"Hey handsome, like what you see?" she said, lifting her arms up a bit into a beautiful pose. Her short, almost see-through pink and black nightdress lifted up a bit, giving a glimpse of her black panties.
Ethan smiled. "Yes, my beautiful princess, I love what I'm seeing," he said, grabbing Nia's waist and pulling her closer to him, her body against his. He leaned closer, about to kiss her.
Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
Ethan snapped open his eyes, he was sleeping in his new king-sized bed. He looked down to see a bulge between his legs lifting the blankets up a bit. Five more loud knocks echoed.
"Ahhh, who is knocking at my door this early?" he groaned, getting out of his blankets. He was wearing only his boxer shorts. He quickly threw on a robe and went downstairs. He opened the door to Freddy, who was about to start banging on his door again.
"Dude, do you know what time it is?" Ethan asked.
"Sorry, young master. I was worried about you, so I came to check on you before you head to school," Freddy replied.
Sigh!
"Come on in, man," Ethan said.
A few moments later, they were sitting on the couch talking. After confirming that he was doing okay, Ethan started asking a lot of questions.
"So, do you know who my mother is?" he asked, praying that she was still alive looking for him.
"I'm sorry, young master, but your father never told me about her. But if you want, I will try my best to locate her for you," Freddy replied.
Ethan sighed, then continued asking, "What did my father do, anyways?"
Freddy's eyes lit up, excitement on his face. "Young Master Reed, your father was the richest man in the world, the Shadow Central Banker. Your father didn't just control wealth, he controlled the illusion of value itself. He created the Black Ledger, a private, unhackable digital currency called Nexus that major governments, intelligence agencies, and megacorps secretly use for off-the-books transactions.
Nexus is untraceable, inflation-proof, and accepted in every shadow market. Imagine if Bitcoin, the SWIFT banking system, and the Federal Reserve were one man's private tool. Nations borrow Nexus to stabilize their economies during crises, but the interest is paid in real-world assets like ports, mineral rights and political favors. If your father pulled liquidity from Nexus markets, panic would spread (but only the elites would know why). He could crush economies without lifting a finger. Your father—"
Yawn!!!
He was suddenly interrupted by a very loud yawn from Ethan.
"Dude, I'm still in high school. I don't care about all that. But what you're saying is that my father basically ran the world?" Ethan asked.
"Yes, young master. And you need to start learning about the business soon because all of this belongs to you now. With me guiding you, you will become just like your father or even better than him. So—"
Ethan interrupted again. "Dude, how about you run the company for me while I finish school, and then we'll talk about all this then?"
Freddy's heart skipped a beat, and a smile appeared on his face.
He cleared his throat. "Since it's your wish, young master, I will do my best to take care of the company," he said, trying his best to hold back his excitement.
He then pulled out a bunch of documents that Ethan had to sign. After Ethan signed the documents, he was ready to go and take a shower when Freddy continued,
"Young master, you still need to learn about the business bit by bit. Maybe I can get a tutor—"
Ethan quickly grabbed him, pushing him outside the house. "I have to get to school, dude."
"But young master—"
"Byeeeee!" Ethan said, slamming the door. He sighed and went to get ready to go to school.
At Dex's house, Bran sat in his room, trying to remember what had happened the day before. He only remembered being thrown against the bookshelf, but he couldn't understand how Dex had done that.
He quickly left his room in anger, heading straight into Dex's room. He kicked the door open, but Dex had already left for school. He knew this was going to happen, so he woke up early in the morning before everyone else.
The crew met up at the gate, with Dex being there first and Nia being there last. As soon as Nia appeared, Ethan couldn't stop looking at her, blushing a bit as he remembered his dream.
Most students were discussing the Evergreen Mountain incident, and some were watching the news from different countries talking about how the First Wonder of the World changed overnight. Some were even making up superstitious stories.
"Did you hear the World's End Roar?" a student said.
"Yeah, it's said that everyone heard it. Pastors are saying it signifies the start of the end days, God is about to descend," another student replied.
