Years went by and Cyprianus went from an unsettling ghost of a town to the decaying remains of one. Small hotels opened around the town spearheaded by the mayor and an influx of tourists that wanted to see the beautiful colors of autumn. New stores popped up selling useless items like keychains or snowglobes. People were out and about through all hours, so much so parties that went late into the night was the norm. We even had petty crimes committed every once in a while. Anything you would expect from a small town South of the mountains could, and would, be found in Cyprianus

We even had our own festival. It was started by our mayor, to commemorate the day the children of Cyprianus were saved. There were games, small scale thrill rides, gross food, live music, raffles, competitions, and large crowds. On the last night of the four day long party every person in town would raise their drinks in toast of Melengelle, Mallory, Phillip and I to thank us for the safe return of their children. Even the parents of the dead children treated us with praise, though it was unsettling to say the least that they seemed to forget their kids were ever alive.

The town treated us like heroes, and Mallory loved every second of it. After a few months the novelty wore off, and the town began to treat us like high class exterminators instead.

After the animals returned to the Cyprianus the less desirable creatures came with. A fire breathing chicken nearly burned down the town once. Mallory’s field guide called it a Combustion Cok. It being our first monster fight, we had little to no idea how to stop it. A confrontation or two later Phillip became fed up and took care of it himself. Not wanting to waste the meat, Mallory took it to her father who then made us a nice chicken dinner. Though Mallory and I were fine, Phillip however had terrible gas and occasionally burped up flames for about a day after.
That’s when we realized Mallory’s field guide had a vague idea of Phillip’s true abilities.

Then one day, a swarm of rats terrorized the town for a few days, the guide called it a Putrid Plague. They ate a good portion of the town’s food supply. When confronted, the rats melted together into a gooey dog sized monstrosity that vaguely resembled a rat. A few adults were injured by it before Mallory and I were approached to take care of it. Whenever we would corner it it would split into smaller, yet equally disgusting rat monsters.

We were forced to employ the help of some of the other kids since the adults refused to help. Surprisingly those who volunteered to help were a handful of the kids we saved.

Mallory had managed to get a piece of its fur which let her incorporate it into an inseam that meant paralyze. By this time she was testing out a new method of weaving that didn’t require direct contact with her target. When we cornered the rat monster in an alley, Mallory activated her inseam. For a moment the rat monster seized with pain. Then it split as it had done before and outnumbered us, but fortunately as Mallory, Phillip, and I took care of the paralyzed one, the others were unable to predict the handful of children waiting with clubs just outside the alley. No one decided to eat it after the fact.

After that Mallory and I became close with some of those kids. On occasion they would help us rid the town of whatever monster was terrorizing us that week. Eventually we would spend time with them during school and become friends.

Over time Mallory and I would no longer spend everyday together. We would still be with each other as much as possible, but when Cyprianus cleared up as best it could, Malloy got very involved in school and extracurriculars. Tossing in the constant studying and progression of her weaving, she was a very busy girl.

I on the other hand would not do much outside of school except for a music class I decided to take when the saxophone was introduced to me. Along with that I was able to gain a good grasp of the powers the ring on my finger had. It took some time but I was able to turn the ring into other things. I was able to create an array of knives, swords, spears, shields, and most any weapon. I even managed to create non-weapons, such as cups or other simple things. It became clear to me that the quality of what I would create was directly tied to my knowledge of that thing. I knew how a cup would work and the ring became a cup. I had knowledge of knives from the history books I had read, which then resulted in the first weapon I ever smithed. I decided to learn how to wield many weapons I could smith, though that took some time, well beyond the night we left Cyprianus.
When I smithed a bow and arrow and tried to fire it, I learned if the smithed item would otherwise lose contact with me it would enter my blood stream then revert back to its ring form.

At the age of 18, one day I had been eating lunch while sitting with Adrian and Morgan, two kids who had helped us with the rat monster. They were speaking about a class they shared together. His frame was large and bulky like that of a workhorse. Though he was southern, his hair was fairly light, so much so you could argue his hair was white. Morgan’s light brown hair seemed obsidian whenever she sat next to Adrian. She was taller than he was, but was lean and fit like an elegant gazelle. I thought it funny that those two would ever be friends, sure they both did sports, but Adrian lacked understanding of certain social queues that Morgan didn’t. This resulted in Adrian’s unintentional confidence which lead to others perception of him to be swayed in the direction of jerk. On the other hand Morgan possibly cared too much for the status quo. She was confident and a great person to talk to, but her intelligence caused her to watch her words like a hawk. But I suppose they were what the other lacked, one without abrasiveness, the other without compassion.

