Crush

Sam's first mission, teamed up with speedster sorcerer, Volta. They were given a dossier for their mission.

Beast Count: ~12

Approximate Level: 1

Behavior: Aggressive

Victim Count: N/A

Location: Vin's Auto Repair, Renolt Drive, No. 13, Hilo, Hursh

The place of the mission wasn't that far away from the school, about a mile or two. Sam and Volta walked—side to side—to the large entrance/exit of the school.

"So, you wanna grab a cab?"

"..." Volta stayed silent, and stared at him with this lifeless look on her face.

"Wanna walk there instead?"

"..." The same silence.

She casts "Lightning Amplification" and runs off alone. Sam was left alone, he started running at full speed. Volta arrived in three minutes flat, Sam arrived in eight minutes. Luckily for him, Volta didn't start the mission before he got there.

"Wow, you're fast." Sam said as he pants.

"..."

"Please don't tell me you've finished the mission already."

She shook her head in disagreement.

A man then came up to them, with an overall, covered in grease. He looked worried and in distress.

"Are you two sorcerers?" The man asks

"Yup! We're here to deal with your troubles, sir." Sam said cheerfully

"There's like a dozen of 'em in the workshop." The man informed

"Is there anyone inside?" Sam asks

"Yes, three people. They're locked in the bathroom." The man replied

"Kinky..." He whispered under his breath

"Sorry, how'd you get out?" Sam goes back to topic

"I ran out to get help." He said

"Well no worries, sir." Sam grinned, winked, and gave him a thumbs up.

The workshop had its garage gate closed, they were just about to open shop. But a "door" opened inside the garage and beasts crawled out.

"They're quite big, about like a big dog." The man described

Volta bolted inside the garage at super speed.

"Also, please keep the damage to a minimum!"

"We'll do our best!"

Dan followed Volta in through the side door she went through.

Volta got to the inside of the garage, the beasts were crawling all over the place, walls, and ceiling. They were messing up the place. Every beast in that room drew its attention to her. She looked determined but same lifeless look. She cracks her neck and casts "Lightning Amplification".

Sam ran to the bathroom first. The door was locked. He knocks on the door, but no one answered.

Anyone inside? I'm a sorcerer, I'm here to help."

No one answered again. Sam got a weird feeling from this. He puts his ear close to the door. Everything was muffled and unclear.

"Calm down and focus," Sam remembered

Sam closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. His hearing became sharper. He could hear what was inside clearer. He can actually visualize it clearly. A beast behind the door, two people inside the stalls.

He thought the door was locked but it wasn't, it was being pushed against the beast and something else which made the door stuck.

Sam unsheathes both his Twin Blades from its scabbards—Kai gave Sam the scabbards for the Twin Blades.

He raised his left blade, facing the door. The end of the left blade slightly touches the door. He raised his right blade and clashes the blade with the other. The door blew off the hinges, crushing the beast against the wall. The beast wasn't moving.

"A bit bigger than a big dog."

Sam then looks down and sees a corpse of a woman. He could tell from the physical features of her body, not her face. Her face was no longer there, it was torn off by the beast. Sam was caught off guard by the corpse, he nearly threw up. He drag the corpse out of the bathroom and to the left side of the door frame. Sam took off his jacket and covered the corpse's face and chest.

He walked back to the bathroom to have the beast jump on him. Its weight and the force took him down. It tried biting Sam's face but he was blocking it with his blades.

The beast was strong enough to pin Sam down. Sam held the beast with one of his blades as he rotates the other. He then just thrusts his blade pointing inward the beast's mouth, stabbing it right through its head. The beast was dead. He puts the body aside and got up. Sam then stabbed the beast's head again, he wasn't sure it was dead.

"It's okay. It's dead, come out."

The two people in the stalls slowly walked out. They were disturbed by the amount of human blood, flesh, and nonhuman blood that spilled and scattered on the floor.

"Where's she?" one of the two people asked

"..."

"Where is she?"

"She's... She's gone. You two should leave before things get worse."

The two then walked past the body and gasped. They left quickly after. Sam sighed, he felt discouraged. On his first mission, someone died a horrible death.

"Take a breath, and collect yourself." He remembered again.

Sam closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and exhaled from his mouth. He repeated this several times. He grew calmer and calmer. He decided it was time to help Volta. He jogs to the garage with his blades out. By the time he arrived the garage was quiet. He looks around and saw a lot of blood from the beasts.

All of the dead beasts were placed in one spot and piled on top of each other. Volta was sitting on top of a car that was in the process of being repaired.

"Did you get them all?"

She raises one finger on her right hand. Sam wondered for a bit, what exactly did she mean by that. Then it clicked.

"I got the other one, it was in the toilet."

"The people?"

"Uhh... That... Um... One didn't make it. She died before I got there."

She didn't give a response. She seems like she doesn't care that there was a victim. Her face was blank. No emotions. She was apathetic. She then jumped off the car and walked toward Sam. She got closer and closer. Too close in fact. "What are you doing?" His face slowly turns red.

She reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. She turns it on. The phone was locked. She flipped the phone and shoved it close to Sam's face. "Unlock it."

He grabs his phone gently, entered the four-digit pin for his phone, and handed it back to her. "What are you trying to do?" He asks.

