《Eldritch Bleak》Bitter
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As Felix and Paul sped off into the budding morning, one thing became apparent to the two young men. They had no idea where they were going. Valentine had just said they needed to go, and took off without giving them directions or a place to meet up. A few more minutes passed, and Felix sighed.
"Paul, stop the car. Driving around aimlessly isn't going to help us." Felix said, hoping that Valentine would come back and tell them where to go. Paul nodded and stopped the car, pulling off into a gas station parking lot. They decided to refuel the car, and Felix kept watch for either more of those men or Valentine.
While he was keeping watch, Felix's thoughts quickly drifted to the topic of Paul. His reaction to being told his one of best friends was dead, as well as learning that his other best friend was now a superhuman ice demon cannibal was flat out bizarre. He could have shoved his emotions aside to help get through this situation, something Felix himself was currently having to do, but this seemed different. It was almost like everything hadn't fully set in yet.
"Hey." Felix virtually jumped out of his skin as he felt something tap him on the shoulder. He spun around to see Valentine, her facial expression was neutral, but changed to amused for a split second upon seeing Felix's reaction.
"Jumpy, are we?"- Felix scowled in response. She knew why he was on edge, and she smirked at his reaction, which only made him scowl harder. "Anyway, I realize that I didn't tell you where to go. I went and checked on your friend's house, and saw some of those people there. So we're going to go to a motel until we can figure out what to do. I'll ride with you this time."
Felix nodded in response. While he didn't understand her motives in the slightest, he felt that she should be trusted, at least for now. Most people wouldn't go to such lengths for someone they didn't know.
Regardless, they all got into Paul's car together and pulled out of the gas station parking lot.
"Paul, do you know where the nearest motel is?" Felix asked his friend, who gave a quick nod in response. The lack of a verbal answer did concern him, but he decided not to press Paul any harder right now. Now turning to Valentine, Felix began to speak, but was cut off by a glare.
"You never told me your name." Valentine said, glaring daggers at Felix as she spoke. Felix panicked at her sudden mood swing, but began to understand that these just might be normal for her.
"Ah, right. I'm Felix. It's nice to meet you." Felix began uncertainly, but became more confident as her glare faded when he introduced himself.
"So, uh, thanks for your help. You saved us back there, but I'm a little confused. Why are you helping me? We haven't met before, have we?"
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"No, I saw you for the first time on that hilltop. I helped you because we're in the same situation. I'm sure you would have done the same for me if our situations were reversed."
"Oh, the guy driving is my friend. His name's Paul."
"Not very talkative, eh?"
"No, he normally is. I think this whole situation is a little too much for him."
"That's understandable."
"So, do you have any idea who those men are working for?"
"Not at all. If the cliché black suits are anything to go by, I'd guess they work for the government or something like that."
Just as Valentine finished talking, Paul pulled into the 'Happy 24's' parking lot. The Happy 24 was easily the sleaziest motel in town, and was known for high amounts of gun violence and drug use. The place was almost eternally occupied by aggressive sex workers and brutal pimps. Everyone in town knew where it was, but few actually ever dared to go there. Felix and Valentine gagged upon smelling the air here, which stunk of vomit and other bodily fluids. Both decided to breathe through their mouths, but immediately stopped when they realized the very air around them tasted exactly how it smelled.
Screwing their mouths shut and pinching their noses, Felix and Valentine walked across the parking lot and towards the check-in desk as fast as humanly possible, barely resisting the urge to tap into their inhuman speed. Paul didn't bother to try and keep up with them and followed at a normal pace, only wrinkling his nose slightly at the stench.
Inside the building was slightly better than it was outside, even if it was only by a minor margin. Once more, thanks to their enhanced senses, Felix and Valentine were subjected to the sounds of... service from the rooms that connected to the office.
Felix booked a room for a night and took the key from the man at the front desk, who winked at Felix when he saw Valentine follow him. He shuddered, and hurried out of the building just as Paul came in, the latter sighing and leaving to follow his friend and mysterious savior.
Their room was on the ground floor, and while the numbers on the door were clearly faded, the door looked brand new. It seemed as though the owner just put the same old number plaque on a new door. Felix suddenly got the sinking feeling that the door was the newest thing on this entire property.
A quick twist of the key later, and Felix's suspensions were confirmed, much to his and Paul and Valentine's horror. The room was small, as they had suspected, but it was much dirtier than any of them had expected. Paul started to walk towards the bed, but Felix simply put his hand on his friend's shoulder, stopping him.
"No. Just no."
"What's wrong with it?"
"Frankly, you're likely to get an infection if any part of your bare skin touches that mattress."
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"Oh. Is that chair okay?" Paul asked, pointing towards a metal folding chair that was propped up in the corner. Felix nodded, and then sprinted over to the bathroom as fast as he could and threw up in the toilet. As soon as he came out, Valentine followed suit.
If there was ever a sorrier scene, Felix sure hadn't seen or heard of it. Both of the inhumans sat stiffly in the middle of the room, afraid to touch anything and mentally vowing to burn their clothing as soon as they left this establishment. Paul had fallen asleep in his chair, and had remained motionless for several hours. The sun was sinking, and Felix and Valentine had finally gotten used to the smell.
