Into The Grandiosity

Part 2

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But I carried on life.

11 pm, drunk at a cheap restaurant in a city I knew nothing of. Laughing as I order another shot of alcohol before crying as I continue drinking. Checking my phone that was not on silent mode; what was I expecting?

That my parents would come beg me to come back home?

Running away from home and settling at another state of the country after days of traveling really changed my life. I did nothing but drink and sleep at the restaurant while running low on money!

"More shots!" I wailed to the restaurant owner despite being a lightweight drinker. Not every day I could be this miserable.

"No, don't give him any more" a slightly husky voice echoed.

"Mind your own business, bitch," I was a bit tipsy when I said that, now who would meddle in what I'm going to do?

Two figures came to sit across me, they both were smirking and one of them eyed me inquisitively. "Oh my, why so miserable?" the woman's voice suddenly turned from husky to honeyed, pretending to care about my well being.

The man beside her seemed a bit uncomfortable for a second "Get to the point. We can't stay here long".

She glanced at him with gloomy expression before looking back at me with round studious eyes "You're an outsider, right? Outsiders typically come here for one thing, to start a new life. Or to end one. If you're here for something new, I have something to offer to you".

I snorted with laughter "Do I look that desperate just because I'm drinking a lot? What kind of something can you offer me that I would accept it?".

The man glared at the restaurant staffs, gesturing for an alone time among us three. They shuffled to the back of the kitchen looking alarmed. "Are you interested in being a decoy?".

"Woah there, man. I don't know how you would ask a stranger to be a decoy when you barely know that person. If I don't look desperate then I must look damn charming to be offered that kind of job".

Slowly, his body posture became more open "Then how bout we introduce ourselves to each other? I'm Shaheen; falcon in Persian. This is Claire or officially Clairvoyant. And yes, these are our official names".

"A falcon and a clairvoyant, both of you must be in the supernatural field" I spun an empty bottle of beer in the middle of the table as though we are in a game. "I guess I can't properly introduce myself; I don't have a name" my lips pouted.

Out of the sudden, Claire gripped the hand that I used to spin the bottle. "Listen, just like Roshanferr, we live in community here". Claire whispered in her voice that turned husky back "So you have to contribute something or we will have to dispose you back to where you came from".

"Roshanferr?" Intimidated, I pulled the gun I had brought along the journey mindlessly. It was foolish of doing so when a man called falcon was just a few feet away from me.
He disarmed me in just a swipe and the gun was then kept warmly in his jacket. "Huh, you don't know? There are two sides of Devthrils. Roshanferr, the bright hell, where you came from. And Ahncel, the hidden heaven, the place we are in now," Shaheen replied.

They both sounded nuts. Never in my life have I heard of the places. Trusting them would just be another unwise decision.

"I don't know what you motherfuckers want from me- but I'm not gonna join you. Like I said, mind your own business".

On my way to exit the restaurant, the calm Claire shoot her last shot to bait me "Professor Eldridge, kicked you out of your college. Madam Zaha, abused your childhood friend to the point that he died from it. She also looked at you like a piece of worthless shit who was too dirty to befriend her son". A long pause thickened the environment "Aren't you interested to avenge them? Show them what karma means?"

Claire knew my nickname, my professor and my friend's mum; enough to send shivers down my spine. "What can you do to them?" My mind and my heart were a mess. One told me to stop, one told me to do it.

Shaheen coughed to mask his giggle "Just bait them with something without them realizing. The rest of the story is up to you. You can torture them whatsoever, we're not judgemental".

I already knew I'm going to hell.
It was to go big or go home.

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