~January 1st 2020~
Buzz Buzz Buzz
A hoarse voice echoed in the small 1800 sqft bedroom, “I swore I turned off my phone…”
Reaching out from underneath a bundle of striped blue bed sheets, a calloused pair of hands fumbled twice before gripping onto a red-cased iPhone.
Ignoring the message that popped up, the pair of hands held down the power button. After a familiar power off jingle, the man tucked his hands back in.
“Maybe I should make a quick trip to the bathroom. Ugh, forget it. I’ll get a glass of milk and call it a night,” he softly muttered with a tinge of annoyance in his voice
Crash!
Alarmed by the sudden noise, the man sat upright and pushed his back up to the bed frame. He quickly pinched his fingers toward his eyes and wiped away the crust.
The man’s eyes flickered with confusion before it was replaced with a vicious and steely gaze toward the bedroom door. He tossed aside the bedsheets and placed his feet against the cold hardwood floor.
He twisted his left hand against the doorknob and rolled his heels step by step toward the kitchen 10 feet away.
Shuffling noises pervaded the kitchen. Turning his head toward the sound, he spotted a shadow. The man felt wisps of cold air as he approached the kitchen counter. Silently, he slid out a sharp kitchen knife from the rack and prepared to ambush the creature.
Taking one long but a quiet breath, he felt ready to confront the intruder. However, before he could circle around the counter to the fridge, he heard the footsteps approaching in his direction.
He crouched down and leaned his arm against the kitchen’s marble counter. The shadow got closer. Then, he saw it. He came face to face with a standing a green-skinned three-foot creature, only wearing a splotchy brown and white loincloth.
The creature tilted its head up and saw a squatting figure with raven black hair, deep black eyes, and a week-old stubble beard. A deep sense of dread flickered in its beady eyes as it jumped backward and shrieked on the top of its lungs. The knife the man was holding didn’t move as his mouth dropped and eyes widened.
“Holy— What the heck! Wait, stop staring at me like that! Hey… stop drooling!”
His mouth opened and closed as he watched the creature’s saliva drip. But, as if on instinct, his body continued to lower its center of gravity. Curling his fist into a ball, he exploded forward and punched the goblin square in the face.
Falling on its back, the goblin let out a wail, “SHRIEKKKK”
His lungs sucked in another breath, and he tossed the knife to the side. Tackling the goblin to the floor, he effortlessly wormed his legs around the creature’s small torso. Then he slithered his arms around its neck for a chokehold, and a resonating crack ended the struggle between the primitive creature and modern man.
His thoughts were a mess, going back and forth between whether or not the creature was human. His eyes were peeled on the corpse and with each breath deeper than the last.
“Ding!”
[Congratulations, Peter, on killing your first monster. You are also the 33rd person to kill a monster!]
[Reward: Random Skill book!]
“Ding!”
[Unique skill: Mind’s Eye]
Before the confusion of whether or not he just murdered a human or a monster sunk in, a glowing white book about the size of a palm and one inch thick fell into Peter’s hands, and a blue text appeared before his eyes. Fascinated by the blue text box floating in mid-air, he didn’t even process that a book was in his hands until it glowed once again and vanished into thin air.
His head exploded with sharp pain and his body began to twitch uncontrollably. He felt all kinds of sensory information flooding his brain. After flopping on the floor like a fish out of water, Peter looked around his room. Everything felt like waking up from a terrible acid trip; his hearing felt like it was working overtime, and his vision was swirling.
He shut both eyes and focused on hearing his own heartbeat. Soon, the buzzing from the refrigerator became increasingly loud in conjunction with his pulse.
“Why is it so loud!!” he shouted only to wince again in pain.
As soon as he adjusted to his newfound hearing abilities, an electrifying sensation jolted his skin. Despite being at room temperature, he felt goosebumps form as his hair follicles stood ramrod straight. This made him feel extra sensitive, and each time his skin brushed against the floor, he felt ticklish.
After a minute of uncontrollable laughter, his nose flared up. The red oak wooden floor panels, the scent of paint, and an unwashed loincloth flooded his nose. As if on cue, everything else in the room suddenly began to give off a rich smell. The loincloth from the goblin was overpowering and smelled like vomit. At the same time, a whiff of leftover sandwich crust smelled like fresh bread out of the oven.