Hearing this, the crew only looked at each other but did not talk about it. They didn't want anyone hearing them discussing the events of that night.
They waited for everyone to go in as usual, then they made their entrance. All eyes were on them until they were seated in their classrooms.
While sitting down in their classrooms, they realized that Marquis was not there again, and Miss Chiedza was coming for her project. The first period went by quickly, and the next one was Miss Chiedza's.
Their hearts started beating, "Fuck, he's gonna pay for this," Dex declared, his crew agreeing behind him.
Marquis entered the school gate sprinting, he had waited for his parents to leave for work first before he could leave. He ran, skidding in the hallways, and bumped into Miss Chiedza at the door, about to enter the classroom.
"Sorry, ma'am, I'm late, I had a family emergency" he said, his heart racing from all the running he had done.
"It's okay Marquis, go on, get seated" she said.
He quickly ran to his seat in front of Dex and apologized to Dex before sitting down. Ethan looked at Marquis, anger evident on his face. Marquis could just feel the energy around the whole crew, he was definitely going to have a hard day.
Miss Chiedza asked the class to read their projects in front of the class. One person from the groups would come upfront and present the project. The groups started presenting their projects one by one, and finally, it was time for Marquis's group. Marquis was about to get up and present, but Miss Chiedza stopped him.
"Dex, how about you read the project today?" she asked.
Dex looked around and sighed, "Fuck!" he thought inwardly.
He went upfront and began his presentation, which was about the beauty of nature and how preserving wildlife can help us.
Dex cleared his throat, "Nature is beautiful, preservation... preserving our wildlife would help us by... with..." he read, stuttering.
The whole class started laughing, covering their mouths, trying their best not to be seen by the Untouchables. Even Marquis and the rest of Dex's crew couldn't help but laugh.
Dex pushed through the presentation, his anger rising, and watching Marquis have the guts to laugh made it worse. After he was done, he went to sit down and for the rest of the lessons they had after Miss Chiedza left, he didn't speak to anyone.
The bell finally rang and it was finally lunchtime. The crew quickly grabbed Marquis and took him to their spot behind the classrooms. Dex wasn't playing around.
"Backpack," he declared and Marquis quickly gave him his backpack. He opened it and saw a bunch of sandwiches that Marquis had left during breakfast.
He walked closer to Marquis and took a bite of the sandwich, his face inches away from Marquis's.
"It's so freaking good" he said, his hot sandwich breath in Marquis's face. Marquis clutched his fist, his anger rising. Marquis could just tell the group was waiting for him to do something to anger them.
"Money," Dex declared again.
Marquis knew his parents weren't going to be giving him money anytime soon.
"I don't have any money, Dex."
Phaaaaa! A slap echoed, shocking Marquis.
He quickly grabbed his backpack and opened a secret spot under his backpack, his hands shaking and gave Dex all the money there. It was the money left from the money he had stolen from his father's safe.
"Ladies," Dex said while handing the money to Chloe and Nia.
"You might wanna leave, ladies, because things are about to get messy," Dex said, wanting the girls to leave.
"No, I think we need a bit of stress relief, right, Nia?" Chloe said, and the crew started beating up Marquis.
Marquis fell down, covering his head with his hands while getting stomped on and kicked.
After a few minutes, the group stopped, but Ethan kept going.
"Why did you have to go looking for that stupid Orb? Why!" Ethan thought to himself, kicking and stomping on Marquis non-stop.
Dex pulled him back. "Yo, Ethan, he's had enough."
But Ethan slipped from Dex's hands and ran back and started stomping on Marquis, who was on the ground groaning and crying.
"He was going to find me... but now he's gone... my father is dead," Ethan yelled in his mind, still kicking and stomping on Marquis.
"Yo, that's enough, bro," Dex said, using his whole body to push Ethan away. Ethan was breathing heavily, anger still on his face.
"You good?" Dex asked.
Kareem was shaken up, it was evident in his eyes that they had gone too far this time.
"Yah, I'm good, Dex. Let's ditch this place." The crew started walking away, leaving Marquis lying on the ground.
