Goblin Bound: The First of Many

Chapter 1: Happy New Year

3!…2!…1!!!!!

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!!!*

“Happy new year!!!”

Colourful fireworks bloomed in the night sky, drowning out the stars with colourful flints of the new year in style. loud raucous cheers resounded from the several thousands of people gathered at the city’s central square.

The excitement was palpable in the air, leaving entire families, friends and couples visibly bubbling with cheer and hope. The several sad and disturbing events of the past year seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke to be replaced by enthusiastic hope for the new year.

Kenny wasn’t one to be particularly excited by festivities, cheer and bubbling faces but he still chose to participate every single time, maybe in a bid to consciously retain his humanity.

Here he was on the balcony of his home, staring at the fireworks with a pondering look in his eyes.

Sighing to himself, he whipped out his phone to wish a couple of his friends a happy new year as usual, despite a fraction of himself wishing to wait for them to wish him first.

He’d barely opened his phone when loud cheers burst from indoor, accompanied by rushing footsteps.

“Happy new yearrrr!!!!”

His family burst through his room, quickly swarming him amidst their wild cheering. A smile couldn’t help but surface on his face as their contagious bubbly attitude swiftly drilled into him.

His mom, brother and sisters had cheerful smiles on their faces as they wished each other a happy new year. Then just as quickly as they came, they rushed downstairs, his sister urging him along as their dad was about to send some fireworks of their own flying.

“Gimme a moment, let me quickly send a message first” He laughed, shooing her off.

Breathing deeply to himself, he whipped out his phone with renewed intentions, a smile still hung on his face. His phone screen shone to life ,and he could already see a number of notifications from his friends. His smile widened, touched by their actions.

He was about to reply when his heart skipped a beat from the notification that swiftly flashed across his screen.

+1 New Message - Precious.

His fingers froze for a second before quickly opening the message, his friends could wait a bit.

He had a complicated relationship with the girl, where it was clear they both had feelings yet one was reluctant to… commit. He’d taken the risky road, and confessed his feelings and while she didn’t outright reject him, she didn’t particularly respond positively to it either.

She said she needed some time to sort out her emotions, more or less putting a snooze on the whole thing. He’d been torn between waiting, and moving on but the lack of an outright rejection made it hard to simply detach himself.

So he held on, hoping for things to somewhat change but the longer it went on, the clearer it became that he was punishing himself. So much emotions, and no outlet was a decent recipe for torture, and torture himself he did…for so long.

