All Chapters of THE WORLD OF RUINS: Chapter 1
- Chapter 10
10 chapters
S01-CH01
“God, I hate my job.” I said it loud on purpose, hoping somebody would tell me to go home but nobody did. Njabulo shot me the dirtiest look possible without actually spitting on me. He turned to Clarissa instead and said. “Remind me again why he’s coming with us, Clarissa?” Meanwhile, Clarissa’s eyes were everywhere but turned to him and sighed. “The Captain said the demon might be stronger than the last one we fought, Njabulo. Yanga is here to back us up.” I flicked my cigarette butt onto the curb, the thought of me being called back was so absurd it nearly made me laugh. I scratched the back of my head. “Why didn’t you just call the SWAT team?” Njabulo pointed a thumb at me without missing a beat. “See? He’s an idiot. If the demon is stronger, we’re definitely dying here with him.” At that moment, I wanted to punch him in the face but if I killed him I was gonna loose my job. So I just reluctantly pulled a fresh cigarette and lit it. Without any more words, we continue
S01-CH02
Njabulo must have mistaken my yelling for primal fear of the monster. His eyes hardened with misplaced heroic resolve. He made a stance and ripped his katana from its sheath. “I don’t care if you’re a complete idiot, I’m not letting a comrade get eaten.” And right on cue, something enormous peeled itself from the darkness. The demon waddled forward with a stretching sound. It was obese with six massive arms that were dragged across the ground. Its head was small compared to its body with beady yellow eyes that glowed. Njabulo inhaled sharply and immediately shot forward. The demon roared and one of the massive forearms shot out aimed at Njabulo but he jumped, performing a backflip and the demon’s blow slammed into the concrete, sending dust exploding outward and leaving a crater. Njabulo landed cleanly on the demon’s offending arm which was still partially embedded in the floor and started sprinting along its surface toward the thing’s head.Three other hands shot out, two coming
S01-CH03
“Wait, so a demon told you that it’s looking for me?” I asked, making sure I heard that right. It was stupid ask but I needed to buy time to process the monumental pain in the ass this was becoming. Clarissa’s eyes were on the pulsating knot in her hand. “Yeah.” she simply replied and then swayed. She looked worse than Njabulo did right after I punched the water out of him. The thing she was holding seemed to be draining her energy. Suddenly she let out a low whimper and collapsed to her knees. I dropped to my knees beside her. “Okay… And how exactly did it do that?” I asked, peering into her eyes and hoping for an answer but she didn’t answer. I reached out carefully, placing a hand near the knot. “Let me take it from you.” I said firmly. She hesitated for a split of a second, her hands trembling but she slowly extended it toward me and I grabbed it. The moment my fingers closed around it, a shock of emotions slammed into my consciousness. It wasn’t exactly a memory but I could
S01-CH04
I couldn’t really sleep, I kept turning again and again. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the white skin and black markings of that demon. The exhaustion there and so heavy but I just couldn’t fall asleep. So I simply waited, counting the seconds until the darkness outside was completely replaced by sunlight. When the sun was finally up, I didn’t waste any time. I pushed myself off the bed, walked to the chipped wooden dresser and opened the top drawer. I grabbed the sealed pack I kept hidden for emergencies. I pulled one out, lit it and inhaled deeply. Then I went and stood by the window, watching the traffic below begin its daily crawl and smoked the cigarette down to the filter. Once the smoke was gone, the immediate edge was taken off the morning. I stripped off my blood-stained clothes, stepped into the bathroom and let the shower run hot until the apartment filled with steam, washing away all the bad energy. Twenty minutes later, I was me again. Dressed in a black suit a
S01-CH05
The drive to Clarissa’s apartment was painful because of the oblivious car traffic. It was the lunch rush hour and I hated traffic. Eventually I abandoned my car a half-mile from her block, parking in a loading zone downtown. And walked the rest of the way. Her apartment was in a quiet section of the city, surrounded by overgrown trees. I walked up the porch steps, trying to settle my breathing. And I knocked and called out. “Clarissa. It’s Yanga.” She didn’t answer but I waited. Then knocked again. “I know you’re in there.” After what felt like years of waiting, the deadbolt finally slid back and the door creaked open. Clarissa stood framed in the doorway, her shoulders slumped and she was wearing an oversized hoodie. Her face was stained by tears and mottled red. She looked… broken. “Hey.” she mumbled, gesturing vaguely with one hand. “Come in, Yanga.” I stepped past her. The apartment was tidy but smelled a lot like alcohol. I walked over her and sat on the couch. “I cam