As the odor of stringent loincloth and scent of breaded goods faded away, Peter whispered, “What in the world just happened to me?”
Looking at the grandfather clock Peter kept in the living room, he noticed that less than a minute passed since the acute pain. Peter tilted his head to get a better view of the situation. He saw the time on the grandfather clock in the living room. In fact, he could even clearly differentiate the marks on the big hand of the clock. The shorthand pointed at the roman numeral twelve, and the long hand pointed two marks to the right of twelve. Suddenly his mind froze, wasn’t there supposed to be a wall between the kitchen and the living room?
Could it be? I can see through walls? No, this ability isn’t that simple
Peter began to test his theory. He pulled himself up with the kitchen counter and tapped his foot twice. Shutting his eyes, his ears twitched as he heard the subtle noise moving across the wooden floor panel. As the sound rippled across the floorboard, a vague mental image of the entire apartment appeared in his mind. When the ripples stopped, the mental image also disappeared.
“This…this ability is amazing. If I strain myself a bit more, I could probably create a general outline of surrounding through sight and hearing alone.” Sighing in awe, Peter walked back towards the dead goblin in the kitchen.
“You may be ugly, you may be tiny, but were definitely not human,” Peter said with a cold look in his eyes.
After his little eulogy, Peter hooked his arms around the goblin’s arms and pulled the deadweight towards the bathroom. Turning his body around, he walked out of the bathroom and around the corridor. Facing the closet, he slid open the white wooden door and first took out an extra-large container.
Going back to the closet, he leaned forward and pulled a black nylon strap sitting in the corner. The floorboard creaked and came to life. When the board was pulled back, a dozen or so orange buckets with laminated white labels came into sight. Peter rummaged and fished out three 5-gallon buckets labeled “HCL” or hydrofluoric acid.
With a reminiscing gaze, he mused, “I never would’ve thought this homemade concoction to come in handy. Well, on the bright side, at least I don’t have to split the poor goblin in half.”
Within a minute, two buckets and the dead goblin were emptied into the container. Shutting the lid, Peter closed the bathroom light and shut the door.
He frowned and looked up at the ceiling, “Does this count as breaking my promise?”
While standing in the darkness, Peter closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm down the adrenaline still coursing through his blood. After the breathing halted, Peter began kneading his palms together and walked to the living room. Shortly thereafter, light poured into the room, and a figure could be seen pacing back and forth between the room.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Where’s the alcohol… alcohol come to me,” Peter hummed nervously.
A loud shout for help could be heard in the hallway outside his door.
Peter paused and began kneading his temple.
What’s in the world is going on? First, a goblin straight out of a game attacks me in my kitchen, now my neighbors are being attacked? Let me try the police.
Seeming to find a rational solution, he ended his thoughts and picked up his home phone to dial 911.
Ring… Ring… Ring…
“At this time, we are currently experiencing heavy traffic. Please wait shortly for a first responder to answer your call…We are currently experiencing…”
Doot Doot
Peter hung up the phone immediately. “Something is terribly wrong, there’s no way the police would put a civilian phone on hold.”
“What to do… what to do… Stay calm Peter and think.” Peter muttered while pacing back and forth in the living room.
The silence was broken again by another scream. This time it was from his neighbor José.
Peter felt his heart ache. José was the model neighbor, unobtrusive and never asked questions. It’s a shame a good man like him had to go.
He heard the guttural noises Jose made before his death and his hands began to itch. As time passed, his thoughts of walking away and doing nothing grew exponentially louder. Soon, his train of thought was interrupted again by hysterical crying from the hallway.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Familiar unintelligible shrieks and footsteps could be heard from his door.
Feeling the danger at his doorstep, Peter stopped pacing. As if a lightbulb switched on, his entire demeanor changed. The same ruthless look entered his eyes as he clenched his jaw. He jerked up his left arm and raised turned his fist to face meet his eyes. Then he looked hard at the tattoo engraved on his forearm.
