Oliver’s lying in a pool of his blood. Everything is surrounded in a haze. The men around me look like monsters, stretched in all the wrong ways. My world is as cold as the stone floor beneath me. Is this my fault?

“You did this.” The masked man hisses at me, confirming my thoughts. “Your friend died because of you!”

No! I… I didn’t want this! I know that I should have listened to Ollie but when I heard that they were planning to do something to our home… I just couldn’t control myself! I wanted to protect them! …Now I’m paying the price.

I hang my head in shame, only for someone to force me to look at Oliver on the ground. Then it happens. I don’t know how to feel about this part.

Oliver’s blood begins to slowly draw back into him and his hair starts to change. It grows really long and turns kind of green. Then he stands up and smiles at me. I get a chill as he looks at me.

“It’s okay.” He says in a distorted voice. “I’ll handle it.” Then all of a sudden the world cracks and shatters as tentacles burst through thin air, like they came from somewhere unseen. People scream. Some are run through by tentacles that serve as pikes, Oliver waving his hand to direct them. Others are crushed or strangled by the grasping limbs, light and air fade from their bodies. All while Oliver has that smile on his face.

He looks at me again. His face is melting into darkness, the smile growing unnaturally wide as more people die around him. That smile looks like he was enjoying it, like this wasn’t a big deal. The boy I became friends with so many years ago, the one I’ve known to avoid fighting as much as possible, is killing these people without hesitation. I… I hate this!

“WHY?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!” I cry out, my voice hitching as tears form in the corners of my eyes. All he does is smile back, glowing green and melting like wet ink. “THIS ISN’T LIKE YOU OLLIE! PLEASE! I’M SCARED!”

“Why are you scared?” His head snaps to the side violently. “I’m your friend, aren’t I?”

“NO! WHOEVER YOU ARE RIGHT NOW ISN’T MY FRIEND! YOU- YOU’RE A MONSTER! A MONSTER THAT ENJOYS ALL THIS DEATH!”

He takes a step back, like he’s hurt by my words, right into a blade. The masked man is behind him and is stabbing into him with a dagger that looks like it was made from the blood of those who had already died. Oliver looks down at the blade and frowns, then he looks up at me still frowning.

“I don’t understand? Why are you scared of me?” His voice distorts further as blood pours from his mouth, only to flow right back into it. A pair of tentacles shoot forwards towards the masked man from behind me. They wrap around him and start dragging him away, towards a large crack that looks like the night sky. He’s screaming and cursing, at first out of defiance only for it to turn to desperation as the tear draws ever closer.

Oliver turns around with unnatural speed like a puppet being pulled through the air and punches him in the face, a part of his mask breaking off, which sends him flying into the crack. His screams are cut short as the opening snaps shut and the tentacles disappear. Then he turns back to face me. I try to back away in fear, only to be held in place by those same tentacles.

“Charlie. You should be happy.” He says as he walks and crouches down next to me. His hand reaches up and grasps my face tightly. It hurts. “I saved you. I saved your home. I’m saving your friend.”

I try to speak but nothing comes out. The world begins to crack again and soon we are surrounded by pitch black darkness. What does he mean? I don’t understand why this is happening. Why? Why Ollie why? Please… you have to tell me what’s going on…

Oliver just looks at me with that wide smile again. “It’s all better now. You and the village are safe. That’s what you wanted right? That’s why I died, right?” Then he throws his head back with enough force it looks like it would have snapped off and starts cackling like a mad man as I’m dragged into the darkness and away from him. The last thing I see before darkness completely overtakes me is his face.

Dark and runny like wet ink. Eyes wide and completely blank white. Long dark green hair that floats around his head like horns. And that smile. That horrible smile that looks so much like his but it isn’t. It’s one that’s too wide for his face, too white, too… pleased. It haunts me as darkness swallows me and I can’t see anything any more.

…

I gasp as I jolt up in bed. I’m sweating like crazy and gasping for air. Oh gods… Another nightmare. I can’t stand them. They’re- they feel too real, even though that wasn’t exactly what happened. It’s close enough though. It makes me scared, scared of my closest friend.

I wrap myself in my blanket and start quietly sobbing before someone knocks on my door. “Hey. Are you okay in there? I heard you wake up and I just wanted to check if you had another nightmare.” A gentle thunderstorm-like voice calls out from the outside of my room. The door slowly opens and my father steps in. He’s a tall man with short brown hair, he’s also missing his left arm.

Slowly he walks over to the edge of my bed and sits down. We don’t say anything for a little while. Just sitting there in silence isn’t bad. It’s almost comforting to be around him like this. Eventually though he breaks the silence.

