《Rifters》 Prologue - Chapter Zero Imagine my surprise when I come back from school to find my entire family dead in my house. Their bodies ripped apart from something with it''s bare hands. How do I know you ask? Well that "something" was hunched over my sister eating her corpse in the dimly lit living room where majority of the light is blocked by the thick curtains in the living room. I wanted to scream at him to get away from my sister, to get the hell out of my house and to scream away the rage of him killing my family. But what came out instead was not a scream but useless air. And I finally realised I was afraid that this thing will kill me. Having fianlly noticed that I stood rooted to the ground in the doorway it slowly crawled over to me on all fours taking its time enjoying the fear radiating out of my body. When it was finally close enough to me I could see its face and body in the light from the road lights leaking through from the curtains that I saw its features. The creature is skinny very skinny I could see its skin getting stuck on its bones. And the face oh god I don''t wanna describe how the face looks like its gonna give me nightmares for a year not that I''m gonna get one tonight after this event but only if there''s a tonight for me. After seeing the appearance of that thing I finally snapped out of my trance and started looking around for weapons that I can use. Whilst looking around I was stumbling backwards at the same time trying to make it think that I''m panicking and not staying calm and looking around for a weapon. After a bit of looking around I saw a broom lying on the ground. The creature probably attacked my family when my mom was cleaning the house. A small smile appeared on my face at that thought. If my mom were to be cleaning the house during the time of the attack there will be plenty of things laying around that I could use as a weapon. For example Bleach. I could use bleach to blind the thing''s eye but I don''t really know much about it anatomy. While eyeing at that thing which is enjoying my "fear" I slowly stumbled my way towards the broom. Now the real problem arises. Judging from the little muscle mass it has I don''t think it will be fast enough to reach me before I manage to pick up the broom but looking at the mess it did to my family with its paper thin skin and barely visible muscles I decided to not judge its strength from its appearance. So with the strength that it has I assumed that it can kill me before I can even bring the broom up to defend myself. The curtains are fluttering now which means strong winds are blowing into the house with the curtains fluttering around more light started to filter in but only for a briefest of moments but that was more than enough for me. I saw an empty coke can probably left by my sister standing upright on the small table in the middle of the living room. I willed the wind in my mind to blow the coke can sideways. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. And well, the wind did what I had asked it to do and knocked the can sideways creating a noise which startled the thing. Taking advantage of that split second of vulnerability I bend down and picked the broom up and brought it up to defend myself as I heard the thing recover from its shock and charge towards me. True to my assumption the thing was fast very fast. One moment it was half a meter from me the next it was right next to my face raising its hand in the air ready to strike me down with its razor sharp nails. Another small smile appeared on my face thats a mistake which could end its life. It struck down and broke the broom in half. Unfortunately the nails struck me too creating 4 slash marks on my chest whch started to bleed intensely immediately soaking up my shirt with blood but heck I ain''t dying without taking it down with me after what it did to my family. True to my prediction it used too much force in its excitement of getting a new prey and lost its balance. While it was trying to regain its balance I used that opening and stabbed the sharpened end of the broom into its right eye. It was quite effective in a way I guess as it started to shriek in pain and stumbling backwards with a broom stick sticking out of its right eye. While it was shrieking in pain I thought I could hear a steady beat in the air but I didn''t think much of it since I''m starting to feel sleepy. Wait sleepy? Why the heck do I feel sleepy? Oh yeah I got slashed by something and am now bleeding out heavily. Looks like what they say about feeling sleepy while bleeding out was true. I could see something moving but its blurry as heck as if I''m crying. Shit, I feel weak. I slumped down on my knees and as I did that the door burst open and figures started piling in holding what I can assume to be guns through my blurry eyed vision and started blasting the thing to bits. As I was kneeling on both knees the pain from the slashes I got started to hurt so much that I moaned in pain. It seems that my moan was loud enough that one of the figures pointed towards me and gestured for someone. