1. the Dead World Rewrite

8/11/2019 1. the Dead World Rewrite

1/9

Prologue:

Rain tumbled helplessly into the roof of a dark bar. A general din drowned the random

pitter patter of the droplets, pausing once in a while as several pairs of eyes glanced at the gaping

door and whoever it had allowed in. If one listened carefully enough, theyd hear some murmurs

of what little people knew of the newcomer, spreading rumors slowly like a trickle of spilledbooze. Every time someone came in or left, the murmur was different. For some, it was a

wondrous amazement; for others, a cloud of reproach followed them.

But the man that just stepped in entered a silent room. His slick, white suit left little

droplets on the cracked marble floor, and trailed behind like the glazed marbles that observed

him. The man looked like something out of a cartoon, a movie, an anime. His complexion

shouted old, yet his crisp, blue eyes whispered young. His hair was whitened imperfectly,

blurring with grays and an occasional black. His eyebrows were thick yet orderly, similar to his

moustache and beard.

The bartender was among the few who took no notice of this man. Whatll you be

havin?

The usual, Pete.

The stout, sweaty bartender froze in place, the cup in his hand half-polished. His balding

head glimmered in the dark bar, and his dull brown eyes rose to meet the blue. Leban.

The old man smiled broadly. Im back, ol buddy.

Seeing that Pete knew this strange figure, the other patrons returned to their normal

business of chatter and rumoring. Petes hands trembled as they poured a mix delicately created

over years of experience. Has it been three years already?

Resting his tired body on a stool, Leban grinned. Not quite; 2 and a half.

Pete set the tall drink down, waving Lebans shiny coins away. I almost thought I missed

you. But why are you back so soon? You still have another half-a year, right? Your, your fruit

isnt ripe yet.

You know a little, just a little too much mumbled Leban, gulping down the concoction

that would eventually lead him to a period of peace, about me, dont you?

Pete crossed his arms, neglecting the two other fellows who were frantically trying to get

themselves another drink before closing time. So why are you so early? Dont you have work to

do back home?

So I do, my friend, so I do. But I was starting to miss you.

A knowing look was exchanged, and the two old men laughed.


2/9

Chapter 1:

Damon stood outside the school doors, leaning against one of the red brick walls. His

fingers traced the cement binding brick to brick, feeling their roughness and strength. The

shadows covered his bland and somewhat generic features, but the sun glanced off his dark

brown eyes and black hair. Masses of schoolchildren rushed out the school, embracing theweekend, brushing past the lone student. He squinted up as he heard his voice being called, and

picked up his backpack.

Damon! Cmon, lets go!

He trudged slowly towards the eighth-grader, her shoelaces untied and long hair ruffled.

Her eyes were a rich, restless blue, accentuated by her innocent baby-face. He squinted in the

midday sun as the small figure turned and made her way to the bicycle racks. She grabbed the

two handlebars firmly and yanked, pulling her soft-blue bike out from the herd. Damon followed

closely, except he gently eased his red bike off of the rusty metal bars.

Wait up, Kailyn! he shouted, frantically pedaling to catch up with his sister. Sincewhen did you leave school so quickly?

Kailyn let her bike drift for a bit before pedaling again. I have a lot of homework to do,

so I need to get home soon.

I see. Tell me if you need any help, okay?

Mm.

Orphaned many years ago, Damon and Kailyn were respectively fifteen and twelve years

old. Their parents had died many years ago in a car accident. The police couldnt find any close

relatives to take care of the two, so they had to be put up for adoption. They were quicklyadopted by a middle-aged couple, who remained in some far-off country while providing

housing and other expenses to Damon and Kailyn. They had perhaps met each other only once or

twice, but otherwise the adopters and the adoptees lived isolated.

Being separated by three years, Damon had always taken the liberty of caring for his

younger sister. He woke up an hour before school to fix up a healthy and nutritionally balanced

lunch for both of them, make a simple breakfast, and prepare some food for dinner as well.

Kailyn, on the other hand, would wake up fifteen minutes before school, get ready in a rush,

scramble out the door, and make it into her classroom just on time. But once she got home and

had finished all her homework, she took care of laundry and the dishes, as well as taking out the

trash. Once a week, the two would take turns mopping the floor of the cozy, single-story house.

The two siblings had learned to work together, and though life was hectic and difficult, they

managed to struggle through it.

Kailyn, cmon down. Dinners almost ready, and I need your help.

An incoherent shout was heard from down the dark hallway, which led from the front

door to a branch of rooms, the living room, and then the kitchen.


3/9

What did you say?

The click of a doorknob echoed, and Kailyn poked her head out into the corridor. Her

blondish-brown hair swung like a pendulum. I said, you got snail mail a few minutes ago.

Oh? I didnt know you checked our mailbox.

