《Cycle of the Tides》


 1-1 Sinking

    Cold. Bone-chilling cold, penetrating and consuming him - that was all the young boy could think of as he bobbed gently up and down in the swells of that black river. He was close to shore, but, sapped of energy, saw that it may as well have been a thousand miles away.


    It was night, and a shadow of deeper darkness hid him from view as he passed under the titanic bridge above, which seemed to rise away up into the clouds. The flow of vehicles blared against the night, cracking the still air and conspiring with the bridge to create an ear-piercing roar. Even so far away, that roar reached the boy¡¯s ears, the sensation a tenuous link to his awareness of the world.


    Soon, the noise was joined by a thundering downpour of freezing rain. The river drew the boy away from the sound of a slowly fading scream as all other senses faded, and even the cold began to segue into numbness. Even the crackle of thunder that split the night sky failed to rouse him from the encroaching nothing.


    He had given his best shot at survival. Now, he was tired and ready for rest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that he floated over a great abyss, ready to engulf him and swallow him up. But that didn¡¯t seem so bad a thing anymore. As a creeping, blooming warmth seeped into his limbs and burrowed its way deep into his core, he wondered if he would sink into that abyss, or if he would simply fall, like swirling fog into a yawning chasm.


    For a brief moment, the tail of that scream broke the silence and reached him. The boy felt himself in the gaze of a guardian angel, looking down on him. One eye went dark and became the eye of that sentry, looking down on him from the bridge. His vision was split down the middle between his own, and that of this second party. When he closed his left eye, ice forming on its lashes, the now foreign right eye was given full clarity and control. Looking down on himself through his guardian¡¯s eyes, the boy heard a plea in the overlap between their shared minds.


    Don¡¯t give up.


    His eye still closed, the boy reached a hand out of the brine, up towards the bridge, and felt the impossible distance between them. But, in this strange altered space they had created, their hands could nearly meet and clasp each other. This hand held warmth, true warmth, warmth the boy¡¯s body craved, warmth that could break the chill and bring his blood and bones back to life. But another voice whispered in his ear.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t be afraid.


    Briefly, it seemed a hand ruffled his sleet-plastered hair and caressed his pale face, even now being drained of its lively pallor. Strangely, the fear had been erased completely with this, as if some lifeline to the world above he craved had been severed. He dipped below the gentle waves and began to sink.


    As he descended, he watched with placid fascination as the sky dimmed to the inky black, as his other vision caught only distorted glimpses of his body beneath the waves until that too faded.


    Below thirty or so feet, his vision returned to normal. His mouth opened and a torrent of freezing water rushed in and flooded his lungs. He thrashed violently for just a moment, and then went limp as the cold subsided, serenity setting in. Warmth replaced the chilling cold, accompanied by a sense of bliss. The warmth and peace were now absolute. The boy did not struggle for air, for he no longer felt buried beneath oppressive liquid. Instead, he felt as though he were gently drifting through the air, a petal on a warm spring breeze.


    Yes, he thought, I¡¯ve become a fragment of something more, something bigger.


    He was as a blossom in a vast field of roses, flowers existing as separate manifestations of one - part of a network entwined together as a patchwork cloth, a whole - a World. He was one small part of something greater, and something greater in every small part.


    But all things are transient.


    What in tender spring bloomed bright and beautiful shall wither and fall in the pitiless winter. Yes, a petal, scattered to the wind for just a moment, more vibrant and beautiful than ever before.


    He watched, hypnotized by a trail of air bubbles leaving his mouth, rising upward with desperate speed. His eyes closed, a soft smile touching his face. Somehow, he felt so calm and serene. It should have been crushing him, but instead, it cradled him as he spiraled ever deeper into the murk, carried down by a great motherly force, as if he were with the mother of all things.


    He should have hit the bottom long before now, he realized distantly. In slight curiosity, he observed a translucent film of silt and trash swirling above him where his body lay on its back, nestled in the mud as if enjoying a peaceful nap. Drifting away from his earthly container, he felt himself regress into unbirth, into the womb, again a waiting child.


    How many times has it been now? he wondered, as light enveloped his world.

 1-2 New Faces

    ¡°Are you supposed to be here?¡±


    Dares slowly opened his eyes, and they locked onto a pair of deep hazel ones that regarded him as if he were an interesting animal on display at the zoo. The grass was cool on his back in the shade of the bleachers he had nested behind. In the distance sat a monolithic building - a school perched on a cliff, overlooking a scenic ravine.


    Am I supposed to be here? That¡¯s an interesting question.


    One eye half-lidded, the fog of sleep encircling the boy, eager to reclaim him. He didn¡¯t suppose the nuisance would go away if he just ignored her, would it?


    ¡°Umm¡­¡± - an uncomfortable filler.


    No. No it would not. Half yawning, half sighing, Dares brought himself up into a half-presentable slouch and resumed eye contact. The girl was about his age, with short auburn hair and a pouty face framed by a few dangling bangs. She was wearing an orange tank top and a pair of running shorts. Was she on the track team? There wasn¡¯t a number pinned on her.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to be here as much as anyone is supposed to be anywhere else. Is there a problem?¡± asked Dares.


    ¡°It¡¯s just, classes are still in session and you don¡¯t look like you¡¯re part of any of the activities. Do you have a free period? If so, I don¡¯t think this is an approved place to rest, maybe try study hall. If you have time to nap, you could always use that time to brush up on -¡±


    Oh god he was sorry he asked.


    ¡°Ababa-buh - shush.¡± Dares pushed a finger to the girl¡¯s cherry lips. ¡°As a matter of fact, I was studying. Catching up on my dream classes. I¡¯ve been falling behind you see, grades are slipping.¡± Dares offered what he supposed was a joke, but he neither felt into it nor felt that the nosy girl would understand it.


    ¡°You must be the new transfer, right? It was Dares, wasn¡¯t it? That¡¯s right, at orientation, Dares -¡±


    Dares flashed a fearsome glare at her, one that froze the girl in her tracks.


    ¡°Just Dares is fine. And no offense, but it really isn¡¯t any of your business what I choose to do with my free time.¡±


    The girl crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. ¡°It may be none of my business, but you really ought to spare a moment to consider how your choices reflect on everyone else. If the collective grade average for our year drops below the standard, we can get blacklisted from the school festivities!¡±


    Dares had started tuning her out, quite used to the lectures he got from the teachers and staff, and getting one now from a peer was not so different. It was vexing though, that her rant on moral obligations to the collective will of the many was driving a wedge between him and the dream he was trying to climb back into. The details were becoming fuzzier, fading fast, like a shadow as the sun set on a sweltering day.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± the girl snapped, nearly trembling with frustration.


    ¡°Might take your advice after all. The nice thing about study hall is it¡¯s quiet.¡± Dares emphasized that last word pointedly.


    The girl looked stung. Dares felt a brief pain of guilt that he quickly buried. She could have just minded her own business, after all.


    But, Dares did not get far. The path between the bleachers was blocked by the imposing shadow of the track coach.


    ¡°Miss Koizumi, water breaks generally do not take longer than five minutes, am I right?¡±


    The girl sheepishly looked away, blushing furiously. ¡°I was uh, exceptionally thirsty?¡± she pleaded upward, eyes wincing against the stern frown etched into the large man¡¯s sunburnt and whiskered face.


    ¡°And you¡¯re chatting with a friend?¡± he inquired, scratching his chin.


    ¡°I was just on my way out, actually. I was hoping this girl could point me to Block C?¡± Dares contradicted casually enough. He wouldn¡¯t bother correcting the big bear in front of him that that girl who Dares had just met was by no stretch of the imagination a friend. But, the authority saw what he saw, and what he saw became the accepted truth. When Dares was given a detention for truancy, he shrugged that off as well. He would have his nap one way or another, and there wasn¡¯t anything God himself could do to keep his head off that hard desk waiting for him in the after-hours classroom. Admittedly, Dares felt a little peeved when the Koizumi girl was reprimanded and sentenced too, for what amounted only to a very liberal charge of class disruption.


    Well, no good deed goes unpunished, that was they saying, wasn¡¯t it?


    Dares would have his rest, but he now severely doubted he would return to the wonderful dream he had been having. And for that, his bitterness won out over any sympathy he may have had for the girl that was lumped in with his delinquency. As both were being led out of the track field and into the main office to be processed, Dares spared a long glance at the girl dragging her feet pitifully behind, bringing up the rear of this strange human train of shame. Her fists were balled up tight, wrists cocked out, and hot, bitter tears welling up in her eyes. Dares felt, rather than heard her overwhelming, desperate sentiment -


    This isn¡¯t fair!


    Dares felt pensive now, some part of him reaching out to share in that crippling burden, but a part he was largely unconscious of.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t fair¡±¡­ How many times¡­? How many times have I told myself those same words over all these years?


    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡± - a soft giggle, so soft it might have been the wind. The instructor never looked back as he marched his charges inexorably towards their place of punishment.


    But the girl caught it on the wind, and looked up, hurt and confused, but also curious. And to her shock, she saw Dares had thrown back his head and was cackling hysterically. It was absurdly riotous to hear this little perfectionist declare something ¡°unfair¡±. Oh, the world, the world was so vast.


    The main offices were undergoing renovations, which relocated disciplinary measures to the spare attendance office where the two children were seated and awaited judgment from the vice principal. The girl, whose first name was Jun, Dares soon learned, squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, desperately wanting more than anything to disappear. She had clearly never gotten in trouble before. Their judge, a tired woman who looked like she couldn¡¯t wait another day for retirement, remanded them to serve out their detentions in study hall with the others. At this, Dares smiled serenely.


    Exactly what I wanted.


    The room was meant to contain and deprive naughty children. They were to be kept inside, but the room couldn¡¯t control their thoughts. Dares was as free in his head as any bird spreading its wings upon the sky. He saw himself among the clouds with them, soaring as high as the sun, an eagle of light. He smiled. This will be a good dream.


    As Dares drifted off, the smells of cherry bubble gum and menthol cigarettes drifted up from the back of the classroom. Dares peaked over his shoulder at an older girl dressed somewhere between a goth and a punk rocker, with slashed jeans and a frayed purple blouse that slid down on one shoulder. Her wrists were clapped in spiked gauntlets, matched by the studded choker she wore, a purple heart dangling from it on a chain. Her straight hair was dyed silver, and one side grew longer than the other, covering her eye. The visible eye was icy and disinterested.


    Wonder what she¡¯s in for. That¡¯s a lot to work with. Dress code violation? Fighting?


    Dares went over the possibilities, conjuring each individual scenario and playing it out to see where it went. Whatever branching path the narrative took, it inevitably ended in confrontation with an authority figure, the same as Dares¡¯ had.


    He looked to another desk a few rows over. The overpowering musk of body spray and antiperspirant hit him before he processed the boy¡¯s physical dimensions. A broad, caramel-skinned boy, seventeen-going-on-twenty-three, with slicked back, shiny black hair, and a gold chain hanging around his thick, corded neck. His extra-large basketball shirt still strained against his bulging muscles, and his biceps looked as thick as a kangaroo¡¯s legs. He was dozing away peacefully, looking much like an overgrown baby despite his form.


    Lucky. Dares envied the older boy. There was too much energy in the room, Dares couldn¡¯t find his peace. The nap it seemed, would have to wait, blasphemous boasts to the contrary aside.


    Not really thinking about it, Dares turned his head over on the smooth desk to his left, where Jun sat miserably. She looked more like she were strapped into an electric chair than being held for twenty or so minutes in the same desk she¡¯d normally be studying in anyway. Her head was cast down, burdened by great weight. She could only stare into her lap and wait for the time to pass. Was that the real reason Dares couldn¡¯t sleep? Her stress and shame radiated out of her, hitting him like a wave.


    I feel stir-crazy just being in the same room with this girl.


    Dares began impatiently tapping on his desk. Viscous black despair twisted up through his body, an unfamiliar sensation he couldn¡¯t place.


    ¡°H-Hey¡­¡± Dares whispered. The girl looked at him like a kicked puppy. Hey¡­ Hey what? What did I want to say? Did I even think it through before the words left my lips?


    He saw a book in her hand. So, she was using the time to study. Her fingers gripped, pressed into the leatherback as she scowled, mistrust in her eyes. He read the message loud and clear - This is your fault.


    Yeah. It¡¯s my fault. Maybe he meant to say that. Instead, he heard himself say ¡°What are you reading?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Jun¡¯s resentment broke a moment to let genuine surprise bleed through. ¡°This? It¡¯s an allegory. It¡¯s about old men chained up in a cave, ever since birth, never seeing the outside world, only knowing the shadows that moved on the wall from things that passed behind them in the light.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Only shadows.


    The back door burst open and a booming voice called it¡¯s welcome into the quiet chamber, where the echo resounded like a pistol shot.


    ¡°Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, how are we all on this lovely sunny day? Why are we all inside when daylight¡¯s burning?¡± a boy known as Shunpei stood in the doorway, arms outstretched, radiating like the sun. The light shone in from behind him, framing him in the heavenly glow. He was somewhat taller than Dares, with spiky, dirty blonde hair, and a white vest slashed open to accentuate his boyish abs. On his sneaker was a smudge of black ink.


    ¡°Hey, close that door! You¡¯re blinding us in here!¡± Dares snapped, his eyes covered. Had it been so dark in the room that their eyes had become this sensitive to the outside light? Perhaps. What was detention but sensory deprivation?


    ¡°No worries, your eyes will adjust. So, is this where the party¡¯s at? Who¡¯ve we got here? Hey, skimpy¡¯s here! Spare a stick of gum?¡± Shunpei immediately sidled up to the punk girl¡¯s desk.


    Those icy eyes narrowed. ¡°I doubt it.¡±


    ¡°Say, love the hair, you do this yourself?¡± the boy didn¡¯t even stumble, and boldly reached out a hand to run through the silver strands. The aloof girl¡¯s pupils narrowed in disbelief.


    The muscle-bound boy to the right stood up and approached Shunpei, cracking his knuckles.


    ¡°Bro, you¡¯ve got two seconds to-¡±


    ¡°Easy, big guy, I¡¯m just people-greeting, trying to get a feel for the room!¡± Shunpei laughed, ruffling the girl¡¯s hair. Her haunches raised like a feral cat ready to strike. Shunpei broke away at the apex of that tension and turned his head up to the adolescent staring him down. ¡°Wow, you are a tall bastard. So tell me, did you have to duck under the doorway coming in here, or did you just let it hit you in the face? Cause that would explain the loo-¡±


    Shunpei ducked under the swing of the older boy¡¯s arm and cocked his head to one side in mock confusion. ¡°Was it something I said?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Sato, I think that¡¯s quite enough. Won¡¯t you please have a seat and wait out your time quietly?¡± the woman at the desk half-pleaded, pinching the bridge of her nose.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here under protest. I was NOT responsible for what happened to that window.¡± Shunpei announced, hands on hips. He quickly became bored with defending himself though, and turned towards Dares. Their eyes met, and in that brief instant, Dares saw a cunning slyness in those cyan orbs. ¡°Well, a new face. What can I call you, good sir?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Dares...¡±


    ¡°I dig it. So Dares, want to see a magic trick?¡± Shunpei¡¯s eyes glinted as his toothy grin lit up the room. Without waiting for an answer - ¡°Nothing up my sleeve!¡± - he slipped a pack of gum from his vest.


    The punk girl blanched. ¡°What the?!¡± and began frantically searching her many pockets.


    ¡°Who wants one?¡± Shunpei giggled, and clasped Dares¡¯ hand familiarly, pressing a gum stick into his palm. He casually tossed the remaining sticks across the classroom to anyone who would receive. The one he tossed to Jun merely bounced off her head, and she offered no reaction.


    ¡°Teach?¡± Shunpei called out, tossing a remaining stick to their utterly baffled supervisor. ¡°I would consider it a personal favor if you accepted this.¡±


    Dares couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing and hearing. What kind of iron security did this guy have that he could just parade around like he owned the room where he was supposed to be suffering?


    ¡°Oh, and,¡± Shunpei tossed a roll of cash at the teacher. ¡°here¡¯s what you made off of my last game. There¡¯s the door.¡± Shunpei winked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.


    ¡°...What the hell¡­¡± It was Dares¡¯ turn to cock his head.


    Once they all had the room to themselves, Shunpei kicked his legs back up on the desk. ¡°So, I¡¯ve got another game coming up this week, I think I can get you all ticket discounts, who wants in?¡±


    Dead silence.


    ¡°Tough crowd. No sports fans?¡± Shunpei chuckled. ¡°What about you, tiny, I¡¯ve seen you shooting hoops down at the court. Wanna expand your horizon?¡±


    The large boy grunted curtly.


    ¡°For the love of God, someone shut him up.¡± the punk girl grumbled irritably. Dares noticed dark circles under her eyes.


    ¡°Hey, I know! Since we¡¯re all stuck here together, let¡¯s form a club? Heh, who¡¯s in?¡± Shunpei suggested excitedly.


    The two desks in the back loudly pushed back.


    ¡°Hurry now, spots are closing quick.¡± Shunpei rolled his eyes.


    Dares glanced longingly at the clock on the wall, where the minute hands seemed to be going backwards. Now detention was unpleasant.


    Shunpei pushed himself up onto Dares¡¯ desk and sat there, feet kicking off the sides like a little kid.


    ¡°What the hell do you thi-mmf!¡± Dares was silenced when Shunpei shoved the stick of gum practically down his throat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk, just listen. Dares, right?¡± Shunpei cocked his head, grinning audaciously.


    Dares silently nodded, disbelieving.


    ¡°I want you.¡± Shunpei said fondly.


    Dares swallowed his gum. He heard a fake cough in the back - the punk girl? Did he hear this guy correctly? ¡°Are you a homo?¡± Dares blurted out thoughtlessly.


    Shunpei threw his head back and laughed up a storm, from deep within the belly. ¡°Not one to mince words, are you? Here¡¯s my offer - join my troupe.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m putting together a motley crue to go turn the world upside down. Let¡¯s go down to the beach, grab some logs, put a raft together, and take it down that river to see what waits at the end of the horizon!¡± Shunpei announced boldly, as if he were asking Dares to go catch a movie.


    ¡°Hell no! I¡¯m not going to be your go-fer!¡±


    Shunpei put out a silencing palm. ¡°I refuse.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± said Dares, feeling pressure build inside him.


    ¡°I refuse your refusal. This is a draft, boyo. I demand your sword at my side. I can count on you, right?¡± Shunpei playfully punched Dares¡¯ shoulder.


    Dares stood up from his desk and walked away. As his hand touched the door handle, Jun¡¯s voice peaked up. ¡°You can¡¯t just leave, you¡¯re going to get in bigger trouble!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anyone stopping me. Are you going to?¡± Dares eyed a challenge at the timid girl. Jun frantically whipped her head back and forth across the room, seeking rational assistance to talk this rebel out of his crime, and found none. So, she stayed in her seat and stayed silent, merely glaring at him.


    ¡°Then if there are no objections-¡±


    ¡°My next game is this Saturday. Come see it.¡± Shunpei interrupted.


    ¡°Huh? Excuse me?¡± Dares paused at the door. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not interested in your little discounts, so-¡±


    ¡°Admission free.¡± Shunpei cut in.


    ¡°What are you trying to pull?¡± Dares eyed him suspiciously.


    Shunpei winked. ¡°Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m protecting my interests.¡±


    Dares stared at him, pondering. Why should the clown go so far just to get a hired hand?


    ¡°Whatever.¡± Dares sighed. He was never going to get that nap.


    The punk girl and the large boy both stood up from their desks. Apparently, Dares had given them an idea. They stood patiently behind him, waiting for him to open the door and walk out, clearing the path for their escape.


    ¡°I believe we¡¯re going your way.¡± said the punk girl, already slipping her pack of menthols from her cleavage, content that there was no security to reprimand her - Shunpei had seen to that.


    ¡°Do me a favor.¡± Shunpei called out. Dares looked up to meet his gaze. ¡°Think it over, okay? If you don¡¯t show up, my heart just might not be in it. The team¡¯s really counting on me for this one.¡± he grinned.


    Stop grinning at me like that. There was that palpable, nauseating feeling welling up in Dares again, putting pressure on his chest.


    ¡°Come on, squirt, what¡¯s the holdup?¡± said the punk girl, anxiously playing with the heart dangling off her choker.


    Dares swallowed heavily, and that choking feeling was gone. ¡°No hold up. I¡¯m out, you guys do what you want.¡± And then he marched deliberately through the open frame, never once looking back or sparing second thoughts on his decision. As the door swung slowly closed behind him, he thought for a moment that he could see that gleaming smile just out of the corner of his eye. And then the crack was closed, and Dares stood alone in the hall. Or, so he thought.


