The Dark Beyond

Paul's Valley pt 1: Bad Omens

They pulled up to Nelson's job to buy some games. It was strange for him to be there without being the supervisor. Apparently all she wanted was for him to buy her a few games in the store. He was concerned for a bit.
       Once they arrived there, hand in hand, he was surprised when he saw Cherry was there, talking to James. She turned and gave him and Anora a strange look as soon as she noticed them. After a moment, she left, waving goodbye to James. "Weird much?" Anora muttered. "Could she stare any harder?" "She's wasn't ready for your beauty," Nelson said in a jokingly flirtatious way. Anora rolled her eyes, though she smiled at him. "Whatever you say."

"Ass-grabber!!"
       Estavon and Javen came walking up to them to greet them. "Damn mane," Javen said, "That ass must be magnificent if you keep going back for more." "Huh?" Anora said, clearly surprised at their comment. "What are they talking about?" "Uhm.." Nelson started, unsure of how to explain why his coworkers were calling him "ass grabber", Estavon interjected, "Bro! Don't be shy now! You hardly ever stop talking about her! Just don't lose your ass grabbing skills before you can teach us!" "Ass grabbing skills?" Anora asked curiously, looking at Nelson. "I'm quite intrigued." "I.. um... well," Nelson started, still scrambling nervously with his thoughts. "You always be so modest mane," Javen said, shaking his head and smiling. "Maybe that's the secret!!" Estavon said, looking as if he just had an epiphany. Estavon and Javen continued to speculate as Anora and he browsed the FPS games. "Ass grabber huh?" Anora mused, skimming the games with a sly smile on her face. Nelson could feel himself becoming increasingly flustered. "They're silly," he said with embarrassment coloring his voice. "I wanna know what they're talking about," she continued, a suggestive tone to her voice. "Why don't you show me sometime?" "Um... of course.." he muttered, completely flustered. Come on man, is that the best you could come up with?? He thought, annoyed with how shy he was. I gotta go collect myself. Before I say or do something lame again. "Lemme know when you find something, I gotta pee real fast," Nelson said, before darting awkwardly to the bathroom in the back. He locked the door and went to look at himself in the mirror. Come on dude, he thought, You gotta try to step out of your comfort zone. He stood there arguing with himself for a while before deciding to take deep breaths. It's okay. It's fine, he told himself, it's just like.. let's just grab it once and just see what happens. You can do it man. He paused, closing his eyes, and taking deep, precise, calming breaths. It was almost like meditating. He tried pushing his nervousness down away to the bottom of his stomach. He focused really hard until he felt something strange. Suddenly, he could hear them talking outside. He could smell the toilet water on the other side of the bathroom. He wasn't nervous anymore. He opened his eyes and saw that they were bright green. The whites of his eyes were still there, but his iris was the same color as Anora's, or Cherry's eyes. He was too caught off guard to clearly analyze it. His vision was intensified and he could see every little minuscule detail in the walls and the cracks of the walls. OH SHIT! He thought worriedly. "How do I get rid of this..?" He whispered to himself. Luckily, after a moment, he watched his eyes flicker between brown and green, and eventually back to normal. He still felt his senses and everything else being enhanced, though it was slowly wearing off. He couldn't help but feel a little bit empowered. I can use this confidence before it runs out, he thought, hopefulness filling his mind. He emerged from the bathroom feeling like he could probably do this.
         Anora was at the counter, a few games in her hand. "You ready?" She asked. Nelson nodded. He handed James the games. "You seem a bit different," Anora noted. "Do I?" He asked, relying on his newfound feeling of empowerment and confidence. Anora nodded. "I don't know.. but.. I like it." He heard Estavon and Javen snickering excitedly in the background. At that moment Samuel walked in, eyeing them curiously. "Hey Samuel!" Anora called. Samuel waved back. "What brings you here?" Nelson simply asked as he paid James. "I came to see Charles," Samuel told him, "On their last uh, assignment, he asked Miranda to meet him here. He's gonna take your advice Nelson." "What??" Estavon suddenly chimed in, "You're teaching other people about your ass grabbing skills? You should charge for your advice." "Your what skills??" Samuel echoed. Relying heavily on his newfound confidence, he replied, "Oh you didn't know?" Anora eyed him curiously. "No," Samuel said slowly, raising an amused eyebrow. Fuck it it's now or never, he thought, an idea coming to his mind. "There's one ass that I particularly like," he continued, smiling slyly. He had never even actually touched a girl's butt before, so he didn't know what to expect, but he hid his nervousness with his sly expression. "Is that so?" Anora asked, seemingly flirtatiously. Nelson nodded, and while he still had the nerve, he rubbed his hands together before grabbing her butt. He didn't know what he was doing, and ended up smacking it instead. He winked at her as he did it. Oops, he thought with a smile. Estavon and Javen were losing their minds at the sight of this. Anora gasped and smiled, her face bright red. She bit her lip and seemed to reach towards her thigh, but stopped herself. "I um, I think I need to pee... too," she said, her green eyes lit with clear excitement. She rushed off to the bathroom. He wondered about that. Guess I'll meet her outside, he silently decided.
