“It must be morning again.”

My voice softly faded into the darkness as if the objects around me absorbed the little life the words contained. The rings around my eyes were the same size as they were yesterday. They were the same size as they were the day before, and the day before that. Their black hue circled around my eyelids fading into a somewhat dark blue on the soft young flesh of skin that eventually blended into my cheeks. Damn, come to think of it, I must look super attractive by now. I slightly chuckled to myself as the thought ran through my head. But besides that, it was just another ordinary day.

Light barely flooded in. There wasn’t much to do here except sit around and because of this I kind of just stared and thought. I think about the world my mother used to read to me. A fantasy world of magic and happiness, where adventurers could wander the plains as far as the eye could see. With the image of people conquering their dreams, a smile slowly crept its way across my face. However, the shuffling of feet disturbed my peace. It brought me back to the reality that I was forced to live within and made me realize that dreams were just dreams.

The closer it came the louder I could hear them. Their feet dragged heavily against the ground creating a light and soft grinding echo. They continued to scrape heavily across the cemented floor as it came closer and closer to me. As the noise stopped, my neck dropped my head from looking up at the blackish ceiling, so that I could look outside. Someone, some man stood there. One of his hands tipped up the brim of his glasses. The faint light behind him casted a slight shadow over me, making the air feel darker than usual.

“Oh, it’s you.” I said blankly.

My eyes glazed over his human-like figure. A man dressed from head to toe in all black. A black top-hat with a red circular stripe covered the top of black floppy hair that streamed halfway down his face barely making his eyes visible, except for the marks of red fangs that hung beneath his eyes. His white porcelain skin complemented the color of his clothes marvelously. As my eyes focused on his appearance once more, he tugged his hand forward with a grin. Sharp canine fangs that lined the corner of his mouth appeared in greeting. I could tell by the quick swipe of his tongue that he enjoyed the job that he was entrusted with. Within his clutch hung white hair that wrapped its way around his black glove, tangling in bits of locks. They entranced my eyes as they skimmed over the woman’s body. I glanced at her in adornment.

But was it really adornment?

She was beautiful, I would admit that. But, I no longer have the mutual feeling of love or lust. Blood covered her body dripping from a gash on the side of her forehead. It trickled down the sides of her voluptuous breasts, letting me notice that there wasn’t a scrap of cloth on her.

“It would be a shame to get these all bloody.” He acknowledged while flexing his fingers and wringing the locks once more around his hand.

My eyes buried deep into hers. They were pink, slowly fading away. Not a speckle of light left hung in the center of her pupils, but yet she still seemed alive as if holding onto a single strand of hope that someday her life would be saved. 

You’re looking for a hero aren’t you. Out of all the places you could have gone to search for one, it had to be in this decrepit city.

A tiny flick of her soul burned in and out. With a small whisper, it could be lost forever.

Why should I care for her well-being? It’s not like this affected me in any way. And it’s true, this had no influence on me whatsoever. Trying to become her savior. What am I, a hero now? What would I accomplish by going against the system? Probably nothing.

“Hey brat,” The man standing said with hostility. “I know our meeting was a little shorter than usual, but enjoy. It may be your last.” He said with a chuckle.

He looked at me with narrowed eyes. Pure hatred resonated from the dull color of his pupils. I could see it swirl in and out of the darkness. My eyes hinged upward to look back into his. We locked eyes for only a moment, but that was all it usually took. Sparks flew as they scorched the wall next to me. But still, I held my ground. Several more whirled on by, causing smoke to pool around me, covering my body in filthy grey ash, just to watch the cloud of dust dissipate into the surrounding atmosphere.

“Hey. Hey. Brat!” He yelled.

“Huh?” A yawn escaped my lips.

With strenuous effort, my hand slowly rose to cover my mouth, but the effort gave out halfway through. A massive exhale escaped my lips as two tiny teardrops emerged on the corners of my eyelids. Eventually, it reached its intended destination, but at that point there was no reason in it being there, so it dropped back down to my side.

A large box surrounded me on all fours, as I pressed my back to one of the three hard walls that at the very moment supported my life. My pale pink skin looked dark as the shadow of the man still overcast me.

“Yeah, what do you want now?”

“What are you; deaf? Listen. You have a visitor.” He said with irritation.

“Oh, a visitor? Well, isn’t that nice. It’s been awhile since I’ve had one of those.”

Next to me, where the sparks hit, small piles of charcoal lay at the base of the wall. Where they hit, tiny indents gave notice to an unusual phenomenon.

“He should have known by now that wouldn’t have worked.” I mumbled.

“Yeah. Someone actually came to see your lame ass.” He seemed to sneer with sarcasm.

“Oh”.

Another yawn.

This time my hand didn’t even make it to my face.

