《Dream Contracts》


 Dreams and Reality

    Whoever you are, take a moment to think about your life. What did you accomplish ? How lucky do you consider yourself to be ? Was life easy for you ?


    Whatever you answers might be, they are most certainly not completely honest. You either made your life worse than it actually is, or you tried to be optimist and lied to make your life seem better. Because you are unable to come up with a simple fact, you cannot evaluate your own life, you can''t be honest with yourself, atleast not perfectly.


    But lying to yourself will always make things worse, so do try to become honest, not with others but atleast with yourself. Or else you might end up like a certain teenager named Koba.


    You don''t know him and he doesn''t know you, but just by seeing him you would understand his whole life. He was so thin you would think he just went out of a coma, and so pale that even snow wasn''t white enough compared to him. He had messy long black hair that he never bothered to actually style, and droopy blue eyes.


    Despite being a teenager and going to high school, he always wore the same clothes. He had such poor sense of fashion that it would hurt your eyes to just look at him.


    And yet those things weren''t what people saw the first time their eyes landed on him. What really made him special were the numerous scars that he had around his neck. It made him look like a war veteran, even though an actual veteran would have less scars than him.


    He would''ve hid them, but no one let him do that. Everyone seemed to want him to be as humiliated as possible. He was mocked daily , a painful reminder that those scars would never allow him to be normal.


    Fortunately that would soon change. Koba always lived in a small town where everyone knew him, so he was never really able to have any friends, or actually anyone to talk to. However he recently moved away from that town, and went to New York.


    He was quite lucky that his recently deceased grandfather left enough money for him to live comfortably for many years after he passed away. A shame that he never met the man even once.


    He was now living in an apartment a few streets away from his new school. The place wasn''t all that pleasing to the eye, but it was cheap, and Koba always used to save money in any way he could.


    And today was the big day, today was the start of the new school year. And this time he wasn''t going to come to school looking all depressed, because this time no one would be there to treat him like he was lower than trash.


    Monday, 7 a.m, Koba''s apartment.


    Standing in front of his mirror, taking a last look at his appearance, Koba sighed.


    " It does really feel weird to wear some normal clothes for once. And those were actually washed. I always wore the same clothes, and never washed them, i got used to the smell but i think a normal person would''ve died just smelling me." Said the teenager with a blank expression on his face. He never seemed to be able to express anything else than sadness and when he wasn''t expressing that, he just seemed dead inside. But maybe he really was.


    However this time, a little smile settled on his face, the proof that he was ready to live a new life. He was ready to turn over a new leaf.


    Koba was currently wearing a black scarf over a black wool coat under which was a plain black shirt. He also wore some black pants with some black sneakers. Yes he really loved black, and his sense of fashion never really became good. Even though he finally put some real clothes on, he still had his messy long black hair and dark circles under his droopy blue eyes.


    " Well then it''s time to go " Said Koba, lifting his bag over his shoulder and opening the door of his apartment.


    An hour later, Red Dawn High School.


    After walking for an hour or so, Koba arrived in front of his new school. The whole building was pretty big, easily four times bigger than his old school, and it certainly looked a lot more modern. Though what really surprised him was the number of students that were here. He never saw so much people in one place before, but it didn''t scare him. He was feeling too happy to be scared. He had the chance to be normal now, and he wasn''t going to waste it.


    However before he could continue on his way, he saw something that triggered his curiosity. He was stepping on a sheet of paper that for some reasons seemed to glow. Taking a step back, he stooped to pick it up and brought it to his face. He had to blink several times before the urge to laugh came to him.


    '' Make your dreams come true ? A contract to make your dreams come true, is that even serious ? '' He asked himself as he read what was written on the paper. This apparently was a contract that would grant the signatory''s dream, whatever it may be as long as it didn''t exceed the capability of the contract, which was a high tier contract. Atleast that is what was written on the contract.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Someone just had to write down whatever they wanted and sign the contract, and they were supposed to get whatever it is they asked for. How laughable this was. It didn''t even give other informations, this wasn''t even a little bit professionnal. Whoever made this certainly was quite stupid, or just childish.


    '' A few years ago, this might have worked on me. But now ? '' Thought Koba as he snorted. However instead of throwing the contract away, he opened his bag and put it inside. He didn''t even seem to notice he did that, as if he was used to do that.


    Smiling slightly, Koba walked towards the entrance as some students paused their conversation to look at him. Koba may not have the best fashion sense, he may have messy hair and dark circles under his eyes, but he was actually quite handsome. He was also very tall, 6.10ft tall to be more precise.


    Some people seemed to find him attractive, other obviously found him annoying. Being handsome and tall can be a problem sometimes. And him being very thin made it easier for some students so see him as a target, or a prey.


    Doing his best to ignore the stares, Koba continued to walk and entered the building. He didn''t even had the time to take another step, that someone stopped him. A rather cute girl, a lot smaller than him, and who definitely had a whole ''popular'' look to her.


