Chapter 1: For the tainted sorrow, in languor dreams of death

The blinding lights, the deafening noise, and scores of people cheering. To the otherwise drop dead boring life I have to live in, art is the only time breathing seems fun. As I took my position center stage, I could hear them shouting my name out loud… I looked over to my left, as the drum guy flashed me a thumbs up. I looked right, and the bassist smiled at me. My hands quivered lightly, as I grasped the guitar slung across my shoulders, and gave it a test whirr. I exhaled, as I grabbed the mic from the stand. It’s showtime.

“First up… Survivor’s Game!”

The audience broke into an unintelligible excitement, and before that sound could make its way through my ears and register in my brain, I could hear the hi-hats begin to play, as the bass joined in the very next second. My fingers started strumming, right on cue, and a grin appeared on my face. The pumping blood, the flowing adrenaline, and this feeling of euphoria that puts every narcotic to shame…

The music built itself up, and the drums signalled for me to make use of my voice. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, as I inched closer to the mic, still playing my guitar, as I started to sing.

—

“Crap, I ended up spending too much time on that job, I need to hurry or I’ll miss their performance,” a man hurried as he ran across the streets of Mollusk Square, which seemed awfully desolate than usual. It was only a few minutes past eight in the evening, but there was not a soul in sight. Without paying much heed to his unusual surroundings, the man dressed in the full black suit ran at full speed. His long brown hair, tied in a neat ponytail, waved in the air behind him like a flag as he hurried forward, trying to get to the concert in time.

It was then that he heard a crashing sound behind him, followed by a loud inhuman cry that pierced his ears. He turned back sharply to face the giant horrendous monster that stood right there, trampling over some innocent civilian’s car. The man swiftly unbuttoned his suit, tossing it aside, as he leaped into the air with almost superhuman strength, the orange crystals attached to his earrings swinging in the air with the sudden momentum. With his other hand, he undid the black crunchie that held his hair in the ponytail, letting his long brown locks freely unfurl with the wind. “Of course, it’s you guys again… No wonder the energy around here felt weird…”

He sighed, as he grabbed onto the overhanging window carnish of the nearest building, hanging in the air, as he observed the creature that had finally set its sights on him. It let out another obscenely loud and high pitched scream, causing the man to flinch slightly. He tightened his grip against the overhang, as his legs steadily found the walls as footing. He let go of the carnish, as he used the split second of readjusted weight on his legs to propel himself, lunging towards the rampaging monster through the air. He used his now free hands to pluck two strands of hair from his head that seemed to magically grow in size, between his fingers. He brandished them like whips, as he deftly managed to entangle the creature in the bondage of his hair whips. Still in motion, he used one of his legs to kick the other, effectively using the added force to flip himself mid air and change direction, as he shifted his balance to his core, bending his legs and landing a drop kick to the side of the grotesque caterpillar-like creature’s face. It crashed against the pavement, crying in agony. The man landed safely on the ground, as he picked up the suit lying on the street, dusting it off, before putting it back on.

He glanced at his watch, “Eight fourteen, huh? Guess I can still make it in time”

—

I put the mic back on the stand, as he leaned my head back, exhaling out loud. Hoooffhh boy, live performances are draining, I thought to myself… But I guess that’s what makes them fun. The stupid wig they made me wear was causing my head to seriously heat up, the sweat dripping down my face, ruining the makeup Elise had spent over 20 minutes doing for me, and god damn, were the latex clothes mad uncomfortable. But, I mean, hey… The audience likes it.

As the backup players took over, allowing for us to rest a while, my eyes scanned through the crowd, looking for a certain someone. He wasn’t here. I felt kinda disappointed, but I knew he had some good reason for not turning up. Welp, that’s that, I guess… I thought, as I chugged some water and got ready for the next act.

—

The man had taken off the glasses from his face, as he was wiping them clean with his undershirt, as he sensed trouble and jumped back in caution. Four of the monster’s companions had joined the fray as they made their way from behind the buildings.

“Where the hell is Division 8? Tigers my ass, fucking useless apes. Actual bums… And of course I have to deal with a whole bunch of these Corroded while I have somewhere to be… Thank you Murphy, fuck you”

The man put his glasses back on, as he made a sharp turn and started sprinting away from the squad of Corroded, as he called them. He ran through the deserted streets, his eyes searching all over the place, the empty unlit shops, the flickering street lights, the unpowered neon signs, until he found what he was looking for. A telephone booth. He jumped over, as he could hear the cries of the herd of monsters that seemed to be chasing after him. He dialed in 644-831, it rang for a couple of times before someone picked up on the other end, “Hello, this is Nirvana Pizza, what can I get for you today?”

