'HISTORIC EMBER CHURCH PAINTED WITH SATANIC SYMBOLS' displayed one of the most recent stories on a blog that literally nobody read except the people of our town.
Phoenix had forwarded it our group chat with Blaze a few hours ago, faces of laughter typed as its caption. We knew immediately who the culprit was, Jared Emberson. He was always doing shit like this. It entertained us.
I stretched and sighed, wanting to banish the rising sun peeking through the small window above my bed. Though I had a good night last night getting higher than a cloud as usual with my brothers and getting our nightly adrenaline rush from biking, I was still feeling pretty empty. I rose from my sheets and slowly sank my head in my hands. The black curls on top of my head flowing over my inked fingers.
I'd come to terms with the fact I was depressed yet again, of course my refusal of wanting to accept it prolonged the diagnosis. I'd have phases.
I could do a lot of stuff to the mind, through manipulation to the point of insanity. Pretty dark shit. Though healing and all the good side of it, not so much. I was still working on it.
Phoenix helped a lot, his 'herbal remedies' were a pretty big hit of ours. Though just being around him was a semi-permanent cure on it's own, he was always a big ball of positive energy.
Phoenix was a little jealous when he first met me, I could sense it on him. His talents being a bit more on the feminine side, mostly including a mortar and a pestle. But I had to give it to him, he was always smiling. His personality was infectious and his will to face the world head on was admirable - exactly the type of big brother me and Blaze dreamed about having as a kid.
Blaze was pretty similar compared to Phoenix, together they were a chaotic duo. They'd throw themselves off a cliff if the other dared them to do so for enjoyment. Blaze had been through a lot of shit just like us, orphaned from a young age like us too.
We all came from similar situations, which is probably why we acted up so much. Always getting away with it was inevitable too. Only one of the reasons why we were probably despised by a few around here. But did they ever dare try anything? They knew better.
Our dark and dreary little town of Ember was already a pretty fucked up place before us but, we soon took over and people were either completely intimidated or we were praised like gods. There wasn't really a middle ground.
From the creaky floorboards of my vandalised apartment building to the rising knife crime, it was probably going to be our home for a while. The aesthetic of it feeling like a constant ghost town, just with people living in it was pretty comforting. The whole police situation around here was pretty messed up and careless too, along with the constant echoing in the streets of distant arguments and violent brawls. Perfect place to blend in as weirdos with our dark and discreet little services.
I heard the satisfying snap of my neck as my head instinctively greeted each shoulder in an aggressive manner before I readied myself for my routine, my arms lifting above my head as I placed my hands onto the railing connected to my bathroom doorframe.
My playlist shuffled aloud from the voice command that came out more like a growl, the speakers beginning to vibrate throughout the entire apartment building. This was pretty much my way of communicating to the neighbours I had woken up . Normally late afternoon.
After finishing my pull ups, my next step was a cold shower to wake me the fuck up.
My now wet and overly curly jet-black hair dampened my forehead while I traced the cologne inside of the black glass bottle I had concocted myself underneath the sharp line of my jaw.
I couldn't help but groan aloud at the three sudden bangs at my door. There was only one person I knew who would be up for bothering me with random bullshit not long after I'd started my usual routine.
