"The pits ringed levels rotated like the vice of a lamprey , its gaping depths promising fortune and ruin , and humanity in it ignorance ran forward like a moth to a flame"
-Amanda dyer , the light
The sound of chalk interrupted my thought as my eyes started up as I saw Mr Thomposon with his checkered green shirt and brown slacks , and shoulders tired with age with the balding scalp to show for it.
My eyes drifted to the writing on the board , the words "THE PIT" written in bold yet shaky letter quite unlike the temperament i had gotten familiar with , though it was no surprise , it was a well known fact Mr Thompson felt deep resentment to anything about the pit , having lost his father to it , when it first came to be , and lose his son when a leakage occurred near his sons wedding , the fact mr Thomposon could even teach made me respect him even more than i had already.
Mr Thompson turned around with a turbid breath and began the lesson, his expression was a strained one like a dam holding back grief and pain , or a button holding back a woman's ample bosom.
"This is not a subject which i think needs any introduction to any of you , the pit appeared 50 years ago , we don't know where the pit exactly is whether it's even in our dimension at all , but all we truly see is its effect , the appearance of the variants and the estuaries and the horrors from the darkness of the pit and the riches to those who conquer it , the pit has redefined our world for better or for worse" he said in a theatrical manner.
As his eyes swept the classroom they eventually landed on me , "Mr Kilbride? Kilbride , Allan!??" , my eyes shot up from the note book.
He stared for a moment before speaking "Can you tell me what a Estuary is?" , I nodded closing the book on my lap before standing up , "In simple terms , It is a pathway leading the variant's to the pit"
"And why only the Variants"
"The energy known as brackish water will kill any normal human"
"Why does it not kill the Variants?" he turned to the rest of the class.
"***We dont know!!***" everyone in the class answered unanimously with lacking enthusiasm
"Correct!" He laughed, his mood lifted, he turned to me and spoke "10 points to griffindor " He said as everyone went quiet at that, he looked around confused for a moment before his eyes lit up "Sorry so sorry I forgot".
The bell rang as I raised myself and left , an hour per class 6 hours a day for 12 years of my life , seemed like a pretty bad deal to me but what society wants society gets.
I stood up and began to walk through the hall the shouting and laughter of the student body , i had heard one of my aunts describe teenagers as pubescent monkeys , i had thought her harsh , i have misjudged your aunt claire maybe your choice to remain single wasn't born completely out of your noxious personality.
I felt someone bump into my shoulder. As a professional quiet kid I was used to being pushed around by people , especially recently but these shoulders were too soft , weak and short to be any of "those" assholes.
I turned and saw no one , I looked down and saw a girl rubbing her shoulders with closed eyes.
"Blimey, have you been working out??!!!" Chloe said in a forced accent , which I mimicked in reply.
"OH GOODNESS NO , THE CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS WOULD BE TO MUCH FOR ME" i said putting the back of my palm to my forehead in a theatrical manner , the joke was poking fun at chloe who had passed out due to a lack of Carbon dioxide in her lungs once , or maybe it was the fact she barely ate anything at all.
"Okay you don't have to be an asshole to be funny y'know?" she said unammused at my masterclass humor.
"Chloe, don't confuse what I have to do with what I want to do, okay? , being an asshole is how made all my friends"
"Those "friends" of yours are redditors and webnovel discord mods , who could sympathize with a nazi , and maybe it's because of your broadly toxic sense of humor that you get bullied in the first place"
"Okay y'know what touche but Ill never apologise for it Never" i spat as
I reached out and opened my locker , the quick wet sensation and smell of paint assaulted me as the flood of red paint poured out and covered me and obviously missed Chloe.
"Oh god , what happened?" she asked, looking concerned ,she quickly took out her orange handkerchief which was far too big for her hands and gave it to me "Keep it" she said curtly.
"Who would do such a thing?" She asked furious , her hands on her hip , before I could reply , a manic and gleeful laugh came from across the hall as I looked I saw Todd and his friends there laughing like hyenas
I glared at them and as i did I felt something in me beg , beg to do what I knew I could do , it would feel so good , it would be so easy , suddenly my anger was replaced by fear.