"Gosh darn it man!" Samuel exclaimed, "You're crazy! Her brother is right here!" "Huh?" He asked, not realizing that Charles had been standing at the door the entire time. He was clearly in awe. Nelson gave him that awkward stare he had for situations where he knew not how to react. They stared at each other for a while before anyone said anything. "Don't get too cocky," Charles merely said, frowning now, "Learn some respect for my sister man. I'll deal with this later. I got a girl out here waiting for me." Nelson took the bagged up video games from James. He followed Samuel and Charles outside, where Miranda stood, eyeing them all with an expression on her face that Nelson couldn't figure out. "Hey Miranda," Charles said, popping the colar on his jacket. "What's up?" She asked. "You had something you wanted to ask me?" "I mean you know," Charles said, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. Samuel and Nelson watched with great amusement in their faces. "I just, I noticed you around, you know, looking all good and shit. So it made me wonder something." Miranda raised an eyebrow, but otherwise her expression remained the same. "I just gotta know," he continued, "Are you the garden of eden? Cause I'm tryna eat that forbidden fruit." Miranda just stared for a moment. "Oooh That was kinda good," Samuel whispered to Nelson with a smile. Nelson nodded. "Eat this forbidden fruit, hmm?" She said, crossing her arms. "Hell yeah," Charles replied. "And I always finish my food, if you know what I mean." She continued to stare thoughtfully for a moment, then after a glance at Nelson, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I think I'll have to decline your offer." "Ah oh.." Charles slowly replied. "Ah um, okay.. that's cool. Well, I'll.. see you around." Charles looked at his phone, clearly trying to hide his embarrassment. "My turtle.. needs to be.. fed." He sadly, though quickly got into his camero and drove off. "Damn," Nelson muttered. "And here I thought that was pretty good," Samuel chimed in. Miranda frowned as she approached them. "I don't think so," she said, "He's just like any other guy that talks to me. Just wants inside the pants." She looked over at Nelson and almost muttered, "Almost every guy." Samuel looked curiously at her, then to Nelson. "What?" He asked. Miranda just shrugged. "What's it to you?" She asked. "Not to be rude, but don't you have a wife or something?" Samuel nodded. "Yeah but Nelson also has a whole girlfriend." Miranda crossed her arms. "Can I talk to him alone?" She asked. "I want to ask him something private." Samuel merely raised a suspicious eyebrow but walked back inside the store. "Can I ask you something?" She asked him, shoving her hands in her pockets. Nelson nodded. "Why do you like her so much? Like... I don't know.. why not me?" She looked away from him, clear sadness sparkling in her brown eyes. "You're the only guy who I have met that isn't mean to me and that isn't trying to get one thing from me. You made me feel good about my hair.. and not feel so ugly all the time.. I even feel pretty sometimes..." Nelson frowned with concentration. With a glance back in the store, looking if Anora was there, he replied, "There's nothing wrong with you... you're cool and everything.. and you're not ugly at all. Just.. by the time I met you she was already there." "So I just met you a little too late...." she sighed, a tear falling from her eye. "Don't cry," Nelson said, feeling bad. "You're a great girl.. I just can't.. is all.." "Mhm..." she merely said, staring away. He couldn't see it, but he could tell she was crying because he saw water droplets from her face spilling on to the ground. "This is so pitiful..." she muttered. Samuel and Anora both walked out then, standing beside Nelson. "What happened?" Samuel asked, watching Miranda standing there, shaking just so as she tried to wipe her eyes and hide her cries. Anora merely stared. "Yeah Samuel told me you were here," Anora said. Miranda stared at Samuel and Anora beside Nelson, tears now flowing freely out of her eyes. "You two..." she started, before stopping herself. "I'm sorry for being a bother.." she stormed off, going down the street. "What did you say to her?" Anora asked him softly. "I had to let her know," Nelson said a bit sadly. "I felt so mean." "Well it's good it's out of the way," She said, "I'm glad you got that cleared up." "Samuel?" Nelson asked. "What is it man?" Nelson stared curiously at him, but decided he didn't want say anything. "Never mind," he merely said. Anora came over to him, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly. "What's on your mind?" She asked him. "What did Samuel say to you?" He asked her. "He seems kinda interested." "He has a wife," Anora said, "And trust me, no one has my attention.. except you..baby." Nelson smiled shyly at her. He had never been called that before. It made their relationship feel that much more official to him. Samuel just stared. "Come on," Anora said, taking his hand. "Let's go back to my place for a little while. I wanna try out our games together. Maybe we can get some food too?" Nelson smiled excitedly at her. "Like a.. like a date?" Anora nodded. "I mean, sure. Our first date." Anora smiled shyly, her hair covering half of her face, leaving just one beautiful green eye peering at him. He mustered some courage to kiss her hand. She smiled warmly at him. Her smile made him feel some new kind of feeling, deep in his chest. He didn't know what it was. All he knew was that he only felt it around Anora, and he had never felt it before. They left then, off to enjoy the rest of their evening together. Luckily, Charles wasn't home that night.