I don't want to spoil anything but this chapter requires a proper warning. To get around this, if you are interested in the warning then, please head to the bottom of the page to read it. Also, needless to say, I am sorry about the delay on this chapter, I finished it once, but it got deleted and I felt unmotivated to finish the chapter. I think I have the momentum back though. Also, Filia makes a cameo in this chapter!
I woke up to a sizzling sound coming from the kitchen, and the familiar look of my bedroom wall. Ash wasn't in the bed, so I drew the conclusion it was him making the sound in the kitchen. The pain lingered in my body, like it made a home there, and wasn't going to be kicked out. But still, it was duller, not as pressing than it had been. I took a deep breath through my nose and wiped my eyes, followed by an extension of my arms and a groan. I got up and opened the blinds to let in the harsh city light.
In the kitchen Ash was making food, and seems to have helped himself to one of my t-shirts. He spoke to me, but focused on attending the stove, "I went out and got stuff for some omelets, hope you like them, it's the only thing I can cook." I liked omelets only if they didn't have potatoes in them, but I didn't feel the need to voice my opinion. I sat on my couch and turned on the TV to the news channel.
"I'm Racheal Wong, reporting from our studio in the nation's capitol, Canoplolis. Frank has the night off. In our top story today, there have been numerous reports of Skullgirl sightings in New Meridian, leading the Canopy military to raise the Skullgirl Alert Level to 'Mauve'. New Meridian citizens are advised to stay indoors, remain vigilant, and report anything suspicious. The newest incarnation of the Skullgirl has yet to be identified, but our sources within the NMPD say her victims seem to be connected with the prestigious Medici family. Lorenzo Medici, the most prominent of this powerful clan, has withdrawn from the public spotlight, and is believed to have gone into hiding."
I looked at Ash, he seemed annoyed by the news. "It seems Valerie hasn't been doing her job. I'll have to get in touch with Lab Zero later," He spoke aloud to himself. He slid 2 omelets out of the pan and onto plates. "I don't care about my family, but the name means something, if we they all get slaughtered then I lose everything." He sat on the couch beside me, putting the plate with a fork on my lap. "At least until stuff really starts going down, the city will be more or less normal. Which brings me to my next topic," I took a large bite of my omelet, "I have some important business to take care of today, so you'll be on your own tonight." He took out a smartphone and 300 dollars, then handed it to me, "Keep this on you, and call me if you something. Treat yourself to a day out." I was star struck. He was letting me go, and giving me enough money for an airplane ticket out of the city? He knew what he was doing though, he had too. He knows if I wouldn't leave, and even if I did he would just find me, and not be so lenient next time. And seeing as my last phone is sitting in the woods with the rest of my stuff when I got taken, I needed a new one.
After a moment of eating in silence with the ambient chatter of people on the television filling the room, I decided it would be smart for me to go out, pretend him not dealing with this, and get away from Ash. I decided on going to the Madman's Café, a favorite and ever since I talked about it a few days ago, I've been craving it.
"So go get dressed, I'll be waiting for you in the parking lot, I'll drive you to where you wanted to go."
He went slower today, compared to the outrageous law-breaking speed he went last night. He used his phone as a GPS to navigate on to the street he would let me off. He waved back at me as he drove away from the sidewalk.
I walked in through 2 glass doors into the familiar dive. I sat myself, as had been customary for this restaurant. Nobody paid attention to me, just their friends and milkshakes, I was thankful. But still, a knot formed in my stomach as this place was particularly crowded for lunch.
I had sat in the back, with a good view of everyone in the joint. 2 men, one heavier with greasy hair and the other with a grand mustache talked with smirks. A woman sat alone with a book and a soda at a table, engrossed in the words. A young girl in a school uniform and a hat sat at the bar sipping a milkshake. Various other characters filled the tables, all surrounded by their own little worlds.
I was looking down when the waitress came to give me my menu, "What can I get you to drink, babe?" I noticed the voice, it was the girl I liked. I had not anticipated her working today.
Lowering my head as far as possible to hide my face I requested, "Water, please."
Foolishly, without thinking when she returned with my drink, I looked up to meet her gaze. A look of concern quickly shadowed her face, "Oh my god, honey! Are you alright?" A lump quickly started forming in my throat, and my stomach dropped.
"I'm f-fine. Just bathroom, now," my words were broken. She made way for me with some sounds of protest, as I got up and walked to the bathroom. My breathing was starting to get heavy and my focus fading.
