As I slowly rubbed my head in pain and observed my surroundings I suddenly started to panic.
I hadn't lost my memories again, had I?
again...?
I slowly remembered that after a night full of bad decisions, I had somehow knocked myself out with a bang.
That sounds so wrong without context...
I stood up, I was lying in the middle of the streets. I looked up and saw that the sun was slowly rising.
Yes!!! It was daybreak! And I am still alive!
This means that I now have a girlfriend and am no longer single!
Woohoo! Now let's hope my girlfriend doesn't kill me at sight.
As I got up I saw a note fall out of my pocket.
It read-
"When I came to you were still knocked out and somehow still alive. The puppet-butler had been however burnt to a crisp.
I didn't know where you live so I just dropped you off in the street next to the school. It was dangerous to leave you in the sewers"
Well, how considerate of him... looking at the tight alley I was in and the stinking bags of trash beside me I silently took back my gratitude for him.
"P.S: I forgot to tell you but since you have been scratched by my claws you have probably been infected by the lycanthrope curse."
Wait for a second.....
"P.P.S: Since you aren't dead yet and can still read this, it means that you were originally human and you should be safe till the next full moon. If you were a vampire or some other undead species your body would have died from rejection, my blood does belong to a noble werewolf clan even if I have been exiled"
Wait a freaking second.
I didn't want to turn into a fucking wolf! They were too lame and generic! Freaking mutts!
I turned the note around to look at the back.
"P.P.P.S: Since you haven't had an induction ceremony you will probably turn into a cursed beast and die of madness after transforming. So I wish you the best of luck finding a way to save yourself before the full moon. By my calculations, you should still have 7 days left."
Just fucking great.
Now, If I don't find a way to save myself I am going to die in 7 days. Thanks a lot, Jimmy!
Luckily today was a Saturday and there was no school today. I had been prepared for a weekend-long stakeout but only after a single night, it felt like I had been out for weeks.
I trudged myself back home and rang the bell.
The door opened and I found my twin sister glaring at me with extremely unkind eyes.
She grunted and stepped away from the door.
Shaking my head in resignation I stepped inside and walked towards my room. I turned back and paused. I wanted to say something but wasn't sure what.
What would I tell her?
That I had nearly died multiple times tonight. That wasn't anything new. I had often brushed with death when I went training my skills by beating up thugs.
Should I tell her that I had finally found a lead to our brother's death?
How do I do that without revealing that I might have been the one who killed him?
Also, there was the 7 days deadline for my own death.
Even though I deemed most people irrelevant to me and beneath me to communicate with, my sister wasn't one of them.
After the incident, I was just suspicious of everyone around me. I never talked much to anyone. Those were dark days for me and I went through many rollercoasters of emotions before I became the transcended and enlightened being I am today. Even after our parents left we had a very distant relationship. I guess it was because we were extremely proud individuals.
None of us would ever show a hint of weakness before the other nor did any of us attempt to ever mend the gap and over time we just accepted the situation as it was. However, that didn't mean I wasn't interested in fixing our relationship.
But I knew that until I knew for sure whether or not I had really killed our younger brother I won't be able to face her.
I didn't really care about human constructs like morals or guilt. If I had killed him then that was that. Finding the reason was something I did because I did not want to accept a crime I didn't commit. Nobody gets to take advantage of me.
Nonetheless, I did not want to lie to her.
Despite not talking much I could see that she genuinely cared about me.
I knew that the only way I can function healthily is, to be honest to myself and my feelings.
Thus, the best thing to do was to minimize communication as much as possible.
I turned back and was just about to enter my room when I heard her voice-
"Where were you last night?"
Didn't we have an unsaid agreement to not ask about where each of us went off?
"I was just loitering around midtown,"
"Why?"
"No, there was a huge explosion in the sewer systems near Downtown. There was said to be countless screams coming from that direction as multiple shadows covered the night sky covering the moon for some time."
"Seriously, how could you have even missed that? I bet that woke up the whole city. Moreover, an extremely cold aura seemed to spread through the city as the shockwave was released."
I shuddered as I realized the implications of what she said.
Just what had I unleashed into the city by releasing all those souls...
Little did I know that much later this explosion will be known as the start of a series of events that will be known as the great upheaval. A movement that would change the face of the City of Horrors forever.
"Umm, no I remember the explosion, I was just lost in my thoughts, sorry."
She nodded her head and left towards her room too.
I entered my room and sighed.
I decided to make a promise to myself
If, if I managed to survive the next full moon, I will tell her everything.
I slowly went over last night's events and remembered all the times that I had barely managed to survive.
A satisfied grin slowly crept up my face as I remembered how those arrogant guys scampered away after I bluffed them all using a book about women's beauty.
As much as I would like to deny It, I knew that I was half a lunatic myself who secretly enjoyed dancing on the edge of the blade where a single misstep would lead to my death.
The thrill, the terror, and the excitement made him feel that he was truly 'alive'. It was only during these times that I could completely let loose.
I would often mock humans for being slaves to their emotions, but playing with death was the one guilty pleasure I had. When I could accept my emotions and use them like a blade, to achieve my desires.
I knew I was a hypocrite but I liked who I was nonetheless and that's what really mattered.
I slowly felt an itch and started to cratch my palms. I turned it over and realized that a strange red tattoo had been carved onto my flesh.
It looked like a dagger inside a circle.
I tried to concentrate on it hoping for some type of reaction and instantly some data came rushing into my head, telling me what it was and how to operate it.
It seemed like a weird artifact that was the fusion of my murder weapon, the orb of souls, and Alice's mark.
