Novel Arc 1 – Binding Apocolypse
< 2 months before the final wave>
...it was sudden. No one really transfers to a new school in the middle of the semester.
"Everyone. Settle down!" An old man in his late 50s exclaimed as he entered the classroom and stood near the teachers desk.
Clearing his throat, he made a slight gesture to the door. "Ehem....we have a new student joining us today." He waved a hand to retrieve the attention of the students.
The door slid open, and a male teenager walked through. He had slightly wavy night-black hair, and a fair complection with a tight jawline...however, his eyes couldn't be seen properly as they were covered by his messy front hair and head tilted downwards.
"...."
"...Ahem."
The student slightly lifted their head to face the teacher. Their eyes still not properly visible.
"...Would you like to introduce yourself? Just your name would suffice."
"..."
The student stood still, arms to his sides as he continued to stare at the teacher.
Then, he opened his mouth. "Hmm..."
A short pause. Almost like he was considering his options.
"Sir....do you know my name?"
His voice was clear and rather warm with a sense of richness and dept, but anyone could tell it was a monochromic tone.
The teacher stood still, looking slightly puzzled before he tapped on the attendance file on his desk.
Tap.
"Ofcourse i do. I have it right here." He responded calmly, still looking a bit confused.
The student's corner lip curved slightly, barely noticeable to most of the class.
"Good. That's enough."
The student turned his head foward and walked to the very last row, positioned at the back. It was the only seat available in the classroom.
Next to the empty seat, was a student in slumber, their face facing down on the desk and arms folded to support their head on the table. The new student didn't pay them any mind and sat down.
...but everyone was staring, because, it felt unusual. From his appearance, to the way he talked and presented himself, it was almost as if his confidence didn't allow him to get blinded by anything else around him.
A quite type of storm.
But that thought quickly faded once people realised that the new student was just another anti-social kid, who thoroughly avoided long interactions.
"Yes, Sir"
"Goodmorning, Ms"
"Goodbye"
....that was all he had said in the past week. So they all figured, it was best to let him be.
"...."
Except one person.
'Whats up with him?'
The seatmate that had been alseep during the new students 'introduction' sat at a loss as he discreetly stared at him.
Usually, he was very good at reading people.
Everyone was predictable in their own way.
Everyone had a flaw he could catch.
But this guy? This guy didn't slip up. At all.
From the way he never slouches when sitting, to his choice of words, and even the way he walks! Everything seemed...clean. nothing to nitpick on.
Which was exactly the problem.
His actions didn't seem forced, if anything, they felt too natural, too comfortable. Like he was staring at the perfect version of someone. But how was that possible?
Everyone. Had something that made them 'unique', identifiable.
This guy wasn't perfect, but...why was there no flaws?
"..."
Elios sat at his desk, arms folded as he turned back to see the teacher writing equations on the white board.
"..."
Or maybe, he just hadn't been getting a goodnight sleep the past week.
Elios held back a yawn.
'Yes, thats probably it.'
Paying no more mind to the person next to him, Elios closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander.
...
"Elios~"
"...."
"Elios!!"
The golden haired student that sat at the very back of the now empty classroom lifted his head.
"....what?", there was a sense of drowsiness in his voice.
The teenage girl calling out to him became noticeably flushed upon hearing his voice.
"..um...J-just..make sure to turn off all the lights before you leave, ok?" Her voice grew soft. "It's almost time for the school to close..."
Turning his head, Elios peered out the window. It was sunset.
Without turning his head back, he responded. "Okay." And continued staring out the window until he could no longer hear any footsteps.
'....finally.'
They are all gone.
"Hah...."
A river of emotions were flooding his head. He really didn't want to go home.
Back to...that mess.
He dragged himself off the school chair and kept his books back in the locker, not that he had a lot to begin with, but because he didn't want them being damaged or going missing at home.
'..that guy will probably be at home today...right?'
His father. A drunkward that would go to illegal casino's and gamble an unknown source of income every weekend. When he wasn't gambling, he was drinking. Day in, day out.
