The Temple of Lore, Works of the Schola Options

[Black Hand]

This thread is for the stories of the members of Order of the Schola, for any questions you may have please click on the following link.

http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3495

ANYTHING that is not a story or poem or whatever should be posted on the link that was just provided. Thank you, not trying to be mean, just trying to keep our sacred temple clean. Now then, an explanation.

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The Temple of Lore is a sacred sanctum of tomes, dreams, thoughts, abstracts, histories, stories, poems, and the written word.

It exists in the twilight, between reality and fantasy, it embraces all forms and images that attempt to define it. It is perception, and the perciever.

There exists an order of men, commonly known to the masses as the Writers Guild, more accurately called the Order of the Schola who have mastered this twilight abstract in the form of storytelling, they alone have the power to transcend to the Temple of Lore, and contibute and take from its threads of knowledge.

They exist amongst us as Journalists, Bards, Old Men sitting on a porch with a glass of lemonade recanting old experiences. If you ask nicely, and your lucky to find the chosen few, a Schola can breathe life into any illusion, any thought.

[The Metal Mallet]

Excellent introduction for this thread Black Hand. Allow me to make a submission. Hopefully, content-wise, it is suitable, it was accepted at school, so I personally think it's all right to post it. I certainly don't condone what happens in this though. But see for yourself... May I present:



A Vicious Haze - A Short Story by Scribe The Metal Mallet

A small child gave me the oddest look today. I was simply walking down the street as I usually do, and as I passed the child I saw their expression. It shocked me. Within that child’s eyes I saw a frightened curiosity. Out gazes held each other until they were jarred loose by the child’s mother pulling him closer to her. As they walked on, I continued to look back at them briefly, still pondering the reason for the stare. I decided that I shouldn’t care. It was just a stupid kid anyway. I had more important things to do.

After grabbing a meal I arrived at the usual place I met Henry. To kill time I decided to examine the new graffiti sprayed across the alley walls. Figure, more expletives. The place reeked of garbage, as customary, and the local wino was already getting sick in the corner when it was only 4:30 in the afternoon. I can’t stand this place yet Henry seems quite fond of it. He claims the alley has “character” that appeals to him.

After a few minutes of waiting, I received a tap on my shoulder that caused me to jump.

“Holy crap, Ridley, you need to pay attention to your surroundings better. What if I was a mugger eh? You would be screwed now,” Henry chuckles as he knocks on my head like a door, expressing his obvious belief on my mental awareness. Damn that smirk of his.

I don’t think of Henry as a friend, more of a necessary acquaintance, so I was not very appreciative of the way he was treating me. “Well if all muggers are as weak as you, I don’t think I need to worry about my awareness,” I retorted back while dry washing my hands due to anticipation, “I have my money, do you have it?”

“Of course I do. Why else would we be meeting then?” replied Henry as he pulled out the much desired item of mine.

“Right, forget about what I just said,” I chagrined as we made the exchange. It was during this exchange that I realized how plain looking Henry was. He didn’t stand out at all. Buzzed, dirt brown hair, brown eyes, medium build, and the only distinguishable fact about him was that damned constant smirk across his face. I would assume that his appearance helps for his line of business, to be able to avoid suspicion by the authorities would be beneficial.

After parting ways with Henry, I hurried back to my apartment, located at a suitable distance from the hell hole I was walking in at the moment. As the homeless men started to reluctantly disappear and the concrete walkways began revealing green grass I began to feel more secure with my surroundings. My apartment slowly appeared around the corner and a swell of pride aroused within me. This apartment building was among one of the more expensive and luxurious in town. Unfortunately, others did not see the same pride as I did. They didn’t care at all.

I entered my apartment, took off my coat, and stepped over the broken table I had forgotten to discard. In fact, the whole apartment was in bad shape. Sofa mattresses were discarded everywhere but on the sofa, some chairs and tables were upturned in the corner, and the kitchen contained more than a few broken dishes. The condition of my home would’ve all been avoided if Henry mentioned that he was going to be on vacation for a week. I had a bit of a fit from being without my little item for too long. Thus, my home turned into a dump. I decided the mess could wait until tomorrow to clean up. I desperately needed my fix.

I eagerly began to set up my burning apparatus and delicately placed my syringe beside me. As I gave the burner time to heat up, I started to prepare my purchase. At the perfect temperature I began to cook the fine, white powder. The familiar scent from the fumes that entered my nostrils brought a smile of anticipation across my lips. The long wait was going to make this experience one of the best yet. Just the smell had my head buzzing.

A bubbling noise brought back my attention. My purchase was ready for use. I carefully poured the substance into the syringe and readied the needle, tapping it to make sure all the air was out. I wouldn’t want anything stupid to happen. I rolled up my sleeve, revealing several dark puncture scars, and then proceeded to tie off my arm above the elbow to protrude my veins. I picked my spot, slid the needle in, and injected my purchase into my bloodstream.

It was rapture. Euphoria. Bliss. It was what I needed. My pains were lost before me in the calming haze spreading within my body. Gone were the fatigue, anxiety, fear, and sadness that seemed to constantly bombard my life and ruined my happiness. Now I was happy. All because of my heroin.

