1. Against All Odds

Life was sometimes good, but never to Lyra Kaelin.

*YOU HAVE ONE MESSAGE REQUEST.*

Kaelin contemplated his decision before clicking on the accept icon, there he read a message unlike the other hate messages he usually came across on his inbox. This time, someone named Vespera seemed to have projected an offer unto him.

[Your pains are not invisible, I see them, and I'm counting the days until you rise. Let me be the whisper in your darkness, reminding you that you're not alone.]

Kaelin adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses repeatedly over his weak eyesight. It was obvious that an anonymous noun had been keeping an eye on him at school and have been watching all of his victimizations. A student- probably. One who had separate intentions than his ultimate salvation, his greatest annihilation.

Now all he needed to do was to play along, and seem like an easy feat to them. He stretched his fingers over his keyboard and typed in the words,

[I understand, but what do I have to offer?]

There was an immediate reply,

[Yourself. And nothing else.]

Kailen played on fingers on the desk, he must've felt the pressure in the last statement because he thought about the risks of anxiously jumping on an anonymous request. However, he considered both options aright. If this were just a prank, he would have the upper hand and be able to send the enemy's boomerang back to them.

But if it the idea of getting stronger was genuine...

Kailen felt his face, his fingers stopping at his newest scar, it was a deep dry bruise beneath his nostrils, at his moustache area. He had gotten this two days ago only after he had been submissive to his superiors at school.

Who was he kidding though? At school, everyone was his superior. Who couldn't beat up a skeletal looking kid that could barely stand upright on his two feets?

But if this offer was indeed true, he could stand a chance.

[Fine, I'll do it.]

Not that he put his hopes on it.

Another immediate reply,

[Great. The avenge begins now.]

"Now?" Kailen thought,

"But it's almost midnight."

And that was most definitely the last thing he thought for himself that night, because the next thing happened, and he was heading out of his room, down stairs and into his mother's bedroom where she laid, reading a book with a steaming cup of tea at her bedside.

"What's wrong?" she said as soon as she saw him come into her room,

"Do you need something?"

Kailen bent his head over to the side that they threatened to fall off his neck and then pushed his glasses in.

"Ah I see-" He said, issuing an expressionless gaze at his mother,

"You worry over this one."

"Kailen," His mom called out, even more worriedly at this point.

"Is everything alright?"

However, Kailen ignored her and continued.

"We mustn't keep the emotions. They'll only distract us."

"Kailen, I don't understand y-"

Blood spouted all over the room as her body exploded and cascaded. Each drop landed, sounding like a thick mess of butter as they hit the floors. The once peaceful room now looked like a domain of horror.

With his thumbs, Kailen wiped off the blood on his lens and stared seemlessly into the nothingness.

Only time would tell when he would leave.