Title: Nightfall: The Jester’s Court - Chapter I
Description: In the first chapter of Benjamin Colcher’s new story, adventure with the curious Charles Benners, his spunky sister Georgina, and their timid neighborhood friend James Tyche. In the town of Waterlog Valley, a monthly ceremony has taken place. But it turns out that this normal festival hides a dark secret that could uncover the dystopian roots of the town.
Genre: Dystopian Fiction
It was a frigid day in Waterlog Valley. No flowers were blooming, no birds were singing, and no child smiled as they slowly and painstakingly shoveled at the snow with their small, undurable wooden spades. Freckles of marshmallow white snowflakes twirled and danced down to the ground, each fluttering with a sense of delicacy and purity. The town was huddled around in a giant crowd at the Main Street intersection, from small boys complaining and young girls squealing to men waiting patiently with their arms crossed while women chat away with neighbors. Charles Benners was standing near the front of the crowd at the central podium, which was preserved only for important events and the big silver bell which would ring at meal and bed times. He was dressed in an oversized, velvet jacket with an itchy red hat with a snow white pom pom on top. You could see the cold air puffing from his mouth as he breathed, as if he was smoking a cigar. His brown hair was frosted with the snowflakes fluttering down to the ground. Charles tried to peek through the crowd to see the podium, which now had eight ten year old children lined up, waiting for an important ceremony to begin.
You see, at the end of each month, each child that turned a decade’s worth of age during that month would be gathered for this ceremony. They would stand on top of the podium, and would be tested by professionals on their academic skills and strengths. Only seven children would pass the test, which meant that only one child would fail that month. Any child that fails would have to spend a night in a special building to train to eventually get up to the standards of every other child of their age. Charles was supposed to be in this ceremony two years and a month ago, but there were only six fellow members of his age group, making him instantly pass and therefore not need to come to this ceremony.
Charles wouldn’t have come that cold day with his parents if it wasn’t for the fact that his sister, Georgina Benners, was a participant that month. Charles wasn’t afraid of Georgina failing, as she had always been athletic and intelligent. However, he was scared for another child in that group, whose name was James Tyche. James Tyche wasn’t the brightest student and was very lanky and frail. He would often be teased by other children, even some that were Charles’ age. Despite this, James and the rest of the Tyches were still close family friends who were always there to celebrate the Benners’ accomplishments. Charles felt that the least he could do is show his support and root for him.
Soon, the mayor of Waterlog Valley, named Mayor Nicklesworth, climbed up onto the podium, albeit with some difficulties as he was a rather overweight fellow. Everybody fell into silence, with their attention now on him. Nicklesworth was comically wide with almost no hair on his head. He wore an undersized tuxedo with a crimson tie. After shuffling some papers for a while, he adjusted his brass monocle and cleared his voice.
“Good morning, my wonderful people!” He exclaimed loudly to everyone. “You are all gathered around here today for the monthly Waterlog Valley Festival, as you already know. Soon we will begin with the tests for these children here, but first I must explain that there will be a celebration later at the dining hall, where you all can dine on some delicious sweets such as jelly donuts and red velvet cake.”
“That is, if he doesn’t eat it all,” Charles muttered, and his father let out a tiny snort of amusement.
“Anyways, let us start this festival by introducing these children!” Nickelsworth said as he gestured towards the children on the podium. James was fidgeting with his green and white bowtie, and Georgina was biting on her curly ginger hair. “Our first kid here is Georgina Benners, an overall excellent student and great athlete.” Charles smiled at Georgina as she waved back. Her freckles burned bright red in contrast to the pure white surroundings. She wore a lilac sweater with matching earmuffs. She seemed a little nervous yet excited, as she twirled her finger in her hair. “Next up is Hazel Minerv, who comes from a wonderful family that I have come to know dearly.” Hazel smiled a large grin as Georgina looked at her and rolled her eyes. Hazel was a spoiled girl whose father was a trained engineer. She was average intellectually and physically, but she was always spared from consequence because of her rich family. Her blonde hair was blowing from the wind, while she twirled her azure scarf and blew a kiss at her mother. “Then we have Marcus Newbly, who is one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever had the fortune to meet.” Marcus was a broad and tall kid, with locks of black hair. Charles swore that he was made of metal, as sometimes he would just tackle him to the ground and knock all of the air out of his lungs just for fun. His family only arrived to Waterlog Valley a little bit ago, and Charles’ father said that it was because their family came from a war stricken country.
