《A Rush and a Push》 Prologue - The Land of Blood ¡°Oh benevolent God, why have you created me like so?¡± The man stood on top of a hill, looking out over the carnage that raged below. His mane fluttered in the wind, and a deep sense of desolation hung off his body. In the valley, blood flowed like rivers, but it wasn¡¯t a battle; no, this was a cold-hearted slaughter. One side had forced the other to surrender and kneel, but had now proceeded to execute every single one of the enemy soldiers like chickens at an abattoir. A ruddy faced man, stocky and tall laughed with glee as he ran his sword across the necks of the surrendered, relishing in the glares of indignation they had before their deaths. ¡°Look at them bleed!¡± he mocked, as he carried on reaping their lives. ¡°Long live the empire, long live the emperor, long live blood and bone!¡± ¡°You fat son of a dog, Duan De, do you have to go about slaying them personally? It¡¯s unbecoming of our status,¡± a handsome, slender man looked at Duan De in disgust. ¡°Wang Tao, what will happen after the battle is over? Well of course it¡¯s the reward ceremony! Each swing of my blade is another golden piece in my coffers.¡± Duan De¡¯s eyes glittered as they swept across the countless kneeled warriors. ¡°Since his lordship rarely allows us to be so savage, I¡¯ll take this opportunity to pay for my new house¡¯s build costs gladly!¡± Wang Tao smirked, ¡°You are really such a lunking fool,¡± he flicked his cape and walked away, leaving Duan De shrieking and giggling with mirth. After a while, nothing was left but their army and the corpses of another. Scarlet seeped into the ground, dyeing the soil red. Tonight, it had really lived up to its name as Blood Bane Valley. The army was in formation, backs straight, and retained its imposing presence, even when there was no enemy. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Wang Tao and Duan De were now standing with the general. They looked out at the scene in front of them. ¡°Today was a good day, I¡¯ve really struck it rich!¡± ¡°You¡¯re such a bastard, but I really can¡¯t help but be envious this time. If I really had the ability to throw away my face like you¡­¡± Wang Tao ground his teeth at the dilemma. ¡°Face is nothing but a mask, and each person¡¯s is unique. I don¡¯t throw away my face, I just break it and repair it every time!¡± Duan De postured as if he were one of the ye olde immortal cultivators, and even broke open a fan. He even somewhat looked majestic when the moonlight hit him, as though he were a duck that had somehow become a swan. It was such a funny scene, and Wang Tao¡¯s mouth gaped open. The general looked puzzled, and had no choice but to scoff. He proceeded to throw a pebble into Wang Tao¡¯s mouth. Wang Tao spat it out and looked the general, with a wronged look on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t leave your mouth open for so long, you might attract flies,¡± a hint of laughter entered the general¡¯s eyes, but as he looked across the fresh battlefield, it left completely. He looked resolute as he scanned the details of his victory. He sighed. ¡°You may really attract flies¡­¡± Chapter 1 - Chow Mein Pain Charlie was, as he would like to call it, a modern man. He lived in a penthouse, provided by his parents of course, decked out in the latest technology. There was even one of those mechanisms where you clap and the lights turn off. Living such a Richie Rich lifestyle appealed to Charlie, and he would sometimes delve into living the life of a global rapstar, but the plethora of drugs and strippers and partying often got stale. He preferred to dabble. The lifestyle of the quietly rich appealed to him more. He did miss the strippers sometimes though. There was one named Tiffani, spelled with an i at the end, that was simply¡­ But the best things are of course, left unsaid. Charlie loved looking at himself in the mirror - the cocaine he ¡®dabbled¡¯ in hadn¡¯t stolen his looks yet. He was tall; he played basketball every morning. He was actually half Chinese, and his father was Swedish, so he had dark eyes and dark hair to his shoulders, but had the nordic height and bone structure. He dressed impeccably - his mother and father sent him clothes from Europe. Today he was wearing black-as-night denim from head to toe and a white t-shirt. Charlie grumbled, all of this came with a price. His parents required him to have a perfect attendance at university, and ace all of his exams. The consequences were diabolical. He would have to work at his uncle¡¯s law firm, and he definitely did not want to do that. He was free, unrestrained. Nobody would be able to tie down the butterfly. Of course, he was ignorant of how hypocritical