The Boy in Stone

Samantha Borgdon, 26 years old, lived isolated from the world on the sixth floor of her deteriorating apartment building called "The Merryway", located right at the intersection of Cashmere Road and Silk Street. She spent most of her time on the internet. She watched videos of cute cats, astrology exploration videos, and movies about wild west cowboys. Her favorite movie is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

"It's a spaghetti western Marcus. It's just a wild west movie made by an Italian. You know- you always talk about dungeons and their-" Sam flipped her long blonde messy hair to the side as she cocked her pale-skinned head towards a neatly put young boy with skin as brown as his hair, "what do you call it?"

"Mechanics," the black eyed boy responded with a tired tone as the sounds of 1960's gunfire blasted through the speakers of the TV in front of them.

"Yeah, mechanics." She replied with a maneuver of her hands, "You see a spaghetti western is sort of like a dungeon in a sense. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"What are you talking about Sam," the boy sighed.

"I mean, think about it. A foreign world shows up in our human world in the form of a large tower with a portal at it's base right. A baton is the cause of it showing up. It's like when Italians make westerns and brings western culture to their own homelands! Am I making sense?"

"Not at all Sam. That's not how dungeons work in the slightest." Marcus Aeon, 13 years of age, adjusted himself on the beige 2 seater couch that he and Samantha sat on to face her. He slightly sunk into the couch as he pressed his knees deeper into it. He heard the springs contort itself and make blunt twangs that reverbed throughout the near dead living room. There were no plants or pots around them, pictures or posters of any kind, nor were there any other couch save for the one they sat on. The only other piece of furniture was a small table that laid on top of a ragged rug made of cloth, placed between the couch and the beautiful black 64-inch flat screen television set that sat on brown cupped wooden floors with dark patches of unknown substances stained on it.

Samantha didn't have a lot of money. She only had one job though, which provided enough for the lifestyle she wanted. She had to babysit the only son of a couple of unmarried Runners, Marcus Aeon. Runners had the job of running dungeons, meaning they would willingly enter dungeons, face a whole different world and clear it for financial gain. Marcus's parents aren't famous by any means, but Sam believes they make more than enough to consider them to be on par with the likes of popular niche movie directors.

As Marcus began his usual spiel on the linguistics of dungeon terms and usual happenings, Samantha retreated into her mind. "I wonder if we should make Spaghetti for dinner tonight. God and Brad is supposed to be e-sexing me in a few minutes."

Sam interrupted Marcus's speech, "Hey, Marcus! Can you go buy some pasta at the corner store?"

Marcus, scrunched up his face, quivered his lip, and dropped his demeanor into a forced smile, that awkwardly came across as though he had just relieved himself through the moving of bowels. "Do you want the spicy Ramen or the regular noodles?"

"Surprise me, I want you to blow my mind with whatever choice you make," she chuckled and pulled out her phone. She began biting her lip as she started scrolling through it. Marcus leaped from the couch, as he walked towards the front door behind the couch, the floorboards creaked, and emitted fumes of old dust. He was wearing a ripped t-shirt with a picture of a Runner named Kyles, standing before a grand tower. The t-shirt was tucked nicely into his green camouflage cargo pants. He wore knee high white socks that stopped right before his ashy knees. Once he made it to the front door, he put on his Nike sneakers, unlocked the front door, then turned around to face Sam. He waited a moment, and heard the one sound he didn't want to hear at the moment, Sam laughing and the creaking of floorboards.

"Sam! I'm going for a run," he yelled out stretching his right foot forward, leaning back to the left, making a fist with his left hand while bringing it closer to his face, then stretched his right arm out while giving a thumbs up with his right hand. "I'll be back soon!" He didn't get a reply.

As Marcus left the apartment, he felt the ground shake below him, it made him a bit nauseous, but he shrugged it off. As he walked down the hallway of the sixth floor he could smell the peeling dark green patterned wallpaper disintegrate into the air, "To dust we shall return," he would comment as he walked passed the source of the smell. The floor in the hallways were just as bad as the floors in Sam's apartment, in some parts the dark stains on them had some kind of mushroom growing on them.

Marcus tried his best to ignore them all, but while walking down the hallway he had stepped on one, he felt it invade his shoes from the bottom of his soles, and send a chill from his toes to the top of his head. He would rush down the hallway until he got to the elevator at the end of the hall. He pressed the down button, and after waiting 3 minutes, the elevator came. The only other passenger was an old lady dressed in a nice purple dress, who was scratching her head, confused.

"Hello, Mrs. Lu. What seems to be the issue today," Marcus asked walking into the elevator and pressing the ground floor button. "This stupid lift is going stupid I tell you Mark."

"It's Marcus," he replied as the doors to the elevator closed.

