Training and Games

But as I was saying, I was beginning to grow a bit disinterested in the whole training as the newest line of Punishers thing. I would put myself into dangerous and uncomfortable positions all for the sake of "training". I hated the darkness when I was younger (still do), and the fact that I KNEW there were things there because of Candlemass made it even worse.



That little hiss you hear in the corner of the basement? Sure, it could be water in the pipes. But it's more likely something that loves the taste of your skin as it rips it off you while you're still screaming. Those little pinpricks of light? Of course, it might be the empty soda bottles that are stored down here, but it's more likely to be something watching you carefully, and judging your every move.

 I knew all this because Candlemass knew all of this, and he would whisper these things to me. As I rode in the car to go to school.

As I lay in bed at night, trying to go to sleep. As I sat at the kitchen counter and ate a snack. There he would be, whispering what was just beyond the periphery of my vision into my ear.

 I thought I was going to go fucking insane. The stress was beginning to get to me. Candlemass was one thing, but to feel as if you're being stalked by paranormal, dangerous creatures 24/7 is something else entirely.

 I started to lose sleep and my appetite. I didn't eat because I was afraid of letting my guard down. Candlemass told me this was a good thing, but I couldn't see the silver lining.

 And then, abruptly, in the start of the springtime, Candlemass relented. He said my training was over, and I would be successfully able to spot anything, if I actually tried. I used to, but not anymore. And before Candlemass starts sounding like a huge dick, he was really more of a bro to me. A little severe, but still my bro. As I mentioned before, he really did just hang out with me.

While I was scared of him when I was twelve and thirteen, and didn't know what to do with him around, thinking about it now, I think he was just waiting to be invited to make contact with me (aside for his ridiculous little remarks).

 Candlemass didn't look very old. Probably in his mid-twenties or so, so he wasn't much older than me at the time. When I was actually trying to make friends with him by the time I stopped being afraid of him, I would try to include him in the stuff I did. He would swipe some of my books that I was reading, and huff and snort at them. I liked horror and especially fantasy genres when I was that age, and he seemed particularly amused by them. Video games and computers seemed to hypnotize him a little bit. As I was playing or watching things, he would bombard me with questions as to how these things would work. More often than not, I ended up googling his questions, which was another source of amazement to him.

 The types of things I initiated with him were harmless, and pretty much kid things. The games he'd play with me were a little more dangerous. As I was saying, Candlemass had some dangerous games he liked to play.

Sometimes they involved knives, but more often they involved fire. Often he would rope me into a courage competition by holding my hand to the nearest flat surface and sticking the point of a knife between my fingers with increasing rapidity. However, we also built small flammable constructions the same way people would build tiny bridges. Candlemass was a genius when it came to how fast something would burn, what would stop it, and how long. At fifteen, it was great fun, but looking back on it, I kind of have to facepalm. 

These games were really pretty rare though, as he generally enjoyed sitting around and telling me stories, or demanding to know about what little of my life he didn't know.

 We must have made a pretty strange sight. I was pretty ordinary when it came to looks, though I am small, and rather thin-framed. Candlemass was a very fit person, but he definitely didn't look like an everyday person.

I think I told you about the yellow cloak he was so proud of? He generally wore that when he was about- it was one of those things that has arm slits in the sides so you can move your arms about freely without having to take them out of the cloak.

 We'd be sitting in my bedroom for hours, crouched around one of these little flammable bridges, adding and taking away pieces and parts like dominoes. I can only be amazed we never set off the fire alarms in my house.