the notion was, but¡­ It was time to go to his morning lecture. He picked up his backpack with a limp wrist and left his apartment. The elevator took him straight to the parking garage, and he slipped into his car. The interior was plush beige leather. He inhaled. He loved his car. It was a Mercedes-Benz, nothing too fancy of course - for fear of seeming like a nouveau-riche - but he loved to drive to university in the car, and scoffed in pride at the envious looks on the students¡¯ faces as he parked in the faculty car park. As soon as he stepped out of his car, all eyes were on him. He smirked, and the ladies swooned. Each step he took sent convulsions into the bodies of the women, so much so that an elderly woman pissed herself - she couldn¡¯t take it. No one man should have all that power. Of course it was all a fantasy of Charlie¡¯s, nobody really cared all that much about his entrance, but it was safe to say that he had no shortage of women who wanted to be with him. He entered the lecture hall, ten minutes late, and sauntered to his seat. Three girls immediately occupied the seats next to his. ¡°I threw a party last night, why didn¡¯t you come? Even after I invited you personally.¡± A blonde girl rolled her eyes and sat to Charlie¡¯s left. She grabbed onto his arm. Her name was Heather, and she was the quintessential preppy blonde. She was also the smartest girl in class. To Charlie¡¯s right, two girls were sat - Mia, who was a pretty brunette who seemed as if she had walked off the cover of vogue magazine, and Sasha, a black girl who oozed sensuality and had the best body Charlie had ever seen. Mia looked at his outfit and asked, ¡°Alexander Wang shoes, Raf Simons shirt¡­ and I wanna say¡­ that denim suit isn''t Margiela is it?¡± ¡°Yeah, Mom sent it from Paris last week,¡± Charlie said, ¡°Those are totally sold out, aren¡¯t they? My brother got camped out for two days, but he only barely got it.¡± Sasha said. ¡°Mom knows people,¡± Charlie replied, and then paid attention to the lecture. The topic was Chinese History, one of the few things he actually had an active interest in. Something about how brutal and domineering it was tickled him. As a half-chinese person, it made him proud that his ancestors were so bold. Heather looked at Charlie, and pouted at the fact that she had been ignored. Charlie had a way of ignoring people, to make it seem as though you were an insect. He regarded those he disliked, no, didn¡¯t care for, as air. Although Heather was pretty, and was Charlie¡¯s type, there was a reason why he ignored her. Charlie had a way of discerning character. Of course, he didn¡¯t like Heather the first moment he laid his eyes on her, but for how eccentric and arrogant Charlie was, he didn¡¯t treat people unkindly. He remembered how he had been in his youth - unbridled and mean - but that was soon rectified by his uncle. Remembering the beatings, he shuddered. It was actually something Heather had done that had pissed him off. She was a bully, and not just in the Mean Girls, Regina George kind of way. She was much worse. She used, abused and threw away people like they were tissues. There was one incident that had made Charlie¡¯s stomach turn. From then on, he ignored her existence. Judging by the glower Heather¡¯s boyfriend was sending him, he didn¡¯t approve of her being there. Charlie ignored him too. Finally, Heather left, and her friends left after her. Charlie actually didn¡¯t mind Sasha and Mia, although he didn¡¯t like how weak-willed they were, they weren¡¯t evil to their cores like Heather was. That he could say for sure. The lecture ended at midday, and Charlie left to go have lunch. On his way out, he felt a massive impact on his shoulder. He snorted, ¡°So where do you want to eat this time,¡± he said without looking at the person beside him. ¡°That Chinese place we went to last month, the one that was kind of out of the way. Damn that sweet and sour pork was awesome!¡± The owner of the arm¡¯s deep voice drooled. ¡°Brock, if you get drool on my clothes I swear I¡¯m never taking you out again,¡± Charlie rolled his eyes. Brock was, to put it simply, a giant of a man. Standing at 6¡¯ 5¡±, he was also on the basketball team - he was actually its ace. Brock and Charlie were mismatched friends. Charlie was probably the richest kid in school, while Brock was attending on a scholarship. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Brock had forced himself into Charlie¡¯s friendship, but it wasn¡¯t malicious in any way. Brock liked the way Charlie played ball, and he loved food. Their relationship was built on simplicity, and that was the way Charlie liked it. ¡°I feel you on the food though, you really have me craving some.