I apologize for the delay. Wrote out this and next chapter and lost it so rewriting it all :D Fun stuff, ya know? Anyway, comments are appreciated and I hope you all enjoy!
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Heart pounding, blood racing, limbs morphing into black disfigured shadows, Kaelem felt himself changing. His surroundings were dark and desolate, empty of existence. He tried to move and panicked as he felt his body falling. There was a dim light far away as he faced, what he believed was, down. There was no telling in this place what up or down was, let alone what it even was. His body continued to change and grow more mangled and disfigured by the second.
His skin charred away and left behind black bones, shadow enveloping the new figure. It configured to his form and molded into an uncontrollable beast. Hands that held claws, spine that now contained a forked tail at the end, and a body that was volatile to say the least quickly accelerated to the light. It grew brighter and brighter as he slowly got closer and closer. He thought he would be completely crushed as he approached the light which now seemed to be a floating platform that held a door.
The light sheared away some of his new found body, but he resisted until he slowly landed. It was like throwing yourself on a burning flame, excruciatingly painful. He wretched the door open, blinded by the pain, and jumped through into a dark night. He didn't recognize the single house that was alone, nothing else in sight, as he entered it.
He heard screams. Throat clenching, bloodcurdling, screams of pain that awoke a fire in his heart. A Fire to punish the cause of the screams. Entering the room, the being that was Kaelem found the source of pain and quickly ended it. A male being... No. His father. His father destroying his mother, beating her to death. He wouldn't let it end the same was as last time.
The phantom-like maw that was now his hand tore out his father's still beating heart. It beat in his hand, letting off a delicious aroma. The heart flowed endlessly over his hands, beckoning him. Begging him to end its suffering. Teeth tore through the soft membrane and drained the heart of all life.
Looking down at his victim, his senses were shell shocked. Where his father had been, Kaelem now stood in front of Maddie, her chest now sporting a gaping hole. Her eyes were full of betrayal and loathing.
An agonized roar emanated through the walls of the vanishing house. The sound was like amplifying the sound of nails across a chalkboard by at least a thousand.
Kaelem sat up in his bed and threw off his thin sheet. His hands were shaking and his heart threatened to jump out of his chest. His breathing was labored and he tried to calm down in fear of hyperventilating. The bed frame groaned under his intense grip.
He rushed into the bathroom and ran cold water in the sink and started the shower head running. He washed his face, but his body was covered in sweat. His clothes stuck to him like another layer of skin.
The clothes were almost torn off in a desperate struggle to get rid of the feelings that were gnawing on his soul. He felt like a real monster. His hands shook uncontrollably and he was chilled to the core. It was so cold until he jumped into the shower, letting the warm water melt away his sorrows.
The water rejuvenated him, giving some color to his pale body, making him forget the horror of the night. He let the water run over his body for a few moments more before getting out and washing off. Standing in the mirror, he couldn't help but look at his scarred body, his hands tracing every single one.
Time passed and he forgot that he had somewhere to be. After tracing every self-inflicted scar, he decided he should leave soon. When he walked out of the bathroom, he was surprised to see it wasn't even past five in the morning. Swearing, he pulled on a new pair of simple grey sweatpants.
Maddie was in a t-shirt with no bra and very skimpy underwear getting an early morning snack when she heard Kaelem's door open. Her face went read immediately and she turned and lowered her shirt before he could see her. Kaelem walked by and only noticed her after she squealed a bit.
For a moment he was at a loss of what to do, and then all the emotions returned, he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in the warmth of her body. Her cheeks were rosy red and her breasts stuck out of her shirt, he could easily imagine what she was hiding. He embraced her, lips locking together, losing himself in the curves of her body.
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The hours passed until it was finally time for him to depart. There would be absence on the first day of Beta from him, valuing the opportunities too much to let them slip. Gently kissing Maddie, he whispered a goodbye with a promise to return soon.
