Life

(The Intensity of the Worlds)

Actually…wow! I just remembered I do have a more exciting story than yours; it involves a crazy man, a girl who has no idea where she is, and a boy who…Whoa, hello, I didn’t know you were there. Please, take a seat. I’m sure you would love to hear my story. There has never been another one like it, not in the entire world, or any of the many others. This is a tale of purity, a tale of pollution, and the grey area in which we all exist. In other words… this is the story of life.

Chapter 1: Lost

Kelly opened her eyes, and immediately wished she hadn’t. This was not the same place she went to sleep in. Clenching her eyes tightly, she pinched herself as hard, and as sharply as she could. There was no holding back the whimper of pain.

She was not in a dream.

Kelly opened her eyes once more, this time more slowly; pushing herself up into a sitting position. For some reason the place she was in looked familiar. She tried to place from where, and as she did so a flash of memory appeared, she had been running through these woods. Fear overtook Kelly as she backed up to one of the trees in the glade, the crunching of the leaves identical to those in the flashes that tormented her brain. In each flash she looked over her shoulder, but could never see her pursuer, but she still knew It was there. Kelly wanted out, this had to be a nightmare; it had to be. If she just waited for a while she would wake-up in her own bed to her mom yelling at her to get ready for school. The crackling of leaves echoed through the woods, Kelly turned in the direction from which the sound had emanated. She prayed to God that she would wake up before whatever was out there reached her.

“Your good enough with the sword, but you won’t amount to anything unless you find a way to use the gun in your attacks.” The new recruit’s commanding officer informed Barouge, speaking through the smoke that clouded his face.

“Does that mean... that I’m not… accepted?” Barouge asked in between drinking in as much air as possible, his hands resting on his knees, as well as desperately clinging to his weapons.

“Yes, of course. But you are used to denial. This is your, what, third attempt?” The officer replied, reclining in his dark leather chair.

“I’m sorry I’ve wasted yet another twenty minutes of your life sir.” Barouge said, straightening himself as he caught his breath. “Maybe next year it won’t be so much of a waste.” With that, Barouge turned and left, spinning his gun and sword simultaneously before returning the pistol to its holster, and the sword to its sheath.

He tried to withhold the anger towards his weaknesses, and the General, until he was out of the metal practice room. He almost made it, but he couldn’t help slamming the door with all his strength, causing the ground to rumble, and the metal hallway to reverberate with the sound. Barouge walked a few steps before he was absorbed by the emotions inside him, and he sunk against the wall, ripping at his long dark hair. Memories of his mistakes taunted him as he swore at himself, cursing his stupidity, and cursing his talent less self. But he tried to collect himself as he heard footfalls approaching from down the hall.

“Barouge!” The voice reaffirmed what he already concluded from the footsteps—once again his bewitching friends, Prisleene and Libbi, had seduced the guards, therefore gaining access into the military encampment. “What’s wrong?” Prisleene continued after sitting down next to him, a hand on his shoulder.

“So, did you make it this time?” Libbi questioned from where she stood, leaning against the wall provocatively.

“No, but it’s okay. After all, there’s always next year.” Barouge said, rising from his seat against the wall.

“Does that mean we can still go out and get slobbering drunk tonight?” Libbi asked.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Prisleene questioned, ignoring Libbi’s later statement, as she gazed up at Barouge, not willing to return to her feet until she felt that he was telling her the truth.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Barouge answered, extending his hands towards her.

“You aren’t lying?” Prisleene asked, raising an eyebrow as she placed her much more slender hand in his.

“Of course not.” He said, as he carefully stood her up. “How could I ever lie to someone who cares for me as much as you do?” He said, pulling her into an embrace she gladly absorbed.

“Come on, let’s get back to Joshua outside.” Libbi said.

“What, you couldn’t get him in?”

“Hey, this body can only do so much.”

Barouge laughed, “Okay then; let’s go drink my shame into the dirt.”