¡± he grinned at Brock and they raced to the car. The restaurant was deep in the midst of Chinatown, nestled between a Chinese casino and a pet store. It was unassuming at first glance, but a smell - so divine it could tempt heaven - wafted out, and hooked in all those who smelled it. It was small inside, and only had ten tables about half of which were occupied, but it was beautiful. Antiques adorned the walls, and incense smoke made the whole place smell fresh. Brock and Charlie waltzed in, and Brock took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of sage and glorious Chinese food. ¡°I could definitely eat a whole table full of chow mein right now,¡± Brock laughed. A waitress walked up to the pair, wearing a beautiful silk qipao. She sat them down at a table for six, even though they asked for a table for two, but their minds were so enamoured by the smell coming out of the kitchen that they didn¡¯t notice. ¡°What would you like to order?¡± ¡°Well, start us off with two orders of duck pancakes, some spring rolls, chicken chow mein, crispy duck, some sweet and sour pork¡­¡± Brock proceeded to rattle off a whole list of food - way more food than two people could eat. Charlie added a few orders here and there too. The waitress remembered them from last time they came - she had actually thought that they were going to run off without paying, and had two goons from the triads¡¯ casino waiting outside to grab them, but as soon as she saw Charlie flash his black card, she relaxed. She even gave them complimentary dessert and wine. She knew she had gotten hold of a pair of fat sheep. Even now she looked at the pair like a hawk eyes its prey. She borderline loved them. Of course it was because they also tipped massively. ¡°I¡¯m beginning to think we ordered too much,¡± Charlie whispered. A row of waitresses were bringing the food to their table, and it was an unending procession. So much food left the kitchen it was a wonder they had any left! Looking at the mountains of food before them, Charlie felt pure trepidation. Brock laughed, ¡°If we can¡¯t finish all this food we simply aren¡¯t men.¡± ¡°Who said I couldn¡¯t finish it? I just think that you¡¯re going to collapse halfway, leaving me to shovel it all in! I¡¯d die before I give up and let you gloat.¡± Charlie dove straight in, shovelling chow mien down his gullet. Brock followed, and crammed pancakes into his mouth. The sight was amazing, a flurry of food and marvellous machismo as the competition got underway. As they were halfway through, a little bell chimed as the door opened. The pair of diners didn¡¯t look up, but as soon as they heard the preppy voice, they knew they had come. Heather, her boyfriend, Mia and Sasha. ¡°Oh, fancy meeting you guys here, can we join you?¡± Heather giggled before immediately sitting at their table, without even waiting for an answer. Once the group were seated, Heather¡¯s boyfriend, Keith, who was captain of the soccer team, glared at Charlie once again. ¡°What the hell are you looking at, bastard?¡± Brock almost spat venom as he roared. Keith sneered, ¡°Nothing much apparently,¡± he ordered food for the new arrivals and snorted at Charlie in derision. Charlie had not acknowledged their entrance and had actually carried on eating the whole time. It made for an awkward table. Keith was murderously staring at Charlie, Brock was equally as fierce. Heather repeatedly tried getting Charlie¡¯s attention, much to Keith¡¯s increasing annoyance, but to no avail, while Sasha and Mia were eating their tiny salads. The tension was almost palpable, until it reached boiling point. Keith¡¯s face turned red as he smacked his fist on the table and bellowed with spittle flying, ¡°Stop flirting with him!¡± the dishes on the table rattled. All eyes in the restaurant went to Keith. The waitress quickly scurried into the kitchen. Popcorn was essential. ¡°Have you forgotten we¡¯re in a restaurant, Keith?¡± Heather glared at her boyfriend, ¡°Don¡¯t pull this in public.¡± Keith acted as if he had been shot in the heart by this and his rage became even more evident. ¡°Public this, public that. You¡¯re such a manipulative bitch! How could you just flirt with another dude right in front of me? You think you¡¯re really something don¡¯t you? I don¡¯t have to be with you, Becky Reynolds was begging to hook up with me last night.¡± Heather snorted, and a cold look entered her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve really disappointed me, Keith.¡± She looked away from him and continued to flirt with Charlie. She never looked back. ¡°Fuck!¡± Keith trembled with anger and stormed out of the restaurant. Brock ran his fingers through his hair and had a flustered look on his face. ¡°I think we should call it a day?