The Gate To Existence

Fifth Gate

The snow had stopped outside her window, but behind her eyes and inside her mind the storm raged on. The girl spun in her chair, pushed against her desk and glided across the old wooden floorboards towards the broken window that let the cold air in through the stormy nights.

She sighed exasperatingly and slid down her chair like a whining child would do. "I CAN'T WRITE THIS STORY!" she flailed her arms and moaned, glancing back at her desk where crumpled papers were spread. The desk was an old wooden crate with rusted nails poking out from the sides. She exhaled and focused her attention on the dim candle as its flame danced and flickered in the dark room.

The girl's home was an old, abandoned building within an uninhabited neighbourhood on the outskirts of Fifth Gate and it was slowly falling apart. Broken floorboards, peeling paint, shattered glass and an unhealthy amount of mould. "Why am I even trying to make use of my time? It's not like I'll achieve anything by writing stupid stories! It's a waste – a complete waste!" she slammed her fist against the wall and gritted her teeth. "Where am I trying to go with my life, Kiki?" Her soft, milk-chocolate hair slid down her face as she looked at her companion she called 'Kiki'. Kiki was a large individual covered in a thick coat of white with the physique of a canine. Though he wasn't like a normal animal, he was muscular and missing chunks of fur all over his body. Kiki's tail was insanely long and furless, like a rat's tail. The retractable spines that ran down his back were handy as a weapon.

Kiki looked up at the girl and made a noise that was a mixture of disagreement and pity. He stood up and towered over her, resting his chin on her head.

"Are you hungry, Kiki?" He lifted her up from her chair in his large jaws and put her on her feet. "I know I am..." She looked at him with her scarlet red eyes that glowed with curiosity and mystery, she was quite a self-proclaimed adventurous girl who could never sit still, always on the go and trying to find new questions to answer, the only thing that relaxed her was writing stories and theories down in her notebooks.

"I'll head into town and stock up on supplies, you can stay here this time." Kiki looked at her longingly through his pale-blue eyes. "What? You know you're too big to go anyway, you draw way too much attention to us! If you want me to find you some apples I was already planning to do that, so don't give me that little innocent face." Riley glanced over at the shelf "looks like we've run out anyway." Kiki pranced around excitedly, causing the floor to tremor. "C-calm down Kiki! Relax! You'll put another hole in the freaking floor!" The creature stopped and looked at the girl, he curled up into a bundle of fur on the floor afterwards. He didn't mind waiting at home while she was out, he knew she'd come back.

The girl lifted her satchel over her head and adjusted it to her side, she picked up a smaller bag off her desk which rang with the sound of coins at the slightest movement. She blew out the dying candle and shifted the broken door to the side, stepping out into the cold snow. The violent wind swept up against her, piercing her like ice-cold needles which caused her to shiver. It was always cold outside, snow constantly came and went, layering the ice in a thick coat of white. She stared off into the distance momentarily and sighed, releasing a small cloud of white from her lips.

Through 2208 and 2239 the world was disturbed by illnesses, there were outbreaks of countless and unknown viruses. The world was rapidly becoming extinct, people started perishing before the snow came, and like the snow, they all continued to fall. In 2234 the empire was overthrown by a group of mysterious people who called themselves 'Existence'. Shortly after they came into power, the world started to mysteriously turn cold and became covered in ice.

When the world previous this one became a wasteland of ice, snow and torn down buildings, this new world was created in its place. There were only a few humans remaining and those that survived were separated into the Gates. In total, six gates were built to inhabit the remaining people. Within the walls of the gates, small villages were created and humans slowly increased in population once more. Still, an unknown virus was introduced and started infecting humans, causing them to lose their mind, becoming ruthless, blood-thirsty killing machines. When the virus came, First Gate and Fourth Gate were corrupted and extinguished, they were reduced down to rubble and it's believed that Existence played a role in their eradication. The virus kills its victim and multiplies within the corpse, quickening the decomposition process and emitting a putrid scent of rotting flesh and decay. With the scent and the looks, people are able to tell which individuals have become corrupted with the infection.