MY RIDER SYSTEM

04. A Prayer in the Dark

Kael blinked slowly, trying to process the words he had just heard.

“Kamen… Riders? Wait—you mean like the armored hero who saved me?”

"Hero?" Tucker echoed from across the room.

“Saved you?” Selena’s voice went sharp. “Now that’s quite the dangerous assumption.”

Kael frowned at her newfound skepticism. “What do you mean?”

Tucker let out a breath before setting his beer down with a dull thud. The bottle rattled against the wooden table.

"Thing about Riders," he rubbed his jaw slowly, like he was deciding how much to explain. "there's a hell of a lot more of them than you think, each one with their own goals... their own unique way of going about things. Some will save your life today and slit your throat tomorrow if it benefits them."

Kael stayed quiet.

"But in the end, the end goal stays the same—” the man paused, his voice taking on a more serious tone—“be the last Rider standing. By any means fucking necessary.”

The room seemed to shrink around Kael. And for a boy his age, he didn't know what to think.

A nervous laugh escaped him before he could stop it.

"... Right."

Slowly, Kael pushed himself to his feet. His legs still felt weak, but he forced himself up anyway.

"I get it now," he muttered quietly while dragging a shaky hand through his messy black hair.

"This is all starting to make sense," he continued under his breath. "Yeah, this explains everything."

Selena watched him arrive at his conclusion.

"I've completely lost it. I've gone crazy."

Nobody interrupted him. And why would they? Given their predicament, that would be the best possible rationale to all the madness.

"I mean seriously, think about it," he gestured wildly around the room. "Monsters outside. Armored people fighting in the streets. The world suddenly ending overnight? This has to be a dream... or a hallucination."

His breathing grew uneven again.

"Maybe I died after getting hit by that car and my brain's just making all this up before I go. Or maybe this is some kind of weird experiment. Like group hypnosis or something."

Tucker snorted quietly before taking another drink.

“The brain's pretty creative at coming up with ideas to explain the unimaginable.”

But Kael barely heard him. His thoughts drifted back to his sister and how she was taken from him that backing away now felt the viable option.

"No," he shook his head firmly. "I can't be dead."

He turned sharply toward the exit.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Selena called after him. Her chair screeched as she stood.

Kael stopped near the doorway and for a second, he stood there with his back turned toward them.

Then, with a faint sigh he allowed loose from his lips, he turned and met her eyes without flinching.

“I have to find her,” he said at last. “Whatever it takes.”

Selena could see he meant it. When Kael set his mind on something, he didn’t stop until it was done.

“Like hell you are,” Tucker barked, dismissing Kael’s newfound determination or more accurately, what he perceived as foolishness. He stepped forward and shoved Kael in the chest.

The boy hit the floor with a grunt, his palms scraping the rough wood beneath him.

“What the hell’s your problem, anyway?” Kael shouted, scrambling to his feet and shoving Tucker right back.

Selena moved fast, stepping between them before either could swing again.

“Enough. Both of you, stop it,” she snapped, before addressing Tucker. “What’s your deal?”

Tucker didn’t flinch. His face stayed cold. “You know how things work around here. You know the risks.”

And that made her pause because unfortunately, he wasn't wrong. They’d both seen too much over the past month that no normal person could explain. They’d learned to survive, no matter how cruel the choices had to be. The anger in her eyes faded, replaced by something other—worry.

Kael caught the look on her face and stepped forward, desperate.

“I have to find my sister! Why won’t you let me find my sister?”

All she could do was shake her head. “Stop. Just... stop,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. She looked him straight in the eyes, almost on the verge of tears herself. “Don’t you get it already? You’re dead. You both are. You die here, you die for real this time. Do you understand now? There are no second chances.”

Kael clenched his fists regardless. “So what, we just sit on our asses with our dick in our hands and do nothing?”

Tucker grabbed his beer again with a tired sigh.

