Soren's bright purple eyes snapped open, the oppressive darkness of his room pressing in like a weight, his ripped dirty sheets tangled around him as he flailed, chasing sleep that refused to come.
Grabbing at his stark white hair "Man, why can't I fall asleep tonight? gah so annoying."
eyes scanning into his pitch-black room, no sound it was eerily silent, no shouting, no glass breaking, not even a whisper.
Soren didn't care; he was too tired. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to doze off.
"And where's max" Soren wondered, glancing around his dark cold room.
GAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH… UGH-AHHH COUGH, COUGH!"
Soren shot up at the sound of a violent scream raw painful filled agony that tore through the room, echoing from nowhere. The room started twisting and violently shaking. Walls broke, dust flew, debris fell, the floor cracked.
In front of Soren, a boy with a ragged white shirt, with blue pants appeared his face was uncanny.
his face was completely blank staring at Soren or through him it seemed. the boy melted into the wall.
his heart slamming against his chest.
something was very wrong.
three more faces appeared on the wall,
"Why didn't you save us?"
"Why, why"
yelling at Soren
the faces melted back into the wall.
"What the hell is happening" Soren tried to shout but his words caught in his throat.
then a liquid started pouring. It was warm and thick, BLOOD!
he coughed and spat blood.
he looked down to see a gaping hole in his stomach.
He rolled off his bed gagging, throwing up blood, Soren grabbed his stomach in agony. Blood filled the room as panic and pain consumed him his face turned pale.
Soren tried screaming but nothing came out only blood.
the room filled with dark blood completely submerging Soren. He started drowning and thrashing trying to escape.
Soren jolted awake, his body drenched in sweat, breathing was sharp and quick. The room around him was quiet his vibrant purple eyes darted around the room in panic.
his heart was still racing when.
"Lick! Lick!"
"Sniffle…"
"Lick!"
"Sniffle…"
Soren felt a nudge on his shoulder. his dog licked his face
"Oh, thank god your here max. It must have been a dream".
max leaped into his arms, licking him.
the nightmares still clung to him. even while max licked his cheek.
Soren embraced him not letting go, Soren let out a smile felt with warmth, and love.
he then scratched Max behind the ears, wincing at the tangles in his scruffy brown fur.
"RUFF!" Max barked, then at once leaned into slobber Soren's face.
"Ew! Bro, don't drown me!" Soren giggled
his face slightly tightened, unable to shake the images from his dream, his heart still raced, but his frantic
"What the hell was that dream man " Soren said, still Shaken from his nightmare.
Soren consoled himself telling himself, it was just a dream.
"It would be best to try to forget about it. "
his sharp breaths began to cease, and his fast-beating heart slowed down.
Soren threw his skinny body off his hard springless mattress, then ran a hand through his white messy hair trying to tame the mess, he put his white work shirt and his black trousers.
he walked to the big pile of mess filled with clothes and old broken parts of weapons, cars, rubbish or fallen debris from his broken house.
"Where did I put them? my gear hmm" Soren Said, hands stroking his chin looking in the cluttered junk built up over years.
Soren looked for his rusty hunting rifle in his cluttered run-down house of his
"Aha found it. "
digging through the mess he found a small crate inside there was a rusty rifle showing the age with the rust and wear.
Soren pondered to himself "I should probably clean this mess it's a pain to find shit".
Soren turned to look at his half-cracked mirror, striking a pose trying to show his non-existent muscles, smiling max joined in on the poses standing on two of his legs before.
walking down his stairs while Max followed if you could even call it stairs it felt like you would fall through if you stepped on it, not to mention that horrid squeaking noise every time you took a step.
the house was practically falling apart.
"KRRRRRRRKKKKK"
Soren's foot fell smashing through the termite ravaged wooden stairs.
"FUCK not again, I just fixed these stairs the other day".
"Gah maybe later I'm busy I don't have time to fix this. "
Soren pulled his bruised foot out and continued to the kitchen.
on the counter lied mouldy bread and a saltshaker which was almost gone the sight was depressing.
