I looked around vacantly, nothing was processing. And I didn't care. Shobek slowly crouched down and laid his wing out for me to slide down from. It took me a few seconds to register my movements. When I finally felt the ground I looked at my hands. I am trembling. I slowly looked up at Shobek, his eyes showing a hint of annoyance as he sighed and wandered towards a crater. I slowly looked away, taking in the black stone ground and the falling ashes around me. The temperature around me was definitely hotter than any weather we ever had on the surface. But for me, all I felt was a vast emptiness. The dark world only lighting up by the glows of fire and lava. The underworld. It was quiet, but I could feel the anguish in the air. The fear.
"Are you going to stand there all day?" Shobek growled.
I slowly turned back to where I had seen him, the dragon's figure nearly invisible if it wasn't for the glints of his scales or glowing eyes. "What..." My voice cracked and my vision was starting to blur, "what...have I done?"
Shobek stared at me for a few seconds before sauntering towards me, his wings tucked in tight and his tail dragging on the ground. Claws scraping the stone underneath him as he huffed in annoyance. He stopped and looked down at me, his head held high. But he said nothing.
"Shobek...what..what...." I slowly felt the energy drain from my body as I felt the adrenaline dissipate. My knees hit the stone as I felt myself droop, I couldn't breathe. It felt like hands were wringing around my neck. I put my hands on the ground in order to balance myself as I wheezed. The realization hitting me hard and drowning me as I sobbed. I felt like my heart was breaking. I remember this pain. Where have I felt it?
The familiar sound of thunder hit me, the rain pattering down around me as I slumped in front of the empty stone head before me. The fresh dirt already wet from the rain.
That's right. Now I remember. It's the same feeling I felt back then. Now I remember. It's that feeling of loss. Of emptiness.
Emptiness.
That's what I am.
An empty shell.
But why do I feel this way again?
Wait, that's right. The knife.
I have nobody now.
So, this is what true despair is?
I hate it.
Who is screaming? Am...I screaming?
"Kasey..." Purple.
Such beautiful, cold purple eyes.
"Sigh...." Why is he sighing?
Who is he again? Why... is everything so dark..? Why is it so cold?
Why...
Why does it HURT?
The dragon stared down at the young girl who was sobbing before him. Her pain was deep and he could feel it all. The regret and loss. The guilt and hate. He sighed after she finally stopped screaming and only laid on the ground, trembling. His purple eyes looking around carefully as he waited. Any beast that heard her cries had turned back after seeing who was near their target. The human before him was slowly coming out of her shock. After she was only breathing heavily from the exhaustion, he finally picked her up carefully and walked back to the crater. Using his wings to balance himself as he carried the human down the steep slope, he walked carefully to the middle and puffed a small spark. The ashes that had collected inside the crater started to swirl around him.
The tornado of ashes completely obscured any one's vision; as soon as it dispersed and settled, the place that the dragon once stood, was now empty.
My body was heavy. But it was encircled in comfort. A pleasant cold against my cheek as I shifted, my eyes slowly opening to glance at the white pillow underneath my head. Slowly, I sat up. I was in dim light, but I could tell I was definitely in a bed. The white oversized blanket laid over me, its soft embrace pushed away as I tried to focus my eyes. After a few minutes of looking around, my eyes felt dry and tired. My mind was blank and I could feel the depression that squeezed my heart. The fog in my head quickly making me retract and lay back down, the blanket becoming my shield against reality again.
I don't want to wake up.
I just want to stay like this.
I want to die peacefully in my sleep.
I
Want
to
. . . . . . . . . . .
Die.
Shobek trotted into the room in his human form, his eyes wandering over to the king-sized bed that the girl peacefully slept on. His eyes narrowed and he tsked while walking over to the bedside table, a small spark of fire suddenly lighting up part of the room as he looked at the candles wick. The girl's face scrunched up slightly before burying herself deep into the comforter.
