Chapter Text
Just give up the damn ring already! Gavin thought to himself as he held the young girls at gunpoint. Gavin flared the flame in his palm trying to intimidate the girl with the ring, sending the flame rising as a way to startle her to drop the
ring.
Gavin was surprised by the young blonde's defiance, faced with imminent death even beside what may be her friend, the blonde didn't seem to be intimidated to give up this ring. The blonde was either selfish, or stupid, or both, but Gavin figured if this ring was worth her facing down death itself then it must be extremely valuable. Another thought popped into Gavin's head;
Was she really planning to risk her friend's life for this ring? Gavin thought this blondie would do well in Ox’s gang.
He needed that ring, it looked far more valuable than just some “plastic” trinket like the blondie had said. This blondie clearly took him for a fool but Gavin had seen his fair share of gems and jewels in his time in Ox’s gang and he knew, no, he could feel it was some sort of rare metal. He had to get that ring even if…no..it wouldn’t come to that he reassured himself.
Patience running thin, Gavin cocked his gun “I said, give me the ring!” he roared at the Blonde, her friend gave her a shocked look “Ellen…What are you doing…” The other girl said as Gavin held firm on his weapon pointing it at the girl who he now knew was named Ellen.
Gavin watched as this girl Ellen stayed firm, almost ready to fight as her eyes locked defiantly on him. Gavin, out of patience and time yelled “You have ten freaking seconds! Ten…” His fathers voice pierced into the forefront of his mind, an image flashed before Gavin, his room, with horses and even dragons swaying in the light machine that projected their images on his ceiling.
“Six…Five..” Gavin counted down, his heart beat racing, Ellen still steadfast, prepared for whatever happens as he heard his father marching up the stairs in his memory, Gavin looking to the light cutouts of the dragons floating on the ceiling of his room, he held out his hand to the dragons, the “monster” he was supposed to call father being much scarier than these creatures could ever be. His fathers consistent rhythmic stomps on the stairwell are Gavins only indication of time in his adrenaline filled state as he pointed his gun at the girls. Was he going to kill these girls…he needed the ring…he was on poor terms with Ox, the leader of his gang. Ox might kill him if he failed..it was him or them he thought. Gavins memory flashed back to the dragon shapes in his ceiling as he reached out his hand to them “Help me…please..fly me away” his younger self pleaded quietly in desperation while his hand started to lightly shake with the gun pointed at Ellen.
“Three…two…” Gavin's father burst into the room, smashing his light fixture, the dragons disappearing from his grasp, Gavin shrieked as he turned to his father, the shriek in his memory mirroring the piercing scream the other girl made.
“One-” He heard himself say in an almost mindless, stoic daze like a clock reaching and bellowing at midnight, mimicking the moment his father finished counting down as his father rushed toward him, his father slamming into him, his hand tightening around the trigger as Gavin gripped his gun, in a flash and a bang he felt something hard hit him.
Upon realizing he fired a shot, Gavin pleaded to himself as time slowed that it wouldn't hit its target as his gun was knocked out of his hand by a blast of air and what felt like the earth itself sending him high into the air. Was he flying? Was he dead and his soul had been ripped from his body?
With a loud thud he slammed into the fire escape stairwell that was above him, in a daze he heard one of the girls, he wasn't sure who, tell the other to run. Gavin was too dazed to get up, the rush of air knocking the wind out of him as his ribs felt bruised from slamming down on the hard metal stairs. He staggered, his whole body feeling almost ten times heavier from the utter shock of being sent flying from whatever spell that was.
Gavin was thankful to be alive..until in front of him Gavin heard a mechanical whirring noise, like a robotic arm slowly moving its metallic appendage, Gavin looked up as his eyes widened and in that moment, he knew his whole life would be forever changed by what stared him right in his face in full clarity. In a state of utter horror he saw a lens with a blinking red light. He felt faint and went pale…he was seen on camera, his face not even ten feet away, he had to get out of there as soon as he could as he heard sirens in the distance.
