NOVEL WEB Chapter 8: Outcast
When Van returned home, it was already morning. The house felt empty, the quiet wrapping around him like a thin sheet of calm. No one was around, so he didn't bother with the knock, simply phased silently through the front door. The faint creak of wood answered beneath his shoes as he stepped in.
He wandered through the hallway without a word, each room silent as if holding its breath, until he found the one that smelled the best, lavender mixed with the sun-warmed scent of cotton sheets.
Without another thought, he slumped across the bed, sinking into it like someone who hadn't slept for days. His breathing steadied, but the tension in his shoulders lingered, like he was only half there.
---
Meanwhile, Grandma and I had gone into the city to shop.
But the city… it wasn't like I remembered. Taller. Brighter. Louder. The streets pulsed with movement and unfamiliar rhythms, as if time had skipped me and left me standing on the edge of a new world.
While Grandma went off to buy furniture, she left me to find what I needed. Mostly shirts, most of mine had burned, reduced to ash and scraps from recent fights.
Instinctively, my gaze drifted across the road.
Hidden within an alley that curved like a secret was a shop, tucked so deep between taller buildings it looked like it didn't want to be found.
The shop felt like a memory. Its cracked wooden sign hung loosely above the door, swaying with the breeze, its lettering faded and barely legible.
I stood still, staring. Something about it pulled at me.
---
Inside, I caught glimpses of armor, shields, and blades. Gear that belonged to another era, not a modern city like Elaria. Just outside the entrance stood a guy, maybe my age or slightly older.
He was pointing at sets of armor, his gestures sharp and precise, asking the old man behind the counter about their colors and markings. I couldn't hear the old man's cracked voice from where I stood.
Still, I couldn't take my eyes off them. Something about the place whispered to me like a faint voice calling my name from behind the dusty windows.
Then the guy turned. Swiftly. Too swiftly like he had felt my gaze on him.
His short golden hair caught the sunlight, glowing faintly.
Our eyes met, and I froze. There was something in his gaze, something not entirely human and not evil, either.
---
I shouldn't think too deeply about it.
Then…
Thud!
A small body slammed into my side. A kid, her tiny hands gripping an ice cream cone that dripped across my trousers as she giggled and ran past, the faint scent of strawberries trailing in her wake.
I sighed, rubbing at the mess, and turned toward the glass wall in front of me.
An ice cream and cake shop sat there, its neon signs glowing softly in pastel pink and mint green. Behind the glass, rows of ice cream tubs lined a frosted counter, cakes spinning lazily on glass shelves like ornaments.
Cinder puffs.
I suddenly craved them. But I didn't even know where to start looking and worse, I had no money. No phone. Miss Clare hadn't paid me yet, and I didn't even know where the Castalis invention lab was, where she worked.
For a moment, I felt like an abandoned child.
---
Another kid ran up, a boy this time, likely the girl's friend. He skidded to a stop beside me, eyes flicking first to me, then to the ice cream shop.
We stood there for a second, both of us staring at the display, both of us broke. His look said, 'Yeah, I get it.'
He blinked once, softly, like a quiet nod, then turned and left without a word.
---
I thought about that strange alley shop again. Something deep inside me wanted to know what it was, to step inside, to understand why I was drawn to it.
But if I went there, the golden-haired guy might think I was following him. So I turned away, letting the crowd carry me down a different street.
---
I caught some strange figures in the corridors watching me.
I need to watch where I go next. I can't end up outside Elaria City. My movements are being tracked… like I'm some kind of criminal.
The city was alive in ways that pressed on me. People weaved through traffic like water splitting around stones. The pavements were crowded; every step was a shuffle, every breath a brush of someone else's shoulder. I kept stepping aside, mumbling apologies.
And then, suddenly, I was standing in front of a mall.
It loomed like a sleeping titan, its wide glass walls reflecting the sun. I stepped in.
The cool air swept over me as the automatic doors parted, carrying the faint scent of polished tiles and too many perfumes.
---
The inside stretched upward like a vertical world. Each floor was its own realm, electronics on one, clothes on another, utensils and even a hotel above.
I rode the escalator to the second floor, passing the steady hum of chatter and the faint music playing overhead. The floor was filled with clothes.
---
I drifted between the aisles, eyes trailing over mannequins dressed in loud prints and neon fabrics. The clothes seemed to scream for attention, oversized jackets, glittering chains, shirts with collars folded so high they looked like walls.
Turning to another aisle, I accidentally brushed against two women.
They glanced back, whispering to each other, their eyes lingering on me. It wasn't loud judgment, but I felt it like static on my skin.
I slipped away quietly and headed to the shirt section.
The fabrics were light, perfect for any weather, but the prices were another story.
Then, one of the attendants, a young woman with sharp heels and sharper eyes approached me. The click of her steps was soft but deliberate.
She stopped, her fake smile barely holding. "Are you from the city?" she asked.
I blinked.
Do I look that different from everyone else?