A shape began to reveal itself from the shadows before Kelly, entering the sparsely wooded clearing. Her heart was beating faster now, she must wake up. She had to. This place wasn’t real; it existed only in her imagination. But she wasn’t waking up. Cold sweat stung her eyes as she scooted back against the tree. Her legs wouldn’t lift her; the intensity of her fear was too monstrous. She was able to tell that the thing approaching her was a man, and so far she couldn’t see anything dangerous about him, but fear still convulsed her body. Kelly stared hard into the trees, seeing if there was anyone there, but the wood was empty—she was all alone. Wrapping the tree in her arms, Kelly pulled herself into a standing position, her knees jittering. She tried to start running, but was immediately met by the ground. It was then she noticed the sound of the crackling leaves had stopped. After rolling over, she found herself face to face with a fairly young looking man; he couldn’t be older than thirty. She was about to ask him what he was doing there, when she recognized his face. Her scream was stopped as he pushed a cloth on her nose and mouth. Inhaling, she found herself losing consciousness, but before she did, she heard another set of footsteps, and saw the man glance anxiously over his shoulder. And then her world went dark.

So, are you enjoying my story? Is it better than you expected? If not, you are welcome to leave. But if you leave now you’ll never know of the dangers that lurk in the dark, and the evil that hides directly in front of all of us. So leave if you need to, but if you lose your soul to the snares hidden for you, don’t come haunting me.

Barouge downed his tenth or twentieth drink that night. He was about to learn a valuable lesson; nothing too terrible may happen when you drink away your sorrow, or drink for a good time, but you should never, never try to drink away your anger, bad things will happen.

A deep laugh erupted from deep within Barouge’s chest, as Joshua, one of his good buddies, threw up the contents of his stomach on the table. While he was caught up in his hilarity he bumped into a man walking behind him.

“Excuse me! Maybe you could look around you, idiot!” The man Barouge had collided with said.

Barouge couldn’t really explain what happened next. All the stress that he had felt that day just erupted in the most random form of violence possible.

His swung his fist, catching the guy’s jaw with his arm, sending the man sprawling into a group of partiers who had been at the bar for the past three hours. They had finally lost interest in their drinking games, and now they were looking for something void of anything that could possibly be considered intelligent to participate in. They took the man knocking over their table as an invitation to begin such an activity. Soon enough three or so were on top of the man, while another four or six stumbled towards Barouge.

Barouge tried to clear his mind, tried to keep the people from swaying back and forth with the floor, but he was having no luck. So he was entirely unprepared as the first drunkard tackled him to the floor. But as his head hit the floor he momentarily gained steady vision, and with the temporary gift he was able to grab the assailant’s shirt, and heave him into the next room. He got back onto his feet to discover another two of the men throwing wild punches at him, which he didn’t even have to try and dodge. Blinking his eyes, Barouge tried to distinguish exactly where the men were situated before him. Finally, after several blinks, he saw them clearly for a second. He reacted quickly, encasing the men’s heads with his gargantuan hands, throwing them to the ground. Those two wouldn’t be leaving the bar without someone else moving them.

Barouge spotted the large brawl then, and began to wobble his way towards it, but before he could even place his second step on the ever oscillating floor some small hands took his arm, pulling him away from the fight and the bar, and out into the chilly night air.

“Barouge, you really need to be more careful.” Prisleene said as she lowered him onto a comfortable bench that stood beside the dirt road.

Barouge couldn’t reply; the liquor was too heavy in his brain. Instead he just turned and looked at the petite little girl kneeling on the bench beside him. Her blue eyes gazed at him in worry, and her small round face was creased with lines of worry. He smiled, extending a hand and running it through Prisleene’s blond hair. “Yooouurrrrrrrrr soooo koot.” Barouge managed to get out.

A smile appeared on Prisleene’s face as she took Barouge’s hand in hers. She placed it lovingly against her cheek, leaning her head into his palm. “I know that was probably induced by your drunkenness, but thank you anyways.” Barouge smiled like a monkey on heroine.