"Max, want some? here ya go. ".
Soren threw max some bread, he forced the bread down his throat instantly spitting it out, licking the wooden chair as if he were trying to sand down his tongue to get rid of the after taste.
Soren made his depressing breakfast, He grimaced, pulling the bread closer with a pinched nose. Even looking at it made his stomach churn.
"I wish I could afford better food, but this town underpays like crazy. god dam criminal town the whole place just scams people of their pay it's surprising that they pay at all!" Soren said with frustration
Soren then scoffed it down trying not to gag. it was like a battle not to vomit.
"Maybe if I had essence, I wouldn't be a starving loser, I 'd be a ghoul hunter.
Of course, I'm the only human who was born without it" Soren mumbled to himself with jealousy and envy.
"Only if those bastards let people in without essence id be fine."
"With some training of course"
Soren hopped off his three-legged chair and headed to the front door.
he then looked over at the waterlogged door that looked like it was made 500 years ago.
He then gripped the rusty door handle and tried to turn it.
"FUCK OFF, the door is jammed God isn't this a great day".
Soren kicked down the door and stormed out.
the door smashed onto the ground completely off the hinge sending dust flying all over the place.
"Stupid door cough, cough" Soren said, struggling to breathe from dust.
a bright light appeared creeping throughout the house blinding Soren.
" Ah man I can't see anything".
Soren felt the summer sun, it felt like it was burning Soren alive.
"Dang its hot today"
he stood on his porch. staring into the distance seeing a large steel wall, the only thing protecting the town from Them.
the scenery wasn't exactly pretty, more like barren no grass, nor trees only dirt and dirt.
houses stretched for kilometers.
Soren lived in a town filled with criminals and bandits, barely even a town more like an outpost that had not been named.
"can't wait until I get out of this place. it sucks".
Soren then walked down the dirt pathway with houses some small with rotting wood and others built fancy and big.
a tumbleweed flew across the road and not a tree in sight.
"Did you hear? there was a ghoul sighting at the east wall.
"Bullshit, if one came here, we'd all be dead."
Soren noticed chatter in the distance.
"Great a ghoul sighting, lucky me " Soren said irritated.
the town looked like something from an old western film and the fallout games combined.
Soren hugged the shadows so that he could avoid people, he was afraid of the discrimination he'd face.
Soren walked down the town passing houses, markets, eventually.
reaching a bar.
the sounds of a brawl echoed through the tavern, reaching Soren's ears.
"you're going to pay for that, stupid bastard."
"Crashhh"
"Shatter"
glass shattered as a man flew out of the building.
"Geez, another fight, fifth time this week "Soren muttered, unfazed by the chaos he witnesses on multiple occasions.
Soren stood in front of an old red building with a sign reading "The hungry hog" it was a tavern.
it was Soren's underpaying job or in his eye's hell.
Soren's face dimmed as opened the tavern door, he sighed under his breath, Mumbling".
sigh... another day of work".
he took a deep breath stepping into the building.
he glanced around the building, seeing people drinking and dancing.
on the ground glass was scattered across the tavern floors.
the place was a zoo.
the loud sounds of laughter or glass clinking soon faded.
everyone stopped, staring at Soren.
his panic set in, feeling people's glances felt like sharp spears stabbing into him.
"Haha look honey it's that essence-less Outsider" a well-dressed, women sneered sipping on her red wine, smirking.
another man in a shabby attire holding his wooden mug replied "haha he came back after last time what a surprise".
the tavern soon filled with mockery, and laughter all pointing towards Soren.
an image flooded Soren's mind.
the memory played in his mind, slipping on water sending his drinks flying, landing on Soren and two others, there was laughter and anger, out of reaction a man grabbed Soren shoving him into the wall.
"you're going to pay you stupid essences-less reject."
"Crack"
the man sent his fist into Soren's face.
"GAH... ugh... cough cough"
sending him to the ground.
Soren's eyes burned with anger, but unable to move out of fear, his mind ran wild "I Swear ill make them pay everyone, in this DUMP."