“Up next is Jessica White… Maxwell Young… Johnson Heckler… Azalea MIller…” The mayor continued as Charles started to doze off. “And lastly, James Tyche, a very interesting child that I feel welcome to know.” Hazel and Marcus began snickering like a pack of hyenas, and Georgina was visibly angry as she went burgundy red in the cheeks. After some waiting around, it was time for the tests to begin. As Nickelworth began to climb off the podium, three odd men began to emerge from the crowd. They all looked the same, with a ginger beard and light blue bowler hat. They wore a buttoned tuxedo of the same color with a green and white bowtie (similar to James’). Their hats had a red stripe dyed with pigs’ blood down by the brim and they had comedically elfish shoes.
“They look like clowns,” Charles’ father whispered to him. They shared a small laugh. The three clowns all went up the podium, and out of a giant wooden chest they grabbed some tools, such as ink pens, paper, and worst of all, needles. Charles was deeply and genuinely afraid of needles. Whenever he would visit a doctor or nurse, he would also flinch at just the sight of one. The clowns took turns dipping the needles in some weird light blue liquid, and soon they distributed the pens and paper to all eight of the children so that they would be able to take a mandatory written test. After some waiting, the students finished, and the three clowns stamped their palms with numbers eight to one, with lower numbers meaning they scored better than the kids with high ones. Georgina happily waved at Charles with a large two, and Charles gave a thumbs up back. Hazel selfishly held up a five, which was pretty average anyways. Marcus raised his hand with an unbelievable seven. Jessica had a one, which was the best score possible.
Then Charles looked at James on the far right. Sheepishly, he held out a six, and then instantly brought it back to his chest. Charles and his father exchanged nervous looks, but Mrs. Benners was busy blowing kisses to Georgina.
The physical test was a simple endurance test, where they would test their strength by sticking the needle into their arms to see how they would react. Charles covered his eyes with his cold hands as this happened, and all he could do was feel the frigid air around him. He heard some of the children squealing in pain, but none were in as much anguish as James Tyche. Charles' heart sank when he heard his innocent scream of pain and agony. There was no possible way he would get any less than an eight.
Soon enough, Nickelsworth rose back onto the podium to announce the results. Everyone in the crowd was tired by this point, but they remained silent. Charles felt like sweating, but it was too cold out for that. Charles’ father stood there with his hands in his pockets, and his mother was anxiously biting her nails.
“And the results are in!” He said as his words echoed through the town. “In first place we have Georgina, with four points!” Charles let out a sigh of relief. Georgina was jumping up and down as she walked off the podium and back to her family.
“How was it?” Charles asked. Georgina was busy putting a hair band on.
“It was okay,” she said while shrugging her shoulders. Eventually, everybody passed, all except for one kid.
His name was James Tyche.
***
Charles didn’t remember much of what happened next. He didn’t have time to process anything as he was immediately dragged into the dining hall by Georgina. Next thing he knew, she was stuffing her mouth full of pastries and chocolates. Charles poked at a waffle with his head drooped.
“You worried about James?” Charles asked her. He knew that he was.
“Nah,” she made out through all of the food in her mouth. Charles paused for a bit.
“Can you stop eating?” He said, now with some aggression. Georgina dropped her fork down, and it clattered against her plate.
“Why are you angry?” She asked. Charles rolled his eyes.
“Are you even friends with him?”
“With who?”
“With James.” Charles rolled his eyes again with even more disbelief than last time.
“Yes, I am. But I know he’s okay. They just took him into the old shoe warehouse for overnight training.” Charles put his fork down.
“Training? What do you mean?” He asked with confusion. Georgina was back at eating again, indulging in more jelly donuts than you can count.
“I dunno. Probably to get him up to standard.” Charles thought about this for a moment. It didn’t make sense to him, and he thought that training was a little bit unnecessary.
“Why are they training him in that warehouse? It was shut down because of paranormal activity. Do you really think it's safe?”