“Man, when did I get so tired all of the sudden?” I said in a whisper. “I thought I got used to this already.”

He flipped his head forward and with a grin still held across his face, walked away casually, dragging the woman behind. Her feet trailed upright as blood trailed from the puddle that formed from where she stood moments ago.

“Tsk. Sleazy bastard.”

My head dropped.

“Why did she have to come to a place like this? It’s not a place for children. But I’m one to talk.”

It hung there as I stared into the floor. Her eyes burned in my mind.

Why is it that I watch so many people die?

Maybe this was the reason why I stopped caring, because there were always more questions than answers.

I slowly leaned over as if to fall on my side, wanting nothing more to do with this world, just to go back to dreaming of a world full of glory and honor. To a world where magic existed. To a place that made the impossible, possible.

That’s just too wishful. I don’t deserve that.

With footsteps approaching, my concentration broke. I sat upright as my head jerked up to stare at a boy coming from around the corner. His face was the first thing I noticed, red eyes that complimented fair pale skin. Marble grey hair with hints of a magenta undercoating that bounced around back and forth with each pronouncing step as if to say, “I am here”. A small onyx looped earring hung from his left ear and two small band aids covered one side of his cheek. He resembled the age of extravagant youth, but slightly taller and much more built. His defined muscles bore through his half cut off black graphic jacket that was lined with animal fur, a material that is almost impossible to get in today’s day and age. Black and prominent tattoos line up and down each arm creating a beautifully made full sleeve. Banded bracelets gripped each forearm over the bandages that covered his fists. A pair of metal dog tags hung from his neck, clacking back and forth as he walked with his hands stuffed within his pockets. He wore silver capris, ripped at their ends. No shoes covered his soles, just bandages that wrapped around the arches of his feet.

I watched as a grin spread across his face.

“My. My. What have we here?” He said sarcastically, looking at me through the wrought iron bars that separated the two of us.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Not a word was said for a brief minute. We stared at each other intensively.

“Well. This is awkward. Not much of a talker as of lately, I see.” He continued on.

My eyelids began to twitch. Within the dead of silence, they slowly began to pinch together. As if urged by temptation, my back pushed off the wall and I lunged at him, catching him by surprise.

It happened so fast.

My left fist slipped through the cracks, connecting with his forehead, driving it back with massive amount of force. Instantaneously, a shockwave was created that howled throughout the corridors. Bars bent from the wind pressure and cracks emerged within the cement. His head snapped backwards as he flew into the darkness. The force of impact stopped me short of the bars, allowing me to land back onto my two feet.

“Well, I guess that settles that.”

I took a couple of moments to check my breathing.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

“To have the nerve.”

I shook my head from side to side as I walked back into the middle of the cell. With the back of each hand, I brushed off my shoulders, sweeping away tiny particles of dust that may have happened on them.

Footsteps.

“Still coming back for more?” I said with a sigh, tilting my head back, looking over my shoulder into the receding darkness.

Cracks echoed as the steps got closer, reemerging back within viewing distance. The muscles on his neck flexed as his head bent from side to side. The back of his forehand wiped his face, checking to see if there was blood. All that showed were a few scratches. It didn’t surprise me in the least.

This boy wasn’t your average, typical teenager. And he wasn’t just some random dude who happened to stroll into this place just about to have a ridiculous conversation with me. In the past, I knew him, and we just happened to be childhood friends, the best-friend type of friends. We weren’t the most flawless of people, but hell, who was? There were so many types of stupid shit that we fought over. The two most prominent things were, power and women. I said it; I was that kind of kid. I wasn’t the smartest, but I wasn’t the dumbest. I left potential behind, not tapping into the person I should’ve become. We would argue about which girls we would marry and which ones that we could have a ‘thing’ with. It’s funny, because we were like literally eight-year-olds talking about multi-marriages.

His name; Darren Smith. A pure bread athlete and a natural fighter. He would talk big when we were younger but he couldn’t get a girlfriend to save his life. The amount of times he would be turned down was incredible. I have never seen so many rejections in my life.

“That was definitely well deserved, Arius. I’ll give you that.” His hand was still rubbing the back of his neck. “If you put a little more backbone in that one and actually used your dominant hand for once, you could have seriously hurt me. Right?”

“What are you trying to imply?” I said softly as one eyebrow raised in question

“Now. Now. I just came here to chat. No need to get so hostile.”

“What do you want?”

“Really? No need to be so cruel. Can’t you be a little nicer to an old friend?” He said with a chuckle.

Before I had any time to reply with a smart-ass comment, he walked away for a brief moment, to emerge with a small stool. Placing it down, he popped a squat right in front of me.

“So. Ari. Let’s get down to business. When are you doing it?”

“Doing what?”

“You know. Doing it?”

