Chapter 1:
Chapter 1: The Boy With A Beast Inside
Inner Beast
Warning
This story contains violence, death, crime, disturbing themes, and situations inspired by real-world issues. Reader discretion is advised.
This work is a work of fiction. The actions, behaviors, and events depicted in this story are not intended to encourage, glorify, or justify harmful acts. Do not attempt to imitate anything portrayed in this novel.
Read at your own discretion.
-
I was a smashed to the window pane, the glass shattered with a high tone cracking sound of tempered glass. The pieces of glasses scattered around.
Everything went in slow motion. I started falling, falling towards the ground below. I looked down below, I am too high up from the ground that landing will be my death.
Buildings on fire, crumbling to the ground, dark clouds above from the smoking fire, a nice view to see the all around Baguio. Beyond the chaos, it was a terrible kind of beauty.
Chains wrapped around my body clanking, my bone and steel machete connected on the chains waving. Jackson followed, jumping out of the window, eyes determined to kill me.
"Silas said this is guy is on my side, why the hell is he attacking me?"
You might be thinking, what the hell is going on right now? Is there a war going on? Why are there teens fighting? Why do I have a weapon? Why is everything destroyed?
Well, you can say this is a war, but not for the humans, but for the unknown that just exists. Our abilities or what you call superpowers like in the hero movies. But this isn't about heroes anymore, just a total war that happens every century and a half.
They used humans as an advantage to win, the greatest animal to exist in the Earth. They are inside us like using us as a vessel.
They can speak but never feel, they can see but never cares, they can think but doesn't know their purpose and history. They just lived like all of us with no purpose in the planet... Or in the universe if possible.
I plucked a tail of my blazing eye and stretched it, pointed at him like shooting an arrow without a bow. He raised his revolver, pointed at me, the bullets in the chamber glowed bright yellow. Between us is my mixed dark and silvery-gray particles, coming back at me.
But before we go to the peak of the action and chaos, let's go back to the beginning, where everything was just... Right.
***
I turned the faucet, letting the water run down and started washing the dirty dishes. I glanced at the calendar, just one week left before our 12th grade starts.
After this will be college, I still haven't decided yet what course will I soon get. I still can't decide.
After countless ads on my phone, the news went back live.
"Attorney Antonio had once again won a case, making it his 23rd continous streak"
Attorney Antonio was shown on screen, walking straight to somewhere, ignoring the loud crowd of journalists. The reporter continued.
"He defended a father from her wife who abandoned her family and don't pay and give support for their children. Under Article 195 of the Family Code, parents are obliged to support their children who are under 18 years of age. His winning rate increases to a hundred percent, will he soon fall or continue to win more cases and become the greatest attorney in the country or history?"
Here comes Attorney Antonio again, famous for become an attorney.
His daughter died in a car crash, I never know if it was intentional or not but evidences were weak. They said the driver blacked out, his daughter went infront of him, no one knows and the suspect was found not guilty. Even Antonio's lawyer wasn't taking it seriously helping him. No one will know if the claims were right or lies.
I remember back when Attorney Antonio crying and devasted on TV after losing the court, watched by many people all around the country. His wife left him after that. But here he was know, a father who turned into an Attorney and help people bring them justice.
"Hey, snap out. You have been cleaning that same plate for a minute now"
A voice, from my head. Not an imaginary voice, but something living and talking in our mind, it is our superpowers.
"Yeah yeah, thank you for helping me snapping out" I said as I switch the plate
Our superpowers, they just came out of nowhere. Giving us strength, speed, something cool and manipulate reality but depending on what you got.
I studied about it when we were at the province, asking student by student, learning more about it and how it works. From what I have learned, they are based on your favorite. Your favorite animal, color, sports, sceneries, and depending on the favoritism exchanged into your superpowers, but they cannot be changed.
For an example, your favorite animal is a wolf, you can now gain all the traits and abilities of a wolf. They have claws, you can have claws. Fierce eyes, the speed, strong hearing, you can all have it without any disadvantage.
