His brain wouldn't shut up for once. It was thinking millions of thoughts all at the same time
'How the hell did he get here? What's happening? When did everything go so wrong in his life? Is he going to die here? What's he going to do? If he died, would Teresa be okay? God! Why? What. The. Fuck?!'
Ben thought what happened to him prior to being here waranted ending it all because picking his life up from all the mess he caused and placing it together piece by piece from scratch would be almost impossible. So he was considering ending it all that morning. But.... not like this. It was supposed to be quiet and painless. Maybe some pills and a long sleep would do the trick. Not by getting torn apart by a freaking terrifying werewolf in of an arena full of monsters. Like he'd just watched someone die. Someone who saved him. Diana. And now that same monster was about to give him the exact same fate.
"Damnit," he cursed under his breath. "Maybe this is the Universe way of punishing me for all the trouble I've caused."
Come to think of it, the system message showed up admist his suicidal thoughts. 'Fuck! Tell me about perfect timing.' He thought to himself as he eyed the wicked grin spread across the werewolf face as it yelled those horrifying words.
"Found you!"
He swallowed hard. Damn, he hated this. He hated all of it. Especially the fact that he was dangling like a piece of meat in this thing's hands. Just wha....
Bang! Bang!
The sound was so loud it interrupted his deep thoughts as the ground beneath them shook. The werewolf's grip loosened slightly. Its head snapped upward.
Ben gasped, sucking in air. Everyone in the arena stopped what they were doing; swords froze mid-swing, claws paused mid-strike. Every single person looked up in shock.
Above them, there was a figure floating in thin air. She looked old. And petit. And very thin. Her skin was dark green and wrinkled like old leather left out in the sun for too long. Her nose was long and crooked at it's tip and she had a short white hair that was flowing in the wind when infact, they was no wind at all. She was hovering above them on a broomstick.
Ben's mouth fell open when he sighted the broomstick. He was a hundred percent sure that this woman was a witch.
She eyed and smiled down at all of them. Her arms spread out as wide as it could. As she spoke, her voice rang out across the arena. And surprisingly, Ben could hear her every word perfectly. Like she was speaking with a ginormous microphone.
"Welcome, welcome dear participants! Citizens of Eryndor and viewers from across Kher-Neter, The world of the Seven Realms," she crooned.
"I must say, this year's Blood Reaping has been exceptional so far hasn't it? So much passion and so much... creativity. I'm intrigued." She paused, tilting her head as if listening to something only she could hear.
"And, I'm absolutely delighted to inform you that thirty-seven of our beloved participants are already out before the commencement of the main event." There was a beat of silence and then she chuckled. "By 'out,' of course, I mean dead. Ahahaha!" she let out a horrifying high pitched laughter to her own joke.
Ben wanted to do nothing but puke. The way she said it so casually made him want to rip his clothes off and run away the opposite direction, screaming. It was terrifying. Maybe if he just kept running, he'd wake up. Maybe this was all some horrible, alcohol-induced nightmare.
Although the werewolf's claws digging into his shirt and the pain all around his body told him otherwise. This was real. Too real to be a dream.
The witch continued speaking, raising her hands dramatically. Suddenly, the sky above them shifted. The red brightness was replaced by a sickly green glow. And seconds later, the entire sky had changed to a dark green colour.
"Now then," her grin widening. "It's time to reveal the main event of our beloved Blood Reaping Contest."
She snapped her fingers and instantly, the sky rained. But it wasn't water that was dropping. It was something else. Metal items clicking and clanking together as they fell. They looked like weapons of all kinds. And then, in the midst of them were things that glittered like stars.
More than a hundred of them began falling from the green-lit sky, spinning lazily as they descended. Swords, axes, spears, daggers, clubs. All of them glowing faintly, suspended in mid-air.
The glittery star-like things Ben saw in the midst of the weapons as they rained down, were beams of light. Dozens of them. And he noticed that they were streaking toward specific people in the arena.
Ben watched, wide-eyed, as one of the beams slammed into a reptilian looking creature a few feet away. The man screamed as his entire body lit up from the inside. His veins glowed strangely and his eyes turned white. Then, just as suddenly, the light faded. The man stood there, panting and staring at his hands.
"Yes! Yes!" the witch cheered, clapping her hands together. "The sign," she said pointing at the beams of light. "...my dear participants signify the awakening of your abilities."
"Those of you who are ripe and have the potential will now unlock the powers buried deep within your bloodlines."
She gestured to the floating weapons. "And as for those of you without such potentials..." She giggled sarcastically. "Well, you'll have to make do with these. Ahahaha. Good luck!"
Her tone was that of mockery that Ben rolled his eyes. Of course even in 'this' world, they was still lots partiality and injustice.
"Good luck," she echoed again. "You're going to need it," she added a wink. "Most of you will die here anyway. Don't get your hopes up."
Ben's heart was hammering in his chest. This was insane. The witch too a look down at the arena one more time, her smile stretching impossibly wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, Eryndites and creatures from all realms," She spread her arms. "Let the main stage of the Annual Blood Reaping Contest...Begin!"
The moment she made that statement, everything shifted. The walls around the arena shimmered, and then they were no longer alone. Like a vile was pulled off Ben's eyes and he saw it. Thousands of faces all around the arena. Crowds of creatures and monsters. There were of every shape and size that Ben couldn't even recognize most of them. They were all cheering, roaring and screaming at the top of their voices with excitement.
They hadn't been there before or maybe he just wasn't looking. They filled every seat. They were the spectators.
'This was for entertainment?' Ben thought. 'Damn! I thought my own world was cruel. Guess it happens everywhere, haha'
He was really going to d....
Ding!
Ben recognized that sound. It was the sound he got when his system sent a new message. It cut through the mental chaos going on in his head. The grey translucent screen appeared in front of his face and for a moment he was relieved.
"Where have you been?" He whispered, so as not to draw the attention of anyone especially the werewolf who was very focused on what the witch was saying. It was grinning too.
< Sorry >
Ben stole a quick glance and smiled. He was about to respond when another message dropped. His mouth fell wide open. "What?!"
He felt his heart drop.
"What the fuck?" was all he could muster as he stared at the words that had appeared slowly. One at a time. It read:
< Ben Scott >
< I'm sorry for bringing you into this >
< You're going to die >