Chapter 8:
The Black Bone.
DARK HIERARCHY
Darkness, that's all Dark could see, mist, and then more darkness. His breathing was as loud as a speaker, almost choking him.
The atmosphere felt like a void, eerie and mysterious, not a single thing in sight, just total darkness, no breeze, nothing.
A fist launched at him from the darkness, but he swiftly turned, barely avoiding contact. Another fist came at him — he dodged. Then another and another till his back hit a wall-like barrier. Two fists came at him now and he put up his arms in defence, but then was pulled from behind, allowing him to fall deeper into the darkness.
→ → →
Dark jumped up from his bed, sweat sliding down his face as he stared down at his bed. Rubbing his eyes he sighed,
"You sleep too quickly, that isn't good for you. Anything can happen." Shade was inches from his face, a lot more than Dark would prefer, and he skipped back into his bed, startled.
"What do you want?" he brushed his hand through his hair.
"Get up and get dressed, we're getting you a Soul Weapon." Shade backed up, his arms resting on his waist, he smiled at Dark, but didn't get one back.
"We're going to a midnight party, everyone could go crazy since it's the last night of freedom they're going to experience in months. Fights are going to happen, and you need to defend yourself at least," Shade explained, putting on his customized school watch, personalized and given to every student.
Dark fell flat on his bed, no signs of getting up in the near future, he scoffed, covering his face with his pillow.That would be a perfect place to take me out.
"I'm not going." His reply vibrated through the foam, but Shade didn't give up.
"You can't— not go, it'll be rude to miss out on a party organized just for you don't you think?" Shade relayed, getting closer to his roommate who still didn't change his expression.
"It's not just for me, it's for more than a hundred students. Besides you, no one would even notice my absence." Dark snuggled his pillow, really into sleeping right now.
"Your little confrontation with the Sapphire must have gained you some popularity, interacting with the elites at the party would be the best way to get their time without being a threat. Don't you want peace?" Shade protested, putting on his uniform jacket.
"Not particularly." Dark couldn't be more brutal to his roommate's face.
"What an idiot." Shade frowned.
"But a weapon sounds good." Dark's whisper tingled Shade's ears.
"Great, you'll have a synthetic soul weapon attached to your core in no time." Shade shook his fist with thrill.
"Whatever," Dark yawned.
This guy's really clinging to me huh?...
↑→↓←↑→
LSP OLD GROUNDS.
Dark and Shade paced through an old and abandoned parking lot, dust-plagued and shady.
Dark already locked his sights on Shade. It was dark and lonely, the ceiling was cracked and old; the perfect place to get rid of someone.
Shade halted before an old and dusty wall decorated with various graffiti art, layered upon each other.
"Are you ready?" He giggled, looking back at Dark, all excited.
He spread his palm on the wall, closing his eyes he focused. Soon after, a faint, rhythmic crackling emerged from within the wall, a sound as mechanical as clockwork.
Dark stared at the gloomy stairs,
That's not creepy at all. he thought.
After threading the aged stairs against his will, Dark was faced with a rather mesmerizing yet shady sight; a semi-modern underground supermarket.
The air stung his lungs. Definitely no place for a student, but everyone they passed by didn't seem to mind, the men blowing cigarettes and grunting as their muscles flexed.
The women were sharply dressed, quiet, and focused as they shopped.
"Welcome to The Black Bone!" Shade spread out his arms, sniffing the air like a trained dog.
All this behind one wall?' Dark shook his head slightly,
They cornered through an alley to a dead end, or so it looked like, but there was another graffiti painting; a green snake with red fangs.
Dark got the gist, there was something behind it for sure.
"Let's go." Shade walked through the wall like it wasn't even there.
Dark didn't follow immediately, he just stood there watching the wall.
"I really need a new roommate," he mumbled, dragging his feet towards the wall until he carefully and slowly passed through it.
→ → →
It was a gambling site and bar. Unlike the main area, most people here watched them as they passed by, like predators sensing movement, they grunted as the first-years passed.
Shade didn't seem to care as his smile remained vibrant.
Passing through a wooden door, they met a man dressed formally in a black coat, arms crossed, and bald.
"What's up Marco? It's nice to see you buddy!" Shade yelled at him, clearly forcing an embrace through the guard's dismay.
"Who's your friend?" Marco asked staring keenly at Dark.
"We're just passing through." Shade answered still smiling sheepishly.
"The boss asked for you." Marco relayed, stretching out his coat.
Shade's smile flattened out as his eyes narrowed, he looked away as fast as he could.
"Then I guess this is where I leave you. Don't worry, just follow Marco, he'll guide you, he's very friendly, you know," Shade patted Dark on the shoulder, his smile back on, though vague, while Marco growled like an animal at the mention of his name.