I thought there's only one kind of superpower back in the province and only us have it, but after moving in the city, I realized there were more and different kinds of them. Surprising, I somehow noticed that most students has it, not random, not every people, just mostly students. We mostly used it for fights and fun.
But we have a limit, to not show and use it in public.
We still don't know why they exist, their past memories only come once the time came, they say. And I don't know what will come, but they said we should always be ready.
I turned off the faucet after cleaning all the dirty dishes. My phone started ringing on the table. I picked it up, it was my Benjo.
I looked back at the calendar again, it was Sunday, a special day at session road. It is about creativity, arts, markets, and cultures, even cars are now forbidden to pass through there.
"Yow, you coming or not? We gonna have some fun out there and hunt some hot chicks before school starts"
"Yeah, just wait for me at the Malcom Square. I just cleaned out some dishes"
---
A lot of people were around, some wearing suits for cosplay, dinosaur suits, more markets selling their own local products. People even now crowd the overpass.
I saw Benjo, standing still looking at his phone. The benches were full of people. Kids playing in the middle of the Malcom Square, adults taking pictures.
Benjo noticed me as I approached, he gave me a smile.
"Eyy, you came" Benjo greeted
I looked around "So, there's just the two of us?"
"Yup, the others are busy. They went swimming, work, or something like that"
We both started strolling, looking around us. Strangers are taking pictures with people in cosplay then giving them money, kids and adults drawing anything in the road, a group blasting some loud musics and doing a budots dance. I could feel eyes of girls staring at me as we passed by.
Benjo suddenly slammed his phone my chest "Take me a picture man"
He went and greeted a beautiful cosplayer before making a pose.
I raised the phone, ready to take a pic "Okay, position. One, two three"
I took multiple pics before Benjo gave her a tip and went to me.
"Okay, your turn"
"W-wait, me?"
Benjo pushed me "C'mon man, just like I said, let's have some fun"
I went beside the cosplayer and made a pose. Benjo raised the phone.
"Okay, pose"
I gave an awkward smile and raised a piece hand gesture.
"C'mon, smile more! Make it lively" my ability said
"Okay okay!"
We continued strolling after taking pictures. A food stall caught his eye.
"Did you ate for lunch?" Benjo asked
I shooked my head "No, I was planning to eat during the hangout"
"Then perfect! Let's take our order!"
We went to stall and ordered food, the price wasn't high. We took a seat and wait. Suddenly, our food came before Benjo took out his phone out of boredom.
"Wow, that was... Fast"
We both started eating, Benjo watched in his phone as he ate. I felt like a father here, just eating without my phone out and has this big ass kid watching as he ate.
"Anyway, have you seen Bawayan anywhere?" I asked Benjo
He took a slurp of his noodles and wiped his mouth "He want back to Sagada and find a work there, It's hard to find one here"
"Ahh, I see"
My phone started ringing on the table, it was my grandma, I picked it up and greeted.
"What is it? This is your first time calling me again" I said
"Had you heard what happened to Bawayan?" She asked
Bawayan, a friend since we were kids. I haven't met him just after we got drunk just a few days after the vacation. He is a total chaos guy sometimes, doing some things back at the province. Getting himself into dangerous things, getting drunk at night, going everywhere, getting cerfewed.
"No, what happened to him? Never seen him for a while" I replied "Good timing, I was looking out on him"
"Oh, you really don't know. He died"
A sudden pang hit in my body.
Died? A close friend of mine... Died? I just saw him walking around, lively, breathing, alive. And now, he is dead.
"Huh? How?" I asked, my mouth trembling
"He was drunk just yesterday night and fall to a steep. His body was carried back to their house"
"Didn't they like rush him to the hospital?" I said as I looked at the calendar
"He died on the spot. Of course, there is nothing they can do. They will be bury his body in three days"
"I will soon be catching up a bus tomorrow"
"Arrive safe okay?"
