Revelations and Retaliations
The week went by with us pledging our eternal love for each other every night. I think something broke inside Mary. Either that, or her family life that no one else seen was truly horrific. I could not bare to tell her that the monster was her mother, perverted by her deep rooted desires. Those desires were so strong, they corrupted everything she touched. Her daughters were the focus of all of the terrible urges and desires.
We returned to her house, which was cleaned up and locked up after the investigators did the job they were assigned to. This was more for Mary's sake than mine.
What we learned, after cleaning out the house of everything that is hers, that her mother and father were horrible people.
Her mom, was a lawyer on the surface, but a human broker behind the scenes. She set people into buying people up with the right people. Age was not an issue, and the money, filthy money was pouring in. Two safes were chock full of cash. The spirit of the now depressed mother, weakened and barely existing after she turned into a near demon told us as a part of her repentance the combinations to the safes and other things. I wrote it all down, as taking notes was one of my best features in school.
Once the house was cleared, and we were completely sure that the house had nothing else in it, we locked it up. We were only 18, barely, and could not legally sell property. But it was decided that once we get to where we are going in life, would sell both houses and build our own.
The night before we were to leave, found us lying on the back of my car, overlooking the bluff's, sharing a couple of pizzas.
The spirits were gentle, mostly as it was a Sunday night, and nothing major was going on, as the sun was leaving the sky a nice shade of red.
She just sighed as we laid on the car, enjoying each other's company.
"Do you think things will turn out fine?"
She came out of nowhere with that question.
"Of course, you are with me."
I replied in my smooth talking way.
We stayed a bit longer, until the patrolling grandma's shooed us home.
-The next Morning-
The town grew smaller behind us, as the school provided moving truck led us away from the quiet nest of a small town, as it grew smaller behind us. The spirits I knew gathered at the exit to see us off. I finally gave in and shouted back to them that I will return. Of course no one else could see them, save Mary, and the crew of the moving truck, who were there to help us move the most important of items we are taking, and also make sure that the stuff my parents left to me was not dangerous.
The trip would take two days by car. But that was not a problem, since the train stops in that town too, so a trip home was not an issue. But we silently fought off the first time spreading of our wings, and leaving of the nest feelings. We were now graduates, the ink on our diplomas not even dry, but still the whole world was in front of us now, and yet we really had no one alive behind us to see us off.
I had to jump through some hoops to get the school to bring my dirtbike, Parking was supposed to be limited to 1 space per student. But since Mary did not have her license yet, she let me use her spot for the dirt bike, and rolling toolbox. The Garage guys taught me the entire week before leaving how to use the tools right, and how to fix the bike and car.
Outside of the City...
There was an almost abandoned university for the mechanical arts. It was a school that leaned towards that weird old school design style of curves and machines that looked cool. But in reality, this was the Gatekeeper University and Training center. Security was tight, as we entered the almost dilapidated campus. Cars were scattered, and the entire campus was giving off the last gasp vibe, that it was always one day away from shuttering up and being demolished.
But it was all a lie.
There was an illusion covered barrier that covered the campus, on the outside it looked run down, but inside it looked modern, clean, and almost too full of life. We were shown to our shared dorm. The dorm we were assigned was co-ed, so our rooms were side by side. Not many others were on our floor, while the other floors were slammed full. It was almost like we were being isolated. Once our stuff was brought in, and our rooms set up to our liking, we were called to Admissions.
Admissions.
In a large open room, in the center sat a square of desks. The room looked like a Halloween shop, and it was full of people and spirits seeking admittance. We were lead to the desk, where the nice lady had our paperwork. She looked it over and gave us numbers. We waited, and then once the room was emptied, we waited even more. It seemed that even the ladies in the square were gone. The lights slowly dimmed. I noticed first, the spirits that belonged in the best of horror movies creep slowly to us. Mary looked up at me, noticing my rising apprehension.
"DON'T MOVE FROM THAT BENCH."