“I dunno.”
“And how will they train him in just one day? That’s a little impressive.”
“I dunno. Can you stop asking so many questions?” Charles stayed quiet for a second.
“Later tonight, I’m going to go check on James. Do you want to come?” Georgina looked at him in an appalled manner.
“You need to stop worrying,” she said. Any normal person would have thought Charles was insane based on the way she looked at him.
“So are you coming?” Charles asked, with a smirk.
“Heck yes I’m coming!” Georgina exclaimed with an even more mischievous grin than Charles, as she stood up and wiped the chocolate off of her face.
***
Later that night, when their parents went to bed, Charles and Georgina snook out of their apartment through the kitchen window. The two descended down into a group of blueberry bushes using a rope they found in the apartment’s storage room. They made sure to stay clear of animals such as dogs, as they would start barking, immediately giving away their location. If you were caught sneaking out past your curfew, you would be put on probation, and not allowed to leave your home for the entire week. Charles only experienced this once, when he snuck out in order to deliver bitter medicinal herbs to Ms. Bonita, a nice yet frail lady that happened to be the town’s florist. Unfortunately, she fell ill, and passed away shortly after.
As Charles and Georgina approached the abandoned warehouse, Charles gazed upon the giant cobblestone wall surrounding Waterlog Valley. Anybody had permission to enter, but nobody had the privilege to exit. However, this wasn’t usually a big issue, as according to Mayor Nickelworth, the outside world was plagued with illness and stricken with war, allowing refugees to come into this quaint town to reside. This was what happened with the Newbly family, according to Charles’ father.
Soon, Georgina opened the warehouse door, with her eyes closed in case there was an alarm system. Fortunately, the door creaked open with very little sound, allowing the two to enter. Charles was a little worried as he didn’t really have a plan. For all he knew, James’ trainers could be there, and they could catch the two in the act. Unfortunately, after they entered the warehouse, they found themselves face to face with another door, but this time it was locked.
“Drats,” Charles muttered under his breath. “We should have expected there to be some sort of security.”
“Here,” Georgina said while pulling out a pen. “Back when me and Hazel were friends, she taught me about how to pick a lock. We stole so much money from her mother.” She took the pen and put it in the keyhole, allowing her to slide the lock off.
“Impressive,” Charles said with his arms crossed. “I didn’t realize you and Hazel used to be that close.” Georgina blushed red with embarrassment.
A little while ago, before Hazel became the entitled brat she was then, Georgina and Hazel were best friends. They would sneak out past curfew all the time, which turned Georgina into a bit of a daredevil. One day, however, they got into an argument, and that was the beginning of their falling out.
When Charles and Georgina opened the door, their faces became as pale as a ghost. They saw a long, narrow hallway, but something was off. Puddles of oozing green liquid fell from barrels and boxes, spilling all over the floor. Georgina accidentally dropped her pen in a puddle, and it dissolved instantly. And at the end of the corridor was a row of weird, cylindrical capsules, filled with this green glue. But in the center one was the biggest surprise so far - James was floating in the liquid, with his arms crossed like a mummy in a coffin.
“Aah!” Georgina shrieked in fear, and she jumped back with hands covering her eyes.
“This is worse than what I expected,” Charles said with a shaky voice as they began to walk down the hallway. They were careful to not step on the acidic goop, as they didn’t want their bodies to evaporate. Loose wires poked from the walls, with sparks at their ends. The entire hallway looked too futuristic to be real, and the siblings were equally scared. Eventually they reached the capsule where James was imprisoned. They looked around for a bit, and Georgina picked up a giant metal plate that fell from the ceiling. She threw it like a frisbee at the capsule, shattering the glass. But before Charles could react, a giant landslide of acid came their way, and they quickly stepped back. Now they were face to face with a puddle, with Jame’s body in the center, which somehow hadn’t dissolved. Before they could say anything, they felt the ground rumble, and before you knew it, the acid puddle started to rise from the ground, and it turned into a giant slime amalgamate, with James at its core!
“Umm… Charles?” Georgina said as her voice trembled. “What is that?”
“I don’t know!” Charles exclaimed with an angry yet disturbed voice. “What does it want?”
