- Song of The Page -
BACK IN BLACK: AC/DC- BONFIRE

A yawn escaped from my mouth as I sat up scratching my hair, feeling that they needed a good cut. Sun rays penetrated from the window. I stretched my hands above my head and heard the dull cracks of my stiff joints. The bed didn't feel soft at all and what was this disgusting stench. Maybe I slept in Bella's bed but even she didn't stink so much.

"Oh! I've got a lot to do," Murmuring, I stretched my hands for my glasses instead a sharp object poked my fingers. I yanked my hands away while moved my eyes to look at the source.

A dagger.

A dagger!

Now, B had done it! I clenched my jaw as my head formed a long speech for her. I had told her a million times not to leave any of her weapons in my room. No matter how much it could save my arse, I would like to stay away from these nasty things. Especially after father tried...

I sighed as bitter memories never left my side. I ran my hands through my hair and found out that my glasses were already on my nose. I must've slept after my final battle.

Final battle!

"Oh! Holy gutter!" A curse escaped from my lips and I remembered I had my final battle in Battlefield V. I had asked my teammates to be ready at 9 a.m.

I must've been slept like a log. I looked at my smart watch and tapped on the black screen.

5:14 p.m.

"What! I've slept for an entire day?" I nearly slapped my forehead and felt the slight aching in my right ear. I probed my ear realising that my earpiece was still connected.

Did I forget to remove it last night?

"Hey, Zero?" I called out for my AI assistant.

"Hello, Spider." The electronic voice replied from my smart watch.

"Why didn't the alarm go off? I had an appointment at nine in the morning." I said.

"There was an error regarding the time and space, I cannot find your locations or the time zone." Zero replied, and I frowned scratching my head still feeling slightly dizzy as if I had a jet lag.

"What do you mean?" I wondered aloud.

"I am currently locating your coordinates." Zero said.

Locating my coordinates? Was it malfunctioning? Ah, now I have to look for its glitch as well, so much work!

My hands reached my face. Now my reputation as a great player had went in the pig's arse now. However, I didn't like this version of the Battlefield franchise. I loved the Battlefield IV and Battlefield I but EA had to ruined it for me. I wondered if I needed a good talk with EA and maybe knock some sense into them. A list of complaints had already piled on me and I had to answer them already.

Moreover, this Artificial Intelligence assistant that I had made was glitching now, I guess I'd have to find some time from my schedule to fix it. Zero was the fourth model, the previous three were too much of a hassle, Zero's version was almost accidentally made.

I still remember the day, Biella had stepped in all the mess to check on me after I'd been cooped up in my room for almost a week. My entire room was filled with papers that had different equations and binary codes that I was working on. She simply walked in without watching where she was going tripped over my research papers coincidentally falling on me and my computer. At first I had thought all of my hard work went down the hole but then just as the first cry of the newborn baby, Zero spoke up. The moment was so overwhelming for me that I cried-

"Intruder alert!" Zero's warning fell on my ears

I heard a sound and I turned my head and a double check as I saw a large man standing across the large room. My eyes drifted down to his hand which carried a hammer and a big sharp object in another. He watched me from where he stood.

I blinked.

"Gah! Wh-wha-what are you doing in my room? Are you here to kill me?" I screamed, jumping up and crawling to the wall, which seemed to startle the man as well, as he flinched.

"What! No! I-I won't kill you. And I have already had my meal." He said, and suddenly his eyes went wide as if he realised what he said and he frowned.

Meal!

"Gah!" I screamed. What did he mean by he won't kill me because he was already full. Did that mean that he would kill me if next time his stomach growled?

"Oh! No-no! I didn't mean it like that. I would not eat- I mean- kill you," he said, huffing and took two long strides and crossed the gap while the sword still attached to his hand.

I gazed at his hands where he still held the giant of a sword and that hammer then moved my gaze at his face. Well, his words certainly didn't assure me. It seemed like he was a psycho killer or something. Where the hell was Biella? A psycho killer had invaded our home and...

"Wh-what are you doing in my room with a sword and... a hammer?" I asked, gripping the dagger in my hands and pointing the tip at him. My arms trembled as I tried to show the little strength against this psycopath.

