Enigma: A Two Mortal Brides Spin-Off
Epilogue
From where we left off the brides of Raiden the Thunder god and Shinnok the fallen elder god of Death had collided in bloody conflict, which resulted in their demise.
Their offspring had also fallen victim to the ancient feud between the deities.
When the brides and offspring of Raiden and Shinnok were laid to rest their souls were taken to another level of existence. Memories erased and souls reshuffled their lives restart as does the opportunity of a new beginning…
Chapter 1: Children of the Store
His room was dark and cool from the blowing Air conditioner, a refreshing buffer from the heat of summer. The clock read 11: 15 AM and it wasn't long after that there was a knocking on the bedroom door that made the bed sheets rustle and the old box spring creak.
"Are you up yet?" A voice called from outside the room.
"Mm…" A groan emerged from the messy bed where the sheets were lazily thrown to the side on the floor. "Yes… I'm up now…"
Sitting up was a pale and scrawny young man. His dark hair a ruffled mess and his dark green eyes tinged with pink from another late night at the grocery store. Flinging his legs over the side of the bed he called out to the voice that had been checking on him.
"I'm up ma…" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned loudly.
The voice of his mother called out to him once more, "Okay just checking; lunch is ready when you come down."
The boy nodded and yawned again more loudly in response to his mother, "Thanks mom."
"You're welcome, Tiberius."
The cousins
A boy and a girl sit playing cards at the kitchen table with a radio blaring in the background to drown out the noise coming from down the hall. The girl is pretty with sharp eyes, long brown hair and freckles; she's wearing overalls with sandals. The boy is stocky and has messy dark hair that needed combing. He's only wearing shorts and sneakers with sweat dripping from his forehead.
The large house they lived in wasn't cool enough for either of them and it was barely the afternoon.
"Savannah I'm getting tired of playing in here can we go to the market now?" The messy haired boy pleaded with his sister. Looking at him as she bit her lip in thought.
Their mother was too busy with her boyfriends to pay them any mind and at this rate she wouldn't notice they were gone unless she received a call from a nosy neighbor. Sighing Savannah looked around; despite being "well to do" their family situation was in shambles. Their father was non-existent in their lives and since he left their mother had been dressing like a spring chicken and out at all hours.
"Yeah, I guess we could…" Slipping some money out of the jar by the kitchen sink the two kids head out to the grocery store where their cousin worked. They rode their bikes and laughed about the pranks they played on their mother's boyfriends.
Savannah and Dante, the children that wandered until dawn and dreamt more than they slept.
When they reached the grocery store, they walked the isles looking for deals on soda and cupcakes until they saw Tiberius of course.
"Hey-o Tybalt…" Dante snickered a greeting to the older male who was mopping a juice puddle.
Tiberius frowned hearing Dante's annoying nickname for him, "You know my name dipstick why don't you use it?"
Turning around he looked at his cousins and sighed seeing a pack of "Cream fillins" and a Coke in both kid's hands.
"Don't you guys ever eat food?" He frowned knowing that Savannah and Dante's diet consisted of junk, ramen, and carbonated drinks.
Savannah snorted, "If we did don't you think we would've bought any?" He hummed in response and shrugged.
"What are you guys doing out this early; don't you only come out when your mom starts howling?" Tiberius muttered as he wrung out the mop.
Savannah frowned, "At least we get to go where we want. Your mom needs you around because she has only you… Bastard."
Hearing her famous insult Tiberius snapped his neck in her direction earning a small gasp from the teenage girl. He was about to say something even more demeaning when Dante interfered. "Hey guys lets just turn down the heat… It's already hot outside and besides we said we'd go to the lake later, right?"
When Tiberius finished his afternoon shift he, Savannah, and Dante rode their bikes to a lake just outside of town. As soon as they parked their bikes Tiberius brought down a cooler filled with sandwiches, drinks, and fruit.
"You guys need to eat…" He muttered handing his cousins a meat-packed sandwich and some melon.
As much as he couldn't stand Savannah, Tiberius was fond of Dante. He couldn't bare to see the kid get hungry.
"So, what made you guys leave the house so early?" The older male looked at the children in question. They'd been leaving the house more often he'd noticed.
Savannah sighed, "Moms having one of her "meetings" and we tried to block it out, but it got too distracting.
Looking down at his watch Tiberius shook his head and sighed, "Too early for that shit… "
Dante stuffed his mouth with another watermelon slice barely paying attention to the conversation.
"Guys we should totally put a sandwich on that guys chest while he's sleeping…" They both stopped and stared at Dante.
"Are you serious I'm not bailing you out on that one." Tiberius rolled his eyes, "You just want to see that guy get eaten alive by ants."
The rest of the afternoon went on lazily as the three swam in the lake, ate and ran through the trees. It wasn't until it started getting dark that Tiberius turned to his cousins and offered to let them stay at his place for the night.
"I'm pretty sure my mom won't mind… But Dante you gotta shower man." Savannah agreed with Tiberius for once; Dante hardly ever showered and was always found playing in some sort of dirt and covered in grime.
As they joked about Dante's lack of hygiene a shadow followed the children silently. It was 9 o'clock at night and the neighborhood was silent…
"RUN!" Tiberius yelled as he grabbed a brick from a wall and threw it at the stalker. He had felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up before but now he was sure someone had been following them.
Dante and Savannah screamed as they ran to the apartment that housed Tiberius and his mother. Like hell they were running to their mother's house for safety they'd sooner eat glass.
Tiberius ran hard to catch up to his cousins; grabbing each of their hands as the stranger did not seem to be slowing down; despite the brick being thrown at them it was hot on their trail.
Panting Tiberius threw Dante over his left shoulder and practically dragged Savannah behind him.
"Hurry Up!" he yelled. His legs were hot, and his breathing ragged at this point.
"I…I can't…!" Savannah cried in fear feeling herself give out in exhaustion and before she knew it her balance failed, and her ankle bent in the wrong direction. The minute Savannah hit the ground; Tiberius fell forward with Dante still on his shoulder. The entity leaped in the air about to pounce on them when Savannah screamed, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground in various locations including where the ominous figure had been.
The stalker it seemed had been a demon of sorts; red blood shot eyes and a mouth with pooling drool and jagged shark-like teeth. No doubt they would have died had it gotten the chance to attack them. That was no longer the case as it now lay in a puddle of brains, blood and fried skin.
Finally opening her eyes Savannah looked around and saw Tiberius with a bloodied pant leg and scraped shoulder and her brother, Dante with a cut next to his eye and a bloodied nose.
The girl tried to get up but winced from the pain in her leg. She forgot all about that however when she looked up and stared in awe at the one who had saved them from a gruesome fate.