? Hey, goodluck for-¡± And in the next moment, my baby I¡¯d been driving for months without end somehow crashed without warning into some buildings in some random street into some random city I¡¯d never heard before. It sucks. I think I hit, or killed, a couple dozen people along the way, but that doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s¡­ This damn radio. It¡¯s blaring its song louder than ever¡­! Please, turn it off. Turn it off! It¡¯s driving me insane! I swear to God, I¡¯ll keep driving, and hitting, and driving, and hitting, until finally a respiration time comes and delivers me from this human realm, to the point where my physical being is no more! Now than, ?-?-??, please deliver me from this world and- And after doing everything in my power to silence the never ending radio, the power of God answered, as my entire self was enveloped in a flash of inferno, killing me and probably everybody around me. That damn radio. I¡¯ll never be able to get that alluring tune out of my skull¡­ Especially now that I¡¯m dead. ¡°HOLY SHIT.¡± was the only response Effryn could come up with from what had happened. From one seemingly peaceful moment to a horribly monstrous event, a fuel truck had the sudden urge to drive full speed on the sidewalk, hitting God-knows how many, until eventually reaching its limit and flipping over, to which something caused the fuel to ignite, creating a bowl of fire. The explosion wasn¡¯t too far from Effryn, but that doesn''t really make the horror of the situation any better. People were sporadically running, screams were heard in a haunting prism, and the flame began to outmatch the chills of february. Effryn wanted to do something, but what could he do? He really thought he could do something if he went to the crash site and tried helping anyone who might have been unlucky enough to be in the middle of everything. But how much help would he really be? Thinking about how little he would actually affect the people in danger, Effryn decided the best thing to do was leave. Follow the steps of everyone else around him, and run like hell. Why get mixed up in this hellish scenario if he could just scream and run away like everybody else? As Effryn made up his mind in running and prepared himself to leave horrors he witnessed behind, another explosion followed the flame. -But this one felt different. A strange aroma mixed with the smoke of burning asphalt and meat, causing a stir in Effryn¡¯s nose. What is that¡­? Police sirens started to alarm all around the city, no doubt coming to this nightmare scenario and try to undo all the lives and damage lost in whatever happened Or so, Effryn hoped it ended like that. If only the nightmare ended at that point, then maybe everything would have been a little better¡­ The cops¡­ Holy cops, I¡¯m wanted! . He forgot one important thing through all of this: he was still a wanted man. From the earlier news broadcast, he had been pinned as the main killer of everyone at home, and also named a kidnapped. Was this his plan? No, no one could have anticipated this happening. First off, I need to run. Quickly glancing at the surrounding area he was in, through all the apartment complexes, there were a few alleyways barely being breachable. So he bolted for the nearest one and hoped nobody would see anything. As he ran, he could feel his soles sap against small rain puddles and piles of muddy trash. The alley grew desolate, as it soon became just enclosed walls of tattered bricks. The police sirens grew louder, and Effryn could see the flashing lights of blue and red. Above anything, it was more of an incentive for him to keep pressuring forward. It was clear enough that Effryn could escape the cops easily without even being noticed. So he started to slow his pace down to jogging speed. After he got out of whatever curse God wanted to bring upon the citizens, Effryn was going to make damn sure he was nowhere near any more events. Good-O! If I can just slip by here, maybe I can get through this entire ordeal with me going home, and having a nice sleep at my- But before finishing his thoughts of having a wonderful dream of one-on-one time with his bed, a stranger creeped out from a side alley. He had some kind of weird assortment of clothes on, almost like it was a uniform or something. He wore a purple polo, some black khakis, and a crazy swirly hairdo Effryn had never seen before. ¡°H-hey! Who are you?! Are you with him?! Are you a snitch?! Are you the-¡± the man spoke fast without wasting any breath. ¡°Calm down! I can¡¯t tell what you¡¯re saying!!¡± Effryn tried making some sense out of the guy, but it was clear to him he was lost in some horror from the mind. He kept talking insanities, and had no stop in speech. ¡°It was you it had to be there are no other reasons why so many bad events happened in one day that just doesn''t make sense so it has to be you.¡± and after he finished his crazed vent, a knife glimmered out from his pocket as he unsheathed its blade. ¡°So if I take out the root of my problems then maybe I can get out of this!!¡± Swirly hair or not, this crazy douchebag¡¯s gonna kill me! And so Effryn started up what he had been doing earlier, which was running profusely for his life. ¡°Come back here you small cunt! Just let me gut you down so everything can go back to normal!!¡± Effryn listened to more bad insults like that as he kept running through the labyrinth of living complexes. So far, everything connected like some sort of maze of apartments, where the deeper they went from the streets, the darker and trashiery everything got. What kind of stupid cat and mouse game is this?! I swear if I had a weapon I¡¯d bash him, gut him, or slice and maul him with no trouble whatsoever! ¡°Hehe...HaHa!¡± And without knowing it, a wicked smile plastered itself on his lips. ¡°What''s so funny?! Just come here and let me kill you, before that psycho comes for me!!¡± ¡°Why, why¡­ Why?! Because I forgot how much Fun this feeling is! I forgot the pure adrenaline rush of mixing hope and dread splashing against my blood stream, I forgot-¡± Effryn came to an immediate stop, and turned to face the helpless killer who was timidly holding a knife. ¡°-how it feels to kill someone.¡± Effryn licked his lips, tasting only the heat caused from the truck explosion along with sweat. ¡°W-who are you¡­? You¡­ You definitely are the reason why josh and zem wrecked without warning! You bastard! I swear I¡¯ll tear out every organ you own and sow them back together, so that I can--!¡± From one moment of frantically spewing nonsense to the next, his mouth stopped moving without any warning. He just merely stood, with the shadow of darkness looming over him. Then, he slumped against the wall, pushing himself with what seemed like all his body force to stand, only to slump back harder on the wall. He attempted to speak, but his tongue only slurred words with no apparent meaning. Watching the man who was once chasing him with a sharp weapon, Effryn could only laugh at how pitiful the man before him was. ¡°HaHa¡­ How sad are you be in moving like this? What happened to all that hype of ¡®gutting me down¡¯ huh?! You¡¯re just as sad as you ever were.¡± The man lifted his head and tried to speak again, but only saliva seethed from his lips. He forced himself forward, dragging his feet through muddy trash, until he tripped on some bags falling head first in a puddle of mud. He raised his hand that held the knife ever so slowly, and tilted his head to the point where his nose could breath oxygen. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you got so sleepy. Here let me-¡± Effryn lifted his right leg, and pushed down with his body weight, pressing hard against the head of the dying man. ¡°-help you rest!¡± Effryn kept the man locked under the mud with his leg, making it so breathing was impossible. The man struggled, though for whatever reason, he grew more and more tired as time past. There was even a point where his attempts grew so bad, Effryn couldn¡¯t help but laugh. After a while, a point came where the man no longer tried escaping, and he suffocated in a pile of mud. ¡°...Gah!¡± Effryn exasperated as he lifted his shoe. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be killing someone with his mind going crazy again, but here he was, standing before someone he drowned in a mud puddle with his shoe. Calm. Calm down. Cease all thinking in the brain¡­ Calm¡­ Okay! Now think about this Effryn: he was killing you, so you had to kill him! That story fits! But in a side chapter, say during some filler beach episode, there was an important event that occurred but you skipped it ¡®cause it¡¯s a filler. What happened during that time? Though he was thinking it in a weird way, he really did wonder what happened. Or in other terms, what made the man, who was perfectly chasing him just before, make a 180? Gathering his thoughts, he kneeled next to the man, and inspected his body. Everything is annoyingly normal. Clothes, skin, a couple stupid tattoos, and¡­ As he was checking his skin for any irregularities, he felt a rough liquid slowly seeping from the man''s neck. After getting into an area with more light, he was able to see the liquid had a deep color of red: blood. ¡°Ugh, I¡¯m getting sick of looking at red.¡± he sighed as he flicked off the blood. Whatever did it, I don¡¯t really care. He¡¯d dead. And that¡¯s that. He decided everything was done for, and began walking out of the maze of apartments he was in, before another annoying problem popped up¡­ ¡°Excuse me, hello, johnny? Where the hell did you go? We have to get out of here before either the cops pull up or that bastard comes crawling through here! Johhhhhnny!¡± Johnny? Oh, is it that unlucky bastard I killed? Effryn thought as he looked back at the corpse. ¡°Johnny? Please answer me. We need to get out of here before any more trouble comes our¡­¡± ¡°Way?¡± Effryn interrupted the new person, as he walked right in his line of sight. ¡°Sorry, but are you an acquaintance of this person?¡± He looked similar to swirly, with the same uniform like dress code going, and even the same tattoos the other guy had of the fish. The only thing different was his non-swirly hair. ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± ¡°Just a kid passing through.¡± His brow furrowed, and he focused his gaze at him. ¡°Do you know how dangerous this place is? A kid can easily get hurt around these parts.¡± ¡°Is that so? I did hear something about a lunatic going about, but I haven¡¯t really decided yet.¡± ¡°Decided on what?¡± Looking at the new guy, Effryn grew more curious at the uniforms they both wore. ¡°Do you guys work at the same company, or is there like some bro-ship between you two¡­?¡± The guy¡¯s expression became pissed, and he began yelling. ¡°This isn¡¯t some kind of ordinary get up! This is our life; we represent the greatest clan to ever rise!¡± he raised his fist as he went on yelling about how great their boys club was. A group huh? This might be the group the doctor kept talking about. If he¡¯s right, then¡­ But while being his own hype man, the guy without the swirly hair stopped hyping himself, and looked at Effryn. He clenched his fist that had been once raised. ¡°You said you guys, didn¡¯t you? How do you know there is one than me?¡± Effryn fell silent for a moment, and stood dead still. A bitter sob was heard, and the men drew closer to him. ¡°H-hey?! Why you crying, I didn¡¯t mean to make you¡­¡± But the closer he got, the better he was able to hear: -It wasn¡¯t the sound of crying he heard, it was the low pitch of giggling. Effryn couldn¡¯t help himself, and he fell against some rubble, dying of laughter. ¡°I...couldn¡¯t help but...think you were...even remotely that intelligent!¡± The non-swirly hair completely lost, and was unable to read what Effryn was planning. ¡°H-hey, what the hell did you do to johnny?! I swear to God if you just scratched him I¡¯ll kill ya.¡± The non-swirly slowly crept to Effryn, while retrieving a knife from his pocket. ¡°Hey now, you look kinda familiar. Are you¡­ Effryn?¡± Surprised to hear his name, Effryn stopped laughing, and looked up at the approaching idiot. ¡°Woah, am I famous or what? How do you know me?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?! You were a highly sought after person, until our group reached a point where cutting you out became too difficult, so we figured we oughta strike your family instead!¡± The non-swirly stopped in his tracks, and raised the knife at Effryn. ¡°But since I¡¯m here, I oughta take care of you for my family. I could really use a promotion or two, ya¡¯know?¡± So I finally found the bastards who caused everything. Heh. Effryn couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°So before I ¡®die,¡¯ let me ask: Was it you guys who killed Evvryn?¡± Non-swirly bent his legs, preparing his entire body to sprint in an all forward motion. ¡°Of course, who else?!¡± he exclaimed, as he lunged a knife with full force at Effryn. He¡¯s really going at me with his whole body? I like the boldness of this man! Though Effryn hadn¡¯t pictured the non-swirly to rush at him with full force, he still had a picture on what to do. He prepared to jump on the ground next to him in a dolphin-dive manner, and pray the trash would make a neat landing zone. But what happened next was something Effryn wouldn¡¯t have thought of if he could visit every transportal timeline in existence: ¡°Gah--?!?!¡± From a smaller side alleyway, a hand reached out from the depths, cupping non-swirly perfectly around his throat. Non-swirly dropped the knife, and tried to free himself. He struggled for some time, until eventually the hand released its grip on non-swirly. Effryn could only watch in awe, observing the man as he dropped to the ground gripping his own neck with great force. Blood began to ooze from his hands as he writhed around the ground struggling to keep himself from seeing any more blood flow. He twisted and churned, while murmuring intensely in pain as he removed his hands and began tearing away his scalp. Upon getting a better view, Effryn could see how non-swirly was in so much pain from a neck chop. What the hell¡­? It wasn¡¯t an ordinary choke, there were countless needles injected from the throat reaching into everywhere from his lower jaw, to his upper abdomen. Non-swirly tried pricking away at the needles, but each one he removed, the more blood flowed out his body. ¡°This means¡­¡± Non-swirly stopped moving, showing that all pain had left his body. Yet, different types of liquid continued to pour out from every hole. As Effryn came to the realization of how non-swirly died, a sudden instinct of jumping forward urged through his body, making him do just that, landing next to the now dead non-swirly, who lay face down in a pile of trash. ¡°...that you¡¯re here, aren¡¯t you you crazy sadistic lunatic!¡± ¡°Ooh, what an innovative and unique environment the queen of luck mended together for us! Come now, listener to God, and allow me to finally put your immortal soul to rest!¡± Effryn forced his body into sprint mode, just in time to dodge a fist full of needles. ¡°Like hell I will!¡± Sprinting with every ounce of strength, Effryn wanted to get out of the apartment labyrinth as fast as possible. But with the tricky side-alley ways being fifty-fifty on dead ends, and doctor Zylar blocking the only clear entrance out, the only way to live was deeper in the mouse trap. ¡°Run my little listener, for I shall sniff out your strings to God, and personally cut your ties with any deities!¡± Effryn kept running, praying he could outrun the doctor in the maze long enough to escape before running into him. I swear to God, why now of all times do I have to deal with an asshole of this calibre now?! Ever run in a curved line that was stupidly dark, filled with trash, and had a smaller alleyway nearly every ten feet from another? Especially from a psychotic doctor who poisons you? Well Effryn absolutely despised it. He was able to get a good distance away, and since the doctor had only been walking, he thought it was a good time to get a break. I might be good enough to stop running for some time. At least for now anyways. He slowed his speed, and was now on walking pace. Everything still looks the same¡­ Do these people just throw trash out the back window?! Although not having the specific time margin of his total duration stay in the alley, he could positively say everything there was beyond garbage. Like rotten moldy bags filled with death. ¡°If I keep going, I¡¯m sure to reach the other end.¡± He had to. The world wasn''t infinite or anything, so there was bound to be an end¡­ ¡°So why the hell is this taking so long?!¡± It¡¯s getting too dark. I should be getting home before the light makes another rotation. Any second now, the Gods should reveal the city lamps beaming illumination across the streets. Effryn could only pray as he leaned against a wall while trying to cross a huge pile of trashy water. ¡°Just a glimpse. I¡¯ll take a shimmer of a ray! Just please, let me see light!¡± Then in the distant of his view, a faint hope began to arise. There was chatter far off towards the direction he was practically crawling to, and he could see light bouncing off the walls. Civilization was near. Good! Great!! Perfect!!! Now I can finally get out of this dump, and into the real breeds of mankind¡­ And just as he inched his way across the mud, a sinister laugh echoed in his brain, bouncing off his retina. ¡°Goodluck for this next motion.¡± whispered the ghost, as small needles were shoved outward of the wall, each one spread throughout. ¡°The hell¡­?!¡± Before even getting the opportunity of grasping the situation, Effryn slipped from the small piece of wood he was using as a crossing and slumped straight into the mud. As he tried lifting himself from the ground, the loss of friction caused him to fall once more. Instead, he looked to where the needles were stretching out from the wall, and was able to notice that he¡¯d been leaning against some kind of sturdy plastic, instead of the brick wall he thought he¡¯d been holding for his sanitary values. How the hell is someone that strong to pierce a needle through that?! While straining his eyes with disbelief, he saw one needle easily slide from where it came from. Then another. Then another. Then another after that. And after that one. And one, and one, and one, and one, and one, until one, or the final one, was finally plucked. ¡°Damn you doctor! I swear this game isn¡¯t funny!¡± Effryn exclaimed as he started crawling through the mud. And as if this was part of his response, the earlier wall that had been filled with needles was destroyed, and through the rubble a matte black boot held through the smoke. ¡°Ahhhhhh! My fine specimen, I shall reap my reward I have long sought after!¡± The doctor couldn¡¯t help but feel himself with tingly excitement, as he had missed his chance with Effryn during their first encounter, and on their second encounter, he had to hold himself as needed money from his father. ¡°But that was all a pointless roundabout, wasn¡¯t it Effryn? You killed my pay that day. I know you did!!¡± There were garbage bags, forgotten leftovers meant to be eaten by scavengers, and excessive amounts of waste items all throughout this one tiny alleyway. Son of a bitch¡­ I don¡¯t wanna die by trash¡­! Effryn tried using momentum as a force to get himself up, but the end resulted in him slipping in another trash heap. He lifted his head as best he could, and peaked to see how much longer this nightmare of trash held. But he only saw and endless amount to the stackings. He decided that he should just keep moving, and glanced behind to see how much ground there was between him and the doctor- -But as he saw the world he crawled from, a reflecting injection of God only knows was moments away from pouring everything into Effryn¡¯s bloodstream. In an instant survival reflection, Effryn quickly glanced to his left, and saw a smaller branching alley way, and pulled his body to force his legs against the wall to his right, and pushed, shooting himself into the smaller alley way. Once again feeling the stableness of hardened ground underneath him, he was able to pick himself up with much more ease, and sprint to the end of the alleyway. Once at the end, he found himself at a crossroads splitting from left to right. Screw this! I¡¯m sooo close to civilization that I can practically kill them! As he broke into a sprint, his gaze glanced to where he came from, expecting to see the doctor right on his trial. But what he saw was merely an empty alleyway, with no signs of life. So we¡¯re playing it like pussies, are we now doctor? Kneeling to grab a part of rubble, Effryn now held a scrap of wood as his defense item. Or if he used it right, an offensive weapon. Now then. Let¡¯s play this mouse trap! From what Effryn could tell of the entire alleyway maze of apartment buildings, there were two parts that made up of the back: the main alley, and the side alley. The main alley was pretty much a straight line, though it did get a bit curvy due to how the buildings were lined up. Then there were the sidealleys, which made up everything else. They connected to the main alley, though in many different and seemingly random spots, and branched off to even more, smaller alleys. Small alleys were completely built upon luck, as one side might lead you here, while another might lead you to a totally different way. Some ways don¡¯t even lead you anywhere, and you end up at dead ends. And if that¡¯s the case, then for Effryn¡­ It¡¯ll be a shitty day in hell tomorrow if I die from a dead end!! The surrounding areas of the alley way zipped by as Effryn dashed in full speed. He was hoping he could shoot for the outside being he could just about touch the light of the street, but with the RNG of the side alley, God knows where he¡¯d end up. So far he¡¯d encountered only split offs at each end, but his luck can only last so long till he deadpans at a dead end. I have to be nearing the end by now, ¡®cause if not, then this damn place HAS to be about a fourth of the city!! There were no signs of the doctor ever since he last saw him fade away, and there was a good chance he made good distance from him. But unlike last time, that wasn¡¯t a good enough excuse for him to stop just to end up getting injected by every known/unknown disease possible to man. Only a little bit more, and there might be salvation to this hell- Hunh?! -But before hope can blossom, the threat of fear must be evaded, like a needle being swung as if it were a baseball bat hitting the pitch, or Effryn. Reacting to the sudden attack, Effryn let his legs fall, using his own momentum and weight to slide under the imposing injection. Though, with his height, he probably would have been safe either way. ¡°Damn you listener! Did your God give you my coordinates?! No, I don¡¯t foresee that as the cause. Maybe you had an ounce of luck following your endeavours, or maybe your spring of ever flowing need for killing proceeds all expectations of survival, or maybe¡­¡± The doctor went on and on with his usual insane antics about Effryn as he adjusted himself, and disappeared back into the shadows of the alleys. ¡°You asshole, when will you learn it¡¯s best to quit early!¡± He could have used any alley to move forward. But then again, he could have gotten a dead end, but Effryn thought the God of luck wouldn¡¯t be so generous today, so he counted it out. I think up here should lead me out. Just one more push, and I¡¯m finally¡­! But before getting to even finish his thought, a sharp grip the size of Effryn¡¯s stomach wrapped tightly around his throat, encasing any possible breath. ¡°Ga-yo-b-tch--!¡± Without warning or any signal, the doctor had popped out of seemingly nowhere and began holding Effryn with one hand. Then, with a smile plastered as happy as a baby with a new toy, he revealed multiple syringes in his free hand. Shit! Shit! Seriously, shit!! What the hell?! Surprised by the pure strength the doctor showcased, Effryn could feel his fingers grasping for a chance. A chance at breathing. A chance at living. -Yet, the doctor responded by tightening his grip and slamming Effryn against the wall. Upon impact, bits of blood reached Effryn¡¯s throat and nose, which he coughed up. I don¡¯t wanna die! Not like this! By some random disease that shouldn¡¯t even exist here? Yeah, screw that shit! And with a surge of determination, and the desire to live, Effryn reached in his pocket to grab the scrap wood he picked up earlier. He could force the stick with all his strength to stab the doctor and hopefully stun him. But before he could decide anything, a fist full of poison was already heading its way. ¡°Receive your cure, listener of God, and you shall be freed from all of his teachings. You shall return to man like every other, and be worked like the normal cattle here on ear--!¡± the doctor was cut off as a small stick jabbed his strike, causing his arm to flinch. Effryn felt the grip on his throat release as he fell to the ground, landing in murky water. He rubbed his neck, making sure to see if everything was all right, and looked up at the monster. And to his surprise¡­ ¡°You¡­ Bastard! Bastard of a follower! Herd to the church! I swear¡­ YOU WILL ALWAYS SWEAR TO THE ONE UP ABOVE, YET WHEN YOU NEED HIM THE MOST, YOU WON¡¯T EVER RECEIVE A RESPONSE¡­!!!¡± ...there were five, maybe six broken needles on the piece of wood Effryn had used to deflect the injections. But the most amazing part was somehow, the doctor had managed to stab himself with a few of his injections. Maybe only two actually made it in him, but still, he could probably kill an elephant with those syringes. The doctor fell a step back. Then another. He reached for the syringes, quickly pulling them out. But it seemed like it was too late, as the effects of whatever poison was used was already underway. ¡°Medicine. I need...medicine.¡± the doctor whimpered to himself. ¡°Or else...I will perish before getting to see your full potential.¡± The doctor reached out to Effryn, but blood rushed out of his eyes, creating a red covering over his face mask. ¡°Damn¡­ Damn this! Damn you! I¡¯ll kill you Effryn, I swear! By my family name, you shall experience death!¡± The doctor began staggering away, trying to keep himself awake at all cost. And so, Effryn saw this as a prime opportunity to do a final strike. Grugdenling picking up a broken needle, Effryn rushed with everything he had. He picked his arms up, angeling to jab somewhere in his stomach area. Please just die! But before shoving glass inside the doctor, the doctor grabbed hold of the piece, and instantly crushed it in his hands. Blood soaked the gloves as he shoved the boy down. ¡°Don¡¯t fuck with me listener. I love these games, but if you really want to get serious, then I¡¯ll show you hell.¡± And he disappeared into the maze of alleyways just like that. After a while of wondering like a lost dog, dirty, wet, and heaving Effryn eventually found his way out to the lusting city. People gave him stares, but paid no close attention to them. Finally! I never thought I was gonna get out of there. I hope Eizer isn¡¯t too pissesd about me going out for a bit. But to be fair...it has been nearly a whole day. ¡°Ya dumbass! What if you had been found out by the police, or been sniffed out by the bastards goin¡¯ after ya? Then what? Gah, just go to bed!¡± Thankful he only got off with a soft chewing and no dinner, he considered himself lucky, and promptly followed the orders given. 2. Pour yourself a drink from the barrel of blood and sorrow ¡°Ahhhh!¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Waking up to the sounds of easy going thunder, Effryn calmly yawned himself awake. Immediately after, he received an even calmer groan. It was Gale, who was reading some kind of book that seemed way beyond his limits. ¡°Ooo, whatcha reading?¡± Effryn somehow closed the space between them instantly. ¡°My favourite author.¡± ¡°And who would that be?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t read, so you wouldn¡¯t know him.¡± Pulling himself closer to see, he tried peeking at the spine of the book, but Gale covered his hand over it. ¡°Fine, keep your secrets!¡± Leaping into his bed, Effryn gazed out at the sky blowing away the world. The crowded gray swooped away with luminescent lights. ¡°Hey Effryn,¡± Gale said, still looking in his book. ¡°Where exactly did you go yesterday?¡± ¡°Oh, you know. A place. Mainly, a dirty apartment section that seriously needs some urgent cleaning.¡± ¡°Is that so.¡± ¡°Yep!¡± Gale flipped the page, purely focusing on his book. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten happier.¡± ¡°Heh?!¡± surprised by the sudden confession, Effryn jumped. ¡°I would have thought you¡¯d be moping around instead of jumping out an about. But it was just my thoughts, so maybe I thought wrong.¡± ¡°Do I really seem happier¡­?¡± Thinking for a moment, Effryn actually thought about it for a long second, until he came up with a solid answer. ¡°I dunno. As long as you¡¯re still here, I still have my reasons for being here too.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well I¡¯m proud of you any way it goes..¡± ¡°You¡¯re a weird kid.¡± It hadn¡¯t been something I remotely thought about, but I guess in a sense my mind has been more uplifting in a way. Another strike of thunder vibrated the air. Effryn looked and saw Gale was now deeply in his book. Thank you Gale. Falling flat on the bed, Effryn began wondering on what to do next. Supposedly, he and Gale were supposed to stay in bed NO MATTER THE COST, but that was too boring. He wanted to do something fun and not just lounge around his whole life. And as if life was answering his absurd call¡­ ¡°-Hey guys!¡± ...the door nearly broke off its hinges as Eizer made his own crazy entrance. ¡°I-I¡¯ve got some pretty crappy news. I don¡¯t know how else to say this, but uh¡­¡± ¡°Spit it out already!¡± Effryn barked. ¡°Well uh, my parents are coming home to visit early.¡± Why does he sound so defeated in saying that? ¡°What are you saying? Bring ¡®em in, lets unscrew some caps, and get ourselves blitz wasted in a get-to-know-each-other party!¡± ¡°What I¡¯m saying, dumbass, is you two need to leave before they show up!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Effryn went complete deadpan mode, and everything hereafter flew through his brain. ¡°That¡¯s problematic.¡± Gale put the book down, focusing his attention at the problem on hand. ¡°So when do we have to bail?¡± Effryn said what was on both minds. Of course, Gale waited for Effryn to ask so he wouldn¡¯t have to. ¡°Right now. Get the hell out.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°This is extremely annoying.¡± Standing in the outer back yard, the two had to sneak out of the house without getting caught by dear Eizer¡¯s mom, run out the back in the storming rain with only one umbrella, and climb a freakishly long wooden fence. Looking at each other afterwards, they both agreed that everything going on was stupid. Effryn reached in his pocket to pull out a small list: Dearest Effryn, Would you kindly go to the bank (without revealing yourself) and get some money outta my checking account? Thanks! ¡°That bastard!