Chapter 5
Strangers in the Night
Days went by rather peacefully up on the mountain–while Layla and Tian played and napped together and seemingly became the best of friends within the short span of 48 hours, Ethan himself stealthily practised his class' only active ability while also keeping up with the trends of the world. It was just more of the same, in the end–looting was the prime pastime, the murder rate skyrocketed across the globe, and the alien orb continued to float mindlessly above the Atlantic while the world's governments desperately struggled to understand an iota about it.
Nobody ever truly would, for that matter; well into the future, and when Ethan was to return, the orb still remained an enigma. Some things were clear–one way or another, it was the direct reason for there being magic in the world, and it was responsible for the formation of the innumerable patchwork wormholes that led straggling monsters onto Earth, or people onto straggling worlds. While it was not certain whether the alien structure directly formed these wormholes or just enabled their existence, it was responsible in one way or another.
There was never an opportunity to gleam much past that–though numerous attempts were made to enter the orb, actual entrance–if it even existed–was never discovered. And even the strongest of the Awakened, the ilk that could do the unthinkable in the blink of an eye, were incapable of even leaving a scratch on the orb's surface. For twenty-plus years into the future, the structure continued to float and hum and be seemingly divorced from the horror-doused reality it had helped create.
As with all things unknowable, cults worshipping the thing would come to be sometime in the future. Ethan was fairly certain that their roots can be traced all the way back to the day of the Descent itself, but what they would come to become was a completely different beast. In some ways, they would become even more dangerous than the monsters themselves. But that was par for the course–while monsters and beasts and things were beyond powerful, they were also upright… most of them. People, not so much. Beliefs and causes and desires and greed and a whole host of other emotions and principalities came to define human behaviour as one, simple thing: highly unpredictable and volatile.
This was one of the reasons Ethan wanted to desperately avoid people as much as possible, at least early on so that he does not cause irreparable changes to the timeline. He needed certain people to survive and live as they did before because they were the bedrock of what he was planning to do–create a 'cult' of his own. The binding contract with Tian forced him to continuously grow stronger, but the truth was that there were limitations as to how far one can push themselves individually. All ran into a wall eventually, one that nobody managed to break alone, not even those with classes that seemed almost 'designed' for vagabonds.
In the end, the old saying stood–that no man was an island. And Ethan, even with all the knowledge he possessed of the future, would not be able to snatch all the good things for himself. Some because of the geographic issues themselves–certain items appeared only in certain places and, eerily enough, they were almost too perfectly evenly spread across the Earth. Eventually, he'll have to dip into buying them, robbing them, or having somebody else go grab them. But for him to be able to command such an effect upon others, he'd have to showcase he was worthy of it–and though strength was far from the only way to command others, it was the most blunt, the most effective, and the most direct way.
Roughly half a month into their stay at the lodge, Tian came to him in the dead of night–sometime past 3 A.M.--informing him that there was a band of people some mile and a half south sitting around a fire. There were three of them, two men and a woman, all appearing worn out and tattered. He left the bedroom slowly and silently so as to not wake Layla, and followed Tian through the dark forest as the creature led him down a slope and through the thick canopy of trees, eventually seeing light in the distance. As Tian said, there were three people, and even though Ethan was quite far, he could still discern that they all seemed like college-aged kids at best. They looked exhausted, and two seemed to be suffering from either stab or gunshot wounds that were haphazardly wrapped.
Ethan mulled for a moment–he could just leave them be and hope they either never find the lodge or pass by it due to fear. He could also just kill them on the spot, bury them, and continue living. But there was the third alternative–take them in. Even if he had no intention of starting a 'cult' this early on as he first wanted to let nature play itself out for a few months, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to test himself out and do some rudimentary experiments.