    ¡°Later, little buddy.¡± a blaise voice cut the pensive silence as Dares felt a large, powerful hand grip his shoulder. Images that he didn''t recognize flashed through his mind and his body spasmed. His eyes changed. Dares instinctively grabbed that tanned wrist and twisted, yanking the thuggish hand away from his shoulder. He locked eyes with the older, hulking boy. ¡°Don¡¯t touch me. Don¡¯t ever touch me.¡± he growled, teeth grinding and bared like fangs.


    The caramel-skinned boy backed up, hands in front of him. ¡°Hey bro, no problem, chill out, alright?¡±


    Dares slowly eased the tension out of his body. ¡°I like my personal space, ok?¡±


    ¡°Hey man, you don¡¯t have to explain zilch to me.¡± the boy shrugged, waltz-lumbering over to the vending machine. He nonchalantly smacked the box with his rock-solid and calloused fist, sending a deep tremor through the machine. An energy drink came tumbling out into the reception tray. The boy grabbed the can, which looked like a dixie cup in his gorilla-hand, and popped the lid, knocking back a huge gulp that must have drained half the contents. Wiping away the green residue on his thick lips with the hairy back of one of those monstrous hands, he threw a ¡°not-half-bad¡± look at Dares. ¡°You know, for a skinny little twerp, you¡¯ve got quite a grip. Maybe we could arm wrestle over some drinks sometime.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Dares answered dryly.


    Shrugging again, the boy dragged himself off down the hall.


    ¡°Not very social, are you?¡± the punk girl looked Dares up and down.


    ¡°I don¡¯t hate people. It¡¯s this place. It¡¯s so cramped. There¡¯s nowhere to go to get away from everyone. I can take socialization in small doses, but being cooped up with the same faces for hours on end is exhausting.¡± Dares sighed, scratching his head.


    ¡°An overwatered wallflower?¡± the girl smiled slyly. She poked Dares¡¯ chest with one purple-painted nail.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t touch-¡±


    ¡°Zip it, little boy. I didn¡¯t forget you took my gum from me without permission.¡±


    ¡°If you want to blame someone, blame Sunshine in there.¡± Dares thumbed to the door behind them.


    ¡°Guilt by association.¡± the girl sighed. ¡°But I suppose that kid¡¯s connections did give us a get-out-of-jail-free card, so I¡¯ll consider us even for now. It¡¯s Claire, by the way. Ryder and I are step-cousins, just moved into the trailer park at the edge of town.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°Dares, I know. We¡¯re still unpacking, maybe you¡¯d like to lend a hand? I like to see a man work.¡± the girl traced a slow circle on Dares¡¯ chest that made his flesh quiver. In disgust. Definitely in disgust.


    Dares batted her hand away. ¡°Maybe another day.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re more into -¡± Claire rolled her eyes at the door. ¡°-that¡­ Well,¡± she threw her hands behind her head. ¡°suit yourself.¡± and she strutted toward the nearest exit. ¡°A word of advice from someone older and more experienced.¡± Claire glanced back, her icy eyes flashing chillingly. ¡°Sooner or later, you¡¯re going to have to decide who your friends are. Pick wisely.¡±


    And with that, she sauntered out into the sunlit day. Dares stood alone in the hallway again, and felt the air was suddenly frigid and drafty. He rubbed his shoulder, numbly trying to work some heat into his flesh. He turned to the back exit, deciding he didn¡¯t want to tail those two on his way home.


    As he turned the corner into an adjacent hall, he passed by someone whose face he didn¡¯t see. In that moment, time was frozen. The pulse of the air petrified in place, the flicker of a faulty light stayed static in place, casting odd, dancing shadows on the wall that moved like living things. A hand brushed his, and a powerful force exploded out of them both, coloring the room in negative, where the angles met each other in strange and distorted aberrations of geometry. The ground felt sloped, even as Dares stood centered on it. A moth swam through the inverted colors, dust trailing off its wings.


    ¡°...¡±


    What?


    Rippling flares of deep blue. The tickle of raven hair brushing his face. The heavy aroma of fresh coffee grounds. A tide of emotions and sensations washed over Dares in this place where time stood still. A tickle at his nose. A buildup of pressure and anticipation, and then,


    Achoo!


    He sneezed. It pierced the illusion and split the deep azure. The flow of time resumed, the angles of the building again conformed to euclidian expectation, and only the echo of footsteps out of sight implied the ethereal encounter.

 1-4 Lost

    ¡°Boo-yeah! Top of the class again!¡± Ryder bellowed, savagely ringing the bell affixed to the gymnasium ceiling with one hand and holding himself aloft on the rope with the other. The bulky boy slid down the rope like one descending a firepole, eliciting a wince from a few of the students who imagined the friction burns he surely gave himself. Ryder shrugged off their pained expressions and presented his raw palms. ¡°Hey, no pain no gain.¡± he grinned. ¡°I beat my old record up and down the rope, and you owe me ten bucks!¡± he clapped a skinnier boy on the back, nearly bowling him over.


    ¡°No way, I can¡¯t believe this! You¡¯ve gotta be doping!¡± the boy accused him.


    ¡°Fair and square. You can pay up at Lunch.¡± Ryder chuckled, meaty hands behind his head.


    The sounds of squeaking sneakers on the varnished floor filled out the gym as the students who had either completed their exercises or had free time off of other classes dribbled across the basketball court, sectioned off from the rope room by a line of white tape.


    ¡°I¡¯m all done here, right coach?¡± Ryder grinned.


    ¡°You¡¯re clear. Go to the court if you want. Those of you who¡¯ve finished are free to play. Otherwise, hit the showers and get out of here.¡± their portly instructor grumbled, marking Ryder¡¯s time and crossing him off the checklist on his clipboard. He chewed on his worn pen while he read off the remaining names. ¡°Ok, who do we have left? Has anyone seen Claire?¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s seen her since this morning.¡± a girl called from the back.


    ¡°Again? I can count the times that young lady¡¯s shown up in my gym on one hand, I tell you that much.¡± the coach buried his head in his palm.


    Dares fidgeted a little, feeling his blood pressure rising. Frustration like this was palpable, and in a way, louder than the hootings and hollerings down the basketball court to Dares.


    ¡°I wonder why she¡¯s absent so often?¡± another girl pondered.


    ¡°Three guesses!¡± Shunpei said playfully with a cheshire cat grin. He held out his first two fingers together and cocked his wrist. ¡°Look at me, I¡¯m a hardcore goth rebel.¡± Shunpei mimicked somberly, and exaggeratedly exhaled a whistling stream of air, his eyes narrowed to disinterested slants. With his other hand, he flipped his hair, covering one eye. ¡°You are all equally boring to me.¡±


    The girls around Shunpei erupted into a helpless giggling fit. When Shunpei started counting imaginary slits down his wrists, Ryder changed his course from the court to march up to him with lumbering footsteps. The coach threw out an arm across his puffed out chest to hold him at bay.


    ¡°Easy, tiger. How about you just go cool off?¡± he implored Ryder. Reluctantly, Ryder did, cursing under his breath.


    ¡°I sound just like her, don¡¯t I?¡± Shunpei fished for praise, eyes alight with cheer.


    ¡°Shunpei, fifty push ups right now!¡± the coach bellowed, his face strained and turning purple, a vein bulging out on his sagging forehead.


    ¡°Sir, yes Sir!¡± Shunpei saluted humorously and dropped to the ground.


    ¡°You know, I just don¡¯t think I¡¯m getting through to this one.¡± the coach sighed to himself.


    Dares¡¯ head pounded. He could tell his teacher was having a pretty bad migraine, and just wanted to go home early and have a few beers, a handful of motrin, and a long nap. Dares¡¯ nose tickled as the scent of cheap malt floated into his nostrils, mixed with the perpetual musk of sweat that hung around this place in a thick haze. He swayed a little on his feet and his head sloped to one shoulder.


    ¡°Dares!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dares snapped to attention.


    ¡°You¡¯re up next! Come on, sport, let¡¯s wrap this up!¡± the coach tapped his foot impatiently.


    Dares wobbled on his feet, swaying as if a reed in the wind. A brief spell of lightheadedness. He buried it and jumped up, clamping his body to the rope, and began his ascent. Higher and higher he pulled himself, feeling the world below shrink as he reached towards the bell at the top. A brief slip, a scramble, a catch. The rope shook, Dares dangling off of it, and a wave traveled down the bottom where it exited the tip, flitting back and forth like the tail of a rattlesnake.


    Keep moving forward.


    Dares climbed, and pictured his ceiling, the cosmos stretched wide and vast and calling to him. The ceiling rippled like water, and Dares realized it was the cosmos. Unreal cold swam over him and the color drained out of his vision until everything was a muddled gray. The chittering thing descended from the starry space above, crawling face-first down the rope to meet Dares. Dares¡¯ breath froze in the air, his head spinning.


    Not now¡­


    The thing breathed in, its flap of mouth pulled into that concave jaw. The dimensions of the room melted away to a shaft of light encasing the writhing rope, and outside this narrow well of light was nothing but endless darkness. In this vertical dark tunnel were only Dares and the creature. Numbness claimed him again as it had the night before, and his hands fell away from the rope. He fell down through the air, into the abyss, feeling every particle of air move around him and make waves up the shaft.


    Down, down, down, ever down. As Dares fell, that shaft of light constricted, becoming smaller and smaller until it was but a line, and this too blinked out.


    -


    A little boy was lost somewhere dark and claustrophobic. Rolling black fog grew and grew behind him. There was something in the fog that wanted him and was calling out his name, compelling him to come closer. I don¡¯t want to go back there¡­


    The boy turned and ran, but could not put distance between himself and the living shadow behind him. It pulled the speed and energy out of him, and his legs felt thick and heavy like lead. He was running blindly through the dark.


    Dares. a comforting voice called him.


    Dares saw a circle of light ahead of him at the end of the infinite dark path. An indiscernible, feminine figure stood there in the light, reaching out her hand. There was safety in the light, there the thing could not claim him.


    Mother! Mother, help me! Tendrils of black smoke curled around his ankles. The light and his mother within began receding. Hot tears rolled down his young, frightened face.


    I¡¯m going now, Dares. the figure smiled sadly.


    No! No, don¡¯t go! Please, don¡¯t leave me alone in the dark!


    Goodbye, Dares.


    Come back! Help me, please! The boy pleaded desperately as the smoke began to wrap around his chest and under his arms and around his neck, pulling him back, pulling him away from the light and his mother. He could hear the faint whispers inside the cloud, the cold breaths of the underworld on the nape of his neck, raising his hairs.


    No, no, I¡¯m not coming with you, ever! Let me go! Dares screamed at the writhing, whispering shadows.


    Goodbye, Dares¡­ her voice echoed towards him. Even as she called her farewell, a hand still reached out for him to take hold of, if he could only reach it. He seemed so much closer now.


    Mother, wait! Take me with you! Please, take my hand!


    Their fingers brushed each other. I¡¯m almost there!


    And the little boy was yanked away and piled under the weight of the shadows, growing and growing over him, pressing his face into the cold ground. A veil of shadow covered half his face, and with one eye he saw his mother pulled away from him. Futilely, his arm still stretched out.


    Please¡­ don¡¯t go¡­


    -


    Warmth and serenity. Dares felt his entire body at peace. He was enveloped in the tender sun, shining through the screen of a beautiful pink tree, raining petals down on him.


    Its warm. Soft. His head lay in someone¡¯s lap, and a gentle, slender hand stroked his hair tenderly.


    ¡°You were murmuring in your sleep again, Dares. What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    This voice. So familiar¡­ ¡°...It¡¯s nothing¡­¡± - it didn¡¯t matter where Dares was. He felt contentment and peace.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°It¡¯s so quiet here, you can hear each petal touch the lake.¡± that ethereal, heavenly voice floated down to Dares¡¯ ears again.


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t hear anything¡­¡± Dares murmured up to his protector. He couldn¡¯t make out her face. It was that same shining pale white, contrasted by her veil of hair like dark water. He saw only the gentle smile looking down over him, but the eyes were hidden. His vision was blurry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen with your ears.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ how am I supposed to¡­?¡±


    ¡°Shh¡­ hush now¡­¡± one of those delicate hands slid Dares¡¯ eyes closed. The other grabbed his reluctant hand in hers and raised it to her chest.


    ¡°Hey, wait,¡± Dares felt panic overtake him.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Firmly, the hand pressed Dares¡¯ hand between her breasts, palm down onto her smooth flesh. ¡°Tell me what you feel.¡±


    With his eyes closed, Dares tuned out everything else around him. ¡°Your heart.¡± he answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± her hand slid over his chest and stayed there, warm and welcome. ¡°And what do I feel?¡±


    ¡°My heart.¡± said Dares.


    As long as we have that, we don¡¯t need the senses to see and hear and feel. Let everything else melt away. Can you feel it?


    Tranquility. In his mind, Dares saw the petals falling like pink ghosts into the azure well of souls, a spring of Avalon. And even with his eyes closed, he felt the pulse of the ripples across the pond where the leaves kissed the surface. The ripples of the pond, the smell of her hair and feel of her flesh, and the beating of their hearts to the same rhythm all melded together into a single sensation.


    Is this Nirvana?


    Wherever you are¡­ I am always with you¡­


    The gentle ripple. The drop from the crack in his ceiling. The rain. Drip. Drip. Drip.


    -


    Drip.


    Dares awakened. Something cold and wet was dripping down onto his head. Distantly, he noticed his arm was reaching out. His eyes scanned the darkness that enveloped him. His tailbone was sore. He felt the floor he sat on. It was moist and smooth, solid rock carved deep over countless years of the water from above cutting through its path.


    Drip.


    Dares craned his neck and tried to widen his eyes to let in more light. From above him, a fading tunnel of sun poured in through a hole fifty feet high. Across from the hole, a stalactite hung, water trickling down its sides and concentrating at the tip, where drops like tears fell onto Dares¡¯ head.


    So, I¡¯m underground. How did I get here? Dares hung his head, straining. He hadn¡¯t even noticed that he sat in a shallow puddle that had congealed in the cradle of rock until he tried to stand and faintly heard the slosh of water. Sediment that had settled at the bottom was stirred up as the water rushed to fill the gap Dares had made. The puddle swirled and churned, mixing up with the sediment into a murky, blooming gray. Dares stood too fast on his untested legs, and felt a sudden shooting pain run from his feet to his spine. He flopped forward, face-first into the grimy puddle. His eyes opened against the murk, where he saw the bottom was gone, and there was only endless black ocean.


    He burst out of the puddle, choking and wiping silt out of his eyes, his hair grimy and caked with mud. Dares stared at the fluttering fabric of the pond, disbelieving, until it at last settled and smoothed over. The sediment separated again, falling to the bottom and resting there. The water was clear, and less than a foot deep.


    I¡¯m delirious. Did I injure my head? Dares massaged his temples. What¡¯s the last thing I can remember?


    ¡°You two! Get away from there! It¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    Dares startled. That¡¯s right! We were fighting on that cliff when it collapsed under us! The memory came rushing back. Dares rushed to stand, and fell again. ¡°Shit!¡± Dares¡¯ curse echoed up the cavern.


    Okay, stay calm. Check your body. Dares methodically looked over himself. He had a few scrapes and bruises, but overall seemed -


    Just great. - There were two large gashes down his shins. I don¡¯t think the tendons have been damaged. Dares carefully erected himself on his bleeding legs. There was a weighty pressure pushing down on them. They wobbled a moment, but ultimately held. Okay, the bones aren¡¯t broken, at least, not much. But they¡¯re definitely bruised. More importantly, I need to apply a tourniquet.


    Dares wished he had paid more attention in anatomy. He didn¡¯t know if he had severed any major arteries or not. Somehow, not knowing was worse than being certain he was bleeding out. Was it just his imagination, or was the puddle beneath him filling with way too much blood? It turned a dark crimson, and the sickly smell of iron drifted up to Dares. He was cold too.


    Dares scanned the cavern and noticed a jagged edge at the mouth of a branching tunnel. Tentatively, he waded through the puddle to that edge. He looked down at his blood-soaked jeans, at the rip in the fabric where his legs had been cut.


    Good, it¡¯s already started for me. - staying optimistic was the best idea in this situation. Dares made a pained effort of removing his jeans, which seemed to have shrunk and tightened around his swollen legs in the water. He bit his lip to stifle a grunt as he agonizingly grated the fabric over those purple-splotched and weeping limbs. After an eternity, the jeans were off, leaving Dares in his matted boxers. He felt silt rub irritatingly against his bare skin beneath the underwear. Dares pushed the pain and irritation down beneath his consciousness. Stay clear-headed!


    Dares began sawing the cuts in his jean-legs wider and wider against the sharpened stone, until the circles reached around the backs and the legs detached. Dares swayed. His vision was getting cloudy again. He shook his head until the world focused back into clarity. He was freezing. The ruined jeans were still wet, so it probably wasn¡¯t wise to put them back on, which would only accelerate the cold. However, Dares let himself buy into the illusion that they would provide him a modicum of warmth. The pants went back on. As for the detached sleeves, Dares ripped them open into long strips of fabric, which he wrapped around his gashed legs and pulled them taut.


    That should stop the bleeding. But with the numbness spreading through his legs, it was hard to tell how tight was too tight. If I cut off the circulation, I¡¯ll be in bigger trouble. Though, that was a long-term problem. Now was what mattered.


    Dares tested his bandaged legs, rubbing warmth into them. The blue wrappings were stained a deep purple as his blood seeped into them. But, the blooming patches grew only a little, and then stopped. Dares didn¡¯t have to worry about losing any more blood. The problem now was finding a way out. Once more, he looked to the patch of sky in the rocky roof. There were a few footholds and outcroppings on the wall, but it curved into a dome-like shape near the hole. To get within reach of the hole, Dares would have to hang upside down at some point. From this distance, Dares couldn¡¯t tell how close the holds were to the opening. There was no telling if he¡¯d even be within five meters of the hole. What was more, the cave walls were slick and moist.


    Another drop from above scattered ripples through the pool.


    I¡¯m wasting too much time thinking about it. Dares consigned himself. Nothing¡¯s ever easy. He moved to what looked to be the easiest access point, a bulge of rock with deep grooves that marked the base of the close wall. Moving carefully over the sections of rock overgrown with slippery moss, Dares straddled atop the rock, and pulled himself up. A splayed hand reached for a groove. But, when Dares squeezed, his arm spasmed and seized up. ¡°Shit!¡± Dares lost his grip and tumbled backwards, rolling off the bulge and back into the pool.


    After a few moments, Dares pulled himself back into a sitting position and examined his right arm. It was convulsing, the fingers twitching like the dying legs of a crushed spider. I was so focused on my legs, I didn¡¯t notice my arm. I think the wrist is sprained. I can¡¯t climb like this. What if I do make it to the top by some miracle, and my arm gives up on me again? I doubt I¡¯ll be so lucky twice.


    Any hope of climbing up was dashed to bits upon the rocks. Dares turned toward the yawning tunnels stretched out before him, twisting and turning into deeper darkness and the unknown. There was no way up, only forward, deeper into the cavern. But which way to go? Alright, let¡¯s roll the dice.


    He froze. Something was in the cavern with him.


    Dares...


    -


    ¡°Dares!¡± - a walrus bellow. No, a blustering human voice.


    Dares¡¯ eyes flitted open. He was staring into the swollen, mustached face of the gym coach.


    Talk about rude awakenings. Dares shifted on the ground. His tailbone was sore. ¡°What happened?¡± he heard himself ask in a daze.


    ¡°You ate shit.¡± Shunpei stated bluntly. The boy was flat on his back, giggling with a pained expression on his face.


    Dares looked at him, past their unwashed instructor. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean you just bailed at the top.¡± said Shunpei, clutching his side.


    ¡°You¡¯ve taken a fall, son. That¡¯s what the floors are padded for. Even so, Shunpei threw himself under you to block the impact as best he could. You were going to land on your head, but he managed to redirect your course a little just before you landed. You¡¯re a lucky one, kiddo.¡± said the coach.


    Shunpei blocked his fall? Dares stared at him, unblinking. ¡°Why the hell did you do that?¡±


    Shunpei stared back and smiled wide. ¡°I told you already. I¡¯m just securing my interests. And now you owe me a life debt. Never forget that for as long as you live! Ahaha- ow.¡± Shunpei winced, clutching his side again. ¡°Good humor hurts.¡± he grunted.


    ¡°Look me in the eyes, kid.¡± the coach spoke down to Dares, who tried to prop himself up. ¡°No, don¡¯t try to stand just yet, we don¡¯t know if there¡¯s been any serious damage.¡± he stared into Dares¡¯ green gems for what amounted to an uncomfortable length of time. Dares felt his watering eyes threaten to blink.


