Rough Worlds

Chapter 1:

Pen Name: Jack Coil

Real name: Charlie Maves

Once upon a time, there was a man who lived on his own in the countryside, he was a very well-known writer. This man wrote fantasies and one of his series went viral in the teenager community a while back, he had made the main character based on himself and was very satisfied with the results. The man’s pen name was Jack Coil, but everyone in his town knew him as Charlie Maves. Charlie was always busy with his writing or going on hikes around the farms nearby. After pulling an all-nighter to finish the last book of his oh-so-popular series he decided to go out to see his favorite spot of this quiet, nearly deserted town. It only took him about fifteen minutes to jog up the hill in his backyard to find the pond he adored so much to be filled with several dead koi fish. He saw the fish floating on the surface of the water and fell to his knees sobbing for the death of his best friends and only family members left on this earth, The next thing he knew his long black hair was dipping into the crystal clear water that he had gazed upon so many times, the hair seemed to float in the water as it waved back and forth with the small ripples caused by the morning breeze. Charlie lifted his head to watch the sunrise over the trees in the distance, his hair followed his head coming out of the water leaving water dripping down his black leather coat. While the sun was rising it seemed to dry his tears and give him hope at the same time. Charlie got up from his knelt position and took off his shoes along with his socks and rolled up his long black sweat pants. He slowly submerged himself into the pond, once he got hip-deep into the water he started scooping his beloved fish out of the pond one by one and laid them on the edge of the pond. After he put the final large koi on the lush green grass he lifted himself out as well. As soon as he was completely out of the water he felt the freezing wind cross his legs and a shiver was sent through his body. He made a mad dash back to his house and arrived in his bedroom in record time, he stripped himself of all the clothing he had been wearing and put on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white shirt with a hawk soaring across his chest. Once he was dressed he put his jacket back on he tied his long brown hair back and grabbed a small shovel out of his shed. After double-checking his pockets for the photo of his family from when he was younger, he sprinted to the pond once again. When he came to reach the top of the hill he heard a loud shredding noise combined with a splashing. The first thing he saw was a coyote with the head of one of his koi in its jaws while the other half of its body seemed to be stuck in the ponds mud. Charlie was filled with rage and charged the coyote with his shovel, once the shovel smashed against its skull it went flying into the water but it went under and it never came back to the surface. Charlie looked down at his shovel to see deep red blood dripping onto the ground. He threw the shovel towards the blood-filled pond and slowly backed away as a light started glowing from the bottom of the small body of water. He knew he has to get away as far as possible and never come back to this once beautiful place turned evil by bloodshed. As he reached the bottom of the hill the light from above blinded him, knocking him to the ground as if a wall was crashing onto his frail body, he shut his eyes, hitting his head into a rock making him lose consciousness.