The two let their food grow cold, meanwhile I inhaled my food. I had gotten better at eating by this time, and the fact that the ring used some of my own energy when smithing meant I needed as much food as I could consume. That in combination with the excess amount of movement I was doing while weapons training, I had gotten a fair bit of muscle on me.

In the middle of their conversation a tray plopped down next to mine, startling all three of us. I turned to see who had dropped it.

Mallory sat down beside me with a smile.

I was surprised, she usually had lunch with one of her many clubs.

"Hey! What’s up?" Morgan asked, interrupting her conversation with Adrian.

"Hi!" Mallory beamed with delight. "Nothing much. I just stopped by to talk to you," she turned to me.

"About what?" I asked.

"So, you know how I’m head of the party planning committee?"

I nodded.

"Turns out, everyone else won’t be able to make any meetings outside of school. And I thought since we haven’t spent too much time together aside from monster catching, you would like to come over and help me plan the autumn dance!"

I thought about it for a moment, I didn’t have anything to do that evening so I responded with a yes.

She squealed with excitement then gave me a hug that I failed to reciprocate. "I have to go, today is my turn to help the librarian. I’ll meet you at my house! Bye you two!" She took her tray and walked toward the far exit.

As soon as Mallory was out of earshot, with a toothy grin, Adrian said, "Dude! That’s awesome!"

"What is?" I asked.

"You and Mallory are gonna," his light brown face gained a tint of pink, "you know."

"What?" I was confused.

Morgan slugged him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Adrian rubbed his wound, "what was that for?"

"Don’t be gross."

"I wasn’t. I’m just calling it as I see it."

"They’re not going to, they’re best friends, they would never," Morgan turned to me, mild concern in her voice. "Right?"

"We would never do what?" I asked.

They both looked at each other.

Morgan scratched her head, "do you really not know?"

I shook my head no.

Morgan’s deep almond skin gained a tint of pink as she began, "well-"

"Sex,’ Adrian said, realizing it was better to say it. I could only assume he had blushed earlier because he had thought of Mallory and I in such a compromising position.

I felt my face get warm, "oh."

Morgan quickly added, "I wasn’t saying you couldn’t, by the way, it’s just that you wouldn’t, you know? You two are just so close it doesn’t make sense to."

"That’s exactly why they would! AND they will!"

As Morgan and Adrian arguing slowly trailed off topic I returned to my meal.

I had never thought about it, but Mallory most likely had desires. And, though I never acknowledged them, I did too. The past few years I had noticed Mallory’s shirts had become maybe a half size too small around her chest and any bottoms she would wear were more filled. I thought about the tingling sensations I would get when I looked at her.

Of course I asked Morgan later in the day, and she said it could ruin our friendship. I refused to lose Mallory, even all those years ago. I refused.

Palpitations in my chest became faster as I grew concerned about my potential inability to say no to any advances Mallory would make. Not due to any feelings that I did or did not have, it would be because I was a horned up teenager. Throughout the day I pondered my choices. By the end of school I had decided that if Mallory would do nothing, then I would say and do nothing. If she were to make any move I would respectfully decline. My only problem then was my readiness to say no.

When I got home I quickly showered then got dressed. I informed Phillip and Melengelle I would be spending the night at Mallory’s. Phillip wished to join but I suggested he stay at home because I doubted he would enjoy sitting around and watching Mallory and I write down ideas. Melengelle, when informed of my plans for the night, promptly raised the volume on the TV. TV had been reintroduced to Cyprianus a few years prior which resulted in a few people becoming addicted to the limited channels we had.

The air was warm that afternoon. By the time I biked to Mallory’s home, the sky had become a beautiful mix of oranges and pinks.

I knocked on the door and waited.

Mallory opened the door and my jaw nearly dropped. The brilliant colors of the late afternoon sky danced across Mallory’s pale skin. Her beautiful green eyes gleamed with joy that was amplified by the setting sun. She had changed out of the skirt the school required and into a pair of blue jean shorts. Her legs weren’t exposed however, as she still wore the stockings from the uniform. A shoulder strap of the loose tank top she wore fell to the side, leaving the black strap that was underneath it bare.

