Where our demons hide

Chapter 2- A shocking turn of events

Trigger warnings- Swearing, electric shocks (shown), panic attack (shown), snakes (shown), violence and a poverty mention. 

After they'd been walking for about ten minutes, Adri broke the silence. "So, what's Kyrah like then?"

"Why do you want to know, Astra?" Kaiden snapped.

"I'm only interested, Lynch."

"Well, isn't it obvious? It's shit. Considering the fact that our kingdom is essentially a laughing stock."

"So what does Kyrah produce? Astra makes media content."

"What's that?" Finley asked.

"Like TV shows and magazines and...oh my god, you don't have that stuff?"

"We have TV's but we don't watch them."

"Speak for yourself, Castel," Kaiden muttered. He turned to Adrielle. "Kyrah mostly does experiments and shit like that."

"Like what?"

"Like testing inventions and side effects of medicines and things like that," Finley explained. "We learn all about the process of experimentation at school."

"Wow, you're such a nerd, Castel," Adri complained.

Kaiden smirked, "huh, isn't that the truth."

"So, you two aren't friends then?"

"Ha! No, I wouldn't be friends with a loser like him!" Kaiden replied. Finley tried not to be offended, though it was difficult.

"Then why make an alliance?" Adri asked.

"'Cause without him I'd be dead in an hour," Finley explained.

"You really think you'd even last an hour?" Kaiden questioned.

"Well, if he's the loser of your school, what are you, Lynch?" Adrielle enquired.

"He's the school's resident bad boy," Finley replied.

"Oh yeah? What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

The two boys looked at each other, remembering one of the few times that they'd interacted before the Ceremony.

Kaiden seemed to decide not to mention that incident. "Well, I did put a stink bomb inside a teacher's car once."

"Why?"

"Cars are expensive in Kyrah, and she deserved it. She didn't realise that she'd left her window down, so I went over to her car and put the stink bomb inside. She must've forgotten something, so she came back and opened her car door, just as it exploded. The look on her face was one of the best things I've ever seen."

"That was you!" Finley cried out.

"Yeah it was me," Kaiden replied, nonchalantly.

"What happened?" Adri asked. "Did she find out that it was you?"

"Yeah, some brat from the year below snitched on me," Kaiden explained. "She gave me detention for a week and forced me to clean her car to get rid of the smell."

"Wow, your teachers can make you do that?"

"As long as the principal agrees, and he hates my guts. He'll probably be delighted that I died in this thing."

Finley was surprised at Kaiden's attitude. He thought that Kaiden believed he would win. Finley wanted to believe that Kaiden could win. He was one of the most promising contestants Kyrah had had in a long time.

"Wow, bleak. You have a lot of hope don't you?" Adri said.

"Yeah, my dad doesn't have any faith in me either," Kaiden explained. "All he said when my brother and I were saying goodbye to him was....ah!"