“So… Do you want to talk about it yet?” He asks me. I look at him and contemplate the option. If I tell him what I’m worried about, would he think I’m crazy? I know I don’t have the best track record for these kinds of things, what with all the nonsense I do to have fun.

“Do you promise that you’ll take me seriously?” I say, drying my tears. My father’s face makes a sad smile as I look for an answer.

“Of course.” He replies. “What makes you think I wouldn’t?”

“It’s just… ever since I started doing what I wanted to do, people saw me as I dunno… a let-down?” I turn away and pull the blanket closer, trying not to think about the past too much.

“You aren’t a let-down. You changed but I knew it would happen. Nobody can be expected to be perfect all the time, especially if that’s all they’ve ever been.” He gently pulls the blanket back down to my shoulders. “You know that both me and your mother want you to be happy. And if I’m being honest, I’m glad you changed.”

“Really?”

“Definitely. I know that my mother was a bit, um, overzealous but when we moved here and you made friends with Oliver you were so much happier.”

“But now all I do is cause trouble.”

“And I couldn’t be more proud. You’ve grown into your own. You’ve learned what it’s like to have fun and you already know what it’s like to be responsible and ‘perfect’, bleh, now all you need is to bring it together.”

“How though? How can I do that?”

He smiles and puts a hand on my head. “To start with, you could tell me what’s bothering you so much.”

Ack. He got me. He always does this. Talks all reassuring like and then loops back to the problem once I’ve lowered my guard. Damn my clever father. Him and his comforting presence.

“It’s- it’s about what happened to me.” I start, nervously twirling my unbrushed hair around. I try my best to recollect what happened in the cave and after some breaks here and there for me to calm down, I manage to tell him everything that happened. “I know it all sounds like nonsense but it’s not. Please believe me…”

My father suddenly pulls me into an embrace. Oh no. I feel tears start to form again and cry into him as he hugs me tightly. He’s so warm and comforting, like all my problems can just melt away.

“Oh my little Charcoal, it sounds like what happened to you really hurt.”

“You- you believe me?”

He pulls away and gives me a serious look. “Yes. Of course I do. I wouldn’t ever doubt a word you say. And if you don’t mind, I have something I’d like to say to you about Oliver.”

“You do?”

“Yes. You should stop hiding in here and act like you normally would. Get out there and josel that kid around a bit, til you stop feeling all mopey about it.”

“Father, not to sound rude, but that sounds like really bad advice. It’s like you’re trying to force me to be better.” I say, giving him an angry look.

He winces and looks away for a moment. “You’re right. That wasn’t what I wanted to get across. It’s just a little hard to put into words.” He takes a deep breath and meets my gaze head on without flinching. “I’ve been in a similar situation just like what you’re going through.”

Hang on. What? I give him a look of confusion as he continues to stare at me with an intense look. “What do you mean? I know that parents like to say that they’ve been through stuff like their kids before but still it feels a little far-fetched that you would.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“How much do you remember about my old job? Before we moved out here?”

“Not much, I know you worked with important people. But that’s about all I remember you’ve ever told me.”

“Well, I used to be a soldier. Back in my youth, which was a while ago.” He turns and stares off into the distance. “I’ve seen my fair share of people driven to violence even when they’ve avoided fighting all their lives. And some of them changed for the worse because of it.”

I was not expecting that. I knew Father did something important before, but I never knew he fought. Though it would explain the weird axe he has… but it just doesn’t seem like him. Father’s always been so gentle and soft. He cries easily and always looks for a way to do things without involving brute force. It just feels so… uncharacteristic of him to say he was a battle hardened soldier.

“I know that what you saw isn’t an exact parallel to what I’ve gone through, but the feelings about the people we saw change with blood are the same. We both got confused seeing someone we knew for so long, who was always peaceful, take a violent turn and cover their hands in the blood of others.” He pauses to take another breath. His eyes burn with passion.

“But I did something that you haven’t yet. I’ve forgiven my friends who tainted themselves with the blood of others, whereas you are still here hiding from the world. They weren’t like they were before, but neither was I, so we reforged our bonds. I became friends with them again and grew distant from others. You need to choose whether or not you are going to try and reforge that bond, or let it drift away.” Now Father is standing up with his hand stretched out towards me, a light in the dark.

I- I don’t know what to say. This is the first time in… I don’t know how long that Father has gotten so worked up about something. I want to take his hand and show him that I’m no longer that little girl who was always submissive and subservient. But I’m also scared. What if seeing Oliver again is too much for me? What if I freak out the second I try to talk to him? What if-

No. I’m done thinking about the what ifs and I’m not going to hesitate. I reach out and grab Father’s hand. I’m going to be impulsive and bratty! I’m going to do whatever the hells I want just because I can! I don’t care about what people think anymore! And I sure don’t want to go back to being that quiet and cold person I used to be! I’m going to be friends with Ollie again and the gods damn me if I don’t!