S01-CH06
The next morning I woke up with a headache that felt like I was hit by a truck. I sat up, rubbing the knot on my forehead and the room spun for a dizzying second. – That bastard. I then went to shower and it did its best to cleanse my exhaustion but not the headache. I got into my attire and walked to the door afterwards but paused there for some while, my mind feeling hazy. – Am I forgetting something? I frowned, running a mental checklist. Everything was present and accounted for, so I went out and drove toward the precinct. When I finally staggered into the station, I looked exactly how I felt. I ignored the stares, bypassed my desk and went straight for the water cooler, pouring an entire cup of ice water down my throat. “Qwabe! About time you showed up.” Detective Miller called out, walking by. “The Captain’s been asking for you.” “Argh, again?” I muttered, setting the cup down and already turning toward the Captain’s office. I opened the door and sauntered in. “Hey,
S01-CH07
Sarah walked past the dozens of bodies strewn across the lobby floor. She was scanning the scene but ignoring the terror of the situation and she stopped a few feet from us, near the check-in desk and she turned to us. “Check randomly for pulses.” she said, leaning down immediately, checking the neck of a bellhop who was slumped over the reception counter. I moved to a woman collapsed on a couch nearby. I pressed two fingers to her neck and i felt the slow rhythm. “We got a pulse.” I reported. “I found one, too.” Kabelo reported, right after me. Sarah straightened. “I found one as well.” I looked around the sprawling wreckage of the lobby. “So, everyone here is not dead? They’re just unconscious like Mothoa.” Kabelo added, nodding quickly. “And the one I just checked, his body was out cold as his too.” “Mine too.” Sarah said. I on the other hand, only focused on given task but I didn’t want to be left out of the deduction phase. So I tried to sound insightful. “So w
S01-CH08
I woke up with a shout caught in my throat and kicking out. My shoe slammed hard into the front seat of the car. The suddenness of it jarred me instantly. “Hey baby, are you alright?” My mother’s voice was soft. I looked up and she turned around in the driver’s seat, her face framed by soft brown hair and her eyes wide. Huh… was that a dream or a vision of how my life will be after my mom dies? No. In that chaotic dream, I didn’t even recognize her face. “Yeah. I just had a bad dream.” I replied. She smiled at me. “Wanna tell me about it?” I quickly shook my head. “No, it’s good. I already forgot most of it anyway.” She straightened, putting the car into park as we arrived at our house. “Okay, then. Tell me about school, is that boy Njabulo bothering you again?” Njabulo? He was in the dream too but he died. I tried to keep the shock out of my voice. “No, Mom. Today he didn’t do anything to me.” “I’m glad.” she said, unbuckling her seatbelt. “Because I was
S01-CH09
“Yan…” The choking whisper scraped against my consciousness. My eyes snapped open and the first thing I saw was my own hands wrapped tightly around Kabelo’s neck, squeezing the life out of him. I instantly released the grip. Kabelo stumbled back and leaned against the wall, clutching his throat and coughing hard. “Sorry about that.” I said, adrenaline still surging through me. Kabelo waved a dismissive hand, still hacking. “It’s fine. You didn’t do it out of your own will.” He finally balanced himself and looked at me with confusion. “Are you okay?” “I wasn’t the one being strangled.” I retorted, rubbing my own neck instinctively. “Yeah but you’re the one with tears in their eyes.” Kabelo pointed out. I quickly wiped my face but a quiet sniff still escaped me. “No, I’m good. It’s… this toxic atmosphere.” “What happened? After you saw that eye, you went unconscious like everyone else. Then you started attacking me with your eyes closed.” “I wasn’t unconscious. I f
S01-CH10
Man, this is such a pain. – I stood at the entrance to the service hallway, facing an entire lobby full of possessed civilians. They were all armed with whatever they’d grabbed from the immediate surroundings and spaced out just enough to make passing impossible without a fight. I walked a few steps away then stopped, rubbing the bridge of my nose in frustration. – Why did I even agree to come here? – I checked my pockets, my fingers brushing against a crumpled tissue paper and nothing else. Then I remembered that I left my cigarettes home and my irritation turned into a furious boil. I stomped my foot on the floor once rapidly, trying to stomp away the fury that the demon had ignited. When I stopped, I stared at the crowd again and sighed deeply. – I can’t fight them all. My body still hasn’t recovered it’s full stamina after the explosion and if start fighting them, I’ll only be depleting myself before I even reached the demon. I need an opening. I worked the scenario in my h