P.P.F RE

Chapter 6

Road to Hell Paved with Good Intentions 1/2

August 28th, 2018

“Round table!” The man sipped from his coffee mug, thinking dreamily of his soft mattress. A teenage boy, his blonde hair dangling over his grey eyes, played with a little puppy, which was trying to snatch a treat out from between his fingers. The girl was tapping her fingers on a clipboard, giggling with glee. The man was named Herman, the boy Ben, and the girl Anely. “Okay then, this better be quick.” the man states first off. The girl rolls her eyes, responding with a quick nod. “Alright, now that we have Ben back, I want to talk about our next target.” The boy nods his head in respect to the little , who succeeds in stealing the treat from his hand. “After a lot of consideration, I've decided to go with caution, and taking this one slow. So...let's go after the Verion.” The man stops sipping from his mug, puts it down, claps his hands together, and says, “Excuse me?” “The Verion.” He nods his head, tapping her on the shoulder. “You know our building goes up pretty high, right?” She throws a scrambled egg at him. “Haha. I'm pretty sure it's in our capabilities.” “No.” Herman lays his answer out almost immediately. “W-what? Why?” He holds his head, considering all of his life choices. “The Verion was the third most popular relief center right behind the Pen, but that was just for quality of humans. We're talking about some of the most iron tight security in this entire city...you don’t think there's anything intimidating about that?” She cocks her head. “Well, I mean, we could go about this incognito like. Maybe I could just-” “No, no, no, hey, did I mention NO?!” the girl mimics his mouth movements, holding back a laugh. “Can you not?” She shrugs. He taps his temple. “You just took down one of the biggest relief centers in the whole city. Can't you settle, just for a little while?” “No.” Her response was immediate, like his, and cold. The man gives in. “Well, I heard that some big investors hang out in a lower level center, if you wanna check that out.” The girl seems to ponder this for a moment, then makes a motion to tell her more. “The Yearning, I believe that's the one they said.” Anely sighs. “Better than nothing. Thanks, Herman.” She grabs her bag. “Ben, let's roll.” The boy stops playing with the dog. “Yes, master.” He grabs his own bag and the two walk out the door. Alone, the man calls the puppy over to him. Stroking his fingers through it's fur, he looks over to the door they had just walked out of. He whispers her a little prayer.

Now outside, Anely smiles as the soft, Autumn breeze comes to blow her worries away. Walking about were thousands of other people, most dressed the same as one another. Students were given the option to wear whatever they pleased, but more often than not simply chose to wear the uniform the school distributed to them. Adult men would walk by wearing the same black suit, a single pen hanging in the pocket, looking as though it was plastered to them, showing off the celebrated muscular physiques hidden underneath. Women were treated about the same, with the skinny, uncomfortable outfits to boot. No one could be blamed for this, though, considering the comfortable attire was placed on a shelf practically impossible to get to without a ladder, and the price was jacked up so high, no student could afford any of it, even with a full three month's pay. Needless to say, she planned on changing that ...sooner or later. “Come on.” She taps Ben on the shoulder. “Yes miss.” The two enter the large crowd of people, becoming invisible from view.

…

The day passes by with little incident. Like every day, Anely writes down whatever her period's teacher puts up on the board, listening to what music or podcast she'd downloaded that morning. It didn't matter what class, what teacher, it was all the same thing. “Ahh! How am I supposed to learn anything if nobody even bothers to care?!” She complains as the lunch bell rings. “Huh?” Everyone had already left by the time she was done whining. Besides Ben, of course. She walks over to the boy, slumped over, eyes closed. “Hey, wake up.” His head immediately turns to look at her, sending her flying back. “I'm sorry, master, did I scare you?” “What do you think?” She asks, moving the desk she'd fallen into back where it belonged. “Oh, I suppose I've slept through the bell again. Oh well.” She lightly taps the back of his head. “Hush, naughty boy.” He looks down at his hands. “J-just joking.” The boy looks back up in realization. “Oh...ahahahahahaha!” He forces a monotone sounding laugh. “Let's just go.” She allows the clueless being to go before her as they each walk up to the door. The hallway just in front of them had lots of students walking by, separated in two, neat lines, going in opposite directions. The two walk through the first hole they find, getting into the other line. “What do you think they're serve-” “Turkey, rice, and peas with salt and pepper.” The boy responds. “Y-yeah, thanks.” She slaps his back. After a little more walking, they arrive at a staircase. While beginning their descent, aperson suddenly falls down the stairs, slamming into a group of other students. “Ahhaha! Looks like I got a strike!” Anely looks up to see one of her upperclassmen bursting out in laughter. “Well, Charlie, I'd say he seemed a little out of it. Surely that isn't worth normal pay?” Another boy adds. The two chuckle to each other. “Alright, sorry bud, looks like you're getting a pay cut.” The boy pulls out a few dollar bills, throwing them up in the air. The kid he threw down the steps ran toward the floating money, reaching out for it. “Oopsie!” The upperclassmen rams the boy, sending him flying back down the steps. “Sorry bout that. Even a few wasted dollars would have my dad throwing a fit. But, you should be expecting to see me tonight, though.” This older boy hopped down the rest of the steps, his accomplice collecting the bills landing on the steps, slapping his victim's cheek before walking off. She'd remembered seeing such behavior before. At first, she'd been so disgusted by the sight she would have to turn away. Now, all she felt was...well, she didn't know what to call it. Nevertheless, she at least helped the boy up, who thanked her graciously, before getting back in line, like nothing had happened. She had a look in her eyes most would consider condescending. Of course, no one did notice. “Master?” She jumps again at her friend's touch. “Dang it, Ben, quit calling me that...well, here at least.” She whispers the last part with a cocky grin, walking forward. He soon follows after..