"Im going to the bathroom" i spoke quickly before leaving , as Chloe stared at me, probably baffled at my cowardice
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i tried my best to clean off the paint , of course it didn't work , as i felt the familiar feeling build up , i closed my eyes and let go of the unconscious hold i was keeping on my self , an inky black smoke bellowed out of my skin covering the room as I felt my hearing , scent and sense of touch numb.
I was a Variant i had awakened around 3 months ago , my ability was simple it allowed to me summon darkness that blinded and muted the senses of anything it came in contact with.
Before anyone came into the room ,and saw a sandbox void, I quickly dispersed the darkness as I stood there and continued to clean my hands.
The rest of the day was uneventful , Todd didn't do this often around 1 or two things a month or so , he had others he could focus on and he could be ignored.
Chloe was Chloe , she pretended like whatever happened before didn't happen and I couldn't ask for more than that , she knew people well , it was why despite her "Shortcomings" she was still elected council president twice before , why she didn't run again was a mystery.
As school ended I took the bus back home , through the window i could get a clear view of the city center , 3 tall skyscrapers connected by a dome covering the central estuary which would lead all the variants who had signed up to the official program for entering the Pit (simply called the descent program) directly into the first layer of the pit , thought other means existed.
As i looked i couldn't help but feel a deep tremor in my heart , i knew what it was , the call of the pit , a need to plunge into its depths , a deep longing for a feeling that had never once existed , ever since the pits appearance people had differing opinions of what it was to religious communities they were the gates to hell and realm of evil which needed to be cleansed, to scientific community a fascinating phenomenon that needed extensive research , to various nations a chance for them to propel themselves onto the global scene
Regardless of what they believed they would all wish to go forwards into the pit with the same longing and the same hunger and this hunger was felt keenly by the variants chosen by the pit, an impulse rooted into their psyche and a reason to live.
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I walked down the streets of the city they were quiet , far too quiet , as i looked forward i sighed seeing as wall in the intersection point , seems a leakage occurred , i sighed normally i would receive a notification on my phone but due to certain someone i had my phone taken away , i stopped thinking so i wouldn't feel irritated right now.
I turned around and began walking but as I did I smelled a strong iron smell in the air and salt water? I turned briefly as a shadow covered me i looked up and saw a hairy wolf gorilla hybrid flying over the barricade towards me
I began to backstep but a memory flashed in my head as I quickly side stepped instead as the beast landed and rolled forward it's momentum carrying it into a nearby cafe as it burst through the glass.
I really liked that cafe , i came this route on the off chance i had enough money to buy a meat roll or a coffee , i hope they take remunerations from the person who did that , i looked around waiting for the decender who was fighting this thing to take a clue and come save me , i waited and i waited and i waited..
"What the fuck?!!" I yelled at the absence as the fierce roar shook me , i looked forward and saw the beast in full it was like a cross between a wolf and massive gorilla , it had a black fur coat with white fur on its chest and forelimbs which were adorned with 3 m long nail which looked akin to those on a sloth or an anteater , its jaw consisted of jagged sharp teeth , and its eyes were a milky white with no discernible pupils but it did not seem to hinder its sight as it stared at me as drool poured out from its mouth like fountain.
It grabbed the wooden window frame for balance crushing the wood with the sheer weight of its body as it stood on two legs in a grotesque imitation of a human as it stared at me like a normal wolf would stare at a deer , and there we stood in a trance just looking for moments that could have been hours , until I let out a breath , and it disappeared , i didnt wait immediately rolling forward as it claw sliced the lamp post is was standing beneath into two.
It turned its head slowly , looking at me , if it had a human face im sure it would've been laughing with a manic gleefull laugh i had heard from todd before , it lowered to four legs as i backed away , still on my ass , my knees to weak from near death experience before as it took its time crawling towards me , relishing my fear and its absolute dominance.
If i could just summon the darkness then i could gain the upper hand , maybe even defeat this thing , but i had never done such a thing before , i had never gotten in a single fight my whole life , how could i be expected to fight this thing?
I felt the wall of the destroyed cafe behind me as any hope in me was choked out like a candle flame , candles , i remembered that my mom asked me to get her some scented candles , i forgot she would've lectured me in a way to make me feel guilty , the way moms seemed to masterful at, now she wouldn't be able to cause , i would die here , become part of a percentage online for people to dismiss and move on with their lives ,an reed among the field of wheat.
