They all sat at the dining table after cleansing themselves. Damien wore a black T-shirt with white intricate patterns paired with black shorts. Renji wore a white long-sleeved shirt with gray sweatpants.
Soren wore a white vest with beige sweatpants while Jiwon wore a black hoodie and black shorts. They all sat in silence before Jiwon broke it as he cleared his throat, placing a hand over his mouth.
"So we can all agree that we only left for seven months?" Jiwon raised an eyebrow as he leaned his weight onto the table, crossing his arms on it.
Renji tilted his head, his gaze focused on nothing before shifting towards Jiwon and speaking: "If I counted correctly while on the island, then yes, I can defend that I was on the island for seven months max."
Jiwon nodded before saying, "You?" Jiwon looked over towards Damien, who was leaning back against the chair with his arms crossed over his chest. "I didn't count but I am certain I was not there for seven years,"
"Where are your parents?" Soren raised the question as he looked over towards Renji. Renji met Soren's gaze and sighed, "I tried reaching out to them, but my text was not read plus I went downstairs to check on them, and according to the staff they had gone for a business trip just a week ago."
Soren leaned back on his chair, tapping a finger on the mahogany table with a slow rhythm, his eyes narrowed as he looked afar, towards the floor-to-ceiling windows and out at the nightlife of Miami at the top, focusing on nothing. "This is weird" Is all he could say before Jiwon added:
"Very," Jiwon nod as he leaned more on the table, resting his chin in the space of his arms. "Should we ask that mist guy?"
Damien looked over towards Jiwon for a second before looking away, the chair began to tip slightly back, "We don't know how to contact it plus I don't trust it."
"It's not about whether we trust it or not, it's about whether it has answers to what we want to know," Soren chimed in, the rhythmic tapping stopping.
Renji raised a hand and brushed through his hair, scratching the back of his scalp. His gaze is now focused on Soren as he spoke;
"Even if it has the answers, how will we contact it?"
A long pause before Renji continued, "Besides it looks like it only shows itself when it wants to, so calling it seems impossible."
"Maybe it's not impossible and it just depends," Damien added as he shrugged a shoulder.
"Depends on what?" Soren asked, raising an eyebrow. "We can figure that out in the future," Damien responded, meeting Soren's gaze.
The silence in the room stretched with the sound of cars driving down the street was audible. The fridge humming with a faint buzz in the background, the clock above slowly ticking before a sound disrupted the hypnotic silence which was the sound of Renji's stomach growling.
"The hell was that?" Jiwon asked, his lips tugging with a restrained smile. Renji face's flushed as he closed his eyes. "Around this time, I normally hunt something to eat." He said.
"Hunt?" Jiwon repeated the word as he raised his head from his arm, "Oh, what were you eating?"
"Let me get something to eat and I'll answer your question,"
Renji stood up as the chair scraped against the hard floor, turning on his heel, he moved towards the kitchen with a slow stride. Passing by the stove that glinted sharply underneath the artificial light, the granite counter that reflected him. He reached the fridge, opening and scanning through, his eyes narrowed as he inwardly questioned the stocked up fridge before he shrugged it off his mind. Reaching down and opening the freezer, he took out multiple frozen slabs of beef. He slowly turned on his heel.
Making way out of the kitchen and towards the dining table, placing about ten slabs of meat on the table with a subtle, thud, Damien reached to take one and Renji grabbed his wrist with a tightening grip.
Damien met Renji's gaze, raising an eyebrow as Renji spoke:
"What are you doing?" His voice echoed sharply throughout the room. Lips slightly parting, as light causes for a sharp fang to glint subtly, catching Soren's attention who remained silent.
Damien narrowed his eyes, his lips parting before he spoke, "I'm hungry as well." His resonant deep bass moved across the room matching Renji's sharpness.
Renji narrowed his eyes, "And?" His grip tightening as Damien tilted his head slightly to his left, "What do you mean and? Can't I eat as well?"
Soren cleared his throat. "Renji," He began, "What are you doing?"
Renji looked over towards Soren, "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Well, it seems to me that you don't want to share your food, which is raw if I were to add as well. Why aren't you sharing?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Why should I sha–?" Renji paused mid-sentence, silently contemplating before he let go of Damien's wrist. He slowly descended down onto the cushion of his chair.