“Yo screw that shit, this is Islodo. I’m currently a few blocks away from Mollusk Square, I can see y’all got the whole area evacuated but there’s literally no personnel here, what the fuck man”

“That’s odd sir, there were five members from Division 8 that had been stationed there”

“Well, they’re either slacking off or fucking dead, cause there’s literally no one here, and we got five of them Cs running around”

“Sir, our radars here show no signs of any Corroded near Mollusk Square. Are you sure abou–” The corrospender’s sentence is cut off by a loud shriek let out by one of the monsters as it had tripped over a trap Islodo had swiftly placed, while on the run.

“Yeah, you heard that right? It’s almost here”

“Hold on for another few minutes sir, we’re sending backup”

“Hah, who the hell do you think I am? I can deal with them myself just fine. Tell HQ to pay me extra for this shit”

“Noted sir”

He hung up the phone, as he stretched his arms back, popping his stiff joints, as he let out a big exhale.

“Time to go all out, I guess…” The man said, as he let out a little chuckle. His eyes squinted a little, a smirk appearing on his face.

—

I plopped my butt right onto the couch in the green room, ripping the wig off my head, as I let out the loudest groan. “God, I hated every second I had to wear that stupid wig for.”

“You looked good in that though,” I heard a voice say, as someone entered the room. I turned back to see it was Mark.

“Man, hearing that from you doesn’t make me feel any better” I laughed.

“And here I was trying to be nice with you for once, asshole,” he said, breaking into a chuckle, as he patted my back, tossing me a small disposable bottle of water.

I gulped down the water, as I laid against the couch. “I’m never wearing this shit again either, how do women do it man. This rubber shit is mad uncomfy, like what the hell, it feels like I got another layer of skin on me or something. Like- eughhh.”

Mark laughed, as he sat beside me, staying quiet for a minute before he spoke. “Yo, Han, brother… I’m really grateful for your boys doing that for us today, man. I really mean it dawg”

“The hell are you yammering about, man? Our little ragtag excuse for a band barely gets gigs anyways. Performing as the main event in a show is just as huge for us. Lowkey, wish you guys massive success with the bar. Y’all made a grand show for its opening night, I hope y’all can keep this shit up”

“Don’cha worry about it, boy. Our top brass is locked in. The last business endeavour was kind of a flop, but we got it in the bag this time”

“Well, I sure hope so…” I glanced over at the wall clock ticking to half past ten, as I jumped up from the couch. “It’s getting late, I better head home now”

“Oh yeah you got a girl, don’t ya? How she doing?”

“The usual, really…” I shrugged, as I headed to the corner, taking off the tight outfit I had to wear for the performance, as I heard Mark get up all of a sudden, as the sound of footsteps approached me.

I turned around to find him holding an envelope as he handed it over to me.

“Almost forgot to hand you this,” he said, handing over the envelope to me.

I flipped it around, and let out a tired sigh. “It’s him again, right? Tell him that my answer remains the same. No.”

I tossed the envelope over to the glass top of the little coffee table to the side. As I took another step towards the door, sliding myself out of the horrendous latex pants, I could feel Markus’ firm grip around the back of my arm, as he grabbed it.

“Ayyy bro, calm down. I got a girlfriend man,” I said, as I stuck my tongue out, pulling away from him. I grabbed my trousers from the clothes stand, as I put them on. “Don’t be out here grabbing motherfuckers while they in their undies, man. People gonna think you a sod or something…” I laughed, as I put a shirt on.

“Liahan. This is serious shit, brother.”

“You’re seriously in love with me? I’m flattered, but sorry I’m taken”

“Do ya want me to fucking kill you?” Mark said, his annoyance clear as he spoke.

“Listen,” I said, raising my arms up lightly with my palm out, “I hate desk jobs. I don’t care if the pay is more. I don’t give two shits about a promotion. I am not joining y’all. I like being on the front lines. I don’t care how much of a bigshot he is, that fucking brat has no right to be demanding me to change divisions. Like hell I will”

“Liahan. Liahan Beiker… It’s not all desk jobs, there’s also oth–”

“Yeah yeah, I’ve heard all that, MANY TIMES. Hear me out now, Markus Pellin, have you ever done drugs?”

“Dude… What?”

“Drugs. Y’know? Narcotics. Meth? Heroin? Coke? Morph-”

“Yeah, no. I know what drugs are,” he rolled his eyes, “If you’re really that curious about my personal life right now, then I’ll entertain you… The answer is no. I don’t do drugs. None of that shit. I’m a man of God.”

“Good for you, that you’ve never done drugs. But, I have. And let me tell you, the thing about these little pieces of adult candy… They pack quite the punch when you first try ‘em bad boys, but keep that shit up for a while, and they get old…Quick… And you know me, right? I’m perpetually bored. I… Need… Stimulation… And guess what the best source of that stimulation is?”

—

Only a few meters away from where we were, Jacob Islodo engaged in battle with four Corroded. All by himself, is what I heard in the reports, next day.

