Fated to Fail: War on Destiny, Magic, and other Pesky Paranormal Phenomenons

Prologue: The Boy who Cursed Fate

Screeeeeeech!!!

Crash!!!

Pant. Pant.

"IRIS! IRIS!"

Pant. Pant.

"No, no, no, no, what happened? No, I'm sorry. Don't respond to that. Just focus on staying awake."

... 

"Hey! Hey! No nodding off ok. This isn't class so you can't just sleep like you always do."

...

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, I'll-I'll call an ambulance right away, it's-it's just a small cut r-right Iris?"

Ok, ok calm down. Think of health class, you idiot. My A in that class was all for this moment. Airway, breathing, circulation. Airway, breathing, circulation. Airway, breathing, circulation. Check those first.

...

Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bum- 

Silence

...

"Stop, oh God please stop. STOP KIDDING AROUND WITH ME IRIS! Don ... don't joke around like that anymore. You win! You win ok, so please just open your eyes again! Please Iris. Open your eyes and call me an idiot for worrying."

...

Drip.

Drip.

...

The girl's eyes were closed and her every breath screamed of desperate struggle. One look at her and you could tell that she was beyond saving. She shouldn't have been able to speak at all, but by her resolve alone, she did. A voice so soft that it could have been mistaken for a thought floated gently out of her broken form. If it wasn't for the hundreds of hours I've spent hearing that voice, it would have blown past me in the chaos of the situation.

"Idiot. It wasn't your fault Falls, nobody could have prevented this, so stop blaming yourself. Humans can plan and act, but it's fate that makes the final choice. That-"

Cough! Cough!

Blood oozes from her mouth and pools to fill the cracks on her pale white lips. The blood spreads out over numerous cuts over her face and neck, painting the picture of a grotesque hourglass, symbolic of her life slipping away. "That promise ... It'll be the first one I've ever broken. Do you think I'll still be able to go to heaven Falls?"

"Why were you there, you dummy?! Only one or two people our age is supposed to die a year in our entire state! That's what we found out together, right Iris!?"

"Idiot. Can't you give a girl in her last moments a proper answer?

"How Iris? How!? How do you expect me to answer that without accepting this? ... I-I don't want to lose you. The tears fell freely now and I barely manage to get my words out between the sobs. "I don't want to stop and think Iris! I want to do your final moments justice but I ... but I can't stop the emotions! Am I selfish Iris for that!?"

"Don't worry Falls, I forgive you. I know you're selfish and that's what I love about you." She smiles and pats my head, her arms shaking from the effort. Her touch is light and lands on me like the first snowflake before a blizzard. Just like that snowflake, her touch is on me for only a moment before it melts away. "Us, we were brought together by fate, but it seems we were never fated to be together. Ha, ha, gosh I'm funny, that's a pun, right? ... Good, because I don't want my last words to be a sappy monologue, I'd rather make you laugh Falls."

I could hold it in anymore and at last, I began to scream.

"WHY IS IT YOU WHO DREW THE BLOODY STRAW! Why is it ..."

You know exactly why falls. You know why it has to be her. She's dying here because of what you are.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP," I scream towards the voice in my head.

"Falls, be a good person without me. Ok? Promise me you'll stop swearing so much."

I nod in response, unable to even give her a proper answer. Good, because if you keep going on like this, you'll end up in Hell you know. I want to see you again, so let's meet again. Let's meet again when Fate is dead."

Fate, destiny, fortune. We humans have thousands of ways to describe that phenomenon. People thousands of miles away from each other, separated by mountains and oceans have all stumbled upon this concept. It's as old as death and comes hand in hand with most cultures and religions. Why?

Why are we so obsessed with something that nobody has evidence of, over something that tells us our choices are worthless? It is an unreasonable yet fundamental part of our nature we can't seem to get rid of. Perhaps it's just a lifeline for the weak who dream of a better life. Perhaps it's an excuse for those down on their luck. Whatever the answer is, it's undeniable that Fate is a cruel existence.

I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! The idea of it fills me with an unbearable dread. I can shove it down and bury it beneath thoughts of my everyday life but it always digs its way out. No matter how I deny it, some part of my subconscious always refuses to let go. It clings there like a ghost hiding in my peripheral that always winds its way into my waking thoughts.

I am the boy blessed with the ability to break apart and understand the miracle of Fate. I am the boy who will never wonder whether he's destined for something greater. I am the exception. Despite my freedom from Fate, however, I am last of all: the boy cursed to see but never act. Fate chained me to my agony, and for that, I'll never forgive it.

This is the tale of an ordinary boy who never complained, never rebelled, and yet ended up crushed all the same. The laughter, the tears, and the resolve that forged his destiny, all of it are the bricks that built the tower he stands on. The tower he built to defy the path chosen for him.

The tower he stood on to kill Fate.

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Hey reader, thanks for deciding to read my story. If you enjoyed it, please leave a comment and vote this chapter! Updates every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday and tomorrow will be the debut of chapter 1. See ya next time! :)

Question of the chapter: How many chapters until we get to this point because this is obviously a future event? Also, will Iris be the best girl of the series when she debuts?

Leave your answers in the comments!