“Damn it!” I yell as I fell out of my chair. I look over at the thing and the leg was broken “Knew I should have fixed that leg.”
“What was that Damon? You break another chair?” Romello, my best friend from Buffalo, asks me over Xbox live. We had been in the middle of a capture the flag match on Halo 4 when my chair fell apart.
“Yeah I broke another one. I’ve really got to start buying sturdier chairs. Can’t really help it that I’m so harsh things when I'm not being careful.”
“Dude that’s the second one this month. You’ve really got to start taking better care of your things.” Romello chuckles. “Anyways, you ready to finish this match?”
“Nah we've been playing all day and I'm pretty hungry now so I’m gonna go eat for a bit. Probably going to go to Subway or something. I’ll call you in a few hours so see you then Rom”
“Hey wait before you go did you get that thing I sent you?” Romello asked.
“Yeah I got it. It's a great birthday present but where the hell did you get the money to buy me an 18' sub? I know your job doesn’t pay enough for you to have just gotten this recently.”
“Hey you’re like a brother and to be honest I've actually been saving for a while to get you it. It’s the least I can do especially considering what you got me for my last birthday. Do you know how many times they've gotten me out of a bad situation? Not to mention the time that guy broke into my house. If anything it’s not enough.” Romello lives just outside of a bad ghetto in Buffalo so for his last birthday I got him a tracker knife for protection.
“Still Rom, thanks man. Well I’ll talk to you later I’m getting really hungry over here so I’m going to start my way over to Subway.”
“Okay see ya later man. Headhunters peace!” Romello says with much enthusiasm as I sit there laughing.
About 7 years ago I met Romello over Xbox live and we hit things off immediately. We formed a clan in halo called Headhunters and even with the clan long gone we still call each other Headhunters as a reminder of those great couple of years.
I take my headset off, turn off my Xbox then grab my wallet, phone, keys, and iPod and since it's raining outside I grab my hoodie and go to Subway. I leave my apartment and after a few minutes of walking I check the time on my phone. 3:32. ‘Hey that new episode of D-gray man should be available at 6 .’ I decide to take the quickest route to Subway since it's raining which involves going down several back alleys and through the part of town where a lot of people sell mystical items, most of which are fake, try to tell your future, and similar things. I don't really believe in any of that stuff like magic except for a few things such as the power of a persons soul, and auras.
Since the time I was 6 years old I have been able to see a colored glow or outline around people and when I told my mom about it she said it was probably the I was seeing. My mother is the kind of person that believes in all that mystical crap so the day after I tell her that, she takes me to the part of town where she wants to have my palm read. We walk through the collection of street vendors and shops and soon arrive at a peculiar little shop called Madame Fatum's. Inside the shop it's dark and smoke filled the air with the scent of incense.
Out of the shadows a mysterious woman asks "Would you like me to fortell your fate?" As I nod my head yes she takes me into a backroom where the majority of the room is taken up by a large table and two chairs. She motions for me to sit down in a chair that is much to large for me. "Give me your hands child." she asks and as soon as I lift my hands onto the table she reaches out and grabs them roughly.
She closes her eyes and after several minutes of silence I meekly ask her "Ummmmm....do they say anything bad?"
Her eyes snap open and she looks at me strangely and with a look of and pity on her face. "Your time with us is limited. Before you are a score of years old you shall depart and almost all that you hold dear now you will lose" I begin to shake as she tells me her prediction and she escorts me back to my mother. "Enjoy your time with your spawn for his time is limited." I hear her say. She whispers something else into my mothers ear that I can't hear as a look of shock and horror slowly grows on my mothers face.
When I get home that day my mother tells my father about the trip to the palm reader and he quickly grows angry and looks at me with a mix of horror and disgust.
As my thoughts turn to my father, I was quickly consumed with unbridled rage and a scowl grew on my face. All those things he did to my mother, my sisters, and me all because of some stupid thing that a fortune teller said. I was clenching my fists so hard that my palms started to bleed and I was shaken from my musings by the pain. As the thoughts of my father faded from my mind so too did the rage I had inside of me.
As my thoughts of my father fade I begin to think about the rest of my family. Most didn't ever suspect what was going on but one did and found out. My uncle Jack came over for a surprise visit one day and walked in on what my father was doing. He got so angry that he tackled my father. My father fought to escape but being in the military my uncle had the advantage. Ever since that day my uncle tried to get legal repercussions for what my father was doing but he always managed to avoid them somehow. My uncle made sure to be reachable at any time of the day or night if I ever needed help and he was more of a dad to me than my father ever was.
