《Ruin of Ken》 #1.1 Passengers of Bus #214 Part 1 Hello I''ts Faenum sorry I didn''t get to update any of my stuff cause I was extreme busy from moving out, to changing location of my work, got into an accident and etc.... Mostly did not have time writing. But now I''ll try made some time. Hope you enjoy! [th_099_.gif] :am: ~Ruin Of Ken Chronicles~ v#1.1 "Passengers of Bus #214" PoV: ? All path leads to one¡¯s ruin, It doesn¡¯t matter which one you choose. Victory or defeat. The path that separates them will always converge and lead to ruin in due time. What has been born, built or set will surely be undone or meets it''s end. Nothing last forever. This shall be mine as I look directly at the distant horizon. Though hope still remained I can only describe it as a troublesome thing. I can only hear silence on the other side of the line, as I observed my surroundings. As I¡¯m currently on a crisis. As my big brother always says that "Girls would be the death of me" "Haha" i chuckled on that thought. It¡¯s almost half past seven and the sun had already set and darkness slowly began its reign. Tonight the stars should be nowhere in sight, as the eerie dark clouds steadily creep forward and engulfed the skies above, It¡¯s about to rain and I guess it shall rain all night. I know it will be a cold and damped night and felt a slight pain in my chest, for it reminded me of her when she cried and made that promise to me that night. My heart saddens and aches every time I see the night rain. After that "night" we were never the same. As I currently am sitting at the back-end right side seat watching the view out outside and also observe the other passengers who comes and go within this metallic cage that transports us from place to another. A type of land transport everyone calls the ¡°bus¡± and it is delivering us to our ¡°destiny¡±. Friday night under the dark cloudy skies, inside a stop and go ride. There are 10 different figures who came from different aspects of life, who are heading towards the same direction and I too am a part of it. Less than 10 minutes till we arrive at Del Amo Boulevard and Pioneer for which is my destination. I can¡¯t wait to get home tonight. After class ended at 2:45 pm I instantly departed my school and headed towards the second nearest City Mall to purchase a gift for my youngest sister''s upcoming birthday soon. I should¡¯ve gone to the nearest one but I didn¡¯t. Do you wanna know why? Too many acquaintances that works there. It kills the surprise when they already know what they¡¯re getting and it happened to me last year when I secretly bought a gift. I could¡¯ve bought it online with a wider selection but I rarely get to go elsewhere when I¡¯m always so busy dealing with stuff. I hope she will love this ¡®gift¡¯. I really want to see her smile again. Recently she''s been working very hard and like everyone else in the family these days she too rarely smiled. After all who wouldn''t fall into depression after hearing what we heard happened that day. It is both a consolation and a reward for her when all is said and done. Everyone has different ways to cope with reality. I know this all too well. Even my smiles, eccentricities, theatrics, happy go lucky attitude, hardworking and reliable persona are nothing more than a facade. A great big LIE and a damn good one at that. I¡¯m an actor by definition and I act on a ¡®show¡¯ in order to hide my true self behind a terrible mask in order to cope with reality. I must act like this to show those who I really cared about that everything will be alright. So I got something uniquely suitable for her. So that I could at least see her smile one more. Well at least the upcoming party would relieve some stress and gain a little bit of joy and progress to us all. I know it''s sad but it''s the truth. The dark cold night had just begun and I shuddered against the lingering chill within the air as I awaited inside this metallic cage that would bring me to destiny. But still before destiny arrives I must first settle an extremely hard predicament I''m currently facing against with. And that my friend is "The silent treatment" and the awkward moments that comes along with it. Geez.... In and out of home I always deal with this kind of situation but I won¡¯t tell you for now how I got into this predicament for now. One must tread carefully in situations like these. Even when I¡¯m surrounded by a crowd I¡¯m not one bit embarrassed talking on the phone within this bus. A lot of people does it why can¡¯t I? Well it¡¯s my fault after all. And so I resumed the conversation that¡¯s been going on for the past four minutes. Well I would like to call it a conversation but in truth it¡¯s not a conversation, rather It feels like I¡¯m talking to myself or I¡¯m talking no one at all if you looked at it at a different perspective. It¡¯s one-sided. I then held my phone tightly on the right ear, as I wondered if I had been talking to myself since she answered my call, yet she did not say anything so I said at the beginning ¡°I''ll speak but please do listen for what I''m about to sincerely say.¡±. A second later after without hearing anything from the other side I took it as a sign of ''OK'' then proceeded with an expression of gratitude and apology that could be noticed in the usage of the tone of voice that I¡¯m currently using. I know she''s listening on the other side for I know her too well. Then proceeded. "I know things aren''t that great lately and you have been hurt for that I''m truly sorry. I know you''ve been hurt tremendously, but that''s how you learn. The strongest people out there are the ones who could laugh the hardest with the genuine smile, those are the ones who have fought the hardest battles. Because the have decided that they''re not going to let anyone hold them down, they''re showing the world who''s the boss. So come on beautiful, pick yourself up and show the world what you''ve got. Everything will be okay, I promise." I said it clearly though not enough for the other passengers to hear. After saying those words I thought to myself ¡°Hmm¡­ Nice advice I might be able re-use it later again.