"Err... It's actually my shop."

Excuse me? I blinked in confusion and slowly let my eyes wander off from the man to the dim surroundings where I had woken up. Indeed it wasn't my room. My room didn't have such dark stony walls, and neither was my room so hot as if I'd been sitting in a sauna. My eyes drifted off to the heart of the place which contained a forge and bellows and in the forge there was another sword, one side of it was orange, glowing by the heat.

The shop had many tools, swords, clubs, shields and other metal junks that stayed in messy way on every side of the room.

"Ze-Zero? Where am I?" I stammered, praying that Zero would tell me where I really was?

"Location unknown." He replied and the man flinched.

"What was that?" He looked around hurriedly and I clutched my smart watch, quickly changing its setting to hear Zero's voice in my earpiece.

"Check." I whispered.

"Check clear." Zero's voice answered in my ear. I almost breathed a sigh of relief but then I remembered.

Location unknown.

My breath caught up in my throat and my heart bolted away from my ribcage. This wasn't my room, there weren't any wires or research papers or my laptops, cords, pc, and my gadgets strewn around. Where was I?!

"Pulse Rate: 95, Blood Pressure: 110/70. Signs of hypotension. Spider, take deep breaths. Calm yourself." I heard Zero's warning and slowly I tried to follow his instructions, breathing deeply.

The man eyed me quietly and then he pointed at the dagger.

"You don't know how to use that." He said pointing at my weapon and I clenched it tighter to keep my fingers from shaking.

"I-I don't care... If you attack me I'll have some defense." I said trying my best to keep my strength from failing me.

"Is there a chance to win, Zero?" I whispered, knowing full well that there wasn't any.

"0.001%." He replied.

"Who are you talking to?" The man asked.

"N-No one!" I quickly answered, he watched me for a few more seconds.

"If I had to kill you I'd have already done that instead of conversing with you." He pointed out and I pondered over that thought.

"Considerable point." Zero commented.

"Besides, why would I let you keep that thing if I'd meant you any harm." He added and I lowered my weapon but not letting go of it.

"The dagger, can I see it?" He asked and I flinched.

"I won't harm you, I just need to see it." He said and he came close, I warily let him take my dagger. I eyed the man carefully, for such unexpected turn of events I had programmed the special shock wave in my smart watch. If someone attacked me or tried to break my watch the shock wave would automatically pass on 440V of current to my attacker. I kinda was slightly relieved that I had installed it beforehand.

The man watched the dagger quite closely his fingers carefully brushed against the steel, he simply eyed the dagger and then he smiled.

"It's quite beautifully made, not to mention quite nicely kept." He praised, and I blinked in surprise, he returned me the dagger.

"Who made it?" He asked, and I scratched the back of my head.

"I don't know. It's not mine, it's my friend's." I said, and he nodded.

"Find Biella." I whispered a command.

"Biella not found." Zero replied and my eyes widened.

"Keep looking." I hissed.

"What?" The man asked looking at me with a questioning gaze.

I bit my bottom lip and raking my brain for an excuse, "Ah... So, what do you do?"

"I'm a blacksmith!" He casted me cheeky grin and pointed at the object that had the shape of a sword.

"Making a sword, eh?" I sluggishly drew out my feet and stood up as I should leave this place as soon as possible.

I chuckled nervously, "Ah! Well, then, I should be leaving because you're... um... in the middle of your work." I slid past him trying to find the door, as soon as I located it I made a beeline for it. I almost flinched as the man shouted behind me, "Oh! No-no! You can't go outside! It's very dangerous for you."

A shiver ran down on my spine. I can't!?? It reminded me the psycho killer who took hostages and toyed with them.

"Did you find her?" I whimpered.

"Biella, not found." Zero repeated.

Biella! Where are you? Tears almost brimmed to the edges of my eyes making my lower lip tremble and my body shook under the gaze of that man who was crossing the distance.

Not wasting any more time, I opened the door and hoped to see find myself in dark forest where he would tell me to run and he would hunt me, I almost pictured my mauled dead body which made my blood freeze.

