I stared at him while he was kneeled down, looking pathetic, blood dripping down his body from head to toe.
"You can't defe—" he choked up on the blood coming from his mouth.
"I enjoyed that," I said with a smile.
With that same smile still on my face, I started walking towards him, putting my hands in my pockets. "I might have some more fun with you."
"It's not over," he said, aggravated, while wiping the blood from his mouth.
I stopped in front of him, pulling my right hand out of my pocket. "Shut up," I said in a tired voice. I put all the magic I had left into my right fist, aiming it for his head.
"You won't do it," he said with an evil smile. "You're too scared."
I swung my fist, wind wrapped around it, as if trying to save him, but it didn't matter.
"Goodbye."
A few months earlier: Scrios. The name that was written on the paper that I was found with. I was abandoned as a baby, so I don't know who my real parents are, where I come from, and I feel like I don't know what I am.
I was found in a dark alleyway alone, covered in dirt, had a blanket wrapped around me, which had a letter inside it, and all it wrote was 'Scrios.'
The reason I say I don't know what I am, is because people have always told me I'm weird or different. I always got treated poorly by people, and never had any friends. I have violet eyes and black hair, so people would always say I looked evil, and tried to stay away from me.
These things caused me to hate my looks, and always feel out of place, and different from everyone else, like I'm not human. The people who saved me treated me well, but they're very low class.
This world is made up of a hierarchy. The Supreme Beings, Higher ups, upperclassmen, middle class, and lower class.
The Supreme Beings are the six Calamities. Hakai, The King Of Destruction. Cruthú, The King Of Creation. Dorchadas, The King Of Darkness. Solas, The Queen Of Light. Eolaíocht, The King Of Science. Cliodhna, The Queen Of Lust.
The Higher ups are people who used to be upperclassmen, but proved themselves useful to the Calamities, and are now the closest to them. These people could be one of the Calamity's coffee servers, or their most trusted man who works side by side with them; it just depends on the Calamity. No matter what they are to the Calamity, they will always be above everyone else. Political fame, influence, power, money, you name it.
The upperclassmen are people who are very rich, and most of the time have fame and influence. Most of the upperclassmen are of Royal bloodlines with connections to the Higher ups in some way.
The middle class are made of people who aren't rich, but aren't poor.
They have a steady, normal life, and usually have a family.
The lower class are people like me. Poor, small house, barely any food, and dealing with criminals all the time. There's no real law force stopping the crime, so most people can get away with whatever they want.
It was a pretty cloudy day, some sprinkling here and there, but nothing too strong. I was sitting on a bench, drinking a bottle of grape soda, which is my favorite drink, apple juice being my second favorite.
"Honey," I heard my mom, Maeve yell. "Could you come help me get this down, I'm too short," she said with a slight laugh.
I could tell she was a little frustrated, but that's normal for her. She's been under a lot of stress recently because of work. She works a full time job, and has to work her ass off for some measly pay that barely pays the bills.
My father Nolan died in a construction accident two years ago, so it's just been me and my mom since then. That year was a very sad year for both of us. My mom cried a lot, and I had to comfort her a lot. We both eventually got over it which helped improve our life.
The people who witnessed what happened said lightning hit the building he was working on, but it wasn't regular lightning. They said it was a dark, ominous purple lightning that struck in one singular spot, and that one spot being exactly where my dad was.
Witnesses said that he didn't fall down, or get thrown off the building, or anything like that. They said he disappeared completely when he got hit.
No one ended up finding his body. There were four people that died, and 20 injured, some that were just civilians passing by.
Everyone who witnessed it called it a freak accident, which I agree with, even though I didn't see it happen. I mean, one random lightning strike that just so happened to hit the exact spot he was standing at, and he just disappeared? No trace of him at all? It just seems so odd. My mom thinks so too, though.
I got inside, and took my shoes off on the little rug that was sitting in front of the door. I was wearing all black sneakers, off brand, but that's all we could afford.
I hurried to the kitchen as I said "coming, mom."
As I was running, I tripped over the dining room chair "Damnit,"
I said in pain. I didn't fall, but I didn't have shoes on either, so it hurt pretty badly. It was an old chair, damn near broken at this point, but we had to keep it since we couldn't afford any new chairs.
It annoyed me that I tripped over it, but I had to go help my mom. Our house was pretty small. It had two tiny bedrooms, one measly little bathroom, a living area, and a kitchen that had very little room to cook.
My bed was really small, so small that I barely even fit on it. My parents got me it when I was ten, and I haven't gotten a new one since.
When I got to my mom, she was on her tippy toes trying to reach for something. She's a short woman, about 5'3, dark brown hair that looks black at night, emerald green eyes that shine in the sun, and very beautiful.
She was a very nice woman, always treated people nicely, very rarely got mad, and when she did, she would be more disappointed, or sad than anything.
"Whatchu need help getting down?" I said with a soft smile on my face.
She turned to me "Oh, there you are, honey. What took you so long?" she said with her left eyebrow up, and a smirk on her face.