I knew exactly what he was thinking but honestly, it just wasn’t really worth it in the long run. There wasn’t any reward in what he was trying to discuss. It was like, if you put a mouse in a maze, but there really wasn’t an exit and somehow, someway the entrance where you first started became barricaded.

“You know that’s not happening.”

“But why?”

“I’ll say it again. It’s just not happening. How many times do I need to repeat myself. The answer isn’t changing.”

He let out a deep sigh as if discouraged by my words. With a few glances in either direction, he leaned closer to me. “I could really use you right now. You know, for old times’ sake.”

“Darren. Don’t you think I would have done it by now, if I could have?”

The earlier frown turned into a deeper state of disappointment. “Seriously? Ari. Are you really going to tell me that? You know you are spoon-feeding me bullshit.”

He paused to search my face for an expression.

“There is nothing holding you back. I mean look at them. These flimsy bars, couldn’t hold you.”

He got up from his comfortable little stool, approached one and flicked it with his index finger. A metallic ring emanated from its core as it quivered from side to side.

“Think about it, these bars are as weak as the world. Rotting away slowly, burying itself within the ecosystem. A wasted potential, even you…”

“I know.” I jumped in with annoyance.

“Then why not do something about it.”

“And what is it that I’m supposed to do now. Our fight has ended long ago. It’s been finished. There is no need to go through with it again. The result will be the same.”

“Is that what you think? I never thought you would be the person to give in so easily. It was that quality alone that I followed you.”

I looked at him intently. To be honest, I really did believe myself when I said it. I have been in here for so long, I no longer have anything of value to fight for.

“Even if I could Darren? The government wants me dead. There is a bounty on my head.” I paused for a moment. “You seem to know absolutely nothing.”

“Dead? A bounty on your head? Yes. Yes, one-hundred million dollars. That’s right. I completely forgot about that increment.” He began to chuckle. “Honestly, for how dangerous you are, they kind of undersold you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Never mind, that’s not the point.”

He gripped one of the broken bent bars. I watched as he squeezed hard enough that his veins surfaced all

the way up to his bicep.

“They want you dead so bad that you’ve been down here fiddling with your thumbs for quite some time. Isn’t that, right?”  His eyes glanced to the right, then to the left. The bottom half of his lip twitched with unease while his eyebrows shifted up and down in annoyance.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I apologize.” He continued to look around as if paranoid.

“You don’t seem it.”

“To be honest, I came here to ask you questions. One in particular.”

I looked at him. Deep within his eyes he seemed to be worried about something. I couldn’t understand why. What could he be so paranoid about. His expression provoked curiosity and his lips went from unease to anticipation as if expecting a certain outcome.

“What do you want to know? Not like I really have a choice in the matter.” I said as I headed back deeper into the cell and sit against the wall. My hands rested on top my knees, back pressed, feet placed before me as my toenails curled at the end digging into the stony floor. I tilted my head up to stare into his menacing eyes. Yellow moonlit pupils pierced my icy blue as we waited for who was going to make the first move.

“Do you remember how you got here?”

“That’s a pretty specific question.”

“Ari. Just answer it.”

“No. Is there a particular reason why I should?” I responded with curiosity.

For a couple brief moments, we sat in silence. His eyes bared deep into mine.

“Is that all?” I said, trying to rip apart the silence.

He hesitated for a second. “Yes.”

I bent my neck down to look at the floor. With a slight smile, a chuckle emerged. My hands slowly reached up to my face to cover my eyes as my head dropped back to peer into the darkness of my hands. Within moments, I began to laugh uncontrollably. For a moment, I thought I lost my sanity. Like, this was the moment when all hell would break loose.

“Are you, all, right?”

This darkness, it was what kept me warm. Its very existence comforted me whenever I needed it most. It shrouds itself within my thoughts protecting me, but in essence, it wasn’t protecting me at all.

“Ari!”

Shifting my fingers, I created openings for my eyes. The ceiling was as black as a night sky. I could see Darren. A faint smirk crossed his lips. His pearly white teeth hinted pure treason.

My laughter died out. With a quick sweep of my right hand, I slapped the wall. The loud clap ripped him from his thoughts, causing a glare to come my way.

“Darren.” I looked up to see the countless red streaks that lined the walls. “What do these remind you of?”

“Huh? You have got to be kidding me, right? I haven’t even finished questioning you. Why do you get the right to ask yours?”

“Just answer it dammit!”

“Fine. Fine. I know when you get like this, there is no going back. Got to keep the anger tied up in the bag, or so they say.” He put one hand to cover his eye. “Damn. I should’ve just asked you them all at once, because now you even listen.”

He stepped forward, peering into the corners of my darkness. His eyes glowed, moonlit yellow, like a tiger. His nostrils flared as he took a deep inhale.

With a frown he said, “there’s so many.”