Kailyn lumbered over to the kitchen door, and leaned against the white wall. I dont.

Nobody does. Someone slipped it into my window.

Damon flipped the eggs on the pan with a preciseness that only years of practice could

yield. Your window why not mine? Are you sure its my letter?

She placed a small yellow envelope labeled Damon on the marble countertop. Pretty

sure.

Go ahead and take those plates over to the table. What did the letter say?

Kailyn daintily lifted two ceramic bowls off of the counter and hopped playfully on one

leg towards the living room. I dont know, I dont she paused to regain her balance I dont

read other peoples mail.

Damon turned the flame down until it clicked off, and wiped his brow of oil and sweat.

He played around with the dark brown envelope of an unknown texture until Kailyn came back

to pick up the remaining dishes. Thats plenty nice of you. What did it say?

Kailyn stopped halfway, jerking to an abrupt halt. You dont believe me?

With tired and knowing eyes, Damon held up the envelope, displaying a tiny rip on the

sealed tab. She groaned and continued her little waltz to the living room, shouting over her

shoulder, It was just a peek, okay? It said something about you being chosen for something. Youtook part in a poetry competition a few weeks ago, so I thought it was about that.

He shook the contents of the envelope with his right hand a sheet of white paper into

his left, and made his way towards dinner. Dropping the packet on the floor, he flicked open the

folded paper and slowly paced into the living room. The plates of steaming food sat neatly on the

table in front of the couch, organized in no way whatsoever. Kailyn was sitting criss-cross while

flipping rapidly through the few channels that their television had. She glanced up as he came

into her field of view, and sighed dispiritedly.

Did you leave the envelope on the floor again?

Intently reading the letter, Damon could only afford to murmur uh-huh. Kailyn stood

up noisily, huffing and puffing to get his attention. With the graceful dexterity of a severely-

injured monkey, she picked up the discarded envelope with her toes and hopped over to the trash

can.

You have to stop doing that, Dae.

Still focused on the letter, he replied, Stop doing what?


4/9

Kailyn plopped herself down on the couch, which gave with a loud whooshing, and

grumbled, Im not your slave. Nor your servant. I wont pick up your trash forever.

Sorry, what was that? asked Damon, who had finished reading the page-long text and

had finally returned to listening to his sister. I didnt hear any of it.

Never mind. Shall we eat?

Yeah, go ahead. Whats on TV?

The clanking of forks and spoons on the plates sitting on their laps served as background

music to their conversation. Nothing very entertaining besides, I shouldnt watch at all. I still

have a lot of homework to do.

Through mouthfuls of scrambled eggs and vegetables, Damon managed to spew, What

are you working on, anyways? You still havent told me and youve stayed inside your room for

the whole afternoon.

Just a science project, was the matter-of

-fact reply.

Damon prodded her further (quite literally with the back end of his fork): And exactly

what is this project that seems to take forever?

Kailyn held up her right index finger as she finished chewing and swallowing a spoonful

of rice, struggling to hurry but to avoid choking as well. Finally, she gasped, We have to write a

5 page lab report about what we did in class today. Ive run out of ideas and Ive just barely filled

up the second page. And, she noted carefully, wasting space will be a deduction of points.

Damon did not say a word; instead, he continued eating his dinner in front of a television

that had long been neglected. The quiet clinks of silverware continued to ring throughout the

empty house, the only noise apart from the television.

Kailyn pouted, Fine. Dont help me.

Look. Ill take care of laundry and all the other stuff you do after dinner. Okay?

Kailyn half-heartedly nodded in agreement. It would be better if you helped me.

You cant always rely on me, Kay.

---

Damon pondered on the contents of the mysterious letter as his folded fresh-scented

clothes on his lap. It had left no return address and it wasnt even stamped it was dropped in his

sisters bedroom. He wasnt about to share the contents of the letter with anyone, that was for

sure. Not even his sister. He dropped a sock in his unwary state, and bent down to pick it up.

Day! Come here! resonated through the hallways and into the living room.


5/9

Slowly rising from the comforts of the couch, Damon trudged into Kailyns room.

Knocking once before he entered, he cautiously enquired about what amazing discovery she had

made that needed his attention.

Glaring at him for his sarcasm, she answered, I figured out what to write to fill up the

other 3 pages. I put a ton of steps in the procedure, and I talked more about how our projectcould be used in the real world. You know, environmental stuff. So anyways, I added a bunch of

other statistics, and I finished with 4 n a half pages of sciencey stuff.

She rambled on about how stupid her friends were by adding a lot of pictures and

opinions and fancy borders, but by the time she had finished talking, Damons mind had already

drifted back to the letter. One sentence resounded within his head:

You, my good friend, have been selected.