"So, uh, what monster are you fused with?" Felix's question was awkward, but it managed to break the uncomfortable silence that had settled over the room. Valentine raised an eyebrow at his bizarre wording and stiff tone, but understood what he meant.
"I'm 'fused' with a Vampire. Basically, she attacked me while I was walking home a month ago. I fought back, and we both ended up falling into the street and getting hit by a speeding drag racer. I woke up a few hours later in a back alley with all of my injuries healed. Apparently, the racer thought he'd killed me, which he did, I might add, and decided to hide the body instead of calling an ambulance or the police. He's a prick, but things are probably better this way." Valentine spoke calmly. Hearing someone talk about their own death so casually was jarring and told him one of two things. First, this girl was excellent at moving on from the past. That, or she was just an absolute psychopath. As of now, Felix wasn't sure which was true.
"Oh, well I guess it's only fair that I go now. My girlfriend and I went up to a cabin in that forest for vacation, and we were attacked by a Wendigo. It killed my girlfriend and I managed to kill it, somehow. It killed me too, and whatever this is happened to me." Felix didn't realize he was crying until he finished talking and felt warm water running down his cheeks. Valentine mumbled her condolences and looked down, falling silent.
Felix wiped his eyes and got up, stretched himself and yawned. The room suddenly felt suffocating. He decided to leave the room, and as he walked towards the door, he suddenly stopped. A new smell filled the air. It was an animal of some kind but despite not being sure what kind of animal it was, Felix decided that it would be best to back away from the door as heard a set of footsteps come to a stop in front of the door.
Whatever it was, Valentine noticed it too. She effortlessly lifted Paul out of his chair and deposited him in the bathroom, the man waking as soon as she put him down. He protested, but Valentine simply shook her head and glared at him. He ceased his resistance, and she shut the door to the bathroom. He locked the bathroom door, and Valentine and Felix converged in the middle of the room, just far enough that they couldn't be seen from the window, but not so far that their backs were against the wall.
However, this move, despite how clever it was, turned out to be entirely futile when the door literally exploded into splinters and egg sized chunks of wood. Both whirled towards the man that stood in the doorway. He was tall, tall enough that he had to duck through the doorway as he stepped through it. He was exceptionally muscular and wore a simple black jacket with a grey muscle shirt and black jeans and boots. His hair was black and slicked back neatly. His skin was tanned and his eyes were bright green, flashing with excitement as he locked eyes with the duo. A wolfish smile spread across his face, and he placed a hand on his head and smoothed his hair down, even though it wasn't standing up.
"Ah, I seem to have knocked too hard. Oh well. It's nice to finally meet others like me. The name's Levi." Levi's voice was cocky and joyful, like he was genuinely happy to see the two. Felix detected a minor accent in his voice, and while he wasn't fully sure what it was, he guessed, assuming the man's name was anything to go by, that it was German.
"Well, Levi, most people don't bust down a door to greet someone." Valentine's tone was hard, and her muscles began to tense up as she spoke, as if she was ready for action at any second.
"That's true, I suppose. Well, I assume you must have figured out that I'm not just here to exchange pleasantries. My employer would really like to meet you two, so I'd ask that you just come with me. Be sure to bring your other friend with you. The one in the bathroom." Levi took a step towards them, but Valentine held her stance. Felix stepped back, not wanting to be anywhere near these two when Valentine would inevitably deny going with him, assuming he was with the gunmen. He made no move to get Paul, as he was likely as safe as he was going to get right now.
"And what if we say no?" Valentine challenged, cracking her knuckles as she spoke and then staring Levi dead in the eyes. She didn't blink and neither did he. If anything, his eyes burned with even more excitement.
"Then I suppose that I'll have to ask in a more… persuasive manner, no?" The behemoth of a man stood before them, his wolfish smile turning predatory.
Only one thought ran through Felix's head as Valentine grimaced and balled her hands into fists.
"Oh, shit."
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Shen Yin Wang Zuo
While the demons were rising, mankind was about to become extinct. Six temples rose and protected the last of mankind. A young boy joins the temple as a knight to help his mother. During his journey of wonders and mischief in the world of temples and demons, will he be able to ascend to become the strongest knight and inherit the throne?
