Unchallenged

Pitch-dark

Nikolay POV

- A month before -

I didn't feel better at all after I had read the stupid Letter. I had a terrible head ache and everything around me was spining like I was riding a centrifuge. I decided to find the Boxing Club. It was the only place I wanted to be in from the three of them. I needed a good training, in fact fighting was the only thing I knew I could do.

I think it was mid-day because the sun was shining like hell and the summer heat in the streets was unbearable. I didn't know the city and I didn't have a map or a GPS either, it was my first time exploring it. I found it very difficult to navigate like this. I met some baffled people who were rambling up and down the streets, every one of them searching cluessly for something. They weren't of any help for me.

The town was empty but tidy. It seemed that no one was living there yet. There were no cars, no noise, no crowding and everything seemed so new that it blew me away. The two stored houses, the pavement, the buildings, the traffic lights, the shops, the poles, the patches, everything was brand new. And a peaceful silence rulled all over them as if the quiet nature took upon the urban jungle. It was like Cernobîl but without the disaster thing. I wouldn't have wondered if I found out that Atlantida popped out from the underworld.I was relieved and stunned. And all that newness was laying at my feet to be explored. I breathed in the freedom through all my pores. It was irresistible and alluring. I was free to do whatever and go wherever I wanted. 

As I was wandering unmindfuly I came across the Information Center. I received important details of how I could find the items from The Letter.The part where all of us had do adjust to the new society and environment was the hardest, especially for me. I faced a double challenge whereas I had to adapt to a new world and learn and follow the community rules. I acknowledged that I wasn't released from prison because I hadn't served my sentence completely. I knew I was looking and behaving like a convict but back then I didn't desire to be otherwise. I wasn't even thankfull to whoever I should have been to for my freedom. That was not how I planned in my mind the life after releasement. Unfortunately news that I was in jail spread as quick as a flash and I couldn't deny or hide it. I was aware that my whole life had been a hell mess and it seemed that it wouldn't become a child's play either.

The fact that I was a PE teacher at school didn't help me much. It was tough to deal with children as they were also going through a rough patch. I didn't even had time to ponder why I was chosen to do this weak job, but I needed it to make a living. I hated to be chatty, actually I didn't like to talk at all. People were looking down on me and some others were avoiding me. Doors were not literaly standing open for me until that angelic woman opened her front door and invited me inside her tempting universe. 

I used to come near her house and spy on it every now and then hiding behind a tree. I had been living in the Boxing Club for a month when Flavio, the manager, suggested me to get in touch with Ida Pallas. He was also paired with a woman whose name was on his Letter and they were getting along well. Sadly not all the matches from the Letters were right and I didn't want to guess how mine would be. I was not interested in seeing a woman every day, talking to her, or sleeping near her in the same house. As a matter of fact I was not interested in talking and seeing anybody. The only woman I lived in with was my mother and I couldn't remember when was the last time I had a decent chat with another one. 

I decided to meet Ida suddenly one night after I completely blacked out as if Darkness itself crawled on the walls and swallowed my whole body. It also put a spell on my mind and I watched as my life was sliding in front of me. On one side was everything I did wrong and on the other side was everything I did right. Murder was on the first side. And in that pitch dark I saw my mother. She was the only gleam.

"I am very far away from you, Nikolay. I can't protect you anymore but I'm relieved that you took this chance and accepted your new faith. This is where your redemption starts on the edge of a new world. Don't chase it away, but receive it as a gift from me. Follow your mission, do what you have to do."

I'm sorry that it was so much description in this chapter. I just needed it for the plot. 

Please, please vote and comment if you like it. I promise that we'll have a lot of dialogue in the next chapter.