“Sometimes, when life bends you over between a rock and a hard place, sitting on your ass with your dick in your hand is the smarter option. That’s how I plan to stay alive.”

Kael stared at him in disbelief. "That's your plan?"

"It's worked so far. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, kid."

“Then we’re already as good as dead.”

Selena groaned and rubbed her temples. The whole thing felt entirely ridiculous now. Usually, she hated arguments and did her best to shut them down before they started, but this didn’t even feel worth getting worked up over anymore.

“How did we even get here?” she muttered. “Arguing about survival… and somehow ending up talking about dicks.”

Tucker’s glare returned to Kael. “You think you’ll make it out there?”

Kael didn't hesitate.

"I plan to."

“With your survival skills?”

The man let out a harsh laugh that didn't seem funny at all, before proceeding to flash him a long scar that ran down his cheek.

“You see this? You think a fall did that? Or some kind of animal? No. Something out there did, and it sure as hell wasn't human!”

Kael’s mouth went dry. For once, he didn't have an answer.

“Face it, kid,” Tucker said quietly. “No one ever comes back. That’s how it’s always been.”

He straightened up and lifted his bottle again, “So here’s what’s gonna happen. Lesson one: you never go anywhere alone—unless you’ve got no choice. Lesson two: travel only in daylight—unless you’ve got no choice.” He took another drink, the liquid burning down his throat.

Then he set the bottle down with finality. “We’ll take you out tomorrow,” Tucker said. “Then you can go die somewhere earning your point.”

And without waiting for a response, he walked off, leaving Kael and Selena in silence.

That night, Kael couldn’t sleep. His head was full of noise, particularly of his sister’s face, Tucker’s harsh words, and the memory of everything he had lost. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that which had unfolded, the screams, and the moment she was taken from him. His heart ached too much for sleep.

He sat up slowly, glancing around the room. Most of the survivors were asleep, or at least pretending to be. Tucker was snoring quietly in a corner, holding half a bottle to his chest like a lifeline he couldn’t live without. Selena was asleep on a makeshift bed of coats and rags. Everyone else looked worn out, just trying to make it through the day.

Kael didn’t blame them. Drinking was Tucker’s way of dealing with everything. In a world this crazy, maybe being a little crazy yourself helped. The alcohol just made it easier.

Kael stood up carefully, trying not to wake anyone. He needed some air, anything to calm the thoughts in his head. In short, he needed to breathe something other than despair. He found a metal door at the back of the room and without thinking too much, he climbed up the small ladder behind it.

The rooftop was cold and quiet. The wind brushed against his face, and the city below sat dark and completely lifeless.

Kael sat on the hard floor, wrapping his arms around his knees. His eyes fell on the armband once more. It was old and worn from years of use, but that little trinket meant more to him than anything else in the world. His sister had picked it up herself because it matched her favorite color.

Back then, she smiled so proudly while tying it around his wrist that he refused to have it ever taken off.

Now it was all he had left of her. The last thing he had that reminded him of her.

Her smile… her laughter… her voice. It was all gone.

With vacant eyes, he turned toward the night sky and whispered a prayer he had long since memorized.

“O Holy Mother, please save us from our tainted souls. Our smiles are the light of hope. When we smile, the Holy Mother will appear… O Holy Mother… O Holy Mother…”

His lips shook as he repeated the words. And soon, tears started rolling down his face before he even realized it. He pressed a shaking hand to his chest, trying desperately to calm his racing heart. The world had taken everything from him: his family, his peace, his hope and left him standing in the wreckage of what used to be a life.

'Why does the world keep taking from me when I have nothing left to give?'

'Why don't the stars ever align when it comes to things my heart believes are mine?'

A broken breath escaped him.

“Please, God,” he whispered. His voice cracked as he spoke. “If you’re really watching… give me strength. I need it now more than ever.”

Then…

He heard a voice not too far from him.

“Couldn’t sleep, huh?”