Starter Scrolls: by Nick Venom (best ereader for graphic novels txt) 📖

you guys later” He opened his eyes, staring at both of them. They nodded their heads, quickly dozing off. 

Ryder smiled. They’re kids in the end which makes sense how quickly they fall asleep. As the oldest here, I have the responsibility to look after them. Let’s hope I do a good job of it.

***

In the middle of the night, Flynn stomped through the vegetation armed with an ax. He carried the ax with both hands, someone reaching out to him. “Quiet down.” The person told him, revealed to be Edwin. “Stomp so loudly and they’ll hear you. Remember the plan.”

“I know, I know, I know,” Flynn reassured him. “I understand the damn plan.”

“Okay, just stick to it you unintelligent rat.”

“Shut up… Buffon!” Flynn retorted.

Edwin shrugged him off, holding a sharpened spear. Damn, I have to deal with this rat only because he has a better weapon than me. If I had the ax, I could dismember him here and get my kill for the month. However, our goals align, so I’ll be stuck with him.

“I get the adult, you take the girl,” Edwin said.

“Yeah, I’ll take Emma. What about the kid?” Flynn asked.

Edwin shrugged his shoulders. “Do what you want with the kid. Fulfill your month's kill.”

Flynn nodded. “Got it,” He gripped his ax tightly. “I’ll wreck the kid in front of her, establish fear. She won’t be able to say ‘no’ after that.” He grinned smugly.

“Yeah, whatever. Keep quiet and look for bright lights. They must have a fire going on right now. Maybe we’ll even catch them sleeping. It’ll be easier than facing them.”

“Ha!” Flynn exclaimed. Edwin turned to face him, his mouth gaped. “Sorry,”

“Shut your mouth you rat. Keep your voice low if you want the girl.” Edwin convinced him. Flynn nodded, grinning to himself. Good, he understands our circumstances. We’ll soon encounter the trio and I don’t remember seeing any weapons on them; even so, we need to act with caution. I didn’t become a millionaire by putting all of my eggs in one basket.

The two continued forward, looking for the flicker of a campfire. The warmth and the bright color it glowed, exposing the inhabitants around it. That’s all they needed.

However, they were looking in the wrong place. They were searching on the ground, while their prey was hiding above them. They easily passed by the trees the trio hid in, exposing their plans to them.

Edwin wants me and Flynn wants Emma and Kyle. Ryder thought. He nearly dozed away, but the slight whispers of a human startled him awake. He watched from above as the two men passed by them, revealing their intention. And it wasn’t anything good.

Ryder waited for the men to leave his sight before he shuffled towards Kyle. He watched them leave and waited a few minutes later to make sure they were gone.

“Guys, wake up.” He did his best to shake them, but he was some distance away from them. After tugging on Kyle’s worn-out shoe a few times, he woke up. He looked at Ryder half-awake, his head swaying back and forth.

“W-What-” He let out a short yawn. “What’s wrong?” He asked in his normal voice. Ryder put a finger to his lip. “Sorry, what happened?” Kyle repeated, this time at a whisper.

“Your guess was right. Flynn passed by us, but he wasn’t by himself.”

“Who was with him? Edwin? The flight attendants?” Kyle asked.

“Edwin. They’re working together to get us… and they don’t want to do it peacefully. Remember what the kid said about needing one kill this month?” Kyle nodded his head. “They want to kill both of us. Flynn wants Emma. You can guess what he wants to do with her.”

He nodded his head. “I can guess. So what now? I’m pretty sure they’re going to come back soon.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? What we do know is that we aren’t on friendly terms with them. To make it worse, they’re both armed. Flynn had an ax and Edwin carried a spear.”

“No guns?” Kyle questioned, tilting his head. 

Ryder shook his head. “Not sure, but they didn’t have it out. Maybe they’re holding onto it as a trump card. All that means is we need to be careful of them. They’re armed and filled with malicious thoughts. Do. Not. Pity. Them.” He told Kyle.

“Got it, I won’t.”

“Remember this Kyle. The moment you pity those bastards, you sign Emma’s death certificate. Never pity them and never lower your guard. Edwin’s a millionaire and not a clean one. Who knows how many hits he called out. Flynn? He’s an obvious pervert, rapist at best. He seems to be fine with hurting people.”

“Edwin’s the brain and Flynn’s the muscle. Got it.” Kyle said. 

“Good, now keep watch. I need some sleep.” 

Kyle nodded. He watched as Ryder got into a comfortable sleeping pose before snoozing away. Like the teens, he had grown tired.

Kyle looked away towards the moon as it hovered over him. It shined light on him, some of it being intercepted by the treetops but the majority made it through. A piece of the moonlight illuminated Kyle’s face. However, his face didn’t brighten against the soothing light of the moon. It reminded him of a memory.

***

“I don’t care if you don’t want to do it, I’m the man here!” Kyle’s father shouted from the other side of the wall. He was arguing with Kyle’s mother outside of Kyle’s room. 

“You don’t own me!” She fought back.

“Yes, I do! I am the man in this relationship, you are my property.”

“I ain’t nobody's property. You can’t own me!”

Kyle’s father whipped out a belt and the sound of it connecting with his wife’s flesh was damning, to say the least, for Kyle. He inched farther and farther away, quiet enough to not attract his father’s attention. He got closer and closer to the locked window. It was always locked to weaken the cries and screams.

