Stare into the Abyss
The dim neon glow of the bar reflected in his glass as he raised it in front of his face, a frown adorning his visage as he watched the slice of lemon slowly tainting the crystal clear contents with its murky juice. He sighed, putting the half empty container back on the chrome surface of the counter as he brushed his black hair back, leaving only one bang hanging into his withered face.
His brown eyes were dull and accented by deep, dark circles as they examined the scratched chrome surface of the bar, one hand resting on his prominent cheekbones as his other was drumming on the reflecting surface. A sigh escaped his throat as he looked around the bar.
The neon lights revealed pillars of cigarette smoke twirling in the air like exotic dancers, sprouting from the many cigars and other addictive tobacco products resting either in ashtrays on the small round tables scattered through the dimly lit room or the hands of people like himself, at their lowest point in life, not knowing where else to go as they simply let their negative emotions flow, giving the bar a depressing flair. Or maybe it was just his state of mind interpreting the situation this way, ignoring the occasional chatting couple, boy resting his arm on female shoulders, lighting their cigarettes or buying them a drink.
He raised an eyebrow before raising his glass up to his pale face again, wrinkles forming on his prominent forehead as he slowly stirred the contents of the glass container, the lemon slowly infesting the pure vodka with its bitter sap.
"Why am I even here?" He whispered to himself. "Ah yeah. That's why." It wasn't exactly the high point of his career, no, far from it. He remembered the day he enlisted in Zauns Technimaturgical College of Science, a young man of mere twenty-two years, with a burning passion for science. He'd been so happy after months of hard work and sleepless nights he was finally assigned to Professor Stanwick Piddleys research team on the search for the perfect robotics and responsive systems. He'd spent hours without a single break to rest his endlessly busy mind trying out every possible combinations of circuits and the like just to finally get the big breakthrough with his team. He'd done it, he had created a functioning Hextech construct. "Blitzcrank, the Great Steam Golem", they had dubbed him and his team was overjoyed about him making it all possible. He'd been happy like he'd never been before, his hard work finally paying out and him getting the recognition he deserved. Or so he thought.
He gritted his teeth as his mind raced, reliving the moments in which Piddley had claimed his work for his own, stealing the work of his last three years from right under his nose. Piddley got all the recognition while he stood in his Professors Shadow, an emotion welling up he hadn't felt ever before; Hate and Contempt.
His thin fingers tightened around his glass as he brushed the streak of black hair from his face, raising the glass to his dry lips.
"Viktor! There you are. We've been worried about you." His brown eyes widened and shifted to glance at the owner of the familiar voice, seating herself right beside him at the counter.
"You had me worried sick." She said, tucking a streak of blonde hair behind her ear and tilting her smiling face to the side, her gentle blue eyes meeting his sunken brown eyes.
"Emily, what are you doing here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling mildly, wrinkles appearing on his cheeks as his mouth shifted. Emily had been his closet friend and partner in the creation of Blitzcrank.
She smiled, gently brushing her warm fingers across the wrinkles on the side of his cheeks. "You smile too little." Emily traced the lines across his face up to his prominent cheekbones. "You know I find it cute how your face reacts to your this rare occasion."
Viktor's pale face flushed a mild red as he felt her warm touch on his skin and placed his own cold, skinny hand on her own as he maintained his smile.
"I just couldn't get myself to attend a party praising my work, claimed by someone who had no part in it." His face grew darker and he tightened his grip on Emily's hand as his brown eyes stared into her steel-blue ones before adverting his gaze to the chrome table.
"I just can't."
Emily's smile dimmed as her eyes took on a hurt but understanding look. "I understand Viktor, we all do, but you have to come to terms with it. It's bitter but that's how life is here I Zaun. Not everyone's as honest and hard-working as you, there are those whose intentions pull from the depths of human emotion; Greed, Envy and Contempt. Don't let them pull you down." She placed her arm on his shoulder.
"Promise me this one thing Viktor. Promise me you'll always stay true to yourself, don't let these emotions get the better of you. You're better than them."
She smiled, brushing a long streak of blonde hair behind her ear as her grip on his shoulder tightened before she adverted her gaze from her colleague.
"We were waiting for you, not wanting to celebrate Professor Piddly but you. You deserved every toast to his name and we all know it. There's just nothing we can do than just stand tall and go on. It doesn't matter how much it hurts as long as you don't let it get the better of you. "
She smiled and plucked out a single white hair from the black tuft on his head. "Besides, all this stress is slowly making all the life fade from you."
Viktor turned to meet her gaze once more, his eyes full of sadness and disappointment as he looked into her blue eyes, getting lost in the clarity within them. He gulped, his mouth acrid like a desert as the corners of his mouth reluctantly shifted into a mild smile.
"Thank you Emily." He whispered, leaning closer to her, her face seeming like an Angels as warm neon lights illuminated it in a clear and serene blue while he sat there in the shadows, his pale visage accented by the dark circles under his eyes and his black clothing.
Emily smiled, closing her eyes and leaning forward, wrapping him in a warm embrace as she held him close. He could feel her steady heartbeat as his own quickened. His hands shook and he slowly put them across her back, squeezing her closer to him as a single tear escaped his reddened eyes.
"Thank you." He whispered in her ear, surrounded by her golden hair as his thin arms rested on her back.
After a while, he loosened his embrace, turning away from her, a weak blush on his face as he stared at the chrome surface in front of him.
"You haven't promised it to me yet. " She said, looking at Viktors fragile form, the neon lights behind him making his silhouette seem even more vulnerable as he sat there, staring down.
"You know I can't promise you that." He whispered. "I just can't. Not now. Not here." He turned to face her, his brown eyes dark, mirroring the thoughts in his mind. "Not to you. I wouldn't be able to forgive me if I were to break this promise."
Emily smiled lightly, a pained expression on her face as she tapped his shoulder.
"You know where you can find me if you want to talk." She stood up from the barstool, her blue eyes watching her colleague, gripped by depression and weighed down by it as she turned to leave before facing him one more time. "Just take care Viktor, we're all worried about you." Silence. Emily sighed and left the bar, a cool breeze blowing through the room, as Viktor breath in the fresh air, his clouded mind freed from the grip of depression.
"She's right." He whispered. "I'm better than him, I'm better than them. These emotions can't weigh me down." His hand felt his heartbeat as he placed it on his chest.
"I'll show them, I'll be the best man they ever knew. I'll pave the way for the new kind of man, the man everybody will look up to. A man without flaws or cruel intentions." Viktor firmly grasped his glass of Vodka, raising it to his face before downing it all in one go. The alcohol sending a burning sensation through his mouth and throat as he slams the empty glass on the counter before tucking some money under it, raising himself from his chair and leaving the choking ambience of the bar, diving in the cool and refreshing night air.
He shifted his dark blue scarf to better protect him from the chilly air as he put up the collar of his black coat, a new mission gripping his mind as he set out into the night. His scarf and coat dancing around his tall and lean stature as the dim lights of Zauns street lamps illuminated him, giving him the appearance of a Herald, eager to spread his glorious believes.