A/N: Hey guys! I'm trying out a new style of writing (drumroll, please)... second person POV! At first I wasn't quite so sure of it, but now I think that I'm starting to dig it. Let me know what you think of it. Am I screwing up the story with the second person (I can always go back to first or third) or not? And what do you think of the plot? Should I continue through with this story?
I'd love to hear from you guys! Enjoy!
When Fate Comes Knocking
Chapter I
The dusk song starts in playing in your head as you exit your high school between its square (not like anything in Minecraftia wasn't) quartz pillars. Your head is spinning with redstone circuitry as you make your way home through your village's winding cobblestone streets. Your back starts aching from the stacks of books inside of your backpack and you wonder how the ancient miners managed back in their day – your teacher had told you that they sometimes had to carry as much as 36 piles of stones. Your back hurts even more just thinking of that.
The setting sun lights the sky on fire with shades of orange – the same sunset image that appears every night – and tiny pinpricks of starlight begin to appear at the opposite horizon.
"Too predictable," you scoff and continue trudging home. The redstone powered streetlights appear to become brighter as the light around you dims, but you still do not change your pace. You aren't scared of some silly monsters in the dark like you were as a kid. Everyone knows that they weren't real. Nor were the monsters that hid under your bed and in your closet.
You finally stroll up the gravel pathway to your house between flower beds and small plots of wheat. Your parents had always insisted to stick to tradition and harvest their own food instead of trading for it at the village's market, but honestly you're getting real tired of eating nothing but bread and water from the well in your backyard at every single meal.
The front door opens and your mother steps out. "So glad you're finally home, Steve!" she exclaims. "How about you get the mail for me? So I don't have to get my shoes dirty."
You groan (your mother yells something at you about not wanting any sass) and double back to the street to retrieve signs from the mailbox.
"What took you so long getting back from school today?" your mother demands as you pass through the doorway, sliding past her.
"I had to stay late, getting some extra help for the redstone circuits quiz that I'll have tomorrow," you reply.
"With that eccentric professor?" You nod. "Next time, don't stay so late. I've heard that he does… strange things at night."
"Honestly, mom? You can't possibly believe all those rumors that are started by that gambling circle of yours." You try to escape upstairs to your bedroom, but she follows you up the staircase.
"It's bunco," Your mom screeches and you roll your eyes at having to go through this each time with her.
"It's gambling. Don't forget how you lost your diamond boots."
"Stop trying to change the subject. That professor is bad news. My friends have said that they've seen strange flashes of light from the school and have heard screams and other strange noises. I tell you, he's making deals with endermen."
You snort. "Mom, please. There's no such thing as the End. Or the Nether. Stop it with your conspiracy theories. They aren't real."
"Someday you'll believe me…."
"Whatever… I need to study. On my own." You flop down on a block of wool and let yourself sink into it, relieving the stress from the long day and take out a few books from your backpack. As you open it and start reading, you notice your mom leaving. At last.
"Dinner's ready. Come down if you're hungry," she calls. You contemplate skipping just so you don't have to listen to any more of her lectures about how Notch won't protect us from evil for long or about how your professor is plotting against humanity and is planning the coming apocalypse, but your hunger bar is already at seventy percent, so you take your books downstairs and sit at your place at the table. Maybe if your mom notices that you are trying to study, she won't try to bother you.
"Don't forget to say your grace to Notch," your mom reminds as you reach for your meal from the chest in the middle of the table. Bread. Again.
"I can't. Studying," you say as you reopen your book and take a bite of the loaf.
"Steve!" your mom shrieks. "It's people like you who will cause the prophecy to come true. If you don't thank Notch for all he does for us, he won't know how grateful we are for him. He'll stop looking out for us. You should know better by now."
You know that there is no arguing with your mom now, so you lower your head and mumble, "Notch is great, Notch is good. Let us thank him for our food."
Your mom nods and you return to your books. You don't know how she could believe that that silly little poem could change anything – and it doesn't even rhyme. All you know is that at the end of the year, you will come of age (if you pass your exams first) and you won't have to live with your mom's insanity anymore. Finally, you will be able to change skins, build your own place, and get a job of sorts. Not to mention, you'll be able to get a name other than the generic "Steve". You were thinking of changing it to something cool, like "Flameslayer, Dark Lord of All". It has quite a nice ring to it, and you think it sounds better than the name your mom suggested to you: "Consuelo". You shudder at the thought.
All of a sudden, the redstone lamps in your house flicker then shut off, leaving you and your mom in the darkness.
"It has begun," she mutters.
"Mom, stop it. Someone has probably just accidentally destroyed the circuit. They'll fix it."
"This is how it all starts. Someone has opened the door to the End. I can feel it. Next, the–"
"I know, I know," I say and mock her. "You've told me many times. Notch will grow lazy, the door will open to the End and all its evil will spill out into our world, everyone will meet their end, blah, blah, blah… The Prophecy says stuff. There will be one to save us. He will vanquish this dragon thing and save the world."
The lights are still out.
"I've had more than enough of your sass, young man!"
"And I've had enough of your stupid prophecy… stuff. I'm going to fix the circuit." You leap up from the table and storm out of the house, slamming the wooden door behind you, but it doesn't make as much of an effect as you had hoped; it shuts with the same amount of noise as it always does.
