Ntale (Nyne): my co-author. Without you, the flavor of this story wouldn't have been as good.
TJ (Kannabis): for always inspiring me to keep writing, no matter how shitty it seemed at the time.
Bhooshan (Rage): for FINALLY reading my work and commenting
ORIGINAL MATERIAL, COPYRIGHTED (c) Manav Taneja, 2009
Contrary to what most people think, this world, this reality we exist in, is not the only one. Other worlds, other realities surround ours as would insects around a lantern. The realities are not conceded despite it all. Have you found yourself in a state of deja vu? Well believe it or not, that’s called a “reality flux”, when a reality is experienced twice over by an individual. And still, here we sit, unbeknownst to the fact that hundreds, even millions, of alternate realities surround us.
Another phenomenon that happens is called “Reality Fusion”. Sometimes this can be where one reality literally merges with another, and portals are opened or sometimes a complete merger doesn’t even have to occur for a fusion to take place. Sometimes all one reality has to do is brush up against another. The portals that are opened can be opened for a few seconds, or sometimes hours. When this happens, an individual can pass through these portals into another reality. Keep in mind that when an individual enters a portal, he or she cannot say where it leads or even worse, how long it will be open for.
Another thing about these realities is that they may resemble our own at times, but at the same time, they can be totally different. Some realities can seem like dreams, things that you hear about and imagine what a fairytale may be like even, but they can also be nightmares too. Sometimes a reality will be so similar to ours, that an individual would have a hard time telling the difference.
This is the story of a girl who found herself in one of these realities, and how it changed her life.
"Charges laid." – Amy heard over her headset, letting her know that her army was ready to engage. There was no way that her plan was going to fail if everything went accordingly. She nodded to herself. – "Dragoon," – she called as she sipped on a bottle of half empty Coke making sure not to get any drops on her microphone – "Take your position."
"Roger, Angel." – replied Dragoon as his army moved off from hers to where they had been issued to hold.
This time she was going to win the battle. She conveyed the same orders to Priest, her other commander, and his army moved into position. This was it; everything was ready.
"Detonate!"
Three rings, each coiled one within the other, exploded within the enemy base camp. There was nothing left of the troops who had been standing guard. All there was a crater strewed with singed body parts.
Dragoon and Priest’s forces entered the enemy base camp; it was bloodbath. Not a single enemy soldier could stand up to the assault. This was Amy’s plan. Her army sat in position, waiting for the signal. Finally Priest’s voice beamed over her headset.
"Okay Angel," – his voice was masculine and yet it could still be compared to the coo of a dove – "Send in the big guns."
Amy’s troops moved in, each troop armed with rocket launchers, others with mortar rockets and others with radio-activated explosives. The remaining enemy troops fought a valiant, but futile battle. The explosives were attached to the buildings and when all of Amy’s troops were out of range, they were detonated. Building after building fell to the ground. The taste of victory could not have been any more sweet than it already was as she saw “Mission Accomplished” flash on her screen.
"Okay guys," – she downed the last bit of Coke as she spoke into the microphone and exited the “Multiplayer Campaign” menu – "Good work. Same time tomorrow?"
"I’m there." – Dragoon’s voice echoed with fatigue and rapture all in one.
"I may have to pass," – moaned Priest – "I got this mega bad ass project that I gotta get done. There’s no such thing as procrastinating when you’re in Uni. I’ll let Chaos and Sage know, so they might be able to show up since I’ll be M.I.A."
"Okay, no worries. The server password’ll be the same. Drag, you coming today?"
"I got no choice. The Crane’ll have my ass on a skewer if I duck class again. Oh here’s some news, my dad was actually sober enough last night. He asked if I still went to school. So I kinda figured it’s about time I start showing my face..."
"Okay," – Amy laughed – "this is Angel logging off. See you later, Outcasts."
"Adios."
"Take care."
