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Ṵ̸̳̯͉̬̰̰̹͆̆͒̆̄̈́͝S̵͙̰̉̎͆̀͝Ě̶̢̧͉̳̙͕͚̙̟̇̾͠Ŗ̵͖̩̤̹̟̒̾͝͝͝͠
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"Huh?" Zam looked down the alley in confusion.
The voice, or whatever had called out to him, could only be described as faintly female in tone, robotic in its annunciation, and very... glitchy?
It almost seemed like a broken machine reciting some lines given to it.
"Hello?" Zam spoke out to what he only assumed to be thin air, peeking his head ever so slightly into the alley in curiosity
"Anyone there?" He continued to question, getting no response from the previous mysterious voice.
Zam peaked into the alleyway more, not receiving an answer no matter how much he called out to the mysterious voice.
"Um... Hello?" Once again, he called out to the nothingness in front of him.
Curiosity getting the better of him he decided to take a single step into the alley. That action alone, for some reason, sent shivers down his spine. Almost as if the atmosphere around him suddenly shifted from cold to freezing.
Sure Ushuaia was naturally cold as it was literally located at the ass of the world, but this cold... It felt different to him.
Almost as if it crept up his body, wrapping itself around him and enveloping him in a veil of pure coldness, with the intent of slowly turning his skin blue. Yet there was nothing that stood in front of him, not a single soul.
Only an empty alleyway full of random trash. The feeling he had while looking down the thin alley was odd, different from the cold he was suddenly hit with... A chill that struck his very being.
That feeling... It felt like...
<-Dread->
If it could be a physical feeling, like pain and nausea. A feeling of pure Dread coursed through his mind, through his veins, through his body...
Zam flinched, stepping back slightly, placing his hands on his arms covered by his baggy red jacket, rubbing them to warm them up as his breath showed from the massive shift in temperature.
"W-what t-the..." Zam barely managed to stutter out his sentence as his teeth chattered. His eyes widened in shock.
He didn't know exactly what scared him, or what caused him to nearly jump out of his skin with surprise when he heard the sudden noise of feet coming his way.
He tried to move away, run, anything. But the rest of his body simply wouldn't listen to his brain. No matter how hard he willed his limbs to react to what was going on, they simply continued to fail miserably as his feet froze beneath his weight.
A loud, shrill, high-pitched voice broke through the silence.
"Hey, dipshit!" His sister's voice broke him out of the frozen trance, calling out to him by peeking out of the chocolate shop with an annoyed look on her face.
"Get your ass over here and use those vouchers, you lazy ass" With her hand pointing towards the shop, she huffed in annoyance.
With a shaky head, Zam returned his gaze to the alleyway.
Yet when he looked... he felt nothing. No cold, no dread or fear. Just an overwhelming feeling of emptiness... He sighed deeply and turned to walk away.
Walking into the chocolate store with a small ding of the bell atop the door. The store was mostly packed, people were buying snacks or coffee, or even hanging out and eating on their breaks.
It was quiet, calm, peaceful. In stark contrast to Zam's previous moment outside, it made his nerves significantly relax.
'What the heck was all that?' Zam thought to himself as he approached his sister in the short line to the cash register.
"What took you so long?" The short sister asked while looking forward.
"I uh..." He stuttered to get an answer out.
"I-I thought I saw a cat..." Zam blurted out without a second thought, nervous sweat dripping down his face.
Julia narrowed her eyes, looking up at her brother, not believing the obvious lie the teen was telling.
Zam, for all of his smugness and trolls, wasn't exactly the best liar...
"You're such a dork" She scoffed before stepping up to the counter as they had gotten to the front of the line.
Zam frowned, taking a deep breath before following behind her. As the two stepped up to the counter he placed all four vouchers onto the counter.
The cashier, a middle aged man, eyed the vouchers before smiling at his two customers.
"Please wait here just a sec." The man said, taking the vouchers and heading off into another part of the store.
While standing there, Zam could feel anxiety building up inside of him. He didn't have any idea what had happened before he walked into the store. Was something bad happening? Why did he have such a strong sense of unease?
Such an intense feeling. One that bore its way into his soul. Like a virus slowly weakening your immune system.
Before he could ponder over his thoughts too long a sudden soft nudge was felt on his arm. Turning he found Julia giving him a curious look, clearly questioning the strange look he had on his face.
"You look pale as hell, Zam" Her dark eyes bore into his, searching for an explanation.
"You sure you're okay?" She questioned once again, this time her voice laced with concern.
