Chapter 1 - Origin

"It really is just a cycle, huh?" Ray muttered, his eyes listless as he sat in the cold, dark dungeon of the sick piece of shit that chained him up and tortured him for a year, all for his own enjoyment. The smell was horrid as the stenches of blood, decay and defaction mixed into the air. His body was riddled with scars, bruises, burns, and many other types of wounds. He was reminded of a passage that he had read in a book once after hearing the words of his captor. Apparently, today's the last day of his life. His cycle ends today. Or, so it would seem.

"You've finally broken, huh, you little shit?" A man with high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw responded as he held a sadistic smile on his attractive face, "Guess all I had to do was take your pathetic life. Makes me feel like I wasted all that time torturing you, hahaha. At the end of the day, it was the same for you both. I don't mind though; the defiance in your eyes was fun."

"Broken? You broke me a long time ago you sick fuck. But if you think I've given up, just know that I'd snap your neck the first chance I get." Ray spat back.

"That's more like it. It's no fun if you don't struggle. I have to say though, I'm impressed by you two. No one else has ever lasted an entire year of this without losing the will to live. You've become like favorite toys of mine. But, all good things must come to an end as they say. So to commemorate me moving past you both, I'll take your lives on the same day."

'Poor girl.' Ray thought, 'That she was kidnapped by this bastard on the same day as me. It's a shame, really. And this sick fuck keeps talking about her like he's bragging about how amusing his toy is. Well, our suffering ends today I guess. I just hope she can find peace in death, but if she's anything like me then she'll be haunting this sick bastard till the day he dies.'

"Hey, what's wrong, you've gone quiet on me." The man said as he grabbed Ray by his short black hair, slamming the back of his head against the wall of his cold, dark cell.

"Oh sorry, you just radiate so much small dick energy that I stopped feeling your presence for a sec. You must disappoint that girl regularly, don't you? Be honest, you're just getting rid of us because we hurt your already fragile ego aren't you?" Ray replied with a defiant chuckle.

Bam!

Ray's words were met with a punch to the jaw. The man, who was crouching next to him, got up. With a dark face, he turned around and went to a cloth laid out with all sorts of tools that looked like they were made for the sole purpose of torture. He picked out a regular knife and stabbed it into Ray's leg.

"Nothing too complex today, It's your last day after all. How does it feel? Nostalgic, isn't it? It's the same knife I used on your first day. Hahaha." The man laughed as Ray gritted his teeth to prevent himself from screaming in pain, "Aw you're no fun. Well, I guess it's time to end it; though it's quite sad. What we had was special after all. Haha."

The man picked the knife out of Ray's leg as it bled profusely.

"Oh and one last thing; did you know I do a background check on all my toys?" His lips curled up as Ray's heart sank," And, I noticed you had a sister."

Ray had no time to respond before all he could do was watch on as he was stabbed with that knife, over and over. Helpless to change his fate, he could only cough up blood as the light faded from his eyes.

'So this is how I die? This is how my life's cycle ends, with misery? That's it? I get kidnapped, toyed with for a year and finally, disposed of like some object with no will? Hahaha. I had so much to look forward to. I had dreams I wanted to fulfill, goals I wanted to reach. Even if I wasn't rich, I was happy. I was never an asshole. I was never ungrateful. But fate had other plans for me huh?... Ain't that a bitch.'

As Ray's head hung low, signifying his death, the man got up and looked down on him.

Ptui! The man spat on Ray and said, "Your defiance was fun at first, but toys are to be played with. They shouldn't talk back." With that, he turned around and walked out of the cell and out of the dark corridor lined with multiple other cells. Inside the cells, other people could be seen, some dead and some still alive, if it could even be called living.

Unbeknownst to the man, Ray was still alive, albeit barely as he was experiencing his last seconds.

…

Ray found himself in a place that seemed like outer space. It was pure darkness, except for one giant mote of light akin to a star that stood in front of him. He felt endless warmth from that star as if it was gently enveloping him in its embrace, yet from the darkness, he felt a deep serenity, as if it was lulling him to sleep. He could not speak as he did not have a body. Even his thoughts eluded him. It was as if nothing was allowed to exist in this space except light and darkness; a sacred ground that none may trespass on.

Huff Huff~

Ray sat up in his cell, his face covered in sweat, "What the hell was that? Wait…I'm alive? Was my death a dream?" He questioned but those questions were answered as he looked down at the rags that couldn't even be called clothes. He saw the blood stains and rips on his shirt. Usually, his clothes would be moved out of the way before he was tortured so it was intact, even if it was mess. The strange thing was that, on close inspection, his body was not just healthy, but fit.

'I'm not complaining about being alive, but…this makes no sense. What was that place I saw earlier? Was it the afterlife? Why am I still alive? I'm sure that what happened earlier was real. I don't know how but I can just tell. Have I gone insane? No, I'm sure I haven't. What- Huh?'

Ray's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed multiple things, although it took him a while. Firstly he looked at his body and he was shocked.