“For freedom, blood, and money.” he whispered
The carpenter who worked in Sally’s One Gardening Shop for the past three years seemed to disappear as if the devil finally pulled back the mask and shred all pretenses. He repeated the mantra several more times in a low voice. Before he knew it, a pair of straight black jeans were snuggly wrapped around his legs as his fingers were tying up the final knot on a pair of black snow-boots.
He felt proud. His old bones haven’t forgotten how to react to danger yet.
After getting dressed, he walked towards the nightstand. Turning on the lamp, he bent his neck and looked at the picture of a smiling little girl standing atop a yellow slide. The little girl had her black hair tied into two braids, crystal brown eyes, and milky white skin untarnished by the burdens of society.
His hands quivered ever so slightly as he took the well-preserved picture out of the frame and folded it into four. As he held the folded palm-sized picture in his hand, the sirens and wails in the background faded, and the world turned silent for a moment. His frowning face from earlier now curved upwards into a peaceful smile.
However, the silence didn’t last long, and the clamor outside resumed. Peter could feel the tension outside his apartment and moved swiftly.
Peter squatted down beside his bed and stretched both arms out. Sweeping both hands horizontally, his fingers made contact with two edges.
*Shua*
The 25x17x10 wooden box was shrouded in dust in what seemed like years of negligence and care. Ignoring the dust, Peter opened the lid.
There were two Glock 26s 9mm, four 9mm ammo holders, a 22” Seymour machete, 8 short daggers, a utility belt, and a bulletproof vest.
He slipped the folded picture and phone into his jeans.
“Sorry Amy, Dad’s going to break his promise.”
First, he wore the bulletproof vest over his plain white T-shirt, then the grey jacket by hung loosely by the bedroom closet. Then he wrapped the utility belt around his jeans along with nine daggers. Finally, he holstered both Glocks and headed towards the door with a machete in hand.
Straining his ears, he activated his newly acquired skill and heard many footsteps in the hallway.
“Now, I know how Spiderman feels.” He laughed and held the machete in his left while his right unlocked the 4 different locks on the door.
Twisting the doorknob, he mentally counted to three.
BOOM!
The door swung open, and the machete cleaved down through the air towards his second victim. The goblin’s head split in two uneven pieces, and its body fell with a sickening thud. The other goblins stepped over the dead goblin while charging towards Peter.
Peter scoffed at their sluggish pace.
Thanks to his new skill, his senses had become sharper and more sensitive, although not to the point of super-senses. Shooting a disdainful look at the incoming enemies, Peter quickly threw a dagger which lodged into the throat of the goblin charging from the rear and beheaded the nearest goblin with a two-handed overhead swing.
He thought with amazement, he was still as sharp as ever even after a 3 year hiatus.
While somewhat shocked at his own speed, he turned to his left and kicked. A small green humanoid flew out 5 feet and landed sprawled out on its back. He followed up by leaning onto his right foot as a fulcrum and stamped down his left leg, still in the air toward the inbound enemy.
The machete then whipped through the air and cut through two sternums and one leg.
Gahhh!! Gacck!
The remaining 3 goblins in the hallway halted and shuffled backward. The bloody glint in their eyes was replaced with doubt and fear. With the extra room, Peter flicked two daggers to end the two injured goblins from the earlier attack.
“And now there were three. Tom, dick and harry, which one of you wants to die first?”
The goblin and human corpses formed puddles of blood. The hallway walls and ceiling were splattered in red and green. To complement the gore, several of the neighboring doors were splintered, and the leftover food and food wrappers were littered across the floor. The lighting also seemed to dim with the only functional lightbulb illuminating Peter. In their beady little eyes, the human with a devious grin plastered with green blood had just transformed into the incarnation of an asura.
Peter sprinted to the goblin on the right. Noticing that Peter’s attention wasn’t on them, the two goblins fled for their life. Before the goblin could shriek about their betrayal, the goblin found its throat nailed it against the wall by Peter’s lightning-fast kick and slumped down with each grunt getting softer. Chasing down the remaining two goblins, he skewered them with a machete to the back each.
Circling back, Peter retrieved the daggers from the corpses and made his way down the staircase. It turns out that he could also partially see in the dark with his heightened sense.