    " Hello tall guy, how''s the weather up there ?" Asked the girl, smiling at him. Koba was shocked for a second but he recovered and let out a weak smile.


    " P-pretty much as good as it is for you. But who are you ? I''m Koba." He said. Now wasn''t the time to act all meek, so he to be a little confident. Though the girl seemed to see through his little act. He did stutter a bit.


    " Yeah well i hope you can forget the little joke, i''m not really used to see such tall and handsome guys around here." Said the girl twirling her hair with a her finger.


    Koba immediately blushed and was about to say something, but the girl suddenly took a step back, and a strong hand gripped his left arm. He was turned around and the hand gripped his scarf, as he met an extremely angry guy. The guy was shorter than him, but definitely had a lot more muscles than him. He wore some white shirt with " I''m back bitches" written on it, some white and grey jogger pants , and a pair of grey sneakers. The guy had blond hair styled in crop, black eyes and a plain face with a lot of freckles on his nose.


    " Well fucker this is quite awkward. This is the first day, and some bitch is already hitting on my girl, it puts me in an awkward position you know that ? " Said the guy as his friends snickered behind him. The students around saw what was happening and were now all looking at Koba.


    " W-Wait i wasn''t-" Koba tried to defend himself but the guy just punched him in the face, while he still held his scarf. Sadly what wasn''t supposed to happen, did happen.


    Standing up, Koba wiped the blood he had on his lips, but paused when he heard everyone around him gasp. Looking around, he could see the disgust and fear in the students'' eyes. Taking a look at the guy who punched him and what was inside his hand, he instantly knew what was wrong.


    In a second Koba froze, fear taking hold of him. He knew what was going to happen next.


    " The fuck ?! Why do you have all those scars on your throat and neck, you freak ?!" Yelled the guy, who seemed to be more scared than angry, and it showed in how he dropped the scarf and walked back to his group. The girl who previously talked to him looked shocked and had both her hands on her open mouth.


    Feeling his eyes tearing up, Koba kept his head down and quickly exited the building. As soon as he was outside he ran back home as fast as he possibly could.


    Once he got home, he slammed the door behind him and dropped on his bed. What followed was simply the result of Koba''s trauma coming back to him. He started to cry, he then rocked back and forth, before standing up and running towards his bathroom. He opened the door, approached his sink and looked at his mirror. Looking at himself for a whole minute he then slammed his head into the mirror, breaking it as he started to bleed.


    Surprisingly enough he left the bathroom laughing, tears and blood dropping to the ground. As his broken laugh continued, he opened his bag and pulled the contract that he had previously put inside. Placing it on his bed, tears and blood staining the part where he was supposed to sign, he grabbed a pen and glared at the contract.


    " I jinxed myself didn''t i ? I tell myself i changed , i tell myself that i''m not as pathetic as i used to be....And it starts all over again. All because....A-All because of those fucking scars !!! Here i am, living a hellish life, having no family and no friends, no one to talk to and no one to love me, and all of this because of some scars i don''t even know how i got !!!" Screamed Koba. He brought his trembling hand to the contract and started to write.


    " This won''t work, i know it....But fuck it! Why do i even deserve all those things ?! I don''t even know myself, i don''t even know my past....But goddamn i must have been some horrible person to deserve all that." Said Koba as he finished to write whatever it is he wrote on the contract. He was about to sign, but the sheet of paper suddenly started to float. Koba was so surprised he swore and fell on his butt.


    " What the hell is that ?!" Yelled Koba. And he quickly got his answer. The contract disappeared as if it was never here to begin with, and Koba immediately felt something wrong. He was actually feeling someone''s breath on the back of his neck.


    " Ahhh!!!" Koba screamed and quickly jumped on his bed. He then looked up and his eyes saw something that he never he would see in his whole life.


    He saw something that clearly wasn''t human. The thing was wearing a tattered long black cloak that covered it''s whole body and a blank mask with only a vertical slit in the middle of it. It was standing like a gorilla would, but it had the body of a human, except for it''s long clawed hands that actually had six fingers each.


    Koba was paralyzed with fears, he couldn''t even begin to understand what was happening. The thing turned it''s head towards him and Koba could swear he heard it giggle. It then moved towards him. One step and Koba whimpered in fear. Two steps and he closed his eyes. Three steps and he held his breath.


    However this time again, something that wasn''t supposed to happen, did happen.


    " Hi there human ! How are you doin'' ? Ready to see your dream come true ? "


    " Huh ?"

 Tempting Darkness

    " Huh ?" Came the response of the dumbfounded teenager. Koba was a very calm person usually, but the mix of sadness and shock was a bit too much for him to handle. First he was treated like a freak....Again. And now he was faced with a monster that looked like some sort of demon, but who seemed to be more bubbly than a child.


    Everyone would be dumbfounded when facing such an atrocity who acted like it was on a sugar rush. It couldn''t keep still, and moved around the apartment staring at every little thing that caught it''s interest. Though it looked like Koba was the most interesting thing to look at in this apartment. That would certainly explain why it had it''s face a few inches away from Koba''s.


