Prologue: Cain Rivers

He had never been normal. At least not to society's standards. Spending most of his time doing nothing productive and skipping as many social gatherings as he could, he was the definition of a loner. A lone wolf. Someone who couldn't properly function around other people. Most ostracised him for it, without actually getting to know the reason for his solitude. And the fact was that he didn't behave like that because he wanted to. He wanted to be like everyone else. He wanted to talk, joke, laugh, cry, play and everything a normal person did in their daily life, all while surrounded by people whom he could call friends.

But he couldn't. He who wished the most to be able to share with his peers, was not able to even look at someone without being drowned in the feelings of panic, anxiety and hatred. Not for any one of them, but for himself. Hatred for himself who couldn't overcome his own fear. Hatred for himself who wasn't able to push himself forwards. Hatred for himself who couldn't stand up once beaten. Hatred for himself who was wasting his own life.

And so, he turned to videogames as a way to cope. He loved online games, because the anonymity and lack of physicality allowed him to fully be himself. Only there did he manage to properly talk to people, to properly act in at least a fraction of "society". And even that seemed to be too much of a blessing for someone like him, since his computer broke-down. Life was a spiral of stress, suffering and isolation, or so he thought.

It is thought that when one has reached their lowest point, things can only get better. In order for that to happen though, one has to put their utmost into improving the situation. And is what he did. Tired of whining about how out of shape he was, he hit the gym. Tired of whining about how hard it was for him to talk to people, he went to therapy. Tired of doing nothing but running away from his fears, he forced himself to talk to people. He sweated. He felt vulnerable. He cried. But he was moving forwards.

And so, two years later, he had finally reached the point in which he was who he always wanted to be. A self-sufficient, confident young man.

*

"Hey, Rivers!" A boy called to his classmate while they were running around a field, during a P.E class. "Slow down Rivers! I need to ask you something!"

Finally relenting, Cain Rivers slowed down and decided to humour his class's bully, Dwight Johnson. "What do you want, Dewie?"

Yes. Cain called his class's bully Dewie. And no one did anything about it –there was no reason to, at least. Cain had changed so much in the past two years that almost nobody would've recognized him, had they not seen his evolution. His classmates were, surprisingly, very empathic and proud of him. Even Dewie himself. He might've been a bully, but he wasn't one to take his jokes too far or to actually injure anyone. He was mostly a harmless prankster with a knack for calling people names.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out with Jenna, Viola and me." Dewie said, surprising Cain slightly. After all, he had never been asked to hang out by the rowdy group. "We are going to the park after school and thought maybe you would like to come."

For a few moments, not any longer than it took him to take five more steps in his jog, Cain thought about it. While it sounded like a weird proposition coming from a prankster like Dwight, he honestly had nothing to lose from it. Besides, it was not like hanging out with Dwight would affect his image negatively. After all, the teen might've been a "bully", but he wasn't disliked by anyone. As said before, he was more of a prankster with a coarse personality who didn't know how to interact with people in a different way.

"I have some plans for later in the day..." Cain began to say, only to follow up with what Dwight wanted to hear, a smirk plastered on his face. "But I can spare an hour or two for you guys."

*

After school, at the park a few blocks from school.

"So, what are we up to?" Cain asked while walking with the guys to the skate park on the other end of the park.

"Well, we... mostly wanted to talk to you." Jenna said a bit shyly, if her body manners were to be trusted.

"You see Cain, we have never had the chance to get to know you better." Viola said, a lot more confidently than her friend. "Besides, you seem to be a chill dude"

"And someone who has the balls to do things most can't." Dwight said jokingly, referencing Cain's journey to become a more confident, fit and overall sociable person. "You can't forget that part."

Jenna furrowed her brows at Dwight's comment, clearly not liking something about it. And she was very vocal about it.

"Always so vulgar." She complained. "Couldn't you be a bit more classy, Dewie?"

"Nah, don't feel like it." He answered. "So, Viola, any questions for the school's new hunk?"

Cain stopped on his tracks as soon as he heard Dwight's question. What was that about the school's new hunk? It was the first time he heard something of the sort. At least about himself. He had made a lot of improvement, but he had never considered himself something even remotely similar to a hunk. After all, he was just Cain.

