Being forced to run down the barren streets of Nascaras outskirts rarely meant anything good.
Eyes turned and people hid as a boy of decent height, around 180 centimeters, wearing rags as a sad excuse for clothing, malnourished and feral, sped across the road. His dark and slightly long disheveled hair fluttered in the wind as it sped past his face, his dark eyes scanning for escape routes and casting sharp glances backwards.
A clamor had risen quite a considerable distance away from him, as a distraught shop owner caused a ruckus over his stolen bread- the bread that was being held in a crushing grip close to the boy's chest. He zig-zagged across the alleys and dove into a small crack in a building, just as a tall man weilding a butchers axe sped past his hiding spot.
Breathing heavily, Ashwin ducked down as much as his body would allow. He silently cursed the fact that his body was to large to move with maximum efficiency, despite being thin as a stick.
He dropped down, and rode the coarse ground beneath his weight like a slide, eventually arriving deep underground. In front of him laid bare a small room, with three chairs and a sad piece of wood to serve as a table, as well as a pile of hay and stolen pillows piled up in a corner. The stench of mold assaulted his nose as the boy tried to stand up, almost collapsing yet again from exhaustion. He coughed a couple times, before looking at the fruits of his labour.
He had brought back a feast this time. 3 pieces of bread fell onto the table with a soft thud, as he leaned against a wall. Todays hunt had been especially excruciating, even by his standards.
After a while, he called out in a hoarse voice. "Aurelia, Vornest?"
The pile of pillows in the corner stirred slightly, as a head popped out. Silver hair adorned the girls head, and her eyes were brown and piercing. They gave the same feeling as the boy.. Ashwin. However, while Ashwin still retained som sort of dignified scholarly feel, the girl did not. Her entire body language screamed: "Get away from me" , and her eyes sped around the room. As they finally focused on the malnourishhed boy leaning against the wall, she crawled out of her makeshift hiding spot.
The boy opened his mouth slightly. "Where is.. Vornest?" Ashwin scrunched his eyebrows as the girl- Aurelia, responded quietly. "He went out 4 hours ago."
Ashwin sighed audibly and placed his hands on his face.
"What is he thinking? He still hasn't come back? We need to find him."
Aurelia studied his face for a couple seconds, before letting her clearly unused voice out.
"Now?" she raised an eyebrow
The boy, only 10 centimeters or so taller than the girl who posed the question, went quiet for a bit.
"...We can't. They're searching for me.."
The girl stared at him incredulously for a couple seconds, before sighing in the same manner as he had only a couple seconds earlier and opening her mouth.
"I heard the commotion. Quite a scene this time huh?? Dumbass.."
Ashwin grit his teeth and looked down. "We will wait for a while... go ahead and eat, one piece for each this time."
The girl, wearing the same tattered rags as the boy, looked down towards the table. Spotting the pieces of bread, she bent down without a word and picked one up, before waddling back and sitting down on the mountain of pillows. Letting out a small cough, she bit into the bread.
Ashwin sat up, finally regaining some strenth in his legs, and snatched a piece of his hard owned haul. As he sat down, he bit into the hard texture of the dough. It was defenitley not up to standard for a travelling merchant such as the one he stole from.
'Useless bunch.' He snorted quietly. Closing his eyes, he commanded himself to sleep, and passed out after a couple seconds.
20 minutes or so later, Aurelia shook him awake.
"It's quiet."
Ashwin nodded, standing up shakily.
"Lets go. We need to hurry."
As the girl nodded, he sprinted to the makeshift slide, and, holding her hand and pulling her up, he climbed to the surface. Looking out of the crack in the wall, he scanned for any signs of the merchants from earlier.
Not seeing anything, he motioned for Aurelia to follow as he crawled out of the hole, and started sprinting through the alleys at a comparativley slow pace, accommodating for Aurelias worse physical condition.
After 30 or so minutes of running, with no sign of the older boy, Ashwin pivoted his foot, holding onto Aurelias hand tightly, and looked arount the corner.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he beconed for Aurelia as usual, and they started moving agin. This time however, for whatever reason... Ashwin didnt feel like running. Turning another corner, he glanced into an alley.
The first thing he registered was the smell. A rotten and horrid smell that made him want to puke, one that was all to familiar to those who lived on the surface of the outskirts. His mouth moved before even his brain could register what was going on.