¡± ¡°Well, we should go do it to kill some time at least.¡± Effryn felt the paper crumple in his hands. There weren''t too many annoying things Eizer usually did, with this one definitely hitting a top five. But then again, what were the odds of his parents coming home early from their business trips? ¡°Look at the bright side: You finally get to walk around some more.¡± Gale said as he lifted the umbrella to cover both. ¡°Not like this!¡± Effryn rebutted while making a pouting face. ¡°Let¡¯s just get through this.¡± Starting on their quick journey, Effryn got a text from Eizer. PS: You might need to know our Pin, so yeah lol my bad! Effryn grabbed the umbrella from Gale, while reading over the few words of text he received. You asshole! PS my ass! When we get back, I swear¡­ Swear¡­When they get back¡­? Exactly when is back? Effryn wondered how long his parents were supposed to be staying, so he asked. In text, of course. And in a matter of seconds, Effryn got his response: Yeah....about that, I think maybe tomorrow morning they said they both had to leave for work again. So please don¡¯t do anything stupid until then. See ya tomorrow! ¡°Tomorrow?! Tomorrow my ass, where are we gonna sleep?!¡± ¡°Tomorrow sounds annoying. We need to find a suitable place to sleep before anything else.¡± Gale said as he scanned the area, before snapping his fingers and pointing at Effryn. ¡°Or maybe we¡¯re supposed to use that money for a hotel?¡± ¡°Right! Holy man, I think your right!¡± And as Effryn jumped in celebratory delight, he received another message: Don¡¯t you dare use that money for anything else, or withdraw too much. Or I WILL kill you. Love... don¡¯t you dare spend my damn money. ¡°Shit.¡± With the dream of sweet shelter being burned away, Effryn knew he would have to learn to sleep like a dog in the rain tonight. ¡°Well, it was a decent plan. Then again, we did just get kicked out, so we should borrow some anyways. Like, a fraction, or something. Or we could sell that phone he gave you.¡± Gale added with a slight mischievous smile. ¡°Gale, I like how you think! Suck on this Eizer, we¡¯re charging special interest!¡± And from the constant mood swings Effryn just experienced, he was now looking forward to sleeping in a hotel room. One fond memory he had was hotel food always being a delightful pleasure, so he was looking forward to that. He thought about bringing up that he could sell his phone if things got real bad, but decided against it. Sure, the prospects of selling it sounded swell, but what if Eizer texted saying they could come back early? So he decided he should keep the phone Eizer gifted to him before being kicked out. ¡°Hurry Gale, for we shall rob the traitorous Eizer of his fortunes for own benefits.¡± Effryn smirked, leading them under the downpour of rain to the city. Though having only gone to the bank a select few times, or rather, once, Effryn still remembered the path. After a few twists and turns, Effryn was finally able to reach the legendary establishment. As for the matter of secrecy, there weren¡¯t too many people lounging around the bank, so that didn¡¯t seem like too much of a problem. Matter of fact, there weren¡¯t too many people out in the streets. Like at all. ¡°Hey Gale, what is today?¡± ¡°Friday idiot.¡± ¡°Haha, funny joke. Okay, then where the hell is everybody else?!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me.¡± A city, on a business day, especially at the weeks end. Where the hell was everybody? It was raining, sure, but Effryn didn¡¯t think it was too bad. ¡°I guess rain is pretty scary to most people. Anyway, you wanna come with me?¡± ¡°Duh, I don¡¯t want to get wet.¡± Answering while nodding, Gale took the umbrella and carefully forced it back inside. The lights that usually beamed on the outside of the bank during normal days probably didn¡¯t stand out too bad, but when it rained, the neon signs shone like a beacon in the rain. Everywhere else on the street had nothing when compared to the banks lighthouse, so that could explain why there were so many squatters in the lobby. ¡°There sure are a lot of people¡­¡± Effryn shyly said, hiding his face from the stares. ¡°Grow a pair and get the money so we can get out of here.¡± Gale lazily responded with his face now deep in a book. ¡°Fine fine.¡± Effryn monotonically responded. ¡°Now where is the line¡­¡± While Effryn was scanning the room, it occurred to him that there were an abnormally amount of people. He could see where the front desk was, and thankfully, they were open. But where the line began was one whole segment larger of the puzzle. ¡°Over there. Opposite of where we are.¡± Gale pointed out, still reading his book. ¡°Nice eye there! Wait, did you just read with your left eye, while using your right to find the line?! You are truly amazing, Gale¡­¡± ¡°Idiot. Let¡¯s just go, I¡¯m hating this crowd.¡± After poorly drying their shoes by a mat left on the entrance, the two went to the opposite side to find the line. From what Effryn saw, people were there to just wait out the rain, and were on their phones doing whatever people do on phones. They received a few glances, but most just stayed in their own bubble. None seemed to recognize them either. The bank wasn¡¯t too big in particular, but it had plenty of benches and couches courtesy of interest, so there weren¡¯t too many people standing. ¡°Here we are! And look, there¡¯s only like, six people ahead of us! Oh wait, I think that guy might be before her, or maybe he¡¯s just standing around? Uhhh.¡± Gale pierced Effryn with one eye, while the other impressibly, though creepily, read. ¡°Just wait your turn. It¡¯ll only take a few minutes or so until--¡± Unil. Until what exactly? In a normally normal reality, until would have been until it¡¯s our turn, use the card Eizer gave us and get what we came for plus a little extra, and then we find some place to crash for the night. And after that, they would buy a hotel room for the night, and in the morning, come crawling back to Eizer and live the rest of their lives with him. That was what Gale probably thought. Hell, even Effryn thought of it too. But no. Instead, interrupting Gale¡¯s train of words were the front doors being blasted open, and following were the screams of everybody who didn¡¯t go immediately deaf from the noise. What the hell? Smoke filled the entrance, and began pouring in the lobby. Though it was not clear to Effryn, he could see multiple people sprawled over the ground. He saW blood, but it still wasn¡¯t clear whether or not those people were killed or not. But before getting a chance to assess the situation, two silhouettes appeared within the smoke¡­ ¡°Listen up everybody¡­¡± ¡°...this here¡¯s a fuckin¡¯ stick up¡­¡± ¡°...so if you make an errous move¡­¡± And out of the smoke came two people wearing funeral clothes with their faces covered by a ski mask. The two finished off each others line, and moved insync with the other. One was clearly a female, with the only noticeable distinguishable feature was her purple tail hanging from the back of the mask. The other was a guy, but nothing really stood out from. Effryn felt a faint hint of nostalgia about him, but nothing came to mind when thinking about it. ¡°You¡¯ll end up like this poor bastard¡­!¡± And with a smile clearly visible on each face, they shot numerous rounds at some person who was on the ground with hands over his head. Effryn didn¡¯t get a good look at who exactly had been there before, but now, there wasn¡¯t even a point in trying to make out what was there before, as the bullets decimated their target. Blood splattered everywhere, from the walls to the floor. There were even portions reaching to the ceiling. Someone fell into an audible panic attack, while the entire building erupted in shouts and pleads. ¡°Listen you bitches!¡± The non featurable guy yelled, pointing his AR at a woman who held her child in her arms. ¡°If you keep pissin¡¯ yerselves, then I¡¯ll be sure to enjoy this next kill knowing it was yer faults.¡± The woman''s face grew mortified, and hugged the child tightly, making sure her daughter didn¡¯t have to see anything. Luckily, the room grew silent, and the raging storm outside took over as background noise. ¡°Good. Now desk bitches! Bring me the monnaayy-HaHaHaHa!!¡± ¡°Well Gale,¡± Effryn smiled awry as he glanced to where Gale was. ¡°All we need to do is keep quiet, and maybe, just maybe, we could get out of this alive-Wha¡­?!¡± Effryn¡¯s heart died, came back to life, and nearly died again, from what he was seeing. ¡°What the hell?! I thought those explosives were supposed to be for emergencies?!¡± Some guy who was already in the lobby before the explosion occurred yelled. ¡°That was an emergency! How could we rob a bank without a badass entrance like¡­ H-Hey kid? You gotta urge for death or somethin¡¯?¡± All chatter between the robbers, muffled talk between the people, and for a moment, even the rain muted itself, as Gale casually walked up to the men armed with assault rifles. All eyes were on this strange boy, especially Effryn¡¯s¡­ What the hell does he think he¡¯s doing?! What can he do?! His mind ran wildly on the possibilities, but the only thing he could do was quietly observe. Who knows, maybe Gale was some kind of hidden detective ace up his sleeve? Gale stood before the robbers, with book in hand. The robbers grinned, probably expecting some sad remark, or grovelling for his life¡­ But instead, he simply pulled his book up to his face, and read like nothing happened. Huh?!?! ¡°The fuck?!?!¡± exclaimed the non feature, pointing his rifle at the bloodied corpse. ¡°Do you not see this dead bitch?! I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re riddled with twice the bullets!¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Gale muttered, putting away his book with an annoyed look. ¡°Hmmmmm?!?! What the hell is HMMM?!¡± ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± Gale casually responded What the hell are YOU doing?! You¡¯re gonna get killed if you keep this up!! ¡°What the hell else does it look like we¡¯re doing?! Killin¡¯ and robbin¡¯, what else?¡± ¡°Can you hurry up?¡± Gah?! Ok, I better step in¡­ ¡°Hurry up? HURRY UP?! YOU WANT US, THE ROBBERS, TO HURRY THE FU-¡± But before the non feature could finish his statement, Effryn, though practically pissing his pants, walked up to Gale, and grabbed his hand with a smile that screamed ¡®I love everybody¡¯, and began to lightly scold him. ¡°Oh, you silly kid brother of mine! I swear when we get home, I¡¯m gonna have to give a nice lengthy lecture on interrupting people when they¡¯re busy. How about we leave now so I can give you your punishment before dinner-¡± ¡°Like hell you are!¡± the non feature shouted, motioning a hand signal his accomplices. ¡°I was talking to your brother! You two ain¡¯t going nowhere.¡± Effryn didn¡¯t need much to sense the two guns pointed directly behind them, finger on the trigger, telling him that they were in extreme danger. ¡°Yeah, I wasn¡¯t done either.¡± Gale said, slowly opening his book to the previous page he was on. ¡°Why the hell are you agreeing with the robber dear kid brother of mine?! We should take this opportunity to leave-err-to learn about our situation at hand!¡± Then suddenly, Effryn had the idea to follow his brain on what words he should say. ¡°The fuck are you two on¡­?¡± Non feature grew impatient. ¡°I hear you loud and clear kid brother of mine!¡± Effryn happily exclaimed while putting his arm around Gale¡¯s neck, tightly choking him. ¡°I get it robber. It must be tough.¡± ¡°Mhm Mhm.¡± Gale agreed in a hum. ¡°I-uhh...what?¡± ¡°All this work of murder, theft, and running from the cops must be hard. Ain¡¯t it, robber dude?¡± ¡°Not really. We mess up their comms and stuff, so we have a pretty clear time frame on when they actually arrive. We actually always have some free time after every raid.¡± Non feature blankly said, while looking at his purple haired friend. ¡°Speakin¡¯ of which, what¡¯s our time limit?¡± ¡°Twenty minutes.¡± ¡°Sweet! See, no need for whatever the hell you just said. So we should kill you now, and forget any of this ever happened¡­¡± As he said so, he raised his rifle to their stomachs. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°-WaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWaitWait!!!¡± Effryn dropped to his knees frantically begging for their lives. ¡°Before you make this life changing decision, please reconsider!¡± ¡°Reconsider what?¡± Reconsider. Reconsider what exactly? Them feeling a rush of dopamine at the feeling of unleashing a hail of bullets at a couple of kids? Effryn would hope that in every other situation, anybody else would stop and realize what they were doing wrong, and let the police take them. But to the people who already brutally killed someone just as an example, Effryn had the slightest hint that maybe it wasn¡¯t gonna work. He burned through his brain, looking for anything to say. Nothing¡¯s coming. Nothing. Nothing! Why, why nothing! Please mind, something, anything¡­! ¡°I was just thinking, those bags of money were looking a bit too heavy for just four people. Mind if we help?¡± Gale easily spit out, still in the middle of reading. The entire room died to silence. Faces were perplexed, and everyone couldn¡¯t believe what they had just heard. Even the robbers faces were a bit surprised. How the hell are bags of money too heavy at a bank? This isn¡¯t even a popular bank, let alone a well known banker company, so why would they need our help¡­ ¡°You mean it?! Gah, thanks a bunches you two! We could use the extra hands!¡± ¡°...Huh?¡± Effryn¡¯s arms fell to the ground as he seriously deadpanned. There probably was some kind of malfunction happening in non features brain that was causing him to make these decisions. But that was instantly debunked when his friends cheered on for the ¡®new recruits.¡¯ ¡°Catch!¡± ¡°Hmpm.¡± Gale groaned, struggling to get a grip onto the bag of money thrown at him. ¡°Ugh!¡± Why the hell is mine so heavy?! Scratch that, why in God''s name are we committing theft?! ¡°Good. Now all that¡¯s left is for us to wait on the signal and escape through a bridged part of the sewers we created.¡± So to top off everything Effryn had been going through in the past hour, he and Gale were kicked out of their current home, forced to pick up some money, and then, by some chance, walked in on a bank robbery. And to make things worse, they were somehow roped into helping the robbers! ¡°Pst, Gale. How the hell did we reach this point?¡± Effryn asked, wondering why he was now holding a handgun in one hand, and a bag of money in the other. ¡°It¡¯s better here than at the receiving end of these guns. Be thankful.¡± ¡°How the hell am I supposed to be thankful when I¡¯M the criminal?!¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Non feature yelled over the countertop, with a controller in one hand, and his rifle in the other. ¡°Be quiet while I¡¯m busy. Do you have a report on the camera feeds?¡± He spoke to the controller, and when finished, he waited patiently, until a static of white noise erupted: ¡°Copy, the film files have been erased. As far as I know, we no longer exist in tape.¡± ¡°Kickass! Now let¡¯s hurry so we can get the hell out of here!¡± Non feature raised his rifle to the air as if he had given a motivating speech, and the people helping with the heist shouted with a quick joy. All except for Effryn, who was panicking about the situation, and Gale, who was staring off into space taking guesses on what would happen next in his book. ¡°First we incapacite the hostages, leave through the sewers before twelve shows up, and-¡± A smaller girl, who Effryn assumed was helping, interrupted non feature with shouts of panic as she sprinted into the lobby. ¡°Ken! I-I don¡¯t know, or really understand how, but the cops are coming!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Do you have an ETA on when they¡¯ll be here?¡± non feature reassured her. ¡°A-about that¡­ They¡¯re already--!!¡± Flashing lights filled the outside as sirens blared along the rain. Just from the view of the front door alone, there were about seven police vehicles parked over the street, forming a barricade. Following the police sirens, a speaker broadcasting an older man¡¯s declaration filled the building: ¡°This message is to the suspects involved with the robbery. We have you, and the building surrounded. Release the hostages at once, or we can set up a negotiation over radio to get this settled. You have five minutes to respond before we use force.¡± And there ended the demands of the officer. Shit. Shit. Seriously, what is this shit?! ¡°His voice reminds me of someone¡­¡± Gale quietly muttered to himself. ¡°Now is not the time Gale! What are we gonna do¡­¡± In Effryn¡¯s eyes, he could see himself being roped into this without consent, and forced to rob in order to keep himself alive all for his survival. But in reality, he was just another bank robber, who would be grouped in with a bunch of dumbasses who blew open the front door of the bank they were robbing. ¡°If we don¡¯t do anything, the hostages might start getting ideas.¡± Gale said, sticking his tongue out with a bit of sarcasm. ¡°Why are you thinking like a criminal now?!¡± Watching over the hostages, the girl with a purple ponytail tied together canisters. ¡°So, how should we play?¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± non feature sighed, ¡°honestly, this is a total bite in the ass. If our analytics hadn¡¯t screwed up, we¡¯d be blazen off with stacks for the boss.¡± Non feature went to the reception area, kicking down the tables and desks to provide cover. ¡°But according to our team, we had everything up to date, with no apparent mistakes. They said ¡®it was if they knew all along¡¯.¡± ¡°Well there¡¯s no more room for killing each other over it. Our main problem are those pigs out there.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°S-so what¡¯s the plan sir?¡± the smaller girl, who handled the electronics asked timidly. ¡°Nothing! Keep to the original, except I¡¯m calling for a little surprise. Everyone get ready!¡± Get ready for what?! What are we doing?! Oh man, what are we doing¡­ ¡°Yeehaw.¡± Gale said without emotion. ¡°This ain¡¯t the west Gale!¡± ¡°Come yonder, I have a job for you two!¡± non feature called for Effryn and Gale, with Effryn scared for his life as he could hardly nod his head. And Gale was lost in his book, merely responding with a ¡®Mhm.¡± After a minute of being scolded on the importance of knowing how to wire or ¡®Blow up and Die,¡¯ the two hurriedly picked up on the skill of wiring, and meshed together canisters and brick shaped plastic in different areas of the building. And right now, they were focusing on fitting blocks behind the main receptionist desk. ¡°Why are we doing this? We should definitely be with those other people, as hostages!¡± ¡°But they have a higher chance of dying. We at least have a team with a good plan in mind. And besides, say if you were a hostage and survived, then once you got out the police would want to ask questions, eventually finding out who you are and arresting you on the spot.¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡± ¡°So this life style fits you just right!¡± Gale lightly tapped his finger against his nose. Effryn looked over to the pile of bricks they had to place, seeing only one left. ¡°You know Gale, I never thought you¡¯d be joking around like this again. Ever since uh...Frael.¡± He picked up the heavy piece and placed it parallel to his last, making a weird zig zag like shape across the floor. Gale leaned against a tipped-over chair, putting his book on his lap. ¡°I didn¡¯t I would ever either, but here I am now. When it happened, it was like a bed sheet was wrapped around my head, constricting my breathing and my sight. And adding to that, some buff guy then proceeded to lift the sheet and throw me around.¡± ¡°That was a bit too explanatory.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s the best description that comes to mind. Don¡¯t mistake me for feeling fully better. In all actuality, I doubt I¡¯ll ever fully get over the entire thing. But I can¡¯t let that distract me from the now of things, and more importantly, the future.¡± ¡°Woah.¡± Effryn¡¯s eyes flared up with stars, knowing Gale had grown up so much. He was just a kid, and yet, he had already experienced so much tragedy. But he still wanted to keep going. With all this, Effryn couldn¡¯t help but shed a small tear, along with a flashing smiley hug, ¡°That¡¯s my little brother!¡± ¡°Thanks to this heist, I can really let my mind soothe for a bit.¡± Gale sarcastically added. ¡°And there goes my love for you¡­ Wait, your mind is being soothed from this?!¡± Even if Gale was hurting, it made Effryn feel tons better knowing he was recovering. Though maybe robbing a bank isn¡¯t the best way therapy. ¡°You two done? The show¡¯s about to start!¡± Looking up, they could see non feature leaning over the desk with a grin. ¡°I just set the last one.¡± Effryn regrettably said. ¡°Nice! Now watch and have fun!¡± *** ¡°Chief! What¡¯s our move?¡± Detective Knox had been rapidly tapping his fingers against the police car hoping for any kind of development to occur. Anything. ¡°We wait till our five minute timer is over.¡± The chief checked his old timer watch, and saw the time limit was nearly up. ¡°And in thirty seconds or so, we rush in and use brute force. I¡¯d mentally prepare for a fight if I were you.¡± ¡°A f-firefight? Sir, are you sure?¡± ¡°Unless you want to abandon the hostages and your job, then I¡¯d suggest you arm.¡± The tapping from the chief grew to be more vigorous. This isn¡¯t making sense. Why are a bunch of idiots pulling off a heist with his kinda equipment? Are they feeling cocky, or¡­ ¡°Jesus¡­¡± His finger became still, and his cigar dropped to the ground. Rain seemed like a perfect match up for this day, or so Knox grew to think. ¡°Watt we¡¯ve gotta move--!!¡± A blaring radio signal blasted the police cruisers, as a young man began screaming: Warning all officers reporting on the scene of the bank. There¡¯s a semi-truck rapidly moving at an estimated 80 Mph to your location. This vehicle is unregistered, and unknown. Repeat, all officers, evacuate off the road IMMEDIATELY!!! Knox grabbed the hand of his young ignorant assistant and sprinted for the nearest building. He looked far off on the road, and saw a truck speedily swerving everywhere towards their direction. ¡°B-but sir, what about the heist?¡± ¡°Damn the heist! We have a new problem on our hands, cause they have backup!¡± ¡°Backup¡­¡± Watt focused his gaze on the truck ramming every vehicle in its path. ¡°Is that them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t personally know, but my guts screaming at me that it is!¡± The truck swerved and swooned, almost like it¡¯s driver had no prior knowledge of the concept of driving. And as it drew ever near¡­ ¡°S-sir, if he keeps that up, won¡¯t he¡­¡± ¡°Shit, he¡¯s gonna flip!¡± Knox pulled his assistant off the road and dashed into a nearby coffee shop. Everyone inside glared with a cautious look, wondering what was happening in the world outside. Today was supposed to be my first day as a police office. Thought private Taylor, as he looked at the scene around him. But instead of a normal patrol, I get called up for bank heist. Not only that, but they were an organization the head of police were currently investigating. Private Taylor stood in the dead middle of the road, surrounded by his fellow officers on duty. Well, besides one of the chiefs, and his assistant. He wondered why they dashed off, but it was probably due to that broadcast everyone heard moments ago. Taylor glanced at the bank, which had its front doors already pried open, and then down at the road, which a semi came flying from the sky. He looked around, seeing other officers in a daze, focusing on the spectacle of the truck gliding through the air. Oh well, maybe in my next life I can get in a better position than I am now. And a moment later, the truck landed, starting in a barrel roll. It crushed God knows how many vehicles, along with people, and only hardly slowed down. Metal heavily clunked against the asphalt, as tons of scrap flew as far as the eye could see. He saw his advisor, who taught him the ropes and know hows on surviving as a cop, get crushed under the tons of metal. He saw his new friend, who had helped him get to know everybody around the office, even buying him lunch, get skewered by the wrath of tiny shrapnel. He thought for sure he was going to be crushed, as the truck rolled it¡¯s next directly to him. But in a miraculous move, the truck failed to roll anymore, and came to a halt maybe less than a foot away. Did I¡­ No, no, no, no¡­ why am I the only one to live? Maybe¡­ Maybe it was God¡¯s will? Maybe It¡¯s my job to tell the tale of every brave hero here, and pass on the legends of-- And acting as a grand finale to the entire killer truck, it seemling imploded, spreading flames everywhere. Anyone close to the explosion would surely have been killed instantly, as the impact, and more shrapnel, erupted. Especially the novice cop, Taylor, who died with what he thought would have been a fun career. Detective Knox only saw a glance of the explosion, but hid himself to avoid any shrapnel, or shards of glass from windows. He heard screams, but there weren¡¯t too many, which he found strange. ¡°S-s-s-s-sir?¡± Watt had barely been able to muster, trembling on the ground. ¡°E-everybodies¡­¡± Knox looked up, and saw many of the previous customers filled with shards of glass and metal, with blood plastered from every corner of the room. In the middle, was a wailing child in the arms of her father. A woman, presumably her mother, lay on the floor as blood soaked the red carpet. ¡°E-excuse me, little girl¡­¡± Watt picked himself up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll escort both you and your father to a safer area.¡± ¡°Watt, I wouldn¡¯t do that if I were you.¡± Knox rejected. ¡°B-but sir, we have to get this girl and her father to safety-¡± But before he could finish, the father¡¯s body fell to the ground. Blood began slowly pouring from him. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that because there¡¯s no more father.¡± ¡°Jesus fuck...Why did the monsters do this?¡± Watt kneeled down at the girl and held her, trying to comfort her as her wails echoed with the burning rain. ¡°We came to find out, but we heavily underestimated their desperate suicide attacks.¡± Knox picked himself up, and unsheathed his revolver. ¡°I¡¯ll round up the remaining and able men, and force our way in. You stay here with the girl.¡± ¡°But sir?¡± ¡°No buts Watt, that¡¯s an order.¡± Knox went to the entrance of the shop, and tried opening the door, only for it to completely fall off. ¡°Good luck sir!¡± Watt yelled. Looking at the wreckage of the scene, he could tell a lot of men were lost. But there were still some, as they had also sprinted off to different buildings for cover. Pulling his radio from his pocket, Knox shouted orders with full force: ¡°All able and ready men, report near the entrance of the bank. I repeat, all able and ready men, bring your asses to the bank. We are going to war with these bastards!¡± ¡°WooHoo! Look at those fireworks!¡± Non feature shouted, throwing his fist in the air. ¡°Holy wow¡­¡± Gale muttered, watching in awe as flames caressed the outside of the bank. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think we should we leave.¡± ¡°Leave?! We should have left ages ago! Please, can we leave now?¡± Effryn knew what they were doing had already put them on a five star wanted level, but if they kept this up, things could get real serious. Gunfire might starting going off, and civilians and police men would get killed¡­ ¡°Alright, bombs ahoy!!¡± ¡°Wait wha-¡± Before Effryn could finish his sentence, the bricks he and Gale had placed earlier went off in small explosives, with sparks flying everywhere. ¡°Everyone go down, I¡¯ll keep a look out while I-¡± ¡°Sir,¡± the small hacker girl frantically interrupted, ¡°sorry but we¡¯re about to have trouble. The remaining police are gathering troops to swarm. I¡¯d suggest to prepare for a heavy firefight.¡± A firefight? That means¡­ Effryn looked at his small sidearm, comparing it to the massive hulking weapon of the assault rifle that non feature carried. ¡°Excuse me, but how am I supposed to fight with this?!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Non feature looked with a curious glance, but only laughed at what he saw. ¡°Ha, silly boy! That was meant for intimidation, not for a shootout. I saved a gift for this moment just incase any more pigs still wanted to fight.¡± ¡°Effryn, I want to go home.¡± Gale expressed himself more seriously, tugging away at his sleeve. ¡°Oh, now you wanna leave?!¡± Oh I swear, If we survive this, I¡¯m gonna make you read thousands of books, until you can¡¯t read anymore! Effryn beamed happily, despite this being the only punishment he could come up with for Gale. And before anyone knew it, the short girl yelled with her lungs at max: ¡°Riot shields incoming!¡± And from the door came men with heavy clunking shields one by one. They moved in a slow, yet matching form, masking themselves in unison approach. And taking cover behind the shields were men with heavy duty weapons like rifles and shotguns. ¡°Full speed everyone! And remember--don¡¯t stop!¡± Effryn had no clue on what his surroundings entailed, and only followed Gale as he was lead to where the explosion went off from where they placed their final plastic block under the reception desk. There, a small hole leading to an underground area, which was probably the sewers, was a circular hallway with water reaching his ankles. Above him, small bursts of gunfire and screams echoed, until the sound of loose gas added with the sounds, eventually over taking the other two completely. ¡°Hurry, hurry! Unless you wanna be gassed out, I suggest you make a move on!¡± Effryn glanced back to see non feature sprinting, while a gas with the color of red steadily approached. Jesus shit. What the hell is going on? ¡°Keep moving up. Further along the path should be a crevice, where we¡¯ll need to crouch through so we can escape. Got it?¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Practically everyone said in unison except Gale and Effryn, and for one other guy. He had been further behind the rest, including the two heftier ones...when Effryn had heard a small thump in the water. ¡°Gah¡­!¡± The man had slipped and fell in murky water. He picked himself up, only to find a red mist surrounding him. ¡°S-sir, I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t know...where am I¡­?¡± he cried out as his skin blister with red coverings, eventually being masked within the crimson mist. ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t really know where to go, but I¡¯ll just keep following you Gale!¡± ¡°Sure...thing¡­¡± Effryn heard a sheepish tone in his voice, but thought he was just tired as this was probably Gale¡¯s first time running for his life. -But when Gale collapsed in front of him, he knew he was tired tired. ¡°Shit, Gale?!¡± Effryn could barely hear a moan, but to him was nothing but rubbish. ¡°You two, what the hell is taking so long? Hurry before the gas gets you!¡± Looking back, the red fumes quickly speed up, as if its speed increased by the second. ¡°Damnit Gale you¡¯re gonna owe me!¡± He lifted Gale over his shoulders, and began in what Effryn thought to be his greatest sprint yet. If he were to slow or trip in any way, the poison would surely catch up and kill them both. ¡°Over here!¡± Non feature waved, showing a small hole in the wall. Effryn wished upon God for strength and endurance, hoping he wouldn¡¯t make a mistake. He could feel the gas nearly able to touch him without having to look around, and used this as an incentive to run faster. ¡°Give the boy to me.¡± Effryn promptly followed, roughly tossing Gale to non feature, to which he caught. Gale swiftly disappeared within the hole, and Effryn did his best to follow. He slid in the escape, and found himself in a darker area with the surviving robbers. ¡°Quick put this over!¡± the short girl exclaimed, handing over a large piece of rock. ¡°Its the wall cover. Put it on now or we¡¯re all dead!¡± ¡°Ah!¡± Effryn rolled the big piece of rock to the hole, and did his best to effectively cover the wall to prevent any smoke from entering. He had trouble at first, and nearly panicked himself to run away as small bits of mist flew from cracks, but he eventually found the sweet spot in the wall, and pushed with his entire body weight to make a perfect fit. Fidgeting away from the rock, Effryn made sure to get a far enough distance incase any gas still poured out. But when he looked back, the dim torch only revealed rocks. ¡°Is that it?¡± he questioned, not really sure to himself or everybody else. ¡°Look at you two rookies! I¡¯m proud of everything you accomplished today, so make sure to use this payday well.¡± . We sure did survive everything, huh Gale¡­ ¡°Gale?¡± he asked, looking at non feature and everywhere around him. ¡°Calm down brother, the kids fine. See.¡± Effryn followed closely as non feature pointed at a figure sleeping. Though it was a bit difficult to tell at first, Effryn could point out Gale¡¯s small patch of green hair anytime. ¡°The little bugger must¡¯ve been tired if he passed out from running for only a second or two.¡± ¡°Gale... ¡° Effryn said with a hint of happiness in his voice. ¡°Thank God you¡¯re ok.¡± He checked up on him, and saw nothing wrong with him for the time being. ¡°So what now?¡± ¡°Now we get the hell out of here. Those pigs should have no idea where we are, so we should be fine after we leave. You two get somewhere safe and stay low for a while, understand?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± He looked beyond the dark tunnel, but only saw the recurrence of darkness. He didn¡¯t know how long of a walk it would be, or what might lie after the tunnel, but Effryn knew he had to escape no matter what. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t forget your bread for today.¡± Non feature reached out his hand, giving Effryn a stack of cash. It definitely wasn¡¯t too heavy, but neither was it the average amount a person would hold. ¡°Welp, we¡¯re off!¡± ¡°Bye-bye.¡± I guess¡­ What am I supposed to say, ¡®Yeah bro, catch you on the next heist!¡¯? ¡°So what are you gonna do with your money Beth?¡± echoed the voice of non feature, bouncing from wall to wall. ¡°I¡¯ve yet to figure something out. But I can probably guess you¡¯re going to buy something for your stupid game online, right?¡± Beth...where have I heard that name? He felt a slight reminiscence from that name. Beth. Like it was something he had to know. Who? Who? Who?! Effryn rammed his brain trying to figure out an answer, and felt his mind roughly neutrons away from thinking up the answer. ¡°Effryn?¡± a soft whisper came from below. It was Gale. He must have just woken up as he was rubbing his moopy eyelids. ¡°Aw, finally awake? Perfect timing! Let¡¯s go home before they find out where we went.¡± ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say we took a cheeky branch off from the sewer.¡± ¡°Kay.¡± he sheepishly muttered, picking himself up. Damn, maybe I¡¯ll remember Beth later. He thought, as he navigated him and Gale from the depths of the tunnels. ¡°Damnit!!¡± Knox furiously yelled as he slammed a nearby desk. ¡°Where the hell could those bastards have gone!¡± ¡°Sir, we¡¯ve received info from other groups telling us they¡¯ve yet to come out from the other exit points in the sewers.¡± Knox and his current group had been fortunate enough to get out the gases range before they were affected. Though that couldn¡¯t be said for everybody¡­ ¡°All in all, we lost most of the hostages, and four of our guys.¡± one of his remaining men said trying to fact check his report. ¡°Shit¡­¡± Ambulance men came and went, with either the injured or the dead. Some of the new people coming in seemed happy with what they had, but no matter what, the mood wasn¡¯t budging. ¡°Sir, I handed that little girl to the rescue men. Right now, they say she¡¯s suffering from shock, but amazingly not uninjured.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s head back to HQ and recover ourselves.¡± the chief admitted defeatedly. ¡°Yes sir.¡± He responded trying to mend himself, but echoed with the same disheartened tone. After escaping from the part sewer/hideaway, Effryn and Gale carefully walked through the city with their heads low. Night crept along during the incident, but the rain remained. There weren¡¯t many cars out late at this time. Or people. News broke out that the bank robbers who successfully robbed the bank, and how they killed countless bystanders from a ¡®distraction¡¯ had yet to be caught. And so, people picked up on the idea of what if? Those poor bastards in the area of the bank had no way of knowing a horrific scheme was in motion, and they paid with their lives for it. There were hardly any people out, which in turn made it more suspicious for the people who still were out. ¡°Only a bit longer till we reach Eizer¡¯s house.¡± Effryn muttered while pulling the hood over his head trying to keep him warm. ¡°Idiot. He said his parents were home.¡± Gale chewed at Effryn, though he had a slight shiver in his voice. ¡°Well, we have no other option at this point. I¡¯m sure everywhere is on lock down right now, looking for any kind of people responsible for the things we did.¡± ¡°Understandable. So where do we sleep?¡± A simple question to which Effryn had a simple solution to. ¡°In his yard.¡± ¡°Great.¡± With hardly any options available, Effryn thought best to go back to Eizer¡¯s and find patch of backyard to get cozy and sleep the night off. Sure, it wasn¡¯t the best plan, but what else could they do? The entire city was practically searching for him at this point, though they don¡¯t exactly know it was him. ¡°Watch out for a car!¡± Effryn held Gale close as he hid in an alleyway, shielding themselves from being seen from the headlights. ¡°Ew, it¡¯s messy here.¡± whined Gale. ¡°Holy jeez! It really is...hey I feel like I remember this place.¡± This narrow space reminded him of something persistent¡­ ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s get out of here!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Gale clearly held no objections in leaving, so they continued on back ¡®home.¡¯ Yeah, I''d rather not go back and visit the doctors and mine little chase game. Remembering his game of ¡®pray you don¡¯t get injected with God knows what!¡¯ Effryn wanted nothing more than to get Gale away. Though¡­ I really wonder where I¡¯ve heard Beth from¡­ Ah well, I should focus on getting home and resting. After leaving the horror memory lane alleyway, Effryn saw and dodged passing cars by hiding behind objects, such as dumpsters, signs-the list could go on. And he knew there was plenty more stealthing to do. So together, they both did what they could to stay sheathed under the blanket of the night. 3. Old times, New memories The room was still. The atmosphere in the air never moved. Or maybe it just couldn¡¯t. Light began to slowly creep it¡¯s way in, informing the part of the world where it touched that morning was soon to come. ¡°So, you two mind explaining what the hell you¡¯ve been doing?¡± The young man broke the silence with a fairly normal question. He kept his mood in check, but inside, his emotions were nearly about to pour as he steadily gazed from the oldest kid, who awkwardly glanced everywhere in the room except his eyes, to the younger kid, who stared uninterestedly at the wall. ¡°Hehe, I don¡¯t think you two understand the depth of what I¡¯m asking now do you?¡± Effryn glanced at Gale, who was now looking at him. His eyes had a glint of curiosity, probably wondering what exactly Eizer would do. Effryn made a poor excuse of a smile, hoping to prepare for what comes next... Shit, here it comes¡­ ¡°WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO THINKING?!?! ROBBING A BANK?! WHO THE HELL JUST DECIDES ¡®YEAH, TODAYS A GOOD DAY TO COMMIT ROBBERY!¡¯ HOW STUPID ARE YOU TWO?!¡± ¡°H-hey now,¡± Effryn tried intervening to get himself in a better situation, ¡°in the end what matters is that we¡¯re all safe, right?¡± ¡°Mhm!¡± Gale agreed, nodding his head rapidly. The two confidently agreed with their case. Eizer calmly brushed his hand through his hair. He deeply exhaled, which Effryn hoped was him letting his anger all out. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right. In the end, the only thing that matters is- LIKE HELL!!! YOU TWO DUMBASSES SHOULD BE PRAISING ANY DEITY OUT THERE LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR SORRY ASSES!! YOUR LUCKY MY PARENTS LEFT EARLY, SO GET YOUR ASSES IN YOUR ROOMS!¡± ¡°I-I understand your mad, but do you really have to treat us like kids who just did something bad?¡± Effryn tried sweet talking his way out. ¡°GO TO YOUR ROOM!!!¡± ¡°Y-yes sir, right away sir!¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Damn was he mad! Did we really do something that bad?¡± Effryn flopped onto his bed, embracing the warmth he had missed while sleeping in the backyard under the rain. ¡°Well, we did just assist in robbery, murder, arson, and other unspeaking crimes.¡± ¡°Damnit Gale, when you make it sound so nonchalant, it almost seems passable for forgiveness!¡± Effryn said, gazing at the boy who was now wrapped in another book. ¡°And don¡¯t you forget the whole thing stemmed from your actions!¡± ¡°Actions you decided to reinforce with your own.¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡± He¡¯s right. Effryn thought, knowing the blood, horror, and pain they caused everyone around them were the cause of not only Gale¡¯s actions, but his own as well. Effryn blanked out at the ceiling fan, observing one blade move slowly while the other seemingly flew by with more speed. I wonder what we do now. Is this a hopeless dead end for us, or do we actually have a future? As he thought about the possibilities of what his life could possibly hold now he was a criminal, the flicker of the TV sounded. Returning from his mind, he saw that Gale had been surfing the channels. ¡°Whatcha doing now?¡± ¡°Searching for the news channel.¡± His response was so cold, it almost sounded robotic. ¡°And why might you be doing that?¡± ¡°For information.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± As perplexed as Effryn was, Gale put his questions to rest by stopping on the news channel. ¡®Bringing you an update from yesterday evening''s bank incident, officials confirmed they found and arrested three high suspect targets, but have no more information on who else was involved in the robbery, or exactly how many others there were. Police encourage everyone to return to their homes immediately upon leaving work or school, as they are still out in the streets, and could do anything, at anytime. More with you la-¡¯ Gale switched TV off, and returned to his seat. He now had his book again, reading silently. ¡°So that means were good! Kinda. Barely¡­¡± Though he wished with every star in the sky, he knew they were nowhere near good. A pretty sad amount of nowhere, actually. ¡°There could be one person who still remembers what we, and everyone else looks like.¡± Gale calmly said while flipping a page. ¡°Honestly, it''s a pain there were still survivors.¡± ¡°Woah there! Don¡¯t go psycho on me now Gale!¡± Gale lifted his gaze from the words to Effryn. ¡°Me? You yourself look pretty bent up. Your eyes are as lifeless as ever and bags are living in comfort underneath, and I¡¯m pretty sure your hair is slowly giving up on living. You¡¯re a mess Effryn.¡± ¡°H-hey now¡­¡± Surely he couldn¡¯t look that badly. First off, it had to have been the rain as the cause for his messy hair, and for his eyes, he thought maybe he was tired. And for the bags¡­ He had nothing. ¡°And don¡¯t forget,¡± Gale¡¯s eyes were unchanged, but his tone was more serious than usual. ¡°you¡¯re a killer. I don¡¯t really know what social terms define a psychopath, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯d be pretty close to the line.¡± ¡°Heh.¡± Effryn chuckled, thinking back on everything he¡¯s done ever since he woke from his coma. ¡°I guess I¡¯m pretty bad of a person, aren¡¯t I?¡± ¡°That you are, but everyone is in their own way.¡± Gale said, returning to his book like nothing happened. Bad person, huh? I wonder how I was back then¡­ Back to when Evvryn was still alive, along with Frael, and everyone else he thought as family. To where his only worries was passing school, getting money, and pure gaming sessions. Until, that is¡­ ¡°That damn Nervo-connect. If we just never got that shitty idea to go, then things would still be the same¡­¡± No. Stop thinking like that. I¡¯ve made it this far, I¡¯ll keep going. I don¡¯t know how much further I have to go, but I¡¯ll keep pushing. As he thought, he glanced over to Gale, who was lost in the world of his book. For Gale¡¯s sake. After a period of time, lunch time came by. Effryn and Gale were lazily wasting away their time, one reading a book, while the other counting each seam in the ceiling. Then, the moment Eizer opened the door, the aroma of chicken, potatoes, and corn followed. ¡°Hot damn! I¡¯ve been dying of hunger!¡± ¡°It¡¯s finally yum time¡­¡± The two gawked over the food practically with saliva dripping from their mouths. Effryn began descending into a beast as he readied his claws to shred his plate. Gale, on the other hand, brain instantly melted as he thought about how delectable his meal would be. ¡°Christ¡­ You two are monsters!¡± Effryn fully accepted the remark, digging into his plate of food with his bare hands, and talked with his mouth stuffed. ¡°I don¡¯t...care what you...have to say¡­! It¡¯s your fault...that we didn¡¯t eat anything all day yesterday¡­!!¡± ¡°Hmhh¡­!¡± Galed added, lost in his own plate. ¡°Well that¡¯s what you two dumbasses get for robbing a damn bank!¡± Ahhhhh, thank you food gods! As each feral chomp tore individual food particles, Effryn praised be to any being allowing him to eat this wonderful meal. ¡°Gah that was good! Thank you for the meal!¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re a monster¡­¡± Eizer was abhorrent to know a beast was living in his house. ¡°Yum yum¡­!¡± Gale lightly poked his corn, possibly wondering what creatures inhabit the yellow terrain. ¡°Just eat dammit! I¡¯ll wait till ya guys are done¡­¡± ¡°Done!¡± Effryn cried with delight. ¡°I guess it was good.¡± Gale placed his fork down, acting as if nothing had changed. The two finished their plates, leaving nothing but sparkles. ¡°Are you hounds back to normal yet? You devoured your plates, and I didn¡¯t prepare any more food, so don¡¯t get any funny ideas.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Effryn smugly asked, slowly approaching Eizer in a beastly banner. ¡°I¡¯d be doing the donner party proud!¡± ¡°We made a happy plate, not a devoured plate.¡± Gale noted while wiping his face. ¡°Though, why is eating other life considered a happy plate? Now that I think about it, they encourage killing and eating as ¡®happy.¡¯ Eizer had just about enough of everything happening around him, and tried reasonably explaining the two questions. ¡°Gale, you¡¯re thinking about it too much. Effryn, you¡¯re a dumbass, though I can¡¯t help you much on that. Both of you go read or play a game, just whatever makes you stop talking.¡± ¡°A game?¡± Effryn¡¯s curiosity peaked, wondering about the full context of the question ¡®play a game.¡¯¡± And what kind of games? He could¡¯ve meant board games, mind games, or video games. When it comes to the complete meaning of game, there are many factors and signs to which the host, or Eizer, could me- ¡°Yeah, wanna try out the Connecto-nerve?¡± ¡°Oh, that. Didn¡¯t it fail?¡± ¡°It did at first, but it was quickly bought out by some chinese company and revived. Its sales are decent right now, so there are a good few players.¡± The Connecto-nerve. The newest VR mainstream console, that brought users to the gaming world completely, with near full control over what they could do. When first announced, it was thought to be the next big thing. It sucks this piece fo shit device failed. It wasn¡¯t worth it Evvryn. It really wasn¡¯t¡­ ¡°Sure! You want to try it Gale¡­¡± Effryn peered over at Gale, who took the opposite route of games, and was mindlessly in the world of his book. ¡°Guess I¡¯m going alone.¡± ¡°Aw, don¡¯t worry buddy. It ain¡¯t anything too bad. And who knows, maybe you¡¯ll like it.¡± Eizer picked up the sleek black headset, and pulled the straps over Effryn¡¯s head, adjusting them to fit his head. Vizors slid to cover his eyes, showing nothing but empty screens. Next, a couple lines of wiring stretched to his arm, and the machine linking with his nerves. He didn¡¯t quite understand it himself like the previous time, but it¡¯s easier to accept things that make absolutely no sense than understanding illogical behavior. ¡°Okay. I think everything¡¯s set, so I¡¯m gonna switch this thing here on.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m ready¡­¡± Effryn couldn¡¯t help but feel...nervous? He wasn¡¯t quite sure what the feeling was. It was like a mixture of eagerness, and how his curiosity wanted him to explore this world he and Evvryn once had. Yet, there was a bit of swishing around with regret, knowing this was the reason that transpired everything. . ¡°Five¡­ Four¡­¡± Eizer prepared himself, readying to flip the switch. Am I ready for this? I¡¯m pretty sure I already know I¡¯ll feel like shit once I log in, but can I handle it? Can I¡­? ¡°Three¡­¡± Eizer continued. Well Evvryn, here goes to our memories! ¡°Two¡­ On-¡± Before Effryn could hear the final number, his existence was stuffed into the world of the VR machine, making his surroundings completely void. ¡°-e!¡± Slowly, but eventually, his brain and the Connecto merged, and he began his process of integration in the device. He found himself-rather, his conscious-floating above in the nothingness of the void. He looked up, down, side to side, but saw nothingness shrouded in a deep black. After a while of floating, a text appeared in a small white box above his view: Welcome to the Connecto-Nerve! You appear to be a newcomer, as you have yet to register on this device. Register as a guest, or create a new profile? An impromptu choice appeared, showing either register as a guest or create a new profile. ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Argh?! Effryn¡¯s floating soul shrieked as Eizer¡¯s exclamation rang through the emptiness. ¡°Make your own account, cause you never know when you might want to come back!¡± Eizer¡¯s voice echoed far out from the void. Fine, just don¡¯t scream in my ear next time! Effryn shouted with all the decibels he could muster, but his shouts seemed to only echo in the void, and nothing more. He really can¡¯t hear me? Wait, what if a kids playing this and their mother calls them for dinner? Does their mom know they can¡¯t respond if they call, or do they just get infinitely more pissed the more they get ignored?! Contemplating if this device was safe enough to put on the market, Effryn tried reaching out a hand to push the create new profile option, but¡­ Shit, how could I forget I¡¯m an entity only possessing a soul! But for real, do I have a cursor or something¡­? Effryn saw no mouse, or anything indicating there was something he had to move to select options. So then what? Dammit why?! There wasn¡¯t this complicated crap last time I played this, so then what could I possibly think to do¡­ Confirm: create new account? Huh? I mean yes, please for the love of God, yes!! Creating account, please input information: Username, email address, password, subscription information¡­ Seriously?! Why should I have to bother with all this? Can¡¯t I just play? The computer lady thingy kept listing other things Effryn needed to input, making everything he needed sound important. But his brain could only keep up for so long, so after around the third item, which was the password, each request got increasingly incomprehensible. ...house address, zip code, girth (if applicable), and finally, sisters age. Finally, it¡¯s done¡­ Wait, what the hell?! Or, user can connect with the other account, Eizurn, to game share, ultimately skipping the entire signing up process. Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! Please computer lady, for the love of love, just do it! Action confirmed! Please wait a moment as we update your height and other humanly features to match present player¡­ Praise the God of technology, even if my character will be my actual person¡­! Apparently, instead of using a cursor to select the options you want, all someone needed to do was just think of what option they wanted, and it would happen. Or so Effryn had figured thus far. Hopefully, no other list of- And suddenly, like quite extreme suddenly, his thoughts went completely blank, entering another period of darkness. ¡­.. Gah! What the hell?! Who thought it was a good idea to ¡®force shutdown¡¯ a person''s mind?! Mentally ranting at a machine, Effryn made sure computer lady heard everything he had to say. That was until the screen changed from a depth black to a fading white. A loading screen? Games and apps. Suddenly, an icon appeared, to which Effryn selected. There were only three games, and a few apps, such as youtube, and other basic essentials. ¡°Oh yeah, one final thing.¡± Eizer boomed from seemingly nowhere. ¡°I have the game you guys played at that tournament. If you wanna play it, it¡¯s called--¡± Destrial. I could never forget that. Effryn thought, ignoring Eizers words. How could he forget? The damned game that brought everything to a screeching halt, and what led right to the point where Effryn was now. ¡°--yeah, don¡¯t push yourself playing. Just...you oughta have fun.¡± Yeah yeah. Focusing back on hand, Effryn thought of destrial, and the computer selected that game, immediately bringing him into another loa- Son-of-a-bitch! What is with these loading screens?! Out of nowhere, another screen of ignorant waiting time appeared. This time, the scenery changed from pure white, to a bright glimmer in the distance. Effryn squinted his eyes to fight off the brightness. And after a minute of waiting, Effryn felt his eyes adjust to the light, and lowered his hands¡­ Hands! Bless, as I am no longer a spirit of nothing! Hail to freedom, restrictions suck! Gale would probably think otherwise. Enjoying his sensation of senses, Effryn played around for a bit on the main menu with the text: Destrail, think anything to start. But as he rolled around in the floating abyss of the menu, a familiar voice calmly echoed in the midst of his mind, somehow surpassing even his own thoughts within the game. -A voice he¡¯d rather forget at this stage in his life already. ¡°Oh my, you tread to the alpha point of your tragedy?¡± ¡°Oh what the¡­ Why the hell are you here?¡± Effryn asked, half annoyed, and half pissed knowing it would be with him during this, yet there was nothing he could do about it. ¡°Must you muster anger? I merely wished to observe your reaction, and with such timing, I may freely converse with you without any interruptions.¡± The ghost with Evvryn¡¯s voice chillingly replied, as if it held no emotions whatsoever. ¡°Oh yeah, and what if I get in a party chat with other players?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overestimate your social abilities boy. At most, you¡¯ll just mute everyone who annoys you.¡± Though the truth did sting Effryn a bit, he bit his lip to hide it. ¡°I wish I could just mute you.¡± ¡°You express your feelings, holding nothing back when it comes to your hatred. Are you hateful of me?¡± What the hell kind of question is that? How could someone not hate another if they held a stick of hope over their head, and made them run like a blind animal to do their work? ¡°Yeah.¡± Effryn answered it¡¯s question with a dry response, waiting for the screen to lo-- -ad. Aaaaaand of course. I shouldn¡¯t be mad at this point. I really shouldn¡¯t! ¡°You¡¯re visibly displaying such anger where your facial features tell more of a story than your words.¡± ¡°Shut up! Who wouldn¡¯t be mad at such a poor excuse of increasing play time?!¡± Forgetting his feelings towards the ghost, Effryn felt his blood boiling on the scummy plays made by the makers of the game. Sure, game limitations and the problem of overloading chunks in a world were valid counter arguments for such a thing, but he didn¡¯t care¡­ ¡°Screw that to hell! Why do we still have loading screens in 2019 when we literally have VR and cars driving on their own?!¡± Rovers to mars, self learning machines, and discovering blacks holes¡­ And yet civilization sill has loading screens? Nice job humanity. Ignoring the rapid banter of a lonely gamer, or rather not being programmed to fight such a stupid individual, the game instead loaded text: Create character menu- Class selections ¡ú Knight Subclass for knight: Sun follower/Fallen crusader/Berserker. Mage Subclass for mage: Mana extractor/Elemental maniac/Golem God Archer Subclass for archer: Knights guard/Elven refugee/Mana whisperer Read through each class and select which type and archetype that best fits your play- Skiiiiiiip. I¡¯ll just go with what I played in the demo! Reluctantly imagining in his mind to make the computer lady quiet, she immediately shut up. But...where is it? I know I was an explosive mage as a character before, but there¡¯s no subclass with boom. Elemental mage was probably the closest thing to explosive, but Effryn rememered the class being called Explosive mage, not stupid Elemental guy. Fine, guess I¡¯m going with Elemental...wha¡­? And after thinking of selecting Elemental guy, an overwhelming amount of information poured on, even off the screen as Effryn tried reading. Elemental Mage sub-subclasses=Pyromaniac, churches torch, Flame of Satan/touch of rainfall, well of spring, shout of tsunami/Zeus''s hatred, conductor, electronic arts/frost breather/Mothernatures pet/Explosive mage/universal matter¡­ And the list went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on¡­ ¡°And on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and wait! Explosive mage!!¡± Thinking of leaving this screen with novels amount of information, Effryn happily thought of the explosive mage, and was happily transported to another-- Beautiful scenery of a mountain top, with an overarching town centered in its roots, were filled with a glimmering sunfall. Nightlife began, and street lights fitted with fire seemingly self lit, and people stormed into bars and nightclubs, hoping to indulge in pleasures of drink and flesh. Time in Destrial for the people were a splendid time, so long as the guard and it¡¯s kind were nowhere near the people. The people hated being observed like animals, while the guards hated watching people waste their lives with silly games of drinking and adultery. So in a manner such as an unspoken agreement, both the people and the city guards agreed to leave each other to their own biddings so long as the other behaves. Thus leaving citizens with more freedom...and more opportunities to fetch for schemes. There was an increase in crime rate, robbery, rape, pillaging, killing, human trafficking. Serial killers spread throughout the lands, slave auction houses sprang produced like rats, leaving the outside walls of the castle nothing but a barren land of opportunity. Inside the castle walls, life wasn¡¯t all too better. There was corruption within power, as each person directly below the king plotted against one another to coup the current throne, and obtain power in their own hands. The guards and military, with no leading in the right mind, left the kingdom, starting their own groups of terror. With all the madness in the world, the church stood strong, embracing everyone with open arms. There was no soul deeming worthy of hell, so long as they repented properly. Seeing the world as it was, the church knew something had to be done. They called upon any heros or treasure hunters, fighting spirits or victims of tragedy, mages and psychos. Any willing soul capable of standing against the corruption of the world, the church beckoned anyone to figh-- I¡¯m boreed! I get it. Sad world, hero called, world not sad. And for the love of God, stop with these cutscenes- ...of course a loading screen would graciously appear. Thanks game. At this point, Effryn grew used to the fact that there was a loading screen after every action he did. He would even run his money on this being a much worse game than some certain open world loading screens. At least other games have some art or nice looking pictures rotating every few seconds or so. All this game has it just a black screen with Loading¡­ at the end! After waiting for a nonsensical amount of time, the game eventually loaded onto a screen with three options: Story, multiplayer, or Your life. Eizer never told me a specific one to pick, so¡­ Thinking about his options, Effryn thought he couldn¡¯t care less about the story, he wasn¡¯t in the mood for pvp, but Your life sounded interesting, even if hardly. ¡°Tell me, why do humans waste their lives away on these pointless dreams of entertainment?¡± echoed the ghost from seemingly nowhere. ¡°Umm¡­ That¡¯s a random question to ask out of nowhere.