"W-Werewolf" Riven said frightfully, his eyes stared up at Kairo, filled with disbelief.
"Yes. A Werewolf. Though the more general term would be a Mythic."
"I…I don't understand…"
Kairo rolled his eyes "Of course you don't…" his eyes turning back into their mundane color "You know all those tales about vampires, mummies and fairies? They're real."
Riven let out a humorless chuckle. "You're joking, right?"
"Am I?" Kairo said, taking out a glove from his pocket. He put it on and reached in the other pocket as he brought out a small silver sphere.
"What are you—?"
"Catch."
Kairo tossed the sphere at Riven, who instinctively caught it — only for it to burn his palm,
"WHAT THE HELL—!" Riven screamed, releasing the sphere to look at his scorched palm — but within seconds the wound slowly closed up and it looked like nothing even happened, though the pain still lingered.
"Silver…" Kairo said as he took off the glove "One of the most lethal things to us werewolves."
"No—No. This is a lie. You're not real. None of this is. It's a lie, yeah, it's all a big fat lie…all you're tell me are lies"
"Denial isn't going to help the situation, Riven…just accept it and—"
"ENOUGH LIES!"
Riven burst out the door, running as fast as he could.
Kairo just stared at the open door, before running a hand over his face. "Damn kids, always makes it hard to break the news to them."
***
Riven kept on running through the unfamiliar hallways, he didn't know where, but as long it was far away from the truth lie, he was running from.
It isn't real. This is all lies—lies—lies—all of it.
He came to a halt in front of a door marked; "Section 2, Area B.". He stood in front of the door trying to catch his breath for a bit before opening it.
The moment he opened the door a cold gust of wind blew at him, making him shiver — since his upper half was exposed, aside the bandages that had been wrapped round his torso — it was nighttime.
He saw himself in an alley way that he seemed familiar and when he peeked at a corner, he saw it; his school was a few blocks away.
"How did I?" he turned back to the exit which he came from. And it was gone, like it never existed, only a slightly cracked brick wall stood at the end of the alley.
"The hell? How…" Riven dismissing his curiosity, it was the least he need to worry about.
He needed to get home, to his family.
Though he couldn't exactly go anywhere with half his body exposed — unless he wanted to end up in a prison cell — he still needed to move. He glanced around and spotted a worn-out T-shirt on the ground. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. He slipped it on and stepped out of the alley.
His house was normally a twenty-five minute walk from the school. But today… he arrived much later.
The streets looked nothing like before — the shops were all brand-new, the houses freshly renovated, and even the faces in the neighborhood were unfamiliar.
I don't remember this neighborhood getting a remake.
He stopped in front of a particular house, his heart racing. A bead of sweat dropped down from his chin.
What if they aren't home? What if they really are…
He shook his head, revoking the though, stepping closer, he heard two voices bickering inside one of which was undeniably a woman's, his shoulders dropped a bit.
"I knew it, they had to be alive they just had to be?"
He gave the doo a small tap and gave his biggest smile, ready to get a mouthful of curses from Duke when—
"Daddy!" A little girl who looked no younger than an eight-year-old came bursting out the door.
Though it wasn't by intention, those words pierced though Riven like a spear. "D-Daddy?"
"Emily! How many times did I tell you never to open the door without letting me know first?" a tall woman came to the door scolding the other.
The woman looked nothing of Alice, her stature was more built and her hair was shorter than hers.
"But I thought it was Daddy."
"Calm down, he'll come soon enough." The woman said rolling her eyes.
Riven, ignoring the two in front of him, turned his gaze inside the house — it was entirely different…furniture, belongings and everything else was alien to him.
After successfully sending her daughter into the house, the woman turned her attention towards Riven, leaning her weight against the doorframe. "So how may I help you, young man?"
"Um. Sorry to disturb you ma'am, but how long have you been living here?"
The woman eyed Riven very carefully.
"Well. We've been living here for about…two-and-a-half years."
Riven felt his heart sink. "Two…and a half?"
"Yes…" the woman continued cautiously "We should in earlier but they had to do a lot of construction on the place. Apparently, there was a huge fire that broke out." She paused taking a moment to observe Riven's reaction.
"Police was only able to find one body, and the other was supposedly burned beyond recovery even though they should be a third victim, they could find anyone, so they suspected the last victim either…got away or was the actual killer—" her voice trailed, a slow look of realization dawned on her.
"Are you related to the previous tenants, by chance?" she asked as suspicion rising in her.
Riven waved a hand in defense. "No—No, I'm just doing a community census, that's all."
The woman blinked before letting out a relieved sigh. "Thank Goodness…Is that all?"
"I'm afraid so…Bye." Riven waved, leaving the porch as the woman did the same before closing the door.
He had managed to put up a smile through the conversation, but when he turned away from the house, the words hit him worse than before.
"They've been dead for two-and-a-half years?" he repeated over and over again, in some kind of trance.
His feet began to shuffle on the floor, in no specific direction just…walking into the night.
He went over bridge when he heard someone call his name.
"Riven? Is that you man?"
He turned slowly recognizing the other.
"Been a while hasn't it? So I heard what happened…bummer man." Drake said scratching his nape. "So how've you been holding up, didn't see you at graduation too, half the class was worried sick about you too."
Riven stared at him, the Drake he knew would have punched him in the face for what happened years ago but this one seemed like a much milder version.
"Oh right, I also wanted to say sorry for being an asshole in the past, but I've learned the errors of my ways and now I'm a different person." Drake looked at Riven who was still staring at him "...Are you okay?"
Riven dropped his head. "I just woke up and the next thing I'm told id that my family, the one thing I care about, is dead…I feel like shit.
He snickered.
"Um…Riven listen, I understand how you feel—" Riven shot a finger at his face.
"Piss off…"
Drake narrowed his eyes at Riven, and smacked his hand away. "Fine whatever, I really thought we could be friends…" he turned and walked away. "Drop dead, you freaking weirdo."
Riven didn't say a word to Drake, those the words stung.
"Drop… dead…"
Riven chuckled — ugly, broken.
Then it twisted into humorless laughter.
"That's right. I should just drop dead!"
He banged his head on the railings of the bridge.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
He went on and on until blood trickled from his forehead to his nose.
"Still alive?! Then it's not enough!"
He continued inflicting more pain on himself until his head oozed blood, blurring his vision with red. He finally stopped — his body too weak to continue.
"Damn it…" Riven rasped "I just wanna die…just let me die…"
The tears flowed down his face, the pain becoming more and more unbearable. He slid against the railings and to the floor.
How could it have all come to this? When did my life become so meaningless? End…I just want it all to—
"You're really pathetic, you know that?"
Riven's eyes turned at the voice. "K…Kairo what are yo—?"
Before he could finish the other stomped on his stomach, the impact so deep he cough up a concerning amount of blood
"'Drop dead'? Don't be ridiculous…If you die here who's going to avenge you family?"
Riven's breath hitched.
"If you die now, do you think they'll be happy…What good will any of that do…or have you forgotten the vow you made?"
Those words sank into Riven, his eyes widened. His hands slowly curling into fists.
"No…I still have to make him pay…" he hissed. "He has to pay…that guy must pay!"
Mustering the strength to stand, he faced Kairo. "I want to make that guy pay...so help me…"
Kairo stood there for a moment the cool night air blowing gentle. He could see the way Riven's boy was trembling out of pain and exhaustion, but his eyes carried something else.
He exhaled and looked Riven straight in the eye.
"No."