    ¡°Ok, pupils are both the same size, we can probably rule out a concussion. But Shunpei, I think you may have a cracked rib or two. I¡¯ll call the nurse, have her take a look at the two of you.¡± said the coach.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m alright.¡± said Dares, standing up against the coach¡¯s judgment. ¡°See? Perfectly okay.¡±


    ¡°Still, we need to make su-¡±


    ¡°I think¡± Dares snapped unintentionally, ¡°I¡¯ll just take it easy the rest of the day, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    The coach frowned and stood, shrugging, to his full height. ¡°Alright kid, suit yourself. Go get some rest, but keep a phone by you.¡± the coach paused. Then his eyes were on Shunpei. ¡°And as for you, I imagine you¡¯ll want the day off too, tough guy?¡±


    Shunpei smirked. ¡°Maybe. But I think procedure calls for you bringing in a couple of guys to carry me to the medical office on a stretcher, right?¡±


    Dares couldn¡¯t believe it. Shunpei sat content in the stretcher that was called for him as if he were a king being carried aloft by his servants, paraded before his lowly subjects.


    ¡°Remember, you owe me one!¡± Shunpei flashed Dares a thumbs-up as he was lifted out of the gym.


    Dares looked as though he had bitten into a lemon. Hell no.

 1-3 Nightmare

    Dares laid un-blanketed under his canopy of painted cosmos. His body was as still as one dead, but his eyes were wide and lucid, with a far-off look about them. He was peering into the illusionary depths of his ceiling, stargazing as he had when he was a child. The north star shone brightly tonight, shimmering and framed by a trail of astral vapor. Mars was bright tonight too, glowing deep red like an all-seeing eye. Subtly, he could make out the faint swirl of the Milky Way¡¯s arms, extending outward into the void and framed by a few lonely stars.


    Laying still and quiet, so quiet he could feel his own heartbeat and hear the blood rushing in his ears, Dares felt the room begin to turn. It was a low, faint tremor, but one that conjured the heart-singing up-and-down of the carousel. Dares let himself fall deeper into this spinning, rocking sensation, let himself spiral down into the detached place where his walls fell away, and there was only empty space.


    He was adrift now among the stars. His eyes teared at the beauty of twin comets streaking across the heavens, falling away to the earth below. Here, every second was an eternity in a celestial realm unending. Dares drifted deeper, slipping into a sleep-like state.


    But something pulled him out of his doze as heavy droplets of freezing rain began to fall onto him. He opened his eyes and he was no longer in his bed orbiting earth. He was completely naked, suspended in the air with his arms splayed out to either side of him and his feet pinned together, as if affixed to an invisible cross. The downpour sounded like the crashing of trash can lids against each other, a sound many times multiplied by the prominent besiege of thunder and lightning that cast a shaft of light down into the alleyway where Dares hung crucified.


    What¡¯s going on? Dares whimpered, rain plastering his hair to his paling forehead. The thought echoed, coming from within, and from without together at once.


    His vision reflected in a puddle forming in the dirty street, where a ripple announced the presence of some unearthly thing. The puddle shimmered and began to glow with furtive purple luminescence. Out of the glowing reflection, an inky black thing slowly emerged, rising out of the puddle as if pushed from some dark womb.


    Its head was shaped like some conical jester¡¯s hat, ending in crooked rabbit¡¯s ears or feelers that chittered and vibrated, tasting the air around the thing. It was a hunched, impossibly thin thing with bony protrusions and an emaciated look as the hint of a brittle spine pushed against its silken black skin. It had dangling, gangly arms that hung on unhinged double-joints and met sloped, dislocated shoulder sockets. It¡¯s long, whispery fingers ended in curling crescent talons that gleamed in the light. It stood on compressed, spring-loaded flea¡¯s legs ending in what may have been thick boots, except they connected seamlessly to the ankles and were the same smooth black as the rest of it.


    The creature was black entirely, except those talons, which Dares realized were crimson, and its eyes, or, impressions of eyes, which were pale and shown with deadlight. The empty sockets projected grey dusk and fog the same way a lighthouse projected a solid beam of light for miles and miles out over the sea. It had no mouth, just a depression where its mouth should have been. There, the black skin stretched over that vestigial jaw fluttered, drawn in and blown out as the thing seemed to take long, rattling, and emphysemic breaths that made its sickly chest cave in as if the ribs cracked each time and reformed on the exhale. The way the skin where its mouth should have been puffed in and out, it almost resembled a condemned man breathing through the black mask pulled over his face.


    The creature radiated a profound sense of wrongness that repelled every cell in Dares¡¯ body. He saw that, even though it had no mouth, faint black vapors trailed away from its face with every sickening breath that it shouldn¡¯t have even been able to take. Its head swiveled on a twisted neck like an owl, those deadlight eyes scanning its surroundings. It seemed unfazed by the rain, which seemed to pass right through it. The thing gave no indication of feeling cold or discomfort, though looking at it it seemed a twisted abomination that must be in constant agony simply by existing.


    It wasn¡¯t cold, or in pain. It was cold, and it was pain. It was a thing that should not be.


    The chilling rain pouring down on Dares was hot as the sun next to the shadowy vermin, which radiated a cold many factors below absolute zero. The air bent around it, distorted and sapped of color. Its feelers clicked together. Its head swiveled to the right and those twilight eyes washed over Dares.


    It sees me. Dares shuddered. Every instinct in his body begged him to move and run away as far and as quickly as possible, but he was trapped, frozen in place and time.


    The thing made a sound that was equal parts a squeal, a moan, and an amalgamation of every filthy slur in the collective vocabulary of all languages as it lurched forward. The smell of decaying flesh, of mold and dry-rot, of freezer-burn, of vomit and of feces clung to the thing as surely as its skin as it shambled towards its quarry. As horrible as looking at and smelling it were, the aspect of the creature that challenged Dares¡¯ sanity was the way it moved. The thing didn¡¯t seem to truly ¡°touch¡± the ground, only glide over it like an immaterial shadow. But at the same time, its shifting textures and the sounds of faint crunching and snapping within painted a picture of a billowing black bag of discarded chicken bones that had somehow assembled itself into an animate form and was blowing forward in a violent, unnatural wind.


    As it drew nearer, Dares felt faint and horribly nauseated. Hot bile welled up at the back of his constricting throat, choked for air in the stink of the thing, suffocating. The street lamps illuminating its path went out one by one as it squelched eagerly forward. Through his rising terror, Dares noticed that the street lamps weren¡¯t breaking, the light was literally being sucked out of them, drawn into the thing¡¯s sickening being and absorbed. When the last light was eaten, the only color left to contrast the dark was that pair of eyes, like windows into an empty, barren world. Dares sensed, rather than felt, its bony, steak-knife claws reaching forward to touch him.


    I¡¯m going to die. he realized numbly. The capacity for fear seemed to have been drained out of him, along with everything else, leaving only that grim knowledge. He closed his eyes and waited for the thing to jam its hand through his chest. He measured his remaining life in freezing breaths. After four or five had passed, he realized he still drew breath at all. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The thing could not seem to locate him. Its eyes blinked slowly, its face mere inches from Dares¡¯ own. Its feelers clicked together in what could have been confusion.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Can it not see me?


    The creature cocked its head so far on its neck, Dares heard a sickening snap. It waited there a few moments longer, as if waiting for Dares to slip up. When nothing happened, it reluctantly ambled off.


    Dares should have felt immense relief. Instead, he felt something unspeakably horrible was about to happen. To answer that dread, the harsh sound of hateful and frightened barking flew down the alleyway. Dares was able to turn his head in the direction of the noise with supreme effort, and saw an emaciated and filthy rottweiler, its haunches raised, baring its fearsome teeth and growling a warning at the creature.


    The thing was instantly atop the dog. ¡°Blindingly fast¡± did not illustrate the creature¡¯s speed. Dares heard the dog yelp before he saw the thing move. It left a trail of afterimages in its wake, and it seemed the air and physical dimensions in its way rippled as they were displaced by its form. Dares slammed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth against the agonizing sound of the canine¡¯s death throes. When its pleading yelps at last tapered off to a faint whine and then silence, the only noise that was left was the whistling of air, as if it were being sucked from the dog and into the creature with those rattling breaths... the whistling, and the rain.


    Dares slowly opened his eyes. The thing was there, standing over the place the dog had been. With its eyes turned away from him, Dares could only make out its shape by the way its stygian hue stood out even in contrast to the darkness around it. There was no trace of the dog. Something about the creature had changed. At first, it was so slight, Dares couldn¡¯t put his finger on what exactly was different. But, as the thing rose out of its crouch to its full height, it hit him.


    Its bigger. Just a little bit.


    The thing turned out toward the street again and froze. Dares tried to twist his body in the air to see whatever the thing was looking at. For a brief moment, he glimpsed another figure standing under the weeping clouds. It was too dark to make out much, but Dares¡¯ attention was drawn to a pair of slanted, ocean-blue eyes set in a pale alabaster face, framed by a waterfall of drenched raven hair. The rich smell of coffee overpowered the zombie odor of the beast, and an ephemeral voice whispered,


    Go back to sleep.


    Whether it was addressed to the monster or to Dares himself, he didn¡¯t know. He felt full and heavy, and airy and light at the same time, and slowly fell down through the night. His hands were gripping either post of his bed, soaked with the rain. He stared up as the heavens showered down on him.


    There¡¯s the North Star. he murmured serenely. As he held his gaze up to the sky, it began to shift and fade, the depth shallowing until the boundless reaches were a single, solid plane, and the twinkling stars fizzled to a dull, dying glow. Dares heard the rush of water flooding through the street gutters slow and die out as the rain finally ceased its descent.


    Dares laid there in his rain-drenched pajamas, clinging to his body like thin wet plastic wrap, and felt the flooded mattress form around his body as it sunk slightly in as if into marshland.


    I¡­ I¡¯m in bed. Am I paralyzed?


    Dares concentrated great effort into his feet, which felt detached from his body. In fact, his entire body felt numb and useless. He strained hard, feeling blood vessels in his brain begin to bulge as he struggled to move his body at all.


    Focus. Deep breaths. Relax and let it come naturally.


    Dares closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, trying to concentrate his entire being on simply feeling his chest rise and fall. Deep breaths. In, and out. In, and out. Gradually, feeling came back into his toes. He wriggled them, testing the muscles and tendons individually. His body¡¯s electric impulses were communicating strenuously with his mind, but the feedback was coming through, and that was the important part. From the toes, the feeling of life spread itself through his feet, which began to burn with a near-unbearable sensation of pins and needles so that Dares almost wished they were still numb. The sensations, small and large, snaked their way through his core, into his shoulders, down the length of his arms, and at last into his fingertips.


    Dares felt his neck loosen, and allowed his head to turn to his side, where he saw his hands locked onto the posts so tightly that the knuckles were white. When the energy in his hands was flowing freely again, he released that grip with immense relief. Dares jumped onto his chance to sit bolt upright in bed, as if he would be struck down with paralysis again were he to wait another moment. He studied his own pale hands as if he had never seen them before, and obsessively opened and closed them, relishing the feeling of his nails and fingertips pushing into the smooth skin of his palms.


    The smell of coffee still hung over his room. Dares slid himself out of his waterlogged bed, as if one under a spell.


    It was a hot night and these pajamas are heavy. I just sweat too much, that¡¯s all. he explained to himself. He had to believe that.


    Something dropped onto his head. Dares looked up, startled, and saw a steady drip of water leaking from a crack in his ceiling.


    That crack wasn¡¯t there before, was it? Maybe it could have been, the way my ceiling is painted would make it hard to tell.


    Dares¡¯ was a ground-level apartment, with another unit directly above his own. He knew from the complex layout pamphlet he had picked up before moving in that the rooms were symmetrical with each other, so there was no way the water was coming from some kind of defect in his upstairs neighbor¡¯s bathroom. Dares forgot about it when he noticed a dull ache had settled into his skull.


    Whatever. I¡¯ll seal the crack later. Dares promised himself. A gentle breeze entered the room and parted his bangs. He looked in the direction of the window, cracked open ever so slightly. Was that window open last night?


    Of course it was. It was a hot night, so I opened it to let in some cool fresh air.


    A-Achoo!... Dares wiped his nose. Out of the corner of his eye, a moth was still on his window ledge. Its wings fluttered softly, and it vanished out the window on the breeze.

 1-4 Lost

    ¡°Boo-yeah! Top of the class again!¡± Ryder bellowed, savagely ringing the bell affixed to the gymnasium ceiling with one hand and holding himself aloft on the rope with the other. The bulky boy slid down the rope like one descending a firepole, eliciting a wince from a few of the students who imagined the friction burns he surely gave himself. Ryder shrugged off their pained expressions and presented his raw palms. ¡°Hey, no pain no gain.¡± he grinned. ¡°I beat my old record up and down the rope, and you owe me ten bucks!¡± he clapped a skinnier boy on the back, nearly bowling him over.


    ¡°No way, I can¡¯t believe this! You¡¯ve gotta be doping!¡± the boy accused him.


    ¡°Fair and square. You can pay up at Lunch.¡± Ryder chuckled, meaty hands behind his head.


    The sounds of squeaking sneakers on the varnished floor filled out the gym as the students who had either completed their exercises or had free time off of other classes dribbled across the basketball court, sectioned off from the rope room by a line of white tape.


    ¡°I¡¯m all done here, right coach?¡± Ryder grinned.


    ¡°You¡¯re clear. Go to the court if you want. Those of you who¡¯ve finished are free to play. Otherwise, hit the showers and get out of here.¡± their portly instructor grumbled, marking Ryder¡¯s time and crossing him off the checklist on his clipboard. He chewed on his worn pen while he read off the remaining names. ¡°Ok, who do we have left? Has anyone seen Claire?¡±


    ¡°No one¡¯s seen her since this morning.¡± a girl called from the back.


    ¡°Again? I can count the times that young lady¡¯s shown up in my gym on one hand, I tell you that much.¡± the coach buried his head in his palm.


    Dares fidgeted a little, feeling his blood pressure rising. Frustration like this was palpable, and in a way, louder than the hootings and hollerings down the basketball court to Dares.


    ¡°I wonder why she¡¯s absent so often?¡± another girl pondered.


    ¡°Three guesses!¡± Shunpei said playfully with a cheshire cat grin. He held out his first two fingers together and cocked his wrist. ¡°Look at me, I¡¯m a hardcore goth rebel.¡± Shunpei mimicked somberly, and exaggeratedly exhaled a whistling stream of air, his eyes narrowed to disinterested slants. With his other hand, he flipped his hair, covering one eye. ¡°You are all equally boring to me.¡±


    The girls around Shunpei erupted into a helpless giggling fit. When Shunpei started counting imaginary slits down his wrists, Ryder changed his course from the court to march up to him with lumbering footsteps. The coach threw out an arm across his puffed out chest to hold him at bay.


    ¡°Easy, tiger. How about you just go cool off?¡± he implored Ryder. Reluctantly, Ryder did, cursing under his breath.


    ¡°I sound just like her, don¡¯t I?¡± Shunpei fished for praise, eyes alight with cheer.


    ¡°Shunpei, fifty push ups right now!¡± the coach bellowed, his face strained and turning purple, a vein bulging out on his sagging forehead.


    ¡°Sir, yes Sir!¡± Shunpei saluted humorously and dropped to the ground.


    ¡°You know, I just don¡¯t think I¡¯m getting through to this one.¡± the coach sighed to himself.


    Dares¡¯ head pounded. He could tell his teacher was having a pretty bad migraine, and just wanted to go home early and have a few beers, a handful of motrin, and a long nap. Dares¡¯ nose tickled as the scent of cheap malt floated into his nostrils, mixed with the perpetual musk of sweat that hung around this place in a thick haze. He swayed a little on his feet and his head sloped to one shoulder.


    ¡°Dares!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dares snapped to attention.


    ¡°You¡¯re up next! Come on, sport, let¡¯s wrap this up!¡± the coach tapped his foot impatiently.


    Dares wobbled on his feet, swaying as if a reed in the wind. A brief spell of lightheadedness. He buried it and jumped up, clamping his body to the rope, and began his ascent. Higher and higher he pulled himself, feeling the world below shrink as he reached towards the bell at the top. A brief slip, a scramble, a catch. The rope shook, Dares dangling off of it, and a wave traveled down the bottom where it exited the tip, flitting back and forth like the tail of a rattlesnake.


    Keep moving forward.


    Dares climbed, and pictured his ceiling, the cosmos stretched wide and vast and calling to him. The ceiling rippled like water, and Dares realized it was the cosmos. Unreal cold swam over him and the color drained out of his vision until everything was a muddled gray. The chittering thing descended from the starry space above, crawling face-first down the rope to meet Dares. Dares¡¯ breath froze in the air, his head spinning.


    Not now¡­


    The thing breathed in, its flap of mouth pulled into that concave jaw. The dimensions of the room melted away to a shaft of light encasing the writhing rope, and outside this narrow well of light was nothing but endless darkness. In this vertical dark tunnel were only Dares and the creature. Numbness claimed him again as it had the night before, and his hands fell away from the rope. He fell down through the air, into the abyss, feeling every particle of air move around him and make waves up the shaft.


    Down, down, down, ever down. As Dares fell, that shaft of light constricted, becoming smaller and smaller until it was but a line, and this too blinked out.


    -


    A little boy was lost somewhere dark and claustrophobic. Rolling black fog grew and grew behind him. There was something in the fog that wanted him and was calling out his name, compelling him to come closer. I don¡¯t want to go back there¡­


    The boy turned and ran, but could not put distance between himself and the living shadow behind him. It pulled the speed and energy out of him, and his legs felt thick and heavy like lead. He was running blindly through the dark.


    Dares. a comforting voice called him.


    Dares saw a circle of light ahead of him at the end of the infinite dark path. An indiscernible, feminine figure stood there in the light, reaching out her hand. There was safety in the light, there the thing could not claim him.


    Mother! Mother, help me! Tendrils of black smoke curled around his ankles. The light and his mother within began receding. Hot tears rolled down his young, frightened face.


    I¡¯m going now, Dares. the figure smiled sadly.


    No! No, don¡¯t go! Please, don¡¯t leave me alone in the dark!


    Goodbye, Dares.


    Come back! Help me, please! The boy pleaded desperately as the smoke began to wrap around his chest and under his arms and around his neck, pulling him back, pulling him away from the light and his mother. He could hear the faint whispers inside the cloud, the cold breaths of the underworld on the nape of his neck, raising his hairs.


    No, no, I¡¯m not coming with you, ever! Let me go! Dares screamed at the writhing, whispering shadows.


    Goodbye, Dares¡­ her voice echoed towards him. Even as she called her farewell, a hand still reached out for him to take hold of, if he could only reach it. He seemed so much closer now.


    Mother, wait! Take me with you! Please, take my hand!


    Their fingers brushed each other. I¡¯m almost there!


    And the little boy was yanked away and piled under the weight of the shadows, growing and growing over him, pressing his face into the cold ground. A veil of shadow covered half his face, and with one eye he saw his mother pulled away from him. Futilely, his arm still stretched out.


    Please¡­ don¡¯t go¡­


    -


    Warmth and serenity. Dares felt his entire body at peace. He was enveloped in the tender sun, shining through the screen of a beautiful pink tree, raining petals down on him.


    Its warm. Soft. His head lay in someone¡¯s lap, and a gentle, slender hand stroked his hair tenderly.


    ¡°You were murmuring in your sleep again, Dares. What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    This voice. So familiar¡­ ¡°...It¡¯s nothing¡­¡± - it didn¡¯t matter where Dares was. He felt contentment and peace.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°It¡¯s so quiet here, you can hear each petal touch the lake.¡± that ethereal, heavenly voice floated down to Dares¡¯ ears again.


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t hear anything¡­¡± Dares murmured up to his protector. He couldn¡¯t make out her face. It was that same shining pale white, contrasted by her veil of hair like dark water. He saw only the gentle smile looking down over him, but the eyes were hidden. His vision was blurry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen with your ears.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ how am I supposed to¡­?¡±


    ¡°Shh¡­ hush now¡­¡± one of those delicate hands slid Dares¡¯ eyes closed. The other grabbed his reluctant hand in hers and raised it to her chest.


    ¡°Hey, wait,¡± Dares felt panic overtake him.


    ¡°Trust me.¡± Firmly, the hand pressed Dares¡¯ hand between her breasts, palm down onto her smooth flesh. ¡°Tell me what you feel.¡±


    With his eyes closed, Dares tuned out everything else around him. ¡°Your heart.¡± he answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± her hand slid over his chest and stayed there, warm and welcome. ¡°And what do I feel?¡±


    ¡°My heart.¡± said Dares.


    As long as we have that, we don¡¯t need the senses to see and hear and feel. Let everything else melt away. Can you feel it?