¡± I grinned devilishly. Hoping she takes the bait. If I am not me. Then even I who just spoke those kinds of words would definitely think that there''s no reason to doubt that kind of sincerity if I heard it from someone else other than me. I know too well what kind of person I am. I happily smiled at the given chance to express what I really wanted to say, oh! luck is on my side tonight. So the ¡°conversation¡± went on for sometime with me making some sort persuasive reasoning, all the while appealing to her sympathy, and yet on the other side of the line I heard nothing but silence. I find the silence extremely discomforting and hard to deal with, as my chest tightened and it¡¯s getting harder to breathe. In other words it''s getting more ¡®awkward¡¯ as every second pass. Though I cared little about it, what''s important now is that I can persuade her to see me later and express my ¡®solemn¡¯ thoughts. A minutes passed as I sat here contemplating on what¡¯s my next move. "T-minus 7 minutes till I get off this bus and I hope arrive before it rains.¡± I said it in a clear gentle tone, after all I¡¯m talking to someone I cared about on the phone. ¡°No matter what I¡¯ll see you soon I promise.¡± as I awaited any sort of response on her side of the line, yet the silence continued. I know I shouldn¡¯t give away promises so casually and it''s already too late. Well there¡¯s nothing I can do about it but move on. I am guy who respects everyone¡¯s personal distance and freedom. So I think I shall wait and give her a much needed space. Geez I reminded of myself that you can find great bargains if you have the patience to sift through the dross But I think my patience is reaching a certain breaking point because of this unsettling silence. Then I said something I shouldn¡¯t have unintentionally. ¡°The very least I can do for you is give you time and I am the one to blame. Oh coward! When will you learn how to fight and not run away. I just wanna see you be brave.¡± I was startled and began to panic when I realized I unintentionally blurted out and said those words. I know there are things in life that must not be said and I know for a fact that she lacked self-confidence to confront things for her own sake. I knew too well that this came out probably due to my pent-up frustration because she had a way of running away from her problems in order to cope, rather than facing it. Come on I¡¯m human too and we each have our own level of limit and this had happened so many times since I meet her and I ¡®care¡¯ a lot. I see myself as one with a lot of restrained and everyone¡¯s got their own fortitude to boast about. And now I¡¯m ruined. Damn¡­.Well the game is over and she will never talk to me again. My hope of reconciliation was all but shattered, what an idiot so I thought. Then the long awaited voice finally spoke, a gentle angelic voice i heard saying this words "Come tonight! I have something I¡¯d like to discuss with you" then she dropped the call. A sudden burst of emotion sprang forth and engulfed me, filled with delight and joy. Oh this will be a lucky, luck night indeed. Those words gave me great joy especially the part were she said ¡°discuss with you¡± gave me thrill and for some reason that also gave me a sense of foreboding¡¯. I wonder why? Oh! well whatever it is I¡¯ll deal with it when the time comes. But for now ¡°Victory!!!¡± Then I clenched my fist and held it high as I could while silently laughing victoriously. Woohoo! A successful unintentional victory as I held my fist upwards soaking myself in glory. Someone is getting lucky tonight. AGAIN. Ah damn it did something embarrassing again. I realized I did something one shouldn¡¯t do in front of other people. Then I began looking around and hoped nobody had taken notice. A moment later and it seemed no one paid me any attention. I sighed with relief, I felt like a crisis had been averted. No one gives a damn I guess. Woohoo! Suddenly an unnatural chill went and pass by me.Though only for a moment. It felt something was odd, yet I didn¡¯t noticed anything unusual and so I brushed it off as cold wind from the Ac. I then looked directly at my watch and it showed 7:35 pm local time, 5 minutes till destiny. I don¡¯t know I kept referring to it as destiny instead for destination. It doesn¡¯t matter i guess. Oh well nothing to do but wait and so I''ll just observe my surroundings again. Watching people and places pass us by for no reason other than sheer boredom wasn¡¯t creepy at all. Right? I hope no misunderstood, though I would care little about it if they made fun of me. Watching the several street lights we pass by interchanged alternative as it signaled Green ¡®Go¡¯, Yellow ¡®Slow Down¡¯, and Red ¡®stop¡¯. It reminds me of a game where Green meant ¡®Fine¡¯, Yellow ¡®Caution¡¯ and Red ¡®Danger¡¯. During my time playing that game I would constantly rummage and search for different types of herbs and compound them to become a healing aid for my dreary adventures. Then proceed to ¡®lock and load and blow their head¡¯s up. It¡¯s either do or die baby.¡¯ kinda thing. Games where one must survive against insurmountable odds are my favorite. One against many. Those were the days where I would just play around. Well I was a kid back then and a major fan of survival horror games. Damn¡­ My thoughts are wandering off again so needed to resume back to actuality. I¡¯ve been called useless and incompetent a lot of times before because of spending too much time playing with my so called ¡®games¡¯. Now I have taken over a responsibility and it¡¯s a very big one at that. I¡¯m not complaining or anything of that sort. We all have our own different sets of responsibilities and mine is now taking care and filling in. People are walking in and out of stores. Pedestrian all going their own way. Many are filled with mix expressions as they each passed each other by. What a colorful night indeed as many mixed emotions could be seen. Some are happy, others are sad, few I can''t read. As life is a journey full of struggle and hardships. I may be young, but I understood that much. It¡¯s a struggle between the concept of ¡®light¡¯ and ¡®darkness,¡¯ though some can freely choose a neutral stance and it would take a push with enough force to tip the scale. Not a highly religious though but I¡¯m tethered to a religious background that comes along with my family background. ¡°Life is full of hidden mysteries and we just needed to know where we could look.