How annoying, he silently thought. His pale hand quickly grabbed the edge of the big soft blanket and ripped it away from the girl. Her body responding with an annoyed shiver and expression as she peeked at the unfamiliar figure before her. Kasey slowly processed the unfamiliar face before sitting up in alarm.
Moving to the other side of the bed, Kasey stared at the young boy who couldn't be older than 13. His white hair falling around his face, partially obscuring one of his menacing purple eyes. The young boy stuck his hands into the pouch of his sweatshirt, his eyes waiting for the girl to speak. And Kasey unknowingly obliged.
"Who are you?" I asked slowly, my mind slowly taking in the sight of the pale boy in front of me. I looked over his horns that rose from the top of his head, his visible eye giving me a daunting look.
Instead of answering my question, the boy turned, walking towards the door as he said, "Dinner is ready." His silent steps leaving the room in a suffocating silence that made me question myself.
This can't be real, is it?" I silently asked myself as I slowly stood up from the bed. I slowly glanced around the rather plain room. The only color against the hickory wood being the white furnishes and shelves full of books. I quickly glanced over the white ottoman and complimenting chair before quickly following where I saw the boy leave. As I walked down the hall, I let my eyes wander over the tawny brown colored wood that was interrupted occasionally by a few paintings. Most being abstract pieces of art that consisted of the warm aspect colors on the color spectrum. As I neared the end of the hallway, I looked at the last painting which was the only one that had blue among the bright colors. I paused and looked over the abstract piece, making out a familiar form in the paint strokes arches. Before I could finish interpreting what the painting was trying to convey, the sound of someone's throat being cleared made me turn to look at the boy again.
"If you don't mind, I prefer my food to be warm when I eat. Follow me please." The boy paused and glanced at the painting, sudden darkness appearing in his eyes before abruptly turning and walking away. I glanced around the wide seating area before following the boy through a wide arched doorway, the mahogany-colored table quickly taking my attention. Besides the table, the chairs, a china cabinet, everything else was more pale or wheat brown colored. It was fairly quaint according to Apophis's lair. The boy silently sat in his chair, crisscrossed as he stared at me from the other side of the table.
"Are you going to sit, or not?" The young boy snapped, his eyes narrowing.
I quickly sat down into the chair opposite of him, the plate before me finally taking my notice. It looked to be a pork chop, with a side of mashed potatoes and corn. My eyes wandered over to the four other empty plates, the head table chairs catching my curiosity. "Why didn't you sit at the head of the table?" I asked without even thinking and the boy glanced up from his plate.
"I don't like it." He replied, his knife easing through the pork chop as he held it down with his fork.
"Oh." I mumbled, my hands slowly reaching for the utensils that were beside my plate. "Uh...did.. you make this?" I figured a little conversation might give me an idea of who he was. Or where we were.
He sent me an annoyed look before quickly returning back to his food.
I took that as a 'shut-up-and-eat' look. I slowly cut a slice of pork chop and ate it slowly, the taste had a gentle spice with a hint of lemon. It was rather good for a kid to make. Looking at the boy who silently ate his food, I tried again to start a conversation. "What's your name?"
He paused looking at me, his fork with a bite of pork raised up. He slowly set his fork down and pushed his plate away slightly before setting his arms on the table. He gave me a small smile that contrasted harshly against his dark unsettling gaze. "Kasey, I don't know how you like to eat your dinner, but I like eating mine in peaceful silence. So, since this is my house, my rules, and my food, I suggest you shut up and eat before I throw you out to the demons."
I stared at this boy, astonished. My mouth opening but nothing came out, nothing could. I mean, what am I supposed to say to THAT? The boy gave me another fake smile before pulling his plate back and continuing his meal. Figuring eating was better than dancing around some demons, I silently ate my food. My actions slow while he quickly finished his plate and stood up. He glanced at my half-eaten plate and tsked. Picking up his plate and utensils, he knocked the char back into place with his foot before walking out through a doorway that was to the right of me. I recognized the sound of a sink and the clattering of dishes.
