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

of the man was Luci, the shortest of the trio at 5’6. She was one or two inches taller than Emma. 

She had the same attire as Aviana and had her blonde hair in a ponytail, but her eyes were emerald green. She was also memorizing, but for a different reason. Whereas Aviana’s eyes were mysterious, Luci’s eyes were innocent and almost child-like.

“State your names.” The man declared.

“Kyle.”

“Ryder. The one on my back is Emma.” Emma poked her head above Ryder’s, glaring at the trio in front of them. 

“My name’s Quinn, a pro surfer. Well, it's not like that matters anymore. Behind me are Luci and Aviana, ex-flight attendants.” Quinn said. “Sorry for pointing a gun at you guys, but last night was frantic.”

“Frantic? How?” Ryder asked. “Did you meet Flynn and Edwin?”

“Those are the bastards’ names? Unfortunately, I didn’t catch them when-” His voice changed from normal to shouting. “-they were slicing at me with an ax and a spear!”

“Calm down, no use for jumbled brains,” Aviana said. She turned towards Kyle and Ryder. “Sorry for him, last night we were attacked by Flynn and Edwin. They were surprised to see us, but, nevertheless, they attacked us. Before they did, however, I heard them mutter about you three.”

“I heard the same yesterday. Going off Kyle’s thought, we slept in the trees.” Ryder glanced around for any threats. “They want blood. Ours.”

“Why?” Lucy and Emma simultaneously asked. 

“Edwin wants me dead for what I did to him on the plane. As for Emma, Flynn’s a pervert. You can guess what he intends on doing.” Ryder said.

“What about the kid?” Quinn asked, pointing at Kyle.

“Edwin gave Kyle’s fate to Flynn. It looks like he intends on fulfilling the kid’s mumbo-jumbo. Kyle will be Flynn’s kill. I’m Edwin’s.” Ryder told him.

“Huh?” Quinn took a step backward. “Then why did he attack us? We weren’t his targets.”

“He probably wanted Lucy and Aviana. They would’ve killed you and taken them.” Kyle interjected.

“You sure?” Quinn asked. 

Kyle nodded. “Men are cruel beasts. While searching for Emma, he would’ve used both of them to ease his anger and stress.”

“Makes sense. In my twelve years of being a flight attendant, I’ve witnessed multiple incidents where men tried to force themselves on me or my coworkers. They’re vicious and cruel monsters in heat.” Aviana said.

“I see,” Quinn stroked the stubble he considered a beard.

“Where did they go?” Ryder asked, crouching down. Kyle and Luci helped Emma rest on the ground, her knee never touching the ground. Aviana rushed to Emma’s side, taking a first-aid kit from her bag and applying it to her.

“After we fought and drew blood, they ran with their tails in between the legs off in that direction.” He pointed in a similar direction that Kyle and the others took. It wasn’t the same path that Flynn and Edwin used during the night, but a diagonal one that sliced through the original one. “I was badly wounded, so I didn’t chase them. I only saw them going in that direction, most likely returning to the beach.”

Ryder nodded. “Okay… If they did return to the beach, we won’t have to worry about them for a while.”

“Let’s go deeper into the forests. We need distance.” Kyle whispered. “They sort of know where we are.”

Ryder nodded. “Let’s keep following the trees and see if we can find anything. At best, we put distance between us and them.” He crouched down, motioning for Emma to climb out. She got on, rising alongside him.

“Are you coming with us?” Emma asked. 

Quinn turned to face Aviana and Luci. “You guys want to go with them?” He asked.

“Safety in numbers,” Aviana remarked.

“Why not?” Lucy said.

Quinn turned to face Kyle and Ryder. “Let’s go.”

***

“What do you mean you haven’t checked out your supplies. You could have some goodies.” Quinn said.

“We were worried about Flynn and Edwin that it never crossed our minds,” Kyle said, swinging the bag to his front. He opened the main pouch and dug through his stuff. “Ouch,” He said, pulling his hand out. His index finger had been scratched by something sharp.

Kyle stopped walking, Quinn stopping alongside him. The others continued walking, slowly drifting away from him.

He opened the bag wider, looking around for the culprit of his new scratch. A few seconds of searching yielded a suspect; a foldable hunting knife.

“Woah!” Quinn exclaimed, snatching up the knife. “How did you not see this?”

“I’m not sure,” Kyle responded. “I was throwing everything in the bag no matter what it was. I was more worried about Emma than our supplies.”

Quinn turned the hunting rifle around, feeling the wooden part of the foldable hunting knife. The knife had the name “Kyle” etched into the wooden part of the handle. “This is definitely yours. Even has your name. Have you ever seen this before?”

Kyle shook his head. “I wasn’t allowed around knives.” He tugged his long-sleeved shirt further down his arm. 

Quinn didn’t pick up on Kyle’s actions, still amazed by the custom hunting knife. “What else do you have? Food, water, cigarettes, drugs?”

“Why would they give us drugs?” Kyle innocently asked.

“Why wouldn’t they? They would be the equivalent of gold here. And, depending on what kind of drug it is, it would be a hell of a good time.” Quinn imitated the action of snorting coke. “Oh, man, what a time it’ll be.”

