Nightmare City,
Where the hopeless and worthless run rampage. What are the rules to criminals? What are morals to the wicked? No one is safe, and no one is innocent here.
Nightmare City is comprised of four districts, each worse and scarier than the next. The Green District and the safest, Blue, Purple, and finally, the yellow district.
In the middle of this o so great city is a floating black diamond-shaped rock. It appeared to be two pyramids connected at the bottom, one point towards the sky and the other towards the ground. In the middle was a big, white gem shining brightly. This was called an Obelisk, and this particular one was called the White Obelisk. One of the few that exist.
Beneath the bottom point of the Obelisk on the ground was a white portal, seemingly phasing in and out of reality as if it was moving with the wind. Portals under Obelisk are entrances to dungeons. Every Obelisk has a dungeon, but not every dungeon has an Obelisk.
If one were to look throughout the entire city, one would see a reoccurring detail—no matter who or how old someone was, they all had smiles, except for one boy.
In an alleyway in the Green District was a boy with dirty pale skin and a boney figure of 12 year old. The boy had messy, dirty white hair and amethyst eyes. He had no smile, no frown, only a black face.
~grrww~ The boy's stomach growled. Slowly lifting himself off the dirty cobble floor, he sighed. "I can't keep this up."
After making it to the alleyway's entrance, the boy looked around him—the broken street in front of him, accompanied by the damaged buildings to the sides. People in similar dirty rags like himself walk the streets with smiles.
"Why? Why is everyone smiling all the time? It's always the same."
"Disgusting smile." The boy sneered. Lowering his head, he walked the streets, left, right, left. The streets were almost identical except for the people who were walking them. Because the Green District was the safest of the four, more people chose to live there.
Making his way towards his destination, the boy finally saw it. What was once a great corner house made of cobblestone and bricks was now destroyed. It was as if someone blew it up. A light foundation was only slightly visible. Bricks were scattered into the street and in houses nearby. The cobblestone pathway towards the entrance crumbled; wildlife had overgrown over the once-great house.
The site looks like a long-forgotten grave.
~crunch crunch~ Making his way over the ruins, he went straight towards an alleyway between 2 crumbling buildings.
Once he stepped into the alley, the air turned cold. No sound came in or out. Unaware of the changes in his surroundings, he marched forward. Only after a few more steps did he see a figure in the shadow of the build.
"Old man, do you have any food left over?"
After a few moments, no response.
~grrww~
"Hey! Did you hear that old man? I said do you have any food!"
After being ignored, the boy was annoyed. The sun would soon be setting. He had to get back in time before that happened.
"Ahhh, fine. I'll come to you then."
Making his way over to the figure, the boy couldn't help but shiver. Something didn't sit right with him. The old man had never ignored him before.
Soon he was only a few feet away from the figure when a foul stench invaded his body.
Wrinkling his nose, the boy approached the figure: long, messy gray hair and brown cloth with torn holes covering the figure beside the head. This was the old man.
"Hey, why didn't you answer me!"
The boy was starting the get angry at the old man. The old man knew how dangerous it was at night yet still was delaying him. After still not getting a response, the boy had enough. Reaching out and grabbing the shoulder of the old man, he yanked him to the side, making the old man face him.
"What the"
The boy was frozen. His blood ran cold. His heart started rapidly beating faster. The old man's face was covered in dirt and insects roaming in and out of his skin. His mouth gaped open, allowing the insects free access.
"This.. this can't be happening." The sound of footsteps quickly bought him out of his shock. "Wh-who's there?" The boy whispered out, darting his eyes to every little corner looking for the source of the noise.
"Ahhh, you should have been there, little Kai." Those eight words echoed throughout the alleyway, making it impossible to detect where it originated from.
The voice sent shivers down Kai's body. "Why are you here, Ashen?!" Kai asked.
From the entrance that Kai used came two teens, around 16 years old, the one in front had a black cloth around him, dirty short brown hair, and dark green eyes. The one behind had a brown torn cloth around him, long brown messy hair, and blue eyes. Both were grinning widely.
The boy in the front, Ashen, came closer. "I did him a favor. I released him from his pain. HAHAHA. Shouldn't you be happy for your friend?!" Ashen was only a couple of feet away from Kai now.
"What do you mean, released him of his pain? You killed him! Why.. why. ?Why Ashen?!" Kai yelled, his voice weakening with every word.
Kai's eyes turned red, tears threatening to fall. The old man was like a grandfather to Kai, always helping him out.
Hearing Kai is ungrateful for his generosity. Ashen narrowed his eyes, "Do you really think he cared for you?" Ashen's grin got even bigger, "He only helped you so that you would repay the favor tenfold. He gave up on himself and put all his faith into you. Too bad he chose the wrong person to put his faith into, HAHAHA!"