¡± As I mused myself. The mundane lifestyle the majority of this world¡¯s populace currently enjoys are bathe and blessed with subtleties, and the minorities who are currently seeking a way out of his mundane, humdrum existence and those who are in between are an unspecified numbers. They are ones who seeks thrill, purpose, person gain, disparity, answers or a higher meaning of life or in life. I am one of the content as I consider the pace of my life as greatly ¡®boring¡¯. Well I can¡¯t tell anything about to future my future anyway. As long as I lived that¡¯s all I need¡­ That¡¯s all I need... Oh well! People are always busy. I looked at the crowd closes to me. A group of 3 young teens 2 female and 1 male that seemed like they are bests of friends dressed like they are ready to party while they all held several glittering posters of their favorite teen stars. They are currently wearing a matching sets of colors. Well by the looks of it I can give a pretty good guess where they¡¯ve been. Probably on the largest nearby library where my sister told me there was a horror flick recently being filmed. What was it called again? I remember ¡®The Demon¡¯s Labyrinth¡±. Ah! Now that i think about my sister also told me once that the main star was someone I use to know. She never told me who it was though, but rather It would become a surprise for me she said. As a matter of fact I could easily research who it is, but I rather not and I¡¯m currently dealing with something else. Don¡¯t want to do bothersome and plus I think it¡¯s rude to ruin a kid¡¯s surprise. Other than the driver there are 6 more passengers other than me. As I mused over my thoughts and observations the bus came to a sudden halt. It appears we have arrived on the last passenger stop before mine. hmm.. 3 came in A priest, a teen, and an elderly. Now we¡¯re 13 hmm? Friday and the 13 a bad sign? The priest carried a troubled look and the teen who just entered wore a baseball cap dressed like a boy, who just had assisted an elderly to enter. People seemed to ignore her. Why are in disguise boy or should I say girl? quite around 16-19 years old. Though I might be mistaken because I once dated a chick who I thought was 18, but she ended up being 28. Haha! Talk about a very large age gap and while I dated her she too thought that I was 18. It may sound like a lie but I¡¯ll leave it to anyone who would like to judge. Her face seemed quite attractive carefully and my kind of type. I can''t see her face completely I think she had dressed herself to hide in anonymity, though for some reason she reminded me of a friend of mine when I was just a little kid, but my friend who she reminded me off is a boy. She wore a blue vintage leather jacket though it¡¯s men''s size because anyone can see that it was way bigger for her size. How suspicious of you that you tried to hid yourself only to get busted. I wouldn¡¯t be fooled even if you hid your face. The body was too effeminate to be that of a boy and I confirmed it we inadvertently gazed each others eyes. As we gazed into each others eyes time felt like came to a sudden halt and then she gracefully smiled as people passed us by. Beautiful!. That was the only word I could describe her. She might be famed artist, a daughter of a rich entrepreneur, or a politician. Not that I cared who she was, it¡¯s none of my business and so I decided to stopped my pleasant gaze off the mysterious her and then she sat on the middle side with the elderly one. Then out of nowhere I was struck with another eerie chill that crept down my spine once again. I said to myself ¡°Something isn¡¯t right and I know I felt it.¡± This odd flow of event seemed forceful like that of the calm before the storm. Where is this sense of uneasiness coming from? Then I felt something move on my left side and I was deeply startled. ¡­¡­¡­¡­. ¡­¡­. ¡­. Damn it¡¯s just my phone. Upon taking it out of my pocket I frowned when I saw the name of the person who was calling me. I knew the reason for the call. Someone¡¯s worried. I silently sighed as I picked up the call. ¡°Hey Jessie, Wazzup!!!¡± ¡°Hey lovely! Where did you go and where are you now? We¡¯re supposed to hangout with the others earlier today.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Sorry had to go somewhere alone. I¡¯ll make it up to you guys later.¡± ¡°Really? You went somewhere by yourself? That¡¯s great bro, Tell me more about it later. Oh, but first, let me tell you why I¡¯m calling. It¡¯s because earlier today some religious looking people had lingered around school asking around and a few minutes after they left the police came and was anxiously looking for them.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah so take care man a lot of people had been disappearing lately and even you know that Maria¡¯s cousin too vanished 2 weeks ago¡± ¡°Yeah thanks for reminding me ¡°I¡¯ll be home soon anyway.¡± ¡°Oh yeah! I almost forgot recently there¡¯s a buzz about an elusive smartphone that includes a rare and exclusive game have you gotten one yet?¡± ¡°Ah! you mean the Astral phone? ya gotten one myself last week.¡± ¡°Really? that¡¯s great lovely same here. How¡¯d you got yours bro mine was given to me by my boyfriend.¡± Nice. Thought should I tell him that I received it as a birthday gift from Marie¡¯s cousin before he went missing and inside had a vague letter stating "This gift will help you find what you had lost." As I had read the words that was written It reminded of the darker days. I felt again the pain of what we lost. My chest grew tighter, as it was filled with both sadness, sorrow and grief. It made me contemplated, reminisced those days and silently whispered. "Not loss, TAKEN." And then all those sad emotions was replaced by a hateful rage that burned inside me. One of the reasons that kept me continuing on and moving forward. That reminds me I¡¯m carrying it with me. I made a slight move and confirmed its within my backpack. ¡°Ah before I forget I received a picture message from Marie I¡¯ll forward it to you in a minute. Glad you¡¯re ok I¡¯m just worried and decided to check on everyone. Sorry, but I have to go contact the others right now so I¡¯ll chat more with you later.¡± ¡°Bye my love!! mwahh!¡± ¡°Lol! your boy toys would rage at me again if they ever hear you say that to me. Haha! Remember not long ago that one of your ex¡¯s came at me with his entire gang and I ended up in a situation of me vs many.¡± ¡°Hahah! well can¡¯t help it if they fall very easily to my beautiful Asian charms hehe.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah! I know you¡¯re such a troublesome friend and I¡¯ll see you later!¡± ¡°mwahh! Bye!