“Let’s focus on reality. I’m pretty sure you can make your own drugs.” Kyle said, digging through the bag. He glanced up and noticed that they were being left behind, grabbing the bag and walking slowly to reach them. Quinn followed him, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped.

“What a brilliant idea! I could make my own drugs!” Everybody’s attention was put on his sudden shout, the girls wrinkling their noses at the topic. 

“Sorry.” He outstretched his hand in a gesture to show he was in the wrong.

He’s not a bad guy. Kyle thought. I expected him to be strict and trigger-happy, but he’s the opposite. A little too lax though… and a little too focused on drugs. Drugs ruin families. 

“Anyways-” He looked at Kyle who nearly had his head in the bag. “-anything else good.”

“I think… I think so.” Kyle pulled out a folded yellow loose-leaf paper. He tilted his head as he unfolded the paper, finding it crinkled and full of large blobs of lead; as if somebody went around in circles with a pencil.

With the paper now unfolded, Kyle looked at the top of it where a large word was written. Quinn leaned in closer. He read out the title. “Go to hell, you bastard.”

The others glanced at Quinn, hearing him. The pair had caught up to them with relative ease.

Quinn read the next line. “I wish you were… you were never born… Kyle?” He stared at Kyle. “What is this Kyle?”

The others stopped walking, all staring at Kyle; Quinn staring the most intensely. “What is this?” He repeated.

“The letter that… The letter…” His voice trailed off. “The letter that my parents nicknamed Dead End. It… It’s a confession of my murder.”

“M-Murder? You died?” Aviana asked.

Kyle shook his head, staring at the paper. “They never went with their plans, but they were close.” He looked up. “They called this letter my Dead End because I was supposed to die that day.” He looked at everybody’s attention, ranging from shock to confusion. “But I didn’t die.”

***

 

“Sir, has the Hunt begun?” A man in his sixties asked. He wore a sleek tuxedo that made his figure appear skinnier than it actually was. He had graying hair that wasn’t balding, gelled backward. “Or should I start it?”

“No, I’ve started it. Your assistance is not required, Ernest. I’ve started it.” R remained cross-legged in his chair, revealed to be watching multiple screens in impossible places. Some were overhead shots, but there were no drones. It was all magic.

One of the screens seemingly followed Kyle and his group, even appearing next to them as a floating light orb. The orb tracked them invisibly, never being noticed by anybody.

On another screen were Flynn and Edwin engaged in a shouting match. They blamed each other for their defeat at Quinn’s hands. 

Edwin clenched at a bullet wound in his right hand, aiming his frustration and irritation at Flynn. Flynn retorted by thrusting his ax at Edwin, in a menacing and threatening way, but he never crossed the line by throwing a swing. As much as they hated to admit it, they needed each other. Psychos needed each other to survive against the sane ones. 

The remaining several other screens displayed in a large flat-screen television showed the other survivors venturing on their own as well as human villages, a group of Melted, and demonic beasts. Kyle and his group had more to fear than Flynn and Edwin. They had Melted, demonic beasts, and wary natives. 

“Should I push the first phase into motion?” Ernest, the butler, asked.

“Yes… get everything ready.” R stared at the screens menacingly. “The Tenth Hunt has begun. Bless the Overloads and the Gods, your sacrifices will soon arrive.” 

The Day The World Broke: Chapter One - Welcome To The Family

Justin arrived at his parents’ house, a medium-sized two-story bungalow. He looked up at the roof---shielding his eyes and white hair from the snowfall---remarking in its change of color. It was always a blood-red roof, yet it was covered up to look pale-white. The snow was covering everything and it hadn’t stopped. Blankets of snow were still dropping from Heaven, piling into large clumps.

He made his way through the unshoveled pathway to the doorstep, fighting to get across. Once through, he climbed the icy steps and grabbed the screen door, heaving it open. It had been nearly frozen shut by the days of constant snow. The snow had become the talk of the country; a strange phenomenon by the likes they have ever seen. 

Justin rattled his bruised knuckles on the door three times. He lifted his hand off the door, analyzing his bruises. He earned them after getting into a scuffle with some college bullies. They were bullying a freshman and her friends, which angered Justin as they were second-year seniors with no good aspects. The freshman and her friends had a future while the bullies had nothing short of prison. Fortunately, they were later expelled for bullying and harassment. Karma made its way around.

The door opened, revealing someone standing behind it. It was Justin’s father, Tom, waiting for him. “Where’s my son?” He asked, playfully looking around. “I only see a grown-up adult standing in front of me.”

Justin smiled a big toothy grin. “I’m home, dad.”

Tom opened his arms, embracing his son. “I know.”

***

Tom led Justin into the house where his family anticipated his arrival. His mother sprung into the air, full of excitement, before her injury burdened her again. She had been wounded on her ankle during her service in Afghanistan. “You’re back!” Lucie, his mother, cheered.

“Brother’s back?” A voice asked from the kitchen. The voice scurried to the living room, calling out to her brother. Marie---a petite girl---bolted towards Justin and leaped into his arms. He stumbled backward as she crawled into his embrace.

“Nice to see you as well, Marie. How have you been?”

She ripped her face off his shoulder, smiling at him. “So boring! Luke has been