The air ripples as a matte-black bullet tears through it, cracking like a whip before slamming into an iron-plated shoulder. Sparks fly, but the impact barely staggers the monstrous figure.
The trembling shooter lowers his gun, his hands unsteady. His breath comes fast and shallow as he pushes his medium-length black hair from his eyes, stepping back to reload. The weapon hisses, an eerie, unnatural sound, absorbing some unseen energy as it reloads itself.
Across the battlefield, a skinny girl with purplish-white hair flickers in and out of sight, appearing in multiple places at once. She moves like a phantom, weaving between wreckage and debris, nothing more than a distraction for the hulking beast. Its body is covered in tumors, pulsing and shifting beneath its flesh. Even with its eyes long rotted away, it can still smell them.
A broad-shouldered swordsman grips the hilt of his sword. The rest of the blade is hidden within a gray sheath with a ruby dragon spiraling around it. He charges forward, kicking a frail and gray skinned ghoulish creature out of his way. With a loud explosion, his sword is expulsed violently from the sheath. A wail splits the air as the monster's severed hand tumbles to the ground, thick red blood pulsing from the wound and drenching him.
Finally, one more person can be seen, a girl with a brown ponytail, covered in adhesive bandages, fires an iron string from a gadget on her wrist, tripping the frail, ghoulish creatures. She gives the string some slack, then whips it up into the air before snapping it back down onto the ghouls, slicing them in half.
The shooter stumbles, dropping to his knees before vomiting. The rancid stench churns his stomach. His breath is ragged. Slowly, he raises his head to see a blood-soaked hand reaching toward him.
"Now is not the time to falter, Calen." The swordsman with the ruby dragon sword declares. Calen stares at his hand and reflects on how he ended up here, the first thing he remembers was...
---
An analog clock rings, its blaring noise filling a messy room. Piles of clothes are thrown about on the dark wood floor, cans of soda line up in rows on an oak desk. Posters of different bands are hung up on the wall.
A pale hand slaps down onto the clock and the horrible noise stops. A boy with black hair reaching his shoulders rises up. He takes a deep stretch and gets out of his bed. He quickly grabs an over-sized graphic t-shirt and a loose fitting pair of jeans out of a dirty clothes basket and tosses it on.
He then picks up his wallet, a lanyard with a variety of keys on them, and his phone. He opens the wallet and an ID is visible, Calen Graves is the name on it. Calen throws the items into their respective pockets and goes on about his day.
"They still aren't home?" Calen mutters to himself after leaving his bedroom. He walks down to the kitchen and throws a pop-tart into the toaster. After setting it, he sits down to scroll on his phone.
The doorbell rings with a charming tune and a feminine voice can be heard from the front door, "Calen?! Are you awake?!" Calen rushes down the stairs that connect to his room and reaches the front door. He swings the door open with a smile.
"Hi, Kaitlyn!" He was excited to see his friend, he hadn't seen her in a while. "I was just planning to stay home today, but if you had something else in mind we could do that too."
Kaitlyn gives a warm smile, "Actually Lyra and I were gonna go walk around and wanted to tell you and Ronan, in case you wanted to tag along."
With something finally filling one of Calen's empty days, he promptly replies, "Yeah! Of course I will! Give me one second." He closes the door and takes a few steps before turning around and opening the door again, "You can come in if you want..." He scratches his cheek.
"Yeah..."
Kaitlyn chuckles, "I'll take you up on that." She enters the creaky house and takes a seat by a green armchair by the door. As Calen races up the stairs to his room Kaitlyn stands up and looks around, taking in memories she and her friends had in the house. Dents in the walls, chips in furniture, blood stains hidden behind said furniture. She looks in a large mirror within the dining room. She fixes her ponytail and presses down on an adhesive bandage that is starting to peel off. Her white t-shirt has oil stains that the washer couldn't take out, and her dusty jeans that desperately needed to be replaced.
Back upstairs, Calen is changing into clean clothes and fiddling with his phone, trying to text his friend, Ronan.Â
A minute or two passes until Ronan agrees and says he is on his way. Calen is clothed in a graphic hoodie with a few silver chains circling his neck, resting on top of the hoodie. Black ripped jeans cover his lower body, they have obviously seen better days. His dusty tennis shoes contrast with the rest of his dark outfit.
"Alright... I'm dressed! You can come up." Calen calls out from his room.
Kaitlyn finds the stairs that lead up to his room and makes her way up them. She pushes open the cracked door.Â
Calen and Kaitlyn catch up for a few minutes until a familiar tune is heard from the front door.Â
Calen and Kaitlyn head down the stairs and sitting on that same green chair is Ronan, a heavy built dude with a thick skull, but an undying vow to protect his friends. His short brown hair glows as the sun hits it.Â
"Everyone but Lyra, huh?" Ronan says with a chuckle. Calen and Kaitlyn nod and reach Ronan.
For about an hour they catch up over some microwaved pizza while waiting on Lyra. Finally the doorbell gives off that charming tune one last time.
"Looks like the late bus arrived." Calen snickers.
"We've been waiting on you." Ronan says after opening the door. He gives her a gentle slap on the back, "Want some crappy pizza?"
"I'll pass." Lyra says, her dyed white hair with purple highlights sways as she puts her hand up to her chest.
"Guys, lets go before my parents get back. They've been gone for the past few days helping my brother move into his dorm." Calen states.
The group nods in understanding and sets out on their intended goal, walking.
They go to a few different points of interest until Kaitlyn speaks up, "Hey... there is actually one place I wanna go." The group looks at her, "The junkyard." The group's expressions shift, Calen frowns, Ronan raises an eyebrow, and Lyra wrinkles her nose in disgust.
"Why? It's nasty there." Calen says. Deep down he tries to hide it, but a tiny spark of fear flares up in his heart.
"Yeah... I don't wanna smell like garbage and dog shit." Lyra adds on.
Ronan also comments, "I'm up for a lot of things, but that sounds dangerous."
"Well mainly for two reasons." Kaitlyn sticks two fingers up, "Firstly, I wanna see if I can find some salvageable parts for a project I'm working on." She closes her eyes and nods then adds, "Also I heard a rumor of a creepy door there."
"A rumor?" Calen scratches his cheek with a tone of dread.
"A door?" Ronan and Lyra say at the same time.
"Yeah! A door. Rumor says that even though it's not connected to anything physically, it will still open to your greatest desires." Kaitlyn is breaming with excitement.
After a heated discussion, the group finally gives in. They take in the sun setting on Chicago from the outskirts of the big city. Once they reach the junkyard a flimsy lock keeps them out. Kaitlyn looks over at them one by one and then sighs. She raises up her leg and gives it a few kicks until it falls off.
Calen looks nervous, while Ronan and Lyra look skeptical.
They explore the large plot of garbage, countless items can be seen there. Broken televisions, mattress, car parts, toys, feces, everything a person could want. Dogs bark in the background as a rancid smell fills the group's noses. Kaitlyn loads up a bag with various mechanical parts until... they see a door. It stands on its own, nothing holds it up.
"No way..." Kaitlyn says while she and the group approach it, with caution.
"You're not serious." Ronan says with a firm face. After reaching it, he attempts to push it over, but to no avail.
"Yeah right..." Lyra scoffs and turns the brass doorknob on the white wooden door, she twists and pushes. A deep and dark staircase is revealed, it looks never-ending.
The group looks at each other and nods, including Calen, who even he is now curious.Â