My footing failed me when I stumbled into the girl sitting at the bar. A deep voice bellowed in my ear, "HEY WATCH IT, BUD!" In a blur I found myself turned around facing everyone in the building. Everyone was looking at me now, like they saw this person interrupting their peaceful, normal, personal worlds. The room seemed to shrink, and time slowed down, for everyone to take in this one moment. Tears pushed against my eyes. My breathing was stifled, and my spit in my throat clotted. I tried to clear my throat but I had control over nothing. My mouth experienced a draught as my tongue writhed to wet itself. My hand collapsed into a gruesome position while it went through multiple spasms. A wave of pain spread through my spine into my head.
"I ne- bath now," my words rebelled against me. I tripped over my unsure footing into the bathroom door and desperately tried to open it, failing for what felt like hours. When I broke through and shut the door and locked it, I fell down on my side, sobbing and gasping for air. My arm where I had been stabbed twitched rapidly. I clawed at the tile in a desperate attempt for air. I barely lifted my head up to the toilet to vomit into. Bile rose in my throat and replaced the spit in my mouth. It burned my tongue with the horrible taste of acidic bodily fluids.
As I tried to inhale I choked on my throw up and collapsed beside the toilet hitting my head on the hard tiled walled, causing my vision to go blurry. I felt pangs of again flow through my body, and random appendages jerked violently. I tasted the snot running onto my lips as I desperately tried to purge the taste of bile from my mouth. I turned and crawled on the ground to the sink counter where I thought to try and wash my mouth out.
When I lifted my head above the horizon, I found myself staring into a mirror. I didn't know who was looking at me at first, but I realized it was me. I could barely recognize myself. I looked like - an abomination. My right eye was surrounded by a large red-speckled bruise, and my left was a shiny red clearly from exhaustion and tears. Red streaks partially bruised hashed my features. I horrible red-purple blotch covered my left jaw line. My busted lip looked like it was bitten open. Various bruises and cuts lined my exposed arms, and open pulling the collar of my shirt back, the bite mark still looked nearly fresh. I couldn't stop looking myself in the eyes. I didn't breathe, I couldn't even if I wanted too. This is what I've been reduced too. A worthless disappointment, who got exactly what he deserved.
I broke away in a broken, and strained to the point of silence, scream. I felt trapped everyone out there was moving, talking, about me. I felt vomit rise in my throat again but it couldn't come out between my grotesque staggered sobs. I couldn't handle it, it felt like my body, the room, the whole world was collapsing on my chest. My head rang with terrifying agony. My teeth clenched together to the point I could taste the blood pouring from my bitten cheeks and tongue. Everything was an unfocused blur, but I found myself clawing at a window, an escape. I opened it up and desperately tired lunging out of it.
When I landed on the other side of the wall I crawled onto bleak gray concrete. I was in a filthy alley, with a dumpster, and trash littered on the ground. A used condom and a bong sat beside me, as I drew out my phone. I couldn't see the screen hardly, but I attempted to navigate to "Ash" in contacts as I dropped my phone. I picked it back up and clicked it. As I attempted to hold it to my ear with my shoulder jerking violently, I heard voices from the sidewalk near the back alley. They turned into the alley I was sitting in, as a 2nd ringing tone blasted in my ear.
I was still sobbing like a baby, and felt the need to vomit. 3 men regarded me with curious looks. One was a heavier man covered in tattoos and a sleeveless shirt. Another was of an average build with a thick beard, and a beer in his hand. The last was skinnier with a goatee and wore a studded belt. A third dial tone. "Hey who the fuck is this guy?" "What the fuck is this guy doing here?" "This trash thinks he can come in our hangout?" The 4th dial tone. They got closer "Hey bitch, speak up, what the shit are you doing here?" I'm sorry, I'll leave now. "Look at his face. What is he, a slut who got picked up by the wrong guy," they all laughed. Yes, very close to that. "Holy shit, is that Beowulf? Hardly noticed the prick with all the bruises, what a wash up." Ash, please pick up.