"Why the hell am I so strong?" He asked dumbfoundedly as he felt a power latent inside his body that scared even him, "Wait. Maybe I can break these shackles."

As he said that he tried and began to pull on the shackles that were binding his arms. The shackles started to creak as he exerted his strength but they wouldn't break. Even after exerting all his strength, the shackles held on in the end.

'Well isn't that just great? Of course, I can't break these thick iron shackles. Hmm, but maybe I can squeeze my hand out? Who knows, maybe my body is more flexible now.' And, to his surprise, it was. As he tried to squeeze his hand out of the shackles, they slid out with surprising ease.

"Well, that's convenient."

Ray turned his focus to the other thing that caught his attention, which was the darkness in the cell. Different from before, it didn't scare him at all. Instead, he felt a faint connection with it. He felt like it had become tangible to him. As if it were some kind of smoke. Not only that, but he could also see clearly, whereas before, he could barely see his legs as he sat. He reached out his hand to touch it and it felt like cold smog.

"It feels like I can control it." He said in astonishment.

As he willed it to move, it did. The shadows in his cell twisted and turned however he wished, "...So I awakened superpowers? What is this shit, spider man? Not that I'm complaining honestly. I can feel that there is another connection, but I can't tell what it is since it's not very present here. But maybe I can get out of here with this." It was only now that he realized he had made a habit of talking to himself to keep himself sane; though, calling him sane would be a bit of a stretch.

Suddenly, he jolted as he sensed something, 'Someone's coming.' He thought as he felt someone's presence appear in the darkness at the end of the corridor, 'It's probably one of the guards that feed us. This might be my chance.'

He still had a lot to figure out, but the faster he was out of this place, the better. He tried wrapping himself in the darkness as if he was hiding in a screen of smoke. And it worked, It was as if he disappeared from the cell. He could tell that the darkness was hiding him from sight.

'It would be great if I had a weapon. That bastard didn't even leave the knife. Petty bitch.'

Suddenly, it was like the very core of his being cried out to him, "What weapon do you need?"

As if on instinct he closed his eyes, held out his hands, and replied in a low, ethereal voice, "A weapon I can use effectively!" Following this, a dark light appeared in his hands as the weapon manifested. It was as if it was forged from the flames of darkness. It was quite long, metallic, and cold to the touch. It was also very flexible, like a whip.

Ray opened his eyes and looked at the weapon…," What the fuck? This shit isn't a weapon…It's literally just a long-ass black chain. Well, I guess anything can be a weapon if you put your mind to it."

Suddenly, Ray looked up. The words he said in response to the call for a weapon were involuntary, but he was worried that his previous statement would be noticed by the guard. However, after some observation, he let out a relieved sigh, 'It looks like the darkness also hides sound, very convenient. And although it is just a chain, it's better than nothing. I can feel that it's special somehow but I don't know what it is. Well then, time to get on with it.'

Ray extended his hand out from the shadows and knocked on the bars of the cell repeatedly. Due to his strength, it was quite loud. Eventually, his continuous knocks irritated the guard.

"Shut the fuck up. Stop being so loud before I come over there and turn the only noise you can make into screams." The guard spat in anger.

But they didn't stop. The sound continued as the guard also continued to feed the other captives which irritated him further, until finally, he marched over to Ray's cell where he saw nothing. There was nothing in the cell except an unsettling darkness accompanied by an eerie silence, which sent chills down his spine.

"What the hell? This was definitely the cell the noise had come from." The guard muttered. After checking the cell number, he was confused even further since he was notified that the occupant was dead.

'Fuck this freaky shit. Even if ghosts don't exist, I'm not going in that creepy ass cell.' the guard thought as he turned around to leave. At that moment Ray made his move. He stuck his hand out of the cell and wrapped the chain around his neck. The guard struggled for a moment, but he quickly ran out of air and suffocated as his body went limp. Ray had hidden the sound of the guard's struggles with the surrounding darkness so as not to alert the other guards. He let the chain go and the guard's body fell to the floor. He searched through the guard's pockets and found the guard's master key. Every guard comes to this room has one for emergency cases.

"Finally, freedom," Ray said as he stepped out of the cell which had held him for a year, but before he could do anything else, he heard a commotion coming from beyond the door leading outside.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!~

The sound of gunshots and screams overlapped.

"AHHHHHH!"

"HELP ME!"

"SPARE ME PLEA-"

"WHAT ARE YO-"

"YOU WITCH DIE!"

…

Both the screams and the gunshots had stopped, leaving nothing but an eerie silence. Finally, the door to the corridor started to open slowly with a resounding creak, revealing a beautiful woman of moderate height with wavy black hair, Persian skin, and green irises. Though it would be hard to notice her beauty when she was covered in blood and holding a big-ass black scythe.

Ray stood in the corridor as she stood at the entrance; they both observed each other. After a few seconds of silence, they asked the same question.

"Who are you?"