Tomb of Emotions

Emotional Hunt - Chapter 1

"This is all your fault!" The voice bombed throughout the tomb.

    I held my side which was now gouged and gushing with blood.

    "I didn't want to do this. I thought you were on my side. I thought we had an understanding!" They paced back and forth. I gasped for air. "But now it has come to this."

    They raise the sword that would soon be my demise. "See you on the other side."

    "Gotcha." I finally caught it. The excited emotion now resides in my hand. I quickly pull out my bottle and stuff the emotion in, screwing the lid on tight. I tuck it securely in my pocket so I can start descending from the rooftop. Don't ask me why someone would be excited on a rooftop, I have no idea. Doesn't matter. I grab hold of a metal pipe and slide down to a ledge. It was slippery because of the fallen snow the night before. I move lightly on my feet, trying not to slip. I get to a place that is above a dumpster. I take a deep breath and maneuver my body so that I am hanging from the ledge. I close my eyes and drop into the dumpster. God, I have to find a better way to fall from rooftops. I pull myself out of the dumpster and onto solid ground. Ow. I landed on cans, bottles, and a lot of other stuff. Wait...Bottles! I stick my hand in my pocket and all I feel is broken glass. I pull my hand out and blood is trickling down my wrist. Dammit. How could I be so stupid? I hurry and tear off a piece of my flowing cloak to wrap around my hand.

    I frantically search my surroundings for the glow of gold. It couldn't have gone far, right? Then I see it. The gold glow was dancing. It zooms out of the alleyway I was standing in and into the bustling streets filled with people.    

    "Wait, no. Come back!" I say as I chase after it.

    I leave the dark alleyway and make my way into the lit-up streets. People are clearly upset by me pushing past them, but I need that emotion. There! I climb up the light pole and use it to get above the crowd. The emotion frolics all the way down the street and turns into a park. I drop from the light pole and push through the people until I get to the park. Compared to the streets, the park is empty. I guess people don't like to go to the park at night. I run straight ahead, about to capture the glow once again when a bottle swoops in. It wasn't mine and I went tumbling into the open space where the glow used to be.

    "Whoops, didn't see you there," A voice called out as I dust myself off.

    I look up and my eyes lock on the guy in front of me. He has brown curly hair and freckles everywhere. His green eyes pierce my soul and his smile set my heart aflutter.

    "It's fine," I reply, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. "I was just chasing that emotion."

    "Oh," he gasps as he dangles the jar in front of him. "Do you mean this one?"

    His smirk makes me want to punch him.

    "Yes..." I say through gritted teeth. "Can I have it back, please?"

    "Whoa...Slow your roll. You don't even know my name yet."

    "Oh, I'm sorry," I say in the most unapologetic voice. "I am so curious."

    "Well, since you asked," he segues into an introduction. "My name is Luca. Now, it's your turn."

    His smile reads arrogance. Maybe confidence but arrogance is more likely. I should know because I am a pretty arrogant person myself. Might as well play along.

    "My name is Avery."

    "It's nice to meet you, Avery."

    I roll my eyes.

"Now that we are done with pleasantries, can I have that emotion you stole?"

    "Hmmm..." he thought for a moment. "How about no."

    "I was the one chasing it! I caught it but..." I trail off, kind of embarrassed by how I lost it.

    "Well, I have it now, so what are you going to do about it?" Luca teases.

    I glare at him. This is so infuriating. Why can't he pick on someone his own size? Literally! I am 5 foot 3 and he seems about twice as tall. Probably not but still.

    I try to swipe at the jar he is dangling but he pulls it away before I can catch it. This is stupid. Then an idea pops into my head.

    "Wait, give me a second," I say to him as I search through my pockets.

    He gives me a confused look but I pay him no mind. I pull out a tiny cube that thankfully didn't get lost. I throw it hard at the snowy ground and bam! The cube expands and turns into a chest. It's a regular brown chest filled with my stuff.

    "What are you do-"

    "Wait!" I say putting my finger up in a silencing motion. "I said give me a second!"

    Luca put his hands up in surrender.

    I continue to search in the chest before I finally find it. I pull out a stick. A plastic stick that has pink streamers coming from the top.

    "What is that? A magic wand?" he asks with a huge grin on his face.

    "Actually, it is." I wave the wand around in three intricate moves and then point it at the bottle. The bottle jumps away from Luca's hand and starts floating into the air.

    "Huh?" he questions, totally oblivious.

    The look on his face makes me start laughing. I've never seen a person who can catch emotions be so mystified about magic. Technically, I can't see emotions yet I still know about magic.

    I try to levitate the bottle towards me but sometimes, I forget that my magic skills aren't the best. Instead of pulling it towards me, it starts pushing away from me.

    Our eyes locked onto each other. Luca starts running towards the bottle.

I start to push it farther away. "Stop! If you go any closer I will drop the bottle and it will break," I threaten hoping he would listen.

"Ha, go ahead. That's a Nephrite bottle that emotion resides in!" he yells as he continues toward the floating bottle.

You have to be kidding me! Nephrite bottles are indestructible and those cost a fortune. How did he get his hands on one? He doesn't even know how to use magic. Who is this guy? So many questions whirl around my mind. Maybe he's just bluffing.

"Sure...We'll see about that." I tap the wand twice on my hand as the pink ribbons bounce.

The bottles start falling from the sky. More like rocketing towards the ground. I wait to hear the sweet sound of glass breaking but... to no avail. I just hear nothing. He really wasn't lying. And now he gets the last laugh while he slyly picks up the bottle.

"I guess this is where we part ways," he says as he hides the bottle in his pocket.

I sigh, defeated. "I guess it is."

I expect him to turn away and leave. But for some reason, he stares at me.

"Is there no more fight left in you?" he asks with what sounds like disappointment in his voice.

"I know when I've been beat." I give him a tiny smile to show no hard feelings.

I might be competitive, but I know when a 'game over' occurs. It doesn't seem like Luca feels the same way.

"Oh...well," Luca scratches the back of his neck, probably surprised by this outcome. "I didn't want this anyway."

He tosses the bottle that contains the emotion to me.

"What? You won. You can keep it."

Did he just steal it to try and play tag or something? He does know that the excited emotion is worth a lot, right?

I guess he is enjoying my confusion because he smiles.

"Until next time."

Luca takes off running and then was swallowed by the darkness of an alleyway.