"Mar kiss? That band has been out of style for years Mark. Anyway, I don't know how this lift doesn't understand that I want to go to the ground floor. I've pressed all the buttons, it should lead me to the floor, and for some reason it's stopping at every floor like the train. Me personally, I believe it should be trained more for proper usage. You have people capable of conquering dungeons on a day to day basis, but we can't figure out how to train something to take you from the eighth floor to the ground floor. This is simply absurd."

"Wow, Mrs. Lu that is quite absurd," Marcus tried his best to ignore Mrs. Lu, but he accidentally heard everything she said. "How does Sam do it," he pondered as the elevator took it's sweet time to go through the 5th to ground floor. While this happened, Mrs. Lu continued on with her spiel, "Now these recent quakes, I asked my husband about it, and he's saying that they are only the aftermath of a nearby dungeon. I've talked to some youngsters in the building. They know what's going on with all their phones and internet business. A dungeon is going to show up near us."

Marcus's ears peaked up as the Elevator dinged for the ground floor. "A dungeon is gonna show up near us?"

"Yup, best be careful. Police are already sectioning off the woods, Clifford Park, and the rec center near here to keep everyone safe."

Marcus smiled as he ran out of the elevator, "Thank you so much Mrs. Lu!"

As he ran out of the front door of the apartment complex, Marcus ran across the street of Cashmere Road, he went to the corner store that was conveniently placed just a few feet from The Merryway. Once he walked in he ran to the pasta section, grabbed 4 packages of spicy ramen, then walked up to the cashier, "4 Spicy Ramen," Marcus whispered as he squirmed around waiting for the cashier to get a bag and place all the ramen inside of it. "This is going straight to the Runner credit that we offer, your balance that remains is-"

"Thanks!" Marcus grabbed the bag of ramen then rushed out of the store. He ran to the intersection of Silk Street and Cashmere Road, waited for his turn to cross the street, then ran down Silk Street until he reached the entrance of Clifford Park. There Police lined the entrance with several cop cars. A crowd of people gathered around the gate to the park, and a news crew were situated there. Marcus had his jaw to the floor, as he watched everyone question, yell and complain about the closing of the park, he began crying and laughing.

"Excuse me, boy, are you okay?"

Marcus turned to the source of the voice that tried comforting him, he was met with a Channel 4 news camera and microphone in his face. "Can you possibly tell us why you're this upset about the park closing," the female local news journalist asked Marcus.

He gulped and wiped his tears away, "I just think its cool that a dungeon is going to appear here. I always wanted to live next to a dungeon."

"What's your name kid, I'm Diane."

"My name is Marcus Aeon!"

"You know dungeons are dangerous Marcus? What is a little kid like you going to do when a dungeon appears?"

"I'm going to conquer it! I'll be greater and more famous than Kyles," Marcus said pulling up his shirt to the camera.

"That's cute of you, those are some big shoes to fill."

"I know Kyles conquered 100 dungeons in a day. I'm going to conquer 1,000 of them! He's the Great Scout, but I'll be the Greatest Scout. He had a party of 4 people, I'll have a party of 40!"

"Awww, and who's going to be in that party."

"All my future friends," Marcus grinned.

"Great," Diane said pulling the microphone back from Marcus and shaking her head. She whispered to her cameraman, "I don't think we should include the last part, but this would go great with the anti-runner movement project. Let's interview the others." Diane and her cameraman walked away from Marcus who stood with his legs quaking, his eyes still watery, and his hands clasped together.

As Marcus walked home alone an hour later, he danced and sung, "I can't believe I had my first interview!" As he made his way back into the building, he felt another tremor underneath his feet, that violently shook the whole apartment complex. Chairs that lined the walls of the lobby fell over, and the residents walking in with Marcus screamed. The clean purple carpet that laid from the entrance to the elevators became stained with water and plants, as pots of plants fell on it.

"Damn that dungeon," a male resident named John yelled as he collapsed to the floor. Marcus turned to him and swiftly made his way to him, in a full sprint motion at jogging speed, within a second he found himself helping the resident up, "Are you okay John?"

John nodded his head, "Thank you Mark. You're a dungeon expert right?" John dusted off his pants, rubbed his bald head, and scratched his coarse beard. "What's happening right now?"

"Well right now a dungeon is preparing to form in our world. The tremors are an indication of it. This doesn't happen often in the world,"

"But isn't there hundreds of dungeons?"

"Yeah, but they all spawned into places where dungeons have spawned in before. They all tend to spawn in open areas or fields or places with lots of nature. I have a question for you John, why don't you know any of this."

"Marcus. I already have to worry about paying the bills. I specifically moved here because this was the cheapest farthest place to live from any dungeon. I don't need to worry about some monster walking through my backyard because Runners were too lazy to clear it. Now I have to though. And my insurance does not cover dungeon accidents. I'm not a Runner. Dungeons are for Runners to know and know only. I cannot fathom even trying to wrap my head around the Verdhi System or this dungeon spawn thing. I still don't know how this spawning shit works. I'm not a scientist either so I'm not going to try and work out the science behind it."