Like all things in my childhood however, all the good things came to an end. During one of his many visits to check up on me and try to keep my father away from me as much as possible, he told me that he was selected for a secret military project and that I wouldn't be able to reach him for about a month. Before he left he gave me a necklace with a strange creature on it and described the different parts of its body and what it was. It had the head of a horse with a deer antler and goat horn, the arms of a lion and an eagle, the legs of a lizard and a goat, a serpentine body, and the wings of a bat and a pegasus. "It's a draconequus. It represents unity even through differences." He told me after I asked what it was. "Keep it to remember me by and by keeping it, even if I'm not here you will be safe." He gave me a quick hug and left but I never saw him again.
I quickly push those unpleasant memories from my head thinking that my father got what he deserved. As I walk I think back to all the things me and Romello have done together. I remember the time almost 5 years ago, soon after I went to Buffalo to meet him for the first time, when we were rock climbing and my harness broke but Romello caught me before I fell and got us down. I think to more recent events of how he helped me through a particularly bad breakup with my longtime girlfriend after she stole my car, credit card, and breaks my heart. He even got a second job so he could help support as much as he could after I lost mine due to downsizing.
'Damn I don’t think I could have found a better person to have a friend as. I’m broken out of my thoughts by the sudden realization that I’m lost. As I look around I realize that there are no cars on the street and most of the buildings are abandoned. All the streetlights are broken except for one down the street that keeps flickering. ‘Wait why would the streetlight even be on? It’s three in the afternoon.’ I think to myself. I then realize that it’s unusually dark outside. I look up and realize that the moon is gigantic and has a weird pattern on it 'What the fuck is up with the moon?'. I look around to ask someone if they know whats going on but the only people on the street are me and some stranger leaning against the building to my left. “Hey you! Why is it so dark and where am I?” I warily ask from across the street.
“……”
‘Maybe he didn’t hear me’ I start to walk closer to him and begin to realize that he has strange clothing on and has a rather odd shape. His body seems very serpentine and the large black hood that is covering his entire face rises higher than normal. He has a dark red cloak and a strange set of gloves on and his shirt and pants are also black and seem to suck in what little illumination remains.
“Hey buddy where am I and why is it so dark out?” I warily ask the stranger.
“……”
“Uhhhhhh…. are you okay?” I ask as I reach for his shoulder. When I touch his shoulder it seems to draw the warmth right from my hand and I recoil in shock. I then realize that his cloak is dripping something. I stand there for a minute in silence holding my hand before speaking to him again. “Are you...okay.….dude….…” As the stranger turns towards me I realize that where a face would normally be all I see is a black void. “Uhh...ummm” I stammer as I back away but before I can run the stranger reaches out and grabs me by the shoulders with both hands as a chill runs up my spine.
“…...You are ready......” He says before he reaches over and places a hand over my heart and laughs maniacally as a sharp pain goes through my head. Sometime later I groggily wake up with a splitting headache.
“Goddamn it….. what the fuck was that…” I say to no one in particular as I use my phone to check the time. It says 3:50 and I decide that the pain in my head is too great and I was going to go home instead of getting food. ten minutes later I arrive at my apartment and open the door and head straight for my bedroom. “Screw it I’m gonna take a nap” I think out loud.
A couple hours later I wake up and the headache has died down to a dull throb. I check the clock and it says 5:50. ‘Sweet. Woke up in time to watch that new episode’ I roll out of my bed and walk over to the broken chair in my living room. ‘Crap kinda forgot about that’ I think as I sigh. ‘Oh well guess I’ll just have to sit on the floor’ I grab the remote to turn on the TV but all it shows is static. “You gotta be kidding me” I mumble. I change between channels for a few minutes but they all show static and then the TV promptly goes dead. “Great now I have to get someone to look at my TV. Well guess I’ll just turn in early" I say as I grab my phone. "Maybe this damn headache will be gone by then."
As I head towards my bedroom I look out the window but it is far darker than it should be at this time. “What the hell? Wait a minute wasn’t it kinda like that earlier today?” As I back away from the window and turn around I suddenly realize that the shadows in my apartment are moving. “ WHAT. THE. FUCK” I yell loudly. As soon as I say that however the shadows leap towards me and wrap around my legs pulling me into them up to my knees. “SHIIIIIIIIIIIT” I scream as drop my phone and desperately try to escape the shadows that have pulled me in up to my waist by now trying to pull myself out by grabbing whatever I can. I reach for where I dropped my phone and promptly dial Romello while holding it above my head because the shadows are at my chest. He picks up the phone but before I get the chance to say anything the shadows reach my mouth and I drop the phone again. As the darkness envelops me, I scream for help but by then the shadows have swallowed me whole.
“Damon? Damon are you there? Are you okay? I thought I heard a scream. Damon?” Romello asks from over the phone but all that he gets in response is silence.