"Get that fucking phone out of your hands and explain yourself." One of them kicked me in the right side of my jaw and knocked the phone out of my hands. I squealed weakly. The dial tone stopped and I heard Ash, although broken up, "Beow- important meeting- quick. I was forced to lock eyes with the fat when he put his boot to my neck and lifted my chin. My heart felt like it was going to explode. I couldn't inhale at all as I continuously hit my head against the dirty brick wall as I tried to grasp for breath. "Fucking shut your mouth, calm down, and fucking speak." I felt very nearly to blacking out, I couldn't even hear what he asked me to do. The man with the beard threw his, apparently full, beer can at my face, hitting my nose, causing a gruesome cracking noise. I tried to yell but I just thrashed my head against the wall, causing atrocious waves of pain to flood my body. Ash yelled through the phone but I couldn't make out what it meant. "Hey, slut, fucking pay attention." The fat man took his boot off my throat, shoved it into my chest, and then returned to standing. Any air I had was knocked out as I fell on my side with my right arm jerking in sync with my lungs. I heard the phone disconnect the call. "This fucking bitch, I don't think he knows how to speak. We should teach him." I kick in my thigh signaled that one of them agreed. "Come on twat, stand up, so you can fight back." One of them grabbed me by my shirt, which was now stained with some blood, and rose me up against the wall. The one that had me kneed me in the gut causing me to vomit a little. "Fucking gross! He let go of my shirt and backhanded me, which made me recoil into a corner.
"This bitch, needs to learn by the blade," I heard a sheen of a pocket knife sliding up. I think the skinny one came up to me and held my by the jaw, with the knife to my cheekbone. "You know they say to get rid of a black eye you bleed it a little." He poked the blade gently into the skin below my eye, and drug it slowly across to my upper lip. My pathetic cries and twitching caused the blade to move in irregular patterns and go deeper. I felt the blood ooze down my face, diluted with tears. "Haha, yea. Struggle a little bit. It'll make it worse." I looked away, missing him preparing a thrust to my thigh. But I felt it, when his blade sunk into my skin. I managed to get a scream through that time, but not loud enough to alert anyone outside of the alley. My inhalation was returning, in a need to stay alive. But the tears didn't stop. They came faster, and harder. I saw the man position the knife at the center of my stomach, I couldn't move to stop him. The blade threatened to slide between my skin and create a not so forgiving wound. I made indescribable noises of protest. I felt the pressure let up and I look ahead at the man holding the knife. "I wouldn't just end it for you, that wouldn't be nice."
The man with the beard signaled the skinny man to step away as he took his place. "Look, fag, this is our hangout. You know what we do here? Get high and have sex with some pretty ladies from across the street. But seeing we don't have any weed, and no pretty ladies, it looks like we'll have to use you. What do you say boys?" Before any of them even responded, he punched me in the gut, sending so much pain through my body I collapsed. While I was down he kicked me in my side, causing me to flip over in a neck-breaking position against the wall. "Let's get these," he began tugging at my khakis, "off."
Between my sobs I was able to form some semblance of words now, "No, no, d-do-don't, plea- no." A sharp pain shot through my spine, flooding my head. My face was forced into the wall as I felt a greasy hand gripping onto my hair.
"Ha, haven't even gotten his pants all the way off and he's still not even fighting it! Shut the fuck up, faggot, it will be nice and painful, like you like it right?" I felt my pants slide down to my knees. I could taste the filthy and dirt on the wall as a hand was still forcing my face into it. I heard the jingling of a belt buckle being undone, followed by some grunts of trouble getting a button open with one hand, then finally the sound of a zipper being undone.
"Oh, no pl- on't this," my horrible stifled inhalations made it near impossible to speak. I heard snickering and passive remarks coming from the other two men the whole time. The pressure on my head had gotten harder, and a few grunts as the man prepared. I could feel his warmth, he was so close.
"Hey once you get your turn we should use his mouth t-," he was cut off by a loud crash from a gun. The pressure on my head let up. Everything hurt so bad, I couldn't focus on what had happened, other than process that this was a chance to back up into the corner, into safety. When I had done it there was a second shot, hitting the fat man in the head. The skinny man had pulled out his knife, cursing, and ran towards a man I couldn't make out. I instinctively pulled my pants up. Another shot fired and I heard a loud yell and curse from the skinny man.
Then I heard a voice I knew, "Don't you even fucking try it." Everything was blurry through my tears. Ash had pinned the man against the wall with his gun in hand. 2 loud shots, one to his crotch, the other to his stomach. The loud noises sent horrible rushes of pain through my brain, and I felt blood leaving my head. "Beowulf! I'm here," Ash came to me a knelt down, giving me a strangely sympathetic face for him. "Come on, let's ge-" My vision went black.
WARNING DARKEST CHAPTER YET - Features an anxiety attack and (almost) rape, as well as more murder. Please if any of these themes are too harsh, do not read this. If you are still interested in the story, you can skip this chapter, and everything will still make sense.