"Clean up."

"Clean up? What do you mean?"

"A team that cleans up the mess after a mission. The CCC."

"Corruption Cleaning Crew?"

She nodded. Sam was surprised. This was the most he heard her speak. He really liked her calm and gentle voice. He thought it was cute. She dialed the CCC and requested a crew to clean up. The crew arrived in ten minutes. Volta then left when the crew arrived, leaving Sam alone, again. He waited for the clean-up crew to finish cleaning. They were a professional clean-up crew who got the job done in fifteen minutes.

One of the crew members walked to Sam and handed him his jacket.

"It's okay. It's not your fault."

"Right, thanks."

The crew gave Sam a ride back to the school.

To Sam's surprise, Volta was waiting for him by the gate. "Oh, hey. Didn't expect to see you still hanging around."

Sam sighed, he was a bit annoyed by her silent demeanor. He thought she would talk more. He thought that maybe she was shy, maybe she just needed time to open up.

"Hey, V, Wanna grab lunch together?"

She stared at him. Sam couldn't get a read on her. "Oh shit, did I piss her off?" He panicked.

"I-I mean it's fine if you don't want to." He said. Chuckling nervously. Sweat ran down his back, his heart started racing. He scratches his nape nervously.

"No? Okay, I'll grab lunch by myself." He answered himself.

Sam walks back out the gate. "Fuck! Maybe that was too straightforward?" He mumbled. He walked for a full minute in the direction of a fast food place. Holstered his hands in his pocket. Cringing at what he did earlier. Then a wind from behind pushed him lightly, making his hair go crazy.

He turns around and sees Volta behind him. She was walking with her hands in her pockets. Then she stopped. She looked apathetic as usual, but she was blushing.

"Oh, you came. I uhh... Didn't expect you to come along."

"I'm hungry."

"Oh, okay then. I'll treat you."

The two walked alongside each other to the fast food place. Sam bought a burger and Volta said she wanted whatever, so Sam bought her the same thing he got for himself.

"You wanna eat here?"

She nodded. The two sat down next to a glass pane wall. A two-seat table. Their food was served pretty quickly. Burgers and fries, two seats and a table, just Sam and Volta. This was the closest thing he ever got as a date to him. He tried getting a girlfriend in middle school for an entire year, but not once has he ever been successful.

"Is it good?" Sam asks as he was chewing.

She shrugged her shoulders as she chews it. She took too big of a bite, her mouth was full. Sam couldn't help but chuckle. He thought it was cute and funny. Her face turned red, but she wasn't reacting at all. As they eat neither side spoke. Sam felt awkward to actually talk and she was just uninterested in talking.

After they ate, Sam walked back to school and Volta sprinted to school, as usual.

While Sam was headed back to his dorm, Volta was in the middle of the field. "What is she doing?" He wondered. He jogs to her.

"Hey, V, whatcha doing?"

She looks at him and stared, again. She had a mean glare, menacing even. Sam was caught off guard and twitched.

"Train." She said.

"Oh... Do you want to train with me? Okay."

Without warning or any kind of heads up, Volta dashes toward Sam with her right knee risen and lands it directly in the middle of his torso. He was knocked down hard, he fought to breathe. He wheezes as he lay helpless. She walks to him and looks down at him.

Sam felt embarrassed, disappointed even. He knew that he was nowhere on the level of Volta or the others, even if their ranks are the lowest. He couldn't compete even at the bottom feeder level.

Volta crouches, looked at Sam's face, and said "Are you okay?"

Coming from her apathetic ass it could mean two things. Either she was concerned or was mean. Sam couldn't decide.

Volta stands back to her feet and lends a hand.

Sam was genuinely shocked. He was leaning more toward to "she was mocking him" version of "Are you okay". He grabs her hand and helps him stand on his feet.

"Thaaaanks." He wheezes. He was still struggling to breathe.

"I thought you could take that."

"Maybe if I *cough* If I was *cough* ready."

Volta intended to apologize, but that came out instead. Volta has Alexithymia—she's unable to identify and express her true emotions. That's why she blushes with no reaction. That's why she can't apologize. That's why she can't say if she likes the burger or not. The reason she's apathetic all her life.

Sam breathes deep and recovers. He kept breathing in deep for a few seconds, too much maybe. He stands normally, head tilted low, his hair covering his eyes, slightly obscuring his vision. He pushes his hair back and glances to his left. A sight in his eyes that made his heart race. A feeling that he never truly felt before. He thought he had fallen for someone before, many times in fact. he would talk about his feelings to Dan. Dan was always brutally honest with his response.

"It's not love, but lust." That's how Sam interpreted it. What Dan actually said was "you're just fucking horny, Sam."

Sam never admitted to it until this exact moment. He finally knows what love feels like. It's similar to lust but that would just be the drive to pursue it.

It was like love at first sight, except it was not his first time seeing her. His face blushes red, he felt a weird stomach ache, his heart raced faster, and his mind went blank.

He stands on his two feet, alone. Volta walks backward a few steps. "Never mind." Then she ran off to the dorm leaving Sam by himself. Sam felt his knees getting weaker. He dropped to them and laid on the grass with his arms spread out.

"This has gotta be it." He said feeling excited.