Amy exited the Crossfire game she had been playing and opened up her Winamp player. The house was empty, so empty that Amy could hear the echo of her own footsteps as she walked about her bedroom. Her father was out and she could give two shits where he was. Her mother had been locked up at Bakers’ Asylum. She had filed a complaint against her husband to the police claiming that she had been gang-raped on several occasions by him and his friends. On one such night, she had been gang-raped and beaten to the point of a mental breakdown. She had become so traumatized by this last incident that she became a mute; a living doll. She could not eat, she never spoke, and she just sat in the corner of her padded cell. Evidence to file against her husband was not found. Eventually, the case was dropped. Needless to say, Amy had to deal with her father’s drunken behaviors and his ability to not be at home for weeks at a time.
She turned the volume on her computer to the maximum. Lacuna Coil’s “Heaven’s A Lie” boomed throughout the room. She got up, stretched and went to the bathroom. She had been on the computer pretty much the entire night playing Final Fantasy X until Dragoon logged on to tell her that Priest had logged onto the Crossfire network.
It was yet another grueling school day she was to endure, but she did not mind it one bit. Anything was better than having to wait around for her father to come home. She washed her face. As the cold water dripped off of her flawless skin, she looked into the mirror; golden-brown eyes looked back at her, her raven-black hair with a red streak had been tied up haphazardly. On more than one occasion, she had been hit on by boys at her school relentlessly. But that was then. She had given up on boys. There was no one worth loving was the conclusion she had made, and she remained adamant about it.
The boys she had been with previously only wanted a trophy girlfriend. Something to hang onto their arms, and that was meant to be seen and not heard. If it was not that, they were only interested in sex. In total, she had had four boyfriends and all of them loved nothing about her, just her body.
The phone rang. She jumped a little. Who would be calling at four in the morning?
"Hello?" – she answered apprehensively.
"Amy, it’s Tyson, I…"
"Fuck off, Tyson!"
"C’mon Amy," – the desperation in his voice rocked – "At least tell me why."
"Oh, you wanna know why?" – the rage began to well up inside her – "You know goddamn well why, you son of a bitch!"
Tyson and her had been an item at a time. The relationship was like trying to put a burning house out with a canister of gasoline and propane. But just when things seemed to be getting a little better, she had found out the sick truth behind their relationship.
"Amy," – Tyson’s voice quivered. He was holding back tears – "C’mon, you gotta admit, we did have something. Now all of a sudden, all this. What happened?"
"You know exactly what happened, asshole! It’s over between you and me. And for your information, there was nothing between us."
"Amy," – the tears welled up over the receiver.
"You founded our relationship on a stupid bet you made with your boys."
Silence.
"Did you think I wouldn’t find out one way or another? Why the fuck else did you think I broke it off? What, wasn’t it something like, whoever gets into my pants wins?" – Amy’s voice quivered in anger – "What were the stakes, huh? Fifty dollars, right? That’s all I’m worth to you, right? Fifty-fucking-dollars!"
The tears ran down her face. That’s all she was to Tyson, a game. To make matters worse, it was actually Tyson who had initiated the bet.
"Amy…listen…we were drunk, and…" – what else could Tyson say?
Amy sat in silence to see if he’d continue, but he did not.
"Tyson," – Amy sniffed – "It’s over. Nothing you can say or do will ever fix what you did."
Her voice was a whisper now. She tried to keep her hands from shaking, even though she held the receiver so tightly that she could’ve broken it in two.
"Amy, please," – Tyson tried again, pleading – "Just give me another chance!"
"Bye Tyson."
She slammed the receiver down.
She sank against the wall and shuddered in disgust. He actually had the audacity to call her. Why couldn’t he just let it go? She took three deep breaths to keep herself calm. He was a part of her past that had burned to ash. Anyway, she had too many things to worry about already.
She washed her face again, she grabbed her bag. Mister Howard, or “The Crane” as he was called for his tall, lanky physique and elongated nose, taught Statistics at her high school and she had three days worth of Statistics homework to do. She knew that if she walked in three days of undone homework, she’d be spending her time in detention. Even though, she would have Dragoon as company, she couldn’t bare not knowing whether her father was home or not. He had already sold the car, so it would be a lot longer getting home than usual.