"Haha look at the kid he's shaking, aww you mad, he might burst a blood vessel "he mocked,
Soren's body fought against him as he slowly stood up, shaking holding his nose that had been bloodied, his eye turned into a dark blue becoming swollen.
the tavern soon Burst into a loud laughter.
Soren's face turned a bright red.
he gripped his fist and teeth clenched.
out of anger, fear and embarrassment
Soren ran.
he couldn't take it anymore.
Soren could still hear the echoes in his mind; he was brought back to the present after that horrid memory.
he rushed through the building, bumping into people, avoiding eye contact, the noise of laughter, and whispering flooded Soren's ears.
he gripped his chest, tight, suffocating feeling had emerged in him when.
"Kick"
a man with an eye patch, and ragged clothes stuck his leg out.
sending Soren crashing to the ground.
"THUD"
"Watch where you're going freak"!
Soren looked up only seeing laughter the world spun faces distorted into something sinister it felt like at that moment the world was against him, not a single friendly face.
it was like a never-ending nightmare.
Soren started coming back to normal.
he snapped out of the delusion.
"Why, why, why is it always me what did I do. must God punish me"?
the laughter pierced him like bullets. he froze.
it felt like gravity was against Soren, making it hard for him to stand, he fought his weak body standing and started running to the back of the tavern, holding back his tears.
Soren burst out into the alley. the freezing air hit him like a slap. for a moment he stood there breathing hard, clutching his chest as the noise of the tavern bled through the walls behind him.
his eyes watered up, his voice became weak, "what the hell is going on".
his knees crumbled under his weight, falling to the hard dirt,
he curled up into a ball.
he couldn't take the stress his tears flew out like a flood gate opening.
a tight feeling formed in his stomach and chest.
" I swear I will get out of here. I can't take it anymore, I have nothing".
"I. ill run away yeah that's right ill run m... maybe find a nice place.
his mind filled with dreams and delusions trying to ease the pain.
Soren laid, for hours trying to wake up from this bad nightmare.
his tears dried, and the sky was dark, in the distance all he heard was laughter, singing.
something happened. he decided to not give up, he stood up facing the tavern.
storming to the place but then.
"Haha aww you going to cry".
Soren's eyes glanced in the distance he saw three men picking on a helpless boy.
"Shit not right now I don't have time for this".
"If I tried to help, I'd be useless anyways.
Soren tried to refuse but his body started moving on its own walking to them.
"Shit I better not regret this. ".
one was a tall bold man with old work attire with a belt and straps it was like a dress code for all that must have been the boss the others were in the same attire but smaller and less menacing.
the boy was a scrawny kid with a torn white shirt and baggy blue pants with mid length.
Soren's eyes scrunched up looking at the boy as he thought to himself" that kid looks familiar."
"Oh, you wanna go cry to your mum".
"Oh, wait, she's dead " the man snickered.
"Sniffle why are you doing this? I have done nothing to you. "
"ha-ha I hated your parents now I hate you, you little brat you may as well go die in a hole somewhere".
"Hey boss why don't we just beat the little shit. "
"Good idea"
the three men decided to punish the kid. They all agreed.
as they started approaching the boy with smiles and laughter, the boy had no choice but to back up.
the boy glanced around his surroundings, finding a pipe.
the boy grabbed it and with no hesitation boldly charged at the three men.
eyes closed hoping that he may get out of this without getting hurt.
"AHHHHH" the boy screamed as he dashed through the muddy floor.
splash splash
splash
in that second, he started swinging with no end.
"smack"
the men dodged and hit the boy, sending his weapon flying "nice try little brat now were going to beat you to death you little shit".
one of the crooks sent a knee straight into the boy's gut.
"Gah" the boy couldn't breathe gasping for air lying on the ground.
he finally caught his breath; the men didn't hesitate to keep punching.
"PUNCH"
"Aww ahh help"
"It hurts. STOPP"
"PUNCH"
"Shut up boy"
"Hey assholes" Soren yelled, hands shaking.
"Hey, mind your own business. "
"ha-ha aren't you that guy who can't even use essence " the men remarked.