"You got this," Shade walked out.
"I'm screwed," Dark clenched his fists.
If I didn't know better I'd regard this as an assassination attempt.
He turned back to Marco, only to meet a pair of red, bloodshot stares, glinting solely at him.
"You teenagers and weapons, it's beginning to get on my nerves" he grizzled, leading Dark to a nearby elevator.
The elevator moved, its direction unknown and they ended up in yet another hallway.
"Reaper or Leacher?" Marco quizzed, eyes forward.
"Leacher," Dark took a leap of faith, ready for at least an ugly reply, but instead Marco chuckled softly for the first time since their encounter.
"Nice try kid. No sane Leacher would go near anyone with that uniform, don't even talk about putting it on. You must be on a suicide mission then!" he retorted sarcastically.
"You're no killer," he added, a smile tugging at his lips.
You have no idea, Dark's lips slightly curved.
"Over here," Marco huffed, pushing open a huge metal door.
"Finally" Dark sighed, stepping into the white light.
Large metal shelves stood accordingly, leading farther than the eye could see. Different sizes of brown boxes rested on them.
"Head back when you're done." Marco closed the doors behind him.
Dark walked towards a small kiosk, above it was written 'RECEPTION' in gothic black font.
A man, probably in his late 20s, put on a white apron and frowned once he spotted him. A flaming lion tattoo stretched across the man's left side of his neck, really hard to miss.
"What do you want?" he said in a somewhat agitated voice, shallow and spooky.
"A weapon." Dark quickly replied.
"Are you registered?"
"I guess... not"
The man let out a grunt before deeply inhaling.
"Tom-tom, get out here!!" he yelled looking back into the dark kiosk.
"I'm busy!!"
Dark folded his brows, shocked that someone else could fit into such a small four-corner kiosk and yet hide from sight.It was a female voice, spiked and coerced, but it was definitely feminine.
"Leave that junk and come make yourself useful, you wanna eat right?!" A vein in his neck stretched as he shouted back. He didn't get an uproar this time.
"Trouble's all I get these days," the man took up an ink pen, splattering ink over Dark's jacket.
"Ink?" Dark stepped back.
The ink quickly spread, bleaching his uniform white.
"Don't mention LSP while you're down here, unless you want to die." The man glared at him, his words sinking deeper than his little magic trick.
The atmosphere felt like a void, eerie and mysterious, not a single thing in sight, just total darkness, no breeze, nothing.
A fist launched at him from the darkness, but he swiftly turned, barely avoiding contact. Another fist came at him — he dodged. Then another and another till his back hit a wall-like barrier. Two fists came at him now and he put up his arms in defence, but then was pulled from behind, allowing him to fall deeper into the darkness.
→ → →
Dark jumped up from his bed, sweat sliding down his face as he stared down at his bed. Rubbing his eyes he sighed,
"You sleep too quickly, that isn't good for you. Anything can happen." Shade was inches from his face, a lot more than Dark would prefer, and he skipped back into his bed, startled.
"What do you want?" he brushed his hand through his hair.
"Get up and get dressed, we're getting you a Soul Weapon." Shade backed up, his arms resting on his waist, he smiled at Dark, but didn't get one back.
"We're going to a midnight party, everyone could go crazy since it's the last night of freedom they're going to experience in months. Fights are going to happen, and you need to defend yourself at least," Shade explained, putting on his customized school watch, personalized and given to every student.
Dark fell flat on his bed, no signs of getting up in the near future, he scoffed, covering his face with his pillow.That would be a perfect place to take me out.
"I'm not going." His reply vibrated through the foam, but Shade didn't give up.
"You can't— not go, it'll be rude to miss out on a party organized just for you don't you think?" Shade relayed, getting closer to his roommate who still didn't change his expression.
"It's not just for me, it's for more than a hundred students. Besides you, no one would even notice my absence." Dark snuggled his pillow, really into sleeping right now.
"Your little confrontation with the Sapphire must have gained you some popularity, interacting with the elites at the party would be the best way to get their time without being a threat. Don't you want peace?" Shade protested, putting on his uniform jacket.
"Not particularly." Dark couldn't be more brutal to his roommate's face.
"What an idiot." Shade frowned.
"But a weapon sounds good." Dark's whisper tingled Shade's ears.
"Great, you'll have a synthetic soul weapon attached to your core in no time." Shade shook his fist with thrill.
"Whatever," Dark yawned.
This guy's really clinging to me huh?...
↑→↓←↑→
LSP OLD GROUNDS.
Dark and Shade paced through an old and abandoned parking lot, dust-plagued and shady.
Dark already locked his sights on Shade. It was dark and lonely, the ceiling was cracked and old; the perfect place to get rid of someone.