¡± Effryn said bluntly while picking the options Your life with his mind. An instant later, the game switched screens. But surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t a loading screen, but an entirely different picture: Effryn found himself in some kind of shopping district of a town. There were all kinds of people moving about, each with different features and trademarks. Some moved with carts being dragged by animals of all kinds, with some he¡¯d never seen in his life, like a hybrid of dog and gorilla, or a goose and penguin. There might have been one that had an alligator mixed with a rabbit pulling a carriage. He looked around in awe as the town around him boomed with vibrant people. There were regular looking guys, elves, knights, robe guys, so probably mages. Some were running around stupidly, while others walking in a well mannered way. Some talked in groups, Effryn even overheard one group plan out there next raid on a dungeon of heretics. Then there were a few who talked to themselves, but had a player menu up, probably talking in their own party chat. But in it all, there was one thing Effryn had trouble figuring out since being lost in the view of the city around. ¡°How the hell are you supposed to tell if they¡¯re a player or an Npc?¡± Being in a market area, Effryn surely saw vendors selling basic items like food, materials, weapons and armor, and those such. But each of the vendors had their own personality, talking and chatting with players about current events and what have-nots, then waving them goodbye. Hell, there was even one shopkeeper joking and laughing with a group of players around him as if they were all bots on their own. -And what made it worse was the fact that there were no player icons above their heads indicating the difference between player and Npc. ¡°Well, what¡¯s the difference,¡± Effryn continued from the ghost¡¯s early question. ¡°like, people go to parties, some drink or smoke, others might hang out with friends, or one might even work on a craft they life.¡± ¡°But you accomplish nothing with these pointless...simulations. These merely provide a facade of joy, yet in reality, all this yields is a complete waste of time.¡± Effryn went to lean against a barrel filled with meat to think about his response. Sure, people consider this to be an entirely pointless thing, but¡­ ¡°Why should that matter? People get drunk, people get high. Some go out, others stay in. What those people do all vary in many different ways, yet do you know the one thing they have in common?¡± ¡°...They waste their life all the same?¡± Effryn couldn¡¯t help but chuckle from the answer. ¡°Heh, I guess if you view from that way, then that¡¯s your was of seeing it. But to them, it¡¯s their own special way of having fun.¡± Effryn waited silently for an answer while brushing his finger against the sand, creating small images of ocean waves storming a shore. But the ghost¡¯s only response was silence, leaving Effryn surprised as this was a rare occurrence. I override your brain? Good, now leave me alone. ¡°Hey!¡± a shout came from a crowd of people. Looking in the swarms of people, he felt his mind instantly noodle as eyes stared in his direction. HIs head swarmed with thoughts of gazes judging him. They had to be. Why else would they be looking at him? They each had their own thoughts about him, and what he looked like, and why he chose that class, and-- ¡°I recognize you. Aren¡¯t you Effryn? Here.¡± A small, almost childlike hand reached to Effryn. The voice was soft, with a bit of squeakiness. ¡°T-thank you.¡± Effryn answered awkwardly, grabbing the little girls hand. ¡°B-but I don¡¯t really know yo¡­¡± His voice trailed off as his gaze met up with hers, instantly remembering who this little girl was. Or rather, who this loli was. ¡°Nei¡­? Is that really¡­¡± he was at a complete loss for words. How long had it been since he¡¯d seen her? Scratch that, for her to even remember him was an entirely other feat. ¡°Ha, to think both would memorize one another! I¡¯m pleased to know you still have known me.¡± To meet a friend he met at a tournament like this must mean something. That, or fate¡¯s one hell of a thing. ¡°Follow me!¡± Nei shouted, holding his hand as he led him through the crazy town in this weird game. ¡°And then--and then, our group had to fight a bunch of asshole junkies who crafted some kind of dps enhancing drug. ALL ON OUR OWN, MAY I ADD!!¡± Somehow, through a weird turn of events, Effryn found himself at Nei¡¯s party. She brought him to a bar, where everyone was drinking, fighting one another, or playing some kind of weird beer pong with swords and magic. ¡°I¡¯ll be damned! I would have never dreamed of meeting you again, especially in these circumstances. How¡¯ve you been?¡± ¡°I-I-I¡­¡± Effryn stuttered, trying to keep himself composed from being watched by more than one person. ¡°Hey kid!¡± some barbarian knight shouted as he slammed Effryn¡¯s back. ¡°Nei gave us some entertaining tales of your game! She said she still wanted a rematch after all this time!¡± With all the attention surrounding him, he only gazed at the floor as more people gathered around him. ¡°Hey now, we should give him some space. He¡¯s not really much of a talker after all. That job¡¯s for Evvryn.¡± Nei laughed, raising a toast everyone drinking. ¡°Here¡¯s a toast to my friend, and for more memories together!¡± ¡°-ARGH-!!¡± Swishing their glasses with rum, men drank their brews to their heart''s content, enjoying the night to the fullest extent. -All while Effryn continued to watch the rotting wooden floor, realizing a truth that had been there ever since she first found him. So she doesn¡¯t know what happened to Evvryn...does she. ¡°So where is that energetic train of magnetivity? Being, your shortness must spring numerous problems, I find it hard to believe you would wander around without her.¡± Nei asked, ignorant of the reality to which the question held. Effryn paused, not knowing what exactly to say, until he thought it best if he came right out. ¡°She¡¯s uh...dead.¡± Nei¡¯s expression turned shocked, wondering what he meant. She inched closer to the now kneeling boy, as she singled out her hearing for him to bypass the decibels in from the party. ¡°Wa¡­ Excuse me?¡± ¡°I said she¡¯s gone. Taken away. Not only by some ignorant people, but for a total bullshit cause!¡± Effryn felt his anger grow as his fist connected with the maple floor. All eyes were on him again, each gazing with a drench of curiosity. ¡°Sorry.¡± Effryn picked himself up, apologized, and exited the bar. He could hear drinking games resume immediately after leaving, with an added shout of wait from a friend Evvryn had once knew. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°God I hate this.¡± Down the streets of the town weren¡¯t much. After the little market district, only houses and such built up the rest of the town. Hardly any city activity was happening, or maybe everyone just went to the bar? Effryn sighed, resting his body on a bench he found near what seemed like the city park. Small tree groves, along with patches of recently cut grass surrounding a stone water fountain in the middle. The moon, or rather, both moons, toyed with the water, mixing the vibrant colors with a giant green and purple spectacle. ¡°It¡¯s nice, isn¡¯t it? The way Shrek and Spyro fight each other for air superiority makes for a magical sight.¡± Nei laughingly said, appearing next to his head. ¡°It¡¯s real colorful, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Effryn admitted, wiping away a tear with his cloak. ¡°But really, those names?¡± Nei giggled, setting up some kind of magical tree trunk to sit on. ¡°Heh, not exactly the coolest name for beautiful moons gracing us, but they mean a lot to us.¡± ¡°You mean to say shrek means a lot to your life?¡± ¡°Well, we did go to war for those names, so yeah.¡± Nei kicked her legs like a child on a swing set. ¡°And what do you mean? Shrek means everything to everyone!¡± The water glistened, crickets played their strings, the heart cried its dance. Effryn curled himself into a ball, hoping all his returning emotions would get crushed along with him. Why now? Why am I feeling like this now? I thought I was over with...this pain. ¡°Effryn,¡± Nei asked, breaking the tune of the night. ¡°mind if I ask how she went?¡± ¡°Kinda.¡± His response was cold and speedy, assuring Nei it was something he definitely didn¡¯t want to talk about. ¡°Fine. Then how are you doing?¡± ¡°Me? How would I describe it¡­¡± Effryn thought about the basic responses, like how he was a lost puppy, or he was figuring out what to do now. But he fancied something more relatable to Nei. ¡°I guess I feel like a cubone completely blinded by it¡¯s lost of a guide in life, or maybe more like when shrek and fiona were separated, and went back to their normal lives for a time.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Nei chuckled. ¡°And I assumed you thought those references were silly. So you¡¯re a shrek, are you?¡± Managing a smile, Effryn nodded. I¡¯m only partially that green giant. At least he finds his happiness later on, as I¡­ Effryn gazed into the glistening water. ...have lost mine already. ¡°I just...fuck. Why¡¯d it have to end like that?¡± Nei leaned over Effryn, with her lips trembling as if she had something to say, but instead fidgeted. ¡°N-Nei¡­?¡± As if fighting a self impulse, Nei rested her reddened face on Effryn¡¯s chest. ¡°N-Nei?!¡± Her short hair was surprisingly angelic, with the scent of a new green tree as her hair brushed against his neck. His heart beat rapidly grew, as he was sure she could tell just by listening. ¡°Hey Effryn, I know I¡¯m not much of anything like her, but¡­¡± Nei placed her thighs against his own, but instead of her head, she made friction with her body. She lifted her head, only to lower it by Effryn¡¯s ear. ¡°...I can help you cope in anyway you need.¡± Her breathing was warm and heavy. Effryn could tell she was nervous too, even if he¡¯d never been in a situation like this before. ¡°I-I, I mean, if you¡­¡± she began, clearly not knowing if Effryn was okay with this or not. What do I say? Am I supposed to say something, or is there another way I¡¯m supposed to go about this situation, or¡­? His mind fluttered with thoughts. Feelings flusterting with emotion, Effryn felt a sharp worry grow in his side. And then it came to him: I¡­ I have to get out of this. This isn¡¯t right. ¡°N-Nei, I don¡¯t think this is really right, you know?¡± Effryn awkwardly let out a laugh as he pulled his head away. ¡°I mean, this is only a game.¡± Hoping she would understand his meaning, he relaxed himself. But instead of being understanding, she instead went in for a light kiss. ¡°Wha---?!¡± A grove of holy trees. That¡¯s what he tasted in her lips, or what he imagined such a place to taste like. Everything moved too fast before Effryn could keep up with, and in the next moment Nei¡¯s dark eyes were gazing into his, as if she were reading his every thought. ¡°You would be surprised with all the things you could do in this game. Did you know there are actually church official condoms?¡± A smile curled on her lips, fitting her soft chuckle as she moved in for another kiss. ¡°B-b-b-but wait, I don¡¯t think this is ok in many ways. I mean¡­¡± ¡°If you¡¯re saying you can¡¯t do it in a game, then why don¡¯t we meet up in real life? We live in the same city, so we could find a hotel for a night and¡­¡± Nei moved in for another kiss, to which Effryn countered with his fingers. -But having predicted something like this, Nei softly giggled as her hand carressed Effryn¡¯s cheek, giving her the edge and time to move in for another strike, which was exactly what she did. Nei pressed her lips against his, making soft assortments of noises. He wanted to fight it, he really did. But his body went blank, and only his mind was actively roaming. This isn¡¯t right. This can¡¯t be right. I still have Evvryn¡­ I had Evvryn. She¡¯s gone now. It¡¯s just me. And it¡¯s just Nei. Evvryn¡¯s not here anymore, so why does it matter? Maybe this is for the best. Maybe-- ¡°Please stop.¡± Effryn croaked, scruffing his hand through Nei¡¯s hair. ¡°Please...just stop.¡± At first, her face went blush as his hands messaged her head. But the instant she opened her eyes at his face, she knew immediately that her there was nothing else she could do. ¡°Ah¡­ I see. I guess even if I wanted to give you my all, you¡¯re just not ready for me.¡± Nei smiled, but instead of her prior playful smiles, this one was different. It seemed like it was meant to be a mask of some sorts. ¡°I-I don¡¯t mean for you to think I don¡¯t like this, cause I do! Err no wait I didn¡¯t mean that I meant to say that I don¡¯t like this because of you. Wait?! No sorry I mean-!¡± ¡°Shh.¡± Nei pressed her finger on his lips as she giggled. ¡°Slow down there short man! I get ya, you¡¯re just not ready yet. I get you.¡± She pushed herself up from Effryn. Her bangs seemingly fell into place before her eyes, nearly blocking her entire face. ¡°Well, I should get going. If you ever wanna talk, then you should message me via friends list.¡± She was on her feet now, standing dead still. The moons reflected its colors off her hair, creating a beautiful image of a small elf with grey hair. Effryn wanted to say something to her. He screamed from his inner self to say anything to her, yet nothing managed to reach outside. But in the next moment, she twirled around, with a heart shifting smile he¡¯d only ever seen a handful of times from Evvryn. His heart fluttered, maybe even skipping a beat, as he was locked on her beaming features. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll be around if you ever need me! Well, see ya!¡± And just like that, she walked away as if nothing happened. But Effryn knew better, even if he was a virgin at these things. He knew she was holding back her emotions with everything she had in that little body of hers. She must have been crying as she walked away, and that, Effryn was sure of. ¡°That encounters atmosphere was entirely distorted. Are the opposite sex always sharing experiences such as those?¡± Effryn felt a vein flinch, but ignored its words. He merely listened to the strange bird-like creatures as the sun crept it¡¯s way onto the world. So the day/night cycles are either increased to further productivity for grinding players, or they just go stupidly fast. Effryn thought, seeing as how quickly an entire day passed by. Or maybe the night moved like normal, and time for him just seemed to stagnate from everything Nei did. Or attempted to do. He entered some kind of holy cafe, run by a priest looking couple. His mind raced the moment Nei was on top of him, and had never stopped since. He could still remember her face, and the look of innocence she had. Her pupils looked wider, making her even cuter than before¡­ ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t think like that!¡± he shouted at himself, grabbing his chest with a grip of anger. What the hell am I thinking¡­? These thoughts burning his mind drowned out every choice his mind could possibly think. The feelings he once tried to forget were now coming back as strong and painful as ever. If this kept up, he would most definitely go back to his state before he and Gale moved in with Eizer. And if that were to happen again, life would get sluggish, to the point where even thinking of doing something is a drag itself¡­! ¡°Excuse me, sir?!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Effryn snapped from his mind, looking up to find himself next in line to order. ¡°P-please don¡¯t yell. N-now can we please take your order?¡± a young female priest timidly asked, clearly frightened by the person before her. ¡°R-right. Sorry.¡± After fighting for about twenty minutes while sipping away at some kind of holy drink, Effryn finally tossed his cup away and left. Jeez, I shouldn¡¯t be thinking about this. I need something to take my mind off this. Now finding himself back on the streets, Effryn knew he had to do anything. Any action that could possibly take his mind off Nei. ¡°I have a perceived reality.¡± the ghost suddenly inferred, as if it were reading his mind. ¡°Why shant you precure in resurrecting your young human friend?¡± ¡°Cut the shit. False hope will kill me right now, so please don¡¯t speak.¡± ¡°So you refuse in this hope?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Effryn was space still. He knew he shouldn¡¯t say anything but shut up to it. That the ghost would only bring more pain the more it talked. -But even knowing so, Effryn fell prey to the lure of hope. ¡°And what would I have to do to see her again?¡± ¡°Since failing the first task assigned to you, you lack the prerequisite of reviving your deceased friend. But there is one other way of going about resurrection. Shall I continue-¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Effryn cut it off. ¡°Fine. It is possible to trade out souls for a soul, though this is a difficult task, as-¡± ¡°How many does it take?¡± he interrupted again, but with an impatient tone. ¡°Exact amount is unknown. The souls for each living being are different in life force from each other, thus making accurate predictions impossible.¡± So basically, all it¡¯s saying is that depending on what you kill, say rabbit or human, the weight of its soul varies. Effryn could grasp it in that sense. ¡°But it¡¯s not impossible.¡± ¡°Estimating on history, the impossibility barrier as already been bypassed, as this has occurred a handful of times in current history.¡± ¡°R-really?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± So not only had this been done once, it¡¯s been done a few other times by some mad lads! So is it possible for me¡­ ¡°How many have successfully done resurrection from this soul thingy?¡± ¡°Based upon high spiritual readings, there has been a total of nine since this current expansion.¡± Expansion¡­? he wondered what it could mean by that, but he guessed it to be something like the big bang, so he brushed it off. Based on what the ghost had been saying and from what Effryn had understood, only a known total of nine have been documented to successfully resurrect a living being since the beginning of time. Effryn grunted as he rested his shoulder on a street lamp, waiting for the magical liquid to turn green. Jesus, how pathetic am I to believe a figure of my mind for a shot of hope. I¡¯ll look real sad when she reveals she¡¯s been lying, won¡¯t I¡­ The red liquid erupted a small flame, turning it to green. Carriages stopped, giving the people a chance to move onto the next crosswalk. ¡°Fine.¡± Effryn muttered quietly, to the point where the ghost could hear him, but no one else around him. ¡°I¡¯ll follow along this stupid game, so place me in line for the tenth spot.¡± ¡°Mmm. Is that so? I perceive you do not fully grasp the difficulty of this task, as it requires a massive amount of-¡± ¡°Yeah Yeah, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s an ungodly number. Now please be quiet. I want to see what this world has in store.¡± Effryn waved his hand as if he were brushing someone off, as he slowly made his way to the church of this town. ¡°Yes, I see. So you register as an explosive mage, no experience, and you want to do something with your life. I¡¯m getting that right?¡± A man that looked like a high ranking priest snickered, observing the documents with a closer look. ¡°Y-yes sir. I just want to know if there¡¯s anything needing to be done.¡± Though it was a game, Effryn felt himself getting anxious by talking to this guy. It reminded him of the time he went to get his first job, with the awkward sitting around and handshakes, and the tagalong questions they make you play. The priest looked ruffled through some paperwork while sipping away at some kind of green drink. ¡°Well um, sir. I don¡¯t see anything you could qualify for, but I could get in touch with someone that may help you seeing as you are new to this world.¡± Man, he¡¯s getting in touch with this world. Npc¡¯s really are something nowadays. ¡°Please!¡± Effryn heard a soft displeased groan from the interview, or the priest, but he decided to ignore it. The priest loaded up some kind of interface, and began swiping away at icons until he found the one he had been searching for, and annoyingly clicked. Weird. I never would have thought they¡¯d give Npc¡¯s a UI system like players. Effryn blankly watched the man as he called someone through some kind of magic portal. He didn¡¯t really grasp the concept, and saw no reason to, so he let the man do his work. ¡°Okay sir. Please wait in our lobby until they arrive. Thank you, Next!¡± ¡°O-oh, right.¡± Silently cursing at the asshole, Effryn sat at the furthest seat from everybody. He watched as more people piled in, asking for their daily quest, and then heading out with their adventuring parties. The process of reviving Evvryn. The thought ran through his head. He questioned whether it was believable rather than true. Such a method couldn¡¯t possibly exist, even if there was some kind of ghost talking with him in his mind. But...what if he just entertained the idea? He wouldn¡¯t believe it, but just follow along with it. Like a game? No-that¡¯s exactly it! Just a game! That¡¯s how I think of this! I¡¯m just playing a mindless child game is all! Holding himself giddily with a smile spread across his face to which he held no clue about, he was abruptly ear pierced from his thoughts by an overly sounding man (?) Or was monster the correct term? ¡°IS THAT YOU EFFRYN??¡± His intruding voice shook the floors. Chatter from probably a mile away were broken, all looking at the source of the enormous shouting. But when Effryn looked up, he knew it was no mere shouting. How could he blame people for being surprised at the groundbreaking noise? When in fact, it was Towu¡¯s normal speaking voice. ¡°Dude! I haven¡¯t seen you since forever!¡± Though there were mean comments and remarks throughout the room, Towu and Effryn were still ecstatic to see one another. ¡°EFFRYN!! I HAD A FEELING THAT IT WAS YOU!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!¡± Towu, with his ignorantly giant figure reached over and picked up Effryn as if he were a child, and gleefully hugged him. ¡°I could ask you the same thing!¡± Effryn joking asked, before realizing some a thought. ¡°Wait, why are you here?¡± ¡°I WAS SUPPOSED TO PICK UP A NOOBIE TODAY AND SHOW HIM THE ROPES! BUT I¡¯VE GOTTA ASK, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!¡± And to think fate doesn¡¯t exist. If not fate, then luck sure is a bitch. ¡°Um, about that¡­ I think you¡¯re talking to said noobie.¡± Towu¡¯s muscular build slowly began crushing Effryn, as it took the giant a second to process the information. But once he did, his face lit up like gunpowder. ¡°REALLY?!?! AHH MAN, ISN¡¯T THAT COOL?! MAN, I SHOULD TELL NEI ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW!!!¡± Towu dropped Effryn in a flash, letting him really feel the impact of the floor. Man, does it feel nice to talk to an old friend. I¡¯m really glad it was Towu¡­--Wait?! ¡°H-hold on! W-wait a minute, don¡¯t do anything just yet please hold I¡¯m praying please wait a-¡± Effryn continued his rambling as he grabbed onto Towu¡¯s loincloth. ¡°WHAT¡¯S WRONG LITTLE BUDDY?! AWW, ARE YOU GETTING NATS IN YOUR TUMMY OVER NEI?!?!¡± ¡°W-w-wait! I¡¯m not, it¡¯s just-¡± ¡°--JUST LOVE, ISN¡¯T IT?!¡± Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. Damnit Towu, I swear to God you can be really cool, but a major brick up my ass sometimes. ¡°Um, well¡­¡± Effryn staggered on his words, using everything in his brain to formulate a plan. ¡°DON¡¯T WORRY ABOUT IT! I¡¯LL JUST CALL HER HERE!¡± Oh, fuck. Watching as Towu lifted his arm up to open his menu, Effryn felt his insides utterly destroy itself. How could he explain to him about what just happened? He is a fellow bro, he thought, but still, would he be okay with this? What if he has feelings¡­ ¡°...for her. W-wait! Towu wait! No need to call her, cause I already talked to her this morning!¡± Effryn exasperated, praying with the energy of every priest around him to stop him. ¡°Or wait, would that count as last night? Yesterday? But it just turned morning like minutes ago, right?¡± Effryn double checked his game time, to see it was now turning into evening. ¡°The hell?! It was just night moments ago!¡± Feeling the confusion of time toy with his mind, he felt it was best to utterly erase that part of his mind and focus on Towu. By now, he was looking down at Effryn, entirely ignoring him and his ranting. ¡°Y-you¡¯re still going to call her?!¡± ¡°WELL DUH! EVEN IF YOU MET HER, SHE IS THE SECOND PART OF THIS TRAINING OPERATION!¡± Towu said--or rather, excessively shouted in his normal voice--as naturally as ever. ¡°BUT DON¡¯T WORRY ABOUT IT, I SAID TO MEET ME AND YOU AT THE SLUM CENTRAL. AND THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO GO TOO! LIKE RIGHT NOW TOO!!¡± ¡°Y-you did? R-right now?! Hold up! P-please put me down! Hold on, that¡¯s a wall!!¡± But words seemingly rubberized off of Towu, as he burst through the wall with Effryn in hand, all with a brimming smile. Eyes among eyes of crowds glanced at him, but after a second or two, they quickly turned away. It didn¡¯t matter who. A knight, a barbarian, or a psychotic wood elf, they all promptly ignored the clearly visible kidnapping happening before them. ¡°You know, I really don¡¯t know who¡¯s worse in this situation! The stupidly big guy carrying me with his finger while wearing nothing but a loincloth, or the bastards, who clearly have enhanced abilities of strength and magic, just watching from a distance and act like nothing is happening to me?!¡± Effryn cried at both Towu and the people around him. The brute broke wall after wall, and once he reached the main street, he leaped from cart to cart, though he pretty much destroyed them in the process. ¡°Son of a¡­How much more of this torture?!¡± Though as fun as it sounded, soaring through the sky with a wanted sign, being barraged by debris after debris, was starting to get very old and very painful pretty fast. He wasn¡¯t sure how much more he could take, and judging from the brutes happy expression, Towu looked like he was just getting started. ¡°DON¡¯T WORRY EFFRYN, YOU¡¯LL BE THERE IN FIVE SECONDS!!¡± ¡°T-thank goodness! W-wait, why did you only mention me¡­?¡± Effryn¡¯s voice trailed off, as he witnessed the one thing he set all his prayers to. Towu instantly fell to a stop, and positioned himself as if he were getting ready to pitch a Godlike fast ball in a baseball game. At this point, Effryn knew that whatever God there was had abandoned him, as he felt his body be enveloped by a single hand. And so, with one final plea, Effryn released a barrage of shambled begging to prevent this cosmic toss. ¡°Hold on wait please wait one thing I dislike no hate is falling off of heights and being thrown at a horizontal position is really no differen--¡± Oh...I just pierced the sound barrier, didn¡¯t I? Going from being held tightly like a newborn, to being halfway across the city and still flying, Effryn found himself not being able to hear any sound. From the wind, from the birds, or from his screams. Yet, he could perfectly hear his own mind, calmly accepting the fact that he had been forcefully thrown to be airborne. Perfectly. Man...how peaceful it is to be in the sky! How could I have never known! The soothing wind, the neighboring birds, the mothering son, how could¡­ And from the facade, his true inner mind poured out: SCREW THIS SHIT!!! I DON¡¯T EVEN WANNA KNOW HOW BADLY THIS IS GONNA HURT, YET I CAN ALREADY FEEL MY SCARS!! One with the clouds, he could literally inhale the liquid in the puffy skyline. He had always pictured them to be a sweet water since a child, but the feeling of being waterboarded in the sky was definitely not that feeling. From one torture session to another, a giangantic tree as big as a few skyscrapers came into sight. In its surroundings were groves of gleaming trees and plants, with water pouring from the leaves of the massive tree. And though being in the air was scary, he had to admit: In the moment, it was entirely heart robbing. What a sight¡­ The view was too great, he was even able to forget about the short drowning intermissions. That is, until picture he was having a wet dream over grew rapidly bigger. Like, much bigger. Face to face bigger¡­ Holy--! I think I¡¯m getting too good of a view!? Effryn braced his arms up, hoping they could support the impact of the hit. He hoped, just maybe, that he could knock off the horizontal fall damage off and bypass the enormous amount of pain that would follow such a landing. Remembering a certain event in the game, he knew Destrial didn¡¯t cut back on players receiving damage, so hopefully-- ¡°This better work God damn-¡± ¡°-it!¡± In the next moment, Effryn¡¯s eyes focused on being surrounded by a spectacle of small green and blue lights. Huh? Blue and green fairies surrounded Effryn, to which he guessed there were a dozen at most. They were covered in leaves and plants, but most notably, they were giggling. He looked around, then down at himself, patting his legs and shoulders. ¡°Pain? I don¡¯t feel any. So no pain?¡± He made sure to check his arms, which should have taken the foremost amount of damage. But uncovering his robes, he found no bruises or the such. Actually, he found no sign of any damage to his character. None whatsoever. ¡°W-what¡¯s going on here?¡± he questioned the air. Then, one of the fairies, who must have been special as she had both a blue and green aura, flew right into Effryn¡¯s line of sight. Though, another thing setting her apart from the others was her intensity of laugh. ¡°Bwahahaha!! You sure looked like a dumbass up there! Say, what the hell could you have been possibly trying to accomplish doing something like that?¡± the mixed fairy exclaimed while laughing, her voice extra squeaky than the others. Now that Effryn could get a better view of her, he saw the depth of color beaming from her hair, as separating strands of blue and green riddled her hair. He could see some kind of etchings in her leaf-like wings, but he couldn¡¯t make out what any of it said, as they were incredibly micro. He found it intriguing, as to seeing how cute such a, wai- ¡°The hell?! You¡¯re anything but cute!¡± ¡°In what world am I not cure in! You¡¯re just pussy little dumbass, flying straight into the Great Tree of Eve for suicidal fun!¡± she said as her rebuttal, even adding a short-handed, or in this case, short pinky-kick to his nose. ¡°And you¡¯re just a bitch!¡± Effryn added. ¡°Oooo, the pussy boy can mimic an adult. How fun!¡± the bitch said, to which the others burst out in laughter. ¡°You shoulda seen the way you pathetically splat all over the tree! You sure painted it a nice red!¡± ¡°Huh? I...died?¡± The bitch looked up surprised. ¡°What? Did you think you¡¯d survive something like that? You had to have been going faster than a lightning mage maxed out on speed buffs.¡° ¡°Yeah,¡± a fairy on the blue side added, ¡°and you shouldn¡¯t need to thank us.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯d rather keep on living without knowing you even mentioned us.¡± a fairy on the green side added. That caused every fairy to cry out in laughter. But the bitches laugh stood out more than ever, as hers grew more obnoxious by the second. ¡°Bwah! We shouldn¡¯t have to waste time reviving you! C¡¯mon girls, let¡¯s go find more jokers like him!¡± ¡°Yay!