Even before being stripped of his normal life by a fickle god, Kaleb was having a horrible day. He woke up to the sight of strung-about bottles of soda and packs of finished-off chips. Looking at his phone he noticed how early he had woken up, not sure why he had woken up before his alarm, but the smell of a freshly prepared breakfast gave him insight into why. This was not necessarily the crappy part though.
The apartment he was staying in was a simple two-bedroom one bathroom with necessities and appliances. The time was 6:45, two hours before he normally woke up, the sun barely peeking through his blinds. Getting up from bed Kaleb starts going through his normal routine, a quick shower followed by a set of basic stretches. While doing so a jolt of pain shoots through his leg followed by a large thud as he falls to the ground.
A soft singsong voice rang out. “You okay in there Kaleb.”
The door opened to reveal a decently tall curly-haired, brown-skinned man with a wide Cheshire cat-like grin. He was in a set of giant shark pajamas that covered his whole body. It looked like it took everything in his body not to break out in laughter.
“Maybe instead of laughing you could help me up Evan,” Kaleb grumbled trying to pick himself up only to stumble to the floor again.
“Or hear me out for a second I sit by the door waiting for you to pick yourself up,” Evan countered with as much sass he could emanate.
With another heave, Kaleb manages to get back to his feet no thanks to the cackling Evan
“See you didn’t need my help at all, Now hurry up before the food gets cold,” he says with a heel turn flipping his non-existent long hair as he walks out the bedroom door.
Walking out of his room Kaleb could finally get a good look at what Evan was cooking. A large stack of fluffy waffles with syrup drizzled over it, a side of crispy bacon with two glasses of orange juice.
“What’s with the huge spread, You never cook like this most of the time you just throw a breakfast pocket into the microwave and call it a day”
A look of annoyance passes by Evan's face “Of course you forgot you workaholic, I’m in a good mood, Today is the day everyone meets up again.”
Oh, that. Kaleb didn’t know how to feel about seeing everyone again, it had been two years since he or Evan had seen his friends in person. In two years, a lot of things could change about a person which was the thing he was most scared of, Other than the occasional Dungeons and Dragons session most interactions between everyone dissolved with a how you are doing or a general meme posting.
Like a mind reader Evan could pick up on his hesitation. “You know if you’re not up to it you don’t have to come, I mean knowing- never mind just know it’s not a requirement to show up.”
“You don’t have to hesitate with me I already know who you're talking about.”
The person in question was Natsuki Kiyotaka, probably the laziest person Kaleb knows.
“How much money do you want to bet that he flakes,” Kaleb says grabbing a fork before going to sit down across from Evan.
A slight look of playful energy passed by Evan's face when Kaleb spoke, a look Kaleb knew all too well.
“I can up you on that I bet he will not only show up, but he will send us a text explaining why he couldn’t because of some anime he’s currently binging,” Evan says with a bit of waffle in his mouth.
“Either way it would be nice to see some things never change.”
Not bothering to finish the conversation Evan started to talk about a new character he was creating. Kaleb always wondered why Evan would never actually show the drawings of his creations, especially after that one time he peaked at his journal. The art was good from what he could tell but each time he discussed showing him Evan always quickly covered it stating a magician never reveals his secrets. Finishing off what is left of his breakfast, he puts the dishes in the sink.
“Make sure to place detergent over the dishes before we leave.”
“Any reason why we are leaving so early it’s only-” a piercing shrill sound starts to emanate from his phone. “Never mind I didn’t realize how much time had passed by,” Kaleb says turning off his morning alarm.
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About to grab his keys by the door Evan stops him.
“I’m driving today.”
“You the passenger princess himself driving and cooking breakfast, who are you and what have you done with Evan,” Kaleb said a smile curling his lips.
“I have you know I can drive and cook, I just choose not since I have someone else to do it for me. Some days I must give my butler a break.”
“You know this butler can quit at any time right” Kaleb counters.
“And you know that you love this princess” Evan fired back.
“Not enough to be your personal Uber.”
A quick chuckle escapes from Evan's mouth as they both walk out the door with Kaleb locking the door behind them. Walking down the stairs of the apartment complex, the brilliant morning sun shines with an orange-red hue, it would have been a beautiful sight if not for the large assortment of trash littered about the street. Making it to Evan’s Sting Grey Jeep and getting in the passenger seat Kaleb realized how clean it was. It must have been that way because he didn’t drive it all too often, he thought.
“So where is everyone meeting up anyway,” Kaleb asked turning on the radio as the Jeep pulled out of the parking lot.
“Do you even have to ask, Waffle house of course,” Evan answers.
“Then what was even the point of cooking if we are going to eat breakfast there,” Kaleb questioned.
“One you and I both know that the waffle house down south is nowhere as good as the one’s upstate, two I just wanted to do something nice for you, three if you didn’t want my cooking, you wouldn’t have eaten it all,” Evan finished smugly.
“Your right about tha-, EYES ON THE ROAD!” Kaleb roars as the truck in front of them comes to a quick and sudden stop. Kaleb lurched forward as Evan hit the brakes hard, barely managing to come to a stop thankfully not hitting the truck.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to, I didn’t realize how close I was to the trunk, I-” distress evident on Evan’s face.
“Calm down Evan nobody’s hurt we didn’t hit the truck, if anything it’s the jackass in front of fault,” Kaleb states.
“Still you,” Evan stops himself before continuing “We could have been seriously hurt.”
“But we didn’t and there’s no time for what-ifs the truck is still sitting there,” Kaleb noted.
“Stay in the car, let me check out what’s going on,” Kaleb said getting out of the car before walking toward the trunk door.
The odd thing was there was no one inside the trunk, in fact, the trunk looked completely untouched. Another weird thing was how empty the road became, like how every car in the immediate vicinity disappeared. As Kaleb got closer and closer to the trunk a large beeping noise started to play from inside. Everything in his body was telling him to move as the beeps got louder and louder. Taking a single step back before breaking out into a full sprint, he yelled for Evan to get out of the car. But it was too late as the trunk exploded knocking Kaleb off his feet and sending pieces of shrapnel everywhere. The force knocked the air out of his lungs as a piece of the former truck stuck out his side.
“I got to bear with the pain” Kaleb exasperated trying to get back up to his feet. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the pain blocking out his judgement or even him not noticing the large piece of metal sticking out his gut but somehow, he manages to stand up. His ears still ringing after the explosion he takes a step, inching himself forward using the Jeep to keep himself up.
“EVAN!”
“EVAN,” Kaleb continues to shout not hearing Evan voice respond back.
When he finally makes it to the car door, he sees the gruesome sight of his mangled friend, glass and metal shrapnel riddled throughout every part of his body. The set belt was released proving he was trying to get out the car only to be seconds too late. His once vibrant face looked something out of horror flick with his eyes pierced and bloodied. Bits and pieces of flesh was rendered from his body with a ear in the backseat of the Jeep.
A wellspring of tears surges from Kaleb face unable to take his eyes from the corpse that was his friend. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t scream, couldn’t do anything, only stand there and cry outside of the Jeep.
Kaleb didn’t want to believe this was real that his friend was dead, so he closed his eyes wishing he was dreaming.
“I really thought I would get both of them with that one,” A jackal like voice cackled. Kaleb opens his eyes to see a faceless man adorned with a suit of brilliant stars, a wide smile, and eyes that shone with unchecked power and glee.