Kailyn noticed that her brother was no longer focused on the current conversation. She

gave him a moment to tell him what he was thinking about, but after he remained frozen for a

lengthy amount of time, she poked him with her pencil. Damon, whats wrong?

He jerked to attention, muttering, Nothing, nothing.

She leaned back in her chair, feet propped on her brown, dusty desk. Other than her desk,

the rest of her room was some shade of red, purple, or white. You know better. Whats up?

Damon, who had been holding his letter indifferently, handed it to his sister. She eyed

him suspiciously, slowly reaching for the parchment. What is it? He made no response, but

held the letter towards her with a firm expression. She grasped it lightly and skimmed over it. I

dont see whats so special about it.

Read it out loud. I need to hear it.

No. Im not reading out loud.

Please. I just please do it.

Setting her feet back on the wooden floor, she heaved a sigh of defeat and began to

dictate the letter. Damon took his position, sitting on the edge of her fluffy pink bed and

propping up his chin on his knuckles.

Greetings to Damon:

Dont wonder about who I am. You dont know me. Not yet. Simply put, I am a

messenger of a greater power. As a messenger, of course, Im here to deliver a message.

You, my good friend, have been selected.

Damons arm flooded with goose-bumps, which sent more shocks up his spine. The

words were modest, meaning nothing but what it read, yet they had an unsettling edge to them.

Kailyn saw her brothers reaction, and paused. Dae? Are you okay?


6/9

He struggled to find words, and managed to utter, Yeah. Im fine. Keep reading.

Selected for what? You might ask. Why me? You may also ask. You will know, my good

friend, if you choose to undertake this responsibility. Sacrifices will be made, things given up,

lost, forgotten, but it is for the better. Meet me at the location specified on the business card

attached.

Kailyn squinted at the small text. This is a bar, Dae.

He did not hear her; he did not hear anything aside the thump that was his limp body

hitting the floor.

---

March 21. March 21. The date stuck in Damons head, pounding and struggling against

his will to forget. March 21.

March 21st! he shouted suddenly, causing a minor amount of chaos around him as

Kailyn jumped out of her skin and bones and all of her guts at once.

Dae! What the hell! What? Are you awake? Are you okay? Dae? echoed throughout the

lonely hallways, as Kailyn scrambled from her new position on the floor. Her magazine fluttered

to the floor, immediately forgotten as she helped her brother sit up. She left the room to get a

glass of cold water as he wiped the sweat cold to the touch from his face. The date remained

pulsating within his furrowed mind, dancing nimbly from his grasp. Kailyn came walking into

the room, carrying a cup of water covered with condensation, and handed it to her older brother.

Some adults might say that Damon was very lucky to have such a loving little sister and it was

true. He took the cup tenderly from her hands, and sipped deliberately at the freezing water.

Thanks, Kailyn. I dont know what Id do without you.

Dae about that letter are you really going?

I dont know.

She sat down next to him, holding him tightly as if she knew something was going to

happen. Please, dont go. I have a really bad feeling about this.

You always say things like that, Kay.

Im serious this time. I know that something is wrong. Dont go.

He forced a laugh, though he didnt mean to be nasty. Youre just worried about megoing into a bar. Itll be fine. Ill go see who dropped me the letter, Ill figure out what he was

talking about, and Ill come straight back. Alright?

She held him even tighter, and he swore shed never held him this closely before.

Dont.

And in a barely audible whisper: Please.


7/9

---

Damon watched his breath rise in the chilly night air of a wintery March. The warmth of

the sun glowed faintly in the streets as the darkness came to absorb it all. The sidewalks

beckoned Damon to finish the long walk to the bar, yet the stars in the sky called him back. The

address was burned into his memory, as if hed been waiting for it to surface from the recesses ofhis mind.

His mind slowly wandered to the pleads of his sister, and her often fantastic stories about

the dreams she had about the two siblings. Tales of how theyd be running through the woods or

holding a furry creature that breathed fire were described in vivid detail, seldom ending with a

boring conclusion. However, Damon simply treated these as stories, random acts and plays put

together by her childish brain. But her last plead was something different it was relatable to

him. In it, she described a cloaked, nasty figure that kidnapped Damon and threatened to kill her

if she didnt follow along. It didnt make any sense, but something about it sent a feather down

Damons stomach.

He blinked twice at the faded neon sign, confirming that he was indeed at the right bar

and not somewhere he didnt want to be. The doors were painted black, the weathered glass

panes covered with rough pieces of construction paper. Damon slowly eased the door open with

his foot, scrunching up his shoulders and hiding his face behind the collar of his coat. A gray

haze settled upon his eyes, tearing them up in a stinging but somewhat pleasant way. The young

teen glanced around the crowded room, looking for signs of the messenger. The ambience of the

room changed to suit that of the situation. Most of the still-sober thought that the child whod

waltzed in was looking for his father or mother, though few women hung out at this particular

bar and those who were too drunk to realize they were holding only one cup missed him

completely.