“THE KING… WILL RULE AGAIN!” The Amalgamate roared in a cryptic voice.
“The King?” Charles gasped. “Okay, this is enough. Georgina, what do you suppose we should do?” The Amalgamate roared and creeped forward, and the two took another step back. “On second thought, I don’t think we can do anything.” The Amalgamate threw a glob of acid at Georgina, and Charles tackled her out of the way. Suddenly, Charles heard a familiar voice emerge from the monster.
“Charles…” It said painfully. “It’s… James…” But before Charles or Georgina could say something, the Amalgamate let out a long belch.
“SHUT IT, VESSEL!” Its voice echoed through the hallway. It flailed a few acidic tendrils at Charles, and it caught a bit of his shirt, leaving a hole surrounded by charcoal. Soon, Georgina and Charles were trapped in a corner, surrounded by the acid trail left from the Amalgamate. Georgina and Charles closed their eyes and embraced each other, thinking that this would be the end of their life. But before they felt anything, they heard a booming crackle of thunder. When Charles opened his eyes, he saw a floating pair of green dice, glowing with an emerald aura. The two fused together to create a single die, with the number four on all of its sides. Soon, a giant bolt of amber lightning struck the Amalgamate, and it let out a deep roar of pain before vaporizing into the air, leaving behind no trace of its existence. James Tyche suddenly dropped to the floor, panting quickly with one palm on his forehead and another on his chest. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was barely surviving.
***
“James!” Georgina shouted while running over to James. She kneeled down to him and checked his pulse. “James, please tell me you're okay.”
“Trap…” He muttered. “Leave…” Georgina and Charles looked at each other. They weren’t paying attention to anything he was saying. They were more concerned of his deteriorating health, as he had obviously been captivated in inhumane conditions.
“James, what happened to you?” Charles asked. James gasped in the air.
“Blue… Liquid… Needle…”
“Yes, we were injected with a blue liquid, so?” Georgina asked, noticeably short fused.
“Don’t… Continue…”
“Just answer the question!” She yelled, slamming her fist on the ground. Suddenly, a wisp of red came out of her knuckles, which twirled around in the air, before going straight to James’ heart, which caused him to illuminate an orange glow. “Woah…”
Suddenly, James gained full consciousness, before returning to his feet, perfectly fine.
“How did I do that?” Georgina asked in awe. Charles just stood there, mesmerized at the entire situation.
“Simple,” James said, as if nothing ever happened. “That liquid that we were injected with? That's called Synergy. It basically flows from the heart and brain, allowing the person infected to use spells.”
“So like magic?”
“A little bit.”
“Cool.” Georgina showed a bit of a smirk. There was a short moment of silence between the three, only interrupted by the low pitched hum of the air ventilation above them.
“But I never got that injection,” Charles stuttered. “Since my age group never had a Festival. Does that mean I can’t use this Synergy thing?”
“I dunno,” shrugged James. “I was just listening to what the Mayor was saying when his servants put me into that capsule.” Georgina curled her knuckles into a fist, and they glowed red with anger.
“That darn Nickelworth!” She shouted. “I should have known that he was up to something. Then I could have saved you earlier and the rest of the… The…”
“The others,” Charles interrupted with a calm and soothing voice. “The others are safe. They all came back eventually. I’m sure the same would have happened to James.”
“Really? Let’s think back. Molly Greenwood. When she came back, she started muttering riddles under her breath. Jackson Kier. Started hallucinating and hearing voices, now in an asylum. Perry Berald. Broke into the Southern Apartment Compartment, said it was because of an ancient power. Jason Greddle-”
“Alright, I get it,” Charles said, annoyed. “It still doesn’t explain Nickelworth’s intentions.”
“Oh, that’s simple,” James says. “He was trying to turn me into a government super weapon.” He said this as if it was a normal and everyday activity.
“What,” Charles started with bulging eyes, “Is happening.” Suddenly, an iron door busted open, flying off the hinges. At the doorway came a large cloud of dust, with glass shards being scattered about. From the dust emerged three shadow figures, with a familiar silhouette.