Within three hours she was done. She was never any good at Statistics, but as long as it was done, it was good enough for her. The sun had finally peaked. She jumped into the shower. The cold water was refreshing against her stressed, naked body. All the sleep had been washed away with the water. Her mind had raced back to her conversation with Tyson and it had become a definite hindrance. She had redone her homework three times. She did feel for him, but that was overwhelmed by her anger towards him.
As she got out of the shower and took her towel, she stood and admired her naked body. She was not exactly Marilyn Monroe, but she did turn a couple heads, ergo, the bet. She punched the wall. Why had life become a pit of vipers and she, the helpless mouse? She toweled off and wrapped the towel around her. She went and switched her computer off. She once again looked at herself in the mirror. There were times when even Priest admitted that she was bombshell material. That was quite a compliment considering that Priest was interested in the female physique mainly in the medical sense, especially since he planned on becoming a doctor.
After she got dressed, she grabbed her bag and cigarettes, switched off the lights and went downstairs; double-checking that she had locked her door. Downstairs, she encountered her father who towered over her. The smell of brandy and weed swept over her. He swayed back and forth. Amy imagined just pushing him with her finger, just to see if he’d fall over. She hated him, and she hated his friends for keeping him up to all this shit.
"Heyeee Amyyyy!" – her father played with her name. He looked her up and down, lustfully – "You’re looking good today."
"What’s it to you?" – Amy crossed her arms. She really hated having to deal with her father when he was like this.
"You…really…look good! Mmmm..." – he shook his head a bit clearing out the bats in his belfry, even though Amy knew it’d take an aluminum bat to get rid of all of them. "Uh…how’s school, girly?"
"Better than usual, especially since I don’t have to deal with you."
"Aww.." – her father made a pouting face – "that’s harsh, baby..."
"Don’t call me 'baby'!" – she looked at her father and shook his head – "Look at you!"
Her father hobbled a bit and held himself against the wall. "What, this?" – he grabbed his shirt – "Aww, you know how it is with guys, right?" He looked at her lustfully again, shying away from the topic of his appearance – "You really look good. How about you drop your bag and you and…"
"As if." – she pushed passed her father.
She went into the kitchen and took out a sandwich from the fridge. As she left the house, her father still stood there making very unpleasant suggestions of what would happen if she decided to stay home. She lit a cigarette and turned on her CD player. It was nothing but aggressive, heavy metal that boomed in her ears all the way to school. She hated having to deal with her father almost every morning before school, especially when he started hitting on her. She walked by the 7-11 where she used to work. Most of her stuff was bought with the money she earned working there. Her dad’s job at the stock market was still bringing in money, so at least food was in the house and the bills were paid.
It had been a twenty minute walk from her house to school. Within that time, her pack of cigarettes was half done. She made her way to a corner of the school area that the other kids called the Outcast Corner. Basically if you were not with the in crowd, you belonged there. This corner had been home to the outcasts since she was in ninth grade. At present the school’s outcasts included herself, Dragoon, Chaos and Sage. Priest, Michael to his family, was a former outcast who had left for college. They had all just drawn together. Dragoon, who’s real name was John, and her had been in the corner since ninth. Alexandria, or Sage as she was called amongst her friends, became a part of the corner in tenth. And then there was James, or Chaos, came into the corner in eleventh, Priest’s last year.
As she sat on a bench, taking a drag off of her cigarette, she remembered a prank that John and James had done. There was not a single day that she didn’t find them in detention. She smiled remembering the time when they had stuck a microphone into the faculty bathroom and recording the principal talking about his hemorrhoids were flaring up and how he needed to use one of those hemorrhoid rings so he could sit down. Then there was the last time they stuck extra-strength, fast-acting liquid laxative into the faculty’s coffee pot and locked the bathrooms. Now that was the prank that got them, well John at least, suspended. The only reason he got caught for that prank was his bag was not closed all the way and three empty laxative bottles fell out.
Someone tapped her shoulder.
