Pointless Futality - Karlnap //UNDERGOING EDITING :]

1

It was always scary. Karl had been passed around for years. Foster parent after foster parent. New faces, houses, neighbors. Nowhere he could really say felt like home.

This time was the same; new house, new neighbors, new family, simply tossed around the country like a worn deck of old playing cards. Karl was sat in the back of a small, black car, his backpack and supermarket carrier bag the only familiarity for miles lying beside him. He rested his chin on his hand, staring meaninglessly at the dusty floor.

He had barely met these people, his interactions mere glances in a dust heavy office, even then they hadn't spoken a word. At least none he could remember, all the meetings from every potential carer had merged to one in his mind and it was hard to remember who he met and when. There wasn't point in remembering anyway, he'd be leaving soon.

Karl just wanted to be at the house already; setting up a few of his things and getting to know his new 'family' a little. Instead he was stuck in a car, watching an empty water bottle roll around under the driver's seat. The male drivers nervous coughs had been the only soundtrack for nearly an hour and he'd grown quite bored of the sound, agitated as it signaled even more anxious time had passed. He huffed and sat back, picking at his nails. His nails were painted black, white and purple; almost the colours of the ace flag, exept grey. He didn't have any grey paint. He often picked at his nails when anxious, it was a habit he just couldn't break.

He watched out of the window as the car went over a bridge, the stone wall obscuring his view for a moment before it disappeared behind him and was replaced by a large open field dotted with small, cotton balled sheep, but this momentary peace was soon ripped away from him as the car turned into a driveway and stopped. The male got out and opened the door for him. Karl grabbed his backpack and carrier bag and hopped out, following the man along a path. They weren't walking for long before coming to the door of a house, Karl hadn't bothered to look around yet so took a chance to do so. The street was quite empty, none around, only a cat that sat on a brick wall, licking its paw. He was glad to see the houses didn't at all look the same, they each had their own character. But this one sure had sinister character, chipped bricks and flaked window frames, the door knocker even taped messily to the peeling paint.

The front gardens of the other houses were also decorative with roses in a few and some kind of fruit tree on most. The next door certainly seemed more inviting, hanging baskets and plants about their porch, fun colours in the flowers and a playful sign that read 'Welcome to the Nuthouse'. This house didn't have flowers or a sign, not even a simple one. The grass was short, but not mown, not even a dandelion littered the ground, only stamped out mole hills and  grey twigs.

Karl turned back around to be greeted with an open door and dark hallway. He followed the lean man inside. In the kitchen stood a tall woman, she had long, brown hair and wore jeans and a green wool jumper. She smiled at him, her taught skin stretching over her prominent, sharp cheek bones. Her eyes didn't move with her lips, it was unnerving to say the least.

"You must be Edith, right?" She spoke, placing a full mug of black coffee on the clean, granite counter.

"Karl" he mumbled, twisting his fingers through the handle of his carrier bag and looking towards the floor.

"Hm?" She said, raising her thin eyebrows, her eyes changing expression for the first time.

"Karl... I prefer... Karl," His voice grew quieter as he spoke, his head hanging lower with each word.

"That's a strange nickname for Edith? Why don't we just use your real name, much easier for us then, isn't it." She smiled again, possibly unaware of the dagger she just thrust into Karl's chest. "Please, come with me, I'll show you upstairs."

Hastily, she grabbed the carrier bag from Karl's hand, nodding for him to follow through a hall. No windows cast light into the corridor, parts of it completely pitch black, but Karl simply followed, he'd learnt better than to protest of point out flaws within his new 'home'.

"This is yours, we would give you the guest room but its a bit of a mess in there right now." She sighed, pushing open a secluded door at least 4 meters from another. It was clearly at the darkest part of the landing, hidden away in a corner out of the way. But there was a window inside, something he could be grateful for in the gloomy house. Karl thanked her, taking the bag she disregarded at the door frame back in his own hand as she once again smiled, quickly leaving for downstairs, the sound of her feet on the coarse carpet disappearing quickly.

His room was fairly meagre, consisting of a single bed, wardrobe and desk; it wasn't the largest of rooms but it was a perfect size for Karl, too much space and it would feel empty. He looked out of the open window to get a sense of where he was. This street was weird. It only had one side, there wasn't even a pavement on the other side, just trees. He'd noticed them as he'd come in. However, his window didn't face towards the trees, it faced towards the side wall of next door, directly opposite another window similar in size to Karl's. One curtain was drawn and the other was open. He saw the glow of a blue light, carelessly on despite the daylight, and the silhouette of someone moving around, the outline of things in their hands.

He didn't want to spy so turned away, dumping both bags on his bed and feeling the springiness of the mattress. There was none. The padding clearly old and worn having seen many uses throughout the years.

He was about to rustle through the carrier bag to retire a phone charger when an object flew past his face, barely missing his nose. He stepped back, looking around for the object in shock. On the bare, springless mattress lay a pen, and orange pen. His heart quickened, a small shake in his hand as he picked it up, he turned his head in the direction it flew, or rather was chucked, from, half expecting an angry glare or another, more harmful object coming his way.

He let out a breath he'd held on instinct, hoping his gaze wasn't too scared while he eyed the person from the house beside, their sweet hazel eyes bringing comfort to his racing heart. The person had come to the window to place a plant near it and had seemingly also thrown a pen through the open window.

"What?" They grinned, hands resting on the windowsill either side of a cheese plant. Karl scoffed and rolled his eyes. The gap between the houses wasn't very large, only about a metre, Karl could see the person clearly now they were both standing at the window. It was a boy who looked around his age wearing a grey jumper and black cap over his dark hair. Hazel, almost green eyes stared at him, the lids crinkled in the corners as he smiled. He had a sweet smile.

"New neighbour?" The boy asked.

Karl hesitated for a moment, his social anxiety getting the better of him as he struggled to speak to the stranger. He managed to force a mumble, but not much else.

"I'm Karl."

"Karl? That's cool, hi Karl." The boy waved and smiled. Karl smiled too, it felt good to be called Karl for once. "I'm Sap by the way." Karl thought that was a cute name. Sap. Like tree sap, always golden and pretty.  He looked to the boy again, a smile on his face and strange feeling in his stomach, like happiness, but more...happy. He liked it. He liked it a lot.

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04/01

when u just edited this part after like a year and it pains to read 🤓