“Pepper?” He felt a slight nudge. What was happening? “Pepper?” A hand seemed to be rocking him back and forth. His eyes fluttered open; he was hunched over the workbench at Rhino’s. He took a deep breath and finally looked up. Rhino was standing over him. “Hey, bud, welcome back to the land of the living.”

Pepper sat up and stretched. “How long have I been out?”

Rhino chuckled. “You tell me. I came back to let you head home early and found you like this.”

“Sorry, Rhino.”

“Sorry? Don’t be sorry, Pepper. You’ve been doing a great job for me. Heck, the customers love your work, and you’ve gotten us all caught up. I couldn’t be happier. However, what I am a little worried about is seeing you burn the candle at both ends.”

Pepper moaned and smooshed his face to try to liven himself further. “Yeah… this past month has gone by in a flash.”

“Uhh, Pepper… you’ve been doing this since you got back from GolemCon, and that was two months back.”

“What? No way!” Pepper activated his holodex. The first thing he noticed was a wave of messages from his mom. He dismissed them without even taking a second to glance at them. His finger tapped on the calendar and began to swipe backwards and backwards and backwards again until he finally discovered that Rhino was right. Crap… it feels like yesterday, he thought.

“Look, go home and get some sleep. Heck, take tomorrow off, even.”

“You sure, Rhino? I can still work; it’s no big deal,” Pepper countered.

The mountain of a man turned and started to walk back towards the sales floor. “Positive! Now get out of here—go have fun. Go enjoy your youth while you still can.” His boss ended with a hearty chuckle.

Pepper retrieved his bike from the side of the store and slowly pedaled home. His energy was depleted by the time he made it back. As he hopped off his bike, he caught sight of a small box near the front door. He immediately recognized the Centaur logo on the side of the package. He had seen it a hundred times in the past week alone from working at the store.

Letting the bike come to rest against the side of the house, Pepper walked over and picked up the package. A small spark came to life within his spirit when he saw his name printed on the label. My second-place winnings from the KBVS Club match! I completely forgot!

Pepper opened the front door but was greeted by harassment.

“Where have you been?” Courtney’s voice cut into him. His mother was glowing with red-hot anger. Her eyes were filled with tears that were on the verge of rushing down her cheeks.

“I’ve been at work,” he said after a slight hesitation.

“And you were just so busy that you couldn’t have messaged back. I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. Hours, Pepper Walker! I tried to be nice… I tried to remind myself that you may not reply right away… but this is unacceptable.”

“What are you even talking about?” He lifted his hands in defense.

“You see!” Her finger rose up and pointed at him, and her stare told him that she was ready to sentence him to an eternity of punishment for whatever crime he had committed. “You don’t even have the heart to remember it’s Ava’s birthday! I asked you to meet us at her grave. I asked you to be there, to be with this family, but here you are, too good for us. So ready to leave and be an arena contender person… thing.”

His heart sank as her words stabbed his soul repeatedly. He glanced over at the wall. Ava’s framed photo was hung directly in between his and Meg’s. He and Ava had never gotten along. They were like oil and water, cats and dogs, and every other comparison one could think of.

It had been years since she was killed. Unlike Travis, who had lost his life in an accident while protecting them from the rift gate, Ava was the victim of a demonic attack. She’d been spending the night at a friend’s house across town. They hadn’t built a bunker or shelter. Nor did they live close enough to reach the military’s old underground tunnel system. Pepper could recall the moment when the shoebox-sized coffin was given to his mom and dad. The few remains of Ava that had been found and recovered after the military had fought the demons back through the rift portal and resecured the defenses around the gate.

“Look… I’m sorry. I just…”

“No! No, no, no… I’m sick of your excuses, Pepper. I am tired of you treating this family like second best. Everyone else comes first before we do. Your statues and arena people, you’re more worried about that than us. You’re so excited to leave that you—”

Pepper had finally had enough. He cut his mom off, unable to help his temper. “You’re right. I am ready to leave. I would have to be crazy like you to want to stay here. Who lives on the outskirts of a rift gate, just waiting for the next probe attack to strike and go hide in a bomb shelter?”

“This is our home! This is where my babies were raised, and this is where we will—”

“You’re right, you are just so right on that one, Mom. This is where your babies were raised… and this is certainly where you will die and be buried right alongside them.”

The argument had grown to such an intense level that Pepper didn’t hear his father arrive. All he saw was the back door open and his dad walk in and place a gallon of milk on the counter. There was a frustrated expression on Trent’s face. “You know, coming back home and walking into you two at each other’s throats… makes me realize I should have gone to get the gallon of milk, but simply not have returned.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Pepper’s dad gave him a quick nod right before his mom turned around and started to scream with even more fury. Pepper took his cue and bolted out the front door before his mom could stop him. He had already made up his mind that the war zone inside the house wasn’t worth it.

Pepper listened to his parents verbally lash out at each other as he made his way to the safety of his workshop. He leapt out of his skin when he almost ran into Meg, who was standing perfectly still in the middle of the workshop. Her arms were wrapped around his Mala statue.

“Mom’s mad at you,” she said in her cute monotone voice.

He took a deep breath and let his heart settle down. “Now why would you go and think that?”

“Because she told me so.”

Heated anger still flowed through his veins, and he couldn’t hold back a long sigh. “That sounds about right.”

“She said … I could strangle your brother right now.’ She said it four times.” Meg did her best to hold up the number four while still clinging on to her prized possession.

