Black Beast by Charlotte

> Quote:Hello again! :grin: This is the second chapter of Black Beast. Hope you enjoy :noei:

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Chapter 2 - Connect

After a long day of family introductions, Noah was finally permitted to go back to his room.

His body felt a little bit sore after a long day in the airplane and a party. The jetlag surely doesn't help either.

He took of his neck ribbon and his coat. He hanged them beside his bed and proceeded to take off his socks and shoes.

He neatly placed them on the crimson coloured shelf and glanced at the clock on the wall.

It flashed [11:27]

'It's way past my bedtime now, mother will be angry if she knew '

His mother back at the ranch was very strict. She always made sure Noah was asleep by 9 and would scold if him if he wasn't.

His father on the other hand was very gentle and kind. He worked day and night to support his family.

One time back in the days where they were extremely in need of money, his father took 4 jobs at once and he would come home

every day looking tired.

His mother had even begged him to stop overworking himself, and promised that she would also get a job to support the family.

Either way, everything went well and Noah still lived a happy and peaceful life.

He thanked his parents while he reminisced about the past.

Noah took a warm shower, the shower was as big as his old room and the toilet was separated from the shower.

Back at his old ranch, he and his parents shared the same bathroom but was never discontent with it. he felt

that it actually brought that closer as a family.

It's different here now, everyone has their own room, their own private space, it was to be expected.

After he finished showering, Noah brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas. He then walked towards his bag

and pulled out a book about Zebras.

He read for about 6 minutes when his eyes could no more fight the sleepiness.

***

Noah woke up to the sound of chirping birds and water splashing from the fountain.

It was Sunday morning, the day in which every person who has work or school tommorrow cry on.

Not Noah though, he was excited to finally go to school after a long week of staying in the hospital.

Noah stared up on the ceiling and was deep in thought.

He was reciting the facts about zebras he had read the night before.

"Zebras are part of the equidae family along with horses and donkeys... "

"Zebras have excellent eyesight and hearing ..."

"...The ears of a zebra show its mood "

"...There are a number of different theories which attempt to explain zebra’s unique stripes with most relating to camouf-"

Before Noah could finish his next word, someone knocked on the door.

It had an irregular rhythm of knocks causing Noah to be a bit hesistant to open the door.

"Who's there?"

A bit impolite, but if it was 'that' person Noah couldn't cared less.

Suddenly, the door flung open and revealed a boy who was running towards him with his arms

opened.

"NOOOOAH!!"

Noah was now completely awake.

A boy with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, having both his mother's and father's traits, was now hugging Noah intensely.

As a result, both of them fell down on the floor.

"Duke get of me" Noah rubbed his temple while he looked directly at his stepbrother.

Noah met Duke and the rest of his new family members last night during their family introduction party.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Duke Butler is 12 years old like he.

Duke gave the impression of a wild, baby monkey, so that's how Noah sees him as.

Duke, on the other hand, was friendly to everyone and before they knew it, they were already friends.

Duke grinned widely as he got up from the floor and looked straight into Noah's eyes.

"So did you sleep well?"

Duke asked excitedly.

"I had my rest"

Duke smiled broadly, "Wanna play a game with me?"

Noah titlted his head, "What kind of game?"

"Royal Road!"

"What's that?"

"You don't know Royal Road?!"

Confused, Noah again asked. "What kind of game is it?"

Duke facepalmed himself as if he just met the most pathetic person in the world.

"Everyone here plays Royal Road! Didn't you know?"

"I didn't know..."

"Fine then I'll show you! Follow me!"

Duke grabbed hold of Noah's hand and dragged him upstairs. Duke was pratically stomping down the hallway and he could hear his mother

scolding him from downstairs.

"DUKE! DON'T BE TROUBLE NOW!"

                                     ***

"Here it is!"

Panting, Noah looked up and saw several capsules that could fit a grown adult inside.

The room was as huge as his old house but nothing surprises him anymore seeing how his mobile phone

was bought from the most expensive brand.

He knew he had to get used to his new lifestyle.

The capsules were all neatly placed beside each other.

There were names written above the capsules. He quickly recognized the names, they were his parents' names, Margarette and Butler.

On the other side of the room was his sister's, Ann Butler.

Noah was unfamilliar with some of the names but he guessed they were probably related somehow.

He wiped of sweat from his forehead and continued to observe one of it.

It looked very high tech and while Noah tried to figure out how the machine worked, a 'pssshh' sound came from the third capsule.

"Noah! Over here!"

Noah stood beside Duke who was setting up the cpasule so that Noah would be able to create a new character.

He didn't really understand why such a high tech machine would be necessary to play a 'game', he couldn't help but

ask another question.

"How do you play this game?"

While Noah, who was forced, got into the capsule, Duke explained how the game worked and told him where to start after creating his character.

Noah really couldn't believe his ears hearing how amazing the game sounded and how high Duke's level in the game is.

Noah used to play games all day at home since he was always sick.

He knew how hard it was to increase your character's level once you became a veteran.

He wondered how high his parents' levels could be.

And his little sister, Ann.

***

After Duke finished his explanation, Noah was finally in the game.

Do you want to connect to Royal Road?YesNo

Without much thought, Noah said yes.

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> Quote:HOLY COW YOU ACTUALLY READ THE WHOLE THING?!:gwake: I LOVE YOU.[th_106_.gif] So anyway that's chapter 2 and chapter 3 will be out tommorow. Thanks for reading people!