'....i really don't want to go back today.'
Elios clutched his knuckles and sighed. It couldn't be helped.
He draped the empty school bag over his shoulder and very slowly walked out of the school.
The sun was almost fully down now, and Elios was the last remaining student to finally go home.
"Aha!" A senior security guard with a torchlight smiled as he saw Elios approach the school gate.
"I've been waiting for you, kiddo. Your always the last one to go home."
Elios turned to look at the security gaurd's nameplate.
"...Evening, Mr. Cliff..." He bowed.
"Ho ho, no need for the formalities! At the rate in which we see eachother, we may as well be like family." The guard beamed as he bit into a half-eaten donut.
"....family?" Elios mumbled as lowered his head.
It was a foreign concept to him. It was not like he didn't have one, it was more like he never understood the one he had.
But did he really want to understand his family dynamic?
Elios shook his head. No, he didn't.
Not wanting to think about it any further, he went to a side locked gate and took out a spare key Mr.Cliff had given him awhile back.
Since he was always late to leave the school, the guard figured it would be best to give him a copy of the School's side gate just in case. This act of consideration was odd to Elios, but it really did come in handy. Especially when he overslept.
...or when he simply didn't feel like leaving till the very last minute.
"Then, i'll take my leave first." Elios gave a deep bow and went through the gate.
"Haha...take care, child." Elios saw the guard give a bittersweet smile before he turned around to face foward. He didn't look back after that, he just went straight home.
But he could tell, the guard knew he was having problems at home. Perhaps, this was his discreet way of helping him, even just a little.
His heart throbbed.
On the way back, Elios couldn't help but feel a pit in his stomach. Something was wrong...but what?
Did he forget something? It felt like it. But...that wasn't it.
Throughout his life, he had always trusted his gut, over his head or his heart. Because...the head lies, through illusions and false depictions, while the heart confuses, through overstimulated emotions and lifetime longing.
A torn battle between two dominant stimulants. A neccessary means to balance the definition of living and survival. A constant constraint, a heavy weight that chains even the most unrestricted individual.
His gut, however, tapped into something else. A completely seperate means of navigating life. An unpredictable variable, an untapped source of information. Something that couldn't be fully understood, but utilised senses that a person couldn't touch consciously....an unbiased source of direction.
....and his only means to maintaining sanity.
Elios couldn't count how often his gut had saved him when nothing else could. Yet, this time, everything in him was tingling. Everything was...agreeing that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
'Damn it!'
Elios sped to his house, a small compact community that lived and survived together in poverity, located on small hills in the middle of the city.
The street lights flickered as he ran past them, following the broken paved road that curved continously up the hill, passing by small lumps of what should be liveable buildings, but were really just broken walls of cement and some old wavy steel roofs posing as houses. Nothing sturdy, just one heavy storm or a "wave" nearby would have wiped it away completely, but it was home.
It was home to Elios and his mother, when his dad was not around, but it was a living jail cell when he was. Unable to escape, helplessly trapped in the very place they once laughed and freely moved in.
Elios could feel himself wanting to throw up at the thought of it. It was like a sick and twisted game. Two sides of the same coin.
...but still, it was all he has ever known.
Skreeek
Thud!
...?!
Elios heard someone being dragged and shoved across the floor as he approached his housing area.
It didn't take a genuis to know that it was coming from inside his home.
.....No!
The front door was locked, so he shoved his side profile onto the door to get it open. Whatever it took to get to his mother.
Thud
Thud!
Burst!
The front door fell to the ground, and Elios caught a glimpse of what awaited him.
Glass was shattered all over the floor, a fight scene was visibly seen. Pieces of cloth were lying on the ground and there were red stains on the walls and door, showing a path that led to the kitchen.
NO!
This had happened before, yes. But this time....he felt like a stone was being thrown to his head. This was different.
Rushing over the broken glass, his feet had stains of red as he moved foward, but everything was numb. He couldn't care less. He dragged himself to the kitchen and slammed his hand at the entrance.