I glanced down as she reached out to hug me. Every ounce of blood left my brain when I noticed what her black straps were supporting. Her chest pressed into mine during our embrace. Even through my shirt I could feel warmth radiating from Mallory.

Had I been any other man I would have been on bended knee by then.

All my nerves were smashed when her soothing voice invited me inside. She returned the strap to its place and turned around.

When she did so I looked at the back pockets of her shorts.

We were sitting on her living room couch when I asked, "are we going to wait until after your parents make dinner to plan the dance?"
Mallory tilted her head and a lock of hair fell onto her face. She brushed it behind her ear and responded, "oh my parents aren’t home right now, they’ve been planning a date night for weeks! Don’t worry though, I’ve made us some pasta for dinner!"

She suggested we eat, so we went into the kitchen and served ourselves a bowl. We ate our pasta in the living room while we watched an animated series about a talking dog and his gang of clearly high teenagers solving mysteries across a fictional country. After we had our fill we went to work.

We sat next to each other on the floor with paper, markers, and pencils all around us. I was tasked with sketching a mockup of the gymnasium with each potential idea. However it was difficult to do this because Mallory would often touch my shoulder when she laughed. This would cause my entire body to tingle.

Mallory enjoyed adding color to my sketches to further help visualize the gymnasium. Whenever a marker was out of reach, rather than stand up to get it, she would reach over me, allowing for a look down her top before her chest would get too close to my lap.

After we had a handful of drawn ideas Mallory raised her arms to stretch. This caused her tank top to rise up and show off her midriff. At this point I whispered a prayer to god, sweet and truthful, in hopes that Mallory would attempt nothing that night.

"Let’s take a break!" She exclaimed.

I replied with a stuttered sure.

"I want to show you a song," she stood up, "I’ll be back."

She quickly ran upstairs. Upon her return she sat on the couch then motioned for me to join her.

I sunk into the cushion.

Mallory handed me an ear bud (we had recently reacquired music players), and I slid it into my ear. She tapped the screen on the music player then tapped a few times more. Music began to play while Mallory put her ear bud in.

The wire was fairly short, which forced Mallory to place her head on my shoulder to best keep her neck from irritation.

It was difficult to enjoy the music over the sound of my blood rushing down from my brain.

After a few songs played she lifted her head, the earbud fell out of her ear. Her sugar plum lips curled into a smile. When had she started to wear makeup?

"Did you like the songs?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah, I really liked that last one. The saxophone solo was amazing. I think I may learn it."

"Good! I was thinking we could scrape together some more money and get the band to come play for our dance!" She sat back on the couch with a hopeful exhale.

"That would be awesome," I said with as much enthusiasm as my underperforming brain could muster.

"Want to bake some sweets?" She asked.

"I could go for some brownies," I replied.

It had been a year or so since I had last been in that kitchen. Previously she and I made pastries together.

After a certain point, when I was mixing ingredients in a bowl, I somehow managed to get my face dirty. It was nothing when compared to the now stained tank top of Mallory’s. Mallory promptly scooped off the sugary gunk off my cheek then proceeded to lick it off her fingers. One forceful licked caused a bit of sugar gunk to fall from her lips onto her sternum. She looked down and laughed before scooping it off herself.
We finished prepping the brownie mix and slid the tray into the oven. I stared into the oven hypnotized by the wavy image of the tray that was manipulated by the heated air.

"I’m gonna go clean this," she said, presenting her sternum, "could you clean down here?"

I quickly returned my eyes to hers. I nodded.
She stomped up the stairs one more time. It took me a few minutes to clean properly.

When I had finished I heard Mallory call my name. She wanted me to go up to her and I obliged.

Her bedroom door was open, it had not changed much over the years.

"Do you want to dance?" Mallory asked me when I walked in. Her tank top was different, and perhaps a bit tighter.

"Uh, I’m not really good at dancing."

She pointed to her new tv, "I got a game console! They were shipped a few months ago and the mayor let me get one early because I’m nice to his daughter! It came with a dancing game! I have more games too if you don’t want to play that one." We spent a few minutes on the floor looking through her collection of games.

A loud ringing spread through the air. Mallory smiled and said, "brownie time!" She hurried out of the room to retrieve them.

While she was gone I slid the dancing game disk into Mallory’s game console. The TV came on with a static crack before a logo appeared on its screen.

Malloy soon returned, "brownies are done. We just gotta let them cool off." Her eyes moved over to the TV. "Just know I won’t go easy on you!" She exclaimed.