¡± they all shouted in unison. The mixed, err, bitch flew away ahead of the pact, still laughing in her stupid laugh. Effryn could still hear her annoying voice even after she made some distance between them. ¡°-to think he could save himself by putting his hands up, like ¡®man, I sure am glad my hands are here! Let me just hold them so I can be protected.¡¯ Like, who the hell does he think he is?!¡± she giggled, and other fairies followed suit. He glared at the bitch, cursing her under his breath. And for a moment, before reaching completely out of sight, she slightly twisted her head in Effryn¡¯s direction, curling a witch-like smirk. It was hard to see, but it was just enough for him to make out. But it was only for a moment, as they were soon enveloped by the branches of their home. ¡°Sheesh...what a load of assholes.¡± he muttered to himself, hoping he never had to see them or similar people again. ¡°Effryn?¡± An all to heart-stabbing voice shouted through the trees. Turning his body, he saw through a sliver of leaves and glowing purple venus flytrap-like plants a tiny, loli elven girl. ¡°O-oh, hey. I, uh, made it here, Nei.¡± Effryn stammered, trying to keep his blushing face hidden. ¡°So let me get this straight. Towu threw you, you soared through the skies, splattered on the great tree, and was revived, only to be verbally assaulted by the healers usually looking after dying players?¡± Nei clicked her tongue. ¡°Pretty much¡­¡± She lowered her head and sighed. ¡°You can cause so much trouble in such a little amount of time, you know?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my fault! It¡¯s the programmers fault for making their AI¡¯s assholes!¡± Effryn dug a shot at the game makers, like every other livid player would be. Effrryn expected Nei to shoot back at his point with a ¡®oh yeah, well you go make your own games then! See how you like it!¡¯ kinda point most people who meat ride a game say, defending their most precious title. But it was anything but that. Her reaction was a more surprising one, as if she were genuinely stunned by a concussion. ¡°Um, you do know¡­¡± Nei¡¯s words trailed off. ¡°Know what?¡± As if she confirmed her suspicions, she again sighed, though with a more disappointed tone. ¡°You do know that there is not a single Npc in this world, right?¡± ¡°No Npc¡­? I mean yeah, apart from the shopkeepers and those medic assholes, this would make a perfectly free world from computer players.¡± Effryn felt like he slowly grasped the meaning of Nei¡¯s words. But by the look of her face, he felt he was way off. ¡°Wrong. I mean as in this world is a completely player based game. There are no computers dishing out the gear, only us people.¡± It took Effryn several seconds to fully comprehend her, but once he figured it out, his mouth gaped. ¡°S-so wait, someone actually wants to sit around and wait at a store all day, selling virtual items to players for online currency, when in fact they could be doing everything they are now, but for actual profit in real life?¡± ¡°Precisely, though a bit too judgemental.¡± Effryn was absolutely stunned. How could a world with only people who have more power and less consequences for their actions, successfully maintain this degree of peace? The short explosive mage slumped to the long grass, and felt it¡¯s silky edges brushing against his back as he lay. The sun began to fade. Or was it now coming out? He couldn¡¯t tell, or know exactly how much time had passed since was turned into a condiment for a tree. Nei moved to Effryn, leaning against a tree close to his head. He focused his gaze on the peering great tree, watching as it blanketed the ground from light. ¡°Hold up, so even those assholes¡­¡± Effryn exclaimed suddenly, thinking about those fairies plus bitch. ¡°Yep. Those ladies were real people too. Every single one of them.¡± ¡°Every single one of them is a bitch.¡± ¡°Rude.¡± A breezing wind pass passed the air with a polluting scent of fragrance. Fond of the tree like fragrance, Effryn sniffed to his heart¡¯s content. After sniffing for some time, he eventually found the source direction of the smell, and so, he followed the smell like a dog¡­ ¡°--!¡± Weird. I didn¡¯t expect the smell to be this close. Apparently, the source had been near him, as his nose found the direct spot of the smell. His notion used purely his nose to find the source, so he couldn¡¯t tell exactly what the smell was. He lightly pressed his smellers against the surprisingly soft texture of the smell, and grazingly breathed on and off, until- ¡°H-hey?! W-w-w-what are you¡­? I-If you don¡¯t stop I¡¯ll¡­¡± A clean crack rustled the local life as birds flew away. ¡°I¡¯m really, really sorry.¡± Effryn repeated over and over, as he lay prostrated on the ground. ¡°N-no, I think I should be the one apologizing!¡± Though his focus was on the dirt below him, he could tell Nei was flustered by her fluttering. ¡°No, it¡¯s my fault for being naive with my nose.¡± Effryn reinstated. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I should have killed you!¡± Nei pressed on. ¡°I fully deserve what happened. The thought never crossed my mind that you were the source of the smell, even if logic dictates that being the most likely possibility.¡± Effryn looked up, locking eyes with the fidgeting Nei. This was the first he¡¯d ever seen her like this, though¡­ Not too long ago, I discovered a completely new part of her as well. Or would that be considered her feelings? ¡°P-please, let me say sorry! I mean, not only did I instantly break your spinal cord, followed by having to kill you to end your suffering, but you also had to deal with those mean fairies again.¡± she bent over in a formally apologizing manner, while placing a hand over her heart. ¡°And to be honest...I kinda enjoyed your light breathing.¡± ¡°W-wha-?¡± Now Effryn was starting to stammer. ¡°I-If you enjoyed it so much, then why¡¯d you split my back?!¡± The more Effryn grew shaky, the more Nei became complacent. ¡°Heh, yeah I¡¯m genuinely sorry about that! But you know,¡± Nei¡¯s tone completely changed from before, growing more confident and to the best of her ability, more womanly. ¡°girls have a natural reflex when a guy they like starts touching their soft spot??¡± Effryn had no response to give, and merely watched as Nei slowly crept onto his lap. She moved her back against his body, and gently placed her head on his shoulders. ¡°You know, if you really wanted to touch my thighs, then you should have just said so.¡± Effryn thought she probably wanted him to grasp her with his arms, and tightly hold her in a hugging position. But all he could do was simply sit idly while she sit in his lap. Even if Effryn was pretty short, he didn¡¯t compare to how small Nei was, so oddly enough, she fit comfortably in his lap. ¡°N-Nei I-¡± ¡°Shh.¡± Nei interrupted him, putting her finger over his lips. ¡°Let me enjoy this moment just a little bit longer, ¡®kay?¡± Not knowing what to do, his inner mind fought over itself on what to do. Do I stop this? Do I do nothing? Do I edge her on? Is this right...Scratch that, nothing¡¯s exactly wrong or right about this. If she enjoys this, then what¡¯s the problem? I should just keep this up, for her¡­ Another breeze of wind skipped by, causing strands of her hair to fly in Effryns face. It lightly tickled his face, and the smell of newly grown tree was better than before. A thought appeared in his mind, poking at the idea of actually holding onto her. Before thinking properly, he felt his hands slowly gravitate upwards in a holding position, but¡­ Nei would enjoy this, but would I? I mean, Evvryn¡­ ¡°Please, don¡¯t stress yourself to death.¡± Nei broke his wrecking mind with a soft yet pitched whisper. ¡°Just enjoy the moment for what it is, without the silly regrets.¡± ¡°I-I really want to, but I¡­¡± ¡°But you aren¡¯t ready to move on. I get it, really. Though if I must say, you should really decide on what to do next with your life, not waste it in a time that you can¡¯t change.¡± Effryn had no response to that, but not by choice. Tears started to streamline from his cheeks, and he felt the weight in his arms increase. The heavy burden grew, enough so that he couldn¡¯t support keeping his arms steady. ¡°Gosh, you really are a baby.¡± she said in a motherly tone, grabbing hold of his falling hands and tightly gripping them. ¡°Effryn, I want you to know: I like you. I support you in everything you do, no matter the stupidity. From the moment I first saw you in that lobby, I could tell you were going to be a pain in the ass competition, but to think you would win by using a glitch, now that was cheating, yet admirable.¡± ¡°H-how am I supposed to-¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not done silly.¡± she planted her head more firmly in his shoulders, giggling away while his tears fell on her forehead. ¡°And the way you would puppy around with Evvryn made me so jealous. Your chemistry with her, and the interactions you two had sounded like a blast.¡± Her grip became tighter as she moved their joined hands to her cheek. ¡°For a time, I really envied her.¡± Those words. Those words hit him the hardest. He couldn¡¯t help but cry for her by how she felt. But those tears must have sparked something inside him. ¡°Don¡¯t say that! Sure, she had her own unique quirks and attributes, but you have your own as well!¡± ¡°Please, you shouldn¡¯t spout such ear candy towards me. I¡¯m aware of your feelings towards Evvryn already. I have no place on your roster for such feelings, so please, the more you try to ease everything, the more it hurts knowing I can¡¯t compare to her.¡± Effryn couldn¡¯t help but tightened his own grip, and move closer to her teary face. ¡°Nei, you¡¯re an amazing girl who''s incredibly smart and talented in your own way. I¡¯m sorry for making you feel this way towards me, even after you pour your feelings. But just know, I¡¯m thankful for you, and that I just need a little more time to accept and process your feelings.¡± Effryn moved his gaze down at the Nei, who moved gaze towards his. At first, her teary eyes branded that of a desert with small glands of water glistening in a lost oasis. But after a moment, a small giggle averted her sight. ¡°This whole feelings and crap thing sucks. You don¡¯t know how happy I was to see you here, and now we¡¯re finally openly talking.¡± Effryn gave up on all resistance. He was now the only thing keeping him and her tightened together. ¡°Fine! I can wait for you to give me an answer later on how you feel about me, but you better not keep me waiting forever!¡± Nei said, wiping away each person''s tears from her cheek. ¡°Heh, I promise.¡± ¡°Do you swear?¡± ¡°I swear on the great mother tree.¡± Effryn jokingly came up with the first thing that came to mind. ¡°Ooh, now that¡¯s the greatest form of promise for elves, so you better be prepared to keep up your end!¡± ¡°I swear.¡± Laughing, Nei placed her hand on his shoulder, while resting her body on his. ¡°We can stay like this a little longer, just before Towu arrives at least.¡± Effryn hummed in agreement as he felt the comforting warmth of Nei and her body soothing with his own. They both didn¡¯t know exactly how long before Towu arrived, but they knew they could enjoy this glistening moment for just a little longer. Turns out quietly resting on someone for thirty minutes could be really awkward. Sure, it felt nice at first. But after a while of hearing each others soft breaths, they couldn¡¯t help but duck their heads into one another out of embarrassment. Lucky for them, Towu appeared before them, along with the fairies, who were unsurprisingly quiet towards him. The two, who quickly picked themselves up after he appeared, figured he must have died somehow, but decided to brush it off. Though, Effryn had a feeling it was something to do with his wanted level. ¡°SO WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN DOING?¡± Towu said at a perfectly normal tone for him. ¡°U-us? Nothing!¡± ¡°What he said! We were just patiently waiting here for thirty minutes, watching as a full ingame day and night cycle passed.¡± The two blushed as they explained themselves, hoping they could move on from earlier. ¡°WHATEVER IT WAS, IT¡¯S NOT IMPORTANT. BUT JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW, I WAS CHASED OUT OF THE CITY, WITH SOOO MANY POLICE AND BOUNTY HUNTERS BEHIND ME. I DESTROYED AND KILLED A LOT OF THINGS ON MY WAY HERE, ALONG WITH TAKING DOWN A GOVERNMENT BUILDING! OH YEAH, THEN THE ELITE SKY WATCHERS CAME FLYING IN¡­¡± As Towu continued on in his story, Effryn noticed Nei trying to get his attention. He glanced at her, and she stuck out her tongue and smiled, whispering: ¡°I can wait, but you better not keep a girl waiting for long!¡± ¡°...THAT WAS WHEN TWO ICY GUYS RIDING ON THE BACKS OF HOLY KNIGHTS ARRIVED AND TRIED TO SLOW ME DOWN! LUCKILY, I FOCUSED ALL MY SKILLS ON THE WIND SPEED, SO NOTHING CAN STOP ME! THEN AFTER THEY FAILED, I¡­¡± After what felt like lifetimes of listening to Towu and his journey to the great tree, he and Nei took Effryn out on what they called a ¡®Noob course.¡¯ Towu hyped it up to epic quest filled with dungeons and demon lords, but all they really died was exploring the city. They saw the high priest church, the knights final bastion, and the mages ruins. But all in all, they only did one real quest, which was a hunting quest for a rabbit. After much contemplation of killing the poor thing, Towu just crushed it like it were a grain of sand, destroying the hide, which then voided the quest completely. While storming through the city, Effryn counted maybe twelve full game day cycles that passed. ¡°WELL THAT¡¯S EVERYTHING!! ANY MORE QUESTIONS OR DESIRES?!¡± ¡°I think I understand pretty much the basics.¡± The basics of fleeing, killing, the ruining quest. ¡°Heh, I must say, today was rather enjoyable.¡± Nei added, relaxing on a stone bench. Though, with everything they did today, or rather through the span of twelve days, Effryn could confidently say he had enjoyed himself. So much so he couldn¡¯t help but let strands of tears flow down his cheek. ¡°Thank you guys. You really don¡¯t know how much this means to me.¡± he said, with a croaky and hoarse voice. ¡°No problem dude! That¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡± Nei swayed her hips around, smiling while holding a thumbs up. ¡°WHAT MAKES YOU SAY WE¡¯RE DONE?! WE HAVE ONE MORE PLACE TO GO BEFORE WE CALL IT QUITS!¡± Then as if his energy suddenly reimbursed within him, he quickly stood up, causing the sidewalk and bench Nei was using to crumble instantly. Nei helplessly fell in the rubble, while Effryn tumbled around trying to support himself from falling. He fell anyways. ¡°LET¡¯S GO!!¡± Towu excitedly shouted. So much so, that he swooped up both Effryn and Nei in each of his arms, and began to jump, and destroy, across each building. ¡°Damnit haven¡¯t we had enough!¡± Effryn fell on the wooden floor, feeling it¡¯s splinter embrace with his arms spread out. He¡¯s felt enough pain for today that he considered himself a juggernaut mage. But it wasn¡¯t any ordinary wooden floor, it was where he first reunited with Towu since entering this God forsaken game. ¡°Why here?¡± Effryn asked, knowing Nei had the same question based on her puzzled expression. ¡°I FIGURED IT WAS PERFECT PLACE TO LOG OFF SINCE THIS WAS WHERE WE BEGAN OUR ADVENTURE. PLUS A PARADE¡¯S GOING TO START HERE SOON, SO I FIGURED WE SHOULD WATCH TOGETHER BEFORE LOGGING OFF FOR THE NIGHT!¡± ¡°Wow. That¡¯s actually...a valid idea.¡± Nei said bewildered, not knowing Towu was capable of going to timed events. ¡°How¡¯d you know such an event would occur?¡± ¡°OH, I FORGOT TO SAY! WHEN ONE OF THE GUARDS CAUGHT ME, HE TOLD ME STUFF LIKE ¡®you better not cause any trouble when the knight leaders showcase their strength,¡± Towu said, impersonating the poor officers voice like some kind of squeaker on xbox. ¡°AND STUFF!¡± Nei sighed, clearly disappointed. ¡°Of course that¡¯s how you found out. Maybe if you weren¡¯t wrecking the city by your lonesome, then you could properly gain information on such events.¡± ¡°So when does it start?¡± ¡°SHOULD BE ANY SECOND NOW!¡± ¡°Oh nice. Huh, second?!¡± Nei and Effryn glared with lost eyes as men in shiny armour filled the streets. Apparently, the parade was starting now. The three exited the guild-like hall, and joined the many others watching. Players of many different races and classes came, as were the same with the knights on the parade. They showed off different groups of classes, such as tanks, semi combat mages, or regular swords-men. Then there were different arch-types, like scholars and scouts, each having their own time on their floating magic powered rock. ¡°HERE HE COMES!¡± Towu ruptured the eardrums of the people nearby. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll recognize him if you see him.¡± Nei answered his question quickly while observing the display. ¡°He was someone we played since the competition. You know, the knight.¡± ¡°The Knight¡­¡± Effryn brainstormed in his head for a moment, thinking back to that game. -And once he did, a powerful emotion flowed into his body. ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± Effryn muttered, trying his best to keep himself calm in front of Nei. But it seemed she sensed something wrong. ¡°Effryn? Is there something wrong?¡¯ He heard her words, but his brain couldn¡¯t afford to respond. It was purely on seeing this knight, and to see if he really was the same guy from the game. Because if so¡­ I¡¯m gonna kill that son of a bitch for what he did to Evvryn. With his mind beating on getting a look at the bastard, he lost touch with his surroundings. That was, until he felt a warm grasp tightly gripped his hand. ¡°Somethings wrong, isn¡¯t it?¡± It was Nei, who¡¯s soft touch and calming voice slowly cracked free Effryn¡¯s mind. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re quite livid about something, so please, tell me why.¡± She raised their joined hands. ¡°I can tell cause your grip is tighter than it''s ever been.¡± The life of the parade started to boom with louding cheering and shouts. The most sought after part must be starting soon. ¡°Nei. I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not who you think I am.¡± Effryn whispered, not knowing to himself or to her. ¡°Huh?¡± Her eyes flittered, wondering what he meant. And through the excitement of the crowd, Effryn lowered his gaze. His whisper nearly meshing with the people, yet Nei could understand him as if it were just them: ¡°Because I don¡¯t deserve to be on a pedestal like you think.¡± ¡°What¡­?¡± Nei stared at him, but he couldn¡¯t respond. Not with his mind focusing so intensely on the streets. If it is him. If it¡¯s not him. Hurry up with this bullshit. Without realizing it, his hand were draining the life out of Nei¡¯s fingers. She watched as he readied his note log, and saw the expression of pure hatred seething from his face. She felt her fingers being crushed, even recoiling from the pain. But through it all, she remained silent. For his sake. ¡°He¡¯s coming!¡± ¡°Finally!¡± ¡°Ooh, where?! Where?!¡± Suddenly from all around, shouts of curiosity rose. People began to push and cram, while the bigger varieties physically knocked others back at least ten feet away. ¡°There he is! The Holy Saber; the protector of our city from other players and bandits!¡± And it was with that shout, with an incoming carriage of high class decorations. It must have been forged straight from Holy steel, with small but detailed strokes of glistening paint outlining a golden ivy cross. And riding on top, was with no doubt in his mind, the same person he had fought in the tournament. He wore the same armour, looked like the same class, and was identical to the same charging knight he fought that day. Anger boiled in Effryn¡¯s brain as it formulated every possible way to go about killing that smug smile he wore while waving at the people who adored him. I¡¯ll strangle him/I¡¯ll drown him/I¡¯ll cut out his lungs/I¡¯ll make him choke on his own eyes/I¡¯ll make his loved ones watch as they all sit in a room together and watch as they each slowly die/I¡¯ll-- His mind continued with endless ideas. He felt his contours of his imagination breaking away at that very moment, with impulses wanting him to drop everything and go kill the bastard. Calm down. Even if I do a thing now, he¡¯ll just respawn like nothing happened. So if I want to get him, I need to get him in real life. But the hardest part was how. It¡¯s not like a person''s address was next to their level or stats. The bastard knight merely waved for his display, until he vanished amongst the waves of people. Effryn thought it was nowhere near the hype that people led up to be, but everybody else seemed to have different opinions. He must have been the last exhibit being that players were filling the streets after he left. Life in the streets, though chaotic, was slowly returning back to its market place. ¡°WELL, THERE YOU GO! THE WHOLE TOUR! HOW¡¯D YOU ENJOY IT?!¡± Effryn scratched back into reality from Towu, and saw him observe the incoming stalls of ¡®magic candy.¡¯ ¡°Psst.¡± Nei whistled, ¡°are you feeling any better now?¡± She broke a forced smile, tightening her grip and reminding Effryn he¡¯d been holding her hand hostage to oxygen. ¡°O-oh, sorry!¡± Effryn let go, resting his hand in his sleeve pocket. ¡°And yeah, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Fine once I put that bastard thousands of feet below hell. She looked as if she had something on her mind, but she let go. Instead, she reinforced her facade of a smile to look a little more realistic. ¡°WELL, WE SHOULD GO TO BED! NEI¡¯S GOT WORK TOMORROW, AND I¡¯VE GOT SCHOOL, SO NIGHT!¡± ¡°Night.¡± Effryn said with hardly any emotion behind him. For a final time, Nei looked as if she were about to burst open, with her tongue leading the charge. But like the other two, she kept them in. ¡°Nei.¡± She jumped at the sound of hearing her name called by him, and turned her head the other way, whimpering a soft ¡°What?¡± ¡°I keep my promises. Trust me in that. But know, there is a whole lot more to me than you might realize.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s a whole lot more to me than you might realize too Effryn. ??¡± She seemed satisfied with her response, turning her head to face him and poking out her tongue. She even added a little twirl, making her leaf skirt do wonders in the air. ¡°See ya!¡± She alloted her menu, finding the right UI, and teleported away. Towu had been in the same process too, but before he fully left the particles in this world, he gifted Effryn an item. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°HEHE, THE MASTERS GIFT TO HIS STUDENT!¡± Towu laughed like a maniacal sensei, who also had an overly loud laugh. ¡°Yep. Thanks teach.¡± From his laughing jolly expression, Towu instantly changed. His lips formed a different grin, with a gaze more heavy than usual. ¡°AND ENJOY THAT GIFT I GAVE YOU! HAVE FUN!!¡± ¡°W-wait, what? Tow--¡± And before he could finish, Towu vanished just like Nei, leaving Effryn all alone in the cheering streets of a crowded district market. What¡¯d he give me? Effryn thought, loading up his menu and looking at his weapons. Apart from his beginners common staff, there was a weapon with a color rarity he never seen before, a pure black. He hovered over the item, but saw no rarity was even listed for the weapon. It was a dagger, but looked almost normal naked compared to other weapons. There was a description, which was strange being as only special items had, like certain quest rewards. It read: Any persons struck by this dagger will cause one point of damage to them, while also receiving their ISP information and giving you that players current address. Note that this weapon ignores blockers, even that such as TOR. Have fun! ¡°What the hell did he give me?¡± ¡°So he wishes to toy with you as well now, does he? This¡¯ll be quite interesting.¡± ¡°Who the hell asked you. Shut up, what would I even do with a weapon like thi-¡± Brushing off the ghost, a single thought occurred within his mind. His lips moved into a smile without him knowing. ¡°So what this weapon¡¯s telling me is¡­¡± Sounding pleased, the ghost added its grimace, ¡°So now your plans are forming with such a weapon. Oh, how such a noble boy hath fallen.¡± The ghost chuckled in the atmosphere, as Effryn equip the weapon, placing it in the holster that kept his staff. ¡°Now then,¡± he faced down the path of parade, and his eyes narrowed like a sinister crow looking for their prey, watching as the herd of crowds followed in suit of cheap entertainment. ¡°It¡¯s time I hunt you down. For Evvryn.¡± 4. Hunt The stench of alcohol poured in Effryn¡¯s nostrils as pushed his way through crowds of drunkards and partying animals. For some reason, everybody decided it was a good idea to have an after party of the parade in the streets right where it ended. What scum. Effryn thought as he watched the people get pissy drunk in a video game. ¡°I¡¯m intrigued on whether or not drinking actually affects you here as in the basic reality.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know, and I sure as hell don¡¯t care. I only need to know one thing right now.¡± ¡°And that is¡­?¡± Effryn fell silent. He knew the ghost was mocking him for completely changing and forgoing his ideals. So he cursed it under his breath, and searched for that knight in the midst of the party. ¡°Hey girl, if you live anywhere near my, I could rent us a cheap motel room for the night.¡± ¡°Hehe, sure! We can do something like that¡­¡± He heard conversations after conversations of ¡®going somewhere private¡¯ practically everywhere he went. Frankly, it started to piss him off on how everyone could be so lustful in a game like this, when they could just go to a bar and do the same thing. Damnit. I better find him soon or I¡¯ll be stabbing myself to leave this God forsaken place. As he kept moving, he noticed smoke arising in the distance. From what he remembered, a smaller park was over there. It was his only clue on finding him, even if they continued in the straight path from before. ¡°Listen everybody! The knights are going to have an announcement coming up soon, so while we wait for that, we have a few bards wanting to perform for us.¡± a tall elf lady exclaimed while sipping away at a leaf. ¡°And please...get smashing drunk!¡± The crowd cheered her, enough so that she raised her arms and did a super jump into the people. Unluckily for her, everybody had the reaction speed of a dead snail, so she landed flat on the ground, splattering her face, along with clear blood all over the floor. People stared blankly at the incident, only to raise their glasses and shout ¡°to the dead girl!¡± and drink. The stench of booze only grew. Walking past that event, Effryn could hear the sound of distant music playing like those in medieval games, like in Elder Scrolls. Based on what he heard from the drunk girl, the knight he was searching for was in that direction, so he followed the sound of the band. ¡°A-aw, sorry!¡± Effryn stammered out in a hurry. ¡°Watch where the hell yer¡¯re going!¡± Brushing off the greasy mess of whoever passed him, Effryn sighed at the thought of how much further he had to go, and how many times he had to get bumped into. This is the fifth time now that I have to smell the reek of another man. The crowd was getting more compact, and with tighter space meant something had to be going on. He was sure of it. ¡°Listen you fuckers,¡± a high energied pitch boomed from across a great mass of players, and from an elevated balcony of a pure white church, there stood the knight. He was surrounded by beautiful elves, different from what Nei was as they were covered in white aesthetic instead of green. Maybe snow elves? Effryn thought. The crowd quickly applauded in excitement, before shutting up to let the knight speak. He continued. ¡°Tonight, we celebrate the liberation of the estern player board Tonijii, and how much of a long and bastardly battle the men here had while fighting for it. By no means, was it easy, but we knew fate was by our side the whole time, for we are the preachers of a new God!¡± the knight rambled. I wonder¡­ Effryn had a spirling thought that made him smirk. He pulled the hood from his robe over his head to mask himself within the shroud of darkness covering the people, as the moon became the only light source available. He disappeared amongst the people, and was forced to listen to the speech as he crept closer to his prey. ¡°Once we took over, we instilled our teachings onto them, we gave them advancements in places they were lacking! And now, after months of fighting this long war of battles and political fuckyness, we can finally declare that TONIJII IS APART OF GODS KIN!!¡± the knight put everything in his words, even adding a bonus of unsheathing his long sword and rising it. The Crowd ate it up, even raising their staff or swords, daggers and shields; everything they had, they raised it with adrenaline. ¡°AND TONIGHT, WE DRINK TILL GOD IS PLEASED!!!¡± the knight put everything and 200% in his lungs. In unison, the crowd put 300% in their response: ¡°¡°YEAH!!!!¡±¡± *** From above, the satisfied knight tasted his own teeth in glee as the people clashed their drinks at his speech. Behind him, his snow elves cheered him on. ¡°You¡¯re such a wonderful man!¡± and the other one, ¡°Maybe later tonight we could find a more private place to drink¡­¡± The first snow elf angrily pouted at the second snow elf, then to him. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t sleep with her when you have me, right?¡± The second elf rested her arms under her shoulders, smirking at the clearly angry elf. ¡°And why would he want you? You have smaller boobs than I do, and as I¡¯m the oldest, I have the most experience.¡± And with that, she motioned her hands over her breast, squeezing them with a teasing sensation. ¡°T-that¡¯s not fair! And just because you have moon-sized tits doesn¡¯t mean you can pleasure him better than I can! I¡¯m sure I can relieve him faster than you!¡± ¡°I really doubt that.¡± the second elf confidently said, still showcasing her only prized attribute. ¡°Watch me!¡± the first elf shouted. The knight turned around to face the girls. He could clearly see the electricity vibrate between them as they stared each other down. He played it off cooly, and raised his hand to diffuse them. ¡°Please ladies, if you really want me, we can take turns tonight while getting to enjoy each other, so please don¡¯t fight.¡± But in truth, he was ecstatic that tonight, he could pull off a threesome. ¡°As long as I get to feel you tonight, I¡¯m fine with anything!¡± the first elf jumped happily. The second elf put her hand over her head. ¡°If I must, I¡¯ll sleep with this girl if it means I can have you too.¡± She covered her blush, as she knew that she had lost the battle in having him all to herself for the night. ¡°Right! Let¡¯s get to it!!