Outside, the streets are eerily dark and your neighbors peer out of their doors in confusion. The entire town's circuits must have been cut. You shrug. There's nothing you can do about it. This is the city's problem now. You've never seen your street unlit, so you stare up and down it, taking in the sight. Why were places always so much quieter in the dark?
Behind you, you hear the pattering of footsteps and you turn around slowly. A spider – larger than any you've ever seen – runs towards you. Its glowing red eyes stare you down and you can't take your gaze off of it. Your instinct tells you to run, but you can't help but smile at the way its eyes seem to form a good-natured grin with a touch of blush on its cheeks. It leaps at you and at that moment, you decide that you've stayed in place for far too long. You shout and run back towards your house. As you turn the doorknob, the spider deals you damage – two whole hearts – and knocks you sideways. It runs towards you again and you fumble for the door, open it and scoot inside.
You lean against the door, breathing heavily and regretting not being more of a jock than a scrawny nerd (or more of the fact that you haven't exactly participated in gym class for the last… six years?). There's something going on outside. Something big. You don't know what, exactly. But you think that it might end up being a fight for your own survival.
"Mom?" you call, still hearing the spider's footsteps and its ominous hissing as it waits for you right outside. "Don't go outside."
No response.
"Mom? Mom!"
A groan comes from the other room.
"Are you alright? You don't sound too good. You sound… dead."
You hear a growl and start to get really worried. You run into the dining room where you were last having dinner with your mom and stop in your tracks. There is a thing on your table. It looks exactly like you, but even less attractive. Its skin is a sickly shade of green and its eyes are dark pits in its decaying carcass.
And your mother's items are strewn across the floor.
"MOM!" She was gone. And you can't believe it. Your throat starts to choke up and your vision goes blurry with tears. She had been annoying, but you had always expected that she would always be there. She was like your tongue. You think it's annoying, but if it were to be cut off, you would find out that you really missed it and needed it. All the time.
"Did you do this?!" you shout at the zombie, even though you expect no answer. Your voice cracks, but you don't care. "Did you kill my mother?!"
It runs toward you and you ball your hand into a fist. Once it comes near, you swing at it and it jumps backwards. In any other situation, you would have grinned at your success and at feeling like such a badass, but your mind is filled with thoughts of your mother and is consumed with anger.
You shout at it again, thumping your fist against your chest and jumping up and down to get your adrenaline pumping. "Huh? Did you like that? I'm ready. I'm ready for more. I could do this in my sleep." You spread out your arms and challenge it, but it is already moving towards you once more. "Come at me, brah!"
You punch it in the face once more and it leaps backwards again. "That was for my mother!" you yell. "I'm going to fucking kill you!"
You haven't lifted anything more than a few books in your lifetime and your arm begins to feel heavy. You know that you are getting tired, but yet you don't stop. You want to end this right here, once and for all.
The zombie comes back, but this time, you aim too far to the left and it deals you damage. You only have six-and-a-half hearts left.
"Shit." You rush at the zombie, attempting to surprise it. You're hit again. Only five hearts left. You feel the pain of the blows coursing through your body and you decide to flee from the room. You remember the antique diamond sword that your mom had bought a few years ago and the chest of emergency supplies that she keeps in the basement. Your mom. A silent tear falls out of the corner of your eye and runs down your cheek, but you wipe it off. You don't have time for this. You start to run while silently thanking your mom for being obsessed enough with her theories to think to keep survival supplies in the house. In your entire life, you didn't think that you would ever need any of it.
Cursing the slippery wooden floors of your home, you skid around corners and throw open the door to your basement. You hadn't yet wondered how the zombie had gotten into your house and you don't think to check the room for more monsters as you barrel down the stairs, but luck was with you and the area was monster-free. You fumble around in the darkness until your foot hits the chest with a dull thunk and you open it. Inside lies a diamond sword, a bow with a full stack of arrows, a set of diamond armor, a stack of torches, a stack of torches, and two beds; one for you and one for your mother. You nod in approval and empty the chest into your backpack. Your mom was on top of things. You place a torch on the wall and your entire basement lights up in a soft glow. They are much brighter than the redstone lamps and you wonder why your city doesn't use torches instead. You figure that the redstone is safer to use. After devouring a loaf of bread and repairing the damage you took, you prepare yourself for battle.
Clad in armor and carrying the sword and torches in your pocket, you venture up the stairs to finally kill that dreaded zombie. In each room that you pass through, you place enough torches on the wall to light the place up. Your heartbeat pounds in your chest and you jump when you finally find your target. After two more strikes with the sword, the zombie falls to the ground at your feet, rewarding you with a delectable slab of rotting meat. Yum. You don't have any use for it, so you walk into the kitchen and throw it in the garbage. On your way, you pause to look out the window.
They are everywhere.
Monsters.
People.
Dropped items.
You gulp, swallowing down your fear. Maybe your mom was right. Maybe there was an apocalypse coming. Maybe this was it – the Prophecy she was always talking about. Oh Notch, you wish she was here right now. You don't think that you can do this alone.
A/N: Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite! I always love feedback :3