Chapter 2: WAKE UP

WAKEWAKEWAKEWAKEWAKEWAKEWAKE—

"WAKE! UP! NOW!"

"Aaaah!" I jolted awake. It had sounded like there was someone standing right beside me saying…wake up? I looked around, trying to get a sense of my surroundings.

It was a white room, one like you'd see in a hospital, except for the fact that…nothing was any other color. It looked like someone had taken a spray paint can for each item in the room and sprayed over them, producing barely different shades.

"Huh, would you look at that," a voice that shouldn't have been there said. "The sleepy head's awake."

I turned, looking at someone who didn't belong in a hospital room with me. "Mom?"

"What are you doing in here?" I demanded. "Where's Fatty?"

"Son…there's no need to talk like that to your mother." Her words were as calming and soothing as ever, but I wasn't going to fall prey to her Farce. Not again.

"Your Charm won't work with me. Not anymore."

"Come on, don't be like that," my mother said, laying it on thicker. "I just want to talk to my baby. It's been such a long time!"

"You have to be here for a reason. Do you need money? If so, get it from my dad, not from me."

"From Senior? Nooooo, I could never. He's too…"frugal", as he puts it. I call it…"stingy". Either way, it doesn't matter. I don't need money. What I need…" She leaned in closer to my bed, lowering her voice. "Is your word."

"Why are you whispering? There's no one here." I looked around, and there was no one, not even in the black and red corner of the room. My eyes were attracted to the spreading colors.

"What are you…" She tracked my gaze to the corner. Her face went slack. "Quickly, Dairon, I need you to promise me something. We don't have much time."

"Lady, if you don't just tell me what it is—"

"Alright, fine, fine, just…let me think." Her calm and collected demeanor vanished as she started to inch away from the corner, biting her nails all the while. She must have been nervous, I'd never seen her show that habit. "I can't tell you everything yet, you're not strong enough. But he's going to come soon—"

"Who's he?" I demanded. "I'm getting tired of the games, if you have nothing to say, then leave!"

At that same moment, my mom started fizzling out, her image flickering like a waning candlelight amidst the black and red that started to coat the walls.

SNAP!

Jazz started playing, the smooth trumpeting and riveting drums drowning out my mother's cries as she blinked out of existence completely. A sound of sharp laughter punctured the rhythmic ambience of the music, the cackle at once comforting and blood-curdling.

"So, you got me first, huh? Not like I'd expect the other putz to come out so soon anyways. Too much of a wimp." The voice was attached to a man who completely embodied the word "finesse". He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, wearing an all-black outfit of pointed pennyloafers, simple slacks, and a vest on top of a long-sleeved dress shirt. All of his clothes looked like they moved about on his frame, shadowy faces pushing and pulling against the fabrics. One almost seemed to make it, but he looked down and patted out the fold created. His tie was silver, reminiscent of a full moon shining atop a graveyard, and he wore a fedora adorned with a skull charm.

"Who…" I hesitated, unsure whether or not talking to this man was perfectly safe. "Who are you?"

His eyes lit up. "Oh, my, am I glad you asked! Nobody's asked me that for thousands of years!" His size swelled, his chest puffing out to a comical extent. "The name's Lorane Zed, be sure to remember that. I'm the one and only proprietor of your NegaForce, one half of your Spectre Manifestation, and all-around cool Ancestor!" He grinned, two rows of jagged, perfectly white teeth on full display. "You come from a very strong Lineage, my precious descendant!"

"Wait wait wait, slow down." My head spun just thinking of the meanings of the words he said. NegaForce? Spectre? Ancestor and Lineage?! I wasn't living in some fantasy world where Kings and Queens ruled, I lived in a city! I went to a public school!

"Yeah…about that…with the knowledge that comes with my NegaForce, you won't be needing to go to school anymore."

Great. And he can read my thoughts. "Okay, Lorane, you're gonna have to explain to me what these things are. Since you can read my mind, I'm sure you can tell where to start." Too many things were happening in this weird world, and I just wanted them to stop so I could go back and tell Fatty about it all.

"Ah, Fatty, yes, the best friend." Lorane chuckled to himself before nodding. "He'll be a good catalyst for you…"

"Catalyst? What do you mean…never mind that, just get to the point!" I said, exasperated. "What is this "Spectre Manifestation" and what does it have to do with the SoothSayer?"

"Simple enough, it seems, but I can only tell you a tidbit right now. You're not close enough with my Sooth to gain understanding of everything, so for now just be content knowing you have power over Death. Just like any other Manifestation, this power can be comprehended to an extreme, but only by your hand. Don't rely on others to tell you what your powers can do, otherwise you'll be limiting yourself in excess."

This man baffled me completely, but before I could say anything else, the jazz reached an all-encompassing volume that washed any semblance of words away, causing me to clutch my ears and squint my eyes. Somehow, I could still see and hear him cackling, his sharp laughter punching holes through my defenses.

WAKEWAKEWAKEWAKEWAKEWAKEWAKE—

"wake up."

***

CHARACTER PROFILE: RANISHA CARTER-BRYANT

Attributes: Thought, Air, Life

Powers: Charm - Targets hormones in the brain, allowing her to change other's perspectives of her for the better. Comprehended to allow her to subtly change memories as well as use words to influence a person's thoughts.

Backstory: Used to be a loving mother to Dairon. This was short-lived, however, as he grew up to resemble and look up to his dad. She never had liked Dairon Bryant Sr., which is why she had kept her last name when marrying him. She had been with him for his money, and this was the case even before they had made it official. She wasn't a gold-digger, or so she says. She just had her "flights of fancy", as she liked to call them. She got drugs when she wanted them, money when she needed it, and her viciousness was seen as just harmless attitude by others. This was the perfect formula for catalyzing her sadistic, nearly sociopathic tendencies.

When she left the family, it was a mystery as to why. She said she had bigger fish to fry and staying behind in a broken marriage with an unpromising son wasn't interesting enough for her. But what bigger fish to fry? Both Dairon Sr. and Jr. were devastated, less by her words and more by her absence. Her Charm had only allowed them to see the good in her, so what did she mean by broken marriage?

And what promise was her son supposed to show?