"I tripped over the chair back there. I hate that thing y'know," I said with an annoyed look.
With a sad face, she said "I know honey, but we can't afford any new furniture."
I didn't say anything because I felt guilty. I've always complained about little things for some reason. Things like that always tend to piss me off for no reason at all.
Remembering why she called for me, I asked "What'd you need help getting down again?"
"Oh yeah, can you get this for me?" as she points at the large jar of pizza sauce.
"We must be having pizza tonight huh?" I asked excitedly.
"Yep, your favorite," she said in a gentle tone, as her eyes softened.
I got the pizza sauce and handed it to her.
"Thank you honey. I really couldn't reach it," she said with her eyes squinting, and a big smile that lit up the room.
"You're welcome," I said with a soft smile. "Do you need anything else?" I asked.
"No, but thank you honey," she said gently. I smiled as I turned, and walked away, looking at the same chair I tripped over.
There's not really anything to do in the house, so I usually spend my time outside, but it started raining harder while I was helping my mom.
We have a TV in the living area, but it's pretty small, and old. We also have a movie player, it's surprisingly newer, and we have some movies for it. I've watched about three of the ten movies we have for it.
I walked into the living area, it was small, had a nice shiny black couch, black curtains, white rug that countered all the darkness, and a coffee table that had a black top with glass in the middle, and black legs.
I went over to the bin that had the movies, and picked out 'Future Cowboys.' As you can guess by the title, it was a movie about Cowboys in the future. It started off relatively slow, but it ended off being pretty decent.
The protagonist had the classic cowboy personality, but he wore a metallic vest, gloss black pants, and ugly light up boots that had wings on the top. The movie was about aliens invading earth, and a group of cowboys taking them down.
I finally got up, and felt hungry, so I went and asked my mom if I could go to the convenience store for a snack.
We didn't really have any snacks in the house, at least not any that I liked, but I knew I had a little money left. I don't get an allowance, so the money I get is from finding money on the street.
I'll save a bunch of pennies until I have enough for a candy bar. In the area I live, a candy bar costs about 0.39 cherries, but even that much is difficult to get when you live where I do.
Cherries are metal coins that have the faces of the six King's on them.
The one cherry coin has Cliodhna, The Queen Of Lust on it.
The five cherry coin has Eolaíocht, The King Of Science on it.
The twenty cherry coin has Solas, The Queen Of Light on it.
The fifty cherry coin has Dorchadas, The King Of Darkness on it
The seventy-five cherry coin has Cruthú, The King Of Creation on it.
And finally, the one-hundred cherry coin has Hakai, the King Of Destruction on it.
When I got to my mom, who was in the kitchen, I asked "Can I go to the convenience store please?" with a big smile.
"What do you want from there, Scrios?" she asked with a firm tone.
"I just wanna get a little snack, like a candy bar. I have enough money," I said while smirking.
She smacked her forehead "sure, why not, but be back before dinner, and I mean it," she said firmly.
"Ok, thank you, mom," I said while feeling relief.
I turned around to leave, then she said "But give me a hug first," while smiling, and with her arms already reaching out.
"Alright," I said with a little laugh as I hugged her.
As I was walking away, I heard her say "Be safe, though, and I love you," with a worried tone.
"I love you too, mom. I'll be back soon."
I don't blame her for being worried, though. There are a lot of criminals in our area. They'll jump you, rob you, kidnap you, and a lot more.
No one is safe here, especially from the gangs that hang in the allies. There are homeless people everywhere as well, some that will harm you for their own good, and some that are just straight up crazy.
I've never encountered any of these people, but that's because I don't often go out. The last time I went out was a couple months ago, and that was when me, and my mom went to the store to get food.
We don't go to the store often, though, because when we do, we get a bunch of food, and eat it over time.
When I got to the front door, I put my shoes on, and a nice, warm, black jacket. I really like black clothing. I've always felt it went with my black hair, and purple eyes. I wasn't wearing all black, though. I was wearing a bright white t-shirt, and white socks.
I stepped out the front door, and immediately felt a gust of wind that could blow a child away. We live about a mile away from the convenience store, so it usually takes around twenty minutes. Maybe less if I'm walking faster, and maybe more if I'm walking slower.
I started walking, but I walked faster than usual, since it was so cold. The longer I was out there, the less I could feel my fingers. It felt like my hair was gonna get frost tips, and my fingers were gonna turn black.
My toes were really cold too, as was my nose which felt like it wasn't there anymore. It's the end of winter, so there's not a lot of snow left, but it's still really cold, so when it's windy, like it is now, it gets even colder.
The town I live in is a long street with buildings on each side. The buildings consist of old, small, and really broken down buildings made of brick, and wood.
There are a few food spots, but those places are absolutely rancid, so no one should ever eat at them. The best one, though, is a BBQ spot. Surprising in my opinion, since you can easily mess up that type of food. They're known for their ribs, which come with different rubs and sauces, the most popular being their barbeque sauce.