"Priest!" – she tossed her cigarette and hugged him. It had been about a week since any of the outcasts had seen him.
"Uh, Angel?" – he gasped – "Losing... Consciousness..."
She let go off him. His crystal blue eyes lit up when he smiled. He ran his hand threw his neatly parted blond hair.
A crush had been once present. This was when she just joined the corner, but eventually, after two boyfriends, the crush died off and was replaced with respect and friendship. Michael always spoke his mind and never really felt the need to hide anything from anyone. He had left for college after he graduated twelfth grade. He got into making games then. During that time, he had made three games for Nintendo and had also designed for the Game cube. Eventually, he left it all.
He straightened his clothes. He was always keen on wearing formals and preferred to be impeccable at all times. He grinned. – "You know, with a hug like that, people could’ve assumed that you and I were an item."
"Well if you showed even the slightest interest in females, I might’ve been." – she had told him about the crush she had for him once she knew that there would not be any awkwardness between them.
She remembered that he had actually apologized to her for not being interested in females in that way. On several occasions he had told her that she was quite a sight to behold.
"I kinda figured your dad would be backing home and you’d need someone to talk to," – his voice was velvety and very enticing at time. He looked at her. – "By the looks of it, my perception was correct. So?"
She looked at him, confused – "So, what?"
"So how many cigarettes did you light up this morning?"
"Seven..." – she said quietly, there was a hint of shame in her tone.
Unlike the others, Michael was not a smoker and he did not exactly appreciate the fact that the others did.
"So, go a girlfriend yet?" – Amy spoke up, changing the subject.
Michael made a mocked painful facial expression – "Why do you always bring that up? You know it won’t happen."
"Actually," – Amy rolled her eyes, uneasily – "Since you left, people have started talking and…well…"
"I am not gay!" – Michael said firmly – "I just prefer thinking with my brain and not my cock when it comes to female body..."
Amy went and leaned against the wall. Michael stood next to her. She put her head on his shoulder.
"Tyson called again, yes?"
She nodded.
"Want I should go knock some sense into him?"
"No offense," – Amy chuckled – "But he’s a line-backer and you’re…well…you..."
"Oh c’mon now! Okay fine, at least even if I can’t go Rambo on his ass, at least I can talk some sense into him?"
"You’d spend the next week and half looking for your teeth," – she sighed – "Thanks though."
"I wish there was more I could do..."
"It’s okay," – she looked up at him. – "You know, when you left, a bunch of girls cried and shit when you didn’t come back this year."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, they were all like 'Michael’s left', 'Michael’s gone' wah wah wah! I mean you are cute and all, but Jesus Christ," – she shuddered. – "Crying over you, Jesus Christ..."
Michael laughed – "Well that’s interesting. Speaking of girls, where is Sage?"
Amy shrugged her shoulders.
"What about Chaos and Dragoon?"
"Probably on their way..." – she looked over at him again – "Didn’t you have a project to do or something?"
"I do. That’s why I’m here actually. It’s a Psych paper. 'Effects Of Social Discrimination On High School Students' how’s that sound?"
"Like something you know way too much about." – Amy giggled – "So you came here for research?"
"As far as the university’s concerned, yeah..." – he winked at her cheekily – "I’ve got pretty much half the paper from personal experience. I needed a break anyway, so I thought I come down this way and see what’s up with you guys."
"And it’s damn good to see ya!" – Alexandria said just arriving around the corner.
"Sage!" – the two friends shouted with open arms.
She gave Amy and Michael a hug each. She was about an inch shorter that Amy, with a long red hair and green eyes that could contend with a jade stone. Her willowy physique contemplated her attitude and her nature. She was the more logical member of the outcasts, hence the name “Sage”.
"Hey Sage," – Michael spoke – "You gotta cover for me on Crossfire tonight. I got this Psych paper that I want to finish up."
"No prob." – Alexandria slapped his shoulder playfully. Then she noticed Amy – "Hey Angel, what’s wrong? Why so glum?"