Renji pushed four slabs towards Damien, Damien stared at the slabs before reaching over and grabbing an extra slab, which Renji watched him, his jaw clenching before loosening.
"Why aren't you cooking the meat?" Jiwon asked, staring at the frozen beef before looking towards Renji and Damien. Renji stared at Jiwon, before grabbing a slab. With surprising ease, he tore the frozen plastic off and took a bite through the frozen beef, chewing slowly.
Damien did the same, he leaned back and began to chew lazily.
Soren and Jiwon glanced at each other before Soren tilted his head and asked, "Were both of you eating raw food wherever you were?"
Renji nodded as he took another bite under Jiwon's gaze. Jiwon swallowed, "How are you able to eat rotten meat?"
Renji and Damien paused their chewing, their gazes shifting down towards the pieces of beef. Frozen and raw, the blood suddenly hit the back of their throats as Renji placed the piece of meat down and just stared at it.
Damien stared at piece in his hand.
Soren continued staring, as a flicker of emotion passed through his gaze before he cleared his throat, "If I could ask, what were guys actually doing wherever you were?
Damien looked over towards Soren while Jiwon noticed a change, "Dude your eye color," Jiwon raised a finger.
Damien stood up and jogged down the hallway, he ran into his room. The door slammed against the wall, causing vibrations to pass through posters of singers.
Moving towards his restroom, he kicked open the door and moved to the bathroom mirror. He stared in shock, one eye was back to his original color; it was deep brown with a normal pupil. The other eye was a deep crimson red with his pupils still contracted to a vertical slit.
Back at the dining table, Soren looked over towards Renji and raised an eyebrow. "You have one white eye and your other eye is back to normal."
Renji looked up to stare at Soren, he stared before suddenly his head had banged against the table. Soren and Jiwon just stared, unusually calm.
Damien had passed out as well in the restroom, slumped on the wall.
"Should I take him to the doctors?" Jiwon asked as he slowly got up. Soren remained seated, studying Renji before he spoke, "They will run experiments on him, so let's not do that."
Soren slowly rose to his feet before walking down the hallway. He entered Damien's room and walked into the restroom, his eyes immediately fell onto Damien before he released a soft sigh.
Jiwon lifted Renji with a bit of strain as he carried him towards his bedroom. He placed Renji onto his bed before stepping out of Renji's bedroom and closed the door. Soren had dragged Damien onto his bed and exited the room.
They both stood outside both Damien and Renji's door before Jiwon looked over towards Soren, "Let me cook up the beef,"
Soren had a soft smile before nodding, following Jiwon who made his way to the kitchen.
The two were passed out before they woke up in early morning due to the movements of both Soren and Jiwon who had woken up to meditate.
Renji climbed off his bed, exiting his room to meet Damien's gaze, they could see each other clearly. Damien's eyes were back to deep crimson while Renji's eyes were back to that snow-white.
Renji looked down the hallway and made slow steps down it, followed by Damien. They peaked to see both, Jiwon and Soren cross-legged, facing the window towards the city.
They studied them before Damien cleared his throat, "The hell are you both doing?"
With no response from either of them, Renji and Damien exchanged looks before shrugging and heading down the hallway to their rooms, collapsing onto their beds.
The day went smoothly as Soren and Jiwon finished their meditation, slowly opening their eyes to find two portals in front of them. Jiwon sighed before they were suddenly pulled into the portal.
Damien and Renji were still sleeping when two portals suddenly opened above them and pulled them up forcefully.
They all fell through the same void, Soren and Jiwon were mostly calm while Renji and Damien were deep in their sleep.
THUD
All four of them fell onto the hard ground of the pavement. The sudden hard fall caused for both Damien and Renji to wake up. A groan escaped Damien as he slowly sat up and looked around, "The hell," He slurred.
Renji sat up, his gaze focused on the area in front of them as he released a low and long yawn. Jiwon looked behind, checking the surroundings. The building were tall, graffitied with obscene drawing. People who walked by un-bothered by the sudden four men.
Jiwon spotted the average family before suddenly spotting a group of crimson-skinned creatures with horns and yellow eyes built similarly to a human bothering the family. A tall demon came forward and grabbed the man by his collar, muttering something before it's fist connected with the man's jaw and caused for a tooth to fly out.
A woman held her two children closely while shouting at the demon, "LET HIM GO!" She sounded at the top of her lungs, while people walked by without blinking an eye at the sight.