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly anxious when Jessie hang up. after all the feeling I felt before the call was still lingering within me but the brief conversation reminded me that I still got my friends I could count on. I know some people tried to listen and to make me talk about my current predicament. I never complained and I¡¯m not a fool who would burden others. And If one tries to burden someone you¡¯ll instantly know who¡¯s genuine care and others would just give the kind caring words to simply give back a response for the sake of giving a response. Life¡¯s a journey and every has their own version of road trip and mine has just begun. Still I resumed my observation for the remaining time in on board. I heard a whisper that sounded like a lyrics from a song, I do know know where it came from because it sounded very familiar. I remained silent in order to hear and patiently waiting once more so that I could confirm. ~To those who can hear me~ ~Go on a journey~ ~Come to the promised land~ ~A Paradise where glory and riches flow~ A low pitched distortion rang through my ear, the sound disappeared. My anxiety began to worsened. I felt that some flags had been raised and I felt the need to do something about it. So I scavenge the local crowd in front of me searching from left to my right, front and near the end to where I¡¯m currently at hoping I¡¯m delirious wrong. I kept observing patiently and each and everyone one of them. Every nook and cranny gazing every finer detail. Who? The Teens?, The Driver? He might crash the bus. Yeah right. The Elderly?, That Nurse?, The other passengers? What am I thinking? Paranoid? Paranoia that¡¯s what I¡¯m currently experiencing. Stress built up from both school, family and social life. No one is doing something¡­. I widened my gazed and as I was about to settle my conclusion I stumbled upon someone suddenly doing an act of the person I least expected it. Who would guess that that the someone of his stature. An individual dressed in long blackened trench coat, suddenly kneeled in the middle of the bus and begun conspicuously praying and trembling. The priest moved very suspiciously and now everyone on the bus was looking directly at him. Everyone seemed baffled by the sudden movement yet they knew it was a priest so they did not bother questing him why. The bus was move approximately about less than 30 mph that enabled him to kneel unhindered. I don¡¯t have a clue about its contents was, but I¡¯d rather not assume anything before I confirmed my dreadful suspicions and blurt out unnecessary things that would cause panic and hysteria. After all I dread that same ¡®event¡¯ would never come again. I observed carefully, then a wanting came to me, for which gave me an internal struggle if I should take action. and wanting to move and close the gap between me and the one I internally accused. As my time limit was getting closer than ever, before said departure. An ill feeling grew within me, It grew and worsened by each passing moment. A loud roar that came from the clouds could be heard as it was the sound of thunder screaming in anger signaling the the coming of the rain. As tiny droplets of water began pouring. Oh what an ominous timing. I looked at my watch and saw it less than two minutes till our destination. As I dashed forward, my activities became less subtle and more noticeable, finally a few moments later the priest and the surrounding people took noticed. Now I¡¯m closer to the bag and it¡¯s suspicion owner are hoping that I had been truly a mistaken. And so I grabbed the collar of the priest and the action I made may seem peculiar to another, but I have my reasons. I heard several people gasp and confusion could be seen within their faces, some even looked dumbfounded. They saw me interrupt a priest. I know they are probably thinking why someone would rushed towards the nearby kneeling priest with a face full of anxiety. It made me felt like I¡¯m some mad fool who seeks self satisfaction by randomly hurting people. I¡¯m not liked that and though I cared little of what other random people think of me. It doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m without shame. But right now I¡¯m trying to be shameless to satisfy my curiosity. I heard someone even screamed to stop me, some panicked and while others seemed troubled, I understood then that they thought I was about to hit an innocent priest. My breathe tightened and the lingering chill aggravated and turned into angst, after all my time was running out and only several feet remained before I could confront spine-chilling trepidation. Honestly I was filled with dread as I pondered on my thoughts on what I might possibly do. Everyone could see that I¡¯m giving off a cold piercing gaze directed towards the startled priest as his bodily movement was now filled with anxiety. I felt a tingling sensation, A presence. I know someone had definitely approached behind me. I wasn¡¯t threatened by it nor did it had any malicious intent, but rather something else entirely, so I brushed it off as something less noteworthy, because all of my attention and focused was needed in front of me. My heart pounded when I tried confronting his eyes, but he had his gaze moved intentionally away towards left side of his coat. This cause my suspicions to grew even further. He trembled, and began to be drenched in cold sweat. It did not matter to me even if I seemed too aggressive and too discourteous towards the priest. Well in truth I would rather be wallowed in my impassiveness, relax and care for my siblings and play my ¡®game¡¯, but tonight was different and my life depended on me finding out what I had been curious about. I knew plan my sucked a lot and there was way too many possible scenarios. Like for instance I had terribly had mistaken by choosing this course of action, but I felt at the time something was right about my target. And what could it be. Less than sixty seconds left that¡¯s more than enough I think. Steadily I moved my hand to grab the suspicious bag and forcefully I opened it. It''s heavy, colored in jet black and I opened it. What I saw could only be describe as a bag filled with junk. Literary the bag had been filled with nothing except junk and most of them are broken piece of something similar to an android phone. Wait more precisely all of them are the rare astral phones? Aren¡¯t they very limited? Why does he have so many of them? ¡°Damn now i¡¯m the bad guy! Oh Great!