My head throbbed and even Mary reacted to the voice. The spirits and monsters passed us by, unable to touch us, as I finally noticed the barrier around us. Mary gasped as pixie like spirits passed by, let through the crowd by the crowd parting to avoid them. Notorious, they are named the gone spirits. One touch from them, and you vanish from all of reality. Where you go, is a space so bad, and distorted it is theorized that a normal person could only survive for three minutes inside. This was also the home of the newest fad urban horrors, like Slenderman, Sirenhead, the crooked man, etc. This place was an unused version of Hell, that the big guy scrapped, because it was less terrifying, and more lunacy. It thrived and grew, while living next to and around the real hell.
The lights brightened and people started to return to the office as if nothing happened. We were finally called into the small office. The woman ordered me to place my silver on the padded wooden box thing on her desk. She started typing as the whole thing glowed blue for a moment. It was returned to me, with my provisional license updated to reflect my silver's true name and abilities. But only one ability was known, and its true name was four words long but only one was known. "Justitia"
Mary was told to place her hand on a smooth black stone sphere. She did, but with a little trepidation, as I tried to fill in everything I knew and the headmistress knew the week leading up to this. She did not take the fact that she was now dangerously exposed to things that she was taught all her life that were not supposed to exist. But after coming to terms in her own way, she realized I was not crazy as many people have said. I could see everything since the moment of my birth, but was taught to not acknowledge it. Soon after some measurements and readings were taken, we were handed our cover course list, as this was still a university. They were general courses, for the first semester, then once we get a feel for what we wanted to do in the future, then our classes would be specialized towards the chosen fields.
We both received our books and other materials list, and Mary had gotten her silver... The Mirror named Vanitas. It's first function was to undo any illusions, exposing the truth to the light. There were many mirror type silvers out there, but none bore the name Vanity. Nor did they posses the same power set as her mirror. This was shaping up to be something else entirely.
Outside, two groups of new students were forming, Attack and Support. We were split up, as I was Attack, since my silver was the gun Justitia, and hers was the support mirror Vanitas. I waved goodbye to her as we were ushered onto a shuttle bus, to be taken to the furthest part of campus.
"Welcome and congrats on passing the entrance exams or being recommended to enroll. It was a tough road to climb, so relax for a minute. But do not get too comfortable. Just because someone seen some kind of value in you maggots, does not mean you are needed or will even graduate. Three fucking percent of the total yearly entry freshman make it to their sophmore year. Two percent make it to their third year, and finally only one percent will actually graduate. Now do you all want to live forever, or run back home to mommy to latch onto her tits again, or will you all die a thousand times to graduate? Here is the crucible to see where you stand, and even if you are worthy of remaining here."
The overly cute senior tour guide shattered any illusions of her true nature, or even our hopes that we will all walk the stage together at the end. The land twisted around us as we stopped in front of a cemetery gate.
"Through that gate is the only path back to the campus. It will let you out if you make it, in front of your dorms. This test will tell us how we can train you, and help you better yourselves. Also, before leaving the bus, I need everyone's next of kin forms, and last wills. If you manage to die in the gates, it is not exactly permanent, but you will have to wait a full day for your body and spirit to be removed. The school is not responsible if you manage to die in a way that cannot be reversed. Also, it is an automatic expulsion if you hinder another students exam. Helping is fine, but deliberately causing someone to fail, or die is forbidden."
The girl explained as she donned her silver to open the gate. Her silver were bladed gloves, almost like a certain movie monster that inhabits dreams. As the gate opened, all hell broke loose as monsters, demons, and spirits wanted their piece of us, and our tour guide fought them back to their side of the gate, and even dispersed them on the other side.
Meanwhile across the road, the support classes exam was all rainbows, puppies and tea parties. Support could not fight, even if their silver looked offensive. Their exam was similar, but instead of the overhanging threat of death, it was more like an endurance course. They would be assisting real Gatekeepers who were assigned to different parts of the world, their mission was to get to the exit door, which would deposit them at their dorm. There were rest areas with tea and snacks. When their gate was open, the sweet smell of star jasmine and honeysuckle blew across the road, almost blocking our the foul odors from the Attack gate.
We were told to enter, and the group ran through the gate. I held back. Sure enough there were screams and sounds of battle coming through the gate. I waited, exhaled and then drew my gun.