    It was quite unnerving for the teenager to look at the mask that the creature wore. The slit made it look so......Weird. It would be an understatement to say that Koba didn''t know what to do in this situation, but he didn''t have to do anything.


    The creature grabbed him with one of it''s long clawed hands, broke his window with the other and jumped out of the apartment.


    " AARGGGGHHH!" Screamed Koba, thinking that he was really going to die. However the monster suddenly twirled it''s body in the air, and stabbed it''s fingers into the wall of the building.


    Taking a moment to breath deeply Koba thanked god that he wasn''t going to die today.


    " Hey kiddo, don''t thank god, i''m the one holding you, not him. Though you can call me god if you want ! Nyahahah!" Said the creature with it''s creepy voice. It sounded like the mix between a little girl''s voice and a neutral robotic''s one.


    ''Did he....Did he just read my mind ?!'' Thought Koba, horrified at this prospect.


    " If you''re wondering whether i can read your mind or not, the answer is no. I don''t have that type of power, but usually when people are in this situation and let out a sigh of relief, they say '' Thank God''. " Said the monster snickering, while Koba let out another sigh of relief. He wasn''t really ready to have some weird demon read his mind.


    Unfortunately the demon wasn''t done. It suddenly jumped and stabbed it''s fingers at a higher point on the wall, and then continued, climbing the wall of the building with it''s long clawed right hand.


    When the monster reached the roof of the building, it threw Koba on the ground while still snickering, and crouched in front of him.


    " So kiddo, i''m gonna ask one more time. Are you ready to see your dream come true ?" Asked the demon. Koba blinked and then looked up, wondering what the demon was talking about.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    " Well seems like you''re too scared and shocked to even remember you used a contract. " Said the demon as said contract just magically appeared in his hand, leaving a trail of something blue and glowing behind.


    " What....The contract ! Did i actually summoned you by signing it ? Is it because i signed with my blood ?! I didn''t meant to actually sign it with-" Koba was interrupted in his panicked ranting by a claw on his mouth as the demon laughed a bit louder.


    " Hahaha! I will never get tired of this. You humans do panic all the time, don''t you ? Everytime i do this, the signatories always end up like you. It''s quite funny, even though it''s always the same. I would like something new for once. Can''t you act a little bit different ? I don''t know.....Maybe get angry and insult me like those humans in the place called Texas did. Or maybe you could be like those humans...Emo i think they''re called. Quite a funny bunch. I''m not really used to humans, i don''t usually deal with your species you know. So i get quite excited everytime a lost soul actually sign a contract. But at some point humans will get boring. And when i''m bored....I get quite angry." Said the demon, moving his claws around Koba''s face to intimidate him. And it worked, if Koba rapidly beating heart was of any indication.


    " I-I........I signed this contract out of desperation it doesn''t count !" Said Koba. He really didn''t wanted to deal with this thing. He just wanted it to get away and let him alone. He had a lot of crying and blaming to do.


    " Hmm, and why would you say that ? I mean you did write whatever you wanted, and i can give you that. Going back on your own words would only make the situation worse for you. But if you accept...." Said the demon putting the contract right in front of Koba''s face, allowing him the see the huge ''Request accepted'' on it. He then put it away and grabbed Koba'' face with both his hands.


    " The request was accepted, so why don''t you just relax and see how your dream come true." Said the demon.


    " I won''t give in to darkness! You''re most certainly some sort of demon, and i''m not gonna give you my soul or sacrifice some other people. The request was accepted ? Then just ignore it." Said Koba, keeping a firm face, though he was panicking inside. In one movement, the Demon could slice him in half.


    " Nyahaha! You''re funny human! But tell me...." The demon started, putting his arm over Koba''s shoulders and putting the contract in front of both their faces. " Doesn''t this darkness look quite tempting ? Wouldn''t it be easy to just say ok, and be done with it ? The price was the contract itself, so you just have to say ok....And your dream will come true. If you did write your dream on the contract and not some sort of weird wish. " Said the demon. Koba was having a mental fight, unsure whether he could just say yes and be done with it, or have to face some sort of consequences later on.


    But the demon was right, this was quite tempting. And so.....Koba gave in to temptation.


    " Ok, just give me what i asked for. I don''t think i can get in any other way. I''m just too pathetic for that." Said Koba, looking down with a blank expression on his face. He heard the demon laughing, while some sort of black mist appeared at his feet. But he didn''t look up.


    " Seems like we can both agree on something." Said the demon, before everything went black for Koba.


    Same day, Koba''s apartment.


    He didn''t know whether he was dead or just asleep, but he had his answer when he heard his phone ringing loudly.


    Slowly waking up, Koba stretched and looked around, he was a bit confused. He then grabbed his phone, looked at the screen....And immediately dropped it.


    " I-It''s the same day.....Why is it still 7 a.m ?!"