The bartender eyed Damon curiously over the bulbous feature that was his nose, prodding

someone at the bar with a fork. The disheveled figure slowly raised its head, displaying the white

facial hair and a sudden aura that surrounded him. He nodded slightly, and waved Damon over to

him. Damon waded through the sea of gray and analyzed the tall, handsome man. He brought out

the letter, still tucked into the envelope, and handed it to the geezer.

So, Damon. Youve decided?

Upon hearing his name, Damon whirled to face the bartender. He was a once-well-built

man, acquiring some of his weight with age. How do you know who I am?

The man smoothened his beard. I told him. Its nice to finally meet you, Damon. Myname is Leban.

n Im Pete. Ill let you two gentlemen speak alone, but before that, would you like

somethin to drink?

Anything non-alcholic? shrugged Damon. He didnt really want a drink, only answers.

Thats what I meant. If a cop caught you with a beer I dont know how Id explain it.


8/9

Then a glass of water would be fine, nodded Damon. He turned to face the old man

Leban? and immediately posed his first question. Who are you?

Leban stretched out his aching limbs, and answered shortly, Someone.

A glass of water made a gentle thud on the wooden countertop, unnoticed. I want

answers, sir. You slipped me a letter through my sisters bedroom, asked that I meet you here,and all youre gonna tell me is that you are someone? Im going home, and if you ever bother

me or my sister again Im going to call the police.

Leban grinned, a smile with so many hidden meanings that Damon couldnt count them

on his fingers. You arent leaving here without what you want. But you arent getting what you

dont want.

What is that supposed to mean?

It means that you dont really want to know who I am. You want to know why you are

chosen, what Im going to do to you, and how I found you.

Trying not to cause a commotion or draw any extra attention to himself, Damon stared at

Leban while resisting the urge to throw his hands up into the air. You called me out here. You

think you know what I want to know. Then tell me everything. Ill listen. Defiantly, he sipped at

his ice water, signaling to Leban that he was done talking.

Leban made an attempt to pull his stool closer to Damon, but found it anchored tightly to

the ground. He sighed, and leaned on the bar, beckoning for Pete to make him another glass of

beer. Ill tell you the full story once youve made the decision to follow me. Alright? But I cant

tell you any more than what I am about to without you making your choice.

You were chosen to go somewhere. Along with several other kids of your exact age,15. I did not pick you I had absolutely no say in this someone else did. My job is to tell you

that youve been chosen, and that you can either follow me to one destiny, or leave me to

another. This isnt a threat, nor is any part of this a threat. Either way, youll still get to live your

life. But you were chosen for a reason, and Id advise you to follow me.

Anyways. All Im going to do if you accept is take you to somewhere which I cannot

say yet, and drop you off there. Others will give you instructions and whatever information you

need. If you choose, however, to decline my offer, I will block your memory of this encounter,

the letter, and anything to do with us from your mind and your sisters. It wont hurt, it wont

tingle. Youll simply find yourself in your room, staring off into space blankly.

And as for how I found you that is something I cannot yet tell you.

Damon listened to Lebans explanation intently, soaking up every word like thirsty plant.

The entire night had fit Kailyns story neatly. A man was in effect kidnapping him. But what

about What about my sister?

Leban merrily gulped down the last mouthfuls of golden beer, and mumbled through

satisfied lips: Nothing will happen to her. Shell be told that youve left to do something, and


9/9

likely wont be coming back. Of course, someone would have to take care of her, seeing that she

is extremely young.

So I wont ever see her again?

I have reasons to presume so.

Forget it, then. Good bye.

Twinkling eyes watched as the boy angrily strode out the heavy doors. As it thudded shut,

Pete went over to the now slightly-tipsy Leban. Dammit, whats wrong with you? You shouldnt

mention his sister or whatever at all!

Leban chuckled. Ive seen this happen quite often, my friend. Of the twenty years Ive

known you, this has happened at least another twenty times. Never has it been a problem.

---

Damon quietly eased the front door open with his hands, making sure not to alert the

sleeping sister down the hall. With the utmost care, he slowly let the door close and the lock click

before slipping out of his shoes. As he crept tip-toed down the long hallway, he took a peek into

Kailyns room. She was sound asleep, her pillows smushed beneath her little head and blankets

strewn all over the floor. Damon began to make his way towards the blankets, but he stopped,

fearing that he might wake her up and thus obviate his stealth mission. He took one last glance

over his shoulder before leaving her room, smiling to himself. She was a beautiful little girl, and

he wasnt ever going to leave her side.

Saturday

1. the Dead World Rewrite

Documents

Transcript of 1. the Dead World Rewrite