¡± Both looking at the first elf, the second turned bright red from her heavy background of white, while the knight hid his lustful expression under his helmet at the sight of her topless. ¡°Now then¡­¡± the first elf bent down to her knees, and slowly crept towards him in a seductive way, with her hips and shoulders swaying from side to side, and her lips plastering a sexy appeal. ¡°...what should we start with firs-¡± ¡°Hey! Who the hell--get back here!¡± the knight recognized the voice, which had been one of his guards since returning from the war. He¡¯d been stationed to protect him and his party, and to keep people from entering the church. So the only reason for him to be yelling was if¡­ As his mind was churning in thought, a figured appeared in a teal cloak from the inner castle, clearly standing apart from the pure white interior. He was already up the stairs, and before he knew it, already on the balcony, thrusting at him with a measly dagger. The first elf screamed while covering her top from the sudden intruder, while the second had been too shocked by the sudden intruder to do anything at the moment. He reached for his sword while ignoring his shield knowing that a dagger would only do poor-if any-damage to him. He placed a good grip on his sword, and readied himself for a quick slash, but before he could¡­ ¡°Flashbang.¡± the intruder muttered, raising his palm to his face and emitting a bright flash. Another moment later, he felt a tiny prick into his abdomen. He fell on one knee while holding covering both of his eyes. They stung with a burning fury of hell so bright that he was sure he could feel as if his real eyes had actually been burned. A liquid brushed poured down between his fingers, but he wasn¡¯t sure exactly what kind of liquid had been coming from his eyes-Tears or blood. He shouted in pain while swinging his sword at random in front of him. ¡°Son of a fuck!!¡± He swung with such strength that he felt the air itself becoming a slave to his force, yet, it had been only air. He had missed the intruder. Knowing the intruder was on the run, he used his sword as a support and picked himself up. He nearly fell over a couple times, but was able to regain his balance before doing so. He leaned against the railings with his eyes still covered, and shouted with all the anger that had begun to fester for the intruder: ¡°Listen the fuck everybody!!¡± he shouted, to which the people were caught off guard. ¡°There¡¯s an explosive mage running, and the first one to kill him gets thirty gems on me!¡± The drunkards looked at each other, wondering the same question of who the hell is playing that class? But of course, he still couldn¡¯t see, so he had no idea where the intruder was going, leaving it up to the hands of his followers. And with that, he heard the flow of rapid footsteps, followed by a momentous leap that caused the air to exert. It was his second snow elf, who had snapped out of her daze and was now on the attack. ¡°Cursing frostbite!¡± he heard her cast spell arrows from her bow. They glazed through from her string, leaving behind a frozen effect in both the bow and the air it touched. He heard the attack land, but figured it missed when he heard her Tsk! An explosive mage, he thought about it, wondering who would play such an underpowered class. Not only was it limited to a few spells before being completely drained, but it also had such a skill requiring ultimate that had nothing to show for. He hadn¡¯t even met someone using the class before, except when¡­ ¡°Well, call me damned...so it¡¯s you.¡± he laughed under his breath, with a sense of joy overcoming his pain. A smile formed from under his helmet, as he remembered the sweet touch, and fear, of the kids girlfriend, or whoever she was to him. ¡°I¡¯m seriously gonna fuck you up!¡± *** Effryn leaped from head to head, from mage to knight to archer with every ounce of fiber in his body. His mind only repeating the same line over. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. Seriously, shit! After easily slipping past the drunk guards, he made his way upstairs, where unfortunately, there had been one knight too dedicated to their job. So, he had to rush his attack, and break for the roof, where he found the bastard knight. There, he slipped past two white elves, which one had been thankfully nude to give him time to push for his successful strike. But, one thing had been overlooked during this entire phase¡­ Screw that noise! Effryn thought as he ducked behind an unaware knight for cover from a multitude of frost arrows. He felt the icy chill corrupt the man''s body, along with the sudden twitching of his chest and arms slowly succumbing to the frostbite. They didn¡¯t say anything about a five minute timer in the description! The running explosive mage dreadfully stared at the message on his screen, reading: Obtaining information¡­[?/?] Remaining- 4 minutes and thirty five seconds. The timer continues counting down. But what of the timer? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just reset and die, giving him a chance to relax for five minutes? Well the thought did cross his mind after reading the message. But, his hopes were crushed when the second message appeared¡­ Warning¡­!/? If player is killed, or has logged out before process of information finishes, the effects[???] of said weapon will not be granted, and the player will receive no bonuses from weapon. Scanning over the message repeatedly, Effryn¡¯s only response was shit in his head. He glanced back to not only see the earlier white elf whose top was still on firing frost arrows at him, but now hordes of players were on his tail, each shooting or wielding their own weapon. And soon enough, fireballs, electric arrows, even swords were being tossed around as if they were fired from a bow, and all sorts of items were lunged at him in hopes of killing him. Though for whatever reason, it seemed as if his luck was exponentially greater today. That, or the ghost had blessed him personally with the touch of God. If I keep this up I can outrun the entire server! he hoped, feeding off the gift of everyone being drunk to their core from partying. Though I could really do without this one¡­ Behind him, the main one worrying him was that white elf. Sure, his luck was high, but for how long with her? And he could run through crowds for so long until people further ahead got the memo. He needed to think of something else. And fast. ¡°Come here backstabber!! You¡¯ll pay for what you did to our captain!¡± the white elf screamed as she leaped into the air, firing off multiple icicle shots. With fear contorting in his brows, Effryn made a quick judgement to plunge directly right, landing him in an open middle ground of the streets. He looked down at himself to make sure everything was still intact and warm, and gave the mental all clear. He looked back, keeping in mind that if he dodged the attack, someone was bound to get hit. But with a new bound fear, Effryn knew now that whatever she threw at him was nothing like the icicle she shot when they first met. No, he thought, gazing at a single shrew of ice that pierced through multiple targets without so much as a crack. Blood poured from the poor bystanders, yet, what scared Effryn the most was the fact that the icicle had not a single speck of the stuff. It¡¯s shot was so clean and thorough that it was as if the thing completely skipped it. This is one shot material. ¡°Argh!!¡± Waking him from his daze, Effryn saw a short adventurer swinging his sword from an upward strike. He tried rolling right to dedge, but found himself stuck at the edge of the party. They weren¡¯t paying any mind to him, but they were still in his way. The only thing left to do was¡­ Damnit, I hate using this magic when it takes nearly all my mana, but if I have to, I will!! Supporting himself with his right elbow, Effryn raised his left arm, opening his palm to ready the explosive. All he needed to say were the final words, and¡­ ¡°Like hell you do! He¡¯s mine!¡± An older woman dressed in housekeeping clothing shouted as she stabbed the adventurer in the back with a fork like sword. ¡°I need that bounty, so piss off!¡± ¡°D-damn you¡­¡± the adventurer squealed in agony as he gripped his side to cover the wound. Blood filled his mouth as he cursed her again, before he fell lifeless on the ground before Effryn. ¡°Now then little piggy, let¡¯s get this done with so I can finally get some better gear!¡± a sick enjoyment flickered in her eyes as she pulled out her fork sword. ¡°Now di-¡± Splsh! A small hole appeared where the nose should have been from the girl who had been standing over Effryn. A newfound set of filthy red had been sprayed all over him, bathing him in her blood. The light in her iris died as she fell to the ground. ¡°Whew! Man, water magic is so underrated!¡± he heard someone yell in the distance. Effryn couldn¡¯t help but stare at the messed up visual in front of him and think how is this water? ¡°If you dare touch him, you¡¯re gonna end up just like that bitch!¡± another voice popped up. ¡°Oh yeah, test me then!!¡± Hearing the birth of a new battle between water and the undead, Effryn wiped the blood from his eyes and darted towards a narrow alley way out from the streets. ¡°He¡¯s getting away!¡± a different voice exclaimed, causing the focus of the fighting to momentarily stop, before picking up right where it left off. Watching the scene of the players, the white elf muttered a curse as she watched them fight amongst themselves. How annoying. She leaped onto a rooftop of a building complex in hopes of getting the high ground on the boy. Reaching out her fingers, she brushed her nails against the rough frost string fitted on her bow, as her mind raced with killing that boy. If I kill him, will you love me? She thought, reminiscing back to the captain and everything they''ve been through so far. No matter what I do for you, you always seem to have your eyes on Natalie. Anger filled her expression, but it was quickly swallowed out with excitement, for the thought of being the one to kill him had the chance of bringing the captain joy, and if she were the one to do it¡­ Then he is sure to love me back! Beaming with joy, the snow elf leapt from rooftop to rooftop, positive that if she killed the traitor boy, then the captain would have no choice but to love her! Now this is a place I never thought I¡¯d be returning to. Not one I really wanted to, either. Effryn felt his sides get heavy after running for some time between shops and houses before finding a small cave-like entrance to the sewers. He remembered finding something like this before when he played this before with Evvryn, so he had a good idea where it led to. He gripped the wheel that opened the gates to the sewers, and began to slowly turn it. He had gotten a pretty safe distance from other players, so there was time to spend on securing a safe spot. Glancing at the time, it read: Remaining- Two minutes and thirteen seconds. Great! Now I can just wait here until I get the information, log out, and finally- A chill ran down his spine as he heard a distant rooftop support a landing. He quickly looked to see who it was, and as horror filled his thoughts, he could see glee fill hers. ¡°Finally. I found you.¡± her words left an icy presence as she lifted her bow, taking aim at Effryn. Tiny spikes of ice began to magical form from thin air on the string, and she happily pulled back it back. ¡°Now die.¡± Shit shit shit shit shit!!! His mind exploded with the same line hoping, praying, that the sewer gate would open just enough for him to slide through. His eyes filled with hope once a crack big enough for him to slide through opened, but they slowly died out once the sound of string echoed through the night. Thinking purely on instinct, Effryn stood on his left foot, and twisted his body to face the speed demon of icicles. He raised his right hand up, opening his palm towards the white elf, and muttered his last chance of surviving. ¡°Explosion!¡± A light crackled from his hand as sparks flitted through the air. He hesitated a second, not knowing what exactly happened, but instantly snapped out of it as he dropped to the ground to crawl through the small space. Not being dead from tiny ice, he figured his on the spur solution was able to prevent such a fate. Though, it took a lot out of him, and it probably gave his position away to other players. But he couldn¡¯t really complain. It was his last option. I doubt that smoke will last a long time¡­ Effryn figured as he ran down a slanted rocky path. The walls enclosed with each step he took, and the lighting grew worse with each passing second. But he knew, after a little bit more, he would reach this worlds sewer system. However¡­ ¡°I swear, just STOP running and accept what¡¯s gonna get ya!¡± the white elf screamed with her lungs. A chilly presence filled the cave as a dim white light emitted from behind Effryn. He quickly glanced back at the source, only to see the bow drawing in more magical energy for another attack. His mind raced with fear as its driving force. He knew he could deflect an attack from her arrows, but he only had one more mana in him to do something like it. So, another idea popped in his head. Effryn stretched both of his hands across the walls of the cave, and pushed outwards on the cold rocks. He muttered his next phrase with a slight hesitation based on how the odds looked of surviving something like this, but it was his last valid option, so he figured it was his best option. ¡°Explosion!¡± Spreading out his mana between his body, he was able to manipulate the to flow both ways, causing sparks to fly from a parallel origin where it would usually shoot out. Light filled the dark tunnel as heat radiated from the rocks his fingertips brushed. From the light, Effryn was able to see the white elf, who was charging a shot with a newfound expression of hopeless hope. ¡°I¡¯ll do this for him! Now, just fucking die already--!!¡± Racing to beat the crazed ladies icicle shot, Effryn swung both hands forward, allowing two small cones of explosive energy to burrow in the rocks, and caused the entire roof of the poorly structured caves to rumble and collapse before him. Effryn sprinted further down easily reaching the sewers. He glanced to the timer on his screen, which read: Remaining- forty five seconds. Then he looked back, and with a satisfied smile, he leaped into the air from joy. Eat that bitch! Get cut off by rocks and find another path within forty seconds why don¡¯tcha! As he celebrated, he thought it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get a little further away just for safe measures. Though, he doubted she could hurt him any- And in the next instant, a bright iridescent light shone from behind Effryn. Some were crushed out from toppling rocks, but one was brighter than the others. So bright in fact, that it even stretched through the pile of stone, and rippling straight through Effryns right leg. The timer read: Remaining- thirty one seconds. A sharp, burning burden felt like it had been pounded into his knee, before seconds past, and the pain went entirely away. His leg completely went numb. Effryn tumbled and lost balance, falling right into dirty water. He could tell the water was filthy, but his feeling of sense made every other feeling void. He tried lifting himself up, but found his leg not cooperating. He tried again, but fell right back down. Why the hell can¡¯t I get up? He thought as he glanced back to his knee, only to find the upper half entirely frozen. Small shards of ice crystals glistened while he could only watch in horror. Not only was his leg frozen causing him to feel numb. No, it was the fact that everything below his knee had been cleanly whipped off. ¡°S-s-s-son of a ¡­¡± Surprisingly enough there was hardly any, if a single droplet of blood. It must have been frozen tight to prevent anything from coming out. Though, that didn¡¯t really make Effryn feel better. Remaining- twelve seconds. Giving up on the idea of using his feet to get away, Effryn resorted to the idea of crawling. He moved from shoulder to shoulder through murky sewage water, while his eyes were glued on the timer. Please please please please, just a little bit longer! Behind him, he heard the sound of rocks bursting into smithereens. He didn¡¯t have to look back to know it was that snow elf who went on about pleasing him. Though if he had to guess she was probably talking about that knight bastard, which gave him even more of a reason to survive the time limit. ¡°Finally!¡± she exclaimed with an overly joyful burst, ¡°I finally have you in a mouse trap! Now, go to hell!!¡± She lifted her bow and prepared a series of frost spells, with multiple ice shard arrows flinging to the bow string. Remaining- seven seconds. Effryn rolled to the side, causing water to splash and enter his nose. He gagged, but knew that if he vomited now, everything would have been for nothing, so he swallowed the feeling and forced his freezing stomach back into his throat. Half a dozen icicles nearly skewered him, but he was lucky enough to get by with a few freezing grazes. Effryn hoped that with the remaining time left, she wouldn¡¯t have enough time to pull off any magical attacks before it finished. Though, he didn¡¯t think to equate physical attacks¡­ ¡°I¡¯m so sick of you¡­ Just die already!!¡± her expression changed, now becoming more annoyed with Effryn. Her yells also seemed to match what her face was saying, until that is when she sprint-kicked Effryn in his side. Bfft! Effryn flew in the air, with murky water gliding beside him. His earlier suppressed stomach was now uncontrollably coming from his mouth, but with an added taste of iron red. Remaining- three sec¡­ -!! Busy with trying to get himself under control, Effryn was hit with a fist to the gut. More blood and vomit spewed from his mouth and nostrils. ¡°What the hell do you keep staring off to?! I¡¯m the one¡­¡± she seemed extra pissed as she tossed her bow to the side and repeatedly beat Effryn. ¡°...who you should...be focusing on¡­!¡± Effryn¡¯s mind went crazy with pain as she lay on top of him. He wondered many things, like: It¡¯s cold. It hurts. It¡¯s freezing. It burns. It¡¯s numb. It¡¯s too numb. She keeps hitting the same spot, yet it stopped hurting after the fourth punch. How is she an elf? How much time is left? Is this what dying really feels like? Man it hurts. It really hurts¡­ The boys mind blanked for a moment while the red elf dug deeper into his stomach, fully embraced in her fun. She laughed and giggled, with her eyes completely enlarged as if she had just found her new drug. But through the pain, Effryn was able to see one last message before completely fading away into the void of death. Remaining- Complete! Your data should now be in your inbox, awaiting for you t- Before he could finish reading the message, the elf slammed her fist against his beating heart, killing him instantly. *** ¡°Gwahhhh!¡± Effryn raised to his feet. He scanned his body out of instinct, finding no scars. But the memory of the pain was still there, and it was deeply engraved within him. This game takes aspects too serious for what it¡¯s worth. He thought as he tried calming his shaking body. ¡°You seriously took one hell¡¯ofva beating.¡± he heard a similar, annoyingly high pitched voice speak by his ear. Well in reality, she was actually practically in his ear. ¡°I¡¯m surprised I was even able to revive you. We don¡¯t usually have the option to bring back those injured as bad as you, but the game must have thought otherwise for you.¡± ¡°Where am I?¡± Effryn didn¡¯t recognize his surroundings, but he couldn¡¯t say he was entirely in a new area. Their were trees that had a familiar pattern of branches and etchings that paralleled magical streaks. Above him was purely bark, with no sign of the sun or sky, yet light emitted from somewhere. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The tiny girl, or fairy, who saved him, was the bitch from earlier. Her smile held a smirk that she had no care for covering. ¡°Nice to meetcha again dumbass! Your deep inside the roots of the great tree.¡± ¡°The great tree¡­?¡± Effryn remembered back to the giant tree his face personally kissed right after he splattered all over it. From covering the bark with his blood, he moved on to randomly waking in its bed. ¡°Why here?¡± The fairy¡¯s mood changed, moving into a slightly more annoyed but arrogant girl. ¡°Just know I have zero causes for the decision of reviving you here. This is the healing fairies most precious location after all, so it¡¯s extremely rare to bring an outsider here!¡± ¡°So then why¡­¡± Moving in an instant, the fairy was now resting on his arm. She cut him out before even finishing his question. ¡°Cause if not for us, you¡¯d be getting spawned killed like a boss fighting against maxed out players.¡± ¡°S-spawned killed?¡± Effryn¡¯s head jerked back from the fear of dying, and the amounts of pain brought by it. It was hard enough handling the realistic shock of feeling the feeling from losing a limb or two, but for that to happen over and over again, with the pain still there¡­ ¡°That sounds like utter hell.¡± ¡°Cause it is. Shit like it doesn¡¯t usually happen, but when it does, we recommend players to just log out for good. That, or until the entire thing blows away.¡± her wings lightly fluttered as she began to run laps across his biceps. ¡°Log out, huh? I mean¡­!¡± Remembering what had even caused the reason for spawn killing, Effryn opened up his inbox. There was one new message¡­ ¡°Whoa.¡± Effryn was surprised. So much so, he even unconsciously let out a small gasp. ...in the inbox, which contained tons of personal information about that knight, such as address, phone number, work place, spouse, affiliated clubs, and more. Much, much more. He did it. He had been able to survive the five minutes. So in the end, his efforts and pain were compensated with the address of someone who assisted in killing someone he loved. Evvryn. ¡°Perfect.¡± Effryns lips curling into a terrifying smile as he made sure to burn the image of information in his mind. His face showed that of pure delight. ¡°You¡¯re a creepy guy...you know that?¡± The fairy merely observed Effryn. ¡°I¡¯m leaving. Thank you, and goodbye.¡± Effryn wanted to waste no time with this find, so he booted up the menu and hovered over the Exit Connecto-nerve. ¡°See ya hopefully neve-¡± Her voice cut out as he mentally clicked the exit, and everything went to a deep black screen. A place where even his mind went black for a second... Darkness embraced Effryn as he felt his mind come to. His senses slowly returned, and Effryn first noticed the touch of something wrapped around his face. He lifted the headset, and saw he was now back in Eizer¡¯s guest room. Quickly scanning the room, he felt a bit unsteady at first but was able to fully make sense of his mind. Gale was on his own bed, deeply engrossed in a different book from the last time he saw him. Gale was too deep in his story that he wasn¡¯t yet aware Effryn was awake. ¡°Hey.¡± Effryn waved at the reading boy who turned his head like a comet. ¡°How did you play for that long?¡± Gale tilted his head to the side, puzzled. ¡°I doubt I could even do something like that for even two hours, let alone six.¡± ¡°W-wait, only six?¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean ¡®only six?!¡¯ how could someone play data for so long?¡± Effryn couldn¡¯t help but ruffle his black hair and chuckle when thinking back to his countless all-nighters. Thinking back on it now, he figured a lot of time was wasted during those nights. The crickets played their agonizing lullabies as the sun began to hide from the moon. Gale returned his silent gaze towards his book, and lost himself once more to whatever story he immersed to. Lifting himself up, Effryn covered himself with his coat. He checked his pockets in search of something, but clicked his tongue when finding no trace of it. ¡°I¡¯m heading out.¡± Effryn lifted the curves of his shoes to comfort his feet when sliding them in, and tapped the soles to make sure they fully fit. ¡°And to where?¡± Gale questioned him with a peering gaze. ¡°To¡­¡± Effryn thought that saying to kill someone would be a little much, so instead he sugar coated the lie. ¡°...reunite with an old acquaintance." Feeling the cold touch of metal, Effryn gripped the doorknob and tilted it unlocked. He waited for a response from Gale before opening it fully¡­ ¡°...¡± ...but was only met with the silent cacophony of crickets mindlessly stringing their tune. He left the room, closing the door shut behind him. ¡°Liar.¡± the boy muttered, flipping the page as tears slew on the paper, watering the deepened ink that which created the mind numbing stories he so hated. Running down the stairs, his footsteps patted the creaky floor. Once at the bottom, he dashed straight towards the kitchen for the computer, to begin searching for the address he made sure to never forget. *** ¡°Is this all the paperwork?¡± ¡°H-huh? Oh, y-yeah!¡± Newbie detective assistant Watt stuttered when a member of the regulations department came to finalize his review of his report. She was fairly cute, with a charming smile that went along her long strokes of red hair. ¡°So¡­¡± she leaned in to his office space to hide from the other rampaging office workers going through documents like animals. ¡°Is there really gonna be a raid soon?¡± ¡°H-how do you know about that?!¡± ¡°Hehe, information just flies to me.¡± she raised a peace sign in her victory. Phone calls rang. Office workers and police men alike hurried off to different locations, with each having their own important duty to attend to. ¡°So whose it on?¡± a curiosity aroze in her eyes as she lowered her head once again. . ¡°Oh, just some kid the chief really wants find. He thinks this raid would finally put an end to what he called a ¡®pointless game of tag¡¯.¡± Watt really had no idea why, but for whatever reason, it seemed as if the chief was infatuated with the kid. Effryn, he thought the kids name was. Honestly, much of the station didn¡¯t really care for the boy at all. The chief was the only one with this desire to search for him. ¡°Any clue on when it is?¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Watt scribbled off a final signature from his work load, and released the pen he¡¯d been gripping for no less than three hours. He stretched his arms up to wake himself up, to prepare for what was to come. ¡°Midnight, actually.¡± *** In the sense of walking in a city during midnight, Effryn had a feeling of exhilaration. Not for the fact of the nightlife, but for his chance to finally get revenge on the bastard who killed Evvryn. Ack! I wish my phone hadn¡¯t been tossed in the river. He began to understand the difficulties of people without technology, and sympathized with them. God only knows how they know where to go without Gps. Effryn was in a small, but quaint gated neighborhood surrounded by nicely toned trees and patches of grass. The houses were quite high class, with each having their own unique and charming characteristics of old fashioned victorian, to others having a complete flip with extreme modernism. Scanning the houses address number, Effryn would see if the combination would match that he¡¯d written down with his trusty pen and paper. Truly a primitive way about doing so. Not it. His mind repeated the line, wondering when and if he¡¯d ever find the right house. He was nearing the end of the street name, and there were only a few or so houses left. A two story pink house, with cutesy pink decorations surrounded it. A simplistic yet sophisticated design with glass installed as walls, or a historic house-like mansion, that had been painted over in a deep purple. He glanced over to the pink house, then to his paper. Not it. He glanced over to the sophisticated house, then to his paper. Not it. He glanced over to the old mansion...and dropped his paper. There was no longer a use for such a thing when his instincts were practically screeching at him. Found you. A giddy feeling overcame Effryn as a twisted smile curled. It was a strong feeling, that of when he was little when he''d finally buy that game he waited on for it¡¯s release date. Though this joy was stronger. -Way stronger. ¡°Finally...finally finally finally finally finally finally finally finally¡­¡± He stood on the street before the mansion, repeating the same line over and over. ¡°Finally¡­¡± his brain glossed over his achievement of reaching this point as he dug in his pocket. ¡°...I can feel joy after all this time.¡± In his hands, was a pocket flashlight and a kitchen knife. He gripped both items tightly, before blankly walking on the lawn, with a grin as sinister as a blackhole. *** ¡°Ahh.¡± came a sigh as the heavy thud of metal crushed the chair with its weight. ¡°Life is good.¡± There was no doubt about it--he was the luckiest man alive. Beneath his high chair of command were the people who loved and followed him endlessly, even if he wasn¡¯t top of the governmental system. And because they adored him so much, there were thousands of people drinking and partying away the night irl. ¡°Eeeexcuuuuuse me, commandeerrrrr! Can we have fun with each other now?¡± a beautiful snow elf moved with her legs, inching ever so closer to him in a seductive manner. Like she always had. ¡°You¡¯re such an impatient brat, you know that? The commander wishes to embrace this moment and to view his accomplishments for now. Then¡­¡± his second elf, who was also beautiful and more busty, intervene the first in a manner more proper. ¡°...he can decide what he wants to do with us, and how to use us.¡± Yep. These were the perks of being a badass online. Everyone loves you, and you get to use their love for personal pleasures. Take the two sexually eager elves, who wanted to please him in game and out. ¡°Please¡­¡± the first purred. ¡°Just for a moment, you can take us¡­¡± the second rubbed herself, gesturing with her hand for him to come through. A lustful expression torn the expression in his eyes as he licked his lips. He knew that tonight would be a night filled with plenty of fun and- Huh?! Darkness swallowed him. For a moment, it almost seemed as if he¡¯d been engulfed completely. Damnit. Did the power box give? Lifting off the headset, the first thing he felt was the business needing to be attended to in his pants. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, adjusted himself so he could properly walk comfortably, and unplugged the power box. It wasn¡¯t common when things like this happened, but when it did, it was always a pain in the ass to deal with. Though, he was grateful they never happened during an important battle or event. He couldn¡¯t say what was happening was an important event, either, but oh well. He¡¯d be back soon. He waited for a moment to plug the box back in. Sometimes if he went straight for it, he¡¯d have to wait a few minutes just to retry the whole unplug and plug scenario. Around him, was his encasing walls of games and figurines. There was a monitor, along with a few consoles too, but ever since the Nervo-connect got revamped, he hadn¡¯t touched them since. Then, there was the never ceasing darkness that enveloped his room even after taking off his helmet. There might have been light far ago, but those times were forgotten. The television or monitor screen once lit up the room, but those days are long dead. All he ever needed was his precious headset. The ever inducing stress that work put on him was incredible, and his current relationship was a shitshow, even if it was built entirely from work. And so, whenever he gets the chance, he uses his spare time wasting away at the endless world of destrial. Crap. I spaced out for a second¡­ Coming back to reality, he reluctantly connected the powerbox with his headset. But something was wrong¡­ The hell? It should be on by now. The screen remained black. He tried again, but nothing happened. Figuring something must have been wrong with the power in his room, he got up to flip his breaker in his closet. But before he could move, he noticed there were no lights out of his room, like the living room, and the kitchen across his. ¡°Huh?¡± he winced, and walked in the hallway. ¡°Could the power be out?¡± This was confusing. He didn¡¯t hear rain going down against the roof or windows, so he doubted that was it. He reached the hallway, and looked around. There were no light either way down the long single lane hall. When was the last time the power went out? He thought back to the last time he went without power, but couldn¡¯t remember a time. Actually, he probably wasn¡¯t alive during time electricity was out of the house other than a storm. He began walking to the hallway opposite of where the stairs led down, and towards the one leading to a deadend with a single pane of glass covered by a purple curtain. Is there some kind of blackout? If there was, it would the first he knew of. But then again, what are the odds of that¡­ Pulling the curtains off to the side, he saw both of his neighbors houses, both of which were freakishly different with designs. Though for now, they both had one similarity between them-Power. With certainty, he knew it wasn¡¯t a blackout. So then what¡­ ¡°Ken, what the hell happened to the power?¡± his wife yelled from across the hallway. Her expression was confused and she perked her gazed from room to room, wondering if every room was really sucked dry of electricity. ¡°How the hell should I know? I was in the middle of playing, then it just shut off.¡± ¡°Oh, so your game was that important that now you wanna get up? What a lame joke.¡± ¡°Beth, not now¡­¡± Ken tried calming his wife down, but like every other time he tried to reason with her, she just exploded. ¡°Not now? Not now?! You know, ever since you got the mind warping device, you¡¯ve been stuck in your room for months unless work called. Maybe this power is a good break.¡± she threw her arms in the air. Ken knew this would happen, but somewhere in his mind, a tiny hope remained in his head that Beth would miraculously get common sense. So far, every attempt failed miserably. ¡°If you¡¯re so angry at being taken from your game, then you should just go live inside it than actually being a person!¡± Beth stormed off downstairs. Her footsteps beat against each step, until she reached the bottom. There was a moment of silence, until the loud bang of a door slamming filled the house with vibrations. Through keeping quiet, he was able to finally get his happiness. She¡¯s such a bitch. Glad I¡¯m done with that. One stressful thing after another today... With the sudden power outage at his house interrupting his fun times with both Natalie and Salia, or his companion snow elves, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit pissed. He couldn¡¯t call the power company to check it out because the sun wasn¡¯t out for a few more hours, so his only option was to sit back and pleasure himself until the power went on. Screw that. I¡¯m so hard I practically have a blunt weapon right now. He felt his urges raging, knowing waiting was impossible. Thankfully, he was a man. And being a man meant having more privileges than the teenager he used to be. Getting his phone Ken dialed the number to his snow elves, first to the smaller chested Natalie. The line rang for a second before she picked. ¡°Ooooh, so now you come crawling back! What happened? Didya power get cut or something?¡± she answered excitedly, leaving hardly any room for him to respond. ¡°A pain in the ass is what happened. Can you come over?¡± Ken went straight to the point hardly being able to contain himself any longer. ¡°Man, you can¡¯t wait for me can you? Fine Fine, I¡¯m coming! In more ways than one soon enough!¡± She made the noise of sticking her tongue out, before hanging up the call. Sweet! Next is¡­ Salia. She had the best breast he¡¯d have ever seen or felt, and knew how well her body performed. He happily dialed her next. The line rang a few times, much longer than Natalie, until she finally picked up. ¡°Ken? Did something happen?¡± She sounded worried, like a mother caring for her kin. ¡°It¡¯s nothing really. The power went out here.¡± ¡°Really? When was the last time that happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it ever happened before, but let¡¯s ignore that. Can you come over?¡± Asking that question made her hesitate for a bit, before timidly accepting. ¡°S-sure. But is everything okay over there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, really. But please hurry. I need you.¡± Salia sighed. Her breath through the phone made Ken even more impatient. ¡°If you¡¯re alright, then I guess it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m on my way, bye!¡± Her line disconnected, leaving Ken with the beeping loneliness and a lustful feeling. Lucky for him, they didn¡¯t live too far away, so very soon he¡¯d be having a legendary threesome. Hmm. I should get the condoms now before we start. Ken recalled the last place he put his protection was his bedroom, which was downstairs. He started down the hallway, passing his man cave and kitchen, along with a few other rooms that he hardly ever used. Eventually, he reached the stairs, which went in a circular pattern down, with a chandelier that was wood coated in tiny crystals hovering above the middle. Though with no power, it had little use. His nightwear gilded as he swiftly sprinted downward into the main living room. There, a large TV stood as some show about cops was playing. Couches and chairs gave it company, added with a soft black carpet that had been implemented from before he moved in. He hated the color, yet Beth had always been fond of it. The room after was the downstairs kitchen, where more advanced dishes and cooking tech were stashed at, since being the more used of the two. There connected three other hallways, with one leading to his bedroom. He walked down that path to his door, but noticed a problem immediately upon reaching the finely crafted door with its own special lock: -Beth was inside, and she was likely to be a bitch once he went in. She¡¯d began to ask questions, wondering why he¡¯d need a condom if he wasn¡¯t going to use it on her. Might as well embrace the beast rather than imagine it. He braced himself for whatever nagging Beth had in store. The door croaked with hardly any noise being as it¡¯s new. Inside stood a dimly lit candle as the only light source. Ken could hear the flickering of the fire accompanied by muffled heaving. Looking inside, he could see Beth laying face down on their bed, crying. Again? It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d seen her cry like this. It usually happened around night time, when he¡¯d come to bed after staying up all night in his world. ¡°Ken? W-what¡¯re you doing here?¡± She must have noticed the door. She slowly lifted her head, and with her croaky throat, asked why he was there. ¡°Sorry to bother you. I¡¯m here to get something.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Nothing important.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± After their small exchange, neither of the two said another word to each other. These small little exchanges were common for them, though Ken had no problem with them. He thought idle chat was boring with Beth. Nothing really special was in their room. It was just a bed, table, and a boring girl. Sometimes, he wondered why he ever married her. Going straight for his table, he pulled out the draw, revealing his rubber stash. A warm sensation ran down his spine, knowing fun was bound to come anytime. The heaving increased, even if slightly. ¡°So...you¡¯re playing with your whores again tonight¡­?¡± Great. Here we go again. ¡°And so?¡± ¡°¡®And so?¡¯ ¡®AND SO?!¡¯¡± she switched to sniffling shouting as she slammed a fist against her bed table. ¡°YOU HAVE ME! You don¡¯t need other woman to pleasure you if you have me!!¡± Ken was slightly surprised. This was the first Beth got mad at him for not having sex with her as it was usually for sleeping with other women, and not specifically the woman. But even if was different, it wasn¡¯t any less annoying. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll do my best not to do it again.¡± ¡°Sorry?! Again?! Ken, you¡¯re still walking to that door with that condom! You¡¯re not even trying to stop yourself¡­¡± she curled into a ball, covering her face with bedsheets. ¡°I give up¡­ Just go¡­ Do whatever¡­¡± Her words became muffled along with her tears, and hardly anything else she said was audible. But Ken paid no mind to her. In fact, he was only thinking about the two girls coming over momentarily. He looked back at the sorry girl, left out the door, leaving behind someone he stupidly decided to marry. As the door shut, one last cry came from under the covers. It was dead whimper, as if the person who said it was already gone. ¡°Where did our love go¡­¡± ¡°Can we come in?¡± One of the girls asked, seductively licking her lips. ¡°We¡¯ll do anything you want us to in the dark. If you want it, we¡¯ll obey.¡± another said, already welcoming herself inside. Ken looked from one to the other constantly, but his lust had trouble telling them apart, so he blindly followed his instincts to let them into his own man cave. He led them through the main living room into the kitchen, and on the way to the circular stairs leading upwards. He held hands with one of the girls, but couldn¡¯t tell which one. It didn¡¯t matter though; he¡¯d be inside both soon enough. ¡°You can go ahead. I want to freshen up before we really get down to business.¡± one of them annoyingly said. ¡°Aw, c¡¯mon Salia. You look good enough already, and I would rather we not have to wait on you.¡± ¡°Heh, I won¡¯t be long.¡± Apparently one of the girls wandered off for something. Though, Ken was more focused on the one girl who was still there, whoever she was. The feeling in his pants spread to his thoughts, and soon enough, had been the only thing beating in his mind ¡°Hurry. Let¡¯s go.¡± Ken tugged at whoever held his hand, and continued up the stairs. ¡°Jeez!¡± the girl sarcastically exclaimed, pouting her cheeks. ¡°How badly do you want it?¡± Natailie expected the typical smart response Ken would give. But instead, all she got was a groan with a somewhat scary remark. ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s the only thing on my mind right now. Honestly, I don¡¯t think I care about anything else in the world other than your bodies, so please, let¡¯s hurry this up.¡± Lust. It practically drove his actions, blinding him to everything logical. He led whoever was with him to his own man cave, getting ready for what he thought was going to be a helluva night. Hmm, does this look good? Salia thought, comparing a maid outfit and her bunny suit. Maid looks more submissive, but bunny is sure to have more appeal¡­ She held up both of the outfits in front of her phones flashlight, and checked them based on how she felt, as well as how much pleasure Ken would feel. The bathroom mirror reflected the sexual energy emitting from her, along with the assortments of creams and makeups she spread to ready herself. Setting her mind on a peice, she put the bunny suit on the counter. I feel the maid would be better. Happy she picked something, Salia began to slip out of her regular clothing. She couldn¡¯t help but bear a smile knowing how much pleasure Ken was going to feel from her. Maybe then, he can finally stay with me. We can leave our lives together, and go live to be as one¡­ Her mind was in a steady daydream. One so mesmerizing that even small noises can go unnoticed. ...we could slowly start our life together, scraping by as two strangers find work to support themselves. If everything went well, and we were able to support ourselves to be stable, we might even be able to support children¡­ She wished her dream could be real, and not some made up fantasy created as ecstasy for the mind. If only her love could realize her feelings for him, then maybe everything would fall into place faster. Or so, Salia thought, as a smile greater than life itself spread across her face. She pressed her palms against her cheeks, with strands fo white hair getting caught. There isn¡¯t much time left until the inevitable happens. Only a matter of time¡­ In the mirror, a dark figure swiftly moved into the room, and off to the left. It waited to strike the moment the girl noticed him, but she seemed like she was off in another world. The figure thought that if the girl was distracted, then getting her completely off guard wasn¡¯t impossible. But what fun would that be for the bitch that punched his heart out¡­? Then it dawned on him. And with it, a wicked expression grew on the sneaking boy. As Salia began to strip her final pieces of clothing, she felt a sudden rush of weight being pushed on her. Her thighs hit the counter, causing her to yelp in pain, and to limp down against the marble texture. She tried fighting the force, but found it to be overwhelming. Salia couldn¡¯t move. No matter how much she tried, she couldn¡¯t budge a bit. And so, she took a deep breath, and readied herself to scream for help. She knew that if she were loud enough, she would more than likely get attention. Maybe the neighbors would even hear if she yelled. But as she willed herself for air to release, a tight encasing around her throat gripped her. For whatever reason, it caused her to not talk. Or breathe. W-w-wha¡­? Confused, Salia began to claw at her throat, searching for what could be the cause. Though the more she dug, the tighter the object was around her neck. She dug more, hoping to fight the feeling. But as she tried, she felt herself getting tired. Salia fought and fought, wanting to see the light from this sudden situation. But that dream grew further away with each passing second that her mind went darker. It became harder to breath until the point to where she thought Am I even breathing any more? Then the point came to where she wondered if she was alive any more. Her vision grew darker, and the mind lighter. It felt to her as if everything grew calmer, until only one thought remained: I¡¯m sorry Ken. I¡¯m sorry Ken. I¡¯m sorry Ken¡­ The thought repeated in her mind, until it became her last thought. A tear branded from her eyes as her iris lost all color. ¡°Finally!¡± Effryn happily wiped the sweat from his brow. ¡°It took her long enough.¡± His grip gave out, probably due to exhaustion, to what he thought as some kind of kinky bunny suit. He couldn¡¯t tell what the color was, but it¡¯s texture felt silky and smooth. He wasn¡¯t 100% sure, but he had a nagging feeling it was latex. Well whatever it was, it did the job. The suit stuck to the girls neck even after Effryn let go, as if it were etched around her throat. Effryn chuckled at the thought of her being attacked by her kink, and left the bathroom as if nothing happened. He carefully checked every room on the bottom floor, which included a bathroom, a kitchen, a large living room. All of them were clear. The last room left to check had a different door, with a unique victorian vibe to it. Effryn pressed his ear against the wood in hopes of hearing anything beyond. It was as silent as every other room. Figuring it was clear, Effryn twisted the metal knob, and the creak gave way as it opened. The room seemed to be a bedroom of some sorts, with the middle split off, dividing the room. One of the halves were as plain as could be. White walls, white sheets, and white furniture. Whoever made this side doesn¡¯t need much to please him. And on the opposite, was a completely darker aesthetic, which contained mostly of purple and black decor. The black contrasted with the purple nicely, but not too much as to be an eyesore. Their bedsheets also looked nice, with the purple sheets and blankets seething into the blackened pillows. It even surprised Effryn how cool the purple had an effect to look like it was actually on the pillows¡­ Oh shit?! Is that¡­? Dazed, Effryn pulled out his knife and slowly approached the figure. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a girl- someone he knew actually, whose hair was the only to match the color purple. ¡°Beth. You¡¯re on my kill list.¡± he said, remembering that she was the knights companion in the game, and that she was also there when they kidnapped Evvryn and him. Effryn raised the blade. It glimmered in the dark from the tiny amount of light the extinguished candle gave. But before Effryn could thrust his blade down her jugular, orange bottles with lids thrown around caught his eye. Wait a minute. A suspicion crawled on his back as he noticed they were all empty. Instead of stabbing her, Effryn promptly lowered his weapon and place a finger against her wrist. Nothing. Just as he thought. She wasn¡¯t sleeping, she was already dead. Finding no point in being there anymore, Effryn decided to leave. But before he did, he decided to do one more thing. ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you for what you did, but still, nobody needs to die that way. Goodbye.¡± Holding back all his spite for her, Effryn bowed. He checked one last time to see the covers looming over her, and left the room, eagerly waiting to finish off the house. . *** ¡°W-we should wait for Salia, shouldn¡¯t we? I mean she¡¯ll get pretty angry if we don¡¯t wait up¡­¡± He heard the question, but felt it drift by as his body wanted more of her touch. ¡°Who? Actually that doesn¡¯t matter. We should just enjoy ourselves.¡± Ken felt an incredibly strong desire for her body. He peered over her eyes, and saw his own reflection, and could see himself with eyes that practically screamed he was hungry for women. ¡°I mean you wanted this didn¡¯t you?¡± Natailie wanted to say something. A twisted feeling of anxiety was born insider her as Ken¡¯s lips forced itself onto hers. She didn¡¯t feel any pleasure from this like usual. Something was off. Or rather, she had a feeling that something terrible was happening. ¡°K-Ken.¡± she pulled away from his grasp, and laughed with a loose facade. ¡°C-can we hold off on this? I¡¯m not feeling comfortable anymore, so we should try to¡­¡± But instead of accepting her feelings, Ken pressed his fist down onto her throat, restricting her breathing. ¡°Listen here you bitch!¡± Ken pressed tighter. ¡°You listen to me without talking back, and we¡¯ll all have a fun time here. So how about you unbuckle my pants and get to work¡­¡± ¡°N-No¡­!¡± Natailie tried screaming, but hardly any sound came. The tightening grip hurt. It was pain unlike any other. The one in Destrial could never hurt like this. But there was one feeling stronger than the others surging through her mind. -The fear was greater than any kind of pain that she could ever feel. I don¡¯t want to die I don¡¯t want to die I don¡¯t want to die I don¡¯t want to die¡­ The same thoughts repeated, like the sun rotating around the sun, except if the sun were a comet. ¡°Are you gonna listen to me? Will you obey everything I have to say? Tonights been shit so far, but you¡¯ll make it up to me, won¡¯t you girl?¡± At this point, Natalie wasn¡¯t even sure if Ken recognized her. ¡°I-Arck-!!¡± She tried speaking again, but Ken only pressed down harder. ¡°P-le-a-se...s-t-op¡­¡± Slowly, the pain started to subside. Everything around her began to float away, as if it were drifting off to the sea. Nausea settled in. The pain was kicked out. And for a moment, Natalie could feel as if she were floating in a world that floated away from her. ¡­ And in the next moment, the world went black for her. ¡°Huh? Did the bitch really give out?¡± Ken raised his fist from her throat. The girls body slumped to the side, her face blue as the drowned sea. She was dead. Ken punched the girls face. Then again. And again. Until he continually smashed out the sorrow tears from her eyes. ¡°Fuck! Why the hell is this happening to me?! Can¡¯t I have one thing go nicely for once right now?!¡± Ken grew tired of hitting her and stopped. It wasn¡¯t like he got anything useful from hitting a dead girl anyways. I didn¡¯t even have a chance to get off to her, or wait¡­ A sick, delighted smile replaced his frenzied expression. She¡¯s still in front of me, isn¡¯t she? So why don¡¯t I just do things myself? Ken unzipped his pants, and began to rip off the dead girls shorts. They were pretty revealing, as if she wanted to impress someone with them. He unbuttoned them, and tried sliding them off, but for whatever reason, they refused to come off. ¡°Goddamnit! Just...come...off already!¡± Getting ticked off, Ken shifted his leg in a position where his foot was placed underneath the girls chin. And with a tug, he used the girls leg as a counter force to rip of the shorts. ¡°C¡¯mon! C¡¯mon! C¡¯mon! C¡¯mon!! I can practically feel her right now¡­¡± The shorts were loosening, and with that, he began using more force in his leg. He even started to kick her, as if he were shooing off a pest. The piece of clothing made another large nudge, revealing parts of her upper thighs and pelvis. Just a little more and¡­ ¡°-Arck!!¡± Pain, the feeling of being trapped from breathing, and lust suddenly jumped onto Ken as a sharp sting came from his throat. His eyes peered down as his hands raced up, but both were terrified of what they discovered. His hands gripped something sharp, with blood drenching the blade. And what he saw was a kitchen knife protruding outwards. Pools of blood fell like a river from his jugular, and he collapsed onto the ground next to the girl. ¡°Ar-ck...so-n..bitc¡­¡± Ken tried picking himself up to face the intruder, but immediately flopped back down, and he vomited blood as a direct result. How could I die? LIke this?! He thought. He writhed on the floor, twisting and churning. The pain was great enough that it even overcame the strong desires of lust. He was going to die. That¡¯s what he thought. And so, in a last ditch effort in his final moments of life, he pulled out his phone, and dialed a number. It was someone he hated, but that didn¡¯t matter at this point. He had to tell him¡­ Ken placed the phone against his ear, and heard it ring. It rang once. Then it rang again. Then a third time. For shit¡¯s sake, answer¡­! Click! ¡°Hello? Ken? What the hell are you calling for at this time of night?¡± ¡°B----¡± As he opened his mouth to speak, muffled groans was the only thing to come out. ¡°Brrr what? Don¡¯t eat while your talking dumbass, and if you called me while stuffing your face, then it must not be too much of a problem, so bye.¡± ¡°Br---Klah---¡± ¡°Huh? Ken, your really pissing me off, so I¡¯m hanging up, bye-¡± Before he could hear the rest of what he was saying, the phone lifted from his grip. He struggled with looking over his shoulder, but once he did, he saw someone else had taken his phone. ¡°Hello sir, sorry about earlier.¡± the intruder spoke in happy-go manner. ¡°Br---klah..¡± Ken reached his hand out to the intruder, wishing he could beat and kill them for what they¡¯ve done. ¡°Yeah haha, I can get a little hungry at times, sorry!¡± Hearing him talk made Ken wonder how long he could keep up this act. He knew the guy on the phone for some time now, so it was only a matter of time before he would notice something was off¡­ ¡°Yeah! I was wondering if we could meet somewhere in private. I¡¯ve got some information on the target of ¡®Effryn¡¯ here. Of course!. Y-you want me to pick a location for us to meet? Y-yes sir, well if that¡¯s the case, how about the old construction building? That¡¯s fine? Great! See you soon!¡± Horror spread throughout Kens face. His boss, who said he always thought of him as a great worker, didn¡¯t recognize his voice. Was it a lie? Did he say it just to get results out of him? Either way¡­ ¡°Yay! I¡¯m almost finished up!¡± the intruder happily clapped his hands. Ken, with all his force working at it, attempted to flip his body to face upwards in a way to get a look at the intruder before he died. But alas, he failed, falling pathetically down again. ¡°You must really be pissed. Sorry dude, and I probably would¡¯ve left you here to die like a pig.¡± The intruder casually strolled next to Ken, and kneeled down. Horror, fear, anxiety, and a face hitting bat of regret hit him all at once. It was a boy he was ordered to kill once. Part of a pair of teenagers who they had to play against in order to win some game technology that their boss had wanted for ¡®fun.¡¯ He killed his little friend, Evvryn, he thought the name was, but the boy had slipped away. And to see the boy right here terrified him. ¡°But I can¡¯t.¡± Effryn raised his foot, positioning it right above where the blade had been thrusted in his throat. ¡°Not after what you did to that girl. She liked you, and you repaid that by killing her. You deserve the same death as you did to her.¡± ¡°Ack---....!!¡± Just...one...more...feel¡­ Ken sluggishly stretched his grasp for the girls breast, hoping to get one last pleasure in this world. But before he even got near her, Effryn put all his force into his thrust, and kicked down on the blade encompassing Ken. He wriggled a bit more, before stopping completely. Effryn wasn¡¯t sure if he died from lack of blood, or the shock of the pain, but he didn¡¯t care. There was one last person he needed to take from this world. And he is going to take them. That was a promise to the one he held dearest. 5. in the end, nothing matters The night fested on the city for some time. But eventually, even darkness needs its rest. Night clubs closed down for the night. The restless outers reached their limits, scurrying off to hideaways until the next night breaches. ¡°Everything''s clear here sir!¡± ¡°Same as here!¡± ¡°Confirming the same, sir!¡± Grownups began waking up in a groggy state, pondering their life decisions as they ready themselves for work like every other day. But thinking about it never matters. Not if you already made the decision in the first place. ¡°And? Status reports!¡± ¡°Well sir, we caught wind of the last surviving child from the local orphanage, but that¡¯s all we found.¡± Clicking his tongue with visible annoyance, Chief Knox huffed at his cigar. ¡°So there¡¯s no sign of our target?¡± ¡°Sorry sir, but that¡¯s what it seems like.¡± The chief took another huff at his cigar. But the foul taste of nicotine filled his taste buds as he aggressively bit the bud. ¡°Damnit! Where the hell could he have gone now?!¡± And to add to the rude awakening of a drowsy morning, snow began to fall with subtle pace. It pittered softly, and patterned for others. *** He ran. As fast as he could possible perceive, he glazed throughout the awakening streets. There weren¡¯t many, but a few early men and women were already on their way to work with their umbrellas shielding them from the freezing crystals. Passing familiar buildings, such as coffee shops and laundromats, to the closed off streets of the bank incident, Effryn saw it all as he sprinted. He had an ¡®appointment¡¯ with a certain someone very soon, but before going there¡­ Hmmp! Effryn twisted his foot, shifting his body to take a sharp right turn in a cross section of a street. Luckily for him, since there were hardly many people out, he could easily pass through what would have been crowded streets. And so, he set way to Eizers house, to check up on Gale. The sun was slowly peeking its way through the clouds, letting light caress the very soles of the earth even while still snowing. Effryn made the trek home in a fairly short time considering the distance. All that¡¯s left for him was to climb the hill leading up to the street of Eizer¡¯s place, and it would be home sweet¡­ ¡­ Shit?! Fear stole his Expression, causing his instincts to yell at him to hide behind the outer wall of a power station. Why does a cop have to patrol now?! If he got caught now, everything would be over, so the best and most logical option was to hideaway and not get caught. He waited. The patrol continued its cruise down the hill as if nothing happened. Effryn let out a sigh of relief. Thank God he didn¡¯t see me. Picking his head up, Effryn braced himself and continued up the steep road. Aw man, even if it''s only been a day, I still missed Gale. I hope he''s doing fine without me. More wholesome thoughts filled his brain as he climbed. He really cared for Gale. He was the only family he had left after all. Just a little more and¡­ The heart shrivelled up, and his lungs felt like they were about to crush from pressure. His vision became distorted, and he felt his brows shutter in anguish as he saw the rows of police vehicles and police men blinking with their red sirens. -The whole block was a snaring zone of police. And they all seemed to huddle around Eizer¡¯s house. He fell backwards, catching himself only just enough to not make enough noise, and dashed off into the yard of a close neighbor closest to the top of the hill. Lucky for him, each house was practically identical, so they each had more or less the same innings as Eizer¡¯s place. All he needed to do was sneak behind each of the houses, and find an opening before being noticed¡­ Effryn clicked his tongue with annoyance. How the hell am I supposed to do all that? I¡¯m just one kid! Resting in a large patch of uncut grass, Effryn thought about what he should do. Considering the police force out there, he figured they were there for one thing-Him. But the amount of them there would indicate he¡¯s some massive terrorist or something along those lines. What the hell have I really done?! It was all self defense¡­ That¡¯s right. Every little thing he¡¯d ever done was because he was unnecessarily dragged into doing it. Not because he wanted to. He shouldn¡¯t have to pay for something he had no say so in. He should just should run. There was only one last job left after all. And so, Effryn made up his mind to return later. The risk was nowhere near the reward for visiting the house. He would just leave now, finish up his business, and come back to Gale once the police leaves- The police...and Gale¡­ ¡°Shit?!¡± he covered his mouth while yelling. If the police find out that Gale is living there, then legally, that could only mean one thing¡­ ¡°If my perception is correct, won¡¯t he be taken away?