I walked into the gate to find nearly everyone, including the tour guide wiped out. The path was cleared, and I took the time to speak to my gun, as if it was going to talk back to me. My conversation was interrupted when a girl in a schoolgirl outfit grabbed my leg.
"Please....help..."
Her silver was almost broken. It was a cane. The monster that did her in, was in really bad shape himself. I fired a single shot. The girl fell limp as the monster exploded. My shot traveled through the girl and into the monster. The gun could never harm living beings. It will never fill a person with holes. It was mainly a spiritual weapon. The most it could do to a person was what it did to the girl, knock her out. I picked her up, and her silver vanished. The entry gate was gone, so returning her to the bus was not an option.I watched the scenes of carnage played out. On the road there was a wagon. I started to load those fools who were still at least breathing into the wagon. For some odd reason pulling it did not tire me out. Just about everyone on the bus was in the wagon, save for one guy and girl, a couple, who accidentally attacked each other, and tore each other to shreds. I wasn't going to touch their body parts. Their spirits followed me, lamenting that this was their third failure. It would take another year to get them back on their feet.
"If you both got fucked three times, wouldn't that be the universe telling you to do something else?"
"No, we are to be married once we graduate. We are going to be like ---------"
They had to say it. My parent's last name. My parents were really famous in the Gatekeeping world. There wasn't an esper, clairvoyant, medium, miko, or priest in the world who did not know of my folks.
"They died, though."
"You are lying. They are too strong to die."
"What the fuck do you know, My parents died, my twin sisters too. The fuck do you think this is, some magical special fairy story book hour? This is real. You both are dead as fuck. Just like my parents. Except there is not enough of my family left to even bring one of them back. You both live in a fantasy world where you will eventually become the hero's you see yourself as. Me, I have no home, no family to return to. So grow the fuck up and reevaluate your life choices, because from where I stand, the best you both can do is at least kiss each other goodbye before something decides to end you for good."
I raged at the idiot spirits. I raged hard enough that the road was quiet for a stretch. There was a fork in the road. One road had my student number on it, the other, stood a giant man. He bowed politely to me, picked the wagon up. The tipped his hat to me and pointed to my road. I guess this is where the idiots are taken out of the testing area. I walked my road, as a team of people dressed in hazmat suits ran down the road, probably to collect the remains of the two idiots.
Mary was having fun during her test. The person she was supporting was harvesting the required number of apples from the Tree of Knowledge. The Garden of Eden was normally off limits to humans. But there was a tiny problem. Every generation must eat an apple or two, or what we have learned up to that point will disappear. The big guy only allowed two gatekeepers in, in a generation to harvest the Tree. They took a break, to drink tea with the offerings of the river of milk and honey. There were an offering of finger sandwiches and cookies, and it was a joyous time. Once the apples were harvested, the next place they had to go was Heaven. Well it technically was Heaven, but Boss man moved it, left some patches of it behind, where it became a distribution point for the entire world. Mythical fruits that humans required were placed, divided and secretly added to the foods they ate, to prolong the effects. They were finished when the door with her student number appeared. She walked through it, and was suddenly hit with some more knowledge of Vanity. The second form was now ready to use when needed. Now she was on the road to home, that was filled with puzzles and traps to challenge what she knew.
Back to Clyde.
The road I took was bullshit. It was wall to wall fighting with no breaks to rest. I learned quickly to run and conserve my energy as that is one of the places my ammo came from. The gun would not tell me the other places. Soon I had my back to a building that looked like a hostel or dorm. I quietly tried the front door, which made a lot of noise when opened, causing me to retreat when the monsters would rush to the sounds. I made my way to the rear of the building, which was less occupied, and found the kitchen window easy to enter. I climbed in to find a scene of true horror. A girl, her student number visible, and her silver shattered on the floor, it was a scimitar, broken and useless. She had an apple in her mouth, and was almost ready for the oven. She was still alive, but resigned to her fate. Her clothes were torn to uselessness, and piled on the floor. I grabbed her up, and her silver vanished. Sounds of heavy footsteps were coming through the hall leading to the kitchen. The only hiding spot was the dumbwaiter. Honestly, the cramped space was much cleaner than the kitchen. The door slid closed silently as the doors to the kitchen were kicked open by a grotesquely obese monster in a chefs uniform. Following it was its assistants, who set about returning to work from their break. Their main course for the whole place was gone, which their rage filled screams shook the place, scaring off the monsters from the outside. Not wanting to replace the main course, the mass of monsters that were chasing a human around the building decided elsewhere would be the better place to be.