    Tranquility. In his mind, Dares saw the petals falling like pink ghosts into the azure well of souls, a spring of Avalon. And even with his eyes closed, he felt the pulse of the ripples across the pond where the leaves kissed the surface. The ripples of the pond, the smell of her hair and feel of her flesh, and the beating of their hearts to the same rhythm all melded together into a single sensation.


    Is this Nirvana?


    Wherever you are¡­ I am always with you¡­


    The gentle ripple. The drop from the crack in his ceiling. The rain. Drip. Drip. Drip.


    -


    Drip.


    Dares awakened. Something cold and wet was dripping down onto his head. Distantly, he noticed his arm was reaching out. His eyes scanned the darkness that enveloped him. His tailbone was sore. He felt the floor he sat on. It was moist and smooth, solid rock carved deep over countless years of the water from above cutting through its path.


    Drip.


    Dares craned his neck and tried to widen his eyes to let in more light. From above him, a fading tunnel of sun poured in through a hole fifty feet high. Across from the hole, a stalactite hung, water trickling down its sides and concentrating at the tip, where drops like tears fell onto Dares¡¯ head.


    So, I¡¯m underground. How did I get here? Dares hung his head, straining. He hadn¡¯t even noticed that he sat in a shallow puddle that had congealed in the cradle of rock until he tried to stand and faintly heard the slosh of water. Sediment that had settled at the bottom was stirred up as the water rushed to fill the gap Dares had made. The puddle swirled and churned, mixing up with the sediment into a murky, blooming gray. Dares stood too fast on his untested legs, and felt a sudden shooting pain run from his feet to his spine. He flopped forward, face-first into the grimy puddle. His eyes opened against the murk, where he saw the bottom was gone, and there was only endless black ocean.


    He burst out of the puddle, choking and wiping silt out of his eyes, his hair grimy and caked with mud. Dares stared at the fluttering fabric of the pond, disbelieving, until it at last settled and smoothed over. The sediment separated again, falling to the bottom and resting there. The water was clear, and less than a foot deep.


    I¡¯m delirious. Did I injure my head? Dares massaged his temples. What¡¯s the last thing I can remember?


    ¡°You two! Get away from there! It¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    Dares startled. That¡¯s right! We were fighting on that cliff when it collapsed under us! The memory came rushing back. Dares rushed to stand, and fell again. ¡°Shit!¡± Dares¡¯ curse echoed up the cavern.


    Okay, stay calm. Check your body. Dares methodically looked over himself. He had a few scrapes and bruises, but overall seemed -


    Just great. - There were two large gashes down his shins. I don¡¯t think the tendons have been damaged. Dares carefully erected himself on his bleeding legs. There was a weighty pressure pushing down on them. They wobbled a moment, but ultimately held. Okay, the bones aren¡¯t broken, at least, not much. But they¡¯re definitely bruised. More importantly, I need to apply a tourniquet.


    Dares wished he had paid more attention in anatomy. He didn¡¯t know if he had severed any major arteries or not. Somehow, not knowing was worse than being certain he was bleeding out. Was it just his imagination, or was the puddle beneath him filling with way too much blood? It turned a dark crimson, and the sickly smell of iron drifted up to Dares. He was cold too.


    Dares scanned the cavern and noticed a jagged edge at the mouth of a branching tunnel. Tentatively, he waded through the puddle to that edge. He looked down at his blood-soaked jeans, at the rip in the fabric where his legs had been cut.


    Good, it¡¯s already started for me. - staying optimistic was the best idea in this situation. Dares made a pained effort of removing his jeans, which seemed to have shrunk and tightened around his swollen legs in the water. He bit his lip to stifle a grunt as he agonizingly grated the fabric over those purple-splotched and weeping limbs. After an eternity, the jeans were off, leaving Dares in his matted boxers. He felt silt rub irritatingly against his bare skin beneath the underwear. Dares pushed the pain and irritation down beneath his consciousness. Stay clear-headed!


    Dares began sawing the cuts in his jean-legs wider and wider against the sharpened stone, until the circles reached around the backs and the legs detached. Dares swayed. His vision was getting cloudy again. He shook his head until the world focused back into clarity. He was freezing. The ruined jeans were still wet, so it probably wasn¡¯t wise to put them back on, which would only accelerate the cold. However, Dares let himself buy into the illusion that they would provide him a modicum of warmth. The pants went back on. As for the detached sleeves, Dares ripped them open into long strips of fabric, which he wrapped around his gashed legs and pulled them taut.


    That should stop the bleeding. But with the numbness spreading through his legs, it was hard to tell how tight was too tight. If I cut off the circulation, I¡¯ll be in bigger trouble. Though, that was a long-term problem. Now was what mattered.


    Dares tested his bandaged legs, rubbing warmth into them. The blue wrappings were stained a deep purple as his blood seeped into them. But, the blooming patches grew only a little, and then stopped. Dares didn¡¯t have to worry about losing any more blood. The problem now was finding a way out. Once more, he looked to the patch of sky in the rocky roof. There were a few footholds and outcroppings on the wall, but it curved into a dome-like shape near the hole. To get within reach of the hole, Dares would have to hang upside down at some point. From this distance, Dares couldn¡¯t tell how close the holds were to the opening. There was no telling if he¡¯d even be within five meters of the hole. What was more, the cave walls were slick and moist.


    Another drop from above scattered ripples through the pool.


    I¡¯m wasting too much time thinking about it. Dares consigned himself. Nothing¡¯s ever easy. He moved to what looked to be the easiest access point, a bulge of rock with deep grooves that marked the base of the close wall. Moving carefully over the sections of rock overgrown with slippery moss, Dares straddled atop the rock, and pulled himself up. A splayed hand reached for a groove. But, when Dares squeezed, his arm spasmed and seized up. ¡°Shit!¡± Dares lost his grip and tumbled backwards, rolling off the bulge and back into the pool.


    After a few moments, Dares pulled himself back into a sitting position and examined his right arm. It was convulsing, the fingers twitching like the dying legs of a crushed spider. I was so focused on my legs, I didn¡¯t notice my arm. I think the wrist is sprained. I can¡¯t climb like this. What if I do make it to the top by some miracle, and my arm gives up on me again? I doubt I¡¯ll be so lucky twice.


    Any hope of climbing up was dashed to bits upon the rocks. Dares turned toward the yawning tunnels stretched out before him, twisting and turning into deeper darkness and the unknown. There was no way up, only forward, deeper into the cavern. But which way to go? Alright, let¡¯s roll the dice.


    He froze. Something was in the cavern with him.


    Dares...


    -


    ¡°Dares!¡± - a walrus bellow. No, a blustering human voice.


    Dares¡¯ eyes flitted open. He was staring into the swollen, mustached face of the gym coach.


    Talk about rude awakenings. Dares shifted on the ground. His tailbone was sore. ¡°What happened?¡± he heard himself ask in a daze.


    ¡°You ate shit.¡± Shunpei stated bluntly. The boy was flat on his back, giggling with a pained expression on his face.


    Dares looked at him, past their unwashed instructor. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean you just bailed at the top.¡± said Shunpei, clutching his side.


    ¡°You¡¯ve taken a fall, son. That¡¯s what the floors are padded for. Even so, Shunpei threw himself under you to block the impact as best he could. You were going to land on your head, but he managed to redirect your course a little just before you landed. You¡¯re a lucky one, kiddo.¡± said the coach.


    Shunpei blocked his fall? Dares stared at him, unblinking. ¡°Why the hell did you do that?¡±


    Shunpei stared back and smiled wide. ¡°I told you already. I¡¯m just securing my interests. And now you owe me a life debt. Never forget that for as long as you live! Ahaha- ow.¡± Shunpei winced, clutching his side again. ¡°Good humor hurts.¡± he grunted.


    ¡°Look me in the eyes, kid.¡± the coach spoke down to Dares, who tried to prop himself up. ¡°No, don¡¯t try to stand just yet, we don¡¯t know if there¡¯s been any serious damage.¡± he stared into Dares¡¯ green gems for what amounted to an uncomfortable length of time. Dares felt his watering eyes threaten to blink.


    ¡°Ok, pupils are both the same size, we can probably rule out a concussion. But Shunpei, I think you may have a cracked rib or two. I¡¯ll call the nurse, have her take a look at the two of you.¡± said the coach.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m alright.¡± said Dares, standing up against the coach¡¯s judgment. ¡°See? Perfectly okay.¡±


    ¡°Still, we need to make su-¡±


    ¡°I think¡± Dares snapped unintentionally, ¡°I¡¯ll just take it easy the rest of the day, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    The coach frowned and stood, shrugging, to his full height. ¡°Alright kid, suit yourself. Go get some rest, but keep a phone by you.¡± the coach paused. Then his eyes were on Shunpei. ¡°And as for you, I imagine you¡¯ll want the day off too, tough guy?¡±


    Shunpei smirked. ¡°Maybe. But I think procedure calls for you bringing in a couple of guys to carry me to the medical office on a stretcher, right?¡±


    Dares couldn¡¯t believe it. Shunpei sat content in the stretcher that was called for him as if he were a king being carried aloft by his servants, paraded before his lowly subjects.


    ¡°Remember, you owe me one!¡± Shunpei flashed Dares a thumbs-up as he was lifted out of the gym.


    Dares looked as though he had bitten into a lemon. Hell no.

 1-5 Connection

    ¡°A little birdy told me someone nearly broke their neck.¡± Claire greeted Dares by the back passage to the field. She stood under the shade of a tarp over the circle of fence which housed one of the generators, a pile of cigarette butts at her heels and a fresh one burning between her painted fingers.


    ¡°Rumors spread quickly around here, huh?¡± Dares frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s a school. Gossipers will gossip.¡± Claire smirked, and took a hard drag off her cigarette.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re out here, right? Can¡¯t stand the superficial crowds?¡± Dares suggested.


    ¡°Well,¡± Claire started, pausing to exhale a plume of gray smoke that rose to the tarp and entrenched itself in the fabric, which had begun to yellow over the last three years, ¡°that¡¯s part of it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet. You know you¡¯re not doing your lungs any favors, right?¡± Dares tried his best at a pleasant smile, but his headache was back.


    ¡°Oh, wow, I¡¯ve never heard that one before.¡± Claire rolled her eyes and took another drag. ¡°Counselors have said I should try to cut back. But with midterms just around the corner, and me barely hanging in at a D average, that doesn¡¯t seem very likely. I¡¯m not the greatest at coping with stress, you see.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯re cutting class to sneak smokes by the generator. Yeah, I¡¯m sure that will bring your grades up.¡± Dares smirked.


    Claire returned the smile. ¡°Touche. It¡¯s a vicious cycle.¡±


    ¡°Shunpei thinks you might be suicidal. Is there a hint of truth to that?¡±


    Claire giggled. ¡°Maybe not as suicidal as throwing yourself from the gym ceiling.¡±


    ¡°I get the feeling no one¡¯s going to let me forget that anytime soon.¡± Dares scratched the back of his head, blushing in shame.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡±


    They stood there in silence for a few minutes. Dares had nothing better to do but wait out his headache, and hoped he might bury it under conversation. He wasn¡¯t ready to start the moderate walk home yet, and was just enjoying the feeling of being outside. He felt quite confined and claustrophobic inside that gym - no, inside that school, surrounded by people.


    Dares felt faint again, so he sat himself on the sidewalk against the wall. He was receding into himself once more. The click of Claire¡¯s lighter brought him back.


    ¡°Huh?¡± he started.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s jumpy. You started dozing off.¡± said Claire.


    ¡°Oh, sorry. I think I¡¯m going to go get some shut-eye.¡± said Dares wearily.


    ¡°Really? It¡¯s barely past noon.¡± said Claire, surprised. ¡°Not that it¡¯s any of my business.¡±


    No. No, I guess it¡¯s not. What am I doing here? I can pass out when I get home. Dares rose to his sore feet.


    ¡°So why¡¯d you fall?¡± Claire¡¯s voice caught Dares off guard.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know, actually¡­ I don¡¯t exactly remember. I just felt really tired, and then, next thing I knew, I was on the ground.¡± Dares admitted honestly.


    ¡°You might have anemia. You look kind of pale, and you¡¯re underweight.¡± Claire suggested.


    ¡°What?¡± asked Dares.


    Claire¡¯s eyes fixed on Dares around her cigarette as she dragged deep. He patiently waited for her to exhale before she explained it to him. ¡°Deficiency of hemoglobin. Sufferers are drowsy and can be prone to fainting spells.¡±


    Dares¡¯ eyes widened. Had his intuition been off today? He had made all kinds of assumptions about this girl he barely knew. ¡°You know, you¡¯re smarter than you let on.¡±


    Claire smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment. You¡¯re deeper than you let on.¡±


    ¡°I am?¡± Can she see right through me? ¡°How can you tell?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your eyes. You¡¯ve got really thoughtful eyes. I can read you like a book, sweetheart.¡± Claire winked.


    Dares would have classified the gesture as sultry and alluring by the understood definition, but he felt nothing. In fact, he never had, not counting the occasions he accidentally brushed past a pair of lovers in the halls or sat a touch too close to one of the boys ogling their busty history teacher. He had never -


    Except - ¡°Claire, what¡¯s that?¡± Dares asked, pointing at her chest.


    Claire stared at him for a beat. ¡°These are breasts, Dares.¡± For a moment, Dares thought he saw the hint of a faint blush.


    Dares shook his head. ¡°No, the mark!¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Claire realized he was pointing at the hint of dark ink on her sternum, hidden behind her pack of cigarettes. She took her pack in hand to offer Dares a clear view of her tattoo. ¡°It¡¯s a butterfly. Like it?¡±


    And so it was. A purple butterfly etched into her skin, the tips of its wings gently stretching up the slope of her breasts.


    Could she be -? Could she be what? Dares didn¡¯t quite understand the implications of it all. ¡°Claire, do you like coffee?¡± Dares blurted out, and immediately cringed. That didn¡¯t come out right.


    Claire crushed out her cigarette under her heel and put her hands on her hips, licking the corner of her mouth. ¡°Is that an invitation?¡± she smirked, fluttering her shadowed lashes.


    ...FUCK!!!... Dares wanted to tear his hair out. Whatever, just roll with it. ¡°Yeah, sure, there¡¯s a great coffee shop on Main Street.¡± This is a huge mistake. ¡°We could get to know each other better.¡± Poor choice of words.


    ¡°So,¡± Claire whispered breathily, swaying her hips subtly, ¡°you want to get to know me better?¡±


    I would do fucking anything to be literally anywhere else right now. Dares despaired. Useless, all useless.Stolen novel; please report.


    His head suddenly felt much too heavy for his shoulders - just like on the rope, he was about to faint again. That¡¯ll work. Dares welcomed the darkness.


    Claire saw he was about to go down in time though, and intervened before he cracked his head on the concrete. Though, in a moment, Dares would wish she hadn¡¯t.


    Oh no, don¡¯t touch m- Claire caught him around the waist.


    The effect was instant. A stale, minty taste appeared in Dares¡¯ mouth, making him want to gag, and his mouth began to water uncontrollably. His blood pressure rose as his heart beat faster, and a dizzying rush flooded his brain. He felt his stomach drop, and his chest felt like it was on fire.


    ¡°Dares, are you okay?¡± Claire shook him. ¡°Say something.¡±


    Dares broke away from her contact as quickly as he physically could, and dropped to his knees, skinning them on the concrete and not caring. He doubled over, panting. Out of the corner of his eye, Dares saw Claire¡¯s eyes widen like a deer caught in the headlights, and saw her approach automatically to offer a helping hand.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me!¡± Dares screamed his throat raw, and Claire recoiled, stung and confused. His vision blurred. Here it comes. He helplessly emptied his stomach¡¯s contents over the ground. He saw a few drops of vomit splash Claire¡¯s heels and the tips of her stockings. He hadn¡¯t eaten much, so when he threw up again, his throat and the corners of his mouth began to burn with his own stomach acid. He sat there, hunched pitifully on the ground, throwing up everything until there was nothing left, and then sat a few minutes more, dry-retching until he could hardly breathe.


    Don¡¯t look at me with those worried eyes. I don¡¯t need anyone to pity me. Dares begged her silently. Please.


    ¡°...Well¡­ my step-dad always said I was a knockout¡­¡± Claire said awkwardly, the reality of the situation not hitting her yet. But it did, soon enough. ¡°That was a joke... Um, listen, I think you need to see the nurse.¡±


    No. The last thing Dares needed right now was to be poked and prodded and told to say ¡°ah¡±. Dares¡¯ forehead wrinkled as his eyes scrunched up. It was incredibly difficult to think right now through the thunder splitting his head. ¡°No¡­ No, I¡¯m fine¡­¡± he reassured Claire as he forced himself to stand up, every fibre of his being shrieking in protest.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look fine. That came out of nowhere.¡± Claire cautioned.


    ¡°I just need some water. Some water, and that nap I mentioned.¡± Dares struggled to articulate himself through his nausea.


    ¡°Are you sure you''re okay? I can give you a ride to the hospital.¡± she offered.


    Dares forced the nausea under control and painted a sincere smile on his face. ¡°Thank you, Claire, but no. I¡¯ll be fine, I promise. I¡­ ate something questionable earlier today, I probably just gave myself a little food poisoning. I guess it just hit me hard at the worst possible time.¡±


    Claire examined his eyes closely. There was a slight twitch in her face for just a moment, and Dares knew she didn''t believe him. But, it was gone in a moment. ¡°Alright. Well, take care of yourself, kid.¡± she advised him gently.


    ¡°I will.¡± said Dares. He began to walk away toward the track field, where he remembered a water fountain was planted, when Claire called back to him.


    ¡°Dares?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± he looked back.


    ¡°When you''re feeling better, I¡¯d like to have that cup of coffee with you. I¡¯ll treat.¡±


    Dares didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Oh.¡± he paused for thought. ¡°Right.¡± And, almost compulsively, ¡°Claire?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Try to keep it under three packs a day.¡± he loosed the implicating words, and then was gone, leaving Claire confused by herself, wondering when she divulged the specifics of her addiction.


    ¡­


    Dares could hear the rumbling of footfalls down the dirt lanes as sprinters raced and leapt like gazelles over barriers. The smell of sweat again.


    The sight of the water fountain was akin to an oasis amidst the harsh sands of the desert wastes. Dares practically dragged himself to it and began greedily gulping down the stream, so cool and fresh and soothing down his withered throat. He didn¡¯t care at all that it was probably covered in countless strangers¡¯ spit.


    Dares felt as though he would never quench his thirst even if he stood there all day long, and drank until he felt bloated and sluggish. He gasped for breath when he finally broke away - he hardly noticed he had nearly suffocated himself, unable to pull enough air through his nostrils and swallow back-to-back efficiently.


    He only looked up from catching his breath, feeling his stomach slosh as he did so, when he felt the shadow of someone''s presence over him. His eyes met two hazel ones.


    Jun was smiling a pleasant, disarming smile on the other side of the fountain, holding her hands behind her back. She was in a blank white t shirt and gym shorts - probably either with the track team or tennis club.


    ¡°Thirsty?¡± she asked, chipper. Then she threw her solo cup of ice water in his face.


    Dares sputtered through the shock as his hair and clothes were drenched. ¡°What the hell was that for?!¡± he barked, disbelievingly.


    ¡°For setting a bad example and leaving me to clean up the mess. After you walked out of detention, everyone else got brave and followed the precedent you marked, leaving me stranded. I got blamed for not stopping you because I was the only one left in the classroom. I had to stay an extra hour making excuses for you, while you got away scott-free! And the only reason you didn''t get in bigger trouble was because Shunpei practically has the whole staff in his pocket and vouched for you! Does that sound fair to you?¡± Jun nipped at him.


    Dares was in no mood for this. It was all he could do not to tremble, and his skin was crawling all over. There were dark bags under his bloodshot eyes, but he supposed Jun didn¡¯t notice any of that. At least the exchange had only had physical repercussions - the overlap of another¡¯s sensations on his own unaccustomed body could have given him a massive heart attack, and he realized he was now going through a horrific withdrawal that made him want to lash out at everything, but he had thankfully not been connected long enough to sustain any mental and emotional damage - that was true hell.


    But now, he was getting a load all the same. Jun¡¯s contempt was practically burning hot. ¡°Fair? That has nothing to do with it. It¡¯s not my problem.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s your problem now.¡± said Jun.


    ¡°What are you-¡±


    ¡°Shush. Take this.¡± Jun held out a piece of paper. Reflexively, Dares took it.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°My address. I was supposed to help my mom with the gardening right after school the other day. Since you¡¯re the reason I couldn¡¯t be there, you can pay back that time.¡± said Jun.


    Dares looked to Jun, and then to the paper - which he crumpled and threw away.


    ¡°I came prepared.¡± said Jun, and handed him another address note.


    ¡°No wonder you don¡¯t have any friends.¡± said Dares dismissively.