¡± as I loudly said those words so the crowd could here which them. Slowly closed and placed the bag carefully. Yet still my gut felt like I¡¯m right on track and my instinct screamed something is definitely not right. Then a second later something dawned on me as to why he had avoided my cold gaze. It wasn¡¯t because I was scary nor seemed mad but rather he changed his view towards something else. So I tried a different approach and so I kneeled and instead of the bag I grabbed the collar of his trench coat to reach his inside pocket. A ding-a-ling sound from my phone announced the arrival of a new message. I was interrupted by my own phone and it''s mood of the crowd is rapidly devolving further. So I let go of him and apologize publicly. I moved away and headed back at my seat while still feeling extremely uncomfortable. So I checked the time on my phone again. Less than 30 seconds left eh. The rain began to heavily pour more so than earlier. I look towards the front and saw on the distance a familiar place. Yes! I can¡¯t wait to get out of this place and go home. I moved towards the front of the car near the driver and to wait. I saw the driver turned on the radio and search a song within the local stations, I then unlocked my phone to see what¡¯s Maria¡¯s picture message but before I could do. ~Come to me~ ¡°WHAT THE HELL!¡± I blurted out unintentionally and everyone even the driver looked at me. ~Lets go on journey~ ~Into the darkness and unknown~ ~Filled with undying fantasy~ A Familiar sound indeed. A sound I¡¯ve deeply heard so many many times. A song that¡¯s been feature on my favorite supernatural show compliments by a local band who I don¡¯t really like. 12 seconds left. It finally started getting hard, with my breath hardly getting back to my lung, I need to ease myself so I began counting down from on what''s left on my time. 11¡­ ~A gateway to heaven~ I checked my found to see the message I missed. 10... My phone fell for I had dropped it because my hand started shaking, my body stopped breathing, and my mind is panicking. I am cursed. 9... I turned around desperately to see the eyes of the one who brought this upon me. 8... The eyes of the one who called this disaster forth contained the spark of madness, filled with malice, deviousness and I felt that this one was far more sinister than I thought. I''ve seen this eyes before. They are the type who would gladly watch the world burn. ~Or~ Damn song. ~Gateway to hell~ 7¡­ ~Now~ ~Come and find me~ I tried to shout yet no words came out. I finally collapse on the floor and the others followed me. Each of them had started collapsing differently. 6¡­ How? I wondered as I lay on the floor helplessly, as fear and hopelessness had finally filled me. I see darkness has began to enshrouding me. Yet the one who who did all this walk close me. 5... Picked up my phone and looked at my phone and then a ominously devilish smile not suitable for someone of his stature could be seen. ~Go on a journey~ ~To a path of certainty~ I wanted to say "At least let me say good bye to my family!" but I knew It was futile. 4¡­ ~Come to me~ With those words my vision faded away. ~To those who can hear me~ 3¡­ ~Go on a journey~ ~Come to the Promised land~ 2¡­ ~For what awaits is certainly~ Like what I saw the message contained I now know my fate is finally certain. Definitely. 1... ~Ruin And Death~ With those final words from the song and message as both the bus and my consciousness finally came to a halt. ************** Thanks for reading!!!! Hope you guys enjoy the perspective of a trouble filled young man and his real name will be a mystery. In this chapter one of MC''s was having an emotional difficulty that''s why he tries to mask it as best as he can ever since his "world" had started to crumble down prior to this introduction. [th_107_.gif] :imdead: Next Chapter Almost Done Title - v#1.2 ~The "14"~ Give me suggestion and teach me stuff so I can write a better path. Author¡¯s Note: Inspired by a lot of different types of genres and also A multiple narrative type of a story. So expect change in perspective from time to time. This will story shall begin as a Dungeon crawler story and expand there afterwards. #1.2 Passengers of Bus #214 part 2 Please enjoy My Epic Dark Scifi/Fantasy ************** #1.2 "Passengers of the Bus #214" PoV: Continuation of "Me" A pure white light suddenly flashed before me, and then the floor shook as I heard a loud splashed of waves outside. The moment I woke up a vision flashed before me of a person from a very distant memory, the event triggered a longing from my heart, then followed by a slight headache. Then after a few seconds the dream was gone and now was replaced by disorientation as I found myself lying, my cheeks tightly embedded on the metallic floor, I began to move my head and observed my surroundings, though honestly at first I slightly panicked but through a similar experience I calmed myself very quickly. I know all too well that if I remained on the state of uncontrollable fear or anxiety my current predicament would only get worst and this matter won¡¯t ever be solved if a pursued without a calmed mind and truthfully this isn¡¯t the first time I was kidnapped. But I will tell you all about it at a later time. It seems we are on a closed room and I do not have any clue as to why we are here. I crawled to a corner slightly far away from the others and came to a conclusion that currently we are currently on a ship in the middle of the ocean, then inspected myself for any significant difference. They¡¯ve strip us of everything except our prior clothing. Feeling cold and shaking. I felt the motion of the room has been slightly rocking back and forth and the sound of waves splashing. Nothing significantly different from all the ships that I¡¯ve already seen, and by the looks of this place, I can safely guess we are currently held at this ships mess deck. Within this mess desk there¡¯s total of 4 long silver tables and 14 stall chairs located in the middle of the room, along with it was 14 large cases, 14 bags and a 54 inch flat screen TV was attached to the far end of the room located near one of the locked door. Anyone could tell they are specifically placed in there for a reason, as set are placed in an orderly manner. For example the the cases was set on the top of the table perfectly adjacent to each chair, and on each chair a bag was designated placed on top of it. ¡°What could they be there for?¡± I said it to myself and low enough not to be heard by others. Naturally waking up on an enclosed tight space surrounded by strangers one who ask Where the hell am I?, What Am I doing here?, Who are they? Why are we ¡®in¡¯ here for? Is there a way out of here? Etc¡­. etc¡­ etc¡­. But I¡¯ll postpone that since I need to assess more of the situation. While I amused myself by investigating my surroundings someone suddenly interrupted my thought process as I heard a voice speaking directly to me. ¡°Hi!