Vir Fortis vs Malificus (Beta Version)

Nightmare for the Awake

"Usko! Hey!" Latrice waved to me, a grin alighting her face. She was at the entrance of the suburbs, the one that was across from Western City, a wide park separating both those regions. Beside her was a boy teenager with spiked brown hair and shining green eyes.

The half-moon hung domed in the sky, a black-and-silver half-ball. Stars of constellations were out tonight, and there was a wind ruffling up, promising rain. Even as I thought that, distant dark gray storm clouds were roiling and bunching on two horizons, steadily sliding to the zenith of the sky. The air was cold but with a humid touch. I lowered my griffin to the ground and leapt off it, killing the grass below my feet; the stalks instantaneously blackened, withered, and drooped at my touch.

The brunet boy whistled. "I can't believe it! You were right, Latrice! You do hang out with both hero and villain! That's incredible!"

"Who is this?" I asked Latrice, looking directly at her.

"This is my 'friend,' Elijah," Latrice introduced. "May we take him with us this time?"

She either thinks this friend of hers will enjoy our nighttime activities, or she's getting to be a little afraid of me and wants company right beside her.

"Very well," I grunted. "Latrice, you should know, once I am done with you, I will not visit you anymore. We are not friends. I am not Chaser, determined to spread and extend love and goodness to all. Whether I am satisfied or disappointed, if you are of no use to me, I will not bother coming to you again."

"I know." Latrice met my gaze solemnly—the best she could, anyway, since people had trouble holding both mine and Chaser's gaze for an extended length of time. "I just...I want to experience both sides. Yours and Chaser's. I know the sole purpose you're visiting me is to convert me to the side of evil, if you will, but at least Chaser isn't like that. He actually cares for me."

My heart sank. She sounded as if she was trusting Chaser. She was defending him now instead of criticizing him. "Do you honestly believe that?" I sneered. "He is using you, just how I am, except his is harder to believe, because kindness is a lie."

"Deceit, which is a form of evil, is a lie, too!" Latrice answered firmly.

It took me aback. Anger was curling in me, a tiger's claws ripping and gorging a tree trunk, bark shredding and tearing. Before I could growl or argue, the boy called Elijah stepped up.

"Talking is boring," he huffed. "Let's just get moving. So, Usko, what did you want to do tonight? Latrice says some of the things you two have done already, and they sound awesome! She says you took her to smash a house to smithereens, she says you took her to the highway for some illegally fast driving, you and she stole a fake Gemstone from a museum...I wanna join in, too!"

I swiveled my gaze to stare him down. He tried to meet my gaze defiantly, but in two seconds he was wavering, four seconds he was paling and taking a step back, and the fifth second, he averted his gaze.

I lifted my chin. "We are going to the high school parking lot."

"Okay," Elijah said while Latrice asked, "What for?"