Jiwon stared, his eyes studying how people walked past. Soren as well as watching the same scene before he took a step forward and spoke out:
"HEY!"
The sound caused people to stop and stare, their curiosity evident as well as in the demons who stopped their actions to stare. They studied him before going back to their walk, but the demons still kept their attention on Soren.
Their leader was an angular-faced demon with black hair wearing an oversized sports jersey with a red horn logo plastered on the front, the number 45 on his back. He wore dark jeans that ran down all the way to his beige boots.
He watched as Soren approached, his eyes studying Soren's attire before he snickered and spoke, "Who let this pretty boy walk all alone?"
His lackeys chuckled as the leader continued, "Is he trying to seduce me or threaten me?"
Renji and Damien glanced over their shoulders, their expressions unreadable as Jiwon remained rooted in where he was.
"Damon, how about we have fun with him?" A female lackey said as she ran her eyes over Soren shamelessly, Soren's eye twitched as he stopped walking and spoke again with his velvet rasp, "Let him go."
Damon stared before letting go of the man, he took steps towards Soren. They were about the same height with both of them meeting each other's gaze.
"Since," Damon started, "I listened to you, I better get something back in return."
"I have nothing to give you." Soren responded as Damon's smirk widened and he leaned more forward, mere inches from Soren's face, whispering, "Oh I think you do, pretty boy."
A sharp clap was sounded, CRACK, causing for Damon, his lackeys and the four to jolt.
Damon looked past Soren and immediately an expression of annoyance washed over his face. Soren looked behind to see a man with a stern face, squared glasses adorning purple eyes. Hair as black as the void, a suit tailored well to his proportions.
"Gentlemen, I recommend you restrain from your lowly activities before I detain all of you." The sound of a deep rasp escaped from the man's thin lips.
The man looked down towards Renji and Damien who were still on the ground, than towards Jiwon before finally dropping his gaze onto Soren. "I'm guessing you four are the new students?"
"What?" Damien said, raising an eyebrow. The man's eye as he reached his hand towards his side and a folder materialized in his hand. Opening the folder, he cleared his throat as he spoke:
"I am correct, Damien Fuller, Renji Kurose, Soren Valenhardt and Han Jiwon. You have been admitted as new students into Chopstill Academy." The man shut the files, "I am your headmaster. Mr. William Paton. But since you are not worth muttering my name, call me Mr. Paton.
"Now move along into the academy, I am not paid to watch over unruly maggots outside the premises of the academy."
Mr. Paton slowly turned on his heel and walked towards the direction of rusty gates with an uptight stride. Renji narrowed his eyes. "So that's an academy?"
Damien studied it; the gates were large and rusty, past the gates it was easy to see a large courtyard than a five story building with broken windows.
Damon looked over towards Soren, "Guess we will be seeing each other in there, pretty boy."
Damon walked past Soren, followed by his lackeys walking towards the large gates. Jiwon looked over towards Soren, "You are letting a man treat you like a piece of meat?"
Soren looked over towards Jiwon, his eyes narrowed before he looked towards the academy. "If he had thrown the first attack, I would have dealt with him."
"Yeah sure," Renji said out as he rose to his feet, Damien nudged a hand towards Renji's leg causing for Renji to look down towards Damien. He reached out his hand which Damien took, and was pulled him upwards to his feet.
"Let's go, it's probably one of the creature's plans for us." Renji said, already taking a confident stride towards the academy. He was followed by the other three, making way towards the tall, rusty gates.
As the gates opened automatically, they walked into a large dirty courtyard with a fishy smell and everything hit them all at once. More crimson-skinned demons bothering other humans, demi-humans running around with each other like children, skeleton's moving with the click of their bones. Ghosts floating around as they conversed with each other.
All four of them stood there and watched before suddenly an olive-skinned man ran past, fully naked with his eyes rolled back and foam running down his mouth.
"Was that a crackhead?" Jiwon asked slowly, rasing his hand to his chest and pointing towards the running man.
"Could be," Damien responded as he shrugged his shoulders.
"This is going to be a long bothersome journey," Soren said as he slid his hands into his pockets and sighed. Damien's lips spread into a grin and Renji remained expressionless while Jiwon looked around, with his eyes studying everyone curiously.
(What are the four about to go through? What kind of place is Chopstill Academy?)
(Find out in the next chapter....)