I ended the call. I have to come to mourn, of course, what kind of friend I am to not see his childhood friend one last time?
"Hmm? You were talking about Bawayan? What happened?" Benjo asked after taking a spoonfull
"Bawayan..." I sighed "Died"
.....
Mourning a friend was hard to accept, but for some was easy. We will miss the guy but we will soon forget like he never exist, but the family will never forget a missing part of the family in their hearts.
Even as a strange, chaotic guy he is, a lot of people still came to cry and mourn for him. Gathered around, silent, still laughing at him from his funny past doings, be there for him.
After a day's work, back at the city, Jayden and I walked home through the night.
"Which one do you prefer? The province or at the city?" Jayden asked, both hands on the back of his head
"Of course, the province. You know, peaceful, less people, I can do a lot what I want" I replied
"Don't you want the city? Technologies, advanced, a lot to buy here, lively-"
"You freaking pig!"
A sudden loud shout from below, interrupting Jayden. We both looked, there was a woman, around 20's on the sidewalk near the infamous Phazuz bar, shouting on a drunk man throwing insults at him. The drunk man wasn't moved, just leaning on the wall holding his stomach.
People nearby started gathering from the distant to look at what's happening, curious. We rested our arms on the hard cold railing to watch. This often happens in the city.
I chuckled "Yep, so lively"
"Who was that, huh!? Why are you drunk with another girl!?" The girl shouted as he point at the guy "What, I am the kabet!?"
Another mistress? Seems like the guy is multitasking.
I patted Jayden's back "You know, I kinda want it lively. But this isn't the kind of lively we wanted"
After moving in the city, a lots of things are new. I can buy and explore some new things here, some new cultures, the way how people interact and live, some new student cliques, or may find a lot of hot chicks here.
But I have a lot to hate in this city, the chaos. People commit suicide out of nowhere, some just go to public spaces and just do anything to embarrass themselves, throwing some home-made explosions, and more you can name.
I want peace, silence, and people get to be with each other.
Why don't people want that?
But I had now choice there's no college built in the province, I have to contain it until college is done and go back in the province.
This story contains violence, death, crime, disturbing themes, and situations inspired by real-world issues. Reader discretion is advised.
This work is a work of fiction. The actions, behaviors, and events depicted in this story are not intended to encourage, glorify, or justify harmful acts. Do not attempt to imitate anything portrayed in this novel.
Read at your own discretion.
-
I was a smashed to the window pane, the glass shattered with a high tone cracking sound of tempered glass. The pieces of glasses scattered around.
Everything went in slow motion. I started falling, falling towards the ground below. I looked down below, I am too high up from the ground that landing will be my death.
Buildings on fire, crumbling to the ground, dark clouds above from the smoking fire, a nice view to see the all around Baguio. Beyond the chaos, it was a terrible kind of beauty.
Chains wrapped around my body clanking, my bone and steel machete connected on the chains waving. Jackson followed, jumping out of the window, eyes determined to kill me.
"Silas said this is guy is on my side, why the hell is he attacking me?"
You might be thinking, what the hell is going on right now? Is there a war going on? Why are there teens fighting? Why do I have a weapon? Why is everything destroyed?
Well, you can say this is a war, but not for the humans, but for the unknown that just exists. Our abilities or what you call superpowers like in the hero movies. But this isn't about heroes anymore, just a total war that happens every century and a half.
They used humans as an advantage to win, the greatest animal to exist in the Earth. They are inside us like using us as a vessel.
They can speak but never feel, they can see but never cares, they can think but doesn't know their purpose and history. They just lived like all of us with no purpose in the planet... Or in the universe if possible.
I plucked a tail of my blazing eye and stretched it, pointed at him like shooting an arrow without a bow. He raised his revolver, pointed at me, the bullets in the chamber glowed bright yellow. Between us is my mixed dark and silvery-gray particles, coming back at me.
But before we go to the peak of the action and chaos, let's go back to the beginning, where everything was just... Right.