But what I saw made my jaw slack, as there wasn't a forest but there were people, so many of them. As much as I liked the fact I wasn't entirely alone in this place with a killer or maybe a mad person. But these people wore gowns, rusty coloured trousers and dirty shirts, some of them had doublets and a few of them had rusted junks on them while swords hung from their hips. The horses and the carriages stayed on another side and it felt like I had stumbled upon a total set of 15th century or maybe more ancient times. I blinked, then closed my eyes, rubbed them and then when I opened my eyes I still saw the same thing.

I closed the door abruptly and turned around finding those people more bizarre than my companion.

"Wha-What is this place?" I asked.

"Grezadi."

"What's that? I don't think I've heard of it." My fingers touched my jaw and I tried to scan my memory for my general knowledge, "Search Grezadi."

"Place not found," Zero answered.

"In which country?" I asked.

"The nation of Slithrot?" He answered like he wasn't sure himself.

"Place not found."

"Continent?"

"Err... Kingdom of Slithrot...?" He spoke.

"Feeding information."

I blinked, Zero was feeding information of this place?

"Hey, stop adding the information that he gives. Even he doesn't know where we are," I scolded Zero.

"I do know where are we. I've been living here for seven decades now. And, who are you talking to?"

I snapped my head at him. His brown curls were greasy hanging on his forehead and a pair of deep brown tired eyes looked through dark bags as if he hadn't slept for a decade. He had a beard and a mustache which almost covered his lips and his light brown skin stained with dirt. He looked like a long hot bath and a shave would do him good and he would look anything but definitely not an old hag. He looked like he was in his late twenties not late seventies. Had he said seven decades?

I snorted. "What are you seventy one?

"Seventy nine actually." I nodded. Scratch that. He wasn't crazy, he was more crazier than crazy. Alright! Up until now, I had thought B was crazy. Now I have encountered someone more crazier than her.

"Biella, not found," Zero said, and I felt my heart beating fast recalling all the last night events.

We... Another shiver ran down on my spine. We were running into the forest until... It felt like a bad nightmare however, every bit felt true.

Did we die?

If I was here. Where was B? Zero couldn't find her, he even didn't know where we were at the moment!

I looked at the man, he was only one who could give me answers.

"Did you see my companion?" I asked.

His brows creased, "Companion?" He seemed to be giving it a thought for a moment, "You were alone."

"Stop playing with me. Tell me where is my companion? Have you kidnapped me?" I asked pointing the dagger at him. I was sure B would not leave me without any reason. What if he had killed her already? It wouldn't be entirely shocking given the list of her enemies.

"Did he kill her?" I asked, Zero was always working even when I was aslseep.

"No," Zero replied. Then what happened to B?

"She walked away," Zero informed, and my knees went weak. She walked away?

"Allow to show the memory," Zero spoke and I was about to click on my smart watch to start the holographic memory presentation but then I realised that I wasn't alone here.

"Not now," I whispered.

The man put his hands up in surrender, his eyebrows twitched showing his irritation, "I am not playing. You are in Grezadi. And we are near the Slithrot market." He spoke with a slight colder tone.

"You can leave but remember you are a human. And in Slithrot, they use humans for breeding."

Humans? Breeding? Slithrot? Grezadi? There was suddenly network congestion in my thoughts and my motherboard didn't seem to work quite well like it used to when trouble came up. What the hell was he then?

"What do you mean by breeding?"

He narrowed his gaze giving me a look that said 'You're not serious, right?'

"Breeding means the mating and production of offspring by animal.

Similar words:

reproduction, reproducing, procreation, multiplying-"

"Shut up." I snapped at Zero and the man frowned.

"But I haven't said anything yet."

"Ah, I wasn't speaking to you," I said.

"Ah... Well, breeders use humans for breeding as we need blood? And the more they have humans, the more blood we get."

My mouth hung open. They use human blood? For what?

"What are you?" I asked my thought.

He knotted his brows. "What else? A vampire!"

*****

"So, you didn't see any short girl with black suit?" I asked again.

He shook his head.

"Not even my truck?" I asked.

He shrugged.

The loud silence dominated us and it gave an incentive for my memories to take up the space and I remembered we were falling into the abyss and after that everything was blank.