¡± I heard a cold enthusiastic voice spoke to me ¡°You¡¯ll be alright, you did not scream, panic or cried like the others.¡± I turned my head around, and saw a beautiful wavy auburn haired girl with a light brown skin tone playfully sneering at me. She looked slightly older than me probably nearing her 20¡¯s or early 20¡¯s, While she wore a skinny blue jeans and a lovely imprinted red shirt with a saying ¡°Fool! I¡¯m not a bitch, I¡¯m am THE bitch¡±. I would¡¯ve laughed so hard but given the situation I deemed it not highly appropriate. Then she moved towards one of the remaining 4 still lying, before I could respond back to her. Effectively cutting out our conversation. I would¡¯ve called her or ¡®rude¡¯ ¡®mean¡¯ but I refrained when I saw her assist the oldest of us all, as he too had finally woken up. I noticed the others had already sat on the middle of the room and then checked the people who are my would be fellow captives. Its seems a total of 14 with the majority being female group. 7 males and 7 females with varying ages. I knew most of the faces here as they were all the who are with me on that damned bus and now 3 additional face new faces that I can¡¯t even recognize. ¡°Where¡¯s the priest and driver?¡± I said in a very low toned voice so that the others wouldn¡¯t hear. Though I kept to myself while observing the others, I knew that someone would eventually say something related to this matter. Naturally one would be frantic in ask similar questions like ¡°Where is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?¡± I would but experience tells me otherwise to be more patient and let someone else do it. ¡°Ugh!!...¡± I heard some from a farther corner of grumbled, then asked ¡°Where is this place? Why am I here? And who are you?¡± then I hear another person screamed, then began to wail miserably as she sat on her part of the corner. Well she¡¯s of the few teenager stuck here without us. I don¡¯t know her name but I knew she one of the horror fans who went to a filming location before they got on the bus. A sweet-natured lady of a placid disposition who flawlessly wore a dirty gray hair came and tried to genuinely console her. ¡°I wanna go home!¡± Another one yelled then cried. I could not see her face for she was lying on the floor crying and her head was blocked from my view because both she and 2 of her friend are hugging which prevents me from seeing the face the persons face as they try to console the each other. Then I heard another screamed and now everyone''s mood has began to deteriorate quite rapidly. It seems that everyone was already away. I many see some turned pale, some cried, 2 of the men are furious, the the last who those who just had awakened gave a confused looked. Who can blame them one minute they¡¯re riding on a bus and the next they awaken somewhere else entirely with the same fellow passengers/strangers and finally the furious men went to one of the closed door and began knocking heavily. ¡°OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!!!!¡± both yelled in sync as the both as they used their bodies smashed the door heavily. Any calmed mine would clearly say ¡° What you''re doing right now is only a forlorn attempt to escape¡± And those who kidnapped and trapped us here made sure that this is a secured area. Only Idiots wouldn¡¯t make sure that what¡¯s inside stays inside. This place could be describe as nothing more than heavy prison. I want try and help them by further assessing this room and so I gathered my strength and raised myself, then move closer to the center. ¡°There are 14 large cases and 14 bags, we have a total of 14 abductees here. I don¡¯t know the significance but I can safely assume that a bag and a case are meant for each of us, as one can see how they¡¯re placed.¡± I spoke clearly enough so that the other can hear. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I observed further and found that all the equipment are all made with high grade materials but I don¡¯t know what they are probably military grade. So I drew myself closer without touching them and found out that all of them are tightly locked ¡°Damn.¡± I said. Though I have an inkling of touching them and it would be good to know more about this thing as I investigated things more, but for now I refrained not to for a thought that it might be a trap. I need more answers before my curiosity gets the better than me and I might die before I get some proper answers. Now then I''ll need to ask the others if they know anything else. I won¡¯t solve anything by being selfish after there¡¯s a saying one man is not an island and making a connection is very useful in the long run. Hmm¡­ and honestly I know myself well that I¡¯m not the leader or a manipulative type of character, at least knowing how to use others strength and weakness shall be a beneficial to me. I¡¯m not naive enough to be the hero type either. I¡¯ve watched too many movies, read too many novels, and learned many lessons in history to know that any would be hero don¡¯t live long. I know someone who did and now he''s gone. Suddenly my chest tightened and my heart ached followed by a sense of longing and I know the cause for it. Damn will I ever forget? Will the pain go away?I know I¡¯ll hate myself even more if such a thing were to happen. For such a trivial question and hope soon I¡¯ll know the answer. But for now I must gather ¡®allies¡¯ as it is means to an end. After all my survival is my highest priority. I have a family who heavily relies on me and so the need to return too takes precedence, and If I too disappear then no doubt ¡®they¡¯ will surely be heartbroken again and Mama¡¯s depression would begin anew. I must return at all cost. Hmm.. And now it¡¯s time to make some ¡®connections¡¯ and create some form of trust or common goal to guarantee it and to promote and increase the chance of success. ¡°Oh well I have to at least try.¡± I whispered to myself. So I made a quick turn around and took a deep breath then slowly opened my mouth so that the words I want would eventually come out ¡°Hel¡± But then help came in a form of an interruption. ¡°Everyone all eyes on me.¡± A slightly well built brown-haired man came forward waiving his right hand. He looks to be in his early 30¡¯s, has a clear blue eyes, and by the way of he composes himself, everyone here can see that he has air of authority around him. Also note to self that this guys has a slight bit of arrogance, occupation probable either Security guard or police? Well I guess something along those like and his navy blue shirt says ¡°Raise your Kids to Respect the Law¡±. Definitely the authoritative ¡®serve and protect¡¯ type of fella. It seems now that everyone¡¯s focused are directed towards him, now they¡¯ve whatever it is they''re doing let see how this goes. ¡°Thanks Dude!