He looked out of the window at the sky. The sky had departed, leaving the moon to pick up the slack. 

Most nights, Kyle had missed the moon, often forced to sleep early or stuck in the basement, but today was different. His mother took the brunt of his father’s daily abuse, allowing Kyle to sleep in his room semi-comfortably. He was allowed to revisit an old friend.

Although his mother’s intentions seemed good, Kyle quickly learned they weren’t. All of the abuse his father poured into his mother was then poured into him at double the rate. He hated it. He hated the constant lying, the constant screaming matches, and the crying. There was plenty of it in the household.

“Beat him! Beat him! Beat him!” Kyle cringed at his mother’s words. He knew who the ‘him’ in it was for. For him. She wanted her husband to beat Kyle instead of her. Spare her the bruises and transfer them to their only son.

Monsters. Kyle could only see them as that. In his mind, they weren’t humans but demons. The creatures that emerged from hell to destroy humanity with fear and strength… and two of them were posing as his parents. That’s what he believed. My true parents died. They loved me. These monsters are not my parents. They’re demons… and I’m cursed.

Kyle continued to look out the window, staring at his old friend. He felt the cold blueish-white light brushing over him. He basked in the cold light that felt warm to him. He absorbed it, tuning out his parents arguing. He felt… safe.

***

The night passed without any other sightings of humans. A few occurrences of wild hogs roaming around were the peak of sightings after Edwin and Flynn left.

The trio had gotten down from the trees---carefully lowering Emma---and began their trek further into the endless trees. They went in a similar direction that Edwin and Flynn took, but distanced themselves from using the exact path. Who knew if traps or an ambush were waiting for them.

Kyle led the way, glancing behind him at Ryder. He carried Emma effortlessly. She was petite and weighed very little, a tactic that her manager used to make her appear “cute” to mainstream audiences. It worked on Kyle.

“How far are we going?” Emma blurted out. “These woods have to stop eventually.”

“I’m not sure,” Kyle said. “It could be hours, days, weeks, maybe years.”

“Don’t scare her. We’ll be getting out soon.” Ryder interjected. Emma nodded her head before scowling at Kyle. He chuckled a bit to himself, enjoying teasing her.

“He’s right, we’ll be out soon. All we need to-” 

“Stop where you are!” A raspy voice declared. Kyle stopped in his tracks, glancing around his peripherals. He couldn’t see where the voice was coming from. “Drop to your knees.”

“She can’t. Her knee’s wounded!” Ryder shouted. He held tightly onto Emma. “You’ll just throw her into more pain!”

The voice didn’t respond, instead, keeping quiet. Kyle, who stood in front, did his best to look at Ryder but didn’t move his head out of fear he’ll be attacked for it. “We’re not here to hurt you. We’re only looking to move forward.”

“Let them go,” A familiar voice said. It resembled the voice of Lucy, the flight attendant from earlier.

“Drop the gun.” Aviana, the other flight attendant, said.

Gun? There’s a gun pointed at us? Who has the gun? Flynn? Edwin? Some other sicko? Why are the flight attendants sticking with this person? Are they dangerous or is it like our dilemma? One of the flight attendants is wounded, the person with the gun is the defender, and the other attendant leading the way? Kyle’s thoughts were in a flurry once a gun was brought into the equation. Kyle had noticed guns and magazines but never expected to be at the end of the barrel so quickly.

“Fine, I doubt that he-” The voice pointed at somebody. Kyle couldn’t see who the person pointed at, but recognized it as a male voice. “-is working with those two. If anything, he would’ve killed them both.”

“So let them go,” Aviana said. 

Kyle waited a few seconds, unsure of what was happening. He waited for them to say, “you guys can turn around. We didn’t mean any of that. Here’s some food as an apology.” However, it never came. Instead, he waited a painful several seconds before a voice spoke up.

“You can turn around, but if you draw a weapon, I’ll shoot.” The male voice declared.

Kyle slowly turned around, making his movements exaggerated to prevent being shot on the spot. He now faced the people holding him at the barrel. It was a man wearing a faded-red beanie, a loose graphic shirt with the graphic being Tony Hawk grinding on a pair of rails, cargo shorts, large white tube socks folded a few times that snuggled him tightly, and a white pair of Vans. He looked like a stereotypical skater, except this one was holding a pistol instead of a skateboard. The pistol was pointed at the ground, but he had a finger resting on the trigger. 

His face was oval-shaped, almost exaggerated. His top lip was shaped like the letter ‘M’ while his bottom lip was straight. His eyes, which were on the larger sides, were umber colored. His oily skin pressed tightly against his graphic tee and cargo shorts, defining the budding muscles he had. He wasn't awkwardly skinny, but not muscular.

His decently long legs had scratches and cuts. A large gash, three inches in diameter, had been wrapped around professionally by bandages. Another wound just under his heart was bandaged the same, a few-inch hole in his graphic tee exposing his caramel skin.

Behind him stood the flight attendants, each carrying a knife. Aviana had mint-colored hair that was styled in a ponytail. She had pale skin that matched with her brightly colored uniform, a mix of red and blue to reflect the airport's color. She had a round-shaped face with a perched nose and large lips. Her eyes were deep-blue, almost memorizing to peer into. Unlike Lucy, she stood straight and kept a semi-glare at Kyle and the others.

On the other side