My father smiles and lifts me into the air with incredible strength, spinning me in the air till I’m giggling again. “That’s my little Charcoal! Ha ha! I figured you wouldn’t be out of it for long.” He puts me down and brushes my hair out of my face. “I’m proud sweetie. I know that what I’m asking you to do is going to be hard, but I’m glad you’re going to try.”

“While I’m glad to see this adorable display of father daughter love, it’s getting a little too sweet in here.” A figure says, standing in my room’s doorway. My mother walks in and smiles at me. “I’m glad that you’re up and lively again Dear, though I came in here for another reason then to watch you and your father get all mushy.”

Mother is wearing one of her nicer dresses, one with little flowers and plants embroidered into the waist and shoulders. Her usually wild and unkempt sunlight colored hair is brushed and braided all neatly. Hmmm… Wait. Is it?

“From the look on your face I take it that you’ve figured out why I’m all cleaned up. You’d better do the same, you’ve got about twenty minutes to get changed before we leave.”

I rush out of the room to wash up and brush my hair. I’ve got to look a little presentable if I’m getting my Inkling. After a short while I leap out of my room, clean and fashionable. At least that’s what Mother thinks, I don’t really get fashion that much. We hurry out into town, which is filled with people that are buzzing to celebrate the day.

I scan the crowd for Oliver, not that I think I’m ready yet but it would be good to at least keep an eye out for him. I don’t spot him, but I do see some really good looking street food and I want to eat something before the ceremony. Taking my father and mother’s hands, I run over to the various stalls to get a snack while we wait for the big event.

A booming voice calls out over the noise of the crowd. “GOOD DAY TO EVERYONE! THE INKLING CEREMONY IS ABOUT TO COMMENCE, SO MAY ALL GATHER AT THE MAIN STAGE!” My eyes light up as I hear this. It’s finally time to get some cool magic! I turn back to my parents and they nod to me, then I run through the crowd towards where I’ll get my Inkling!

The stage is starting to fill with others who are also going to get their Inklings today. There’s also this old priest guy talking with a nun, not Sister Abigail though. He’s got these bright white robes that have golden trimmings, really silvery hair with shocks of white going along the sides, and a wooden staff that stands just a bit short of his height that has a yellow gemstone topping it.

And coming onto the other side of the stage, I spot Oliver. Our eyes meet and I resist the urge to flinch as it happens. Guess I’m still a little scared… but I’m not giving up. I told Father I’d try to reforge my bond with him and I intend to do just that! I flash him a smile before turning to face the crowd, out of the corner of my eye I spot his mother talking with my parents.

The nun talking with the old priest bows and leaves the stage as he turns to face the crowd as well. He lifts his staff into the air and the gem shines brightly in the afternoon sun. “Many blessings upon your small village.” Ouch. You didn’t need to say it like that. “May our Lord shine his light and guide these young souls’ down the correct path.” The crowd cheers with excitement.

I’m a little confused by that last part. Sister Abigail always said that Lord Eddallius showed us paths that we could take, not guide us on a ‘correct’ path. I don’t really know much about our religion so I’m just going to assume that it’s taught differently in other parts of the nation.

Soon the priest walks over to my end of the stage and takes the hand of a boy standing next to me. He reaches out and takes the boy’s hand, holding the back of the hand towards the air. Then he holds his staff above their hands. “Let the sun show you the way.” The priest says aloud causing the gemstone to flash brighter than it was earlier for a moment before fading.

After the light fades, a dark colored blot can be seen on the boy’s hand. He does the same for me and then continues down the line. Mine is a really nice dark blue, kinda like my mother’s eyes. I like it a lot even if it isn’t fully developed yet. Eventually he gets to the end of the line with Oliver.

A dark scowl appears on the man’s face while Oliver looks a little perplexed. The priest pulls him close and whispers something to him. Then he lets go and smooths out his robes, turning to the crowd. “Let us welcome these children into adulthood and their blessings into the light!” The people roar with approval and cheer even louder than before as all of us on stage step forwards and bow.

We all file off the stage and find our parents in the sea of people. I find mine quickly, though Oliver’s mother isn’t here anymore, and give them a hug. They congratulate me and admire the blobby shape that my Inkling is currently in. Eventually I’ll figure out what mine has to offer but I think for now I’ll focus on the celebration of just having it finally.