I held the girl close, as I pulled us up to the attic, where I could look out the window of the small widows perch. Something spotted me, as a roar resounded the area. Thousands of monsters were descending on the building, and the owner with its own defense force had a fight on their hands, as they tried in vain to stop the hordes crashing down on the building. But from the other window I could see the exit to campus, and the Huge man with the cart using the ensuing chaos to escape. He was not far enough away, and I called out to him, and he turned around. The girl could not walk, and I had to carry her through the window. The man lifted the cart up, and I put her in it. He held it there to say I could get a ride away too, but I knew it was an automatic fail if I did. I nodded thanks and he took off as the chaos below, as the horde tore their way through the first floor and basement.
They were ravenous.
I stood no chance.
My gun was being stubborn.
The red sky cracked with lightning.
I stood on the roof, and watched the sea of horror below.
Things thrown from below flew past me, as I found my route to the gate.
I fired.
The larger cyclopean monster fell on the monsters, I had helped his fall, after leaping on him and riding him down.
Bam.
Another stepping stone.
Soon monsters were figuring out my trick, and could not trust each other.
Was the real one still on the roof, or using giant monsters as a bridge over troubled waters?
The building shook, as the hordes were rampaging up to the attic.
But I wasn't there nor among them.
I was aimlessly shuffling towards the gate.
The two shots I fired were illusion shots. One was of me standing on the roof, and the other was of me riding monsters that were not even there.
While in the confusion, I made myself up with stuff left in the lost and found box. I was a horned zombie.
I walked right to the gate, when my disguise failed, and the few monsters left there noticed.
I had to run and gun until I beat the Huge Man to the gate.
I exited first, and then he shoved the wagon out, blocking the path of the monsters, who dared not pick a fight with a being that suffered no injury.
I collapsed on the grass, as the pure sunlight washed off the miasma of the other world. Like dirt in the shower, the evil flowed off of me, returning to the gate.
I was the first of the group to exit. Second was a girl who looked like she was put through the wringer. and last was a guy who was missing his arm. He quit on the spot after he walked through the gate.
Other entrants were coming through, as we were not the only group entering the university today. Fortunately the path was less deadly now that the majority of the monsters gathered at the Dorm of the Dead.
All in all, two hundred and fifty attacker students passed out of four thousand six hundred applicants. Forty percent of those who failed, only failed due to dying. The rest lost nerve or could not manage to figure their silver out. And there were those few who decided to be dicks and team with the monsters, and are now lost and trapped in that world.
Only three supports failed, mainly due to not understanding their positions. That means there are two thousand support students now enrolled.
Mary found me tired. An older gentleman handed me my new schedule, for the next semester, based on what I lacked in the other world.
The comments on the paper from the observers judged me on a metric that I had no concept to begin to understand. I shrugged and kissed Mary, who kissed me back.
A Professor walked up to me.
"Why did you rescue those fools.?"
"Because they would die."
"They should have."
"To you maybe. To me, they are another life."
"We will see if you can keep that opinion."
She walked off, obviously annoyed at my decision to rescue those I could.
After a couple of burgers at the Scramble, we retired to my room, to watch a movie or two, and chill.
Since classes wont start until next week, tomorrow is another campus tour, and then a book shopping trip.
I sighed as the movie ended. I was sweaty, and holding Mary who was still quivering, thanking the big man above that no one has moved to our floor, or they would have heard our passionate lovemaking. But I was far too tired to care. Sleep did not have to run to catch me, and I drifted off to sleep to Mary's soft breaths.
End Case 2