    The sound of Jun¡¯s hand smacking against his cheek was abrupt and crisp. In that brief moment of contact, Dares saw Jun waking up early every morning to tend to her bedridden mother. The woman, maybe thirty four, was in some kind of back brace. She was pretty, and carried a certain elegance and reservation with her. Dares saw where Jun had gotten her eyes from. The woman, despite her youth, was afflicted by some kind of crippling injury. Often, Jun, perhaps from age four or five, had had to make her own breakfasts and walk herself to school. Dares saw himself through her eyes, applying pain medicine patches to her mother¡¯s back. He felt Jun lying alone at night, wondering when her father was going to return to them. The man had left shortly after Jun learned to walk.


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk.¡± said Jun, looking stricken.


    Dares didn¡¯t fully register what she said, and was only distantly aware of the stinging sensation blooming in his cheek.


    Offered no protest, she continued. ¡°You carry this hurt look in your eyes wherever you go. It¡¯s like you¡¯re pleading for someone to reach out to you, but you swat their hands away whenever they do. Why are you setting yourself up like that? What¡¯s so tragic about you that you can¡¯t let anyone close?¡±


    ¡°...Some people are supposed to be alone. I don¡¯t expect you to understand.¡± Dares said finally.


    ¡°How can I? You won¡¯t explain anything. I can¡¯t read minds.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t read minds¡±¡­ you say that like it¡¯s a bad thing. Dares sighed. ¡°Fine. You win.¡± Dares tossed the note away. He wouldn¡¯t need it - after all, he had all of the information he required slapped into him.


    ¡°You promise?¡± Jun eyed him.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll pay back my debt.¡± Dares conceded, before locking eyes with her emphatically. ¡°And then you and I go our separate ways and never speak again, got it?¡±


    ¡°Fine by me.¡± Jun huffed.


    The rest of the school day was already over for Dares. Heavy clouds blotted out the sun, leaving him cool in the passing shadow for a while, aware of only the sting in his cheek.

 1-6 Shadow

    Dares stood at the base of Koizumi House. Fallen leaves blew across the porch and stairs, either ledge framing the steps perched upon by guardian lions whose eyes scowled at him. The house was relatively tall but narrow, with peeling blue paint and patchwork shingles. It sat sloped and sagging on the broken and jagged sidewalk, a relic from a forgotten age. Ivy coiled up the walls and seeped into the cracks. There had been a gate Dares didn¡¯t remember actively passing through, a rusted but standing thing that too was intertwined with ivy. To either side of Dares off of the small cobblestone path between him and those imposing steps, potted plants and stone monuments sank into a sea of tall grass and wildflowers. The path underneath him bulged in places, raised by the roots of the towering weeping willow that bathed the house and garden in twisting shadow. Somewhere, perhaps in that tree, Dares heard the whistling of birds. Elsewhere, there was running water, but he could not place the source. Koizumi House loomed over him, an imposing tower.


    Dares had read the address on the mailbox before he stepped through that archway into an ancient lost world, but found himself again checking the metal numbers on the side of the dwelling. It was pointless, of course. He knew he had the right place. All of the sensations were in line with what he had felt on Jun.


    What am I doing here? Did I really intend to make good on my promise?


    Was that why he was here? A promise? In any case, he was early. By the look of the sky, he had a half hour to himself before Jun would return. He didn¡¯t know if her mother was inside, and he didn¡¯t bother to feel for it. Old places like these were magnets for pieces of events that were long since passed, but still hung around as a murky haze, soaked up into the walls and grounds.


    Dares didn¡¯t know anything about this place¡¯s history, and he preferred to keep it that way. When he had first moved into town, he had barely made it through the door of his first potential home before he passed out. He would find out later that, twenty or so years ago, someone had broken in and murdered an entire family. For Dares, the blood was still fresh. He wouldn¡¯t let curiosity seduce him to seek out new stains anymore.


    Dares shuffled out of the gate with no real purpose in mind. In a blank state, he found himself wandering an empty street alongside a picket fence. No, not a street, some bare dirt path, and it was between fences. He stepped through a few oily puddles where weeds had begun to grow, and felt his jean cuffs stick to his ankles in the mud. He saw an empty bottle, and kicked it aimlessly into a hollow depression alongside the fence. The light had begun to fade, and the sky was glowing a dying orange as the saddened clouds floated away on the sudden winds.


    The hairs down Dares¡¯ neck bristled to footsteps behind him. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± he demanded on a spin. There was only the empty path behind him, and the echo of his own voice. He could have sworn someone was watching him.


    Whose- and then he realized. My shadow. - it was right beside him, the imprint that had been with him since his birth and never left him. Sometimes it trailed behind, and sometimes it trailed ahead, but its steps always walked in tune with his. Dares lifted his arm, and so did his shadow. He kicked a leg, and his doppelganger mimicked him. He reached out his hand, and the patch of darkness shaped like him did so as well.


    ¡°Well¡­ at the very least, you¡¯ll stay by my side¡­¡± Dares touched his hand to the shadow¡¯s, but felt nothing. There was no warmth, no feel of flesh touching his. ¡°It¡¯s not the same. But why not?¡±


    A subconscious lilt in his head created the illusion of the shadow nodding to him to point out the distinction. Dares jumped a little.


    ¡°Trust me.¡±


    A familiar smell, a familiar feel - and faintly, ever so slightly, a familiar sound. Dares felt himself detached from the cold wind and setting sun around him, and turned his mind only to a sensation within. Thump. Thump. Thump. His back and arms broke out in gooseflesh as he felt his own hand touch his chest.


    ¡°This shallow heart''s the only difference between you and I.¡± Dares sighed, and his shadow sat there silently as it always did. It was, after all, a great listener. ¡°Well¡­ at least I know I¡¯m still alive¡­¡±


    But alone. Dares felt a hint of longing within him, and shrugged it off. He wouldn¡¯t let himself sink into that trap. He wasn¡¯t allowed to express his wish. But, his shadow would know. And, it would always be there with him. Like the houses carrying their hidden secrets, so too did Dares¡¯ outline upon the floor. Whatever he told himself, his shadow knew the truth he would never admit. And unlike any house, Dares could not walk away from his shadow, no matter how far he went.


    -


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Come inside already.¡± Jun tapped her foot.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dares focused onto Jun, waiting impatiently at the doorstep. Was I daydreaming? He looked up into the cloudless sky. It was only four in the afternoon, of course the sun was still high on its perch.


    ¡°Come on, I don¡¯t have all day. The quickest way to the supply shed is through the house.¡± said Jun.


    ¡°Oh. Right.¡± Dares looked behind him one last time at the gate, still feeling watched from unseen corners. He turned back, and didn¡¯t know how he could have imagined the house looking so ancient. It was a normal, suburban house like any other, the only thing tying it to the dilapidated shrine from his daydream being the twin lions standing sentry over the garden.


    ¡°Jun, is that you?¡± a warm voice called down from the stairwell.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, mom. Someone from school¡¯s here to help with the garden.¡± said Jun, slipping off her sneakers and leaving them on the tile entry before the carpet. She nodded to Dares to do the same. Fair enough - Dares rather enjoyed the feel of being barefooted.


    The pretty and refined woman from Dares¡¯ vision carefully let herself down the stairs, wincing a little on the third step as a spasm went up her back. Jun grimaced at her. ¡°Mom, you¡¯re supposed to be taking it easy. Why were you upstairs?¡±


    ¡°Just going over a few keepsakes in the attic. It gets so still in the house sometimes, I couldn¡¯t bear to listen to it creak and settle another moment. A little dusting here and there helps keep my mind off it.¡± she smiled. ¡°Well now, who¡¯s this?¡± she looked over Dares, beaming. ¡°This young man is the helper you told me about?¡±


    Jun looked a little nervous then that she had not gone over any routine with Dares, who was certain to bungle his first impression.


    ¡°I¡¯m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Koizumi. I am Dares.¡± he said, balancing confidence and reservation. To seal the deal, he bowed politely, head down.


    Jun¡¯s mother returned the bow. ¡°How well-mannered you are. But there¡¯s no need for formalities here. A friend of my daughter¡¯s is a friend of mine.¡±


    At this, Dares and Jun looked at each other distastefully. Perhaps ¡°friend¡± was stretching it a little. But Mrs. Koizumi did not catch on.


    ¡°Please, make yourself at home.¡± she invited his ease of comfort.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make yourself too comfortable.¡± Jun broke in, nodding her head to the back. ¡°Come on.¡± she lead Dares out back.


    The back porch was all but consumed by the devouring tides of tall grass, nearly breaking apart into the green. Despite this, what amounted to a navigable trail was cut through the field out to a sad little shack. Dares noticed a mantis cleaning to a reed, awaiting some fly or beetle patiently, with hungry eyes, as Jun undid the latch on the sagging door that only reluctantly fell open with a prolonged moan. It was dark, musty, and humid inside, and a rank odor assaulted Dares¡¯ nostrils.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Jun apologized, having covered her face automatically, cupped in one hand. ¡°Forgot. You¡¯ll want to breath shallow here. During the flood last year, some water got into the foundation. I think some of the wood has started to rot, but the real problem is the black mold that¡¯s settled in. We¡¯d replace the shed, but it¡¯s used so little that it¡¯s not really worth it.¡± she spoke, muffled by her own hand, as she turned over shadowed wares seeking some specific tool.


    ¡°Have you considered moving these things into your attic? Or maybe a rental storage bunker?¡± Dares asked, trying not to gag.


    ¡°Can¡¯t. The attic¡¯s already packed and Mom¡¯s disability pay doesn¡¯t cover the cost of monthly storage rent. The only reason we still have this house is that her great grandmother paid it off years ago. It¡¯s all private property, no private taxes. But she¡¯s retired early.¡± said Jun, gritting her teeth. She had slid her hand a little too quickly over the handle of a shovel or something and given herself a few good slivers. She withdrew reflexively and banged her head on a low shelf, dropping it and scattering supplies on the floor, severing forests of tangled grey web.


    Jun lurched backward. ¡°Careful!¡± she cautioned. ¡°Black widows. This is the perfect environment for them.¡±


    He had no doubt. Dares stood uncomfortably under the door frame, awaiting instruction that he felt would never come. When at last Jun gave him an order, he felt relieved rather than burdened.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Can¡¯t believe the light isn¡¯t working again. I¡¯m working blind in here. Dares, can you go up to the attic and bring me a flashlight? It should be in one of the tupperware containers to your right.¡±


    And so he did. It was musty in the attic. The smell of mothballs and dust was the first thing that hit him when he poked his head up through the trapdoor, clinging unsteadily to the wobbling ladder. When he pulled himself onto the attic floor, he felt his jeans sweep long clean paths through the layers of dust that had settled onto the boards over countless years. He crouched low under a sunken crossbeam, and weaved in between boxes and sacks into a maze of forgotten things, sealed away in this darkened space. A slitted, circular porthole let in faint blades of light that cut through the dark and the damp (a vague moisture in the air that may have signaled the coming of more black mold). Motes of dust, like Dares had seen that early morning in his own apartment, hung in the light.


    Dares kept to the right path, sifting through the tupperware in search of the flashlight. He had never been claustrophobic by the strictest definition, but he disliked something about the shadows of this attic. By the same token, he found the way the boards creaked under his bare feet, and the way the stale air seemed to choke him decidedly uninviting. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something moving.


    ¡°Go away.¡± he grumbled, wearily, to the deadlight eyes concealed in the shadow of the far corner, where the edges of the room gave way into dimensionless abyss. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in you.¡±


    ¡­


    When Jun had the flashlight in hand, finding the old push-mower and weed trimmers she sought became an instantly-completed task. What remained was for Dares to chop down the veritable jungle of encroaching wilderness that had sprung up around the property. Pollen floated into his sinuses and thorny plants scratched at his shins. The sun had begun to sink low behind the trees when he had at last made a noticeable dent in the forestry.


    ¡°Not bad for a day¡¯s work. We¡¯ve been meaning to bring the grass down to size. Maybe now the flowers won¡¯t be so choked.¡± said Junk admiringly. She had a cold glass of lemonade in hand. Dares noticed the condensation that had formed on the outside, and was streaming down to the cup¡¯s base where tiny droplets detached and rained onto the lawn. The sight made his throat feel scratchy. ¡°You look like you could use this.¡± Jun said, and offered him the beverage.


    Dares accepted it wordlessly and emptied the glass in one prolonged swig.


    ¡°You only owed me an hour, you¡¯ve more than paid it back. I suppose mom is going to want to pay you for overtime. She¡¯s in the kitchen now, preparing skewers. How do you like your beef?¡± Jun asked, scratching her neck and trying to be friendly, Dares supposed.


    ¡°Well-done.¡± he answered. It was folly. He had not meant to stay for dinner. Perhaps Jun¡¯s question had caught him off guard. The time had passed him by, lost in the droning miasma of the mindless labor, and his conscious mind had begun swimming away. Buried instinct took over. It had been a few years since he had touched meat, and he was surprised to find that his preference still came naturally off the tongue. In actuality though, it was not so much a preference as a compromise with himself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let her know. You do like skewers, right?¡± Jun asked him.


    Dares nodded. It wasn¡¯t worth explaining anything, and coming off as ungrateful would just strain the situation further. The inevitable awkward silence would be painful enough on its own, he¡¯d as soon scarf down his free meal and excuse himself for the comfort and seclusion of his apartment as quickly as possible without arousing suspicion.


    Sweat was rolling down his body in sheets, matting his shirt to his torso. If he smelled, he couldn¡¯t tell underneath the scent of the weeds and flowers. In a way, manual labor was something of a retreat for him, and he had allowed himself to zone out, lost in a daze. Jun¡¯s voice had brought him crashing back into the reality that, sooner or later, he would have to interact with other people.


    He craned his head towards his handiwork, admiring the way the fading sun seemed to make the garden glow, and felt a pang of longing to go into that sun, and follow the fading light away to wherever it took him. In a moment, it was gone.


    ¡­


    ¡°So, Dares, how are you liking school?¡± Mrs. Koizumi asked pleasantly.


    Dares turned his skewer over in his hand, inspecting it and trying not to look like he was inspecting it. ¡°Oh? It¡¯s alright, I guess.¡± he shrugged noncommittally. ¡°A little crowded.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll adjust. Are you new in town?¡±


    ¡°You could say that. This is my first time back in four years.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve lived here before?¡± Mrs. Koizumi asked him.


    ¡°Technically. My parents had work-related business in this town for a few months. For half that time, I lived with my grandmother while they were moving things into the temporary residence. My dad made new connections before much came of it, and we had to move again. I only stayed in the house for the last half of June.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Jun looked up from her plate absently, twirling fried rice around the tines of her fork.


    ¡°The month, dear.¡± Mrs. Koizumi giggled. Jun blushed. She didn¡¯t look happy to be at the table. It would be difficult to sever all connections with Dares so long as her mother was picking his brain, fully under the impression that they were the best of friends. It was no secret to Dares that Jun didn¡¯t have much of a social life, and the prospect of that tide shifting had brought new light into her mother¡¯s life.


    The innocent expectation radiating out of the woman was invasive under Dares¡¯ skin. Sunny dispositions he found were always the sharpest swords.


    ¡°So, your parents are back in town?¡± she continued.


    ¡°Um¡­ no. I live by myself¡­¡± said Dares, looking away.


    Mrs. Koizumi dropped her silverware. ¡°You what?¡±


    ¡°I live on my own.¡± Dares saw rising concern in her face. ¡°I¡¯m not an urchin or anything. I have an apartment at the Raintree complex.¡±


    ¡°But, you¡¯re so young.¡± she said mournfully.


    ¡°Fourteen. Same as Jun.¡± Dares confirmed.


    There was a sudden thud upstairs, and everyone jumped a little.


    ¡°Woah. I must have left something in a precarious position when I was up in the attic.¡± said Dares, starting to stand from the table. Mrs. Koizumi motioned him to stay put.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Dares, I left some things up there anyways. You¡¯ve hardly touched your skewer, its getting cold.¡± she implored him with a smile, and headed off for the stairs, trying not to wince.


    ¡°I guess martyrdom runs in the family.¡± Dares giggled hollowly to himself.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Jun shifted uncomfortably, ¡°Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡±


    Dares had taken a few bites of rice, leaving the meat isolated on an island of grain in the center of the plate. The juices had sunk through the rice mound and began to congeal in thin puddles that leaked out of the mound. Brown, and well-seasoned from the look and smell of it. Slowly, Dares picked up his skewer. He caught a tantalizing whiff of the tenderly grilled beef. He closed his eyes and raised the skewer to his mouth. Warm juices spilled onto his tongue as his teeth pressed into the flesh, releasing the heat and flavor sealed within. He pulled away a morsel from the stick and chewed, half anticipating an adverse reaction, and half processing the savory taste. He chewed, and swallowed. It was good. Dares had not tasted anything so good in years.


    And then he opened his eyes. There was a thin line of pink running through the meat, exposed where he had bitten. Instantly, he was overwhelmed by the sickening smell of blood, and the grating sound of a cleaver carving through flesh and bone and ligament. He saw a sea of carcasses suspended on hooks from the ceiling, swaying in a faint breeze, making their shadows dance upon the blood-stained back wall. He felt the chill of the refrigerated air closing in on him, and still the sound of the clever - thwack, thwack, thwack, each strike cutting deeper and deeper into some limp slab upon a chipped and crimson-soaked oak board.


    Dares went white and heard his silverware clatter onto his plate. Not this time. He tried to hold back a deadly wave of nausea. It was a valiant effort.


    ¡­


    ¡°If you were feeling sick, you could have just said so.¡± said Jun, as Dares rinsed his mouth out at the backyard hose. ¡°And we have a sink, you know.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯d rather I let loose on the carpet instead of the grass then.¡± said Dares, thumping his chest to make a sharp air bubble that had gotten lodged behind his shoulder blade go down. He stood from his crouch, tee shirt plastered to his chest from the hose. The metallic taste imparted in the water still hung in his mouth.


    Dares managed to tactfully explain to Mrs. Koizumi that he was an unwilling vegetarian due to his sensitive stomach. So, she made tea to soothe his stomach, and a cup for herself and for Jun while she was at it. When Dares found himself sitting on the living room couch with a steaming cup in his hands, the sun really had begun to set.


    Why am I still here? Dares looked glumly into the ripples through his liquid remedy. Am I afraid to go back to that empty apartment? Or, is there something here keeping me from leaving?


    Dares looked to the sofa at a right angle to his own, where Jun had gradually slipped off to sleep, caffeine notwithstanding, and her mother had tenderly draped a homemade quilt over her. The girl¡¯s pubescent chest was rising up and down shallowly, and she looked at peace.


    ¡°Jun pushes herself too hard sometimes, just about the only time she has to relax is in her dreams. I want to thank you for helping her today.¡± said Mrs. Koizumi, and passed Dares an envelope.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not n-¡±


    ¡°Take it.¡± she insisted, and slipped it into his hand (Dares was careful not to brush flesh against flesh).


    Dares looked over the milky white envelope in his hands.


    ¡°That check will be good as of noon tomorrow. It¡¯s not much, but it can¡¯t hurt.¡± she smiled, wishing she could do more.


    ¡°...Thank you¡­¡± Dares said through profound disbelief.


    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with Raintree. It¡¯s a decent walk from here, and it¡¯s getting dark out. You could spend the night, if you wanted. We¡¯re not doing much with the guest bedroom anyway, and your school is only a block or so away. You and Jun could walk there together in the morning. I can always make an extra peanut butter & jelly, too.¡± she offered. ¡°One of Jun¡¯s favorites¡± she answered, seeing the tilt in Dares¡¯ head.


    If Dares didn¡¯t leave now, he¡¯d be tempted to accept. Too bad her daughter hates my guts. He drained his cup of tea and stood, shaking his head. ¡°I truly appreciate it, but no. I¡­ have to sleep where I¡¯m used to.¡±


    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll see you to the door.¡± she resigned.


    Dares paused at the door, where a rowdy breeze struck him. He had to get in the habit of bringing a jacket. Before he turned himself out into the night, he paused to ask his hostess a question that had only occurred to him at the last moment.


    ¡°Mrs. Koizumi?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°What was that crash in the attic?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Mrs. Koizumi laughed. ¡°An old memory chest of Jun¡¯s baby toys.¡±


    Dares scratched behind his ear. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for being so clumsy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you were. Call it a quirk of fate. It¡¯s good that I could be reminded of fond memories. So often, we feel empty and don¡¯t know why. How many trivial things that made us smile do we forget unless something happens to remind us they¡¯re still there?¡±


    ¡­


    A quirk of fate¡­


    -


    Dares. Dares, can you hear me?


    Who¡­ are you¡­?


    I¡¯m a friend. A friend you haven¡¯t met yet.

