Intermission

Cedric would always hear about the amazing weekends his friends had. Yet it seemed he would always hear about it after they had happened.

In fact, Cedric couldn't remember the last time he was invited to do to a event. Whenever he went out, he was the one initiating it.

Did everyone secretly dislike him? Was he unlikeable? Why is it always like this?

It was this night that finally pushed him to the end of his wits.

"Hey do you guys want to play this game later?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah man, sure, after we finish this".

He sat there in silence, a stupid grin plastered stupidly on his face, listening to the joyful laughs of his 'friends' as he patiently waited for them to finish.

"Are you guys free now?" He asked excitedly.

"Uh, nah sorry I think I'm gonna sleep, maybe next time!"

Then they'd leave, one by one. It would always end like this. Just Cedric. Alone. Sitting there, staring at the empty voice channel hollowly, before shutting off his computer and dropping into bed silently.

It was times like these where he'd wonder to himself, "What if I just disppeared?" Would anyone care? Would anyone check up on him at all? Probably not.

"Fuck it", he muttered.

For the next half a year, Cedric lived a stoic yet content life. He wasn't held back by a fear of missing out, he wasn't waiting for anyone to do anything, it was just him genuinely enjoying his life to the fullest.

Morning rays pierced through the edges of the blinds as Cedric slowly stirred from his sleep.

"Mmmmhm", he groaned as he stretched. Clambering out of bed, Cedric strode to the bathroom. He turned the tap on, and splashed water on his face. Cleanser. Moisturizer. Sunscreen.

Coffee beans. Where were they? As he searched for the cupboard he realized it was oddly quiet.

The chirping of the birds has ceased, the droning sound of the cars were gone, and the usual bustling crowd outside his dorm was gone.

'That's odd. No that's VERY odd.' Cedric thought to himself.

Thinking for a second, he peeked through the blinds of the window. What he saw next made his blood freeze.

A girl stumbled pass bodies and wreckage frantically. A bloodstained corpse flung itself at her while snarling, whilst ten others swiftly appeared behind it.

"FUCK!" Cedric swore loudly as he stumbled backwards, before realizing what he had done and shut his mouth and listened.

Nothing.

Was he in the clear? Thank go- before he could react, the ground beneath him collapsed, dragging his body to the floor beneath it as he yelled in surprise.

Before the dust settled, a rotten hand reached out through it for him. Cedric let out a yelp and quickly dragged himself backwards as he picked up a metal pole, staring with great alarm through the dust as adrenaline pumped through him.

As the figure snarled and leapt at him, Cedric swung. It connected. He felt something crack as well! Readying his makeshift weapon just in case, he slowly advanced, hoping to finish the zombie off. It suddenly pounced at him. Cedric swung. It didn't connect. Before the monster reached him, he saw a broken and halved metal pipe miss the monster.

The monster bulldozed into him as the air in his chest rushed out forcefully. His ribs cracked under the force as he slammed into the wall, creating a crater in it. Cedric made an arm cover to his right as the monster arm slammed towards the side of his head in a hook. The bone shartered as his arm dropped helplessly to the ground. Cedric raised his left and jabbed his elbow at the monsters face. It caught it with his teeth as it bit down with overwhelming force. Cedric screamed as his elbow shattered as well. The monster opened its mouth, preparing to finish Cedric. Cedric jammed his knee between the monster and forcefully pushed the monster off. He picked himself up, frantically looking around for anything of use.

'It looks this is the end.' He thought to himself. He suddenly thought of something. 'Fuck it, might as well'.

"COME AT ME YOU C*NT" he bellowed as he charged at the monster.

He drove himself forwards, as he felt the zombie scratching, and biting at him. He drove himself forwards as he felt glass shattering behind the monster, yet he kept pushing. He felt himself fall into free fall, before everything turned black.

As the body of Cedric Wren lay still, on top of the disfigured corpse of the once terrifying monster, a dazzlingly pretty lady with jet black hair walked up to him.

"Hmph, to think that a Grade 9 Blood Fiend would end up being killed by you, a lowly human of a just-awakened world, after being weakened continuously and chased across 5 dimensions."

She chuckled. "Well, that's still near impossible considering you hadn't even awakened yet. What a promising soul!" The lady stared at Cedric's body for a second. "Hehe, I may finally have a son!". She cleared her throat and gathered magic in her hands.

"Arise, lost soul. From henceforth, Cedric Wren is dead. You shall be born anew, as Cedric Wraithwood, son of The Black Scourge, Seraphena Wraithwood!". (As the mighty black scourge spoke such grand and imposing words, she secretly prayed to whichever god would answer, that Cedric would accept).