***
I turned the faucet, letting the water run down and started washing the dirty dishes. I glanced at the calendar, just one week left before our 12th grade starts.
After this will be college, I still haven't decided yet what course will I soon get. I still can't decide.
After countless ads on my phone, the news went back live.
"Attorney Antonio had once again won a case, making it his 23rd continous streak"
Attorney Antonio was shown on screen, walking straight to somewhere, ignoring the loud crowd of journalists. The reporter continued.
"He defended a father from her wife who abandoned her family and don't pay and give support for their children. Under Article 195 of the Family Code, parents are obliged to support their children who are under 18 years of age. His winning rate increases to a hundred percent, will he soon fall or continue to win more cases and become the greatest attorney in the country or history?"
Here comes Attorney Antonio again, famous for become an attorney.
His daughter died in a car crash, I never know if it was intentional or not but evidences were weak. They said the driver blacked out, his daughter went infront of him, no one knows and the suspect was found not guilty. Even Antonio's lawyer wasn't taking it seriously helping him. No one will know if the claims were right or lies.
I remember back when Attorney Antonio crying and devasted on TV after losing the court, watched by many people all around the country. His wife left him after that. But here he was know, a father who turned into an Attorney and help people bring them justice.
"Hey, snap out. You have been cleaning that same plate for a minute now"
A voice, from my head. Not an imaginary voice, but something living and talking in our mind, it is our superpowers.
"Yeah yeah, thank you for helping me snapping out" I said as I switch the plate
Our superpowers, they just came out of nowhere. Giving us strength, speed, something cool and manipulate reality but depending on what you got.
I studied about it when we were at the province, asking student by student, learning more about it and how it works. From what I have learned, they are based on your favorite. Your favorite animal, color, sports, sceneries, and depending on the favoritism exchanged into your superpowers, but they cannot be changed.
For an example, your favorite animal is a wolf, you can now gain all the traits and abilities of a wolf. They have claws, you can have claws. Fierce eyes, the speed, strong hearing, you can all have it without any disadvantage.
I thought there's only one kind of superpower back in the province and only us have it, but after moving in the city, I realized there were more and different kinds of them. Surprising, I somehow noticed that most students has it, not random, not every people, just mostly students. We mostly used it for fights and fun.
But we have a limit, to not show and use it in public.
We still don't know why they exist, their past memories only come once the time came, they say. And I don't know what will come, but they said we should always be ready.
I turned off the faucet after cleaning all the dirty dishes. My phone started ringing on the table. I picked it up, it was my Benjo.
I looked back at the calendar again, it was Sunday, a special day at session road. It is about creativity, arts, markets, and cultures, even cars are now forbidden to pass through there.
"Yow, you coming or not? We gonna have some fun out there and hunt some hot chicks before school starts"
"Yeah, just wait for me at the Malcom Square. I just cleaned out some dishes"
---
A lot of people were around, some wearing suits for cosplay, dinosaur suits, more markets selling their own local products. People even now crowd the overpass.
I saw Benjo, standing still looking at his phone. The benches were full of people. Kids playing in the middle of the Malcom Square, adults taking pictures.
Benjo noticed me as I approached, he gave me a smile.
"Eyy, you came" Benjo greeted
I looked around "So, there's just the two of us?"
"Yup, the others are busy. They went swimming, work, or something like that"
We both started strolling, looking around us. Strangers are taking pictures with people in cosplay then giving them money, kids and adults drawing anything in the road, a group blasting some loud musics and doing a budots dance. I could feel eyes of girls staring at me as we passed by.
Benjo suddenly slammed his phone my chest "Take me a picture man"
He went and greeted a beautiful cosplayer before making a pose.
I raised the phone, ready to take a pic "Okay, position. One, two three"
I took multiple pics before Benjo gave her a tip and went to me.
"Okay, your turn"
"W-wait, me?"
Benjo pushed me "C'mon man, just like I said, let's have some fun"
I went beside the cosplayer and made a pose. Benjo raised the phone.