Marquis started getting up slowly, groaning in pain. He let out a guttural groan, puking blood.
He sat down, leaning against a wall, crying. His world was collapsing around him.
His parents were definitely beyond mad at him, and the Untouchables' bullying was only going to get worse. His clothes started glowing, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he saw himself getting beaten up again.
He looked up, tears running down his cheeks. "Is this the strongest power? I wished for the strongest power you could give me, and this is what you gave me?" he yelled, getting up.
He started limping, groaning in pain. He picked up his backpack and started walking back to class. The other students who saw him only whispered and looked away.
When Ann saw him, she quickly ran and held him when he was about to fall.
"Marquis, are you okay?" she asked, concern etched on her face.
"I'm fine, I fell while running," he replied, trying to remove his hand from her shoulder.
"How long are you going to keep saying that?" she continued.
"Just shut up, I'm helping whether you like it or not."
She walked with him to the school nurse's office. He looked at her and couldn't help but cry even more.While on their way to the nurse's office, they bumped into Miss Chiedza.
"Oh my god, Marquis, are you okay?" she asked, concern evident. She quickly held his other arm to help him walk better.
"I don't want to go to the nurse's office, I'm fine," he said.
"Ann, thank you for helping him, I can take it from here" Miss Chiedza said. Ann looked at Marquis worriedly before leaving.
Miss Chiedza then took Marquis to her office.When she got there, she helped him sit and nursed him as much as she could. She used a clean white cloth and wiped the dirt on his face.
"What happened to you, Marquis? Who did this to you?" she asked.
"I fell while running..." She quickly interrupted him.
"Don't lie to me, I heard you've been telling the other teachers the same thing. You have to take back control of your life, Marquis. I can see how much this hurts you, and I want you to know that your feelings matter. No one deserves to be treated that way."
Marquis looked down, tears in his eyes. "Please don't tell anyone," he asked.
She looked at him and dragged her chair closer to his.
"I promise, whatever you say stays between us, you can trust me."
Marquis started crying. "It was Dex and his friends, I don't know why they do this to me. I hate them."
She looked at him, her eyes saying it all, she felt really sorry for him.
"Bullies try to dim others because they feel small themselves. Stand tall and don't let your fear of them stop you. Everyone has the right to live how they want to live.
You don't have to change overnight, start small, hold your head up in the hallway. Don't let your fear of them stop you from standing up for yourself. And if you need anything, I'm always here for you, you can tell me anything."
Marquis couldn't stop crying. "Thank you, thank you for saying that," he said, sobbing. He couldn't control himself, he couldn't stop crying. He lunged at her, hugging her, tears streaming down his cheeks.
She was shocked, her eyes widened, then she slowly hugged him back.
"It's okay, Marquis, let it all out, no one can see you. Cry as much as you want" she said, hugging him back. After a while of crying, Marquis finally stopped and apologized for the surprise hug, but she didn't mind.
"Have you eaten?" she asked, pulling out her homemade cookies.
"No" Marquis answered, wiping the rest of his tears away.
"Oh, then you're in for a treat, Marquis," she said, handing him a few cookies.
"I made them myself with my secret recipe."
Marquis took a bite, his eyes widening in horror, it tasted horrible.
"Ha ha ha ha! I know, right? They're horrible," she laughed.
Marquis couldn't help but laugh a bit, forcing himself to swallow the cookie.
"I like them" he said, continuing to eat the cookies.
"Oh, okay, if you want more, you know where to find me" she said with a smile on her face.
After a while of chatting, Marquis was finally ready to go. He got up and thanked her for everything, and before he left, she grabbed his hand.
"Don't forget, Marquis, fears are there to be faced. Take back control of your life." Marquis nodded and then left.
As soon as he left, Miss Chiedza closed the door and collapsed, sitting on the floor, her back against the door, tears hitting the floor like rain. Marquis had reminded her of her dead son – from the way he said he liked her horrible cookies to the way he hugged her, it was all the same as her son. On her desk was a framed picture of a young boy wearing glasses.