He was panting, as he was surrounded by four of those grotesque monsters. He studied them; their almost translucent yet scaly body that seemed to be the colour of the night, their faces that seemed to bear an expression that only a relentlessly neverending mental and physical torture for at least a hundred millenia could result in, and their bodies resembled that of caterpillars, just some twenty feet tall. He could feel the aura of deathly energy emanating from them, the Corrosive Vitalis.

As the four monsters lunged forward at him in unison, he closed his eyes, focussing all his life energy, or Fulfillment Vitalis, in his fists, as he brought them together with a clap, causing a little burst of energy that pushed them away, a few feet. The sudden jolt backwards, made the Corroded to stumble a bit, and before they could regain their footing, they felt their bodies being wrapped tightly, as they looked down to see themselves bound in the roots of some plants that had cracked the street open, as they sprouted from the ground under. Jacob jumped up high, as he grabbed a small dagger from the pouch attached to his belt, shrouding its blade with Vitalis energy, as he sliced them all down in one swift circular motion, landing on the ground, the monsters around him spontaneously combusting. He pulled out a small device that resembled a sleek glass jar of some kind, as it sucked all of the residual energy left behind by the herd of monsters into it. He tucked it back into the inner pocket of his coat.

He looked at his handiwork, the damaged streets and the splattered guts of the Corroded, and he smiled, as he remembered the words his dear friend had once said to him. (I was the one who said that to him, I’m just trying to sound mysterious and cool here)

“Killing. That’s the best stimulant in the world. Music and shit is fine, every once in a while, but nothing comes even close to the battle field, when it comes to stimulating the human brain. That moment in battle, when you’re surrounded by naught but enemies you know can end you, that is what I tirelessly seek for… You know that feeling too, right? When you’re holding hands and going toe to toe, engaged in a dance with Death herself… Isn’t that just the greatest high there is?”

“Stupid savage, what’s so great about killing… Or dying…”

—

“I have no idea what you were just yapping about, but I can assure you it is not that deep, my brother,” Markus sighed as he continued, “His demands this time are different. You don’t got to transfer right now… It’s just an extra job for you”

“Why me though? I’m sure Division 3 has lots of competent members that can do a better job,” said I.

“You know the Captain just as well as I do. I’m sure he has a good reason for it. He wouldn’t have asked for your aid if it was something that could be done without you.”

“You people overestimate me… A lot.”

—

“Welp, too late for the concert now…,” said Jacob as he checked his watch. He looked at the reinforcements who finally arrived. They took care of the situation, as he was approached by Lupin Datres, a Major of Division 8.

“Oh there you are Lupin the Third, took you all long enough. The guys y’all had dispatched are all dead in that alleyway there,” Jacob pointed, “I’m not a forensic expert or anything but they look like they’ve been dead for a few hours now.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate… And concerning… In any case, thank you a lot for your hard work Jacob,” Lupin said as he shook the other man’s hand.

Jacob waved at him dismissively, “That’s that, my job here’s done then. I’ll be off now. Have the baldy wire me my bonus by tomorrow. See ya,” he said, as he walked away.

The Division 8 major nodded, as he replied to him with “Goodnight!”

—

I put my brush back in place, and I grabbed a glass of water, I rinsed the toothpaste off my mouth, and spit it out. It was then that I heard the sound of my door opening, followed by light footsteps.

“Is this some time for a woman to get home?” I turned around to look at Jamie.

“Would you rather had me be out in the streets?” she replied, as she took her socks off, tossing them aside as she plopped on the couch. Her short brown hair bounced lightly, as she sat up on the couch. She was probably wearing one of my shirts again, that was a size way too big for her thin 5’8 frame, with loose baggy trousers that covered her legs all the way down to her ankles.

I sighed, as I sat down beside her, pulling out a cigarette from the box on the reading table, as I lit it up. “So…,” I said, taking a long drag of smoke, “Why you here tonight? What’s up?”

“Janice has another guy over, that’s what’s up. That little bitch, can you imagine her audacity telling me to fuck off because her boyfriend wants to sleepover for the night?? Like what??? How fucking entitled can you be?”

I laughed, “She acts like that, because you let her… Any case, you get to be with me tonight, isn’t that a silver lining mmm?” I say, as I ruffle Jamie’s hair.

She pouts for a second, before she turns to me, “Oh I completely forgot to ask. How’d the concert go?”

I shrugged, “Neither my best friend, nor my mistress showed up to see me perform, how did you think it went?”

“As per usual, I’d have to guess,” she said laughing.

“Damn right,” I joined in, laughing.

> To be continued

Author's Note:
This is the first ever real novel that I'm writing, so I really apologise for any shortcomings or rough edges that this might have. I am open to any and all feedback, as well as, questions regarding the world and characters. I'll happily answer them all. 

Thank you for reading, and please look forward to the following chapters, that will be updated daily!!