"If you're going to volunteer to get your ass beat be my guest "
the three men stepped away from the boy with a smirk and pulled their weapons out or just metal pipes.
"Hey boy get out of here quick".
"Umm ok " the boy replied.
he turned around and ran struggling to breathe, gasping for air.
the boy panted while running down the muddy pathway in between two houses "I... I h... hope he's going to be ok".
he ran as fast as he could to get out of harm's way.
"Heh hey boss, want to take on that waste of flesh first"!
"Yeah, I'll kill this bastard. ".
"Hey, no fair I wanted to take him on " the three men disputed.
Soren has never fought before; he still widened his stance and lifted his shaking arms.
Soren's voice shook "c... come on take me on you, assholes".
"Hahaha, you know what ill end you quickly "the boss laughed... raising his left arm pointing at Soren.
a glass shard formed from his hand.
"Crackle shatter" the glass crackled and shattered, forming into a point shaped like a spear.
the boss widened his stance.
"FYYYYM" in that instant a large shard of glass went flying at Soren.
CRRRKkk
instinctively Soren Dodged
CHING.
the glass spear grazed Soren's cheek.
CRASHHH
"Oh, shit that was close " Soren looked back at the damage, seeing a massive hole through the building behind him.
the building started falling apart with falling bricks and broken glass.
Soren's eyes widened out of fear he tried to grab his rifle.
"Nice try retard heh"
the boss quickly jumped at him sending a fast kick through Soren's skull KRRRK.
Soren went flying back.
THUD!
as he landed in the gravel beneath him.
Soren held his nose that had been smashed and looked at his hands which were bloodied.
Soren's nose was squirting blood.
Soren Stood up stumbling "cough cough gah heheh I won't let you street trash hurt him " Soren said wiping the blood of his face.
"Ah shit I'm going to die. that's what you get when trying to play hero"?
Soren glanced over at his rifle that had been knocked away.
"Shit too far what do I do? ".
Soren's eyes flick to the gravel beneath him.
"Shit there's not much, it will have to do".
Without hesitation, Soren ran at the boss.
"This better work"
Soren kicked the gravel beneath him sending the flying gravel into the boss's eyes blinding him.
"GAh shit your asshole you're going to Pa.."
"CRACK"
Soren Sent a punch filled with all his strength into his jaw, knocking a tooth out.
"THUD"
sending him a few steps back stunning him.
"Ah shit this is my only chance. ".
using the attack as a distraction, Soren ran to his rife
step
step step
"GRAB"
Soren grabbed his rifle instantly, aiming it at the three men.
"hahaha"
"You think we would lose to a pesky gun what is that a bb gun " the three men chuckled.
the boss formed glass shards around his body, too many shards to count.
crackle shatter, shatter" the glass formed from the destroyed glass at the building.
the other two gripped their weapons.
"FYOOOM"
"CLINK"
the boss instantly shot a glass shard out, cutting Soren's weapon in half.
Soren flinched as all hope drained from his eyes.
"I'm doomed"
Soren's eyes darted around the buildings searching for something.
"Haha, shouldn't have messed with boss." the two men mocked.
Soren stopped thinking.
Everything shut off, nothing left but instinct and terror.
His pupils blew wide. His hands came up on their own, shaking.
"Shit… shit… shit, I'm dead. I'm so fucking dead. I can't win. I'm going to die. Why did I even try to save that kid? Why do I always do this stupid shit?"
FWOOM.
FWOOM. FWOOM.
SHING
Glass whistled through the air.
STAB.
"Hggh!!"
The shard punched into Soren's stomach ripping through flesh and organs, filling the gravel with a pool of warm blood.
"STAB".
another shard tore into Soren's thigh deep violent ripping through muscle tissue and shredding his femoral artery.
He looked down. Blood. His blood.
So much of it.
"GAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH… UGH-AHHH COUGH COUGH!"
The scream ripped out of him uncontrollably, raw and ugly. His legs folded and he crashed to the gravel, clutching the wound as burning pain roared through his body. Every breath scraped like broken glass inside his chest.