I ran my hands through my hair as it was weird enough to wake up in other man's room or shop and without B, I could not hold the situation without my laptops and my other stuff. At least I had Zero but even he couldn't locate B.

I released a frustrated sigh. If B was here what'd she do?

My jaw clenched a faint chuckle left my lips. I know she would make fun of the situation and enjoy it with a glass of whiskey. Sometimes I felt weak and helpless like now, she wasn't here and I didn't even know if she was alive. And without her my brain would completely shut down.

A chill ran over my skin making the hair at my neck stand up. It had been five years leaving that hell and without B, I would never have came out alive. What now?

"It's alright, Spider. We will find her," Zero spoke, and I almost felt the comfort in his voice. I had programmed him to be comforting at times like this.

I looked up at the man whose curious gaze stayed on me I could see hundreds of questions brewing in them. He sat on a stool near my small futon bed, his eyes often caught onto my earpiece and my smart watch.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Um... Would you like to have some bread? And...water?"

I gave him a long look, "Only if you don't put poison or anesthesia in it."

He frowned, "Why-why would I poison you?"

"Who knows? Maybe for killing or enjoyment?" I shrugged giving him my coolest look regardless of the sweat that covered my forehead and palms. On the inside I was howling in fear, and silently I wished God if I had done some good deeds-which was equal to a space over the needle's tip as I was partnered with underworld's most wanted assassin and had done some nasty things that God would cut my head and play football with it- to sent Biella here.

The man before me was at least a foot taller than me and his muscles were hidden in his dirty baggy clothes. He could snap my neck and nobody would know where he'd hide my body. After ten years of experience in shadows I had acquired a good knowledge how to hide a body without anyone noticing it and I didn't want to end up in any of those places.

He stood up taking a long sigh, "Well, I would rather kill a wild rabbit. That way I'll get to eat some delicious meat," and turned away, his voice fading until he vanished behind the back door of the shop.

I searched through my pockets and found my phone. We fell into that fucking abyss but here I was in one piece as my phone. It didn't even have a crack!

Without wasting a time I searched B's number and dialed it. Well, it didn't have any network. Great! I could use a satellite connection but there was nothing at all. I wondered if I could use the calling mechanism in my smart watch and call on Biella's smart watch by our connected devices. I was about to press the button which would connect me to Biella but I stopped short as the man returned.

He came with a bread and a cup and handed it me. I gazed up at him and asked, "Well, can I use your phone?"

He blinked twice with a look which said he had no knowledge of phones and he believed he was a vampire and they needed humans to breed more babies to provide them blood- which was utterly ridiculous! I loved anything related with a vampire but he didn't seem like one. Crazy caveman! Maybe when we fall, we had stumbled on a village that had no knowledge of outside world. There were many tribes that didn't had any knowledge on outside world like the people lived in Amazon.

The caveman became rigid and asked, "Well, may I... may I know, what is your name?"

I stared him up and answered, "Spider. Your?"

"That is a very weird name when I already have plenty of them in my shop." He laughed at his own joke and I blinked unable to find my laughter.

"Dry sense of humor," Zero replied, and I almost smiled at his observation.

"Err... I'm Garry Rowson," He said smiling and stretched out his dirty hand and I looked at his strong hand and calloused fingers wondering if I should take it or no. He waited and by the look and how he hadn't killed me yet I decided to take a chance of trusting this man. I took his hand and shook it a little. Then we heard a sound if horse's neighing and a few footsteps and he yanked away his hand from mine and looked at the door, his eyes wide.

"You might wanna hide in the storage," he said, "I'm afraid the customer won't like a human here."

My eyebrows drew together but before I could utter a word, he dragged me like a ragdoll through the back door and opened the storage door that was in the dark corner and almost shoved me in that small, dank place.

"Stay here and don't let anyone see you." He said with worry written on his face but there was another emotion which I noticed, fear, perhaps. He slammed the door shut and left me in a pile of woods, metals and other junks.

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[Edited by Sam8136 date: 10th March, 20; third draft: August 9th, 2020]
(3571 words)
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©Haruka Tachibana