 1-7 Innocent Blood

    Dares opened his eyes, half-expecting to see that alabaster face, and instead seeing only the vivid night sky that was his ceiling. The smell of coffee was getting stronger. He looked to his nightstand, where the butterfly he expected to see was curled up on his lava lamp. He opened the back door and let it out. On a whim, he looked under his bed.


    ¡°Trivial things we¡¯ve forgotten?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Wait, say that again.¡± Dares stood confounded.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing special. Mom just wants to know if you want to make a little extra gardening for us every now and then.¡± Jun shifted.


    A week ago, they had been on the worst of terms. Now, she was offering him a job. Another quirk of fate?


    ¡°Sure.¡± Dares surprised himself.


    ...


    Maybe he had chalked it up to fate. It was subtle, but he could feel something was set in motion, something he couldn¡¯t quite grasp, let alone describe, but everything in the past few weeks, possibly his entire life, had been building towards an ultimate destination. What that was, he knew not. He was now as a leaf carried on the wind, and so found himself again at Koizumi house.


    ¡°Back so soon?¡± her mother welcomed him.


    The sun was warm in the sky, draping Dares in its soft silk. Jun¡¯s mother was positively radiant in that same sun, despite her brace. Her spirits seemed lifted that Jun had found someone who could pass for an acquaintance.


    The weekend had come like a blissful dream, and Dares had the feeling he¡¯d enjoy the garden more thoroughly in the morning when he was still fresh than at the end of the day when he had time to realize what his life was about. Drifting among the flowers, he could let himself forget.


    Until he heard sobbing.


    Dares stepped out of the brush into a flat patch by the gateway, where he saw Jun standing over a rabbit, limp on the ground. Jun had fallen to her knees, and her tears pattered softly into the rabbit¡¯s fur, making dark splotches where they landed. Dares felt a wave of mixed fright and bitter disappointment beyond Jun¡¯s beacon of sorrow, and he looked in that direction to a fox that was sprinting down the road and out of sight.


    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s what happened.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°It got the mother rabbit¡­ she had babies and now they¡¯re all alone¡­ It¡¯s not fair!¡± said Jun, cradling the creature in her arms now.


    Dares'' eyes trained on the blood-splattered corpse. Its eyes were glassy and locked onto his, as if pleading.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Dares felt his stomach drop as a far off memory was dislodged, just for an instant. In his head he heard,


    You can''t protect anything.


    Searing pain stabbed into his brain, and Dares clutched his head and dropped to his knees, screaming savagely.


    Jun recoiled in shock and fear, gripping that corpse closers to her like an obscene stuffed animal.


    "Not again! Get out of my head!" Dares screamed, and didn''t know what any of his words meant. He couldn''t hear them through the drone.


    You can''t protect anything. You can''t protect anything. You can''t protect anything.


    "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Dares pleaded.


    Jun dropped the rabbit, mouth hanging open. Nimbly, she moved toward Dares.


    "Are you...?"


    "DON''T TOUCH ME!"


    But it was too late. Jun¡¯s hand fell on his shoulder.


    A massive shockwave ripped out of Dares, blowing the fields down and Dares'' vision went white.


    When his vision returned, Dares saw Jun standing there, the whites of her eyes red with blood. Those eyes were twitching, and blood was trickling down from her ears as well.


    Dares never knew why. His curse to inherit the memories and emotions of others was usually a one-way floodgate. But there were moments, moments like these, when that gate opened both ways.


    And it had disastrous consequences.


    Foaming at the mouth, Jun collapsed into a shaking heap.


    He didn''t know if she was alive or not. What should he do? What could he do?


    The surge had passed.


    "...I..." Dares murmured, trembling. What good was guilt? What could he say to the victim of his curse?


    Jun lay next to the rabbit, her eyes taking on the same glassy look.


    The fox trotted back into view and stared at Dares.


    Dares returned the gaze.


    "I didn''t... I didn''t mean to..."


    the fox almost seemed to nod in reverence to this new super-predator.


    Dares blanked out.


    ...


    He must have run from the scene. When awareness of himself returned, he was standing in front of the lonely bridge out of town.


    I can''t stay here anymore. Dares heard somewhere in the back of his mind.


    He walked numbly down the length of that bridge.


    He stopped when he saw the golden outline of a tall figure blocking his path. It''s body was wrapped in shining white silk, its head hooded, with an emblem of an eye, wreathed in fire like the sun, emblazoned upon it. They figure was rail-thin at the waist, with a bulky and rippling torso. Golden spikes jutted out of its shoulders, like pads buried under the silk.


    ¡°I guess you''re the gatekeeper.¡± said Dares.


    An image flashed through his mind, like a shrouded and distant dream that has suddenly been remembered. That time, the guardian¡¯s hand had morphed into a radiant lance. Dares felt the wrath of the sun pierce his shoulder.


    That burning pain was back now. Dares clutched his shoulder, gritting his teeth and feeling his hackles raise. He didn¡¯t know how he knew what any of this was. The only thing that was left now was revenge.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Dares roared, and charged the being. A flash of light, and he was pinned in place on the lance.


    The thing tilted its bobble head down to examine its victim, almost curiously. Then, Dares was falling away from it, off of the lance and away from the bridge, impending downward into the black vortex.


    Goodbye, Dares.


    ¡°Mother¡­ not again¡­¡±


    ¡­


    From the top of the first bridge lookout tower, a man in black stood, watching.


    "And so, this scenario ended the same as the last."


    He sighed.


    "We will meet, cursed one, in another time, another world. You will relive your sorrows over and over and over again, until your dark soul matures for the harvest."


    He turned on the whistling wind.


    "Until then, farewell."


    ...

 Interlude 1

    ¡°Chained in a cave¡­


    Am I seeing the whole truth?


    Or am I just catching glimpses of


    shadows, dancing on the walls?


    I want to know what there is¡­


    Even if it¡¯s forbidden¡­


    Will you follow me to Hell?¡±


    ***


    A lone figure stood on a hill, the centerpiece of an infinity of vast, sloping green earth. He was a dot among towering, steel windmills that cast forlorn shadows, stretching across the flowerless barrens. The man was an enigma, concealed beneath a solemn black jacket that hangs to his knees, the hood leaving his face muddled by shadow. Twenty yards behind him there was a freestanding, ornate wooden doorway, connected to no greater structure, no shelter. Carved deep into the red oak, encircling the doorknob, was the engraving of a snake, swallowing its tail.


    A sudden gust zigzaged across the green, turning a quick the blades of the goliath windmills. The red door slowly swung open with a creak that was barely audible among the eerie, oppressive silence of the windmill-scarred plains. Another figure, indistinguishable from the former, stepped out of the arch¡¯s shadow, and moved wordlessly to join its lookalike on the hill.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been to that (town), haven¡¯t you?¡± the first figure spoke in a toneless, emotionless voice that was nowhere, and yet everywhere at once.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°You have no voice?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Or perhaps, you simply prefer not to speak?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Have it your way. It makes no difference to me. In any case, you¡¯ve been (there). I can sense it. Did they see you?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Their parents will no doubt tell them that they were dreaming. In time, those children will do the same. No one will recognize our existence, you know.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°¡­ (even so) ¡­¡±


    The scene transitioned to a lonely beach, waves softly coming and going. It was night. The stars were dancing. A woman¡¯s voice, soft, sweet, floated over the air.


    ¡°Can you see stories in the stars, Dares?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­

 2-1 Loss

    The image faded away. He awakened, groggily. The bedroom was small, mostly dark, with hints of sunlight peering through the blinds of the sliding glass door that stands beside his bed. The carpet was brown, the ceiling white and bumpy, and the walls, the same as the ceiling. All were faded and worn with age. At ends opposite the boy¡¯s bed was a double door closet, bulging open with clutter ¨C unsorted clothes, mostly. The shelves above the boy¡¯s bed were equally cluttered, here with books and collectables, and looked ready to fall. A plastic toy box was turned over on its head, spilling cars, jakks, action figures, balls, and squirt guns across the brown floor, restricting the already cramped space to an even smaller area that could actually be traversed. The mess was not what is on the boy¡¯s mind right now, however.


    ¡°Another dream about the beach... It feels familiar, but it¡¯s not the one I know¡­¡±


    The boy slowly moved from his bed, not bothering to return the sheets to their proper state. The boy¡¯s appearance was a perfect reflection of that of his quarters. His brown hair was unkempt and wild, and dark bags hung under his eyes. It was easy to tell, judging from his features, that a thousand unanswered questions were taking their toll on his REM cycles.


    ¡°¡®Can you see stories in the stars, Dares?¡¯ Hmm¡­ what could that mean?¡±


    The boy pondered for a few long moments, and then shrugs. Shaking the uncertainty from his mind, he hastily dressed himself and exited his room through the sliding glass door.


    ¡°Who has time for riddles? The sun¡¯s already up, time to play!¡± said Dares.


    The boy stepped out onto the back porch. ¡°Porch¡± in this case, was really more of a stone slab, open to a collective backyard shared by all of the tenants. The porch was characterized by a dusty barbeque in the right corner, and an equally dusty stationary bike, standing horizontally to the door, which blocked most of what little walking space there was, so that only a small path to the left could be used to step off of the porch, and onto the bright green grass.


    The boy distinctly remembered the stationary bike, which had originally taken up residency in his designated room at his grandmother¡¯s house. As a toddler, he had climbed all over it, always perching himself on the handlebars, and always, inevitably, falling directly onto his head. The seat was yellow, withered, and torn now, and the plastic broke and jagged, yet the exercise machine still evoked the same powerful memories, becoming a kind of Everest that the child had sought to conquer, regardless of the risk.


    As he sifted through the space between the stationary bike and the left wall, he had to duck to avoid hitting the front of his father¡¯s ten speed, which hung upside down from hooks that stuck out from the ceiling overhang. This accomplished, the boy dropped down from the porch (a surprising good half foot; definitely a case of ¡®watch your step¡¯) and felt the lawn depress under his bare feet. He stood for a moment, feeling the earth below him, feeling much like a solid tree, his roots drawing forth energy from the ground. He had always loved the sensation. His eyes were closed as he took a moment to take in the sunlight, basking in its warmth. A cool breeze rushed across his face. The world felt right.


    The youth was broken from his spell of nirvana by his mother¡¯s voice, beckoning him to come inside and change into his day clothes. Realizing only now that he had been outside in his underwear, the boy begrudgingly complied.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    A few moments later, the boy, now dressed, and wearing open-toed slippers (the closest compromise he and his family could ever come to on the subject of shoes), basked in the sunlight.


    He found a note from his mother. It read,


    Sorry to get up ahead of you, son. I¡¯m at Steve¡¯s. Come for a visit if you want.


    Dares looked up towards the sloping end apartment at the end of his walkway. A cow skull sat on the stone porch, framing a screen mesh door, where the smells of greasy, overcooked chicken floated out onto the cool breeze. Dares fixated on the support pillars holding the canopy of blue holding the shingles aloft for no real reason. He rounded the bend of the stone cubicle housing the community dumpster. Around the side of the golden monolith, mailboxes addressed to the tenants sat in a row, largely untouched. Dares fumbled for his key and dropped it into an oily puddle. Shrugging, he bent over and picked it up out of the gunk. He inserted it into the keyhole and twisted, wrenching open the box to see what memos waited inside. Junk mail. Well, whatever. He guessed he had been a bit excited, waiting for the return note from his mysterious penpal.


    Dares heard a call. Steve, a man in his late forties, scraggly beard and stained tee shirt, acting with childlike glee and cheerleader exuberance unbecoming his age, beckoned Dares forward. Steve¡¯s kids were a little older than Dares, but they showed him neat things, and his mother was there too. Besides, there had been a letter in the mail addressed to her he needed to deliver - as good an excuse as any to play with the big kids¡¯ toys and computer games. He walked down the path to that enticing apartment and felt a breeze at his back.


    ¡°Oh, Jun, you¡¯re awake. Are you feeling well?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Huh? Speak up, I can¡¯t hear you. What¡¯s wrong? Are those guys picking on you again?¡±


    Dares heard a gurgle behind him. It was a sound like wet paint splashing over stone steps. A smell, thick and metallic, rose up to greet his nostrils. And the sound - hacking, gasping, almost like the sounds of grating strikes against one¡¯s ribs and lungs. Dares turned, and saw.


    ¡°W-What the¡­ S-Steve¡­?¡± Dares¡¯ eyes were wide with shock.


    ¡°Kid¡­ R-Run¡­¡± the scruffy-looking man-hippie¡¯s beard was plastered with blood, which mixed, iron-like and cloying, with the scent of chicken that perpetually hung over him. He hurled a final torrent of thick, coffee-ground blood down his beard, chin, raining like red hail onto the pavement. Then he folded over and just¡­ stopped moving.


    ¡°Jun¡­ Jun, get out of here! Go get your mom!¡± Dares turned to the doe-eyed girl. She didn¡¯t react at all. ¡°Jun? Jun are you listening to me! Go get help, right now, it isn¡¯t safe here!¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t talk to you. She can¡¯t even hear you.¡± another voice showed up.


    ¡°Who the hell are you? Did you do this?!¡± Dares flew into a mixture of panic and unbridled anger at the cloaked figure standing there behind Jun.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare-¡±


    The hooded man clasped a hand on Jun¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You are faced with mounting tragedy, horrors far beyond your ability to comprehend or control. You are helpless to avert your fate. You are as one, a frog, forever swirling into the depths of an unstoppable maelstrom. Even after a trillion repetitions, this scenario can only ever end the same way.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do with Jun?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s all your fault, cousin¡­ you¡¯re weak¡­ that¡¯s why you can¡¯t protect anything you care about¡­¡± Jun looked down. Her eyes were clouded. What was going on-?


    ¡°Dares.¡± a comforting voice called from behind him.


    Dares turned around. ¡°Mother¡­.¡± all of the color drained out of his face. ¡°Mother, listen, there¡¯s still time to save Steve, but he¡¯s lost a lot of blood! If you hurry - ¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless, Dares¡­ It¡¯s all useless¡­¡±


    Useless? What was useless? What is there to understand -


    And then hellfire engulfed the righteous and unrighteous alike.

 2-2 Familiar Faces

    Dares'' eyes fluttered open to a pair of hazel ones staring down at him. He startled a little.


    "H-hey, Jun."


    "Have we met?" the girl cocked her head .


    "I... no... no, I guess not..." Dares shook his head. He had had that dream again.


    She has the same eyes. thought Dares.


    The same eyes as who? The memory was already beginning to fade.


    "You''re eyes..." said Dares.


    "What about them?" said Jun, furrowing her brow.


    "Never mind. I''m just glad you''re ok." he sighed. His head was pounding.


    "Do you greet everyone like this?" asked Jun. "I just thought you should know that-"


    "Class is in session, yeah, I got it." said Dares.


    Then he wandered off.


    "Wait!" called Jun. "The school is this way!"


    ...


    Weird. I don''t have any cousins. Maybe I passed her in the hall once and subconsciously remembered her face. I don''t remember hearing her name, though.


    It strained his head to think about it, so Dares stopped.


    They would want to know why Dares had suddenly disappeared from school, but he would worry about that later. He didn''t feel well, and needed rest.


    As he fell onto his bed, the smell of coffee welled up around him. His vision went that shade of vivid purple again, and there was a tickling feeling in his stomach.


    He''s close! a foreign voice entered his head.


    Dares'' heart beat faster. "What? Who''s close?"


    That blissful feeling ran dry, and the smell of coffee was overpowered by the dank smell of mildew and decaying vegetables. The thermometer dropped slowly and steadily, until Dares felt his body hitch and could see his own misted breath.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The hint of light coming from between the blinds was blocked out by the shadow of something standing on the back porch.


    Dares felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle as he shivered. Primal fear and cold wracked his body with shaking, and he felt very, very small.


    There''s someone on the other side of my door! thought Dares, panic collecting in his gut like a ball of lead.


    Frantically, he threw himself onto the floor, grasping beneath the bed for his stick. A low groan escaped his dry throat.


    His stick wasn''t there.


    He freezed as a rap on the glass cut through his thoughts.


    Dares'' hands clutched with mixed fear and anger. He suddenly had an overwhelming urge to confront what was on the other side of that door.


    You. You took everything. You''ll pay. I swear you''ll pay!


    The shadow moved, and Dares followed. He threw back the blinds and caught the tail of black fabric turning the corner in his sight.


    He ripped the door open on its track and lunged after it, rounding the bend of the Raintree complex where the water pipes ran along the side of the building.


    His mind was consumed with rage. In this rage, he was blinded, and ran headlong into a passerby, knocking them both to the ground.


    "Watch it, buddy!" said the boy, rubbing his tailbone.


    "Shit, he got away! Dammit, Shunpei!" growled Dares.


    His heart was beating wildly nearly to the point of palpitations, and he could taste iron strongly.


    "Oh shit, he got away? That''s a shame. On that note - I''m sorry, do I know you?" said Shunpei, getting to his feet.


    "Yeah. We share P.E. I''m Dares."


    "Well then, the pleasure''s all mine!" said Shunpei, cheerily. He extended a hand for Dares to take.


    Dares started to reach for it, but something told him prolonged contact, in that moment, was a bad idea. Something was "moving" inside Dares at that time.


    He rejected the extended hand and stood on his own, dusting himself off, already forgetting the fleeing figure as an overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over him.


    "Nice to meet you too." Shunpei rolled his eyes. He started scratching his chin.


    Dares caught the light glinting off of three earrings, like staples, running down Shunpei''s ear.


    "Come to think of it, you do seem familiar." said Shunpei.


    "There you are!" came an annoying female voice.


    "Ah shit, she found me." Shunpei groaned.


    Jun trotted into view. Clutched to her chest were three papers. She panted as she screeched to a halt in front of them.


    "I can''t believe they made me hunt you down! Honestly, isn''t that what the prefects are for?" Jun lamented.


    Dares and Shunpei shared a confused glance.


    "I take it you live here?" Jun asked Dares.


    "Uh. No." said Dares.


    Jun thrust out their detention papers, and kept the third for herself.


    "Convenient that you led me to him." said Jun.


    Dares was gazing out into the parking lot, shadowed under bare metal shutters that glinted brightly in the sun.


    He had let himself get distracted. How far could the figure have possibly gone?


    Don''t go after him. a voice he wasn''t sure was his whispered into his mind.


    Dares sighed. Fine.


    There was the sound of something knocking against the pipes. The three of them turned abruptly.


    Dares'' stick had clattered there.

 2-3 Record

    Somewhere, a lonely journal sat, gathering dust, neglected since Dares was forced to attend school. He had no memory of it, and no memory of writing it.


    While he was in detention, the drab book fell open onto an undated entry, and alien eyes poured over the memory within.


    Undated Entry:


    Flashing lights. Sirens. My introduction to Home. I toured Riverview aboard a fire truck, a ferry ship across the urban ocean. The stars, thousands of blinking lights, stared down at me. The wind was cool on my face, and I was wrapped in a warm blanket. My parents were on either side of me, us, along with twenty other people on top of the truck. This tour was the traditional welcome to the town. I was too young to remember anything before it, and no memories since have risen to supplant its definition of ¡°Home¡± in my mind. My mother, father, and I - the three of us, a happy family. I was maybe three or four years old.


    I remember chasing squirrels in the backyard. I remember long summer days at the beach. I remember playing in my parents¡¯ closet, pretending it was a store I owned. But mostly, I remember walking along the back wall, that brown brick path that seemed to extend infinitely out in front of me. I knew its cracks and grooves by heart. I followed that path hypnotically. I don¡¯t know what it was I was looking for, what I expected to find at the end of it, if anything. The important thing wasn¡¯t that I find something at the end though, but that I follow that path. It was compelling, like it defined some cornerstone of my being. Eventually I¡¯d be yelled at by the managers, or some neighbor. I remember sometimes, a man on the other side of the wall, someone who lived in one of the forest houses, would throw his empty beer bottles at me. But I didn¡¯t care.


    I was happy there. Home was all around me, and would always be there. That¡¯s what I thought back then.


    -


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I have to lug water home from the store. This freaking sucks. Figures the pipes would bust right at the start of the hottest week in history! Man, what a drag.¡±


    I see myself with a large water jug. I¡¯m dragging it behind me in a red wagon. I¡¯m ten years old.


    ¡°Jun¡¯s no help. ¡®When¡¯s cousin getting back?¡¯ God, if you have time to worry, you have time to help me out. Geez, acting like a little sister when we¡¯re the same age, give me a break. Oh well, I guess it can¡¯t be helped. She¡¯s been a bit withdrawn since auntie got hurt. I guess I can¡¯t really blame her. She¡¯s still pissed at me for leaving our last game hanging, I¡¯ll bet.¡±


    I shrug.