I called out within my head-
STATUS
Artifact-
Artifact level: Lvl 1 (Use 3,000 soul energy to level up)
Artifact name: The Cursed ORB of Wailing Souls (Incomplete)
Forms: Combat Knife, Soul Orb, Alice's Mark
Soul Energy: 0/10,000
Souls Housed: 1 / 2
1) An incomplete soul shard. Identity Unknown. Was attached to the knife before fusion.
2) N.A.
Abilities:
Knife Form-
Ability 1: Spiritual blade attacks
Ability 2: Unlock at lvl 2
Orb Form-
Ability 1: Soul House (Can store souls)
Ability 2: Energy Storage (Can absorb soul energy from slain souls. Can absorb various types of magical energy. Converts and stores them as Soul energy.)
Ability 3: Unlock at next level
Mark Form-
(Stays on palm)
Ability 1: Can be used to contact the entity named Alice
Ability 2: Alice will ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!
Ability 3: Unlock at next level
Host-
Name: Luke Patterson
Age: 17
Race: Human (Cursed)
Terror Alias: The Crow of Nightmares
Terror Ranking: 9th horror of Rowkein City (previously belonged to Dr. Chainsaw)
Skills:
God-tier skills: Sarcasm, Trash-talking, Death-Seeking, Intuition, Bluffing
Peak-tier skills: Resourcefulness, Stubbornness.
High-tier skills: Parkour, Sleuthing, Shadowing, Shooting (Taser)
Mid-tier skills: Knife Combat, Unarmed Combat, Self-defense gadgets
Inflicted Status: Lycanthrope Curse (Un-initiated). After 7 days, High risk of losing control and dying.
Hint: Increase Terror Ranking or Artifact Level to gain more information regarding how to resolve the curse.
Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any artificial intelligence of sorts, just a low-level interface., it seems that the staus sheet was basically a result after scanning my body and the artifact itself.
However, there are too many problems here.
First of all, there was a soul shard attached to my knife. Who did it belong to? Was it my little Brother? Does this mean I finally have a good chance of resurrecting him?
Secondly, what was with all these troll god-tier skills at the start. This shit is clearly messed up.
Third, I needed to increase my terror ranking.
The only way to do that was to defeat the other horrors.
However, with my power level, I had no way to do that without a sneak attack.
With me offending every single one of them there was no way I could pull of something like last time. I needed a perfect plan.
They might have decided to hunt me down, but I wouldn't just sit around waiting for them to come and catch me.
I will strike first and eliminate them one by one.
It would be useful if I can ask Jimmy for help.
He can be groomed into a nice sidekick.
It's best to have as many allies as I can right now.
Next, Hmm, yep that pretty much sums it up.
No other problems here.
Since I couldn't meet with Jimmy until school began on Monday I decided to spend my time hunting ghost to increase my soul energy.
With all the souls I released from the orb the city shouldn't have any shortage of stray ghosts to kill.
And with the knife form, I had the perfect weapon.
Since I had nothing to do till night I decided to play around with the artifact and try to improve my knife skills.
After concentrating on the mark It vanished and the knife appeared in my hand.
It still looked like the same old combat knife, except that the blade was now red in colour and the colour scheme also changed to a mixture of black and red.
After practicing for a while I got tired and decided to take a shower. Un-summoning the knife back into the mark I entered the bathroom with a towel.
I stared at my face in the mirror.
I had jet black hair, but that was dyed, the original being brown.
I had deep brown eyes that were immensely warm and you could lose yourselves in them. (Ok they were mostly empty and dead inside except when I am death-seeking, then they are filled with crazed excitement)
I had a well-chiseled face that girls would die for if not for my gloomy and quiet-kid reputation.
Honestly, they should have called me the demon king or something but I guess lowering your sense of presence wasn't the right strategy.
I was lean and strongly built and ok.....
I really don't think I can keep describing my appearance any more without sounding like a complete creepo narcissist.
I slowly washed my face as I felt the exhaustion wash off of me.
As I raised my head I noticed a strange discrepancy.
While I was bent over and still washing my face, my reflection was still standing.
His brown, warm, and handsome eyes were staring right at me, with a smile full of menace.
I slowly backed away from the mirror and politely asked my reflection
"Who might you be, extremely handsome young man?"
My reflection paused for a bit and then stared at me with disdain.
Clearly off-put with how narcissistic I am.
But guys remember Rule 1,
Never fall into the enemy's pace. Trap him in yours instead.
"To what do I owe this visit?"
My reflection opened his mouth and replied in my voice. Kinda creepy but I would probably have been creepier if it wasn't my voice.
"I am You."
"As for why I am here-"
"Hold up bro! You got one thing wrong!"
"I am not you! You are me!"
"That's what I said"
"You said that I am you"
"No, I meant that 'I' am 'you'"
"See even you agree now"
"Hey, stop with this sophistry!"
"Now, I would never say such complicated words, or back down from a fight of words."
"You are clearly not me, and Since I am me, you can only be you."
The reflection rolled his eyes
"Are you done?"
"No"
I summoned the knife and pointed it at the reflection's throat
"Seriously who are you." I narrowed my eyes as my voice dripped with... I would like to say killing intent but I don't ever remember murdering anyone so I don't really have any useful experiences to pull from... so let's just say my voice was dripping with attractiveness, wait that sounds wrong in this context, my voice was dripping with lethality. Yeah, that sounds better.
"Tsk, you are no fun..."
My reflection slowly morphed into my new girlfriend- Alice.
She smiled brightly as she floated out of the mirror
"Daaarling, did you miss me?"