A cab showed up after a few minutes and he arrived at the headquarters of Fate Inc. where he would be staying for his journey through Destiny. He arrived at the headquarters and gave what remaining money he had to the beautiful driver with a picture of three children and a funeral card for someone that had her last name. He didn't need the money anyway, so he hoped she'd put it to good use.
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His attention was turned to the headquarters as soon as the cab was out of sight. The building looked extremely high tech. It sported cameras that covered every single nook and cranny, no rock was left out by the security cameras. He walked up to the building and a door opened before him. When he entered, there was no path for him to follow, but instead his body was scanned.
His identity was confirmed and he was finally allowed entrance to the building. A badge hovered near him, suspended by who knows what, that had his information and access level. Access levels were shown in colors, his being purple reading "Grade Two: Full Access". If grade two gave full access, what was grade one?
There was not much to see in the main entrance of the building. Enough guards holding plasma rifles to fight off an military invasion. This wasn't unusual, so Kaelem just walked up to the attendant, who was hidden behind a plasma field, and asked for directions to the Beta Testing Environment. His curiosity peaked, but he refrained from snooping around the place. The attendant motioned him towards a door that hadn't been there moments before and disappeared from sight.
After stepping into the door, he was surprised to find an absence of anything. He thought that something had broken until moments later more scans were initiated. It automatically routed him, although he had no idea where he was headed. There was only a little bit of surprise as the door opened a few minutes later and he was now looking at the controlled Beta Testing Environment.
The ceiling was high, the room felt homely and unlike the rest of the facility. He imagined the displays that showed images of mountains, clouds, underwater volcanoes, and the such, were two way windows that allowed the scientists to perform their studies while allowing the testers to have some space. There were blocked off rooms in which he assumed were designated for each tester. When he stepped inside one that had his name on it, he found everything that he could ask for. There was a soft bed and a wardrobe full of his style, simple denim t-shirts and blue jeans.
The room had food, drinks, and a surprising amount of pornography. He could only laugh and toss it away. The morning's experiences had him longing for physical contact. No magazine or video could give him that. What was lacking...
The elevator, that's what he assumed it was, dinged and gave way to the rest of the beta testers. There was only a few more seconds until they would be submerged into the gaming world for extended periods of time. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he saw some of this competition.
Their appearances varied, although their was the same amount of women as there were men, ten participants in all. They looked extremely relaxed and it made him nervous. He promised himself that he would survive. Another door opened and a typical scientist, mid forties with a five o'clock shadow, wearing a white lab coat walked in and assessed them. His hands moved slowly and all of the capsules appeared in the space behind him.
"Any questions before we begin?" Cutting straight to the point, he looked at all of them.
"Will we be getting paid for our time here?" Kaelem had no problem asking.
"Of course. A gracious sum of three hundred thousand will be deposited in bank accounts for each and every one of you after every one month session. You will also be given a spending card from the company with a million dollar limit, renewed after three one month sessions." Kaelem was surprised to hear how lush the life of a beta tester could be.
"No more questions?" There was no time to ask another because he continued quickly. "I'm Neil. I'm the head director's assistant in this project. Every one of you will have assigned supervisors watching over your in game experiences at every moment and tending to any of your needs. Feel free to make yourself at home. You won't be going anywhere until your first session is over in one month's time."
How he said it made it sound ridiculously creepy, but Kaelem showed no sign of discomfort. Neil continued, "The first ten days will be unlike any other. This will be Beta time in which you will be creating the history of the game. The time will be different at this point, five hundred years will be the equivalent to two days. As soon as you finish the beta, you will have a twelve hour break to spend freely before the official release." He waited for acknowledgement. "All participants will return for the release and begin their one month adventure."
Someone started to raise their hand and he continued to talk, "Our staff will make sure to sustain your physicality, improving some other's," he said looking at two round individuals with distaste, "to a top notch degree." He gazed over most of them like they were diamonds, worth fortunes.
They were instructed to lay down. At exactly nine thirty, they would begin the Beta. Kaelem lay comfortably awaiting the beginning, eyes closed. This is what he was here for. This was his destiny.