There. Lying on the floor, was his father, tears flowing as his left hand held his mother in an embrace,...while his right hand continuously stabbed her in the abdomen. It was like watching two personalities fight in the same body. One, filled with love and care, hugging her. The other, gripping a knife and plunging it into her body, over and over again.
He flinched as his father made a sharp turn to look at him. Knife still plunging.
"...Son?...Your back!" His father gave a wide grin. Elios shivered at the sight, his 'father's' eyes were in a frenzy. He was madly drunk.
"Aha...." his father, without turning his head away, swiftly moved only his eyes to look at his mother. "Son....your mother and i...we got into a fight...ahem..." knife still plunging.
"Y-you see...it wasn't my fault, really...your mother..."
Elios's pupils dilated crazily. His legs were becoming weak as he stared in disbelief. He didn't hear a damn thing his dad was saying! All he could see, were his mother's lifeless eyes staring right at him, her mouth spilling blood endlessly as her body moved to the knife being continuously stabbed at her.
His body shivered.
What was happening...? What was going on?
Was this a lie? Was he still sleeping in school? A dream?
He fluttered his eyes and pinched himself in the arm until blood spilt. It wasn't working, the same scene was still infront of him. He wasn't waking up.
Pinch
Wake up.
Pinch!
Wake up!
Pinch!!
Wake up!
"Son"
Elios flinched again, stepping back upon hearing that guy's voice.
"....you–.....you won't tell, right...?" His fathers eyes had shifted back on Elios, this time, they were calm and open wide. It looked almost inhumane. Something out of a horror scene. "You see....if I get caught, we would be in trouble..."
"....."
We?
"E-elios..?" His fathers Voice– "Elios." Hit a flat tone. The knife stopped moving, still stuck in his mothers body, as Elios's 'dad' stood up.
"You.....understand, don't you...?" He moved closer, his body covered in foreign blood.
Elios took another step back. What is happening...
"Elios..." his father's tone was becoming increasingly irritated. Eyes still in a frenzy.
Elios turned and ran out the front door.
No. No. No.
"ELIOS!" His father ran after him, his body moving in a stumble.
He ran, through the streets, up the alley, not really noticing where he was going, until he stopped in a dark place surrounded by trees.
It was the forest at the edge of the hill.
Elios hurridely looked around for a way out, but the trees were numorous and it was hard to see anything in the forest at night.
His eyes darted left and right, trying to find a path, until he heard footsteps coming from behind him.
Step
He recoiled as he turned to face his 'father'.
"Elios....you ran" his father stepped foward into the last street light available before it was fully natures territory.
"Does that mean...you don't believe me..?" His tone twisted into something horrific.
Thud! Elios fell to the ground as his back pressed onto a tree behind him. He was going to die.
Shivering, his eyes locked onto his fathers face. He couldn't look away. He was too terrified to not look.
He cluched his fingers, pressing his palms to the ground.
Is this...really how it ends...?
He used all he could to shut his eyes closed.
Please...
He prayed.
Please...help.....
....anyone.....anything!
[Ĥəłļõ]
...?!
In the midst of his desperate plea,
An odd voice appeared,
a creature had made itself known.
It was like time had stopped, or atleast, slowed down, upon hearing it.
Elios opened his eyes. His father was still there, but his face was slightly blurry, and he was stopped in his tracks. Still moving, but very, very, slowly.
[Ďô ÝoÙ ñÉéÐ ĤèŁp ¿]
It sounded alien, and very, very deep, but Elios could hear the voice in clear clarity.
He could understand it.
"I-...who– are you..?" He managed to mumble, eyes darting in all directions.
[ĤěĹp]
[ŶOŲ]
...help me?
".....you want to help me?"
[Yèŝ]
The tone grew louder, but elios didn't get scared. It didn't seem...threatening.
"....How?" He asked cautiously.
[....]