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a figure wearing a black helmet cut away at the ears wearing black headphones and night vision goggles attached to the front. The figure was also wearing black military fatigues, a tan plate carrier and black knuckle gloves. The figure''s lower face was covered up by a balaclava mask and a pair of tinted ballistic glasses The figure then took out a kit with a huge red cross stitched on it and took out a syringe filled with a clear liquid from the kit. The moment I felt the needle from the syringe enter my arm I passed out. Chapter One I woke up to the smell of antiseptic along with the bright shine from the rising sun blasting onto my face and the steady beep of the monitor. "I see that you are awake now Mr. John?" An old voice sounded from somewhere near my bed. It took me awhile before I realised the voice came from this old western looking gentleman dressed in a suit and wearing a pair of sunglasses, reading something off of a clipboard. "Yes, I am awake now Mr...?" "Jonathan will just do." "Where am I? I know this is a hospital but its missing people." The white washed hospital room that I''m in currently is devoid of people. "Well, you are in a private hospital, in a private room." "Well then Jonathan. I''d assume you are here to talk to me about the ''incident'' that happened to my family." I mean the way he dresses just radiates the "Men in Black" atmosphere. Jonathan hearing my remark showed a brief smirk. "Yes, indeed I am here to talk about your ''incident''." "John, I''m here because my organisation is willing to give you a choice. You can either get revenge on the Rifters or you can forget about all this mess." "Rifters?" I raised my eyebrow at that term. "Ah, yes that''s what we call the thing which attacked your family. We call them as such because they are beings from another dimension." "You''d mean that there are other dimensions?" Curiousity began to sprout inside me. "If you''d wanna know you''d have to join my organisation. The offer still stands. Revenge or forget about all ths mess." "Why should I get revenge when I''ve already killed the thing which ate my family although only indirectly." "We will take care of your cousin, Roberta." I looked at him suspicously, nobody knows that Roberta had helped me with the bullying situation I had back in school --Courtesy of that popular kid whom I"ve accidentally offended--- other than Roberta herself and I. But in exchange for getting me out of trouble she herself got into trouble. Her parents are the strict stereotypical asian parents and when she got in trouble they will always beat the shit out of her. The final straw came when she nearly got herself suspended and when that happened her parents pratically threw her out of their house and sent her to an apartment to live by herself. "Don''t look at me like that. We know all about you Ryan. From your blood type to your daily habits." "Damn..." I muttered under my breath. I know that he isn''t bluffing as he looked like a man who wouldn''t do something he doesn''t know how to. " Look, if you accept our offer you''ll get the chance to learn more about the Rifters as well as having us take care of your cousin." If they can just take care of my cousin just like that. I''d like to see how powerful they are politically wise. "How do I know that I can trust you?" "Turn the TV on and watch the news." I did what he requested me to do and watched a news coverage on my house. What I''d saw nearly made me drop my jaw. The news instead of covering what truly happened there was covering a gas explosion instead and that three people were killed --- My parents and sister.--- and one hospitalized due to serious injuries ---Me---I mean, when those guys in black started shooting it was loud like having a hundred firecrackers exploding. Something that loud should have attracted the whole goddamn police force. "Do you know how powerful my organisation is now?" Jonathan said as if reading my mind. "Yeah, I get how powerful your organisation is now." If Jonathan''s organisation is able to cover up something that big I have no quelms in entrusting Roberta''s problems with them. Roberta has sacraficed so much for so now, it is my turn to sacrafice something return for her help. "But, before I accept your offer I''d wanna know why you''d want to recruit me in particular?" "Because of your ability to keep a secret. Nobody in school knows that Roberta actaully helped you with the bullying situation you had and also because of your quick thinking which enabled you to survive against a Rifter unarmed which is a 1 in 50 odds of surviving and more so for someone without any formal martial arts training." "How''d you know about the quick thinking stuff?" "Because we were watching, John. How''d else do we know that the Rifter was in your house." "Well then, Jonathan you''ve got yourself a fresh body for the meat grinder." I sticked out my hand and Jonathan shook it. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "Once you''re discharged from the hospital someone will come get you at the hospital''s main entrance. Listen to his intructions very carefully okay?" I nodded my head in response. "Good, one more thing." Jonathan reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a manilla folder with and took out a bunch of forms. "These are all non-disclosure agreement forms, I want you to sign all of them and give the signed forms to the man waiting for you at the hospital lobby." "Uh huh." "Well then, I will see you soon." With that farewell, Jonathan walked out of the hospital room. "Haaaa..." I sighed. Non-disclosure forms? It looks like I''m getting myself into some secretive shit. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Jonathan walked out of John''s private hospital ward, he greeted a burly man stepping out of the shadows of the darkened hallway of the private hospital. "What do you think of the kid, Brian?" "Broomstick? He is smart and quick witted but he barely showed any emotions when the news about his family was revealed. He will also probably be an asset in areas where by adult operatives will be suspicious." Brian replied in his British accent. Brian is an ex-SAS soldier who had survived an attack from a Rifter and also kill one bare handed. Brian has a big chest, a well muscled body and is around 1.82 m tall. He is clean shaven and has streaks of grey in his once glossy black hair. "Broomstick?" Jonathan raised his eyebrows. " Well, Sir. Everybody back at base has seen the footage of his fight with the Rifter. He managed to wound that thing within 30 seconds with a broomstick which is how he''s gotten that name within the community." When John was fighting against the Rifter it felt like it was five minutes but in actual fact it actually only lasted 30 seconds. "Oh." "By the way sir. Isn''t it about time we get back to base? Everybody''s waiting." "Oh really?" Jonathan checked his watch and realised the time. "Ah crap! We better get going." With that, Jonathan and Brian quickly walked out of the hospital and into a black mercedes waiting outside the hospital''s main gate which promptly drove off to the airport. (Singapore only has one airport.