[Era VIII] Corrupted Realm.

Chapter 4

The painful sting of wet asphalt rubbed the child's skin raw and bloody as he was being dragged across the streets by the adult male. He had long since stopped crying - it was no use anyway, and would only cause more pain, so he swallowed the tears and stayed close. Perhaps he had stopped struggling, stopped trying long ago... it just didn't make sense with the world they lived in. Some were born strong, others born weak. He was just weak, that's what they all said.

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 "Everything alright?" Shads had teased, a somewhat honest smirk on his pale lips, two sharp fangs poking out threateningly. Nick recoiled for a second only to see the joking tone behind it. "Y-yeah" He spoke quietly, voice shaking and so faint that it struggled against any kind of another sound. A low chuckle parted the adult's lips as he waved the kid over to sit down at the counter with him, smirking with his usual style - though Nick didn't seem too pleased by the sight of it.
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Eventually, both of them had eaten their portion of the food and had warmed up enough to start a conversation filled with teasing remarks by Shads about some rather disturbing subjects and Nick's returned comments. The child had finally opened up to the other being and was chattering, with quiet giggles and laughter mixed in between, in the quiet left when Shads paused for breath. It left then both a bit more at ease and calmed, though Shads was still pondering over the thought of where the boy had come from in the first place. It was a mystery to him, and every time he asked Nick wouldn't budge, shuttering off as if not daring to speak at all, lest he tells. He was annoyed about that and almost resorted to other methods, impatient for answers... but having some company for once, answers or no, didn't seem too bad.
Shads had been checking his front door daily since then but no one else had ever shown up or found it. So, how exactly did the kid get here? It was a good(and difficult) question, but that did not bother him as much as the child's silence - a good challenge was exactly was he needed, if not for the fact that his cracks had been hurting more and more lately, nightmares worsening as well. Overall it had been taxing for him to stay sane, and not just fall over right where he stood. Not exactly his favourite situation to be in, not at all.
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Stretching his limbs one by one letting a dragged out yawn, Shads marvelled ay the fact he'd been laying on the couch for the last couple of hours, bench watching TV and surviving on coffee alone. Some kind of soap was on and Shads didn't even bother enough to switch channels, even if it was possibly the most boring show he ever saw.

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Finally a new chapter, yay! 
Thanks to MrMetalArmDude for making sure I didn't screw up and edited this chapter!