"Okay, pose"
I gave an awkward smile and raised a piece hand gesture.
"C'mon, smile more! Make it lively" my ability said
"Okay okay!"
We continued strolling after taking pictures. A food stall caught his eye.
"Did you ate for lunch?" Benjo asked
I shooked my head "No, I was planning to eat during the hangout"
"Then perfect! Let's take our order!"
We went to stall and ordered food, the price wasn't high. We took a seat and wait. Suddenly, our food came before Benjo took out his phone out of boredom.
"Wow, that was... Fast"
We both started eating, Benjo watched in his phone as he ate. I felt like a father here, just eating without my phone out and has this big ass kid watching as he ate.
"Anyway, have you seen Bawayan anywhere?" I asked Benjo
He took a slurp of his noodles and wiped his mouth "He want back to Sagada and find a work there, It's hard to find one here"
"Ahh, I see"
My phone started ringing on the table, it was my grandma, I picked it up and greeted.
"What is it? This is your first time calling me again" I said
"Had you heard what happened to Bawayan?" She asked
Bawayan, a friend since we were kids. I haven't met him just after we got drunk just a few days after the vacation. He is a total chaos guy sometimes, doing some things back at the province. Getting himself into dangerous things, getting drunk at night, going everywhere, getting cerfewed.
"No, what happened to him? Never seen him for a while" I replied "Good timing, I was looking out on him"
"Oh, you really don't know. He died"
A sudden pang hit in my body.
Died? A close friend of mine... Died? I just saw him walking around, lively, breathing, alive. And now, he is dead.
"Huh? How?" I asked, my mouth trembling
"He was drunk just yesterday night and fall to a steep. His body was carried back to their house"
"Didn't they like rush him to the hospital?" I said as I looked at the calendar
"He died on the spot. Of course, there is nothing they can do. They will be bury his body in three days"
"I will soon be catching up a bus tomorrow"
"Arrive safe okay?"
I ended the call. I have to come to mourn, of course, what kind of friend I am to not see his childhood friend one last time?
"Hmm? You were talking about Bawayan? What happened?" Benjo asked after taking a spoonfull
"Bawayan..." I sighed "Died"
.....
Mourning a friend was hard to accept, but for some was easy. We will miss the guy but we will soon forget like he never exist, but the family will never forget a missing part of the family in their hearts.
Even as a strange, chaotic guy he is, a lot of people still came to cry and mourn for him. Gathered around, silent, still laughing at him from his funny past doings, be there for him.
After a day's work, back at the city, Jayden and I walked home through the night.
"Which one do you prefer? The province or at the city?" Jayden asked, both hands on the back of his head
"Of course, the province. You know, peaceful, less people, I can do a lot what I want" I replied
"Don't you want the city? Technologies, advanced, a lot to buy here, lively-"
"You freaking pig!"
A sudden loud shout from below, interrupting Jayden. We both looked, there was a woman, around 20's on the sidewalk near the infamous Phazuz bar, shouting on a drunk man throwing insults at him. The drunk man wasn't moved, just leaning on the wall holding his stomach.
People nearby started gathering from the distant to look at what's happening, curious. We rested our arms on the hard cold railing to watch. This often happens in the city.
I chuckled "Yep, so lively"
"Who was that, huh!? Why are you drunk with another girl!?" The girl shouted as he point at the guy "What, I am the kabet!?"
Another mistress? Seems like the guy is multitasking.
I patted Jayden's back "You know, I kinda want it lively. But this isn't the kind of lively we wanted"
After moving in the city, a lots of things are new. I can buy and explore some new things here, some new cultures, the way how people interact and live, some new student cliques, or may find a lot of hot chicks here.
But I have a lot to hate in this city, the chaos. People commit suicide out of nowhere, some just go to public spaces and just do anything to embarrass themselves, throwing some home-made explosions, and more you can name.
I want peace, silence, and people get to be with each other.
Why don't people want that?
But I had now choice there's no college built in the province, I have to contain it until college is done and go back in the province.
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