I tried to grab something anything as the beast slowly approached its jaw unhinging like a snake as i grabbed into the frame of the cafe's window , in hopes of standing a shard of glass entered my palm as pain shocked my nerves like a taser , my eyed widening to saucers as blood trickled down enticing the creature to quicken its pace but then it stopped maybe it noticed my wide eyes stare or the darkness seeping out with the wound.
"A tyrant to a citizen , a system to a cog , a predator to a prey"
The creature lunged forward as i shot out a beam of darkness which quickly covered the small area in front of the cafe , with its eyesight and senses muted it missed it claw striking at the wooden window frame as i grabbed a shard of glass and stabbed its milky white eyes , it howled in pain much like a wolf.
I took the chance to run.
How ever the beast turned as its arms reached out it claws scratched his jeans as the fabric stuck to a nail, "HOW?" I thought to myself it was impossible to see or hear in the darkness, as i looked i saw the twitching of its nose , oh it could smell me , allans jeans had been stained with paint , that and the beasts enhanced smell basically gave it a third eye that could sense him even after its smell was reduced .
I gritted my teeth raising my foot as i kicked the the beasts arm again and again , but it held firm its muscles bounded like rope , it wouldn't work i knew that , so i raised my foot and kicked the glass it in eye as it grunted in pain finally letting go of my foot as i spun myself and and ran as fast as i could.
As i turned a corner however the beast somehow landed in front of having climbed the walls of the buildings using its claws it lunged again , i ducked as it flew past abode , but its foot hit me in between my eyes , knocking me into a daze as it spun around and raised its claws , i quickly spun to the side barely dodging the attack as its claw left a scratch on my abdomen , i had to think of something if this fight continued as it did , the injuries would pile up , a war of attrition was not an option , thinking of something i stood up and ran again.
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The beast clawed at the glass in its eyes but only hurted itself more , it was an irritant but it didn't matter it couldn't see in this darkness anyway , it sniffed allans blood which stained its claw before sniffing the air for a familiar scent , its smell was greatly reduced in the darkness but only by human standards , it went on 4 legs and tracked the scent until it felt a pool of it a few meters , ahead , drool came front mouths as it stiffened its legs and lunged its claws spread wanting to tear into the soft , juicy tender flesh of its prey as its claws penetrated Allan's insides the beast began to rip it apart piece by piece , but it stopped.
The beast looked down feeling only metal of a vehicle it had crashed into ,it sniffed the air and along with the scent of blood the scent of something burning caught its attention as it turned its head in its general direction the darkness obscured its sight . it could not make out the burning orange handkerchief which was stained with red pain which had been logged into it , a few meters away Allan stood thanking Chloe in his heart.
The beast got its claws out the moved towards the kerchief until it was standing in front of it.
"I saw this in a movie once ,....burn you bastard"
The beast could turn only for a moment before the car exploded as the flames engulfed it ,howled in pain , Allan immediately dispersed the darkness as the light entered his eyes again causing him to squint as the beast burned in front of him writhing in pain , made him feel a sense of satisfaction.
"This is what you get..ahah This is what you ge-" the beast stood up its empty eyes holding endless thirst for violence as it looked at Allan standing there burning as if the fire did nothing to him , it could see him now it Allan felt a rush of terror as his face was filled with terror.
"No NO NO!!"
It ran forward on two legs wanting only to rip its prey to shreds not out of hate or malice but a deep primal need to fo so , but before it could it felt something pierce its chest looking down and seeing a spear of bronze as it turned back a hammer shaped like a meat tenderizer collided against its skull killing it immediately.
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I looked up to see the beast dead , its head was smashed, the gore staining the pavement , I breathed heavily the fear the gripped my heart. It took a moment to calm myself down , it was then that i realized , I was ogling a fucking monster corpse.
i looked at the person who saved me , she wore a eye catching outfit a black jumpsuit which showed of her lithe athletic built with a white and golden hood from which rich blond hair cascaded down , on her waist she had golden belt and on it several balls glowed in various colors , she looked down at me i realised her eyes were a common brown , i sighed i expected her eyes to be golden like her hair.
She didn't mind the look of disappointment I might've had and asked with a bored tone "You alright?".
I didn't speak, I just sat there looking at her , she looked at me now with some annoyance "Are you going to speak and are you just gonna sit on your ass and ogle me all day?"
After a few more minutes I said "ya im alright".