“These clowns…” Charles snarled as the dust started to commence. It revealed what looked like three of the same men from the festival, the ones that presented the tests and injected the Synergy into Georgina and James. Except only one was wearing blue this time, despite it being a darker blue, and the one on his left wore a tomato red, and the right with a lemon drop yellow color.
“It’s the Laevi boy,” the red one said, with eyes like those of a serpent. “And the Pyr girl as well.” Charles was confused. Laevi? Pyr? He was comprehending so much at once. So much that it seemed like just a fantasy.
“Y-You leave my friends alone!” James exclaimed, with a weak shudder in his voice.
“What are you going to do, kill us?” The yellow one chuckled.
“I-If you don’t conform to our rules, then maybe I will!” The blue one snorted and reached into his tuxedo’s pocket and pulled out a long, brass stick. A musket, with a sharp bayonet on its end. Soon the other clowns followed, and in front of them stood three muskets pointed at them.
“Conform?” He asked rhetorically. “Listen here, Laevi,” he pointed the musket to James’ skull. James was pale white with sweat rolling down his palms, but he managed to gulp down a sob. But before he could say anything, Georgina decided to chime in.
“What the heck is a Laevi,” she said, with a rather rude and disrespectful tone. Not that these musketeers deserved any respect at all. Charles admired Georgina’s natural ability to be able to say something so crude and unwelcome without thinking anything of it.
“His Synergy type,” the yellow musketeer said slyly. The red one shot him a glance.
“Why are we telling the enemy our secrets?” It asked.
“Not like it matters. They’re all going to be killed anyway.” Charles’ breathing started to go off beat.
“A Synergy type,” the yellow man continued, “Defines what type of spells the user can cast. It also shows how powerful they are. This boy,” he continued as he jabbed Jame’s thigh, “Is a Laevi. A dangerous type. It is also the most easily manipulated, as it is completely based on the user being lucky.” He said this last word through his golden teeth.
“So you purposefully rigged his ceremony results,” Georgina says. The red musketeer grabs her by the arm.
“For a Pyr, you aren’t that dumb,” says the yellow one. For some reason, the red one flashed a piercing gaze towards him. The red dressed man put the bayonet up to Georgina’s throat as if he was about to slit it. “Most of you are hot headed. Fiery, if you know what I mean,” continued the yellow musketeer.
“Let go of me!” She squealed, flailing around while trying to free herself of the man’s grasp. In all of the commotion, she accidentally hit the blade with her chin, causing a river of blood to fall down her neck.
“Run,” James whispered to Charles. “Go the way that these three came from.” Without hesitation, Charles grabbed Georgina by the hand and dashed past the trio of men, and Charles saw a rain of hail emerge from one of James’ green dice. Charles dragged Georgina past which seemed like thousands of miles of ventilation systems and plumbing. A giant red pipe lead the two up a metal ramp, as the floor clicked and clacked about. Charles looked down to find James run out of the chamber they came from, with bruises all over his arms and a scar running down his cheek, presumably from the bayonet. Suddenly, he clutches his stomach and falls down to the ground.
“James!” Georgina shouts, and she jumps off of the ramp to where he laid. Before she could even check his pulse, she sees an explosion behind her, and an inferno of red and orange charged into the room.
“Georgina! Come on!” Charles shouted. Georgina turned around, and in fear she put out her palms, as if gesturing for the inferno to stop. Suddenly, a large array of red hexagons appeared, and as if it were a wall, blocked the inferno from coming any further. James groaned, and he rose up as if he was a zombie. Georgina took his hand, and together they sprinted to catch up with Charles.
“The barrier…” James groans. James looks down, and he sees that the hexagonal wall diminished, leaving nothing of its previous form. The inferno came hurling at the three children, and they immediately rushed to find an exit. Soon, they came across an iron door, and without thinking, Charles ran into it with his elbow, busting the door open. However, instead of freedom, the three were met with a huge surprise.
***
“Uh, Nickelworth,” Charles says sheepishly, scratching his head. “What are you up to?”
“I think I know perfectly fine what I am up to,” he announced. The buttons on his suit seemed like they would burst any second. “Do you have any explanation as to what you three are doing?”
“We were just-”
“Escaping,” Georgina interrupted, and Charles pinched her behind the back. “Err, I mean, we were escaping from our apartments.” Nickelworth rose an eyebrow.