He choked, spat, gasped.
his vision blurred, the world tilted.
Soren heard a faint voice that got louder every second.
step
step step
"Hey mister, I've come to help " the boy appeared, with a man with shirt blond spiky hair.
"n. no g... get out of here " Soren said, gasping for air, choking on blood.
"h… the w will kill you".
the boy and the man ran through the mud reaching them.
The boy grinned, holding his wooden bat.
Soren's heart sank feeling helpless.
Soren used all of his strength trying to force himself to stand up all of his nerves on fire screaming MOVE! Blood gushed out Soren didn't stop he tried fighting the pain.
his body collapsed onto the gravel beneath him.
Soren tried to shout but the blood filling his throat muffled the sound.
"GET OU..."
FWSSHT!
FWSSHT! FWSSHT!
three glass shards tore through the air to fast for Soren to scream a warning.
Soren lifted his head in time to see the glass shards ripping through the boys' chests spraying blood all the wooden buildings and gravel.
"Ah he came back more to kill" the boss. Every syllable carried no warmth, only a promise of pain.
in that moment, Soren realized that these weren't common criminals, they were murderers.
Soren's eyes shot open, then dimmed his head fell to the ground in defeat.
he grabbed at the gravel beneath him.
"Why can't I do anything right" his voice cracked raising with every word.
tears streaked down his blood covered chin.
he laid in shock watching the criminals laughing, kicking the lifeless bodies that laid before him.
He muttered "what the hell is happening".
"What did they do. why is there always death and misery."
His fingers scraped weakly at the stones.
something snapped.
Soren lifted his head, eyes wild, teeth clenched, voice shredded with pain and fury.
"I'll fucking kill you ILL KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! Every last one of you dead pieces of shit!"
He spit blood onto the dirt.
"I'll burn this whole criminal run DUMP to the fucking ground! "
"I'll turn this town into ASHES before I let bastards like you breathe another second!"
his white hair whipped in the wind wild uncontrollable.
Soren's face twisted with rage. his eyes burned like fire, and his lips shook as he shouted.
Soren clawed at the gravel. leaving his fingers bloodied as he tried crawling to them.
"Haha look at that boss, he's crying " the crook sneered.
"STOMP!"
"GAAAAHUGH!!"
the crook ran his foot into Soren's face, restricting him from moving.
Soren let out a painful scream, choking on his blood.
Soren grabbed his foot trying to force it off him, but his already non-existent strength was weakening.
Soren's eyes blurred, the pain started to cease, his grip started weakening.
"LET GO. OF me ill kill all every last one of you YOU'RE ALL DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAAD" each word rose in volume, shaking with murderous rage.
Soren's teeth gritted blood pouring down his face not backing down it was like Soren was trying to rip his leg off.
"Boss, should I kill him? "
"No just leave him he will bleed out soon anyways were done here.
"Get off me you little freak" the crook said, ripping his foot out of Soren's grasp.
The crook kicked Soren in the head sending it smashing into the ground.
slowly backing up, walking off with the boss.
the crook glanced back with a smile.
Soren's face contorted, veins pressing against his skin as fury boiled over his eyes widened, wild.
unblinking rage warping every line of his face, his whole expression warped into something vicious, almost feral.
"GET BACK HERE I'M NOT DONE! " Soren screamed while slowly crawling to them, leaving a trail of
blood behind him.
"I'm dying, shit I'm not done with them, I Swear ill kill him, no ill Kill them all."
Soren's mind was conflicted with anger and fear.
Soren's vision started failing, tears ran down his face, everything started going white.
Soren couldn't move; his body started to shut down all he could do was think.
Soren stared into the distance watching those men walk away.
"Shit if only I had essence I would wipe them out. I'm weak, I'm useless " Soren said, voice trembling with anger and envy.
Soren clawed at the ground.
but his strength faltered, every breath was frantic and scraped like broken glass shards in his chest.
vision blurring mixing everything together, he tried to push himself up, but his limbs refused Soren's limbs went limp, everything went black.
(to be continued)