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ While signing the forms I noticed a note written by Jonathan which says that the moment I''ve accepted his offer I will disappear from the system ---Which, in other words meant that if you were to look for me in the public records you will find the word "Deceased" stamped on it.--- within 24 hours and that I should say my farewells. Heeding his words I reached out for the telephone sitting on the table right next to my bed. Since I''m in a private room in a private hospital ---Most likely due to the power Jonathan''s organisation has.---- the table beside my bed happens to be a night table made out of expensive oak wood. I grabbed the wireless phone and dialled Roberta''s number. Nervousness filled my body as I was thinking on how I would try to bid farewell to her without revealing what''s going to happen to me. Three full rings later Roberta picked up her phone. "Hello?" A soft voice answered the phone. ''''Erm.. Hi." "John?" "Yeah.. It''s me. I wanna talk to yo----" "Oh my Gosh! John, do you know how worried I am. Also, I''m sorry about your parents." "It''s alright Roberta." "Look, I''m calling cause I wanna tell you something." "What is it?" "Eh..Um..I just want to thank you for the sacrifices that you''ve made for me so far and that I will always be in your debt." "What''s going on John? This isn''t like you." "Nothing''s going on at all." "Are you sure?" "Yeah, nothing''s going on at all." "Well then. See you back in school!" "Yeah... See you."I answered back solemnly. Hopefully she doesn''t catch the tone. I held onto the receiver as I listened to the farewells of Roberta. Today might be the last time I get to hear the voice of a last living relative who cares about me deeply. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter Two A day has passed by since I''ve last seen Jonathan. "Two more days. Two more days and I will disappear from the system." I said to myself. "Haaa..." I sighed. I stared out into the distance out of the private room''s window. The hospital is located in the middle of the downtown district so the moment you look out the window your sight will be filled with tall and bight buildings. As I was pondering on stuff I heard someone knocking on the door. Strange, isn''t visiting hours over? Well, it could be the hospital staff as well but it doesn''t hurt to be cautious. I looked around for something that I could use as an impromptu weapon and my eyes fell on the pen I''ve used to signed the non-disclosure forms. I grabbed it and hid it behind my back. I slowly walked to the door and opened it hiding the pen behind my back as I do so. "Are you Ryan Tay?" A big burly man dressed in a black hoodie and jeans asked. "Who''s asking?" I looked up at the man. The hoodie covered his face well but I still could see some features on his face due to the bright lighting emitting from my room. He has a hair cut which screams "military", a hardened face which you can see on war veterans and cold piercing blue eyes that can kill a grown man just by staring at them and also conveys the message that he has seen some shit that could scar a normal man for life. The moment I answered his question he reached behind his back and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid with his right arm. Before he could fully extend out his right arm to stab me with the syringe I tackled him and tried to drive him against a wall and stab him with the pen at the same time but he barely moved an inch and raised his right arm ready to strike down with his syringe. Seeing the movement I released my grip on him and stepped back into the room but I was too slow in releasing my grip and could feel the needle plunge into my neck and a cold liquid seeping into my neck. The liquid could be a form of anaesthesia as I could slowly feel my conciousness fade away. It didn''t take long for the anaesthesia to work as darkness soon envelope my vision. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This time I woke up in a steel cabin and not in a luxurious private room in a private hospital. I took in my surroundings. And realised that I''m on a ship of some sort. The room is not so spacious probably around 2 meters x 1.5 meters. A steel locker is just beside the bunk beds. A desk beside the watertight door. A port hole emitting light could be seen at the foot of the bed. The bed or should I say bunk that I''m on is military style. The bunk bed on top of mine has its olive green blanket tucked in and folded sharply without any creases. I got out of the bunk bed still dressed in my hospital gown and checked out the locker. If this organisation is some sort of rival organisation of Jonathan''s I might as well have a weapon handy. When I opened the locker I found clothings packed into a vacuum sealed package and a pair of boots at the bottom of the locker. I tore the package open and took out the clothings. What was inside the package was a dri-fit black T-shirt, a pair of black pants and two pairs of green socks. I immediately ripped off my hospital gown and changed into the dri-fit black shirt, black pants, green socks and boots. Surprisingly they fit me like a second skin. Having changed into my new set of clothing I looked out the port hole. What I saw surprised me. Outside is an oil rig with a series of bridges connecting the oil rig to other struts. (Imagine something like motherbase from MGS V) As I was marvelling at the sight a helicopter flew past the port hole causing the room to rattle a bit. While I was staring outside the port hole I could hear the watertight door open up. A man dressed in a black dri-fit T-shirt, black pants and black boots walked inside. What''s up with this organisation? They are all dressed in black. "I see that you are awake and that you''ve changed into your clothes. Follow me, Jonathan would like to see you now." The man gestured for me to follow him. So that big guy was one of Jonathan''s man? "I see, so Jonathan works here?" I asked the man as I followed him. "Works here? You are kidding me! He doesn''t work here, he is in charge of "here"!" The man replied enthusiastically. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "Ah okay. What do you think of him? As a leader of this organisation." "Hmm... If I were to describe to him with one word it would be "Charismatic" There''s this vibe about him that makes you want to follow him to hell and back." Thinking about that I think I could feel that same kind of vibe coming out of him back when he was talking to me back at the hospital. "what''s your name anyways?" "You can call me Eagle for now. " We then continued to chat about various subjects and before we even knew it I was standing in front of Jonathan''s office. While talking with Eagle he told me that the base is separated into six different parts. Logistics, Command, Residential, Resource/Medical, Intelligence and Aviation. The oil rig that I was on earlier was the residential area where you can find the Gym, shooting range, arcade, cafeteria and bunks. The base is arranged in a pentagon shape with the command oil rig right in the centre. Okay back to the present. Eagle and I are now currently outside the door leading to Jonathan''s office. Eagle knocked on the door twice and then opened it without waiting for a reply. Eagle stepped into the room, snapped into attention and sharply saluted Jonathan. Jonathan returned the salute back while seated. With the salute returned Eagle turned back and gestured for me to enter the room which I did and for Eagle to leave Jonathan and I alone. The room is bare bones other than an oak wood table filled with important looking documents, a table lamp on the desk, a filing cabinet and a ceiling fan swinging lazily above Jonathan. "How are you feeling Ryan? I must apologize for the method of bringing you here." "Other than a pounding headache from the anaesthetic, I''m fine thank you." Jonathan cracked a smile smile at my reply and reached down under the table and produced a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. "I''m sure you have some questions about the organisation and I assure you that I will be clearing them out one by one with you now." He said while pouring himself a shot of whiskey. "First things first. This fine organisation of mine is called "the United Nations Department of Paranormal Investigation" or also known as D.O.P.I." "So.... D.O.P.I. is actually a part of the united nations?" "Yes, we are Ryan the security council knows of our existence and the president of the UN as well." Well, that explains their political power. "Now, on to the enemies that we face. The rifters. They are otherworldly entities that come to our world from rifts that tear through space hence their name. Rifts are formed via large concentrations of a ''magical'' substance called Ether. Cults that worship rifters as gods and demons will often use this method to summon them. Based on information that we''ve gotten out of them is that their world is called "the realm of demons." So it''s safe to say that we are fighting against demons." Well, looks like I''ve turned from a normal to student to a demon slayer I guess. "We also know that there are multiple worlds beside ours. So far we''ve only discovered nine. And from information that we''ve gathered from friendly rifters - yes, there are friendly rifters- that our world is the only one that is technologically advanced. The nine other worlds''technology and society are at the medieval era but they make up for that lack of technological advances with magic. Yes, I''ve just said magic. And this comes to the end of your briefing you will learn more after you finish training. Any question you might want to ask before you head out for training?" "Yea, I have one. Have we found a way to travel between worlds yet?" "No, not yet but we are researching of ways to cross between worlds. Any other questions? No? Then good luck with training Ryan you will need it." "Huh?" I was puzzled by his words as he spoke them as if I will go to training straight away. As I was stunned by his words a bag covered my face and I felt something like a baseball bat hit me at the back of my head effectively knocking me out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: I''m not really a fan of long winded descriptions so you will find that my style is more getting straight to the point. That being said I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day/evening/night. Chapter Three This time I found myself waking up due to the chirping of birds. "Argh... Shit..." My head feels like it''s just been split open and that it''s gonna explode at any moment. I tried to recall my memories of how I got here and found them to be in bits and pieces but it still explain how I''ve gotten here anyways. I started to peice my memories together though not complete I was able to tell that I was flown to an airstrip on a helicopter and transferred to a luxury jet where I got tossed out of with a parachute. Well, that is one way to get off a plane. I sat up from my prone position and looked around. It looks like I''m in a clearing that is located in a jungle. I looked around my surroundings and tried to get my