On instinct he forced himself up, struggling to breathe from his bruised chest and ribs as he ran down the alleyway, he removed the bandana and tried to cover his face with his shirt, not knowing if the camera logged his bandana, not knowing even what technology it contained.
As Gavin reached the street corner, people were bustling around as he tried to blend in with the crowd, moving at their pace, their steps, their motions, a chameleon in an urban jungle. He threw off his coat, trying to change any descriptors the girls may be very well giving to the police. He couldn't believe there was surveillance in that district. It was one of the most underfunded districts in the entire domed city, it's one of the reasons the gang he was with could practice there. “It may take a while to meet your quota but hey, you steal in one of the rich districts and your ass will be all over every television set in the safe zone!” he could hear Oxs voice echoing in his head.
Why was there a camera there, of all the districts to have something that high tech? Gavin thought as his blood ran cold as he remembered that the camera had a glistening blue crystal stuck in the side of the blinking red light. “Oh Pandora…” Gavin knew what that crystal was, he had heard about state of the art cameras being built in the wealthy districts that could track a person's magical signature. This deterred much thievery and crime in these other districts, the issue was since funding was limited in the poorer districts his gang never thought they had to worry about surveillance…until now. He had to warn Ox. His whole gang was in danger, he was in danger.
Gavin sped down the street as police cars drove by slowly scanning the streets and the crowds. He felt he was walking on a minefield, one more step and sirens could blare like an explosion that signaled the end of his life. His heart was pounding faster and faster like it might burst out of his chest, but it wasn't just nerves, he needed a blast of Orc.“Not now..please not now.” He said to himself in a desperate plea to his body.
Quickly, the steps of all of the pedestrians around him dulled, a pulsating surge of desire came through his body with every heartbeat as he pulled out a crystal from his shirt, broke it into a powder and snorted it, a wave of pleasure rushing over Gavin as all his fears turned into a blur, his mind going into a sort of autopilot that made his instincts rely on where to go, time seemed to slow as he could make out every subtle movement and facial expression. His magical energy seemed to surge, he felt like he could take on an army but he steered himself, his legs walking him to where he needed to go to Ox’s hideout.
As Gavin rounded a corner he approached an abandoned warehouse district, abandoned warehouses that had barely been touched in decades in the safe zone. As Gavin walked or ran or stumbled as the effects of the drug made movement feel like a smooth delayed blur he had to go into one of the squatter outposts that this warehouse had.
As he entered one of the dilapidated entranceways, wood molding and crumbling around the areas, he glanced at a few disheveled looking people clearly on an Orc trip who were shaking violently. “Don’t take me..don’t!” one of them said as their veins seemed to pulsate with a dark black hue. Gavin turned and stood still for a moment as the familiar smell of decomposition hit his nose like an immovable wall.
Mold, mildew and the smell of literal death made Gavin shudder and collapse as his veins throbbed visibly, the room turning, his vision blurring slightly as the rancid smell disappeared, Gavin lost consciousness as his upper body slowly moved to the floor like an object losing balance with a bit of resistance, then all went black.
Gavin, was back in his childhood room, looking at his smaller hands, playing with a red toy train, eerie silence filled the room as Gavin heard the door to his room behind him open with a slow crackling creak. That was the only noise he heard, he held his train above the tracks of his toy train set, his hold on the toy shaking slightly as he heard a slight wooosh of cold air hit his back, it made a sound like breathing, maybe it was breathing, maybe it wasn't.
Then it spoke behind him, a collection of three distinct monotone voices that had a metallic raspiness to it. “JOIN….Join….join….US…Us..us….DOWNSTAIRS….Downstairs…downstairs……GaaaViN.” The voices didn't echo, one distinct low gravelly voice spoke, then another voice repeated the same single word, all three of the voices speaking one word at a time separately before moving on to the next. The voice that spoke a second time sounded like a kind adult woman, a teacher maybe, followed by the third voice, which sounded like a young child. When it spoke his name however, all three voices said his name at the exact same time and when they did, Gavin awoke back in the squatter house.