    ¡°Oh well. I¡¯ll play with her as soon as I¡¯m done.¡±


    I park the wagon outside my door. Apartment #24, Raintree. Mine is the unit on the very right of the middle chain. I¡¯m about to open my front door when something catches my attention. A note is taped to the front. My eyes flit over what the note has to say.


    ¡°Party at Steve¡¯s, huh? And no one told me. Great. Why am I always the last to know these things?¡±


    I sigh and hang my head. I drop the handle of the wagon. The water can wait. Steve probably rigged something up in his house for water anyway. He always was the tinkering type. I look forward to the probable plate of his signature fried chicken, greasy and overcooked though it may be. The comforts of home, I guess. Steve¡¯s always been a good family friend. His kids are pretty cool I guess, but I doubt they¡¯re too enthused about having a little kid hang around. They keep it to themselves, though. None of them know I can get a pretty good feel for what they¡¯re thinking without ever having to trade words. I never figured I was all that special, just more perceptive, I guess. You could call me a good listener.


    I make my way to the unit. Steve¡¯s is the rightmost on the right chain of units, kitty corner to mine. It¡¯s about a twenty meter walk. But, when I get there¡­


    ¡°Kid¡­ Run¡­¡±


    Steve, shirt soaked with blood, throws up on the ground in front of me. At first I think it¡¯s coffee grounds, but I slowly realize that he¡¯s just thrown up more blood from deep inside his body.


    ¡°Hey¡­ what¡¯s going on? ...This is¡­¡±


    This is some kind of a joke, right? Is that what I mean to say?If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I don¡¯t get that far. Steve collapses in front of me, face-first in a growing pool of his own blood. The sickly-sweet smell of iron mingles with the smell of grease that always clings to him. This doesn¡¯t make any sense - one moment, I¡¯m heading to a party, the next, this.


    ¡°Dares.¡± a soft voice calls my name.


    ¡°Mother¡­¡± I reply.


    I try to get her to act. Her face is strange. Waxy.


    I feel like I¡¯ve been punched and I hear something squish. I look down slowly, and see a butcher knife buried in my chest up to the hilt. Blood is running down the blade, dripping at the handle and my mother¡¯s hand. I look up and see her eyes are empty and lifeless. A strange, serene smile tugs at her lips.


    ¡°M...Mother¡­?¡± I tilt my head at her in confusion.


    ¡°You were never supposed to be born.¡±


    I don¡¯t understand any of it. I hear a sickening squelch as the blade is wrenched out of my chest. Blood pours out of the wound like a waterfall. Why? Why is this happening?


    ¡°It¡¯s all your fault, cousin.¡± Jun says to me, as if in a trance.


    ¡°She¡¯s right, you know.¡± says a hooded man. He drapes an arm over Jun¡¯s shoulders. ¡°This lovely little peach is absolutely correct about you. The weak aren¡¯t entitled to anything. For you see, they cannot protect anything. The harder you struggle, the truer this will become. Like sand through your fingers, everything will slip away, and you will be left with nothing. Remember this day. When everything falls apart, look back on this day and realize that it was the beginning of the end.¡± says the man.


    ¡°You¡­ bastard¡­ is this¡­ your doing?¡± I demand of the wraith in black.


    He looks offended, even under the blackness of his hood. ¡°Me? I told you already. You have only yourself to blame.¡±


    I don¡¯t know where my mother is. She vanishes from sight after stabbing me. My blood runs down my body, pooling on the sidewalk.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking the girl. She¡¯ll be returned to you when it is time.¡± says the man.


    ¡°Goodbye, cousin.¡± says Jun.


    They both turn and I watch them go. The earth shakes and the world erupts into flame. Both figures disappear through the smoke, and I¡¯m left standing in the circle of fire. An earthquake? Did it rupture the gas line beneath the ground? I don¡¯t fully process what¡¯s going on. Somehow, I make it through the flames, into the backyard. The grass and trees are beginning to catch flame. Dimly, I think of the brown brick wall, the dividing line between here, and the forests. The wall will stop the flames. I¡¯m halfway up when I realize that it won¡¯t. Instead of vaulting over into the woodlands, I walk along that wall to my left, where the docks wait, towards the river. As I follow that brown brick path, I leave a trail of blood behind me. I¡¯m freezing despite the flames licking the left side of my body. I don¡¯t even feel the heat. ¡°Make it to the water, make it to the water.¡± I chant to myself, over and over. I feel faint and dizzy. Did she puncture my heart?


    I collapse between the wall and fence. The bottom that should have been there doesn¡¯t greet me. I plummet between them into a canyon, into darkness, wind whipping past my face. I¡¯m falling for minutes past clouds and stars, the walls giving way to azure sky. And then, I¡¯m no longer falling. The sky shifts onto its side and I feel myself sinking through water, an expansive black abyss of ocean. I see falling stars above the sea¡¯s surface, falling towards islands in the distance, whose bottoms I can¡¯t see beneath the waves. Miles above me waits a bridge. I¡¯m sinking down, into the unknown, when I hear a voice calling to me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give up.¡± the voice says.


    But why? I¡¯ve lost everything already, haven¡¯t I? I close my eyes and welcome the end. But the end doesn¡¯t come. I¡¯m adrift in nowhere. I slowly open my eyes and see that I rest upon a lake, surrounded by swirling pink petals. In the distance, through the trees, lays a rouge mansion, lined with pink flames on either side.


    I wake up. I¡¯m between the walls, bleeding out into the dead leaves and garbage. I¡¯m not dead yet, for whatever reason. In my mind, I can still see that mansion. Then I realize that the board in front of me hangs loose from the fence. I push through the gap and find myself in a tunnel of trees, dragging my bloody form to the mansion I know waits there. The trees aren¡¯t pink, that must have been a construct of my mind. The fire wasn¡¯t, at least not entirely. The heat woke me up. Despite my blood loss, I can feel the flames again, and thank goodness for it - had they not woken me, what were the odds I would have just laid there and died? In my surprise at still drawing breath, I forget that I¡¯ve already lost. At the end of that tunnel, the mansion greets me. A feminine figure stands there in the shadowed doorway. She whispers to me, but even across the distance I can hear her in my mind.


    ¡°Do you want to live?¡±


    There isn¡¯t time to think about it. My mouth falls open, leaking blood down my chin. I hear a raspy ¡°yes¡± trail off my blue lips.


    Subsequent Entry:


    I saw myself embrace her. And the fire engulfed us both. When the crimson tide died away, and the units were left in burnt out wrecks¡­ I knew¡­ something about me had changed forever. I could feel everything. And so, I felt nothing. Four years later¡­ I came back to that town. I don¡¯t know where I had been, or what I was doing since then. I was only ten that night. And that night - it was my first memory.


    (End of Entries)


    The figure chuckled in dry amusement and closed the book, returning it to its shelf.


    "Memories are fickle things. This book cannot help you. You''ll remember only what she wants you to."


    The figure willed itself elsewhere, and stepped through the door into the fields of windmills.

 2-4 Divergence

    The weekend had come like a blissful dream, and Dares had the feeling he¡¯d enjoy the garden more thoroughly in the morning when he was still fresh than at the end of the day when he had time to realize what his life was about. Drifting among the flowers, he could let himself forget.


    Until he heard sobbing.


    Dares stepped out of the brush into a flat patch by the gateway, where he saw Jun standing over a rabbit, limp on the ground. Jun had fallen to her knees, and her tears pattered softly into the rabbit¡¯s fur, making dark splotches where they landed. Dares felt a wave of mixed fright and bitter disappointment beyond Jun¡¯s beacon of sorrow, and he looked in that direction to a fox that was sprinting down the road and out of sight.


    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s what happened.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°It got the mother rabbit¡­ she had babies and now they¡¯re all alone¡­ It¡¯s not fair!¡± said Jun, cradling the creature in her arms now.


    ¡°No. No it¡¯s not. But, life isn¡¯t supposed to be fair, whether or not we want it to be.¡± Dares¡¯ answer was met with silence. But, that was okay. After a few minutes, when Jun¡¯s tears had begun to taper off, and the mauled creature had begun to stiffen, Dares spoke again. ¡°But, you could also look at it from the fox¡¯s perspective. It was just trying to feed itself, and now it¡¯s wasted that energy on a meal it can¡¯t keep. It didn¡¯t choose to be born a predator.¡±


    ¡°I know that¡­ It¡¯s just¡­¡± Jun wiped her eyes.


    ¡°We are what we are. Concepts like ¡®fair¡¯ and ¡®unfair¡¯ don¡¯t factor into it at all. The world won¡¯t cushion your falls. But,¡± Dares bent over and scooped up the corpse despite himself, feeling, for just an instant, savage jaws clamped around his throat and breaking his neck. He gritted his teeth and spoke on. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean people can¡¯t cushion each other¡¯s falls.¡±


    Dares carried the dead rabbit to the base of the weeping willow, and set it down carefully, then began clawing away mounds of soft soil, opening up a crevice in the ground.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Jun halted him, giving herself a moment to part with her deceased unmet friend. Solemnly, she stroked its blood-matted fur, then gently closed its eyes. Dares let her, and then tenderly lowered the thing into the pit, and replaced the dirt.


    ¡°This story does end well for someone.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°Who?¡± Jun inquired behind reddened eyes.


    Dares touched a hand to the trunk of the tree. ¡°A tragedy for one, and nutrients for another. It¡¯s strange, when we die, our elements don¡¯t really go away. They just scatter and become the lifeblood of something else.¡± One touch, a thousand years Dares stood sentry over the field that would one day host Koizumi House. A thousand years in an instant, wind and rain and sun. And when those years passed to the present second, Dares felt a new essence join with the willow¡¯s own, making it just the slightest bit grander. A soft breeze whispered through the leaves, and then was gone.


    ¡°So this is where you¡¯ve gotten to.¡± a familiar voice pulled them both out of their melancholy.


    ¡°Hello, Shunpei.¡± Jun said reluctantly, not trying especially hard to not look soured by his presence.


    ¡°You.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°What a warm welcome.¡± Shunpei laughed, what Dares was noticing seemed to be his default response. ¡°We seem to keep running into each other.¡±


    ¡°Hardly. You¡¯ve never taken this path back from school. What are you up to?¡± Jun grilled him.


    ¡°Okay, you caught me.¡± Shunpei threw his hands up. ¡°I was just coming by to remind you that tomorrow''s the big event. I know the anticipation is killing you.¡±


    Dares and Jun exchanged perplexed looks.


    ¡°What do I have to do to make you go away?¡± asked Dares.


    ¡°Join my troupe.¡± said Shunpei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°Please?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Pretty please?¡±


    ¡°Hell no.¡±


    ¡°How about now?¡±


    ¡°Jesus Christ, are you five years old?!¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Knock knock.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Knock knock.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing it.¡±


    ¡°Knock knock.¡±


    ¡°What?!?¡±


    ¡°Join my troupe.¡±


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± - Dares felt his entire body trembling with barely contained rage.


    ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t get riled up! It¡¯s just my sense of humor.¡± Shunpei grinned ear-to-ear.


    ¡°How many people are even in this troupe of yours?¡± asked Dares.


    ¡°About three if you want to count her?¡± Shunpei cocked a thumb at Jun.


    Dares felt his flesh quiver and his eyes narrow into tunnel vision. His hands flexed and unflexed, meager muscles straining against his skin.


    ¡°Your eyes have changed. Are you going to show me something interesting?¡± Shunpei asked, his face painted with focused anticipation and excitement. Dares realized he was playing right into his hands. Shunpei was gauging him, trying to see what really lay underneath the tip of the iceberg. As soon as he realized this, Dares let it all go, and felt numb again. The angry mask broke away.


    Shunpei¡¯s shoulders slumped and he pouted like a child who had just lost an exciting new toy. ¡°Hmm, I guess taunts alone aren¡¯t enough to make your blood boil. Oh well. I can tell you¡¯re holding back. You aren¡¯t ready yet.¡±


    ¡°What kind of joke do you think you¡¯re having at my expense?¡± said Dares, wearily.


    ¡°No joke. I¡¯m entirely serious. I know you want to see it too - what lies outside this town. Maybe you just haven''t realized it. But your potential is too great to waste loafing around here.¡± said Shunpei.


    ¡°There are some things you can only do once while you''re a kid. Something is moving into place to open a door for us. The world is about to expand. I can feel it.¡± said Shunpei, tasting the air.


    Jun marched up to Shunpei - and slapped him. The sound was crisp and clean.


    ¡°Get out.¡± Jun growled at an uncomprehending Shunpei.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± said Shunpei.


    ¡°I said ¡®get out¡¯, you idiot. How can you have so little tact? Can¡¯t you read the situation at all?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± said Shunpei.


    Dares nodded over toward the willow, where the young rabbits were sniffing at the mound their mother laid beneath.


    Shunpei¡¯s eyes lighted with realization. ¡°Oh. I¡­ didn¡¯t realize¡­¡±


    ¡°And you.¡± Jun turned on Dares. ¡°Why are you bickering with him? How can you be so insensitive when the dirt is still fresh on your palms? Why can you snap back so quickly? Just leave, both of you.¡±


    ¡°I see. So that¡¯s how it is.¡± said Shunpei. ¡°Then let me offer this as an apology.¡± Shunpei held out his hand, pinky extended. Moving deliberately, he closed his other hand around the digit. He locked eyes with Jun.


    ¡°What are you¡­?¡± said Dares.


    Shunpei wrenched to the side. There was a sickening snap as the bones broke cleanly. Jun recoiled in horror.


    ¡°What¡­ why would you¡­¡± said Jun, eyes wide and lips trembling.


    ¡°If this isn¡¯t enough,¡± said Shunpei, grasping his ring finger.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it!¡± said Jun.


    Shunpei stopped, serene. ¡°Its just a finger or two. A small sacrifice. I¡¯m sure it can¡¯t compare to your pain.¡±


    ¡°What is wrong with you? Do you even have a concept of pain? How can you do that to yourself?¡± said Jun.


    ¡°A concept of pain? Sure. My body registers damage. Does that make you feel any better? Seeing me in pain?¡± said Shunpei, smiling.


    Jun grabbed his wrist and wrenched his hand away. ¡°You¡¯ve made your point, so just stop! Don¡¯t hurt yourself anymore!¡±


    Shunpei gently cupped her face with his good hand, and Dares saw the pinky on his other hand bent out at an unnatural angle.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± said Shunpei, staring at the tears still gently streaming down Jun¡¯s face as they rolled onto his hand, as if contemplating their meaning. His hand came away wet, and he observed it with some interest and that same serene smile.


    I see. He distracted Jun from her own pain by redirecting her attention to his. He sacrificed a finger to take her mind off of the rabbit like it was nothing. Dares realized. ¡°A door is about to open?¡± he repeated the words slowly, letting them sink in. He remembered the dark creatures.


    ¡°None of the adults seem able to notice it. But I have the feeling you can. Ever since I first laid eyes on you. You''re the key to that door¡­ and my ticket out of here.¡± Shunpei announced.


    ¡°What are you-¡±


    ¡°My game is tomorrow. Be at the field at three. I can¡¯t explain it, but I think there will be some kind of sign for us. If after its over, you¡¯re still not convinced, I''ll abandon my claim to you.¡± said Shunpei.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± said Dares, feeling himself plunged into freezing darkness in the back of his mind. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in fate.¡±


    Shunpei smiled serenely, and something about his eyes changed. Dares couldn¡¯t pin down what exactly, but it unnerved him.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll make a wager with you. Let''s weigh my devil''s luck against your denunciation.¡±


    Shunpei pulled what first appeared to be a small red ball out of his vest. Looking closer, Dares saw that it was a mass of smaller red balls interconnected by a tangled web of twisting fuses - a crow¡¯s nest of cherry bombs. Shunpei, to Dares¡¯ and Jun¡¯s rising horror, struck a match and tossed the sparkling mass into the air over his own head.


    ¡°What are you thinking?!?¡± Dares heard himself shriek in panic, while Jun¡¯s gasp of terror seized in her throat.


    Shunpei closed his eyes and stretched his arms out straight to either side of him. The tranquil smile never left his lips, even as the nest fell back to Earth as a rain of hissing time bombs.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna blow your face off, you idiot!¡±


    It was too late.


    There was a deafening thunderclap as the pellets exploded into a fiery hail all around Shunpei.

 2-5 Pieces

    ¡°Class dismissed!¡± - the words Dares had been waiting for. He shoved his books haphazardly into his backpack and hung back, waiting for the rush of escaping kids to taper off to a thin trickle before trying to squeeze through as well. He sensed something at his back, and turned to see, for a brief moment, one of those jet-black imps staring in at him through the window he sat by - just watching and waiting. He didn¡¯t feel like giving it any attention, so he pretended it didn¡¯t exist. And, soon enough, it was gone like a brief figment of his imagination.


    Dares shrugged and let himself out into the hall. He was halfway through the locker corridor, wondering what sign he was supposed to see at the field, when someone blindsided him. He was pinned against the metal door by slender, but surprisingly powerful arms on either side of him, cutting off any escape.


    ¡°And where exactly do you think you¡¯re going?¡± a girl¡¯s voice asked him.


    ¡°Hi, Claire.¡± said Dares, his nose tickled by a few silver strands of her hair that had brushed his face.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got some nerve trying to give me the slip. It''s not nice to keep a girl waiting.¡± she smirked. She looked at him in a similar fashion to a lioness staring down an antelope.


    ¡°Uh, today''s not a good day.¡± Dares answered feebly. He wasn¡¯t sure how to extricate himself. If he just tried to brush past her, he¡¯d surely absorb her sensations again. What was more, he didn¡¯t want to see whatever had left that permanent cynical air about her spirit. His own dissatisfaction was enough.


    Claire looked like she had just been slapped. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. An older girl¡¯s willing to take you out and suddenly you¡¯re busy? This was your idea in the first place, kid. Or maybe-¡±


    Dares released his breath as Claire stepped back and placed her hands on her hips. She looked him up and down suspiciously. ¡°Maybe someone put you up to this?¡±


    ¡°No, it''s not like that.¡± Dares tried to reassure her, wishing he had never opened his fat mouth and put himself in this position in the first place.


    ¡°I was speaking from experience when I said rumors spread quickly. It¡¯s not like I don''t hear what people say about me. ¡®The poor girl¡¯. ¡®Trailer-trash¡¯. ¡®The harlot¡¯. It gets old quickly.¡± Claire lectured him. ¡°I thought you might be able to relate to being an outsider. Was I wrong?¡±


    You don¡¯t know the half of it.


    ¡°Claire, I swear I¡¯m not trying to trick you. It''s just poor timing is all. I kind of promised I¡¯d meet with someone today.¡±


    Claire raised an eyebrow.


    Dares shook his head. ¡°Not like that!¡±


    ¡°I can always tell when someone is lying, you know. You weren¡¯t entirely honest with me then. I know you''re hiding something, I just don¡¯t know what.¡±


    Should I tell her? But what if she''s not the one I¡¯m¡­ supposed to be waiting for? That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t believe in fate anyway. Maybe I should tell her. I have to tell someone. Soon.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you the full story yet. I don¡¯t really understand it myself. I''m sorry. But I''m not being put on by anyone. I¡¯m doing this of my own free will.¡±


    Right? I must be. I have to be.


    Claire locked eyes with him and held that scrutinizing gaze for an uncomfortable length of time. Finally, she seemed to be satisfied, and sighed. ¡°Ok. I believe you, kid.¡± she said.


    ¡°Thank you, Claire. I¡¯ll make it up to you.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°You¡¯d better. You¡¯ve got till Saturday. I don¡¯t forgive empty promises.¡± she warned, and cracked her knuckles for emphasis before raising her hands over her head and waltzing off.


    Dares saw her walk right up to a very confused Ryder. The mammoth boy looked back and forth from his cousin and Dares in disbelief. Dares heard them banter as they exited the halls.


    ¡°You got a thing for little boys now?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Sue me.¡±


    The voices gradually faded, and a new one piped up. ¡°What was that?¡± Jun stood there, blushing furiously.


    ¡°The lesser of two evils.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°Meaning?¡± asked Jun.


    ¡°Go out with her and have Ryder kick my ass, or blow her off and have her kick my ass.¡± said Dares, resigned to a beating from someone. ¡°Accident or not, I did kind of promise. Speaking of which,¡± Dares gazed at the clock. ¡°We¡¯d better sprint.¡±


    And so they did. However, Dares briefly lost sight of Jun when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned to a telephone pole where something was taped to the metal. Entranced, Dares moved toward it despite himself. It was a missing poster. Dares had noticed it because the picture was that of the dog from his dream. He recognized it clearly. The dog was missing. A cash reward for its return, and a contact number were listed below. Dares called the number, forgetting his rush to the stadium.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Hello?¡± a girl¡¯s voice answered.


    ¡°Hi. I might have seen your dog in an alleyway, east side. When was the last time you saw him?¡±


    There was silence on the line initially. And then -


    ¡°Very funny. I don¡¯t know how you got this number, but piss off.¡± - Click.


