"The power from the Void is borrowed, so expect the Void to collect."
— Grand Marshal Rhys, Death Order.
...
"Damn it!" Cail cursed. He almost got tripped by his cat. If he hadn't immediately steadied himself, he would've probably been eating a mouthful of mud right now.
"God, this stinks." Cail couldn't help but scrunch up his nose as he held the package. It smelled like sulfur and rotten egg. "It better not be something illegal."
This package had been late for three weeks now. That was almost an entire month! Then boom! One night, it just randomly appeared at 7:00 PM outside his front gate.
It was raining like crazy. His mom was still at the mahjong house, and he was now drenched like a wet rat. He felt irritated beyond belief. With such irresponsible mother, he might as well be an orphan.
He had only found the package because he went outside to search for his cat. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known it was delivered. By tomorrow or maybe even just an hour later, this box would have probably been stolen by those package thieves.
CRASH! BOOM!
His cat, Blackie, was spooked. It quickly bolted inside the house, leaving behind muddy plum footprints.
"Blackie!" This added to Cail's annoyance. Ugh, why is nothing going his way today?
He put the box on the floor. He didn't open it; instead, he found a rug and wiped away the all the muddy paw prints. Looking around, he called out, "Blackie! Blackie, come here!"
He kept calling his cat, but it didn't respond. This wasn't like Blackie. He followed the muddy paw prints and found Blackie huddled in an inconspicuous corner near the television rack.
He bent down. "Blackie mimi, come here. I'll dry your fur, or else Mom will probably lose it once she sees the house this messy."
Blackie avoided his hand. Cail didn't give up, "Blackie, you don't wanna hear Mom screaming, right? It's noisy! So now come here, let me get you cleaned."
For some reason, Blackie seemed to hate Cail's touch today. The moment Cail's hand touched his fur, the cat immediately unsheathed its claws and scratched him deep.
"Ahhh! Crazy cat, what's wrong with you?!" Cail clutched his bleeding hand and looked at the hissing Blackie in disbelief. Even when he had taken Blackie home as a stray kitten, he had never been this aggressive before.
Blackie still looked very defensive, it felt very strange. He was looking at Cail as if he's looking at a stranger. With its back arched and dilated pupils, it was obvious that Blackie would scratch him again if he dared come close.
Cail gave up. He stepped back and rushed to the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and washed his wounds with soap.
"I probably need a shot after this." Cail couldn't help but suspect that Blackie might have rabies, but he quickly shook his head. Such an ominous guess made him feel sick. He'd better take Blackie to the vet tomorrow and get an anti-rabies shot while he's at it.
The bleeding stopped. While it still hurts a bit, at least it didn't look so bad anymore. He picked up the towel hanging on the side and dried his wet hair. While he is tempted to use fever as an excuse for absence, he really doesn't want to be sick.
He looked at himself in the mirror but couldn't see anything but blur. His glasses fogged up from the cold. He took it off and rubbed them clean before putting them back on. He stared at himself from the mirror and thought, I looked so dead pale that a coffin might be the only thing that's missing.
After changing his clothes, he walked back to the living room. He saw Blackie on top of the plate cabinet. The cat now seemed very calm, showing none of the aggression from earlier. He was just chilling there like a loaf, sleeping.
Cail couldn't help but murmur, "Heartless."
He walked back to where he'd left the package. Not wanting to dirty the furniture, he had placed the box on the floor.
He plopped down onto the cold tiles and examined the package.
It looked very suspicious. It was wrapped with thick duct tape, and some parts of the box were even dented. Cail had no idea of the rough journey that it took just to get here.
If this had arrived three weeks ago, he'd probably be squealing from excitement. These were the limited-edition sneakers he had ordered! How could he not be excited?
But now, after weeks of waiting, he had already mentally prepared himself for disappointment and was convinced that it was a scam.
Looking at it, he had a very ominous premonition. He touched the box and thank God it wasn't wet. He picked up the fruit knife lying on the coffee table and stabbed it through the box.
It was easy. Cail had expected it to be difficult based on how tightly wrapped it was. The box inside was very flimsy. After opening a large hole, he took a look inside.
Although he had already mentally prepared himself, the sight still pained him. He closed his eyes and screamed, "Ugh! My 7,000 nu!"
It was a scam.
The heavy weight of the package should've been a dead giveaway. What kind of shoes weigh like a brick? But Cail had still clung to a sliver of hope, only to be left disappointed.
He put the fruit knife away, baffled. "It was already three weeks late. This scam, why did they even bother to send me anything?!"
Inside the package was a wooden box. It looked very unassuming and boring. It had no design, just a coating of red varnish.
Cail was still trying to recover from the pain of losing his hard-earned money. He had saved up for a long time just to buy those shoes. Now, it was all gone.
If he had known he was going to get scammed, he would've bought something useful with that 7,000 nu instead.
He took a deep breath. There's no point crying over spilled milk. Fortunately, it was his own money, or else his stingy but prodigal mother would probably lash out at him for being careless.
Still, maybe what was inside the wooden box held some kind of importance? Though honestly, he doubted it. A scam wouldn't be a scam if it was a good experience.
He took the wooden box out of the package and placed it on the ground.
It looked very dull, to be honest. It was a delicate wooden box, but the lack of engravings or design made it look like a half-ass project made by an amateur carpenter.
Cail touched the wooden box. It seemed to be kind of old.
He tried to open it, but to no avail. He shook it, twisted it, turned it. No mechanism. It was just bare old wood,what's going on?