I'm so sorry it took so long to update y'all. 2023 wasn't the best of years. I'm not sure if this makes up for it though. Love y'all
Chapter 1: AMONG USMany Millenia ago, there existed two forces. Two co-dependent forces. The light…and the darkness. The energy formed by the inter-relationship between these two created the world as we know it. You call that the big bang, right? Well, our ancient language termed it ‘principium’, meaning… ‘the beginning’. Everything we see and feel and touch and hear was a product of their ‘relationship’. Everything…except us, Humans. The only beings capable of harnessing just the tiniest bit of energy the ancient forces emitted. They failed, many times, to create that one, perfect, being. Many prototypes otherwise known as errata, ‘The mistakes’, were forsaken almost as quickly as they emerged. But finally, we were formed. And to spice things up just a little, the forces bestowed on us certain gifts. The light gave us monsters. Of every shape, being and form. Pretty dark for a force that was termed ‘the light’ don’t you think? But with those monsters, he also gifted us the power to
Chapter 2: Gods…Pftt2008“Guys it’s time for dinner”, the middle-aged but cherry-sounding female said with a tray in her hands. Her voice bellowed all over the house, and though on any normal day it’d be answered by “I need a minute ma”, a day when dinner meant ‘time to break your fast’, no one could wait any longer. The thunderous footsteps of kids and teens alike running down the stairs could be easily mistaken for the stampede that took the life of Mufasa; and before you could say “The Lion King”, eight of the ten chairs around the dining table were already occupied by starving kids. Laying the tray of food on the table she continued, “No one touch anything yet, there’s more where that came from” she smiled at the assembly of children that looked way to weary to smile back. First, she brought in a bowl of a variety of fruits. First, ripe-looking apples unapologetically mingling with the pears and bananas that courted each other side by side. Then another tray, but unlike the one
Chapter 3: MY FAULTPresent Day"Lisa come on, don't let go. Don't let go" he pleaded as tears ran down his sandy face. "I'll pull you up on three. One, two, three. Ahhhhhh" he screamed, using the last piece of decent energy his battered body could muster. All to no avail. "Come on. Don't— Help! Somebody help! Please" he screamed, his cracked voice echoing throughout the canyon. "Please" he whispered, trying to clean the tears off his face, but only succeeding in getting specks of sand all over himself. "Baby" she finally spoke up, her feet dangling treacherously under her. "It's okay" she sniffed, trying to conceal her tears. "It'll be fine. We'll be fine. Just let me go.""What?""You can't hold me up forever" she mustered a weak smile. "Just let go.""Are you crazy? No. No. We can do this. On three. One, two, three. Ahhhhhh!" As he pulled this time, the scar under his belly scratched the rough floor, making him grunt in pain and causing his grip to gradually loosen. "No no no no n
Chapter 4: Snow Black"You have now reached your destination", the ever-emotionless Google map voice chimed to an end."Yeah, no Shit" Robert said, sounding audibly frustrated. "After four wrong turns and five Cul-de-sac's, I've finally reached my destination ayy?" He said, eyeing the tall, murky building and it's inconspicuous wooden door a couple meters to the side of the road. He slipped his phone back into his dark jeans and walked closer to the building, eyeing and noticing as many details as he possibly could, and there weren't exactly many of them. The dark, tinted windows plastered across its cream-colored walls. The worn-out wooden door staring him peephole to eyeball, and the disturbing doormat that read, "You can come in now. I’ve been waiting.”Robert cleared his throat, adjusted his afro, and gently knocked on the tattered door. "Hello? Is anyone…" before he could even get the words out of his mouth, the rectangular peephole slid open, and a set of indistinct eyes peeped
Chapter 5: I WANT TO KNOW. CAN YOU SHOW ME“It’s really very surprising Robert. I’ve actually been waiting for you for a while now. You’re the last piece we’ve all been waiting to meet.”“Okay, first off, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Secondly, if you could stop the thing you’re doing with the lights… however you’re doing it” he pointed to the flashing light bulb over him, “…yeah I’d really, really appreciate it. And thirdly, what exactly do you mean by “’we’ve’ been waiting”? Who’s we?”"Here" she said, pointing to the book on the table that definitely didn't catch the eye till this moment. She picked it up and flipped it open. Elizabeth Garner and Taylor Carlyle, your sisters… foster sisters, attended her funeral. They were the first ones here, and the first of the eight of you guys to be cleared on what's actually going on here.""What do you mean by 'what's actually going…""Makayla Fackler was here two years ago, similar predicament. Only difference is she aske
Chapter 6: VIEWS"Yeah I got a question" Robert said, picking himself off the floor. "What the fuck was that?" He said, staring blankly at her."That was the answer to all of your questions. Most of them at least" she corrected, with the most expressionless look on her face."What in the… no no no it's a dream. It's all a dream, and I'm going to wake up sooner or later" he said massaging his head. "Wake up" he slapped himself. "Wake up. Please wake up" he said still hurting what he thought was his unconscious self. "You know Robert, dreams are a product of what has happened, what might happen, or what is yet to come to pass. So, either way, you're kind of stuck with me… and with this" she said running her tender fingers slowly on the wooden box. "Come on now Banter, it's your consignment" she smiled. "What?" He turned back to her. "I'm not taking that shit. I have no interest whatsoever in being a superhero.""Do you think this is a marvel or DC movie or something? You think you’re
Chapter 7: If You’re Reading This…“Come on Robert, you can do this. Two, Zero, Zero, zero”, he mumbled to himself, inputting the code into the space made for it on the box. “Yeah. That’s got to be the right one. Right?” He tried opening the box, but still, it was locked tighter than the wardrobe a black mother would hide candy. “Fuck!” he yelled, throwing the box from his bed to the thin walls of his apartment, echoing with a loud thud. “Robert!” His upstairs neighbor yelled. “Sorry Miss Crawford. It won’t happen again”, he shakily said, walking towards the box and picking it up as carefully as he could. “It better not. You know what happened the last time.”“Yes Ma’am, and I’m sorry” he repeated, sounding a little more frustrated now. Now, he began to pay more attention to the details of the mysterious ‘pandora-like’ box. Its indecisive patterns had to tell a message, right? Slowly caressing the box with his hands, he tried the more mental approach to opening this rather annoyin
Chapter 8: LOVE AT…“Robert, do you have even the slightest clue on the kind of deep shit you put me through? Standing in front of such a prospective investor and not being able to say a thing? I have never been so infuriated in my entire life.”“Including the time when your bride…”“Yes, including the time when my bride left me at the altar. Thank you for bringing up that painful and unnecessary piece of information Trevor.”“Welcome” He answered, taking a sip of the hot cocoa he had wrapped around his fingers. “Sir I honestly…”“Have a legitimate excuse this time? Is that what you want to say? Do you know how long I had to stall for you, and still, you didn’t show up? I…” he held himself back, trying not to get excessively angry now. “I had to talk about politics Robert. Goddamned politics!” he slammed his hand on the long table in front of him, jolting both Rob and Trevor. “I have never been so disgusted with myself in my entire life.”“Including the time when you…”“Don’t even da