He could task them with supply runs, especially if he showed them how to Awaken as they would become virtually impervious against others, guarding the perimeter, and other odd jobs that he was too lazy to commit to. There was always a risk that they would betray him and disclose his location to others, but it wasn't as though he would Awaken them immediately. Rubbing his chin, he shrugged his shoulders and decided to give it a go–he was never much of a hesitant person. If he fancied an idea, he usually went ahead and did it–even if it was a bit out there.
Ethan didn't hide his steps or himself as he approached the campfire; the trio spotted him immediately, and though all three wanted to stand up to guard, only one managed to–the only woman in the group. She was rather tall, approximately six feet by Ethan's estimate, and was wielding a kitchen knife with a pair of shaky hands. She had medium-short black hair that looked like it was cut just recently–and not all that well–and a pair of purple eyes that stared at him intently. The two men by her side seemed more tired and ashamed than terrified, but he paid them no heed, stopping some ten feet from them–just far enough that they felt like they had enough space to operate with agency, but close enough that their campfire was enough to illuminate his features.
"Boo?" he tilted his head and spread out his arms comically, though none of the three seemed to think his joke was particularly funny. "Tough crowd."
"Who are you?!" the woman asked sternly.
"Whose brilliant idea was to light up a fire in the dead of night? You're basically hollering anyone who sees it–come hither and fuck us up."
"..." Though nobody replied, one of the two men looked away with guilt for a moment.
"I asked you a question. Who are you?!" the woman asked again.
"I have a cabin a mile or so up there," Ethan explained. "And I was just minding my own business when I saw some light appear. Put that knife away, kid. You're gonna hurt yourself."
"What are you doing here, in the middle of nowhere?!"
"Aren't you here, too? In the middle of nowhere?"
"..." Ethan's question quieted them for a moment. They were wilful kids and had to have some smarts to have escaped the city and run for the mountains. But, in the end, they were kids–likely wholly inexperienced with living in the wild.
"I'll demonstrate something real quick for you," he said casually. "Just to showcase how easily I could have done what you think I plan on doing. And to build some trust and terror between us. Okay. Are you ready?" while the trio looked at him in confusion, Ethan casually extended his arm whereupon a blister of blood popped on his forearm. A moment later, a whip of blood extending to its full length, seven feet, slashed out and stopped, fully extended, three feet away from the woman. The three gasped in horror for a moment but turned deathly silent right after. The woman's knees grew weak as she fell down, dropping her knife. In the meantime, Ethan moved the whip away and slashed at the nearby tree, collapsing it.
"--w-w-what the f-f-f-uck?!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" one of the men screeched and suddenly stood up, rushing away. Ethan frowned but was already on the move, catching up to the man easily and killing him in one strike. He didn't have time for characters like that. He barely had time for people who would willingly serve him. Tossing the corpse to the side, he turned back and saw the remaining man and woman looking at him, white in the face, eyes void of everything but horror.
"So, as you can see," Ethan spoke calmly, as though he hadn't just ended a life. "I could have easily killed the three of you–well, the two of you. I don't like screamers, you see. Or runners."
"..."
"W-what… what do you want from us?" the woman asked, causing Ethan to exclaim softly in admiration. "Like… like our… our blood?"
"Hm? The fuck would I want your blood for?"
"Aren't… aren't you a vampire?" the woman asked. Suddenly, Tian burst out into laughter, though only Ethan could see him. The latter felt peeved but held it in.
"... no," Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose, walking up to the campfire and the duo. "See?" he smiled widely–the smile was quite creepy, especially under the angled light of the fire. "No fangs."
"Pfft…" the man stifled a laugh as the woman shot him a glare.
"I am, however, able to help you become similar to me," his words seemed to draw the two in immediately. "Well, much weaker than me, but much stronger than others."
"... you're the devil, then. This feels like a deal with the devil." The woman commented half-jokingly.
"Oh, you'll wish," Ethan chuckled. "But you've seen the world. And, sorry to be the bearer of the bad news, but it ain't gonna get any better."
