Frustration

Ezeikel stepped into the small house and was greeted by the sight of his father reading through the daily newspaper as usual. Ever since he was little, he always knew his father to be someone who cared about the news a lot, at times more than most would.

Kennedy sat in a wooden chair in the living room, a small stool supporting a cup containing a blue glowing liquid placed beside him. From time to time, he would pick up the cup and drink the glowing substance. It wasn't until Ezeikel spoke that he acknowledged his presence in the room.

"Hey, dad. I can see you're glued to the paper as usual," Ezeikel said with a smile, walking towards his father. "You looked like you were about to burn a hole in the paper before I stepped in."

Kennedy raised his gaze from the words on the paper and looked at Ezeikel, rolling his eyes. "Oh, please. Just because I'm interested in current affairs and you're not you choose to tease me."

"It can't be helped. Everyday when I get back it's always the same thing. Can you blame me?"

Kennedy chuckled upon hearing his words.

"Don't worry. Once you've lived as long as I have, you'll learn to love the news. It's what tells us what's going on and whether we're safe or not. It would be terrible to be oblivious to what's happening around you," Kennedy said.

His words suddenly reminded Ezeikel of what he had witnessed out on the busy streets, and he couldn't help but share what he had witnessed with Kennedy.

"Hey, dad, there's something I need to tell you. I saw something strange outside today," Ezekiel mentioned.

"What happened? Come on, don't keep me waiting," Kennedy responded, curious to find out what was bothering him.

Ezeikel then went on to narrate what he had witnessed out on the streets. He talked about the dried up vampire corpse that was laying out in the open, and the large crowd of people that gathered and how no one knew anything about what happened.

"This is indeed strange. But as unfortunate as it is, the local authorities won't get involved until there are frequent deaths. That's just the way of the vampires. Let's just hope that something like this doesn't happen anytime soon," Kennedy eventually said.

"That's the same thing Kyle said," Ezekiel muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. It's just that Kyle said the same thing," Ezekiel stared at the floor. "Still, isn't it, I dunno, wrong that we're just gonna overlook someone dying without us doing anything about it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Kennedy asked. "It's not like this is the first time someone has died in this town. As a matter of fact, this is the first death that's taken place in almost two decades. Of course the authorities wouldn't take such a matter seriously."

Ezeikel didn't say anything further regarding the matter. He didn't want to start an argument with his father over something that didn't concern him in the first place, so he decided to ask about other things.

"Alright, dad. I get your point. Anyway, how's work. I hope things are going good?" He asked.

Kennedy placed the newspaper down and his expression brightened. "Oh, I'm glad you asked. Things have really been going good lately. The demand for more products I've been getting have doubled over the past week which means my income has doubled."

"That's great to hear, dad. I'm glad things are working out nicely for you," Ezeikel replied.

"How about you? Did you have any luck today with securing a job?" Kennedy asked in return.

Ezeikel scratched his head in hesitation. He eyed the chair placed at one side of the room and went to take a seat.

"Woah, tired already? I assume things didn't go well?" Kennedy inquired.

"Bingo. No luck as usual. It's been three months now and I still haven't found anything," Ezeikel rubbed his face with his hands and let out a sigh. "This is all too stressful. Why can't these damn law makers just lemme do what I wanna do? I've been doing what they've expected me to do for a while now but I haven't gotten any results. This is too unreasonable," he lamented.

"Oh, don't be a baby. Do you know how long it took me to get a job when I was your age? Do you know that that isn't even the job I have now? I've been going from job to job for years, yet here you are whining over not being able to get one? Be a man for crying out loud," Kennedy spoke, his tone laced with irritation.

"Easy for you to say. The population of this town wasn't as high during your time as it is now. For some reason, these people decided to have way more kids after King Ryker's death and now my own generation have to suffer because of it!" Ezeikel yelled.

Just as he was about to say something else, he felt an overwhelming aura engulf the whole room. He was finding it hard to breathe as he reached his hand towards his throat, releasing suffocated nouses as his eyes looked like they would bulge out of their sockets at any moment.

"Don't bring the late king into this. Have you no respect?!" Kennedy spoke, each word intensifying the pressure in the room. "Know when not to speak out of line, boy."

The overwhelming pressure suddenly vanished, and Ezekiel could breathe just fine once more. He gasped violently, forcing the air into his lungs as his gaze reflected the terror that shrouded his thoughts.

"I'm...sorry," he weakly said with last strength he had.

Go and freshen up. Have dinner then go to bed. Tomorrow, you're gonna go back out there and keep searching for a job. And you better get results," Kennedy said sterny, his playful countenance absent.

Ezeikel nodded his head, and after a while, his stength returned to him. He got up from the chair and did just as he was told. The two didn't say another word to each other for a while after that.

Twelve hours later, and Ezekiel woke up from sleep. He got out fron bed and freshen up before having breakfast and heading out to go about his life.

The atmosphere at the dining table was engulfed with silence as Kennedy and Ezekiel had their meal. Although fights between them were common, they would often lead to them spending a couple days brooding over it before either one of the two decided to break the ice so they woild start talking just as they would again.

Once Ezeikel was done having breakfast, he greeted his father then headed out into the streets. He decided to first meet up with Kyle to know if he had any luck after their chat the previous day.

He went over to his house and knocked on the door. After hearing a woman reply from the inside, he waited for a few minutes until a woman who looked to be in her mid thirties came and answered the door.

"Good morning, Mrs Dennis. Is Kyle at home?" He asked the woman.

"He went to the markets jsst a few minutes ago. If you pick up the pace you might catch up to him on the way," she replied, pushing her long curly black hair to the side. She wore s long blue dress and stood at about 5'9, almost as tall as Ezekiel himself.

"Thanks. Have a good day, ma'am," Ezeikel replied before leaving. He picked up the pace and eventually saw Kyle from a distance.

"Hey, Kyle! Wait for me!" He yelled, hoping that his friend would hear him and turn back. "Are you deaf or something? I said wait!"

His speed walking quickly turned into a sprint as he was determined to cover the distance between them. Kyle was just about to step into the market area, and Ezekiel knew how hard it was to search for someone in that place.

Kyle suddenly halted his movements and turned around to see Ezeikel chasing after him. Once Ezeikel had reached Kyle, he stopped as well, huffing and panting.

"Dude, are you really that tired after a light sprint? You must really be out of shape," Kyle commented.

"Don't start with me this morning, idiot," Ezeikel replied, placing his hands on his knees. "I've been calling your name for a while but your deaf self couldn't hear a word I was saying."

"Oh, so I'm deaf? How about you and your weak self not being able to sustain a simple sprint? Even for a grade three, you're weak as heck," Kyle snapped back.

"I don't have the time to fight with you," Ezeikel eventually said. "I was following you because I wanted to know if you had any luck yesterday with securing a job."

"What do you think? I'm just as unlucky as you. Vincent, Natalie, Gerald, many of our pairs have already secured jobs while we're still stuck jobless," Kyle responded. "And you know it's because many of them are grade two while the remaining of us are grade three, so they have an easier time getting jobs than us."

Ezeikel couldn't help but clench his fist. "Why do it feel like life is playing a sick game with us?" He asked in a low voice.

Kyle's expression softened. "I don't know, Ezeikel. Everyone is quickly getting ahead, while we're being left behind."