Suddenly, a black smoke-like portal began to form infront of him, through it, he could see the yellow eyes of a creature in the darkness. They were staring at him.
Taken aback, Elios tried to move backwards, only to hit his head on the tree.
'...Ow!!'
The creature didn't mind this, and instead, moved closer to the portal and reached its hand through. A blurry, misty-black hand of a non-human creature was reaching out of the portal for a handshake.
"....." Elios stared as he oberserved it.
...it seemed like it was barely able to keep a solid form.
He turned to face the yellow eyes in the darkness, swallowing a lump in his throat.
".....a...deal...?" He chose his words carefully.
The creature nodded, or atleast, Elios could see the creatures eyes move downward and blink like one.
He stared at the creature's eyes before lowering his gaze to its hand. From the looks of it, it wouldn't be able to maintain this for long.
A deal with an unknown creature....this, ...wasn't what was described when other people started to gain unnatural abilities when the 'waves' started.
So....this could only mean,
Elios gulped.
...He was about to make a deal with an unidentified entity.
But....who cares?
Screw it.
What did he have to lose?
Shaking, he moved his hand and grabbed the 'hand' peaking through the portal for a handshake.
He could feel it, it almost felt like a real hand. A solid one.
Almost.
From the handshake, the smoke from the hand started to slowly seep into Elios's skin, seemlessly blending into his shadow until it fully transfered.
It was now part of his shadow. He could tell, there was something attached to him now.
In a blink, the portal disappeared, and time continued to move.
"E-elios...." a voice infront of him caused his head to instinctively look up.
His father, was moving closer and closer to him.
"I-i'm sorry....' he was about to lunge at Elios, about to choke or bash his head against the tree. But this time, Elios didn't feel scared. He didn't feel the same fear he felt just a moment ago.
Instead, he simply stared at the murderer in front of him, his eyes conflicted on how he should react. Because now....he wasn't a threat to him.
He raised his right hand foward. "Father."
Murderer.
The murder stopped in their tracks. "S-sob..." and started to cry. "I-it was an accident..."
"YoU haVe tO BeLievE mE!"
He jumped to grab Elios by the neck.
At that moment, the arm in which Elios had extended, started to absord, no– devour, the person in front of him.
His father, as he was moving, turned into black smoke-like essence, and disappeared into Elios's palm in an instant.
When the body was fully devoured, his hand suddenly dropped to the ground, like it had gained extra weight.
It felt heavy.
Now, it was just Elios and the flickering street lamp that shined brightly above him to light the darkness.
"Hah...."
"Hah...."
"Haha...!!"
He covered his face with both his hands, his lips curved upwards, his heart was pounding.
"Hahhhah...!!!!"
He couldn't stop laughing.
But he wasn't happy.
"Hahha...hah....."
Just as tears had started to flow down his cheeks, he heard a sound.
Rustle
...?!
He heard something move. Did someone hear him..? Or worse. Did someone see him? What he had done?
He immediately stopped laughing, and stood up. Walking slowly to see the shadow in the darkness where the light from the streetlamp didn't reach.
To his side, hidden among the trees, someone was staring at him. Someone was...watching him.
They took a step foward into the light.
"Y-you...." Elios muttered.
It was that new kid that joined mid semester!
He was about to take a step back, until the new kid opened his mouth.
"Hmm...."
This time, Elios could see the new kid's face clearly. So clearly, it sent shivers up his spine.
The new kid's eyes, under the shimmering light, were a breathtaking mix of dark platinum and gold, swirling to form his pupils.
Elios couldn't utter a word. No– he literally couldn't!
The new kid quietly stared at Elios, giving a warm smile.
Shiver.
"...Do you....feel any different?"
What?
What was this guy talking about?
Feel different? Feel?
He couldn't understand what he was feeling right now. He felt numb to the core, and that ....terrified him.
The new kid stared indifferently and continued,
"Your mother"
Elios's eyes flickered.
"You should check on her." The new kid's tone ended with a sense of pity.
But Elios didn't catch it.
'Mom..!'