"I saw online that some people fundraise exhibitions into dungeons to clear them all the time! You can do the same."

John laughed, "I ain't no fundraiser," he cackled while walking away, "They all scams anyway. Runners take that money and run with it!" He hollered out a haughty laugh.

Marcus lowered his head, "Runners aren't scammers," he whispered kicking his feet.

"If they were scammers then why would they spend so much time in dangerous dungeons. Anyone can lose their life in a dungeon. Why else would they put their whole life into running, or dedicate themselves to training with the Verdhi System. Why would they go out their way to make YouTube videos on it, or livestream themselves running. It's educational anyway," Marcus thought as he walked to the elevator, pressed the sixth floor button, and rode it alone in silence. He paused, "Why else would mom and dad leave me alone?" He shook his head, "They can't be scammers. The math isn't mathing."

Once Marcus was out of the elevator and on the sixth floor, he pulled out his phone and began watching the livestream of a local runner in his area. He put it on full volume as he made his way to Sam's apartment with the bag of spicy ramen hanging off his arm like ornaments on a christmas tree.

"Christmas came early today folks," the livestreamer screamed as Marcus entered the apartment, "I'm home Sam," he got no reply. While heade his way to the couch the livestreamer continued, "It's yah girl Jas the Healer, in front of Merryway just oozing with anticipation for this dungeon to spawn. Now for the uneducated, this dungeon spawn is like none other. It's in an entirely new location! It's not in the same location as any other previous dungeon. It does not mean that it functions any different from any other dungeon. For again, the uneducated, dungeons are fragments of other worlds that lay on top of our world. I may be a healer but I'm mage based so I don't know the exact science of it. I KNOW HOW TO COOK BY THE WAY, SO ANY RECRUITERS FOR PARTIES HIT ME UP!" She cleared her throat while Marcus laughed at her outburst. Another tremor appeared, it shook so ferociously that it lifted Marcus and the television set in the air several inches before crashing him and the objects back down. The TV cracking and falling over.

"Holy shit," Sam yelled from her bedroom. "Did you feel that Marcus?"

Marcus's heart slammed itself against his chest like a angry gorilla beating its chest. His breaths became short and precise. He huddled up on the couch as Sam began walking out of her room.

"AAAAAAAAUGHAAAAHHH!"

Marcus heard the livestreamer deliver a harrowing scream before hearing her "be right back" music play. It was a lovely tune of soft Spanish guitars accompanied by drums and maracas. As the lyrics of the song began playing, Marcus could hear the clashing of metal, and the cracking of wood from beneath him, accompanying the orchestra of destruction were the screams of various people of different ages, genders, and octaves. The lights flickered as the singer of the song sang, "Soy El fuego que arde tu piel." The tremors shook him again as he watched the floor beneath him get swallowed up by the sudden growth of marvelous beautiful green plants and blue flowers.

Sam scurried over to Marcus, "Mar-" As Sam attempted to call out to Marcus, she watched as the couch he sat on began folding in on itself, crushing Marcus in-between the cushions and springs. She heard him cry out for help. She watched as her TV fell through her cupped wooden floors, and the floors themselves get replaced with stone. Her lights had gone out and in their place was an open clear blue sky with clouds in the shape of what she assumed to be roman soldiers. Her walls dissipating into the air, her dead living room now thriving with life, laid naked and immersed in the world it had found itself in. She looked back at Marcus who had fused with the couch, his ashy knees had a broken spring coming out of it. His hand had became the arm of the couch, his pupils tinted a beige color. Saliva streamed out of his dislocated mouth with feathers embedded into it. With a single blink, Sam then saw a stone pillar encase him and violently exploded outwards in all directions.

A single large piece of stone pierced through Sam's head with immense force. Her head burst like a watermelon in Marcus's point of view. Marcus could only cry and scream as he realized he could not move a muscle nor look away from the body of Samantha Borgdon. His eyelids and eye had a piece of stone lodged between it, stopping any movement from happening. The body fell to the beautiful polished white and black marble floor that had replaced the wooden floor.

As bits of Sam's brain splattered onto the beautiful floor, making a pattern of blood smeared across the floor along with the natural patterns of the black and white streaks engraved in the marble. Her body fell to the ground, her bottom teeth and bits of her jaw the only thing resembling of her face.

Marcus's phone fell out of his hands and cracked as it landed on the floor. The Jas the Healer's "be right back" music continued to play distorting and chopping, "Soy el agua que mata tu sed," accompanying the music was the natural sounds of the dungeon's critters, and cries from what Marcus could only assume to be residents, "No! No. Please," followed by a crunch of bones.

Marcus's mouth was lodged inside the stone, no sound he made escaped the stone, yet all he could do was scream.