¡± the ghost read his mind, though slightly pissing Effryn off. ¡°I have to get him out of there no matter what!¡± Determined to save Gale--the last remaining family he had left--he sucked up the fear of being caught, and quickly vanished behind the cloned houses. The never changing blinding of sirens surrounded the atmosphere. Some were red. Others blue. Huffing a puff of his cigar, Chief Knox reminisced what the departments had told him when producing new cruisers to keep up with the new generations of vehicles. ¡°Supplies for our new toys are coming, but they had one problem. Apparently, the lights they used came from two different companies, and they each gave us different colors. So now they expect us to suck it up and use them! I mean, can you believe that?! They¡¯re implying that we have different colors in the force!¡± Those were the words of the former police chief, or in other words, his mentor. What a man he was. Knox thought. Scurrying patterns of footsteps brought him back to reality. ¡°Sir!¡± It was his subordinate, Watt, who¡¯s expression told him that something was off. ¡°We searched the building, but there was no sign of him.¡± Knox inhaled another puff of smoke, and released. ¡°What about the owners?¡± ¡°One of the guys called them, and said the owners were out on some kind of business trip out in Texas. They had left their son here alone, 17, until they got back. But ever since we informed them, they immediately booked a flight back. They should be here soon.¡± ¡°And what of the son?¡± ¡°He wasn¡¯t here. By the time we entered the building, we found nobody there. Though, there are signs suggesting there have been more than one person living there at a time.¡± A contradiction to the parents word. Knox knew it had to be Effryn-the young teen thought to be connected to a hospital shooting and murders, along with the sudden attack of an orphanage, where nearly everyone was killed. His fingerprints were found around the throat of the man in charge. ¡°How many people?¡± Watt shifted papers, staggering on getting them straight. ¡°T-two extra, Sir!¡± ¡°Two¡­¡± At the local orphanage, there was a man-made fire, with signs of clear beatings and bullet casings used on some of the children. If everyone were present, then with no doubt, there would have been no survivors. Yet one child was still missing. ¡°Do they think it was the surviving child?¡± Watt lowered his notes. His expression changed, telling Knox everything he needed to know before hearing it. ¡°Yes, we think Gale Landers stayed here.¡± Dropping his cigar and stepping on it to extinguish it, Knox readied himself. ¡°Did you check the surrounding area?¡± ¡°We wanted to sir, but the neighbors said we would cause too much distracti-¡± ¡°And what?! Do they want warrants, cause we can get ¡®em!¡± Knox furrowed his brow in disbelief. He reached for the ham radio on his chest, and blared a message. ¡°To all receiving, I require you to search and locate a missing child by the name of Gale Landers! Search the area near by, ask neighbors if they¡¯ve seen something, anything! And if they want us to leave tell them we can bring a warrant later!¡± ¡°S-sir!¡± voices shouted through their line. In all their cases so far, this was the closest they¡¯ve been to either Effryn or Gale. So if they let this chance slip away¡­ ¡°I¡¯ll check down the road, you go look around the slope.¡± his men shouted while running. ...then they would probably never find out who exactly was behind the real brutal killings at the hospital and orphanage. Just as Knox was about to set out with his men, Watt interrupted. ¡°Sir, I nearly forgot, but we¡¯ve also received information about one of the missing doctors.¡± Dr. Zylar? What do we have about him at this time? ¡°Just recently, they confirmed his death, leaving it responsible as ¡®assault by poison.¡± Shit. Police were everywhere. They spread like hogs through each yard, and checked every logical place possible. Effryn looked over view a dense wooden fence, and counted at least seven in one yard. C¡¯mon Gale, where are you? Just as someone glanced at where Effryn peeked, he was already gone. Where could an eleven year old hide during a police raid? Or did Eizer figure this was coming and take him somewhere? Hmm. Effryn bite down on his lips. ¡°Any signs here?¡± ¡°Nope. Do you really think those brats are around here?¡± ¡°I bet they ran off while we were here getting slapped with complaints from their neighbors.¡± ¡°Heh, honestly makes you wonder if we should keep searching around here or not.¡± Effryn made his way around the yard behind different fences, keeping his position low while also hearing the searchers. If they can¡¯t find him, then how could I? he thought as he came to a halt. There were too many eyes looking in his direction. If he moved too much, they could see the rustling of leaves and vines. So, he hid behind a black dog house. It was small, but enough to keep Effryn hidden. ¡°!!¡± The dog house quietly shrieked. ¡°Huh?¡± Effryn whispered. ¡°Did they leave the dog here?¡± The house slightly rustled, though hardly enough that Effryn was the only one to notice it. There were small cracks that allowed someone to see inside the house, though with it still birthing dawn, there wasn¡¯t enough light to reveal what was inside. And judging from how dark it was inside, Effryn assumed the door was closed, keeping whatever was inside covered in darkness. The dog must be either scared to death of these people, or he just doesn¡¯t care to think of a single world of these people. ¡°Let¡¯s check over here. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve looked.¡± a woman shouted. Effryn peered towards her, and saw she was pointing towards his direction. Crap. Effryn lowered himself, and looked for a way out. But wherever he looked, everywhere seemed impossible to go. The searchers had all eyes at his direction, so any move he made would be seen without a doubt. The pressure on his lip increased. So much so that he thought he could taste his blood. Shit shit shit! Am I really about to get caught here and now?! All I wanted was to check up on Gale before leaving. And here I come to find out that he¡¯s not even here¡­ Slumping against the dog house, Effryn felt all hope of escaping leave. Sure, he could run, but for how long? He was just some shut-in kid running from trained officers. He could get far, right? ¡°I won¡¯t even get to kill him.¡± he muttered. He could hear their footsteps slowly edge towards the dog house. They were looking around, checking other hidden spots, so there was still some time left until they reached it. If this were a game, he would have bet a minute until they¡¯d reach him. Probably less. But he didn¡¯t care. His only thoughts were on Gale, and where he could be. If only he knew where to look, then¡­ ¡°Effryn.¡± A sudden soft voice spoke. ¡°Huh?¡± Effryn asked, looking around to find the source. ¡°Here.¡± It spoke again, but this time, he knew where it came from. ¡°Doggy?¡± he whispered with fear as he tried getting one last look in the dog house. ¡°No idiot, it¡¯s me, Gale.¡± ¡°G-gale?! What¡¯re you doin-¡± ¡°Shush,¡± he interrupted ¡°or they¡¯ll start looking here.¡± All this time, Gale was in the dog house, and was technically at his back the whole time. At least he found him before he¡¯d be caught to tell him goodbye. So he should at least say something as a farewell. So then why¡­ ¡°...¡± ...was it so hard to say anything? ¡°Man, you really screwed up, didn¡¯t you Effryn? I mean, here you are, about to get a dead end and everything¡­¡± ¡°Quiet you; don¡¯t mock me.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The sound of crunching leaves and snow grew. ¡°So I guess you kept your promise of coming back, even if it was the last.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Effryn tried, and desperately wanted to say something that would make it seem as if that weren¡¯t true. But no matter how he looked at it, there was no way out of this. ¡°Y-yeah, suppose I did.¡± Gale grew quiet for a second, before leaning his hand against the wall facing Effryn. ¡°I mean, even if the cops never found us, you would still have come by one last time before running off to your death somewhere.¡± ¡°G-gale¡­?¡± Effryn felt his heart sink as he leaned closer towards the dog house. ¡°You didn¡¯t plan on coming back alive. You would either kill everyone you wanted and end up killing yourself once finished, or you would have died trying.¡± Effryn wanted to respond. He wanted to deny everything Gale said, and say that he really just wanted to visit him. -But no matter what he tried, the only thing pouring out of Effryn weren¡¯t words. But tears. ¡°Effryn,¡± Gale sighed, lowering his voice which made him sound more knowledgeable. ¡°I want to thank you for everything you¡¯ve done. For making all our brothers and sisters happy. For making Frael have a much happier life than what she would¡¯ve originally had. And for taking care of me when there was nobody else. I am truly grateful for having you as a big brother, so that¡¯s why¡­¡± Gale moved away from Effryn¡¯s side of the dog house. Light began to seeth into the house, enough until he could finally see inside. -But it wasn¡¯t anything to do with a natural cause. It was actually pretty simple. Gale opened the door of the dog house on the other side which let light pour in. He felt his heart racing. Either from the fact that Gale was about to give away his position, or from the sad expression Gale wore. ¡°G-gale?! What¡¯re you doing?!¡± Effryn hissed as he clawed the wooden house, feeling small splinters enter under his fingernails. He ignored the pain. ¡°I enjoyed our little journeys we had together, and this facade of a life we shared. But I think I should really settle down and start a normal life. I mean, I can¡¯t go committing heinous crimes after all. Plus, there¡¯s so many other books out there to read, and I can¡¯t exactly collect them if all I do is hide away from the world. So that¡¯s why I¡¯m giving myself up and calling it quits.¡± The door open wider now, and Effryn could clearly see the immensely sad expression on his face. He could also see that Gale wasn¡¯t just crying. He was practically drowning in tears. Though his heart burned with sorrow, Effryn gently put on a smile. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, then do it. Go live Gale, and have fun doing it.¡± Gale nodded, and wiped away the oncoming tears, as fruitless as it was. He crawled out from the door onto the frozen grass. ¡°H-hey! There¡¯s the missing kid, ain¡¯t it?¡± And soon enough, the officers swarmed around Gale. They began asking him rapid fire questions. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Why were you hiding from us?¡± ¡°When was the last time you seen the young man Effryn?¡± Gale flinched especially when they asked that. ¡°Hey! The chief wants to speak to him personally, and he wants everyone to regroup!¡± Each of the searchers looked at one another, nodded, and said nothing else. Two officers offered their hands to Gale. He wavered for a moment, before grabbing them. And with a deep breath, he muttered something that only Effryn seemed to hear through the ongoing fall of numbing snow. ¡°I pray you find what you¡¯re looking for at the end.¡± Gale slightly turned his head back, but only enough to where Effryn could see a fraction of his eye. But it was enough to give off that he was streaming. Effryn slammed his fist against the crunchy white, and felt an incredible urge to shout, attack-or even kill the people taking away Gale. But before he could make a move he noticed one last detail. H-he¡¯s...smiling¡­ A sad, yet happy expression was what Gale must¡¯ve had as the cops took him away. He must be relieved. Effryn thought about the effects a young kid might have from running away from danger, and how hard it must be. But was he really running away from danger? Ha, no. I was only dragging him along as I was the one running from danger. I doubt he was ever actually in harm''s way. Effryn couldn¡¯t help but chuckle and laugh at himself. How pathetic, he thought. In the end, Effryn could only cry as he watched the cops take away his only family member left. A brotherly bond he was able to form from the short time they spent hiding with one another. All he could do was watch it be taken away before him. But it had to be for the best, right? If they took him away, then they¡¯d take him to some foster home, or if he was lucky, maybe even find him a family that he could grow into. He could take the spirit of every brother and sister he once had, and share the kindred aspect of a loving family he once learned, and make everyone''s love pay off, as he would be the only one to ever get adopted. ¡°I love you Gale. You were the best little brother I could¡¯ve asked for.¡± Effryn muttered his words, but even he wasn¡¯t sure if Gale heard them. And in agony, Effryn watched the cops disappear with his little brother, leaving him completely alone in this cruel world. *** ¡°So young man, I have a few questions that you might be able to answer. Think you can do it?¡± Knox rested himself on the steering wheel of his cruiser. Adjusting the rear view mirror, he focused its gaze on Gale, who stared blankly off into the rainy sun rise. Gale made not the slightest movement. His eyes didn¡¯t even flinch. ¡°When was the last time you heard or spoke to the individual Effryn?¡± No answer. ¡°You two were close, weren¡¯t you?¡± No answer. Knox pressed off the wheel with a heavy sigh. He lit a cigar, and began smoking it. ¡°Whatever. We¡¯ll find him soon enough. Anyways, we¡¯ll be dropping you off with some religious folks to take care of you. Said they were a foster church or somethin¡¯.¡± Gale couldn¡¯t help but glance at the detective for a moment, before returning his gaze back to the rain. Knox plugged the ignition key in, and was about to turn the engine on. But before he could, Gale muttered a completely attention grabbing phase: ¡°You won¡¯t find him. Not alive anyways.¡± ¡°E-excuse me?!¡± Knox quickly turned around at the young boy whose gaze was focused on the white drops. He asked again, hoping to get any kind of information from the boy. But Gale said nothing else. So, Knox set the cruiser to drive and began his drive to drop off the final survivor of the orphanage. He hoped the kid would spill something about Effryn on the way there. Even if it was just a single word. -But during the entire ride, neither said another word. *** ¡°Damnit Gale!¡± Effryn cried. He wiped the tears from his face. They kept falling. He was sprinting in some direction. He didn¡¯t know where. He didn¡¯t care. He just wanted to expel some energy to burn fuel, kinda like his own antidepressant drug. The snow felt like buckets of freezing water pounding his flesh. His feet were drenched from the puddles that swelled in his shoes. His hair was soaked. His clothes wet. Gale¡¯s sad smile was the only stabbing image that flashed in his head. He wanted to protect that smile. To watch that smile grow. To watch that smile make someone else smile. To watch that smile help birth another smile. But most of all, he wanted to help that smile not be lonely. He wasn¡¯t smiling for Effryn. Gale was a logical person, too logical at times. Effryn knew he didn¡¯t smile for him. ¡°No,¡± Effryn cried out to the pouring skies. ¡°He smiled for himself in hopes he could start a normal life somewhere else, and leave this godforsaken city.¡± He understood. Why stay in a place that simmers with terrible memories? The best thing to do is leave and completely forgot the memories ever existed in the first place. ¡°Enough.¡± Effryn¡¯s footsteps flatlined. ¡°I have to finish this. Then I¡¯ll just go and...get him back. Y-yeah. I¡¯ll go...and get him back.¡± Looking off into the deadset of the city, Effryn felt a hatred for the view grow. He hated the long piecing towers, the same industrialized working zombies, and the never changing social superiority that others felt towards him. How they often pitied him, thinking ¡®Glad I¡¯m not in his shoes.¡¯ and walk away, only to completely forget he ever existed. But he had to keep his feelings tucked away for just a little longer. There was still one goal left for him to take care of, then everything would be finished. ¡°I assume you plan to end your life afterwards, correct?¡± the ghost asked out of nowhere. It pissed him off. ¡°Shut the fuck up.¡± he responded, hiding his teary face. Maybe Gale was right. Effryn thought as he began his pace towards the city he once grew to love. What did I want to do after I finished killing everyone? His mind pondered the question, but he brushed the thought off. I just need to finish this, and I¡¯m sure my mind will clear itself up. He prayed his thoughts were right, because if not¡­ ¡°These thoughts inside my head will soon swallow me up.¡± ¡°Here at this building again? And what are the chances you get drugged like the previous attempt? Or are you prepared for this being the very last building you ever walk into?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure...I don¡¯t get tricked again...again? Never...Never again?¡± Effryn rambled on. At this point, he hardly knew what he was even mumbling on about. Only the deep interlocking of his mind could really tell, if that. Before his cold wet body, stood the bulky construction building that he and Eizer would sparsely hang out at. He always wondered why they never finished it. Oh well, no point wondering now. Taking a few steps forward, Effryn noticed small shards of broken glass splattered everywhere across the first floor. He grew curious for a second, kneeling over to observe the shards. And for an instant, he saw the pathetic look stitched across his face. His drippy hair nearly had enough length to cover his dead eyes, but weren¡¯t quite long enough to fully mask him. His mouth was perpetually gaped, as if he had lost the privilege of speaking by his mind. His clothes were of course soggy and cut. ¡°Oh, I look bad.¡± He said aloud? Or did he think it? He noticed an extra long shard glimmering in the dark. Losing interest in the rest, Effryn decided to pocket it, and moved on from the mystery of the never-finished lobby. Past the glass were the stairs; the only way to the top. His last time going up the stairs, he met some kind of runaway couple who drugged him. What a pain. If I ever see them again, I¡¯m killing them. He began the slow ascend upwards with his gaze purely looking up. But before even reaching the third floor, his foot struck something. ¡°What the hell?¡± It didn¡¯t feel like a loose brick, or building materials. He looked down, and saw why it was neither. A fragile smile spread across Effryn¡¯s face as he stared at the dead young boy. It was the same kid who drugged him some time ago. Rigamortis must¡¯ve kicked in, being how intense his body looked while holding onto some girl, the one he probably was with last time Effryn saw him. ¡°Hehe...HA! What¡¯re you doing now, huh?! You¡¯re lying dead, pathetically, with the person you sacrificed it all for! How did that turn out for ya!¡± he yelled maniacally as he kicked and rubbed his shoe over the dead boys face. ¡°Man, I really wish I remembered your name right now loser¡­¡± After a minute of repeated screaming and kicking, Effryn grew tired. ¡°I¡¯m bored now.¡± he simply said, and continued on his way. He never gave a thought to might have killed them, but he didn¡¯t care either way. For a moment, he realized he slowly began to lose interest in this world and not care for a single thing. But he too, lost interest in thought, and merely walked upwards. A sudden thunderous strike mixed with the snow, creating a small rumbling for the building. ¡°Here.¡± He reached the top of the building. Everything was pretty much the same last time he saw. The dark, metal sheets used to cover the roof were still in effect. The small maintenance building near the edge of a corner stood lonely, with an air conditioner on top that neither Effryn or Eizer could ever get to work. And to the side of that, had been a series of construction cranes, with one that hovered over the building. Then one day when Effryn took Evvryn out here, she decided it was a good idea to be stupid and climb it, causing it to fall. ¡°Man she sure hurt the hell out of my leg.¡± And there, in the darkness, Effryn saw it. The silhouette of a man, surrounded by what seemed like darkened bodies sleeping in weird positions around them. ¡°Oh, who beat me to the party?¡± ¡°Human, those people aren¡¯t sleeping for fun. They¡¯re¡­¡± ¡°Dead.¡± Effryn said in monotone. The silhouette wavered in darkness, like a moth shivering from the lack of light. Effryn approached the man. As he got closer, he could hear whimpering coming from the silhouettes direction. ¡°Hey.¡± The silhouette jumped, perking its head towards Effryn. ¡°H-hey, is that you Ken? T-thank goodness, I would have been a goner without you¡­¡± a man said, lifting himself up, though with some trouble. ¡°Y-you have to protect me! Y-yes, protect me! L-let me hold onto you, and...and you¡¯ll figure the rest out yourself. I-It''s your job after all!¡± After finally picking himself up, the man limped his way towards Effryn. As he walked, the more light was shed on him. His nicely tailored shirt and dress pants were drenched in deep blood. Yet, Effryn saw no cut or wounds on the man himself. Actually, he was sure the man wasn¡¯t hurt at all. Effryn smiled gently, making sure the scared man wouldn¡¯t notice. ¡°Sure it¡¯s me. Come now; let me protect you.¡± ¡°T-thank goodness! I¡¯m glad you called me! Immediately after we left, we got a message saying our base was trashed. Can you believe it?! My hard work, TRASHED!!¡± The darkened man continued to go on about how all his hard work leading up to this moment, and how Ken was supposed to help carry him to start anew. Effryn couldn¡¯t help a snort. ¡°Excuse me.¡± he blew it off as a sneeze. ¡°D-don¡¯t get a cold now! Here, let¡¯s hurry and get insid ¡°G-gath...my shares¡­!¡± An incredible burning pain filled the man¡¯s side. But being as this was the first time anyone had ever attacked him, he had no way of telling that he¡¯d been stabbed. It was sad how fast he was dying. ¡°Oh wait; you¡¯re dead already.¡± What a sad excuse of some mob boss. Effryn plucked out the shard of glass he stuck inside the man. Blood quickly oozed out, staining the clear white with red. Snow began to slowly mix with the color of sin. Another thunder crackled. The building shook. A wicked smile plastered grew. ¡°I did it. I really did it¡­¡± he exasperated. He raised his head and stared off into the thundering clouds. His arms went numb. His head rested heavily against his neck. ¡°I¡¯m so tired.¡± There was no one left. At least, no one he could think of. At long last, he could finally live a happy, peaceful life with Gale. All he needed to do was go back home and- A tear glazed down his cheek. ¡°Oh yeah. He¡¯s gone now.¡± He cried more. Then more. He cried more, and more. There came a horrifyingly scary point where he couldn¡¯t tell the difference between the cold drops of snow, or the incredible storm that had been brewing inside of him. ¡°I guess I should just die now. Not like much of the world is looking bright for me.¡± Effryn lifted himself up. His gaze fixated on the clifftop. His legs need only to move towards the edge, and fall gracefully to his end. ¡°So in the end, you decide suicide is the best way for you. How sad, yet fitting, of a being such as yourself.¡± ¡°Shut up, liar.¡± Effryn¡¯s remark was sharp, but the ghost merely laughed it off. It¡¯s mimicking cries were so eerily similar to Evvryn¡¯s, it was nearly enough to make him jump on its own. He took a step forward. He took a step forward. And he took a step forward. Peering over the edge, Effryn had the entire view of the city. The bustling work of man still operated even in the raging cried of God. If it meant to feed a family, man would endure most to please. If only I still had my family. He thought. At times like these, he thought his mind would be racing, fluttering back and forth, eventually convincing him not to jump. But this was nothing like that. His mind yearned for one thing and one thing alone: an escape. And escape from this hell his life brought upon him. Sure, some of it was his fault. But what other way was there that would have been his way? He exhaled deeply, and felt all the pressure featuring in his shoulders simply die away. Then maybe things wouldn¡¯t have gone this way. He took another step. A few more and he would be- A unique thunder crackled. It sounded close. Dangerously close, as if it were right behind him¡­ Besides the thunder, he felt his mind slow down. Slowly, Effryn turned to find the source of sound. Pain unexplainably filled his back shoulder. There, standing drenched in snow, was his long time friend. Someone who helped Effryn whenever he needed. He always thought that if it weren¡¯t for him, he probably wouldn¡¯t have made it very far in life. ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late, friend.¡± he softly cried. Light briefly flashed; showing that he clearly didn¡¯t want to be doing this. He held a small handgun, and pointed it directly at Effryn. ¡°E-Eizer? What brings you here?¡± Effryn asked, ignoring the strange pain that only seemed to be growing. ¡°I¡¯m here to come through on a promise.¡± Eizer shifted the gun at Effryn¡¯s head, pressing his index finger against the trigger.. ¡°H-hey now...what are you¡­¡± Effryn raised his hand to better see Eizer through the bright light from Eizer¡¯s hand.. Thunder crackled once more. A flash of light appeared in Eizer¡¯s hands. ¡°W-what the hell?¡± Effryn muttered. His hand felt hot. Like hot. Burning fire hot. Then nothing. It went numb? He glanced at his hand, but he felt his strength crumble once he noticed most of it was blown off. ¡°S-shit¡­ S-shit?! S-shi-¡± Another crackle. This time, the burning touch was directed on his left thigh. He collapsed on the ground. ¡°Eizer¡­?¡± Effryn cried. ¡°Eizer!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. If I knew what you were really up to, then maybe¡­¡± another crack of light. ¡°...you wouldn¡¯t have turned out like this. Tst, another miss.¡± Another miss? Hardly being one since he shot him in the gut. Effryn¡¯s face contorted with sadness. The last person in the world he ever expected to backstab him was instead shooting him in the back. ¡°Why?!?!¡± Effryn screamed, his body suddenly becoming filled with freezing despair. He tried desperately to look him into his eyes, but even that proved difficult. All he could manage was to keep conconsious, even if just barely. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault. All my fault¡­¡± Eizer repeated over and over. Another piece of light cracked. Effryn was sure that he would die soon. Very soon. ¡°All...of our memories...for what? For...this¡­?¡± Effryn coughed blood. Where did they go? All our precious times together? How¡­ What sick, twisted God would allow this? I bet their laughing their crowns off seeing me¡­ Strange? God? When did I ever start thinking about that? Only thing I ever thought holy was Frael. Then again, the ghost¡­ The ghost. The strange thing that mimicked Evvryn and could only speak to Effryn. It''s only separating factor from a mental disorder was the proof that if had a force. It could move objects. Activate simple machines. Hell, he thought from time to time that it could even read his mind. It helped him from time to time. But nearing the end of things, it changed. That¡¯s right! Everything was that things fault! Damnit! Damnit damnit damnit!! If only I could get my hands on it, then I could strangle, cut, rip...kill it. If only¡­!! A rage festered like a disease inside Effryn. A boiling hatred; one that could only be appeased by killing. ¡°I¡¯ll...KILL YOU!!¡± Effryn shouted with every last bit of energy in him. He forcefully willed himself to stand, ignoring all the pain that came with it. Surprised, Eizer leaped backwards. ¡°Effryn...why didn¡¯t you die right there? Why continue?¡± he cried. His expression looked genuinely perplexed, and extremely distressed. ¡°I¡¯ll kill...kill...kill¡­!¡± Effryn started. He moved his legs towards Eizer, slowly increasing his pace until he reached an impressive immediate sprinting speed. ¡°I¡¯LL KILL YOU GHOS The final thunder crackled. And with that, so did the final bullet leave the guns chamber. Effryn knew it was the last, being he watched the last bullet come soaring right into his brain. Memories of what used to be a lazy, ignorant life flooded his thoughts. Times where he¡¯d just spend all day playing games. Some days, the person he grew feelings for and had the chance to fall in love with, Evvryn, were there. Others, she was out. Nei popped into his mind. He regretted not being able to give her a proper answer on how he felt, but what could he do? Then there were times where Effryn and Evvryn would both go out to the orphanage, and play with all the children. They would go visit Mother and Father, even helping around the house with chores and such. And in a few cases, were the times Effryn and Eizer would sneak out at an ungodly time of night. They¡¯d always go to one specific spot, and ironically, it was here. The same place where Eizer shot Effryn six five times, with the final sixth slowly entering his head. These may have been time spent on doing mostly nothing, wasting life on something meaningless. But to Effryn, these were the greatests times of his life. More images of the past cluttered Effryn¡¯s mind as time practically stopped. The rain seemed to move in place. The more he thought back to his old life, the more he seemed to drift away from this world, and into some kind of dream world. Oh, if only that kind of world really existed, now wouldn¡¯t that be fucking nice¡­ Light flashed. Snow poured. Effryn fell face forward. His body sluggishly came to a slew, yet he didn¡¯t move afterwards. *** ¡°I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± was the only thing Eizer muttered as he stood over the corpse of his best friend. He brushed his hand across his dampened hair, feeling a heavy burden swell. On all sides of the building, he noticed blue and red flashing. The cops were here. Eizer glanced down at his old friend, muttering a simple ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± before lifting himself in a sluggish manner upwards, moving directly for the stairs. ¡°But I have a life to live, too.¡± He said his goodbyes, before descending the fragile stairs, leaving his friend covered in the cold, wet snow. ¡°What a sorry excuse of an ending; especially for a human.¡± something whispered. ¡°All his efforts for naught. Even if they yielding some fruit, nothing matters in the end. Not if your mortal. A dark force has already been released in this world-universe-and there is not a single soul able to stop it. But so what of it? I grew tired of watching these beings after being attached to that boy for some time. I could hardly care a world. It¡¯s humanity''s burden to bear. Even if said burden is a true monster¡­¡±