¡± I silently mused. ¡°Thank you! I would for everyone to participate as we introduce ourselves!¡± He moved his head to from to right while surveying the crowd. ¡°First your name, age, where you''re from, occupation.¡± ¡°Then after the introductions I would like to everyone to gather intelligence if you have a clue to our present situation, anything significant you can think off or the the last thing you remember before you ended here.¡± ¡°So wants to start any volunteers?¡± He said it with a pleasant smile. I smirked as I knew that smile all too well. He¡¯s going to try to establish himself as the go to guy and and will later bluntly appoint himself as ¡®our¡¯ leader. ¡°I¡¯ll give him a chance. Heh!¡± I silently said it as I mused myself. ¡°...............¡± He gave a good impression and yet everyone remained in silence. Then for a single moment as he tries to maintain his visage of a reliable man, I saw something I instantly understood, his eyes twitched for a second. I can safely say that it irks him to think of the runaround silence he has received. ¡°Hehe! Typical.¡± I continued to further mused myself in silence but now I had returned to the corner where I was previously. ¡°I will!¡± someone spoke and a hand was raised, then the person herself stood, though everyone probably noticed that it took a great deal of courage and the person herself seemed to slightly tremble. Then her insecurities made her quicken her pace. This is a much needed intro, I knew she wasn¡¯t on the bus with us. After all communication is a must. ¡°I am Zhao Yi ling but my friends calls me Lynn, age 26 from here in the States but currently work as a chef of an Italian restaurant overseas. I¡¯m only here on a vacation to visit my sickly mother and¡­.¡± She paused and then she lowered her head and her voice slightly, probably due to pressure. Aww¡­ How cute. After a moment she resumed, but not before she made me a smile at how she introduced herself ¡°The last thing I remember was playing with my brand new Astral smartphone I got as a gift on my way home while riding a taxi. I don¡¯t know what exactly happened.¡± She made a long pause, took a deep breath, and then she resumed. ¡°I remember that I was somewhat tired and felt dizzy, I then closed my eyes and the next moment when My eyes opened I was baffled as to why I''m here along with you all.¡± She tossed her long silky black hair over her shoulder as it had began to cover her face. Then a falling crystal glowed down from her eyes down below her cheeks could be seen after introducing herself. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Everyone gave a sympathetic look towards her. Hmm¡­. she got one as a gift too eh? That¡¯s cool! After all it''s extremely rare just to earn one, but I feel like I¡¯m forgetting something¡­. I don¡¯t remember After everyone followed suit introducing themselves one after another. ¡°Im Yoon Ha Jang, 22, from Lakewood City working as a nurse at Tri-city Hospital in Hawaiian Gardens. Not much I that i can remember¡± She introduces herself with both grace and quite a natural beauty. With her as a spark, a chain reaction erupted similar to a domino effect. One after another we fell Then on her right the oldest of us all spoke and introduced himself with a deep trembling voice. ¡°I am Marcus Avarice 62 years old¡± cough¡­. Cough¡­. ¡°A retired soldier.¡± ¡°Lives in Long Beach City.¡± ¡°I¡¯m 28. D¡¯ name¡¯s Anthony Aguirre. Mechanic¡± He spoke haughtily while making a fake salute with his index finger.. ¡°Also from Long Beach.¡± This next one vaguely seemed familiar. I think I¡¯ve seen him somewhere before? ¡°Yo! Derrick Harding 31 Chef, Los Angeles¡± ¡°Ok my turn! Teresa Salvador 25. I teach 7th grade middle school. Nice to meet you all¡± AH! So that¡¯s the dirty gray haired lady¡¯s name. ¡°So you¡¯re next¡± Said by Teresa to the one on her right sitting besides her. . ¡°Nah! pass? Not into this kind of SHIT¡± He said mockingly said it with a smug face as if the intro is a small trivial matter. He made everyone who spoke earlier look like a dork. Hehe! He never said anything after that. Well this kinds of character dies quickly in movies even if he¡¯s got a pretty face and now am irk can be seen on everyone face. They can¡¯t force him to say his name it''s his freedom of choice after all, even it irritates them. ¡°I guess It¡¯s my turn now. I¡¯m Vincent Valencia 30 years old Security Guard from Cypress City.¡± "I hope we become well acquainted if we are to make progress in our current situation but for now we get to know each other" ¡°Guess I¡¯m done now next¡± He then looked at the person seat right next to him. ¡°Can you introduce yourself boy?.¡± Ah it¡¯s the one who¡¯s hiding herself as a boy. I wonder why people haven¡¯t noticed it. She¡¯s too beautiful to be a boy. Oh well none of my business. Might pry on later if needed be. ¡°.........¡± She did not spoke a word and doesn¡¯t seemed willing too. ¡°Another unwilling one eh! It''s alright we have plenty of time to get to know each other¡± ¡°How about you pretty face?¡± He then began to inquire the girl beside him. It was the same girl who talked to me previously I didn¡¯t get her name, her time finally came, the girl smiled and spoke with a sweet innocent tone. ¡°My name is Yesenia Vasquez, age 20, an aspiring young intern journalist from Los Angeles.¡± She looked at everyone and bowed for which gave off a favorable impression but unfortunately that image was shattered the following moment as both her tone and attitude had a drastic change. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s all you¡¯ll be getting from me, but I¡¯ll tell you this in advance since we can help each other out. What¡¯s currently happening here might be my golden ticket and if any of you blew my shot I¡¯ll personally see to it that we¡¯ll have a memorable one one one meeting.¡± A chill ran down everyone¡¯s spine, our faces paled and an inkling sensation not to mess with her. Damn. With that silence fell and a single second felt longer that it should be, the room¡¯s temperature felt colder for a second. Is this fear? or our instinct telling us of danger. "Got It?" Everyone including me nodded. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry but I wanted to make things clear and now you¡¯re next¡± her voice returned to being sweet once more she but now we knew the truth. "Your next it seems"then pointed at a girl who I then heard shrieked, ¡°Fue!!!¡± as she tried hid herself in fear. She was one of the three young fan club members, then another stepped up bravely came forward next ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Luz Lamina¡± though her voice slightly trembled. ¡°16 years old, lives in Cerritos. I''m a Junior currently attending Artesia High. Childhood friends with this two over here.¡± She pointed to the rest of her posse. ¡°My friends are too shy so I¡¯ll speak on their behalf and so he¡¯s Minao Mawari, age 17¡±. He pointed to boy who had medium-brown skin with short straight hair and hazel eyes who was embracing her distressed friend. She then proceeded to introduce her the shy one who shrieked again ¡°And this is Saya Siquijor Age 16, from the same school and same class.¡± Then I guess I¡¯m the last. Should I? ¡°Hello! My name is.¡± (fizz¡­. fizzz¡­ Fizz..) ¡°!?¡± I began but came to abrupt halt suddenly then came to a halt , I felt something odd had stopped me and I don¡¯t know how. (fizz¡­. fizzz¡­ Fizz..) I looked around check if it was just me but that everyone had the same confused looked within their faces, It was not just me who was startled. (fizz¡­. fizzz¡­ Fizz..) ¡°!?¡± ¡°..............¡± Everyone¡¯s had the same dumbfounded look, I¡¯m sure they also check earlier if they had any equipment left. At first I thought I had imagined it but thrice I¡¯ve felt it. A tingling sensation cause on my left thigh, this sudden mysterious vibrating sensation within me. I reached within me, I felt it and our hearts skipped a beat. "How?" I was startled, then a sweat flowed down my left brow. I pulled It out and to my surprise. It was one of the of the things I had it in me, a rectangular shaped obsidian object, nearly larger than the size of my palm. I recognized it very well. A very rare mysterious object that recently been distributed. It had no official name as people just calls it ¡°ASTRAL¡±. The kind of phone that wasn''t mainstreamed and not currently on market. It was a mysterious phone majority of people had never seen and yet he instantly recognized it. Because this phone is known as the ¡°Astral Phone¡± that been hyped about on the internet. They said this phone has everything you need and an exclusive game that has a 100% realism but not many info has been revealed or shown, and strangely enough those who received it has been missing. Most people didn''t believed a phone can make people vanish and neither did I. Even the police and the media believed that all those who disappeared are all runaway cases But now I¡¯m here and I have an Inkling as to what had happened to them. Surely no doubt It. ¡°What the hell is this¡± saw a faint blue light flashing on the front screen. -Swipe or Touch the Screen- I swiped it with my right hand¡¯s index finger. I turned it on and it had on only a single game app folder. A game titled ¡°Ruin¡±. I thought ¡°What an ominous name for a game.¡± then pressed it to get started. I knew it was an extremely BAD IDEA but I¡¯m generally stuck here and needed some answers. Within it a glowing text appeared before me. -New unknown user detected- -Scanning- -Please wait it will only take a moment- -Sequencing Genetic Data- -Scanning Complete: Primary Sentient Species Recognized: ¡°Human¡±- "!?" Why is the ¡°Human¡± text highlighted differently? It couldn¡¯t be. Right? -Please hold while system configure to ¡°Human¡± setting interface- An ominous thunderous drum beat could be heard I awaited for its sequence to be completed. I had an extremely lingering uncomfortable feeling this this whole thing began, and even more so now than ever. -Beginning Initialization- A flash of blue light struck my face once and I felt consciousness darkened rapidly. I was so entranced by suspense that¡¯s happening before me I did not noticed that the others was once more on the floor lying unconscious. I finally noticed and I too fell once more on the cold metallic floor. And now dizzily lying flat on the ground, unable to move. I felt entirely paralyzed. I''m paralyzed but I could still see that thing one my hand. miraculously I still held the phone. -Please Wait While Loading Commence- A text popped up then I saw an ominous looking welcoming words came from the Astral phone. ¡°I welcome you my precious (Nascent)¡± -............................- ¡°As you are one of those who qualify to be¡± -...............- ¡°May you¡± -.......- ¡°Ascend to Greatness! Or Descend to Madness!" -...- My vision began filling with erie black haze. I thought that was the end but did not realized that it was still incomplete. "Either way" -.- And what followed was a far darker and more sinister vision filled with strange images, creatures that only existed in fictions, I recognized, others I don''t know, and languages I could probably never comprehend. Like those written and wrapped in mysteries that roams deeply in the dark infinite void. "What Can Only Be Found At The End of the Path Is None Other Than" "Ruin" I felt a massive pain directly etching in front of my chest, like something was drilling or embedding something. I tried to move but I felt paralyzed from my feet to neck. An extremely foreboding feeling I could not comprehend. The final message appeared and is said. -Loading Complete- GAME STARTS IN... 5. A countdown came but for the next moment then I heard the door unlocked and someone entered, but I couldn''t see because my vision had started to become a bit blurry. 4. He spoke excitedly. 3. "They are ready bring them with the others" Then what followed next I heard several footsteps outside and the poured in and entered the room 2. I knew then that that they started grabbing and transporting the others. A moment later my turn came and I felt someone drew close to me and I wanted to resist. But then. 1. For once more my mind faded away. ************** Im So Sorry!!Orz. was Busy! in Irl So a major info dump during this chapter but I will slow it down. This is an introduction chapter and the previous ones will be adjusted soon. later I will put the name of the one who''s talking later and do something else entirely. Also I''ve got no clue how to make/edit table as I''ve never taken any computer related class and busy with stuff. Any help/advice would be great. I wanted to do more but it felt quite bothersome. But now the door to a mysterious mind blowing epic saga has finally about to begin and I how you''ll enjoy the ride.