¡± They paid and left. The waitress had trouble swiping Charlie¡¯s black card - the butter on her fingers was greasy. She didn¡¯t forget to deduct a huge tip too. Chapter 2 - Fluffy Walls of Death Keith was rich, but wasn¡¯t as rich as Charlie. He lived alone, in a rented apartment. Once he got home, he was more exhausted than angry. Heather had really hurt him this time. He knew what he was getting into when he first started dating her. They met at one of Heather¡¯s endless processions of parties; grand spectacles of hedonism and sin - well as much sin that college students studying at one of the top universities in the world could get into. They were just students after all. When he first saw her, he was immediately struck by her beauty. There was something about her, the way she attracted all attention in the room to her. She was an angel. However, that perception change quickly as he dated her. Heather was evil. She enjoyed controlling people, playing them like puppets on strings. He hated that side to her - but her beauty was so attractive to him that he kept justifying and playing down her behaviour. Keith collapsed onto his sofa and put his feet up. He sighed. They had probably broken up. Heather wasn¡¯t one to be chained to one person anyway. ¡®It was dumb of me to think she actually loved me, fuck it though, there¡¯s nothing much else I can do. Becky did say she was gonna give me head though, so I have that to look forward to.¡¯ Keith stopped thinking about the situation. Although he was passionate about relationships, and his anger was very real, Keith wasn¡¯t one to dwell on things if they were unavailable to him. He clicked on Spotify, and started to listen to Drake. ¡®Perfect breakup music.¡¯ Keith cocked his head back and closed his eyes; thinking of the tremendous, bed-breaking sex he had with Heather. * * * Charlie woke up, his head splitting. ¡®Wh..what?¡¯ He opened his eyes. And then he tried to open them again. There was no difference. ¡®I¡¯m blind! Oh¡­ no wait, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s so dark in here I can¡¯t see anything. Where the hell am I? Don¡¯t tell me I¡¯ve been kidnapped?¡¯ Charlie freaked out at the thought. He shouted out, trembles in his voice betraying his fear, ¡°If you bastards so much as look at me different, my parents will have your fucking necks you hear me? You hear me you sons of bitches? I swear to God¡­ I swear to God you¡¯ll be dead quicker than you can say your own God damn name. I got cousins in the mob, in the mob! You ever seen the Godfather?¡± he screamed expletives and threats until his vision abruptly returned. Light flooded his eyes, ¡°Why is it so bright in here?¡± He rubbed his eyes. The room was all-white, and was a pretty large room. The overwhelming whiteness of the place made it hard to judge the size by eye, but it had to be massive because of one reason. The bodies. People lay, sleeping. There must have been a hundred of them. One was awake. They were looking at him weirdly. Charlie ignored the look and went through his pockets. No cellphone. He asked, ¡°Where are we?¡± An Asian kid of about 15 years old looked shocked. ¡°You, are you speaking in English? ¡°What sort of question is that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m speaking in Mandarin¡­¡± Charlie looked at the kid and frowned, and then realised how strange he looked. He was wearing orange robes, and had hair shaved to the scalp. He must have been one of those Buddhist monks in Tibet. But the next question was now even more important. If he really was speaking in Mandarin, then the entire situation was probably unimaginable. Someone who could create a universal translator had brought them to the room. And it was for a reason. ¡°Where are we?¡± Charlie asked the kid again. The kid sighed, ¡°I wish I knew. I was just walking through the mountains, to start my morning lessons when, out of nowhere, I saw a butterfly. It had a purple body and patterns that looked like green eyes, it was so magnificent! I chased after it¡­¡± The kid babbled on about a variety of different, inane things until Charlie couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°Stop! Just tell me three things: Your name, the last thing you remember before you woke up, and how long you¡¯ve been awake.¡± ¡°Li Tao, going to bed, and about twenty minutes before you woke up. I regularly meditate, and that¡¯s probably why I woke up first. What¡¯s your name?¡± Li Tao asked. ¡°Charlie.¡± ¡®If what monk boy says is true, then the rest of them should start waking up soon.