I find my parents and Oliver’s mother talking about something. As I approach they quiet down and my father turns to me with a smile. But I did manage to catch a little of what they said. It was something about umm college I think or maybe call egg which doesn’t really make any sense. I hope it’s college, I think it’d be cool to go back into the city.

“Hello Father, Mother, Mrs. Giterale.” I greet them as I hug my father. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh nothing much Dear.” My mother gives a look to Father. “Just about how excited we are for you to have an Inkling. Do you mind showing us?”

I release my father from our embrace and lift my hand up. A dark blue splotch forms on the back of my hand, no shape really discernible from it.

“Now that’s a lovely color! Reminds you of someone, doesn’t Garrison?” Mrs. Giterale says, tossing a low ball complement that he can use on Mother. Unfortunately he doesn’t pick it up right away and gives her a confused look. To which she tilts her head towards Mother, who’s looking a little miffed that he didn’t catch that.

After a moment, a candle lights above his head. “Yes! It looks so much like your eyes, my lovely Melody!” I cringe internally as Mother accepts his delayed complement with a roll of her eyes. Father isn’t always the best at romance. I wonder how Mother ever fell in love with him anyways.

“Umm, is it alright if I go looking for Oliver? I wanted to speak with him.”

“Oh yes go right ahead Dear, he was just here talking with his mother a little while ago. That was before he went off to have a chat with Father Zemnal. But they should be done by now.”

“Okay! I’ll come back if I can’t find him soon.”

With that I walk away back into the crowd to search for Ollie. I walk around poking my head around the food stalls, not because I want a snack or anything, just Oliver might be around here or something… My search proves fruitless, except for the fruit that I bought from one of the stalls, and I move towards some of the more relaxed areas where someone might sit down at. Now that I think about it, I probably should have looked here first.

After a while, I still can’t find him, so I decide it’s probably a good idea to check if my parents have spotted him while I was gone. I make my way through the sea of people still hanging around the main square, despite the main stage event being over, many people stayed to watch some of the others try out different things to figure out their Inklings.

I find my family and approach from behind them. “I couldn’t find-” I stop mid sentence as looking past my father, I see Ollie standing there. He gives me a nervous smile and I reciprocate it with one of my own. I gulp. It’s a little hard to see him but I put on my best cheerful self and push through.

“Hey Ollie.” I say with a dry throat, hoping that I don’t look all sweaty or something.

“Hey Charlie.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence between us before his mother breaks it for us. “We’ll give the two of you some time to talk and work things out. Plus we still have something to work out.” Oliver’s mother turns and pushes my parents away, leaving us alone in the middle of this crowd.

“So… wanna walk?” I hold out a shaky hand, my voice filled with nerves.

“Sure.” He responds, but he doesn’t take my hand. I drop it and let out a very quiet sigh of relief, I don’t think I can really handle any major physical contact yet. Does that make me rude? I hope not. We walk in a different direction from where our parents went, heading down one of the many stall filled streets.

After a bit of awkward walking I try to start up a conversation. Which falls flat quickly. We try again a few times, some attempts about the celebration and our Inklings which Ollie kinda shifts uncomfortably when it comes up. Eventually I end up laughing out loud, which startles him.

“Wh-what’s so funny?” He asks in a shaky voice, not with nerves, just confusion.

“Sorry sorry, it’s just this is kind of like how we first meet. Back when I had just moved here and was coming out of my shell.” We briefly reminisce over our first meeting, six years ago. It feels like a lifetime has passed since then.

“Charlie… are we going to be okay?” He gives me a sad look.

I stop walking for a moment to think about it. Are we going to be okay? After what happened? I start to get into my deeper thoughts before I force myself to relax and calm down.

“No.”

“Oh…”

I walk over to him and, after a brief moment of hesitation, hug him. It feels a little off, but I keep holding him. “I don’t think the current me can be friends with the current you.” I whisper with a little bit of pain in my voice as I pull him tighter. I hear a quiet hitch in his breathing. “But that just means that I’m going to have to make a change.”

“I still want to be your friend. And I know that you didn’t mean to scare me, so I’m going to push through this. Not because I feel like I have to, but because I want to.”

“You do?”

“So badly. You’re my best friend and I don’t want you to have to feel guilty for something that wasn’t your fault. You saved me and that’s what I’m choosing to see it as.”

I pull back and stare at his face. It’s tear stained and heartbreaking to see, I get what Father ment now. Ollie’s just as messed up as I am right now. So I’m going to help him, just like he did for me.

But as I’m looking at his face I notice something. “Ollie! Your eyes have stars in them!” I exclaim in shock. He turns his head away quickly from me. Before I can ask him about them, screams fill the air. The sky turns red and fills with smoke. And the world starts to burn around us.