"I can see the confusion written all over your face sweetheart." Viola said, not at all surprised at his reaction. "And I can understand why."

"You are still very oblivious of just how big the change you went through is." Jenna commented, more to herself than to the rest, but everyone heard her anyway, eliciting a chuckle from Viola and a full blown laugh from Dwight.

"*sigh* Cain, you are a lot more handsome than you give yourself credit for." Viola went on to explain just why he was one of the hunks in school. "Six feet tall, just enough muscle to not be stocky, a very good athlete, good grades and an overall nice person."

Jenna took over her explanation, finishing with the details Viola had missed... just a lot more bashful. "Black hair... styled in a manbun, a strong jaw... the perfect trapezoid body, abs that we can see even now... sharp facial features and big... teal-ish... eyes."

"Now you understand what they mean, Cainie?" Dwight said in a mirthful voice. He was, clearly, the one deriving the most fun from seeing Cain's confused, surprised and perplexed expression –and Jenna's obvious crush helped in his entertainment. It was just delightful how he was able to pack so many emotions in just that one face.

"I... hadn't thought about it that way." Cain said simply, unable to think of something to say in the situation. "Thanks, I guess?"

"Well, you could take me out on a date as a thank you." Viola said, showing once again her upfront, outgoing personality. "Just kidding... or not?"

"Hah, sorry Viola but I honestly don't see you in that manner." Cain said, already getting over his previous emotions. "I do consider you attractive, but I would have to get to know you better"

"That's what we are here for, hunk." Viola said flirtatiously, but Cain identified it as her way of being and joking. Perhaps a bit risque, but still joking. Then he looked at Jenna, who had been almost if not even more quite than him in the journey to the park, and decided to rope her into the conversation a bit more.

"So, Jenna, how come you ended up with these guys?" Cain asked the girl who he could easily identify as someone feeling shy.

"I take that as an offense." Dwight muttered before Viola slapped him in the arm. Cain realized by then what they were doing and had a smirk on his face, which made Dwight and Viola realise that their plan was busted.

"Umm... well... they are not bad people, just a bit too coarse or perhaps uncaring of other's opinion..." Jenna said, having a bit of trouble talking to Cain. Knowing how it feels to have trouble talking to someone, he decided to try and make Jenna feel as comfortable as possible.

"Hey guys, wanna have something to drink? It's on me." Cain offered, surprising Viola, Dwight and Jenna altogether. Then he pointed in a certain direction. "Just tell me what you want, the machine is over there."

"Orange for both Dwight and me." Viola said, to which Dwight just nodded. They clearly knew each other well enought to know their preferred drinks.

"That's great! Jenna, could you accompany me, please?" Cain asked the girl, who blushed at the idea of being alone with him. "You don't have to, but I would appreciate the help to bring the drinks over."

"Y-yeah, sure." Jenna said before following Cain in the direction of the vending machine.

Meanwhile, Viola and Dwight were looking at the situation dumbfounded. Their plan was to have Cain hang out with them and have him see Jenna's good points. From there, maybe she would have a chance to go on a date with him and perhaps something more. All they were doing was helping their friend get a chance with their crush, but they didn't expect said crush to be so good at piloting the situation.

"He moves faster than you Dwight." Viola said, only for her friend to very lightly slap the back of her head in retort. Both laughed while thinking of how lucky Jenna was.

"He is an incredibly good guy." Dwight said. "Perhaps the only one suitable for Jenna's kindness."

"You know very well that we are just as good as they are." Viola said, only for Dwight to smirk.

"Yeah, but people don't have to know that." He answered quickly, only to stare at Jenna and Cain talking over at the vending machine.

Just when Dwight and Viola saw Jenna and Cain smile and being to talk a lot more fluently, the entire atmosphere became heavy. The sky was now covered in dark clouds which completely stopped the sun from reaching them, drowning the world in an unnatural night. One without a single star. When lightning fell from the sky, an ominous horn resounded in the entire place.

And thus... all hell broke loose.

----------------

This is mostly a MC introductory chapter. If you spot any grammar or spelling mistakes, please do point them out so that I can correct them (I re-read every single sentece I write, but I still miss some).

I hope you guys enjoy this sotory I am putting up together, and which I am honestly enjoying writing for the first time in a while.