"Aurelia, cover your nose."
But it was too late. As he looked back, he saw her hunched over, a putrid and sticky liquid, with some pieces of bread now coated his leg as she coughed and puked. As Ashwin was about to look back, his brain finally realized what was happening.
Blood was running on the streets, mixing with the rainwater that had seemed like such a blessing the day before.
The body of a middle aged man was slumped over against the wall. In the middle of the alley, a boy, around 16 years old, malnourished and tall, at about 192 centimeters, was sitting on the body of another man, hunched over.
The corpse underneath his cold hands looked like a makeshift raft in the sea of blood that had formed over the span of the last 3 hours.
Suddenly, Ashwin remembered a distant memory.
Running through the night, Ashwin and Vornest had stubled across an alleyway. An old beggar. Ashwin had looked at him with pity, stealing what measely ammount of money he had made, and taking his shoes. It was survival of the fittest, after all. As he glanced back at Vornest, he couldn't help but feel chills run down his spine. His eyes...-
Hearing the voices behind him, the boy slowly looked up into the sky. As he spoke, his voice sounded tired... with something else mixed in.
"Ahh... Ashwin... Aurelia..."
-Were cold.
"Vornest?" Ashwin spoke out like a question, that one name echoing throughout the dark alley. He took a step forward.
The boy- Vornest, stood up suddenly, in a clean and slow motion. Trampling the corpse beneath his feet as if it were part of the ground, he smiled. His slightly parted slicked back hair shone ever so sllightly in the gentle twilight that only served to accentuate the shadows.
He studied Ashwin for a while, glancing at Aurelia. There was something off with his smile. It was almsot jagged, crazed. His eyes, piercing as usual, the ones you gain from spending your entire life on the streets, had an entierly new shine to them. Was it pleasure? Or enlightenment?
"Isn't it beautiful?"
'Why?! No! How!?' Thoughts crashed in Ashwins head.
His smile widened as Ashwin opened his mouth in a panic.
"What are you talking about! We need to get out of here before the person who did this return-"
Vornest stood quiet for a bit, before interrupting him mid sentence.
"I did this."
Ashwin stood shocked. Aurelia stood petrified, hunched over.
"W-why.."
"Ashwin." The slightly older boy smiled. "Yesterday, i found out. I am infected.
"Infected? Hey, Vornest, calm down, what are you..."
"The trials." Vornest smiled "I will be taken soon. And i wanted to see it for myself. The abyss of taking the life of another human being. It's interesting."
"Snap out of it!" Ashwin stepped forward and shook his shoulders violently. "What are you talking about? Do you hear yourself?!"
His smile widened.
"This madness... This feeling... it's what I've been looking for all this time." He stepped back slightly. "Dont you get it? This world is already mad!" His smile widened. "No, I suppose you don't."
"What are you-"
"Farwell." He smiled one last time. "I'll see you soon... Ashwin, Aureila."
As those words left his lips, his body started to rip apart. Slowly at first, but then quicker and quicker. He let out a wail of agony as pieces of flesh floated into the air, dissipating into nothingness. A sharp laughter rang sharp in the narrow alley, and.. he was gone.
"..."
Ashwin collapsed onto his knees.
Aurelia straightened her back slightly. Then, she coughed. Hunching over once more, her throat felt like it was being torn apart by violent coughs, as she fell on Ashwins shoulder and clawed on his clothes for support.
"I don't wanna die!" Her voice was already sore, her legs were shaking.
"You'll be fine! Everything will be fine in the end! I promise!" Ashwin pulled her in tight, as cracks started to form over her skin.
"Don't l-leave m-me!" An excruciating scream ripped loose from her throat as she slowly began turning to dust, just like Vornest had done moments earlier.
"Aurelia! Listen to me god damn it! I don't know whats happening but... if we'll really see eachother soon like Vornest said... I'll find you! I'll find Vornest and bring him back.. and we can all be together again!"
His mind was a mess. Countless mixing emotions crashed in his head as he felt the body of one of his dearest friends turn light in his embrace. A cough escaped his throat as well. He smiled slightly and looked up, as her body finally disappeared.
Another scream sounded from the alley. First it was sorrow, a wailing mess. Then, it transformed into one of agony, as Ashwins body was ripped apart. Then, like blowing on a candle, his voice was snuffed out along with the world.