"What the hell is going on..?" I muttered under my breath as I sighed, looking over at the only picture frame in the room. It was a pencil drawing of an American Goldfinch sitting on a twig with two leaves. It wasn't very big, maybe a 7-inches by 7-inches. When I heard footsteps approaching again, I looked at the young boy who looked at my nearly finished plate then at me.
"When you finish, I expect you to wash those and set them properly in the drying rack next to the sink." He ordered, his steps quickly moving past me and walking through the wide doorway behind me that we had originally passed through. I turned slightly to see the young boy walk over to the 3-seated couch and plop down onto it. He reached behind his head that he laid onto the armrest and grabbed a PSP from the side table. His other hand reaching to the lamp's chain to give it a slight tug to turn it on. After watching him invest his attention to the electronic, I scarfed the rest of my food into my mouth and stood. Gathering all my silverware and my plate, I strolled through the small doorway that leads to the kitchen. A very basic kitchen set up greeting me on the other side. The sink was large and divided, like any other basic kitchen sink. Turning on the faucet I quickly washed my dishes and set them in the drying rack.
I dried my hands on the red hand towel before looking over to the doorway where the boy stood, leaning against the wood.
"Are you ready?" He sighed as he spoke. Seeming annoyed at the inconvenience.
"Ready for what?"
"To train, preferably." He frowned, tilting his head slightly as he looked at me.
"What do you mean?" I put the towel back and stepped back slightly.
"Oh, for the love of.... ergh... look." He stood and walked towards me, "you have a lot of new power that you can't control. And if you want to use it properly, you will need to practice."
"I...suppose. But what does that have to do with you?" I stared at him in confusion as he gave me a bewildered look.
"How retarded are you?" He snapped, his eyes glowing slightly. "It's MY power you will be using!" He growled annoyed and spun on his heels, pacing slightly as he muttered his anger.
I felt every gear in my head slowly starting to whirl and clink against each other as I processed his words. "Your...power..?" I looked at the boy from head to toe and slowly gaped at the realization. "Shobek??"
The boy looked at me and snarled, "who else could I possibly be?" He huffed and shook his head, turning to stroll out the door. "Why do I always get stuck with the idiots?"
I watched him retreat and stood still, waiting for him to say it's a joke. A young boy like that, is MY mentor? I slowly mulled over the thought. Maybe he is able to take on different forms. In which case, why choose that one?
"Are you coming or not?!!" He yelled from somewhere in this unfamiliar place.
After weighing my options, I sighed and slowly walked out of the kitchen. Moving into the living room, "I guess I am coming..!" I called back, looking around. Glancing at the hall I had come from when I first woke up, I marked that off my list and glanced at my options. A door, then a hallway. Walking towards the door, I turned the knob and peeked inside. A light blue themed bathroom greeting me. I closed the door again and wandered down the hall, its pathway becoming dimmer as I moved through the growing darkness. "Where are you?" I grumbled.
The sudden cold hand that grabbed my wrist made me jump back and shriek slightly.
"It's me you moron," Shobek growled before pulling on my wrist again.
"Well, how am I supposed to know? I can't see shit..!" I whispered, my feet moving to the pace of his pull. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere."
"But where?"
"Just somewhere."
I pursed my lips slightly and waited a minute before deciding to try my luck again, "...But where?"
A snarl answered me as Shobek lead me through a dark hall that started to tilt down slightly. The angle of the tilt never moving past an 80° descent.
"Are you taking me to your basement?" I asked the obvious.
"Yes, but to be more specific, I'm taking you to my Red Room."
I hesitated for a millisecond before responding, "Haha. Very funny."
"What is funny is that you assume I am joking." His tone was so casual as if he was talking about the weather, but his words left a chill down my spine.
I paused for a few seconds before clearing my throat slightly, "but...you are kidding." I aimlessly stared ahead of me where I figured he would be since he was leading me. "Right..?"
A few moments of silence crept by as the echoes of our footfalls counted the seconds.
"Yes." The suspense deflated from me after finally getting his answer.
Fucking jerk, I was actually starting to panic, I mumbled in my thoughts as I waited to reach our destination.