Prisleene brought Barouge home that night; he knew that only because when he woke up in the front hall, all of his clothes still on, he found a note beside him instructing him to come over when he awoke. He couldn’t remember anything about the night before, at least, nothing past about the fifth drink or so. He tried his best to recall as he walked into his living room, telling his screen to show him the latest news story. The walls opened, and a black screen came out in result of his request. It was quickly lit up with words and a picture. Barouge sat down as he tried to figure out what the picture was of; eventually he gave up and began to read the article. Apparently the picture was of a fight that had gone down in the bar he had been in, he decided that it must have happened after he left, that was until he found his name only a couple lines in. Apparently he had served two men concussions, another a broken arm, and yet another a broken jaw. Thank goodness for the news or else he would never have recalled the encounter, and he never would have felt better about not making it into the army.

Kelly opened her eyes, once more surprised to find that she was not in her own room. But the lapse of memory only lasted for a moment before it all came flooding back.

She didn’t hear her own scream; the gag wrapped around her mouth stopped the sound. Chains rattled as she failed her attempts to sit up. Her wrists and ankles were bound to the ice-cold metal table she was lying on. Fear pulsed through her veins as she tried to discover her captor within the small hut, but once more, she was alone. In fact, the mechanism of her imprisonment was the only furnishing in the small dwelling.

Kelly thought back on the face of the man who she had seen in the woods. Shivers convulsed her body, she had seen his face on the news back home, he was wanted for three murders and attempted rape. There was no way to stop the tears of fear, confusion, and just pure homesickness that fell from the corners of her eyes. Soon they were accompanied by sobs making her body quiver.

The sound of the windows rattling jerked her from her pity, morphing it into fear. She turned her head to look up at the window, and saw a cloaked figure outside. She held her breath as the intruder was able to force open the window, and lighted on the floor. The build of the character gave away the fact that it was a man as he stealthily glided across the room to her side. As the character threw back his hood, Kelly discovered that it was the man from the news back home, and began thrashing back and forth on the table. The man motioned for her to stop moving, after she refused to respond to his motions, he bent over and whispered in her ear.

“If I was the one who put you here, why would I be coming through the window?” It took Kelly a second to be willing to process this information, but as soon as she did, she found the logic in his words, and gladly stopped her thrashing. Within a few minutes afterwards, the strange man had undone her bonds, and she was sitting up on the table massaging her wrists.

“You’re from Earth, aren’t you?” The man asked.

“Yes.” Kelly replied unsurely, her voice hoarse and faint from the crying.

“I knew it, the clothes give you away.”

It was only after the man had said this that Kelly realized just how strange his garb was compared to what most men wore, she hadn’t really thought about it until then. His black cloak was not the only peculiar part of his ensemble, his clothing was all made of the same loose knit material, and he had both a gun and a sword sheathed on his belt. Kelly’s eyes slowly traveled back to his eyes, and for a moment she could have sworn they were not the same ones she had seen in the woods before losing consciousness.

“Why are you wearing that?” Kelly questioned. The man smiled, and opened his mouth to answer, but a sound from outside distracted him.

“I’ll explain as much as possible, as soon as we are somewhere safe.” The man said, taking her wrist in his hand.

“Wait, what is your name?”

“My Earth name is Greg, but here I’m Nethro.”

The knock at the door aroused Barouge from the sleep he had accidentally slipped into. He grumbled as he switched off the screen and sleepily stumbled towards the door, dragging his feet over the thresh floor. Outside stood a distraught Prisleene, and then it hit Barouge like a slap in the face, the note.

“Prisleene, I am so sorry. I completely spaced. Actually, I completely fell asleep, but that’s beside the point. I hope you weren’t too worried.” The apology cascaded from Barouge’s mouth before he could organize his thoughts into something intelligible.

“That’s okay, I’m just glad you didn’t die form over intoxication. With the way you were drinking last night it wouldn’t be unlikely.” Prisleene replied, smiling at him genuinely.

“I believe it, I can’t even remember what happened. I just know that I ended beating-up some guys in a bar brawl. And I only know that because it was in the news.” Barouge replied, rubbing his head, his hangover still affecting him, even after his nap.

“So, you don’t remember anything? You don’t even remember telling me that I’m cute?”

“It didn’t go any further did it? I didn’t, like, ask you to marry me or anything?” Barouge said, suddenly aware that he might have done some really stupid stuff last night.

“No, but you did try to get me into bed with you.”