bearings. "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."I kept repeating this like it was a mantra and found myself calming down and taking in my situation. While looking around I spotted a radio on the ground and went over and picked it up. "Is anyome there? Hello?" I repeated my sentence on the radio a couple of times on different channels until I got a reply. "Ryan? Glad to see that you are awake.''" It took me a moment to recognise the voice and registered it to a certain person. "You goddamn mother----." "Calm down, Ryan this is your training. You are to survive in this jungle for a month. I''m aware that you have received jungle survival training so there is no use arguing with me." "If you managed to survive a month in the jungle you can survive a month anywhere else as the jungle is one of the most harshest terrain." "Once after a month has passed fire a flare so that our helicopters can pick you up. There is a survival kit located around where you''ve found the radio. We will be monitoring your vitals the whole time so don''t worry about dying here. With that said good luck with training. Jonathan Out." I sat there for a moment before it hit me that I''m supposed to spend a month in this shit hole. Taking his advice I went to look around for the survival kit. I found the kit where I found the radio. I guess in my excitement of finding the radio I''ve missed it. The survival kit hidden underneath a green parachute and it''s essentially a small pouch. I opened up the pouch and found a survival knife in it with its grip wrapped in cord and its blade coated with a substance which prevented the blade from reflecting light. Other than the knife there''s a matchbox, a compass, a flint which I can start a fire with, a canteen filled with water, some fishing lines and a hook. After checking what I have inside the pouch I began to plan what I needed to do. First, I need a shelter to act as a base of operations. I looked around and found that the clearing that I''m in will do just fine for building a shelter. You may think that finding food and water will be first but once the sun set where will you sleep? Second, find food and water. The jungle has plenty of that. Third, SURVIVE. With that done I proceeded to scavange the parachute and to use it as my shelter. I look up at the sky and tried to gauge the time with the position of the sun. With how the sun is located I estimated that I have around just 4 hours before the sun sets. Better pick up my pace or I will be spending the night hungry. I started to look around and to find a place suitable for me to make a shelter. It didn''t take long before I found the ideal spot. It is a place where there are two trees separated around 3 meters apart. I then tied a parachute cord between the trees -no sense wasting the cord from my knife.- and tried to center the chute on the rope. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I then went around scavenging sticks and proceeded to sharpen them with my knife. Once sharpened I stick them on the parachute in an attempt to secure it to the ground. Shelter done. Time to find some food and water. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 5 Dear Diary, Everything''s going well. The irregular weather and raining is giving me plenty of water but it also causes traveling to be quite hard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 15 This fucking sucks. That''s it. That''s all I''m gonna say. My boots are wearing out on me and the clothings are getting torn to rags from the vegetations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 20 Dear Diary, Ten more days to go. Ten more fucking days to go. My boots are gone and my clothings are now useless rags that I''m going to be using as bandages. Well, at least I''ve gotten a boar in exchange. Gonna have a feast tonight. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 25 Dear Diary, My knife''s getting dull. It''s getting harder and harder to cut something up with my dull knife. Better find something to sharpen it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I looked up from my diary. Which is actually a peice of wood which I used to carve my thoughts into. Today is the last day of the month and I could hear the rapid thuds of helicopter blades swipping through the air. I fumbled around in my pack and found the flare gun which I''m supposed to use to signal the helicopter crew where I am. With the flare gun in hand I grinned as I pulled the trigger sending a flare high up into the sky. This time my smile grew wider as I heard the blades of the helicopter grow louder and louder. Ten minutes laterI felt ablast of wind above me as the helicopter hovered above and slowly landed in front of me. A man wearing camouflaged fatigues, chest plate carrier and carrying a decked out M4 approached me. As he approaches I slowly slowly worked out the details of the man. The man looks to be around 1.75 meters tall. Everything about the man looks average, an average face not too handsome not too ugly, an average build, hair that is trimmed short but doesn''t scream "military" and a well trimmed peppered beard. "You look like shit Broomstick" The man said with a rough voice that has probably seen too much shouting. "Broomstick?" I asked. "Ah yes, welcome to D.O.P.I. Ryan. As of now your callsign wil be known as Broomstick." "Erm... Thank you?" "You''re welcome. The name''s Master Sergeant John Thomas callsign Snakedoctor, as of today you will be under my command effective immediately. Is that understood Private?" At least I have a rank now. "Understood Master Sergeant." "Good, now follow me."John jerked his head to the waiting helicopter. I followed John without any hesitation in my footstep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: As you can tell I hate describing things so expect the descriptions to be quite dull and short.