"I'm in," the woman said suddenly, surprising both Ethan and the man. "I don't care what you want from me–just make me strong enough."
"... don't be such a mood pooper," Ethan said. "I just want you to run errands for me."
"E-errands?" the woman tripped over her own words.
"What? Did you think I wanted you two to engage in some BDSM-addled sex session with me or something?"
"..."
"Oh, wow. Do I really give off that kind of a vibe?"
"I mean," the woman said. "You did show up in the middle of the night in the most menacing way possible and have been acting like a weird, creepy, sex addict. Well, maybe not a sex addict. But definitely weird and creepy."
"Jesus, Tara! Don't insult him! Are you insane?"
"Relax," she rolled her eyes at him. "If he gave a shit, both of us would be headless like Rick over there."
"Might be a bit odd for me to say," Ethan said, crouching down to their level. "But you two seem awfully fine after having witnessed everything."
"You haven't been to the city in a while, huh?" the woman shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, that thing you're smelling isn't roses, it's my piss."
"... and mine," the man added from the side.
"Funny."
"But, I don't know how to explain it… unlike others, you're larger than life. I mean, shit, you are just as weird as that alien ship that fell from the sky. And just like we can't exactly be pissed off properly at that ship, I… feel the same about you."
"... you're not good with words," Ethan smiled lightly as he stood back up. "You fear human motives, but my motives don't seem human."
"Yes." The woman nodded.
"Eh, I'll take it," Ethan shrugged. "Get up and follow me. Ah, right–do note that I have a little sister with me. Should she find out what happened tonight, should she so much as shed a tear because either one of you, I will not just kill you, but kill you so slowly you'd think time ceased being a thing. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes!" both of them nodded immediately at Ethan's chilled tone of voice, slowly getting up and following him slightly uphill. Though their legs still felt like jello, they ignored the feeling and pressed forward after the man who was humming a low melody into the dark night. Occasionally, he would look to his side and mumble something neither could hear, but the two decided not to think too much about it.
Eventually, they saw the lodge in question–it was a simple-looking, wooden structure like most other cabins in the woods, but it was miles better than sleeping outside in the forest. The man ordered them to stay outside while he went inside and came out some five minutes later with two buckets of water and a fresh set of clothes.
"You can take full baths tomorrow. I don't want you waking up Layla."
"..." The two didn't protest, merely going behind the lodge in two different directions, having a quick, surface-level wash, and putting on clean clothes. The man waited for them in front of the lodge's main doors, having at some point taken out a can of beer, drinking it.
"Alright, let's go over some of the basics," Ethan said. "Placate me for a week, and I will let you know how I became what I did. For a week, you'll do basic maintenance on the lodge, run the perimeter, entertain Layla with whatever she wants, and sit down with me once a day to tell me your life stories. If you manage not to piss me off for a whole week, I'll fulfil my end of the deal."
"You didn't mention going to the city," the woman noted with a frown.
"Because you won't be going to the city," Ethan glanced at her indifferently. "I didn't decide to help you just to fuck you over. Ah, right, if you do decide to try and escape, just kill yourself. It will save me the trouble of hunting you down."
"... can I ask you something?" the woman said.
"Yes, I am very casual with human lives," Ethan, already knowing what she would ask, replied. "And yes, in some capacity, I suppose I am a sociopath. That's all you need to know, however. Anything else?"
"..." both stayed silent.
"Good. Since I wasn't expecting guests, it's not like I have beds for you, but there are two couches in the living room, so make yourself at home. Except–don't make a sound until you see me come out in the morning."
"What if we want to prepare you breakfast?" the man asked.
"Don't be a kiss-ass," Ethan replied almost instantaneously. "Right, in the huff of it all, I forgot to ask your names."
"Tara," the woman replied simply.
"Ronald," the man said.
"Alright, Tara and Roland. Welcome to my humble abode. Hope your stay is long and fruitful."