Heat in the Dark

The water hit Erix’s face hard.

He stood in the middle of the school hallway during lunch, clothes dripping, cold water running down his neck and soaking into his shirt. Kids crowded around him. Some laughed out loud. Others just stared with mean smiles, happy to watch.

Bones Blackstone stood right in front of him, skinny arms crossed. His bony face looked proud, like he had just won something.

“I told you last week the amount doubles,” Bones said. “Sixty points. Now. Transfer them before I get angry.”

Erix’s watch only had forty-two points. Everything he had left for the whole week. He opened his mouth.

“Bu—”

“Shut up.” Bones flicked his fingers. Another splash of water slammed into Erix’s chest. The cold made him shiver. “You talk too much for a Level 1 with no ability. Trash should stay quiet.”

Laughter filled the hallway. Two teachers walked past. One looked at the wet floor, then at Erix, then kept walking without saying a word. A girl from his class whispered to her friend, “He gets it every day. Why does he even come to school?”

Erix’s hands curled into tight fists. His nails cut into his palms until he felt warm blood. He did not look up. He just stared at the water on the floor while the laughing continued.

This was his life. Every single day. Same hallway. Same bully. Same pain.

He was seventeen. An orphan. The weakest student in the whole school. No ability. No parents. No one who cared. The government gave him a tiny apartment and just enough food because his parents died fighting the Sulckers nine years ago. That was all. A roof. Some rice. And a pale necklace that never did anything useful.

Tomorrow he would leave for military school. This was supposed to be the last day of this hell. He had hoped, just a little, that maybe things would be different on the final day. They were not.

Bones tapped his own watch against Erix’s and took every point. “See you around, trash. Or maybe not. Military school will chew you up and spit you out.”

He walked away with his friends, still laughing. Most of the other students moved on like nothing had happened. A few stayed to watch Erix stand there, dripping and silent.

Erix stayed still for a long time. Tears mixed with the water on his face. He wiped them away hard with the back of his hand so no one would see.

He did not go back to class.

He walked out of the school while the bell rang behind him. Cold wind hit his wet clothes and made his teeth chatter. Street kids usually waited near the corner to push him around, but today the street was empty. He was too tired and cold to run anyway.

The walk to his apartment felt longer than usual. Every step made his wet shoes squeak. By the time he reached the building, his hands were shaking and his lips felt numb.

He climbed the stairs without stopping. The moment he stepped into his small room, he dropped onto the thin bed, still in his wet clothes. He pulled the old quilt over himself and curled up tight. His body felt like ice.

Before his eyes closed, he reached for the pale necklace that always hung around his neck. It was the only thing left from his parents. The government man who told him they died had given it to him when he was nine. He had held it every night since then, even when nothing ever happened.

“Mom. Dad.” His voice was quiet and rough. “I don’t know if you can hear me. Tomorrow I leave for military school. Please… change something. I can’t keep living like this. I’m so tired of being weak. I’m so tired of everything.”

He pressed the necklace hard against his chest and closed his eyes.

Sleep took him fast.

Something happened while he slept.

The necklace lifted from his hand by itself. A bright red light filled the small room, so strong it lit every corner. The necklace shook hard in the air, then broke into tiny red particles that floated like dust. One by one they sank into Erix’s chest until nothing was left.

A soft chime sounded inside his head.

[Congratulations. You have been granted the Demon System.]

Erix’s eyes snapped open.

He sat up fast, heart pounding. The room was dark again. No light. No necklace. Only the quiet sound of his own breathing and the wind outside the window.

A green screen floated in front of his face, clear as glass.

[Host: Erix Miller]  

[Race: F-Human]  

[Level: 1]  

[HP: 10/10]  

[Mana: 50/50]  

[Strength: 10]  

[Agility: 10]  

[Stamina: 10]  

[Vitality: 10]  

[Mind: 0]  

[Intelligence: 60]

He reached out. His hand passed straight through the screen.

“What… is this?”

The screen changed.

[New quest received]  

[Control your uncontrollable thirst for human blood. Abstain from human blood. During this time your HP will keep decreasing by -1 HP every hour. Quest will be marked complete once you have lost all your HP.]

Erix stared at the words. His mouth went dry. His heart beat faster.

Thirst for human blood?

He touched his neck where the necklace used to hang. Nothing. Only skin.

Outside, the wind howled against the window. Tomorrow the military would come for him at ten in the morning. He would leave this apartment forever.

But right now, sitting alone in the dark with a strange green screen floating in front of him, Erix felt something he had not felt in years.

Something was different.

Something had finally changed.

He did not know if it was good or bad.

He only knew he was no longer the same boy who had walked home soaking wet and broken.

And whatever this Demon System was… it had just given him a quest that sounded like a slow and painful death.