"Same shit, girl," – she sighed – "Tyson at four in the morning and dad just before leaving."
"Aww, baby," – Alexandria gave Amy a hug – "Don’t worry. Things’ll get better soon."
"Always optimistic, aren’t we?" – she smiled at her friend – "Thanks."
She popped a cigarette in her mouth which was quickly removed by Michael.
"Priest!"
"Not while I’m around, dammit!" – he took Amy’s pack and put the cigarette back in and stuffed it into his pocket – "I’ll give these back to you before I bounce."
Amy grumbled.
"Wassup, my peeps?" - John’s voice filtered in.
John, alias “Dragoon”, was the tallest member of the outcast and not mention the most mischievous. He also had an affinity for contact lens. Today, his eyes were a golden brown. Many a girl admired him, even if he was one egg short of an omelet. As usual, his IPod dangled from his belt.
"Priest, my main man," – he gave Priest a fist pound and switched off his IPod – "I thought you had a project, bro?"
"That’s why I’m here."
Michael noticed the confused looked on John’s face.
"Research, you monkey!"
"Oh, yeah right,"
"Unlike you, Drag, Priest does take the time to say hi to his friends when he can." – Sage interjected, arms crossed resembling an angry pre-school teacher.
Amy looked over at Alexandria and smiled. No matter what Amy told her, she could never handle being ignored by John.
"Holy shit, Sage! I didn’t see you there!" – he came and gave her a hug and let go – "you know what, if you just bulked up a bit more, you’d be a lot easier to spot. Careful of those strong winds too..."
Alexandria punched his arm.
"Ow," – John winced in pain – "Who would of thought bones hurt that bad?'
"Drag." – Amy interrupted, holding back a laugh – "Where’s your 'partner-in-crime'?"
"What else do you think, he’d be up to?"
"Trouble." – all the other outcasts said in unison.
"Ding-ding-ding, tell ‘em what they’ve won, Johnny!!" – said John mimicking a game show host.
"So where is he?" asked Michael.
"He should be here any minute now." – John said looking at his watch.
He looked away from his watch and looked at his friends with a devilish grin on his face.
"Are you constipated, Drag?" asked Michael.
"No," – John continued to bare his grin – "something really awesome’s gonna happen today."
'You’re finally coming out of the closet? Oh happy day!"
"No, Priest! Chaos and me cooked up a plan and we’re gonna make it happen today."
"Hey Drag, everything’s set," – James’ (aka Chaos) voice rang out – "All we gotta do is…hey Priest."
"Hey man," – Michael shook his hand – "So Drag tells us you two got a plan happening today?"
"It’ll be big! You know that CCTV morning news they got going on?"
"Yeah, the one done by the students." – Michael shrugged his shoulders – "What about it?"
"Well I got a timer to it and when it’s time for the kids to do the news, they’ll get something else."
"Well if it’s as hot as you make it sound, then I might as well stick around and check it out. Who knows, it might actually be worth it."
"No Priest, you don’t understand," – James grabbed Michael’s collar and pulled him close to him – "this is worth it."
"Okay," – said Michael evidently freaking out – "um, you’re not going to make out with me, are you?"
James let go of his collar – "Sorry, sometimes I get a little excited."
"No shit."
The school bell rang.
"Show time, my peeps!" – said John two-stepping to the door.
James ran after his friend towards the main building to set the timer followed by Amy, Michael and Alexandria. Amy could not stop smiling the whole way. It looked like this day would not be as bad as she thought it would be.
***
The city was completely empty. It had been this way for a week since the evacuation. After the attack, the whole city had been evacuated except for a small group that had been left behind or rather they had wanted to stay behind. The small group trooped into the garage. Five kids in all; two girls and three boys. The garage that they had entered had been converted and modified, so now instead of it being a place where one would park his or her car, it looked more like a studio with two large speakers, each on either side of the entrance, and hooked to these speakers was a microphone, a bass and electric guitar, an electronic drum pad set and a set of turntables. Everything necessary for a jam session. A computer sat in the corner and this was used to record the music played.