    Dares recoiled from his cell phone, stung by the bitter emotion. Was he on the receiving end of some kind of prank? No, that didn¡¯t make any sense. In any case, when Dares looked again to the pole, the poster was still there. The picture of the dog and the contact information, however, had begun to fade away.


    ¡­


    They made it to the field with a minute to spare. Shunpei turned his head to them in the crowd and smirked. They took their places on the bleachers and waited, tucked away in a sparsely populated corner where Dares wasn¡¯t entirely overwhelmed by the tsunami of excitement and tension the collective crowd created with their cheers. The smell of grass and sweat was overpowering.


    Shunpei stood at the front of his team, staring down the opposing team as if he was on the hunt, sizing up his prey. All was still as the murmurings from the crowd died down to a hush. A sudden breeze fluttered through the field, and then the whistle sounded.


    Shunpei phased forward silently and exerted his dominance over the ball. His teammates followed his lead, weaving in and out of their opponents¡¯ reach, cutting deep into enemy lines. Shunpei ricocheted the ball between them as if second nature. He didn¡¯t seem just to be acting on instinct. Rather, he projected total control, as if he had eyes on every player at once, like pieces on a game board of his own design. No, like -


    ¡­


    ¡°- a general leading an army,¡± said Dares. ¡°He doesn''t look like he''s just playing a game. I can¡¯t completely describe it. He''s seeing things differently from the rest, somehow.¡±


    ¡°You got that impression too, huh?¡± Jun responded. ¡°But did you see anything strange?¡± she asked him.


    As a matter of fact, he had. During the last four minutes when both teams were tied for points, Shunpei raced forward to make the tie-breaking score and found himself blocked by the bitterly determined goalie, acting on a final charge of power leased from his adrenaline. Shunpei lined up his shot and kicked forward what was certainly a misfire, barreling into the keeper''s waiting arms. And at that moment, the overcast clouds decided to part, and a column of sun blinded the goalie. The goalie missed.


    ¡°Yeah. If there''s a god, he apparently wastes time betting on junior soccer. And tilts the table. I¡¯d say that''s pretty weird.¡± Or maybe I¡¯m his stress toy. thought Dares.


    He walked into the locker room to admit his loss with dignity. Shunpei was still in his team-wear, wiping his face with a wet cloth and stretching with a yawn.


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Dares announced his presence. No need to beat around the bush.


    Shunpei¡¯s face lit up when he saw him. ¡°Beats me.¡± he shrugged. ¡°Call it a hunch, or intuition, or whatever. To be honest, I wasn''t sure exactly what was going to happen. It''s just¡­ I don¡¯t know, have you ever felt like you just knew everything was going to work out?¡±


    No. Dares could safely say he had never felt anything was going to work out, ever.


    ¡°Now that''s a gloomy face. Cheer up!¡± Shunpei laughed. He swiped a nozzle off its hook.


    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t you dare-¡± - Dares caught a face full of icy shower water that pelted him like liquid rocks.


    ¡°Need to work on your reflexes.¡±


    ¡°You-¡± Dares growled, half-choked by his own soaking hair. He saw another blast coming his way, and narrowly ducked under it.


    ¡°Better!¡± Shunpei clapped.


    ¡°Asshole!¡± Dares barked back, and snatched up a nozzle of his own. Shunpei ran circles around him until Dares had choked himself out, tangled up in the cord like a dog at the end of its leash.


    ¡°What a funny face!¡± Shunpei cracked up at Dares¡¯ comically furious expression. Dares silently grabbed an abandoned bucket full of mop water while Shunpei doubled over to catch his breath.


    ¡°You know,¡± said Shunpei, his eyes still closed. ¡°When I''m out there on the field, it''s a different state of consciousness.¡±


    Dares halted to listen.


    ¡°Whatever¡¯s going through my mind or whatever comes after; those things don''t exist in the moment. Excitement, anxiety, frustration - everything just melts away, and I have clarity. When you''re moving, nothing else is real. Feel your hair.¡±


    Dares did, and felt the fresh water squelch between his fingers like swamp ooze. He could feel the cold, and taste iron as his lungs and heart labored to keep his body moving. His mind was in the present, processing these little sensations, far removed from his troubles.


    ¡°It¡¯s cold, right? A shock to your system. Then autopilot takes over, and it all comes naturally. Those are the only times anything truly feels real. History, status, race, sex - none of it matters when push comes to shove. I can see everything clearly like it''s all in slow motion.¡± said Shunpei.


    ¡°...I see¡­ your friends certainly seem to move to your beat. You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re playing a game out there, more like it¡¯s some kind of battle.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°Maybe it is. It''s the only reason I bother staying in school. I¡¯ve always thought that people have two sides. One-¡±


    ¡°One they present to blend in, and one they keep hidden.¡± said Dares.


    Shunpei didn¡¯t look surprised. ¡°Exactly.¡±


    ¡°You only feel alive when you''re in conflict.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°On point. A minor correction though. I don¡¯t really consider any of my teammates friends. I don¡¯t like people that blindly follow others, or put someone on a pedestal just because they can kick a ball around. They''re more like pieces on a board to move around towards some end goal. But it gets boring. I want an equal, someone who can sit on the other side of that board with me, face to face.¡± said Shunpei, his eyes wandering to the ceiling but not seeing it.


    ¡°So why me?¡± asked Dares.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Do I need a special reason?¡± Shunpei shrugged.


    Dares let the moment hang in silence, digesting everything Shunpei had said. Then he emptied the bucket over Shunpei¡¯s head. Shunpei jumped as if goosed. ¡°Got you.¡±


    Shunpei processed what had just happened to him. Then he threw back his head and laughed. ¡°Fair play, good man, fair play.¡±


    Dares felt the faintest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. It died when he saw Shunpei pull his jersey off.


    ¡°Shunpei¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Shunpei nodded, looking indifferently at the bandages wrapped around his ribs. ¡°They¡¯re broken.¡±

 2-6 Contact.

    The original settlement - Riverview, was built east of where the main town now sat, now much closer to the river, its Nile of life. The first settlers believed the soil was magic because of the rising and falling tides enriching it. Old superstitions die hard. Even today, some people call it the ¡°earth of dreams¡±. But after the great earthquake, the river redirected its course, and the original settlement was deprived of its life¡¯s blood. Traffic dried up with the parched land, and it fell away into abandoned obscurity. On empty, windy nights, one can hear the mournful cries, longing for the past, as the howling wind echoes through those abandoned buildings.


    The first ancestral lodge of the natives who co-created their hunting and fishing grounds with the settlers as part of a peace pact believed it was the dawning of a new era. The Moose Lodge was so named in honor of their protector spirit. That lodge stood for three centuries, the mounted head of the Great Moose standing sentry above the door frame.


    Beyond the lodge lay the pier that had become the exclusive right of the city elite, the old money, the traders and trappers, and those who turned on the natives and ran them out of their own sacred lands. That lodge marked what was colloquially called the Waterfront. It utterly failed as a hunting lodge in anything other than name - the moose, and all the other game all disappeared long ago, along with the natives. Fishing was the commercial lifeblood of Riverview, old and new.


    There were a few historic buildings near the Moose Lodge and private pier, which marked the outer limits of what was properly called ¡°town¡±. There was an old antique shop, a loan shark¡¯s office, a few abandoned lots and crumbling sheds, but not much else. It was kept in the boundary of the town itself only by a long stretch of land used to display and sell outdated farming tractors, which Dares always thought looked like great green behemoths with rotating, toothy maws.


    In the Summer months, this farming dealership was cleared away to make room for the annual Crawdad Festival, which every man, woman, child, and crotchety town drunk looked forward to at the end of their long, wearying days. Cheap rides, junk food, hokey trinkets and souvenirs, fishing derbies, and the titular crayfish available, steamed, fried, baked, and what-have-you, unloaded onto town familiars and tourists at venues on every possible street corner.


    That magic only happened once a year, when the barren and lonely outskirts of town became vibrant with new life and universal joy. Outside of those three special days a year, the edge of town always made Dares feel so lost and alone.


    He remembered walking with his father once through a street fair of exhibitions, a showing of anachronisms of the bygone past. For whatever reason, an old dentist chair was mounted high on display amid a strange parade. Dares had asked his father what the straps were for. His father had explained that they were to secure struggling patients so that their painful dental work could be completed. Dares still cringed at the thought in his restless dreams. He never could figure out if his pops had been serious or not.


    No, this place was ¡°dangerous¡± except for three days a year. He dared not venture past the Moose Lodge. Nothing physical impeded his progress, but he felt trapped in his own mind. The bridge, it was the edge of the world. If he took another step over it, he would officially be as far from home as he ever was. It was strange that he could dream of jungles and great walls and scaling mountains deemed unreachable, but could not pick up the pieces of his shattered courage to see what lay beyond his own final ¡°wall¡±.


    His home, where he felt safe and secure, was in the Raintree complex, at the end of Front Street, near the bank, next to the docks, in front of the forests. Raintree, encircled in its brown brick walls, with the strip of grass out in front where a few lone trees stood sentry. In the backyard, Dares busied himself walking over the dividing wall between his yard and the forest. It made him feel bold and brave, and curious more than anything else. He sought ¡°big things¡± in between ¡°little things¡±. Whatever words he could have grasped for to describe his desires and emotions, they flew away.


    Dares wandered along that brown brick path, following it relentlessly forward in a hypnotic pursuit, one foot in front of the other. He¡¯d get yelled at eventually, but that thought was far away and insignificant.


    As Dares went on, his foot caught on a jagged edge where a piece of brick was ripped off. His stomach lurched and he pinwheeled his arms, but fell between the wall and the fence, banging his head on a cross-section and scraping himself. He landed in a bruised, stinging heap amidst the filth and weeds between the barriers. Wincing and clutching his bruised tailbone, Dares stood on skinned knees and blinked - there lay a path through the forest ahead of him - a gap in the fence. No, it was not a gap, but a loose plank. Ahead, the overgrowth twisted into the frame of the boards, blocking off view of the woodlands and houses beyond. Beneath this canopy lay a new secret entrance, a gateway to another world in his own backyard.


    Dares, forgetting his pain, pulled on the plank, swinging it open on its hinge to reveal the way. His eyes lit up in delight at the forested tunnel that seemed to go on forever into the light.


    He moved forward. The light filtering through the canopy was like a shimmering mural. The nightmares and false memories banished in this place, he pressed onward seeking something new. After what felt like hours, Dares came to an open clearing. Here, no birds sang, all was quiet and still. In a fairy ring of mushrooms, an old mansion stood, growing out of the tall grass.


    It was Victorian style, painted rouge, a triple-decker with ornate railings framing its lookouts, and a turret room at the top. Above the mansion was a circle of empty sky, as if the dwelling itself were the dominant and only tree in the clearing. It was a good twenty yards from Dares, locked behind a fanciful gate. Except, it wasn¡¯t locked. One of the iron doors was open, just a crack, swaying in a light breeze as if in invitation. Dares was enamoured with the view, and put a wary but curious foot forward.


    ¡°You¡¯ve found it. One of the great mysteries of Riverview.¡±


    Dares jumped a little and turned. ¡°Jun. Don¡¯t scare me like that.¡±


    ¡°In your own backyard and you never knew about it? You disappoint me.¡± Jun shook her head. ¡°Anyway, no one¡¯s lived in that house for years, maybe centuries. No one really knows how old it is, but for whatever reason, you won¡¯t find it on any map no matter how hard you look.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Nuts if I know. When I was a little girl, mom used to tell me stories about a witch that lives in that house. These are her forests.¡± said Jun.


    ¡°A witch?¡± said Dares, and peered closely at the mansion. His eyes were drawn to the turret room. Had a white silken curtain been moved? Was it just the wind? He didn¡¯t see a window cracked to admit the breeze. In fact -


    ¡°There¡¯s no wind here.¡± said Dares. How could he have thought that the gate was swaying? He looked at it dead on and saw that it was locked up tight. The forest was still and deathly quiet.


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s strange. When I was a little girl, I used to be terrified of the witch. Of course, it¡¯s probably just an old fairytale used to scare kids away from this place. That building¡¯s really old, it could be dangerous inside. Parents prefer scared kids to hurt kids, right?¡±


    Dares glared at Jun.


    ¡°Uh, sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to go on about -¡±


    ¡°- Parents. It¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t really remember them anyway.¡± Dares shrugged.


    ¡°Not even a little?¡± asked Jun, tilting her head.


    ¡°No. Or where I lived before coming here. I don¡¯t really remember anything before Riverview, to be honest.¡± said Dares. Except -You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Jun noticed Dares¡¯ expression change.


    ¡°I think I had a dream about one of them last night, it could have been my mom. And you were there too, now that I think about it. I called you ¡®cousin¡¯. We¡¯ve never met until a little while ago, right?¡± asked Dares.


    Jun tilted her head and thought about it for a while. ¡°No. No, I don¡¯t think so. I would have remembered someone as pigheaded as you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, go to Hell.¡± Dares rolled his eyes.


    Jun stiffened. ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that around here. It¡¯s bad form.¡±


    ¡°Around here?¡± Dares repeated. He looked at the mansion and put two and two together. ¡°What, is it supposed to be like bad luck or something?¡±


    ¡°It just feels wrong, mentioning Hell in front of a house that¡¯s supposed to belong to a witch, even if its just a story. It feels like we¡¯re being listened in on. You know those old stories where just talking about a demon is supposed to call them to you?¡± said Jun.


    Dares thought to argue, but he¡¯d be lying if he said he didn¡¯t feel a little creeped out too. He was still dreaming about those shadows. ¡°Yeah, I catch your drift.¡±


    ¡°This place gives me the creeps even still, I guess. I¡¯m heading back over the wall.¡± said Jun, and she began her departure.


    Dares waited behind to give one last look to that lonely mansion. The curtain was still. ¡°Hey Jun, wait up.¡± Dares jogged to catch up with her.


    ¡­


    ¡°So what were you doing in there anyway?¡± asked Dares.


    ¡°Picking berries. If you know where to look, they¡¯re everywhere in that forest.¡± Jun indicated the bucket of blackberries standing in the grass. ¡°I usually entered through the neighborhood by the docks. I didn¡¯t know the mansion backed up to your apartment for most of that time.¡± said Jun. She popped a berry into her mouth.


    ¡°Want one?¡± she offered.


    ¡°Maybe later.¡± said Dares.


    ¡°Are you coming by the house today?¡± asked Jun, grabbing her berry pail.


    ¡°Not today. I¡¯m spoken for.¡± Dares narrowed his eyes.


    Why the hell had he spoken so carelessly to Claire? It was almost a given that she was getting a rise out of fucking with him, and for that matter, Ryder. He could already picture how this whole thing was going to end - with her calling him an idiot and making fun of him for ever thinking he had a chance with a girl like her. Of course, trying to explain that he had no interest in dating in the first place wouldn¡¯t change the conclusion she had already reached and -


    ¡°Dares?¡± Jun spoke up.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Dares started.


    ¡°You¡¯re fists are clenched. What are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hoping a mocha¡¯s not too expensive.¡± Dares sighed, then walked off, leaving Jun mystified behind him.


    ¡­


    The AC was a godsend on what turned out to be a sweltering summer day. In just two weeks, school would let out for summer vacation, and the weather showed. The coffee shop was cool and dimly-lit, the only sounds the whirring of the AC and the movement of baristas behind the counter. A soft red glow colored the quiet place, and a few cushy brown chairs were scattered around in casual circles where a few lone customers sipped their drinks.


    The calm atmosphere did little to quell Dares¡¯ unease as he sat across from Claire, who seemed just as surprised as he was.


    ¡°So, you actually came. Good boy.¡± she smirked.


    As it turned out, Claire would cover his drink. She was after all, true to her word. Dares ordered a blended chocolate concoction of some kind. He had never mentioned that he wasn¡¯t much of a coffee person. How would he begin to explain the circumstances behind their meeting here today? That he was seeing things no one else could? That he thought Claire or someone else might have been trying to contact him in his dreams?


    Claire looked Dares over, taking notice of his cut jeans. ¡°Fashion statement?¡± she asked playfully.


    Dares forgot about them himself, and mumbled sheepishly. ¡°Nah. I¡­ did this while sleepwalking.¡± he said, turning to sip meekly at his drink through the awkward pause.


    ¡°Uh huh. That¡¯s a lie.¡± said Claire, never dropping her playful tone.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± said Dares.


    ¡°I told you before. I can always tell when people are telling the truth or not. You weren¡¯t entirely honest with me before, either. So what¡¯s the big secret?¡± said Claire.


    Dares looked out the window where deck chairs sat arranged around umbrellas like chrome flowers.


    Even if I wanted to share, where do I start? I¡¯m not even sure how much of this is real.


    Claire could see the gears turning in his head. ¡°Let me put together what I know about you. You moved back into Riverview four years after being away to parts unknown. You¡¯re not much of a people person, and claim its because of overexposure at school. You don¡¯t recognize any authority higher than yourself, that much was clear when you walked out of detention. Something about you¡¯s got that Sato kid¡¯s attention. You have some kind of health problem because you passed out at the worst possible time, at which point you happened to run into me. You nearly passed out again, but ended up puking your guts out instead. And I distinctly remember you screaming ¡®don¡¯t touch me¡¯ before you did. You said as much to Ryder too, come to think of it. I don¡¯t really know what any of that means, but I know your eyes have something to do with it. You¡¯ve got that intense look in them. And there¡¯s some kind of secret you¡¯re keeping that ties all of these little clues together.¡±


    Dares¡¯ jaw hung open. ¡°Uh, well¡­¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Claire interrupted, swirling patterns into her coffee with her straw, ¡°once more - what¡¯s the big secret? You can tell me.¡± she brushed a strand of silver hair behind her ear, which Dares noticed for the first time was pierced through with a silver stud.


    ¡°It''s complicated. And once you know, you can''t unlearn it. It will follow you the rest of your life.¡± Dares warned.


    ¡°Big deal.¡± Claire rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Yes, Claire, it is a big deal.¡± said Dares.


    Claire noted the emphasis in his voice and the change in his eyes.


    ¡°You''re serious, huh?¡± she realized.


    ¡°Do you really want to know?¡± said Dares, sweating.


    ¡°Do I want to know what, exactly?¡± said Claire.


    ¡°No. It''s a yes or no question. Do you want to know, Claire?¡± said Dares, a faint hint of pleading and what may have been hope in his eyes.


    ¡°...Yes¡­¡± said Claire.


    ¡°Alright then. Hold out your hand.¡± said Dares. This was it, the moment of truth when he would find out what the dreams had meant.


    Slowly, Claire held out her slender hand, purple nails gleaming.


    ¡°Oh, and Claire?¡± Dares remembered.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°When¡¯s the last time you had a cigarette?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know, twenty minutes ago? Why?¡±


    ¡°Occupational hazard. Here goes.¡± said Dares, and he clasped her hand.


    What happened next only took about five seconds in real world time to transpire, but which lasted years for both of them.


    As their hands clasped, Claire seized up, her nails digging painfully into Dares¡¯ wrist. Everything Dares had gone through - separation from his cousin, the cold stab to his heart from the hand of his mother, the loss of his home, the visions of the dark creatures - and everything he had taken on from others, like the willow tree, flowed into Claire like a torrent of raging sea through a busted levy.


    At the same time, everything Claire had experienced was drawn into Dares. He saw through her eyes, five years ago, as she was pinned under a hulking form with reeking breath. Dares struggled and writhed as she had, desperate and confused and terrified, as that form lowered itself and defiled Claire forever, poisoning her spirit and shattering her childhood into pieces.


    Dares felt her, lying cold and alone, clothes torn apart, on a filthy mattress tucked away in the corner of some dingy locked room, alone with her despairing thoughts.


    Dares saw Claire latch onto a dark man who promised to take her away from her nightmare, a man who used her trust to turn her into a tool.


    Dares felt Claire¡¯s interest in him, saw himself through her eyes, thought, through her mind, that surely a pure and innocent love would free her from the possessive hell she had been lost in.


    All of it came to a head in the coffee shop. And all of this, these many years of experience between their lives, was forcibly crammed into their minds in five or so seconds.


    Claire was still clutching Dares¡¯ wrist, where pearly beads of blood had begun to well up. Dares could smell a faint hint of urea, and dimly realized Claire had wet herself. Her eyes were wide and drifting in different directions dumbly - watery, gelatinous marbles that did not recognize their surroundings.


    ¡°Claire?¡± asked Dares, clutching his pounding head and already trying to put the new memory of assault to rest.


    She was drooling. The experience had rendered her catatonic.


    In a moment, Dares felt a growing tide of confusion and concern from the others around them that had begun to take notice.


    Numbly, Dares reached for his phone to call an ambulance.