Shade halted before an old and dusty wall decorated with various graffiti art, layered upon each other.
"Are you ready?" He giggled, looking back at Dark, all excited.
He spread his palm on the wall, closing his eyes he focused. Soon after, a faint, rhythmic crackling emerged from within the wall, a sound as mechanical as clockwork.
Then the wall, about six feet wide and up to the ceiling, slowly pushed back and shifted left, shedding sand like skin as it revealed an ugly sight of old block stairs, leading further down into darkness.
Dark stared at the gloomy stairs,
That's not creepy at all. he thought.
After threading the aged stairs against his will, Dark was faced with a rather mesmerizing yet shady sight; a semi-modern underground supermarket.
The air stung his lungs. Definitely no place for a student, but everyone they passed by didn't seem to mind, the men blowing cigarettes and grunting as their muscles flexed.
The women were sharply dressed, quiet, and focused as they shopped.
"Welcome to The Black Bone!" Shade spread out his arms, sniffing the air like a trained dog.
All this behind one wall?' Dark shook his head slightly,
Magic is not for me.
They cornered through an alley to a dead end, or so it looked like, but there was another graffiti painting; a green snake with red fangs.
Dark got the gist, there was something behind it for sure.
"Let's go." Shade walked through the wall like it wasn't even there.
Dark didn't follow immediately, he just stood there watching the wall.
"I really need a new roommate," he mumbled, dragging his feet towards the wall until he carefully and slowly passed through it.
→ → →
It was a gambling site and bar. Unlike the main area, most people here watched them as they passed by, like predators sensing movement, they grunted as the first-years passed.
Shade didn't seem to care as his smile remained vibrant.
Passing through a wooden door, they met a man dressed formally in a black coat, arms crossed, and bald.
"What's up Marco? It's nice to see you buddy!" Shade yelled at him, clearly forcing an embrace through the guard's dismay.
"Who's your friend?" Marco asked staring keenly at Dark.
"We're just passing through." Shade answered still smiling sheepishly.
"The boss asked for you." Marco relayed, stretching out his coat.
Shade's smile flattened out as his eyes narrowed, he looked away as fast as he could.
"Then I guess this is where I leave you. Don't worry, just follow Marco, he'll guide you, he's very friendly, you know," Shade patted Dark on the shoulder, his smile back on, though vague, while Marco growled like an animal at the mention of his name.
"You got this," Shade walked out.
"I'm screwed," Dark clenched his fists.
If I didn't know better I'd regard this as an assassination attempt.
He turned back to Marco, only to meet a pair of red, bloodshot stares, glinting solely at him.
"You teenagers and weapons, it's beginning to get on my nerves" he grizzled, leading Dark to a nearby elevator.
The elevator moved, its direction unknown and they ended up in yet another hallway.
"Reaper or Leacher?" Marco quizzed, eyes forward.
"Leacher," Dark took a leap of faith, ready for at least an ugly reply, but instead Marco chuckled softly for the first time since their encounter.
"Nice try kid. No sane Leacher would go near anyone with that uniform, don't even talk about putting it on. You must be on a suicide mission then!" he retorted sarcastically.
"You're no killer," he added, a smile tugging at his lips.
You have no idea, Dark's lips slightly curved.
"Over here," Marco huffed, pushing open a huge metal door.
"Finally" Dark sighed, stepping into the white light.
Large metal shelves stood accordingly, leading farther than the eye could see. Different sizes of brown boxes rested on them.
"Head back when you're done." Marco closed the doors behind him.
Dark walked towards a small kiosk, above it was written 'RECEPTION' in gothic black font.
A man, probably in his late 20s, put on a white apron and frowned once he spotted him. A flaming lion tattoo stretched across the man's left side of his neck, really hard to miss.
"What do you want?" he said in a somewhat agitated voice, shallow and spooky.
"A weapon." Dark quickly replied.
"Are you registered?"
"I guess... not"
The man let out a grunt before deeply inhaling.
"Tom-tom, get out here!!" he yelled looking back into the dark kiosk.
"I'm busy!!"
Dark folded his brows, shocked that someone else could fit into such a small four-corner kiosk and yet hide from sight.It was a female voice, spiked and coerced, but it was definitely feminine.
"Leave that junk and come make yourself useful, you wanna eat right?!" A vein in his neck stretched as he shouted back. He didn't get an uproar this time.
"Trouble's all I get these days," the man took up an ink pen, splattering ink over Dark's jacket.
"Ink?" Dark stepped back.
The ink quickly spread, bleaching his uniform white.
"Don't mention LSP while you're down here, unless you want to die." The man glared at him, his words sinking deeper than his little magic trick.
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