“That really sounds about right.” Pepper walked over and placed the package on his workbench. “Well, wanna help me unpack this rune card?”

“Not really. I’d rather play,” Meg countered.

Pepper couldn’t argue with that, but at the same time he couldn’t help his desire to crack open the new card. A quick slash from his box cutter and his fingers soon lifted the first flap from the cardboard box. He worked to pull the manufacturer’s box out of the shipping box. A small card fell out as the two separated. Megan was nice enough to pick up the card and hand it him.

“Dear PEPPER WALKER. Congratulations on placing 2nd in your club match. We know this Centaur rune will take you to the next level. Remember, when you think of victory, think of Centaur!”

Pepper rolled his eyes at the standard mass-printed card. He flicked his wrist and sent the card sliding across the surface of his bench. “When you think victory, think of Centuar, rawr!” He sarcastically said as he looked towards Meg and crossed his eyes.

She, of course, giggled and enjoyed the comical gesture. He turned his attention back to the package and carefully navigated the additional layers of protective shipping materials. The black wafer of the circuit card had a glossy shine as Pepper tilted it back and forth in the light. His eyes shifted and then became fixated on the central rune.

A small reinforced piece of glass protected the magical symbol. The top right corner had a slight illumination of royal purple, while the opposite corner radiated a golden honey yellow. The rune itself looked to have been etched and woven in a glistening metal that remained suspended within the casing.

Well… it’s better than nothing. Not really sure what I’ll do with a gravity rune, but I still have time to figure something out, he told himself. He carefully placed the rune card back into its protective packaging.

The shuffle of feet at the workshop door made him turn to see his dad lean against the doorframe. Their eyes met, and his dad’s looked just as exhausted as his body felt. His dad glanced over at Meg, who simply greeted him with a cheerful “Hi, Daddy.”

Trent gave her a nod. “Hey, baby girl.” His attention then shifted to Pepper. “You owe me… big time, Mister. Big, big, big time!”

Pepper clapped his hands together and tried his best to portray a classic martial arts apprentice to his master instructor. “Blessings, Master Pa-Pa.”

“Mmhmm,” Trent replied with an arched eyebrow. He looked back over at Megan. “Okay, Princess … it’s past your bedtime, even if you are royalty.” Meg tried to protest, but Dad wasn’t having any part of it. She surrendered the statue and shuffled towards the door. “You sleeping out here tonight?” Trent asked with a slight nod.

“Wouldn’t you?” Pepper asked with a sarcastic chuckle.

“Not fair,” his dad replied as they turned and departed.

***

Pepper stood and gazed out at a scorched and barren wasteland. Everywhere his eyes looked spoke of suffering he could not have imagined on his own. He was doing his best to make sense of it all when a cold sensation seemed to wrap around him from behind. He slowly turned to face the source, and that was when he saw it.

The rift gate stood as a reinforced barrier between the two worlds. The exterior circle of the gate was fashioned of obsidian. His eyes started to focus on a deep etching of the runes within the stone. The depth of the carvings was so dark that he felt a direct beam of light was required to see their full details. Carvings which appeared to have been formed within the darkest depths of the hell itself.

The stone sections were placed one on top of the other and appeared to defy gravity as the gate remained suspended above the ground. Pepper watched as a small pulse rippled out from the rock. He felt as if the runes in the center of each hell-forged stone were being awaked. A faint glow now allowed him to see that the magical symbols were jagged and rough, giving the sense that they had been made in haste rather than with fine craftsmanship. The center of the runes were laced with different colors, yet all seemed to blend together, forming an intricate pattern of astrological beauty as purples, silvers, blues, greens, yellows, and oranges all delicately intertwined within each carved line.

Pepper slowly stepped forward as something inside him urged in on. His soul and spirit began to flutter. The tingling sensation of fear ran up and down his skin. But he couldn’t turn away. His feet kept bringing him closer and closer to the giant gateway that now towered over him. The formed portal within the gate was pitch black, and just when Pepper had decided to flee from the demonic gateway, a hand sprang forth.

A huge claw reached down and clasped onto him. Pepper was completely captured. The hand appeared to belong to a giant, a beast, a monster of such size that it could not fit through the gateway. Its skin was rough and cracked like charred wood. Pepper was lifted off the ground and without any further delay was pulled forward and felt a cold rush wash over his face.

Pepper sprang upwards. His eyes widened and, rather than the cold sensation coming over him, he felt the hard floor of the workshop. The pain forced his body awake, and he immediately realized he had fallen out of his hammock. He took a moment to regain his composure and finally got to his feet.

His ears picked up on an argument. A quick check of the time: It was 3:33 in the morning. He started to slowly make his way towards the house, but by the time he arrived, the argument seemed to be over. A gentle pull to ensure the back door opened quietly and he stepped inside to see his father bent over on his knees.

A dustpan was in his hand while he swept hundreds of pieces of shattered glass into it. Pepper repositioned himself to see that his portrait had been ripped off the wall. It was propped up against the wall, a few pieces of glass still attached to the frame.

His dad stopped for a moment and looked at him. “Someone woke up and went looking for Ava... She accidentally hit your photo.”

Pepper shook his head and started to walk down the hallway. “You don’t have to lie for her,” he muttered as he passed. He slowly opened Meg’s bedroom door. He could hear her sniffles before it was fully open. He closed the door behind him and slowly lay down next to her. She turned over and snuggled up to him while he wrapped his arm around her tiny frame.

I have to get out of here as soon as possible.