“And why would you do that?”
“Because they’re lying,” snickered the yellow musketeer.
“No really, Harold?” Nickelworth sarcastically said to the man named Harold. “That’s shocking. I would never know. Speaking of shocking,” Harold raised his hand, and sparks of electricity appeared. “Why don’t I show you three what real carnage looks like.” Harold walked forward, along with the blue man, who had bubbles foaming from his palms. Suddenly, Charles ducked as a barrage of bubbles and electricity flew at him. But before he could be killed, the two musketeers’ spells collided with each other, causing them both to evaporate.
“What were you thinking, Hickory?” Harold screamed. His face turned red.
“Why don’t we have Hector settle this,” Nickelworth said with his hand on his face. The red one, presumably named Hector, raised his finger, and the three kids felt a sort of heat.
Fire.
A giant inferno appeared, rushing at the three kids. It was even larger than the one that the three ran from, and Georgina didn’t seem confident to hold it back. So instead, Charles grabbed the backs of Georgina and James, and he pushed them right onto Hector, toppling him over. The inferno disappeared, and Charles helped the two up before running.
As they were running down a narrow hallway, the kids heard the shouts of the mayor and the musketeers, beckoning for them to come back. Charles didn’t pay any attention. He just kept running. Electricity, water and fire flooded the hallway, and the three sprinted the absolute fastest they could. They had no time to spare, and they didn’t pay attention to anything around them.
Somehow, Charles happened to forget about everything that had happened that day. Shivering in the cold weather during the ceremony, Georgina stuffing her face full of blueberry muffins, sneaking out and breaking into the warehouse, and fighting that queer acid amalgamation. Heck, even the idea of Synergy seemed like just a stormy thought. As his ideas skated across his mind, Charles attempted to keep up to Georgina. She ducked, jumped, and weaved her way through the plumbing in the hallway. Charles looked around, and he saw that James had tripped on a pipe. He stretched his hand out towards Charles, and Charles hesitated as he saw the hurling wave of Synergy spells coming towards James.
“Charles,” James whispered, as ash covered his face. “Please.” Suddenly, Charles heard a deep roar, and a hand made of fire dragged James into the barrage of dangerous spells behind.
“James,” Charles gasped. Georgina was still busy running, and she had no idea what had happened. With some doubt, Charles bowed his head and turned around, and he began to run again, this time with an even wider stride than before. Soon, Charles caught up to Georgina, and he felt a shock on his shoulder from the electricity in the Synergy inferno chasing them.
“Where’s James,” Georgina panted as if she was a dog. “I thought he was back there with you.” Charles stayed silent, as if they were at a somber occasion such as a funeral.
“He’s…” Charles started, but then he stopped. He wasn’t okay. It wouldn’t make sense for him to lie. For all Charles knew, James was dead. Nickelworth and the musketeers caught up to him. He heard the cackling laughter of Harold, Hickory, and Hector as Nickelworth clapped sociopathically. It was like Charles could see the silhouette of James’ face in the inferno. So instead of answering, Charles just flashed her a look of sorrow.
“No,” Georgina said with a tear in her eyes. “He’s not…” A wave of water splashed at Georgina, and she fell to the ground. Charles helped her up, and he dragged her by the hand to the exit of the warehouse.
***
Outside, Charles and Georgina didn’t stop running. They couldn’t return home, and they couldn’t hide. The only way they could escape was by leaving. By leaving Waterlog Valley for good. Charles heard crickets chirp, and the sound of their melodies felt haunting in the presence of the moonlight.
The dark sky felt like a painting, and Charles felt like a display in a museum. Part of him wished that he was one as well. He hoped that whatever just happened was a dream. He hoped that he would wake up to the smell of his mother’s razzberry pie and to the sound of his father complaining about the paper. He hoped that he would wake up to the sight of his friends playing outside, and yelling for him to come down and join them.
But he knew that this wasn’t a dream. And he didn’t have the patience to wait and see if this was true. All he knew was that once he reached the cobblestone wall keeping them in the town, he was going to get over it. No matter what it takes.
Even if it meant betraying his sister.