8 347Across the Realms [Dropped]
Disclaimer: I'll leave this on here for anyone to read. The last time I uploaded a chapter was nearly a year ago, and to all the readers who still kept their trust in me after I came back from my umpteenth hiatus, I am sorry. I will not carry on writing this; I started off without the correct foundations of a novel, nor commitment to fully finish it and I do not want to lie to you all once again. Maybe one day, I may decide to re-write the novel, with a new basis or at least a comprehensive starting point with many of the narrative errors cleared up; but, till then, this is goodbye. And, once again, thank you for the motivation you gave me. Even now, I see many emails come through with people commenting. Goodbye. A child blessed by the Astral. An unprecedented destiny. Watch his path, as he marches up the stairway of Heaven. A March of a Sovereign. [Adventure, Wuxia, Martial Arts, Fantasy] This is a Qihuan novel; it has eastern and western fantasy elements. More often than not in Xianxia or Xuanhuan there is a severe lack of character development, being a western writer I'm changing that. My characters, from my totally unbiased view, feel fleshed out and actually have emotions. This is my first attempt at a novel, I'm writing as a means to better convey my thoughts. I will, hopefully, steadily improve chapter-by-chapter. I'm very open to feedback and constructive criticism. As one can see this is a cultivation novel, so you know how this goes. I've decided to jump-start the whole rags-to-riches scenario. He is strong from the start and is given the utility to do so. *The cover art is not my own, all rights reserved to the owner. I will take it down if necessary. *The style of the recent chapters is comparatively different than Chapter 1.
8 98Blue Screen Blues
When Ryan Glasser, (an emo kid by heart) kills himself after having a good day at school turn horribly bad, he is forced to stand before his maker for final judgment of his soul. With Ryan Thinking life was just a game he could just end and throw away without any consequences, he is offered a deal to live his next life in a real-life RPG world full of swords, magic, misery, memes, and Mondays with nothing to help him along the way but a magical cellphone full of his music to get by in his afterlife. A real-life RPG you say? That sounds like perfect place to spend eternity! What’s the catch? Well first of all, this “Server” is in a nightmarish beta stage that has two trapped goddesses engaged in an everlasting brutal holy war between each other that has recently turned into a stalemate. Ryan is supposed to kill one of these goddesses somehow. (Technically there is a third goddess, but no one really cares about her) Secondly Ryan can’t die in this world without completing his mission here. If he does, straight to hell he goes. Thirdly, right from the start of spawning into this world, he has an annoying clingy emo/scene cat-dog rogue girl fall in love with him. This would be great in all If Ryan didn’t hate furries. Ryan will realize no matter how hard he tries he just can’t lose this clingy disaster. Forth: Living in an RPG world is great and exhilarating but when the class you choose to roll seems to be just as emo as you are, interesting things are going to happen. You better hold on tight; destiny holds in store for Ryan a Twisted Romance, tons of betrayal, a life full of dark twists and turns, and an adventure that will make or break him in this strange new world. Welcome to Lectioterra Adventurer! (Please DO NOT buff the Raid boss) (Please note i am quite aware that book one was written with quite a few thousand errors. I took a break from writing for ten years and had to relearn a lot of things. I learned quite a lot from writing 100+ chapters so far. I will go back and edit book one’s chapters after I get book two finished. If you all want to point out the errors in the earlier chapters I will gladly edit those things ASAP)
8 119The Devil Of Smoke (悪魔)
Elithian, Who's born without a defect, has to suffer in school, getting bullied because of his powerless state. When he Achieves a power that rivals the gods he begins to discover his power's strengths and weaknesses. When his father dies from a mysterious association tied to his school, he promises himself to make their death long and painful. He starts scheming for the tournament that all students have to attend, in order to join the association, and kill those who harmed his father. He’s turned into a... Devil Updates 1+ times a week, (just know you''ll get atleast a chapter)
8 125The Last Beyul
Everyone is on Beyul. Beyul 2.0 is the next major leap in full-body mixed reality suits. Beyul 2.0 is the virtual world which houses thousands of newly designed games. Beyul 2.0 is the latest, fastest, and most versatile networking replacement for the defunct Internet. Beyul 2.0 is a new Artificial Intelligence to aid everyone on the planet to work, to play, to learn, to communicate, to shop, to create, to collaborate, to live. After the Beyul 2.0 engineers die, players are promised prizes for solving the mystery at the heart of the new gaming world. Everyone who connects to Beyul 2.0 must surrender their perceptions of the external world, must sense only the virtual world … even as they move about the real world — a mode called: Zombie Mode. Usually, there are plenty of safeguards to prevent injury to the players. But, Beyul 2.0 has been compromised by religious fanatics who believe that Beyul is an extension of God’s Will. And they have hit squads to hunt down and kill everyone who connects to the new version of Beyul. Follow the first players to enter Beyul. Some are desperate to escape before time runs out; some seek to explore the depths of Beyul 2.0; some are hunters searching for other players; some are looking to solve the murders of the Beyul 2.0 engineers. Beyul 2.0 was programmed to lie. While there is a very detailed character system running behind the scenes, none of the characters have access to their stats or skill screens. This information will sometimes be provided to the reader in the author notes. Comments are welcomed.
8 115redamancy; lee suhyeok & choi namra
redamancy ( danh từ ): khi bạn yêu một ai đó và vừa hay, họ cũng yêu bạn.nhưng đôi khi tình yêu không còn là liều thuốc xoa dịu tâm hồn con người.và đôi khi tình yêu là nguyên nhân chính gây ra những dày vò cho trái tim.📝: có yếu tố gây ức chế và một vài tình tiết phi thực tế. Xin hãy cân nhắc trước khi ghé thăm và đừng nói lời cay đắng. Xin cảm ơn !
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