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…

“Alright, class, please take out your assigned book and start reading.” A woman sitting at the desk at the center of the room, with long, curvy hair, stares aimlessly at the back of the class, clearly bored. “Well, this isn't much better.” The girl mutters to herself, regretting what she'd done to her original teacher. “Probably won't mug me, at least.” She opens up her playlist, hitting shuffle, leaning back into her chair, hiding her face with the book she'd been given by the librarian. Honestly, the book wasn't all that bad. Time traveling teens and existential horror? Damn, it just can't get much better. Still, the outside world was grabbing her attention. Outside, it was pouring. The occasional person would pass by under an umbrella, but besides that, the world was basically dead. The sidewalk ads were covered by a retractable cement cover, the large tele-monitors were covered by giant tarps, and most stores were closed, their windows shuttered and doors barred. “Verion or Investors?” She whispers to herself. The idea of taking down another center was tempting. What was stopping her? Worst comes to worst, she could just get Ben to defend her. But getting rid of their investors…that might bring down morale. Less money, less motivation, easier target.” She argued with herself like a game of ping-pong going on inside her head. “Hmm...whatcha got there, honey?” She looks up from her book, to find her teacher pulling down Ben's book to get a good look at his face. She narrows her gaze. “Oh, It's Sherlock Holmes. I remember my peers telling me it was interesting.” The woman nods her head. “Well, I can agree it's a good choice. I remember reading that one myself when I was younger.” Anely felt herself gripping her book tightly as the woman began prodding at his cheek. “I'm sorry, miss, but may I ask why you're touching me-” she tells him to hush, digging into his cheek with a forceful thumb. “Your skin has such resistance. Even more so than the toughest boys here. How do you do it?” The woman yelps as a book hits the side of her head. She feels for any blood, finding none. She immediately turns to Anely, who had her face buried in her book. Confused, she reaches down, picking up the book from the ground. A history book. She glares at the girl from across the room. “I expect to see you tonight. The Pelliot, right?” the boy nods his head and she gives him a warm smile, walking away from his desk. Anely makes an eye at her, zipping up her bag.

…

“I don't understand.” “It's easy. Transfer. Now.” as the two students walked out the front door, Anely made this absurd request. “But why?” “Cause...rgh, that teacher is friggin creepy, that's why! What if she carved out your spleen and make you eat it?” He ponders it. “That does sound kind of gross.” “Yeah, see? More reason to transfer, since you won't even quit.” she folds her arms. “Well, unfortunately, transfers take a month, at minimum, so, that just defeats the purpose, right?” She grumbles, looking down. “I'm sorry. I have no control over requests.” She punches his arm. “Ow?” Giving up, her shoulders slump. “Whatever. It is what it is, I guess.” He looks away, guilt creeping up his spine. The two stop at the crosswalk, waiting from the light to switch. “You don't need to worry about me. I'm the one who should worry about...you.” she looked into his eyes with a chilling look that anybody worth their stock would cowering at. She responds, “The only reason the people who put their hands on you are still alive is because they have no soul to begin with.” He didn't respond, but the message still got across. The light changes. “Um, the light changed.” Anely looks over to the rusty streetlight. “It seems it has. Come now, buddy. We have a long afternoon ahead of us.” She grabs his hand, leading him along. He'd spent a long time with this girl, but, for the first time, he felt a strange feeling well in up inside him that made him almost sick. He did his best to ignore it, but no matter how he tried, the feeling wouldn't go away. He tried to bring it up, but was promptly interrupted by a small figure pouncing onto him. “B-Brownie!” The dog licked the boy's face with glee as Herman, dressed in a sleeveless tee and red shorts jogged ip to them, holding a red leash. “Well, on time today, I see.” The girl chuckles, chats with the man for a few moments, before he produces a string bag. “Well, here you are. Six mixes, two sandwiches, and…” the man reaches into one of his pockets. “Aw, crap. Dropped my knife.” “Knife?! Sir, I-I had no idea you hated the park ranger that much. I thank you for feeling comfortable enough to-gah!” The man karate chops the boy's head. “Enough of that! I'll have you know I have done no such thing...as of yet.” Herman calls Brownie over to him. “So, you said the Yearning, right? Appropriate name for a place like that.” The man nods his head absentmindedly. “I'm sure you know how to get there.” The girl nods. “Yeah, we just, you know, go down?” The man facepalms. “Don't worry, I know how to get there.” The girl gives him a dirty gaze. “Of course you do.” He sceat he's the back of his neck, unsure how to respond. “Yeah…you two have fun.” The man holds the puppy in his arms, running past them and down a nearby alley. “Did you really say go down?” She sighs. “I never told you to use my smart talk against me.” The two chuckle as they walk down the sidewalk, the light drizzle tapping against them.