¡¯ After five minutes, one-by-one, almost a hundred people woke up. There was chaos everywhere, people were screaming and fumbling around at first, wondering why their vision was gone. After a while, people were even more confused. One guy even pelted full speed from one side of the room to the other, intending to crash. What happened was even weirder. The wall swallowed him up, and for a few minutes there was pandemonium. But then, the wall spat him back out. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That was awesome! It felt like being in a huge puffy cloud,¡± he said before running back in. People began imitating his behaviour. It was a funny sight seeing all those people running in the wall and being spat back out. That was, until it stopped. The wall still spat people out, but¡­ they weren¡¯t whole any more¡­ they had been sliced into countless pieces of meat, and spat out alongside a mist of blood. At least twenty people died this way. There was an uproar, everyone quickly backed away from the walls towards the centre of the room. Before the wall spat out such gore, there had been a somewhat lighthearted tone, but now, it had completely turned. Fear filled everyone¡¯s hearts. Now, things had become real. Whoever had taken them captive had no regard for their lives and that truly scared them. A pale, shivering teenager started it all off. He shouted, ¡°Who are you? Why have you taken us? What the hell do you want with us? God damn it, you killed all those¡­ those people¡­ ugh.¡± He cursed, and clutched his belly, and vomited. Surprisingly, the ground sucked it up, returning to its previous white, as if it had never been soiled. Others started screaming, shouting, crying, puking. There were only a few people still calm apart from Charlie. One was Li Tao, who was currently on the ground meditating. The other four were; a tall Japanese looking teenager with glasses who was still wearing his school uniform, a black kid who had pristine Jordans on, an Arab looking twenty year old, and a girl who weirdly had a sword. The kid with the clean white sneakers grimaced, and seemed annoyed with the scene. He reached around his back and thrust his hand into the waistband of his jeans. He pulled out a gun, and shot three times. Silence. Everyone in the room looked at him. ¡°Man, do y¡¯all really have no shame? Look at you, running around like a bunch of headless chickens. What you thought was gonna happen? Someone takes you from your momma¡¯s house and sticks you in this forensic ass room, and you think this shit is a jungle gym? In Chicago, niggas die every day. They¡¯re taking lives like they¡¯re cutting weeds. The sooner y¡¯all realise that lives ain¡¯t worth shit, and nobody will care when you die, the sooner you can adapt to anything you¡¯re hit with.¡± He put his gun away, walked over to the wall, leaned against it, sat down, and closed his eyes. Everyone started to calm down from their panic, but it gave way to anger. ¡°Does anyone know what¡¯s going on?¡± A girl with a braid running down her back addressed the crowd. ¡°Well¡­ we¡¯ve been kidnapped, and to what end, I don¡¯t know.¡± The girl with the sword muttered. Li Tao spoke up, ¡°If it helps, we can all introduce ourselves and where we come from? It¡¯d help if we at least knew something about each other,¡± ¡°I¡¯m Wang Bailong, from Beijing,¡± ¡°I¡¯m Sasha Raskolnikov, from St Petersburg,¡± ¡°I¡¯m Bianca¡­¡± After everyone introduced themselves, it became apparent that they were each from different places in the world. It was obvious that they weren¡¯t all speaking the same language. This shocked Charlie, because this confirmed one thing. This wasn¡¯t a simple kidnapping. Either this was a high-level power in the world that had taken them, or it was something¡­ more fantastical. Whatever it was, it wasn¡¯t good. ¡°So¡­ we gonna talk about the fluffy walls of death?¡± A brawny Icelandic man named Olaf with a shaved head asked. When reminded of the dead bodies, some people turned pale. ¡°If you think about the time it took for the walls to start dismembering people, it suggests one thing,¡± The Japanese student said. He had introduced himself as Jun. ¡°What?¡± the strongman replied. ¡°That someone or something has control of this space. It should be as easy as turning their hand over to kill us. But we¡¯re still alive. That means they need us for something.¡± Jun adjusted his glasses and frowned. ¡°But on the other hand, they killed twenty people for the smallest reason, so they don¡¯t care whether we live or die. Analysing the information at hand, plus the fact that the unknown entity has possession of a universal translator and this strange room, I have only one conclusion. That whatever the circumstances, we are powerless to decide our own fates.¡± With that, he sat down. Nobody spoke after that.