'There's no way he just wanted to use me. He took care of me, fed me.' Kai started to doubt the old man. 'No, no, no, he was a good man,' Kai comforted himself. "Lair, he was just helping me out. Why would he put his hope for a better future in me?" Kai ultimately rejected the possibility now.
"Because you're the black sheep of Nightmare City, you're the only one that's different. You are the reason he died because you got close to him." Raising his hand, Ashen signaled the teen behind him to come closer. "Eric, we as citizens of Nightmare City are obligated to take out the trash."
They both stared at Kai, grinning from ear to ear, "You are right, brother. It is our duty." Eric replied. They both started moving toward Kai, laughing along the way.
"S-Stay away, don't come any closer. I said stay aw-ugh!" Kai was kicked in his stomach. His body was paralyzed with fear. He could only yell at them before they got to him. "Ack!" Coughing up a small amount of blood, Kai cursed in his heart, 'One day, you'll regret this.'
"Don't worry, little Kai. We won't kill you. We have something else planned for you." "HAHAHAHH," Ashen and Eric burst out laughing.
"Eric, grab his legs. We'll drag him there, the sun is long gone now, and no one will see us. Well, even if they did-." Ashen commanded.
A single tear rolled down Kai's face, "B*stards!" Ashen moved his arm in front of Eric, halting him. Taking out a dirty white cloth, he handed it to Eric, "Put this in his mouth. I don't want to hear him scream." Eric took it and chuckled, "But I bet it would sound like music to my ears."
When Kai saw Eric coming, he wanted to get up and run, but his body was too weak to even get up. Even if he could get up, Kai wouldn't get far. The difference in speed and strength was far too much. Kai could only clench his teeth in anger. 'Damnit, just you wait!'
Putting the cloth in Kai's mouth, Eric grabbed his ankles, pulling him out the alleyway with Ashen in front.
---
The sound of something being dragged, accompanied by muffled sounds, could be heard throughout the streets of the Green District.
Kai tried to grab onto many things to halt their movement hoping someone would help him. He even attempted to remove the cloth, but it was too tight to remove quickly.
Every time Kai tried to grab something or take the cloth out. Ashen would kick his arms to stop him. And every time Ashen kicked Kai, his eyes shone with delight, like it was a game between the two.
Looking around, the delight in Ashen's eyes dimmed, "Oh. How sad, we're almost there. Unfortunately, our fun will have to end, little Kai." Ashen sighed, looking at the boy being dragged. Shaking his head, he signaled Eric to walk faster.
Turning his head slightly, Kai didn't recognize his surroundings, 'Where are they bringing me?.. Ugh, it hurts.' Kai moved his arms to protect his head from bumping into the ground.
"mmhmmhm." Kai tried one last time to scream, but it was useless. No one would come to save him. He was alone, slowly falling into despair—his anger. Pain and rage were gone, now replaced with helplessness.
Looking at the sky, Ashen and Eric's grins stretched. "Look at it, Eric, we're here. The perfect place to make sure the black sheep can't escape." Eric nodded, "The dungeon will take another poor soul tonight."
Kai's eye's shot wide open, fear taking control. 'They want to throw me into the dungeon?! I didn't do anything to deserve this!'
Kai's squirming caught both the teens' attention. Seeing him squirm made them laugh, "Don't be like that! You're ruining our last moments together, little Kai." Ashen tried to calm him down.
With Ashen's words, all of Kai's anger and hate came rushing into him, 'The hell, how am I ruining anything! You're trying to kill me!' Kai wanted nothing more than to strangle Ashen right here, right now.
Continuing forward, the three of them headed towards the Obelisks in the sky. Once the three were only 300 feet away from the Obelisks, they saw it.
On the ground directly under the Obelisks was a white spiral portal, with white motes floating around, going in and out. The portal itself was about 10 feet tall and wide.
Taking a moment to appreciate the sight, the two teens carried on, dragging the boy along. 200feet, 150feet, 75feet, 50feet, 20feet.
Every step they took, Kai's heart would pound harder. He was scared of what was about to happen and angry at himself for not being able to do anything to stop it.
Standing directly in front of the portal, it felt mystical, like it was beyond this world. Both the teens grabbed an arm and leg, lifting Kai off the ground. "Thank you for the fun night, little Kai!"
Eric nodded, "Thank you, black sheep."
Swaying Kai back and forth, Ashen counted down, "3... 2... 1.. NOW!" Throwing Kai straight through the portal.
Ashen and Eric watched the portal for a few moments more, grinning.
"I must say, it feels nice cleaning up the city." Ashen nodded his head in agreement.