Zam shook his head before answering his sister.
"Oh yeah... I'm fine" He lied as nonchalantly as possible. "I've just been tired lately..." He gave his sister a weak grin.
"Y'know, with all those long hikes we've been doin' n' all..." He continued to try and convince her.
Julia looked unconvinced, but let the subject drop as the cashier came back. Her eyebrow raised at him for a few seconds, before she shrugged her shoulders and turned away to look at the cashier.
A few moments later their orders arrived.
"Thank you for waiting!" The cashier smiled, sliding their cups over the counter. Four steaming cups of hot chocolate for each member of the family. Four steaming cups of hot chocolate for each member of the family. Zam grabbed two of the steaming cups with each hand. Julia did the same with hers, holding them carefully in both hands.
But something seemed off...
Zam and Julia noticed that one of the hot chocolates they were given...
Was in an extra-large cup!
"Huh... lucky" Zam commented with an amused smile plastered upon his face. Julia glanced at Zam who gave a quick shrug.
"Guess they just made a mistake when making one of them" He laughed.
The two siblings walked over to a nearby table, placing the four cups of hot chocolate on the surface before sitting down across from each other.
They stared at each other intensely for about a minute, before breaking the silence between them.
"So..." Julia began.
"Now..." Zam added as the two teens stared directly at the accidental extra-large hot chocolate.
"Now we have to decide who gets to drink it" Julia finished with her eyes glued to the drink in front of her.
"Which means..." Julia continued as she moved one of her hands to her pockets. An aura of seriousness and intensity emitted from her.
Zam dreaded what was coming next. Sweat returned to his face. But not out of fear; it was out of anxious anticipation.
"No... No, no..." Zam muttered under his breath. Julia smirked devilishly before speaking once again.
"We have ourselves a coin flip" She declared. Julia slowly and playfully took out a coin from her pockets, placing it on the table in what felt like slo-mo for Zam.
"Nooooo!" He cried in dismay, gripping his hair. He stood up from his chair and gained a few stares from the other customers nearby.
Y'see... Zam may usually be a snarky and confident young 17-year-old.
But his luck... well...
Put in simple terms. He had the equivalent of -F ranked luck in literally EVERYTHING that depended on it.
Julia knew this well. So when they usually try to decide something between the two. They decided on it with a coin flip. Which Zam more often than not lost.
"Come on..." Julia pouted, crossing her arms. "Don't act all upset about it... it's all fair game in a coin flip"
"Yeah right!" Zam groaned as he sat back down and laid his head on the table "You know how shitty my luck is!" He moaned loudly.
"Welp too bad!" Julia smirked, sticking her tongue out at her brother. He groaned at her, burying his head further into the wooden surface of the table.
"So then! Head or tail?" Julia asked excitedly. The silvery coin was placed over her thumb, ready to flick it into the air.
"Ugh... tails I guess..." He replied, not moving from his position on the table.
"Okay, heads for me then!" Julia giggled as she flipped the coin over, catching the coin in her palm. His sister smirked as she quickly flipped the coin and slammed it down onto the table.
She immediately leaned closer, staring at it intently.
She grinned victoriously.
"Ugh..." Zam looked at the coin himself and groaned once again. The silver coin was laid on the table showing the results.
"Heads" Zam lifted his head up and groaned.
"Ugh..." He repeated. Julia rolled her eyes and chuckled, shaking her head at her brother.
"Oh well... You win some, you lose some" Julia shrugged.
"Gee thanks" Zam mumbled sarcastically. "You mean I lose all you win all..." He grumbled.
Julia laughed one final time Julia laughed one final time as she stood up and grabbed one of the smaller cups and HER extra-large hot chocolate. Zam kept grumbling as he stood up as well. Grabbing the two remaining cups and taking a sip out of one of them.
It didn't taste half bad. But that didn't make him happy.
The two siblings went out into the street together, enjoying the chilly weather outside of the warm shop.
...
...
...
What the two siblings had failed to see as they exited the small chocolate shop is how every single client and worker inside had seemed to freeze in place, as if they were stuck in a trance. No one spoke nor did anyone move. Not a single person breathed, not even a whisper could be heard around them. The entire store was dead silent save for the sounds of cars driving by outside. It was very unnatural and eerie.
At that exact moment, everything stopped, and nothing moved.
The voice from before spoke again.
This time clearer.
To itself, the female voice merely said:
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Time allotted before the start of the tutorial: 4:48
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The final clock is ticking now...