I hung my head low, "I know."

Mallory handed me a plastic rounded rectangle with buttons on it. "Hold this in your right hand and try your best to copy the avatar on screen!" We played a tutorial that taught me to play.

Once I got the hang of it she scrolled through the available songs and picked one marked as BABY. I tried to not be offended by her lack of confidence in my dancing abilities. Regardless, I was determined to do my best.

She obliterated me.

After a few more losses I blamed our constant bumping into each other as the cause of my failure.

Her laugh filled the room, "alright if you say so. Try dancing behind me then. I’ll even move up. AND I’ll let you pick the next song."

I nodded with determination. I scrolled through the songs and found one that had a score of zero and chose that one.

Mallory moved closer to the TV while I stood behind her.

"Can you see?" She asked.

I nodded.

She nodded in response.

We started the song. I was doing well at first, even better than Mallory. However, after the first chorus was sung the onscreen avatar sung its hips. I instinctively looked at Mallory’s. Her hips swayed with the rhythm of a professional dancer. It was hypnotic.
Soon the song ended and I was once again, obliterated.

"What happened? You were doing so well."

"I got distracted," I responded.

She snorted, "loser. Want to do another? Or do you want brownies now?"

I sat down on the edge of her bed, "I’m a little tired, let me just rest for a second."

"I’m tired too." Mallory sat next to me.

We looked into each other’s eyes. Her beautiful greens tried their best to read me. She placed a hand upon my upper thigh. The warmth of it was easily felt through my jeans.

"Hey, thank you for hanging out tonight," she said.

"No, thank you, this was fun. I’m sorry we didn’t finish the planning."

She squeezed my thigh a bit. The tingling I felt quickly rushed all blood into my groin for the 200th time that night.

"That’s okay, we can finish it tomorrow morning," she nudged closer to me. "I’m just happy we got to spend time together again. I’ve missed you."

My heart tried its best to pump any available blood to all vital organs.

"I’ve missed you too," I said. I could feel myself burning up. My body was fighting a civil war over the precious resource that was the elixir of life.

"I’m excited for the future. I’m excited for our adventures." With that, she planted a soft gentle kiss upon my cheek.

Unromantic and utterly devoid of passion, it was quick but it did its job. She knew, she could see it in my eyes. She could feel it through my dangerously fast pulse.

From then on she knew that I would be her anything. I would be a meaningless little stepping stool for her, or a tremendous nuclear explosion. I would be a boring newspaper, or a grand one man band. I would be at her command. With one word, one motion of her hand, or even the shift of an eye, I would go wherever she wouldn’t dare. I would be incomplete unless my actions were for her. From then on I would beg for her to do wrong by me if it were impossible to do right. Lifetimes beyond that night her will would be my own. Though it would not be possible, I would die for her. I would find a way.

With that single second of euphoric bliss I felt, she knew this. All these years later, despite everything she did to me. To us. And despite everything she forced me to, it all still holds true.

And we never did anything more than hold hands.

Joy, excitement, absolute elation, or any other synonym would be inadequate to describe what I saw on her face.

"I’m gonna go get the brownies," she patted my thigh before leaving the room.

I walked over to the window. The night sky was beautiful. Stars twinkled while the moon beamed. My heart continued to pound but I could feel it slowly return to resting. I stood there for a moment, pondering the future.
Gentle movement in the empty lot across the street caught my attention. Blood surged to my brain. My heart rate picked back up and perhaps even exceeded what it had been a few moments ago. Unsure of what to do, the ring on my finger formed into goo and entered my bloodstream. What would be appropriate in this situation? I did not know. Unblinking and perfectly alert, I stared across the street.

There was no doubt in my mind that he knew I was there that night. He ate sunflower seeds in a threatening manner. Spitting out the shells without breaking eye contact. A bald spot had formed where I had stabbed him, but I still knew it was him.

The Scarred Man and I glared at each other with the intensity of a thousand stars. The aura of hatred that was once directed to all now directed itself to me. My animosity for him had returned tenfold a hundred times over. How dare he ruin this night for me.
Though we both knew the other was immortal, nothing would stop either of us from mutilating the other. I knew I would never stop killing this beast, I may even die a few times in the process, but not under any condition would I yield to him. I would obliterate him down to the last atom for everything he’s done. For ruining our lives.

Our futures.

Next Chapter: Ghosts of the Past or Something