“I would’ve killed for this back then,” Peter complained.
Growl!
The flickering lights on the ceiling revealed a black-furred wolf, nearly twice the size of a normal wolf occupying the 4th floor. Feeling a gaze settle on it, the wolf snapped open its eyes. Its curled prone body stood upright and its fiendish yellow eyes stared intensely at Peter.
When did wolves get this big?!
Sweat began to run down Peter’s back as he tightened his grip on his machete. On higher ground, Peter slowly walked down one step whenever the wolf shifted from the 4th floor to the staircase down toward the third. Peter attempted a feint again, but this time the wolf didn’t move from its position.
He had need to strike first, or he would die miserably. He couldn’t let the wolf gain the upper edge, so without thinking twice he lunged at the wolf. Watching the machete drawing closer to its body, the wolf’s arched it's front paws forward and flared its hind legs upwards.
However, before making contact, Peter stopped his second stride and jumped. Loosening its hind legs, the wolf’s center of balance faltered once it lost sight of Peter. The momentary pause allowed Peter enough time to saddle his legs onto the wolf’s back.
The wolf’s yellow eyes turned bloodshot upon feeling the human clamping onto its waist. Unfortunately, before the beast could react, Peter drove his machete through its head. Slumping down, the wolf gave its last whine.
Continuing downwards, Peter saw corpses of goblins and humans. From the 2nd floor onwards, none of the fluorescent lights were still in service. Fortunately, Peter encountered no enemies on his way to the stairwell lobby.
Upon opening the stairwell door, he saw three giant black wolf corpses in the hallway to the lobby. The flickering overhead fluorescent lights revealed the perpetrators. The group of 8 blue-skinned creatures huddled together, playing punting around a skull.
When Peter stepped into the hallway, he finally caught sight of them. Unlike the earlier goblins, these blue-skinned goblins were 4-feet tall and packed on more muscle.
“Shriek!! Shriek!”
Locking eyes with the big blue goblins, Peter threw three daggers with pinpoint accuracy. Once again, these goblins showed that they were superior in every way compared to their smaller green kin. They crossed both arms in front of their face to avoid a fatal blow leaving a medium-size cut on their forearms.
“Fine, I guess we’ll do this the old-fashioned way,” Peter grunted
Following his wrist, the machete slit through the incoming blue goblin’s throat.
Close behind his first kill, the remaining 7 goblins crammed into the hallway toward the staircase entrance.
Peter kicked over a giant wolf corpse right in front of the door to the stairwell. In position, Peter tightly gripped his machete with both hands. Seven goblins were now in front of the door. The only thing separating the hunters and prey was the space occupied by the giant wolf.
The five behind the two grunted and nudged the first two goblins in shoulder. The two goblins no longer hesitated and climbed over the wolf. However, before their feet touched the ground, their vision spun, and an endless silence took over.
Plop Plop
Two bodies, each missing a head, landed in front of Peter. The two dead goblins laid prone on the giant wolf. The 3 corpses stockpiled near the entry of the stairwell transformed the entry into a guillotine.
Witnessing the brutal beheading of their comrades, the remaining 5 blue goblins shrieked loudly with bloodshot eyes. With complete disregard for danger, another two goblins climbed over their companions’ corpses. Slanting the machete, Peter roared and cleaved both goblins through their torsos.
Peter tsked his tongue after assessing the situation by the door. He frowned and tossed his machete to the side. Then he lowered his waist and exploded toward the collapsing guillotine. Before contact, he brought both fists close to his chest and leaned in with his right shoulder. The giant wolf, along with 2 goblin corpses, shoved the unbalanced blue goblins back to the hallway.
Disoriented, the blue goblin sat dumbfounded as its two remaining comrades were dispatched in a single fluid dagger strike. The human crushed their attack before it could even begin. Flustered, it blinked two more times, hoping to gather enough energy to stop the ringing in its head and escape. The ringing eventually stopped, but the dagger coated in dripping blue blood was also its last memory.
Wiping away the blood on his dagger, Peter went back to fetch his trusty machete and proceeded to exit the building.
“Grrr…”
“Well hello there.”