Everyone positioned themselves to their respective places.
"Hey Kade," – said the tall boy as he adjusted his mic stand – "Don’t fuck up the drumsticks again, okay? Just ‘cause that drum kit is hella tough, doesn’t mean that your sticks are."
Kade rolled his eyes.
"And besides, the music store’s half-way across town. You fuck those up, you’ll be the one to go and get a new pair."
"Damn Kannabis, when did you get all responsible?" – Kade said brushing back his hair out of his eyes with his hand – "You damn well know I have no intention of walking that far, especially with all this shit going on."
"Easy Kade," – said Spin as she tinkered with the turntables – "Kannabis, you know he won’t break these."
"C’mon Spin," – protested Kannabis – "He’s already broken three pairs of sticks in only ten days."
"And I’ve gone out and gotten more each time, haven’t I?" – Spin interrupted – "If it ain’t no big deal to me, why is it to you?"
"Cause it’s too fucking dangerous for anyone to be going that far alone! Don’t you get it?"
"Fine!" – Kade spoke up running a hand through his shoulder-length hair – "If I fuck these up, I’ll go and get another pair. And," – he looked over at Spin – "I’ll go alone. I mean fuck, just cause I got a little extra baggage," – he slapped his belly – "Don’t mean that I can’t cover the ground."
"Kade," – Spin’s voice was stern – "You know exactly what’s going out there. Even the cops had a hard time. Fuck, I doubt SWAT could have done anything. Now you think you, one guy with a sword, can handle all that?"
"First, Spin, bullets mean shit out there, but this," – he held up an ancient Samurai katana – "This is useful. Second, I’m not bad with it. Thirdly, the cops wouldn’t listen, while I did. So if you had to ask me that question again, then I’d answer yes. I think I can handle it just fine."
He got off his seat and walked over to Spin and whispered in her ear – "Don’t worry, Spin. I’ll be more than fine."
"If you guys are done with all your cat and dog fighting," – Noire spoke up strumming her guitar – "Can we get this session started already?"
"Yeah, Noire," – Kade winked at Spin – "We’re done."
Noire rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her choice of fashion was most interesting especially considering that her hair color was changing almost everyday. On this day she chose to dye her hair a deep blue to match her eyes. She stood with her arms folded glaring at Kade, Kannabis and Spin. She shook her head and noticed Rage grinning.
"What the fuck’s so funny, Rage?"
"Well whenever shit starts hitting the fan, you always play peace-maker. It’s funny especially considering you’ve got the worse temper out of all of us."
Noire smirked.
"Did you do that with your parents too?"
"All the time. Until they got divorced and I was the one who got thrashed for it afterwards."
"Oh," – Rage realizing he hit a sensitive subject – "I’m sorry, Noire, I didn’t mean to pry."
"Bah!" – Noire waved a hand signifying there was no problem – "I’m over it."
She did not look like it, but Noire was agony aunt of the group. She would take the time to sit and listen to everyone’s problems and comfort them, but when it came down to her problems, she would keep quiet about them, even if it nearly killed her inside.
Noire gently strummed her guitar – "So are we all just gonna stand around with our thumbs up our asses or are we gonna play some music?”
"Okay people," – Kannabis grabbed the microphone – "Playtime is over."
"Fuck yeah," – acknowledged Kade as he sat behind the drum kit – "So what first?"
"Archetype, of course,"
"Okay people," – Kannabis said. – "You know what to do."
As they played, Kade felt alive for the first time in a long time. Adrenaline pumped throughout his system and it was like magic. So many different things would happen as he played; it was as if his emotions came out when he played. That half-explains how he broke the three previous drumsticks.
Kannabis growled into the microphone with so much power and fury, one would actually think he was transforming into an animal as he sang the chorus of Archetype.
“Look into my eyes
And tell me what you see
Someone real, this is real
What you wish to be…”
The song ended and everyone was sweating and breathing hard.
"Rock on!" – Kade said in between breaths.
"Next song?" – Noire said taking a drink of water.
The band made their choice and played.
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