I've eaten there a few times, and it's the best you'll get where I live. The other three places are a pizza place, which is horrible; a burger place that has a lot of other food, but it's still horrible, and a sub spot that is the worst of them all.
They have terrible meat, moldy cheese, old mayo, and it's extremely dirty. I've only ever eaten there once, and I got food poisoning for a week.
The rest of the stores are clothing stores, bars, and stuff like that.
The bar is the town hangout spot, and it's always full. There's constant bar fights, and people who get kicked out.
The clothing stores are fine, but they don't have a huge selection. They have old, dirty looking clothing, but those are the only places we can get clothes from.
I got my jacket for free from a guy that said he didn't want it anymore. I still don't know why he randomly offered it to me, though.
There's also a church. It's often used by people who wanna go pray, but it has no real services or events held. Many people go there, though.
When I got about five minutes away from my house, I saw a homeless person on the sidewalk. It was a woman, maybe late thirties, but it was hard to tell since she was laying down, and bundled up in dirty jackets, and scarves.
I tried my best to stay as far away from her as I could, but that wasn't too far, since a car came driving down the street, so I had to walk on the sidewalk.
She didn't do anything, so I kept walking along, but when I looked back for the last time, she was staring at me. It really creeped me out, so I just started walking faster than I already was.
I got a little farther away, and looked back again, but she was laying back down this time.
I've come here quite a bit in my life, so I know where the halfway point from my house is. Whenever I see the 'JOIN OUR CULT,' sign that has a red arrow pointing to the dark alleyway to the right of it, then I know I'm halfway there.
Under the 'JOIN OUR CULT.' part, it has some small, purple writing that says 'THE CULT OF HAKAI." I've heard a lot of things about the cults, and how brutal, and sadistic they can be, but the things I've heard about the Hakai cult takes the cake.
They do some terrible things to people who go against Hakai, or even don't care about him. Things I can't even say 'cause they're so bad.
Most people try to avoid all the cults, especially the Hakai cult, but some people seem like they wanna die. Obviously some people want to join, but others go against the cults just for fun, but they never make it out alive.
After another five minutes, I came across an alleyway. I didn't think much of it, but then I heard some screams.
It sounded like a boy that was my age, but I couldn't fully tell. I looked in the alley, and saw five people dressed in black pants, a black shirt, a black leather jacket., and had black ski masks.
One looked back at me with a smile that sent shivers down my spine. It was so creepy. He looked away, but I was already terrified.
One was a giant, probably 198 cm, and had big arms, like he worked out a lot.
Another was shorter, probably about 170 cm, and had the build of a woman. Another was about 179 cm, but pretty bulky.
The one that had a menacing smile on him was about 182 cm, but was skinnier.
The last one was chuckling sinisterly, and was about 182 cm as well, but had a pretty large stomach with short, skinny legs. T
hey were all beating up a boy on the ground. I was gonna leave it be, but I felt bad for him. It debated on whether to help him, or not, but I couldn't stand to see him get beat up, so I ran at them screaming "STOP," really loudly.
They stopped beating him up, so I thought they'd walk away, but I was wrong. They started walking towards me, so I got ready to fight, but I froze.
"What's wrong?" the skinny one said in a menacing voice, giving me that same terrifying smile he gave me before. "You scared?" said the one who was short, but bulky, while they all laughed. "What a pussy, am I right?" said the giant one.
I still couldn't move. I felt paralyzed. Is this what it felt like to be paralyzed from fear? Am I gonna get hurt? Am I gonna die? Move, I told myself. My body wouldn't move. No matter what I did, I couldn't do anything. I looked them all in the eye as they were approaching me. I tried to speak, but I couldn't even do that.
"You better run little boy," the short one said while glaring at me. I still couldn't move, but at that point, I accepted what was gonna happen. They finally grabbed me, and the skinny one immediately punched me in the face.
"Ouch," I cried out while falling to the ground. I was in pain. I felt a sting in my nose that I've never experienced. I've never been punched in the face before, so it really shocked me, but it hurt more than anything.
The big one grabbed me, picked me up with one hand, punched me in the gut, then threw me back on the ground, and I hit my head pretty hard.
"I think that's enough for him, don't you think?" the woman said. They all laughed "why not, we already got that boy's money, so let's see if this kid has any money, and then leave."
They looked for my money, but they couldn't find it, since it was in my sock. After looking, and not finding it, they all got annoyed, and before they left, the giant one kicked me in the gut and said "Let's go to some houses."
It took me a few minutes to recuperate, but I eventually got up. I could barely stand, but I managed.
I went over to the boy that was sitting against the broken brick wall, and said "You okay?"
"Yeah," he said with an annoyed tone.
Why's he annoyed? Is he mad I tried to help him? Whatever, I guess some people just don't appreciate kindness. I stared at him for a few seconds.
"Leave me alone," he said while gritting his teeth.
"I just wanna make sure you're alright," I said with a soft tone.
He got up, then turned to the exit of the alleyway "I'm leaving," he said in a firm voice as he started walking away.
"Wait."