***

A knocking at my door woke me up. I wasn’t expecting anyone. At least I don’t remember if I was expecting someone. Dragging myself over to the door, I opened it a crack to peer at the person on the other side.

“My god, Ridley, you look awful!” A small, feminine voice rose out behind the door. It took me a few moments to realize who it was.

“Rina! This is a … a surprize!” I replied, making no attempt to mask my shock. Rina was a good friend of mine from high school. Everyone would bug us, claiming that we were a couple, but that was never the case, we could talk to each other legitimately, that was our friendship. It was like that until school finished and we went our separate directions. We attempted to stay in touch in college, but our priorities pulled us apart. I didn’t even know she was in town.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just back in town for a little while and I just wanted to say hi to some of my old friends. I’ve already talked to Jacob and Hilary. She mentioned where you live, I always expected you to end up in this part of town,” she said while looking up at me with those big brown eyes. They had a look to them I had never seen before, a very deep concerned look I would call it, “Can I come in?”

“Um… actually, give me a second, I’ll just get into some different clothes and we’ll take a walk. This place is a mess right now, I don’t want to embarrass myself,” I replied quickly as I closed the door. How true that last part was. I didn’t want her to find out about my bad habit. I was surprised the smell of the place didn’t even raise any suspicions. I didn’t want to ruin what we had had together. I didn’t want to reveal to her how much I needed it. How it had its hold on me. It wasn’t going to let go.

***

The walk went perfectly. At least after the initial awkwardness regarding the way I looked. I had not recently looked at myself in a mirror, so I had no idea on how I looked. I decided to pass it off as a recovery to being ill the last few days. It wasn’t technically a lie. Withdrawal is much like a sickness.

Excluding that, the day felt like old times. We caught up on a lot of things. Shared a good laugh here and there. Reminisced about the high school days. We did a lot of that. I think for the both of us, our best memories remained in those days. They sure were for me. Since high school I may have had success financially due to my business career, and I am proud of that, but it is the fact that no one else seems to care that has dragged me down into my present state. I need that state of euphoria in my life. With Rina back in town, I think that I now have a more natural way in getting it.

Too bad the grip that the heroin has on me is too strong. Even now, seeing Rina regularly again, I need my fix. It’s like I need one or the other to make it through the day now. And if I don’t have one or the other, I start to lose it. I’m always forced to make new excuses to Rina about my looks, and I don’t think she’s buying them anymore. That overly concerned expression is popping up more than I’d like it to. The worry and stress of her finding me out has caused me to resort to the drugs to escape. Then the worry and stress increases. I’ve created a vicious cycle.

***

After another dinner spent with Rina, I decided to celebrate the way I usually celebrate a good day. A quick bedtime session. Rina informed me that we would be eating brunch at 12 pm like we usually do. I thought that was odd since what we usually did was eat at 11 am, I quickly ignored it. I had more necessary things to do.

I arrived at my apartment and began the usual procedure of setting up, cooking, and loading up the syringe. I just started sliding the needle in when suddenly a knock came from my door and Rina walked in. Looks like I was careless and forgot to lock the door.

“Sorry for barging in, Ridley, but I made a stupid mistake and told you brunch was at 12 and…,” she trailed off as she saw what I was doing, “Oh no… Ridley what has happened to you?”

“Listen, I can explain,” I pled to her; already I was overcome with dread. And shame.

“No, there are no reasonable explanations for this. I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses. You’ve been lying to me this whole time, keeping me out of your apartment, blaming your appearance on illness… when all the time it has been this!” she pointed down at me and my drugs, practically shaking in disgust. Those big brown eyes of hers were brimming with tears, “I would have never expected this from you. You had so much going for your future back in high school, hell, you’ve even achieved that success and yet you’ve become this wreak. I was proud of you, but I can’t be anymore. You’re a shell of what you used to be. Go get some help,” she ended sadly and walked out of the room. There was a hollow echo and then rapid footsteps quickly fading away.

I sat there in the middle of my floor until the pain from the needle still inserted into my arm snapped me back into some sort of reality. I pulled it out and dropped it. She said she was proud of me… but I lost it now. All I ever wanted was that. A wave of nausea then swept over me and I rushed to the washroom to empty my stomach.

As I was washing my face I finally took a look at myself. What I saw was a pair of sunken, bloodshot eyes. My face was pale and drawn as if there was no flesh beneath my skin. My hair had seen better days, the once lush and thick, blonde shag was now a greasy mess. I was surprised I could even tell it was me. Looking at the visage made me realize something. I now understood that look that child gave me. I looked like some kind of monster to him, yet there was still some humanity within me for him to want to know what happened to me. A deep, agonizing pain came upon me from this revelation.

I needed to end it, the only way I knew how. I looked at the amount in the syringe; it wasn’t enough for the pain I felt. I quickly made about double my normal dose, and prepared the syringe. I then inserted it into my arm, took a final breath, and injected.

It was rapture. Euphoria. Bliss. Then darkness.