“Crap, oh man... you don’t hate me, do you?”

“Barouge, calm down, I was just pulling your leg.”

Prisleene laughed through her hand as Barouge let out a sigh. Seeing the hilarity she found in the sigh, Barouge decided to kick up the drama a notch. Falling to his knees, he began to rant, “Oh, thank goodness, man, I can just barely imagine how painful that would be.” Barouge stopped, pretending he was finished, and let Prisleene laugh for a while. “I mean, that would be horrible, not being able to remember you naked.”

Prisleene gasped, the tips of her fingers lingering just in front of her lips, and then she slapped him, hard. Barouge was used to this though, and had already braced for impact. Once upon a time he would actually dodge the swing, but that ended up just making her angrier, so he had learned to take it like a man. In fact, he would even consider the slap a love tap by this point. “Barouge, that was entirely inappropriate!”

“Ah, that was nothing.” With that statement Barouge swept Prisleene into his arms, running out into the dirt road, spinning her round and round. She let out screams of fright mixed with enjoyment, and then they were drawn out of their excitement as a person sped down the street in their personal transportation device (PTD for short). Barouge dove to the grass on the opposite side of the road from his house, rotating so Prisleene landed on top of him, and he took all the impact.

Thinking for sure he would end up getting slapped again, Barouge braced himself. But instead of hitting him, Prisleene rolled off of Barouge in a fit of laughter, he didn’t know what to do, and just lied there. After Prisleene had finally finished laughing she rolled back onto him, and took his face in her slender hands. “Thank you,” was all she said, and then she softly kissed his forehead.

Soon Prisleene found herself on her back, and Barouge on top. “You know what I think? I think you did try to get me into bed.” Just as expected, Barouge got slapped, and he rolled off of her laughing, soon they were both caught up in their hilarity. But they both stopped when a dark OAT (official army transport) pulled up beside them, and two men dressed head to toe in black stepped out.

“Captain Grey, isn’t this one of the recruits you turned down yesterday?”

Fink Grey gulped as he took hold of the small screen that his commanding officer, General Martino, handed him. Sure enough, it was the boy. Fink had been hoping they wouldn’t discover the boy; he didn’t want the army to have such a powerful specimen.

“Fink!”

“Yes, sir, it is.”

“I thought you said this boy was no good. That he was one of the worst fighters you had ever seen.”

Fink couldn’t help but shiver as General Martino spun his chair around. His cold piercing blue eyes peered out of the depths of his sunken eyes. His slightly gray sprinkled black hair hung in front of his eyes in points that appeared to be teeth. His muscles strained against the confines of his uniform, an obvious sign that he could tear apart any person he wanted to. So help the enemies of the country. “Fink, why would you lie to me?”

With a shaky breath that barely filled the lungs within his broad chest, Fink answered, “I guess I was just becoming overcritical after all the other recruits I had tested.”

“Captain Grey, not only is that a terrible lie, but there is no way to find fault in this kid- even if being overcritical- if he can completely destroy three opponents while intoxicated near the point of death.” General Martino stated.

“I’m sorry sir.”

“You should be, and you should be grateful too, because I don’t feel like punishing you. You are excused.” Captain Grey stood, recollecting his dignity, turning around and heading towards the door, his back rigidly straight as an attempt to feel important. “Oh, and Grey, tell my guards to come in, I want to talk to them.”

“Of course General.” Grey said, spinning on his heel and bowing deeply, before returning to his original path, and exiting the door. As soon as he relayed the message to the guards, he began to walk hurriedly down the hall, but before he was out of earshot he swore he heard General Martino say, “Boys, I have a mission for you.”

So they were going to get the boy, well, Fink Grey would make sure his training was a living Hell.

This is the beginning of my story, Life’s story.

Do you know who the lost girl is? How about the boy? Now, do you know who the crazy one is? I’m sure you think you do, but we can never be too sure in life who plays which part. How about some harder questions; where can you find purity? How about pollution? And the grey area—where does that lie? I’ll be very amazed if you can answer all of them, and even more impressed if you can answer those questions in your own life. Now let’s return to the story, and reveal more of the mystery.