Blood marked the walls. Perfect roman numerals marched their way across its deplorable, bleak landscape. Who knew how many there were. Well, I knew. No one would dare take the time to count them, unless your job happened to deal with the deceased.

“But, I guess that’s beside the point. Logical or funny answer?”

“You choose.”

“The most logical one would be the number of days you’ve been here.”

“Nope.” I replied without hesitation. “Guess again.”

“I don’t have time for this game right now.” He looked from side to side once more as if he was expecting someone to come out of the shadows.

“Guess, Darren.”

I had the urge to vent. For the first time in a while, I felt like talking my frustration out with words. I wanted someone to hear me and actually care about what I was saying.

“I don’t know. That’s the only answer that I have right now. Why does it matter anyway?” He turned to face me, gaze locked onto mine. “Haha. Just kidding. How many?”

“Plenty. This is the world that you want to save? The remnants of ancient heroes are just a legend to breed hope so that it can be torn from us. Humanity is not worth saving. We are too naïve as a race. Once we fail we sit down and pout afraid to do anything else because we can’t find a way around the problem. These lines, they are souls that will no longer reach heaven or hell. They will dwell within my body awaiting their judgment day, when I receive mine. These souls for the time being won’t even be judged by purgatory itself. They are stuck within me with no place to call home because of my selfishness. So, for now, I am there home.” I sighed to myself.

“So? What’s your point? You pity yourself for trying to retain your old memories?” I watched as he took a second to formulate his thoughts again. “Why should you care. Humans do what they want regardless. That’s what makes us selfish.”

“And why I believe they are unworthy too live.”

“That is only your belief. People change, you know that better than anyone else.”

“I don’t.”

“You can’t deny it yourself.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You will eventually, too move on. But seriously, you shouldn’t give a damn. Your body count is hundreds of times higher than this. Maybe even thousands.”

“Yeah maybe.” I took a deep breath. “I’m being executed tomorrow.”

“Unfortunately, I know. I apologize. That was the other reason why I came here.”

“Huh?”

“I came to pay my final respects.”

“You might as well leave then.”

Why did I even bother? No one would ever care how I felt. It’s not like my feelings mattered. This is why I no longer have any.

 I looked at him with hated eyes. “Go back to where you belong. I don’t want you here.”

“That’s harsh.” A grin emerged from his lips. “Yes. Your majesty. By the last order of my king, I will move forward with my duties.” He turned away with a slight laugh and ran his hand through his greyish-hair. “See you on the other side. Arius. King of Chaos.”

He chuckled as he raised his hand in farewell.

“Oh. And don’t worry, the rest of humanity will remember your name for eternity. I’ll make sure of that.”

“The other side?”

“I’ll be there soon enough.” He grinned evilly as he looked over his shoulder.

“I thought I told you not to call me that. Darren. King of Patience.”

“Yeah, I know, but when do I ever listen to you? And I thought I told you to never call me that either.”

“Shows how much of a respected King I was.”

I reached into the depths of my pants, pulling out a small object. It was a small amulet, lined with seven speckles of colors.  

“Here. I’ll be dead soon anyway. Take it. Think of it as an early birthday present.”

I tossed it to him.

Snatch.

Without looking back, he plucked it from the air. His sense of perception and depth was always incredible, it slightly blew my mind.

“Happy Birthday, you damned idiot. I still will never forgive you though for what you put me through.” I whispered.

He looked over his shoulders with a grin but continued to walk away without saying a word. I let him. I no longer cared anymore. There was nothing to say. This is where our friendship ended. It was where our paths split in two, hoping that one day we may see each other as friends. But, there was always the possibilities that we could face each other on the battlefield as enemies.

Who was I kidding? I am being executed tomorrow.

“So long old friend. You decide how you want to deal with humanity. I’ve given up on them a long time ago.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” His voice echoed from the depths of the darkness.

“Another round?”

A warden approached my cell.

“Yeah. You could say that.” He said with a slight smile. “How did it go?” He glanced over in the direction where Darren made his final exit. “Looks like you scared him away.” “

“Yeah. Maybe.”

“Savor his words. They will be the last meaningful ones you ever hear.”

“If only they were meaningful to be begin with.” I mumbled.

The way he acted, the way he portrayed himself, it wasn’t the Darren that I once knew. Why was he here? Why did he ask me that question? Could he be connected to why I am here? Here we go again, way too many questions and no answers. I may as well stop thinking about it before I begin to get pissed at myself.

“Hey. Hey. Brat! I’m talking to you!”

“Oh, hey. What’s up? Did you say something?”

“God, you’re such a little imbecile.” I watched as he lowered his glasses down the brim of his nose while gritting his teeth.

“Me?” I pointed to myself in confusion. “I’m an imbecile?” I slightly smiled. “Well, thank you.”