The Drogen's Law

I am Gav (Jimmy)

In the smithy, Jimmy removed the bar of metal from the furnace, which was glowing with the proper heat. He placed the bar on an anvil and worked, ignoring everyone else in the room. He hammered the metal bar, producing sparks with each strike. This was Jimmy's escape from reality—from pain—this was his sanctuary. The sounds of metals, the sparks like shooting stars, gave him peace. They protected him from the constant ringing in his ears, the never-ending pain in his head.

Today, however, was different. Blacksmithing couldn't protect him today. For there was a different sound ringing in his head.

[An energy source has been detected. Travel east to reach the location of the energy source. Reward: 3 HP.]

With each sound of the hammer, the voice in his mind only got even louder, giving him a splitting headache. The constant ringing notification in his mind was buzzing like bees and was so loud that every other sound in the room was like a distant whisper—an echo. It was hard to focus. Jimmy didn't stop the hammer strike. What else could he do? The notification rang again—like a gong.

[An energy source has been detected. Travel east to reach the location of the energy source. Reward: 3 HP.]

A few minutes later, someone else strolled into the smithy. Jimmy recognized the figure even though it was difficult to focus on the man. It was his father. His father was a spitting image of his twin Brother with those black eyes and hair. The only difference was father had broader shoulders, thicker muscles, and a hint of grey in his hair—most importantly, his father was cruel, unlike his brother.

Father moved across the room, inspecting the works of each apprentice blacksmith in the room, critically. Father was one of the best blacksmiths before he became a warrior after the death of his older brother. The older man nodded to the work of one of the apprentice blacksmiths with a satisfied expression and gave her a compliment. Father was a cruel person—true, however, he always gave compliments when it was due.

Father simply shook his head at the work of most of the blacksmiths, while he smiled at the others, giving them encouraging advice Jimmy couldn't hear. Father shouted at one unfortunate boy who was no older than Jimmy for forging a terrible knife and wasting precious materials.

Jimmy shivered at his father's outburst and took an involuntary step back—his hand that was holding the hammer trembled. Father could always do that to him. Jimmy Gulped. A thunderclap sounded in his mind, and for a second, the world spun around. Again, it was the same notification.

[An energy source has been detected. Travel east to reach the location of the energy source. Reward: 3 HP.]

The unfortunate boy's eyes rolled behind his head, and he collapsed in a heap. The knife forged by the boy didn't even look like a knife—it was just a twisted bar of metal without a sharp edge. Father harrumphed in disdain.

Jimmy shook his head—reheated the metal bar and continued hammering away, trying his best to ignore his father strolling across the room, looming like a mountain. However, his resilience to the system's notification that was growing ever louder telling him to reach the location of an energy source and the splitting headache it was giving him didn't last for long.

Of course, his father's presence made everything even worse. Jimmy stood there—trembling, unable to lift his hammer, unable to move a single part of his body.

Father approached him. Jimmy's heart stopped. The throbbing pain in his heart grew and the twisted knot in his stomach tightened. Jimmy wanted to run away—escape from everything. He wanted to hide and curl up into a ball. He wanted to disappear.

His body didn't listen to him. It didn't even move. Tears rolled down his cheeks.

Father clasped his shoulder, sending a jolt of pain across his shoulder. "Why have you stopped, Jimmy? Continue your work."

Jimmy didn't respond. Tears continued to flow down his cheeks.

"Strop crying like a child and do your damn job." Father snapped at him.

Jimmy flinched. He couldn't think.

"Don't ignore me, boy."

Father continued to shout at him—his fingers digging deep into Jimmy's shoulder. The only word he could hear from his father's shouts were Jimmy, Jimmy, and Jimmy. Something clicked and snapped deep inside the crevices of his mind.

Gav forced his father's hand away from his shoulders. "Stop calling me that," Gav roared. "My name isn't Jimmy. I'm Gav. My sister called me Gav. I want to go home—back to my sister—back to Eli."

His father Siman stumbled back, eyes wide. "Merciful Eronas," Simon exclaimed. "Those eyes… Those red eyes can only belong to a vampire. My son cannot be a vampire. You are not my son." Father wildly scanned the room with his mad eyes, screaming at everyone. "GET OUT!!!" Father's spittles flew everywhere as he roared.

No one wasted a second before scurrying out of the room. Jimmy himself didn't understand the words he had just said. What he understood, however, was the fact that he had just shouted at his father. What had consumed him to shout at his father—this wide-eyed, cruel creature in front of him?

Before Jimmy could even think of running away, father snatched the hammer from his hands and brought it down upon his head. The pain was less than he had expected, in contrast to his already throbbing head. Even as Jimmy tried to reorient himself as the world spun around him—his father attacked him again. Jimmy felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He screamed. Jimmy pressed his hands over the sharp wound in his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. The blood seeped through between his fingers.

Jimmy collapsed as everything blurred. The beating didn't stop and there was nothing he could do but weep. Jimmy could only scream like a butchered animal as his father broke his arm with a painful twist.