Castle

A white box clouded with many faces, the sprinkle of rain smacking against the shimmering glass, and a boundless thunder that snapped away all words the teacher spoke.

Jimi was fiddling with a yellow plectrum that had a black lightning bolt running down it. His eyes seemed to droop every other moment, the words of an adult seemingly taken by the raging rhythm.

"Psst," Jimi whispered.

I looked at him with droopy eyes, yawning quietly as I looked at his seemingly abstract face. Out of all the faces I've ever seen, Jimi's was surely the sharpest. Having tough angles on every corner. His sideburns weren't much help in that department either, for his hair was already unnecessarily acute. Making his overall look similar to the likeness of a lion, but just not as intimidating.

I couldn't remember when it might have been, but it seemed Jimi's long-grown phase was dying out too soon. To me, it seemed just a spur of the moment, an abundantly out-of-place change in his attire, vibe, and general attitude. Yes, at this time of existence, Jimi was entranced by the concept of being a rockstar. To most, it seemed to pop out of nowhere, and in all fairness it kinda was. He soon began to wear extravagant leather, wear these posh-looking lightning earrings, and spiked loafers.

In reality, though, Jimi was just using his wealth, the wealth which Lull had explained to him. Jimi was not one to pry into the choices of his family, nor did he care to ever live up to their expectations. If they had any, of course, Jimi wouldn't know. These collected actions would bring him to the place he is in now.

***

Two or so years ago.

A new karaoke place opened up on the island, and most things that ended up on the island were things most children of their age never heard of.

"Kar-E-Oh-Kay," Jimi exclaimed. It, in a lot of ways, was embarrassing the fact that written text wasn't common for Jimi to indulge in. So his skills in some of the old-fashioned writings gave him a hard time.

Lull on the other hand couldn't read at all, so he never really cared.

Walking into the place, a lined trim of purple and gold glossed the walls and small floor tiles. At the desk, register sat a seemingly uncaring, but somewhat interested teen. His name does not matter at the current time so we'll skip it. After Jimi gave the young man a black card, a card his father said to use in emergencies. This brought about the palest expression a human could have before appearing to look like a ghost.

The teen almost let go of his bladder, the shock was unimaginable. He took a glance at the card, then a peek at the young boy who gave him the card. Feeling like it would be stupid to even bother with what was going on, the young man swiped the card, gave the two boys some paper slips, and carefully instructed them where to go.

Once done giving back the card, the teen "magically" transformed into the most attentive and well-mannered gentleman the two boys have ever seen. He was practically licking their shoes, and weirdly, it bothered them to the point that even though they were hungry, they chose not to order anything. Instead, the two stayed in a large room with minimalist lighting and large television with floating microphones. This day music of the past would resonate with Jimi as his crackly voice boomed with passion. Lull not so much.

"Man, that guy was weird. Uber creepy if ya ask me."

"Mhm."

***

Bringing us back to today, Lull would teeter his ear close to Jimi, but in the instant, his ear reached Jimi's lips, "BAAAAAAA!"

A rounding ring rumbled in Lull's ear as he dropped back falling off his chair.

"Jimi! What the hell was that? How many times… 'sigh' Just go, you know the routine," a very rough man said as he tilted his head back, away from the giant board.

"Ya ya, yo L. meet me out by the shoe dumpster, Jinu wants to show us something cool."

Barely listening, Lull went back to his seat in a daze.

***

Late in the evening Jimi and Lull strolled down the street entering a thin alley, with only a few inches of leeway for the two boys to walk through. On the other side was a dumpster filled with shoes, surrounding this boxed enclosure squatted a bunch of guys that wished they were as tough as they thought they looked.

The wind started to blow in, a cold chill crawled down both their necks.

"Well damn, ain't this cool, ay L."

"..."

Before Lull could come up with an appropriate response, a large man cloaked in a garb that fitted a tad small approached them.

"Is it the faulted of whom are born the way they gain breath?"

"Huh, what the hell are you talking…"

The man took a step forward, an unsettling pressure cutting off Jimi's words. The men that were lounging around prior, began to stand. Their glares point like a never-ending bullet.

"You, are you the one claimed by the title of the Lull?"

"Hey, I was still..."

Jimi's face swelled back as his body flung in a vertical spin, approximately two feet above the man's head and just a foot below the top of the wall. With the man's fist directed in the same direction in which Jimi flew, slight wisps of steam could be seen with a clear eye. His body then dropped to the ground with a thud, then a slowly released wheeze could be gently heard; a trickle of blood poured from his face.

Lull's body began to quiver, frozen in place, pinched in time.

"I ask you this, Lull is the title given to you?"

"U-uhh, uh, Lull is what I go by."

Droplets of sweat began to bead down his face, and a large gulp of saliva followed suit.

As Lull's consciousness seemed to fall victim to fear, a charming, but rather dry voice appeared.

"Shit," the grunts murmured.

'It's Toto'

They all thought.

Toto was a somewhat languid individual, with sharp lined eyes, piercingly angled lashes, and brushy blonde hair that he would sometimes pull back with a yellowish green baseball cap. The lip facing the back in this instance. If not all, then most of the time Toto would be wearing his baseball uniform, just more opened up. He neither wore cleats, and his shirt was unbuttoned and untucked. His clothes simply loosened and flowed with the wind.

With his timely appearance, Toto would pull out a white pack of cigarettes, and place one in his mouth. Then with it in his mouth, he pulled from his left pocket an odd lighter that formed a shape similar to a twisted boomerang.

Whilst taking in a couple of puffs, Toto's eyes would simply glance from left to right. A face of severe indifference was shown, and as he blew the smoke from his lungs, he somehow arrived behind the large man. A placement of Toto's hand atop his shoulder pulled the large man down snapping his knee into the ground. His bones shattered and the snapped femurs forcefully protruded out of his muscle, tearing apart his flesh. The cries of the giant exploded as he wailed in pain.

"You two, your friend is at the beach, next time don't fall for stupid letters."

As he said this with a cold stare, Lull snatched Jimi as he began to limp whilst they ran out from the alley, scraping their bodies against the walls, not caring if they were hurt. In seconds they darted out of there, leaving only the now unconscious man with broken legs; and a bunch of thugs scared for their lives. Moments away from where the two boys were, one could hear the screams of many. Whelping like skin-pealed puppies.