They’ve barely spoken in a while, and the text from her sent a spike running in his chest, he nearly held his breath as the full breadth of her message bloomed on his screen.

~~~Heyyyyy loveee

As I look back on this year, I’m reminded of the incredible impact you’ve had on my life. Our paths crossing has been one of the highlights of my year, and I’m so grateful for the love, support, and encouragement. I’m excited to see what the new year holds for us.

I just want to say thank you…thank you for being such an amazing presence in my life this year. I’m so happy I met you, and I’m grateful for the laughter, adventures, and memories we shared. You’ve made a significant impact on my life, and I’m excited to see what the new year holds for us. I cherish and care abut you so much and I’m looking forward to continuing our journey together, exploring new experiences and creating more unforgettable moments.

Thank you for being an incredible human being. I appreciate you more than words can express.

I love you. ~~~

His heart violently beat in his chest taking in those last words. He stared at his phone for a long time, dozens of thoughts flashing in his head. He would have taken it at surface level like nearly anyone that would see a message like this…but she’d used that word too often for him to interpret as something deep this time. He’d personally prefer not to use it unless he meant it but when was he ever the normal one.

His heart struggled with indecision, and unwillingness to continuously put himself in pain. She wasn’t a bad person…she simply wasn’t ready for a relationship, could be him or something else, and he wasn’t willing to put himself on pause any longer.

He sent a few stickers in response alongside a few words detailing how he felt. He let his screen fade to blank after he responded to a couple of his friends.

Shoving the message to the back of his mind, he headed out to go join his family as they lit off several fireworks in enviable cheer.

*******

Kenny’s eyes fluttered opened, stimulated by the piercing sunlight infiltrating his silent abode. He turned with a groan, unwilling to get out of bed anytime soon. He vaguely remembered they lit fireworks well into the night, enjoying the colourful lights with drinks, and cookies, stopping just a few hours before dawn.

He retreated to sleep much sooner, exchanging several messages with a certain girl, messages that left him feeling drained and despondent.

His eyes remained partially opened, a deep indifference flashing beneath. Acknowledging the futility of feigning sleep, he slowly got up to freshen himself.

It was customary to cook a large sumptuous meal for the new year, where friends and extended family members came around and enjoyed themselves. Of course he wasn’t one that particularly enjoyed the company of a large group of friends or family members. He’d resolved to read novels or play games till it was time to eat and even then he’d most likely bring it back to his room to savour.

Quickly going through the motions, he was just about done bathing when his twin brother burst into the room.

“Yooo you awake yet!” His twin yelled loudly, enough to wake him up if he were still asleep.

“Tch! You could at least knock first you brute.” Kenny muttered in a low voice, not minding the attitude of his twin. He headed for his wardrobe, sifting through to find something nice to wear.

“Hehehe like I haven’t seen all that before” His brother, Taiwo, laughed mischievously. “Anyway, just wanted to tell you food’s almost ready, and there’s a party later this evening at Samuel’s house”.

His brother was usually not much different from him, personality-wise, being quite introverted and all, but that was heavily dependent on his mood … sometimes. He usually didn’t care much for parties or heading out, but that changes quick if a girl you like is going to be at said party.

“Thanks for telling, not interested in the party. Plan to play games and read novels all day” Kenny answered neutrally.

“Ugh! You do that everyday” Taiwo retorted with a blank look. He similarly played games every now and then but not on a maniac level like his brother.

“Yeah well, I’m at home to rest and enjoy before I get thrust back into the bustle of relentless lectures and headache-inducing lecturers” Kenny continued to respond neutrally.

“Hmmm true that. Whatever floats your boat man.” Taiwo muttered as he left the room, consciously choosing not to close the door he so violently opened.

Kenny could only let out a sigh of resignation, and added it to his mental new year resolution to strangle that boy.

True to his word he spent nearly the entire day switching from reading novels to playing games after having a sumptuous breakfast all while the house was continuously crowded with people, most he couldn’t even place despite them swearing they bathed him as a kid.

Exhaustion soon set in after a couple hours of such back and forth, evident from the throbbing headache that was slowly spreading to all parts of his head.

He decided heading out to clear his head would probably do him a great deal of good, considering he’d spent the whole day indoor. He bumped into his brother heading out as well, for an entirely different reason.

Unwilling to pass up the opportunity to further convince him and also engage in some chitchat, his brother happily accompanied him for his walk. The neighbourhood was quiet but the tingle of celebration was present in the air from the bright colours to the muffled sound of music from several houses.

“So…did you ask her yet?” His brother asked out of the blue after walking in silence for a few minutes.

“Huhn?” Kenny mumbled, his brain still processing his brother’s words. It took him a while to recall that they discussed a bunch of topics two days ago, his whole romantic dilemma happening to be a part of it.

Being twin brothers, sharing more than just blood, it was very easy to get into sensitive topics and despite his brother’s outward look, he was quite the sensitive fellow inside. He could vaguely remember spouting profound stuff like he’d square up and ask her face to face what they were, and settle his heart once and for all.

“It uhmm…I decided to detach” Kenny said in an even tone, an impassive expression on his face despite the waves rocking his heart.

“Oh?” Taiwo intoned with a complex expression on his face. Sparing a side glance at his brother, he couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. Despite being twins and sharing a lot in common, the depth to which they differed made all the difference.

They continued their walk in tactical silence, him unwilling to speak much on the topic at the moment and his brother with enough emotional intelligence to know not to pry…yet.

“Will you be alright?” His brother asked just as they were about to part ways.

“I’ll be fine…eventually.” He mumbled the last word to himself as he continued on his path. Several thoughts played in his head - things he could have done differently or not done at all, things he probably should have said or not, and places he shouldn’t or should have gone.

Time faded to obscurity as he exhaustively pondered on several possible yet now impossible scenarios. The sky soon began to darken, with thick heavy clouds churning overhead.

A sharp throbbing pain in his head snapped him out of his pointless contemplation, one that grew in intensity the longer time stretched. Unwilling to walk back the distance, mostly due to the now excruciating pain, he hailed a cab back home.

He slumped on his bed in exhaustion, the throbbing in his head beginning to ripple in tumultuous waves that thrashed violently in his skull. Attributing it to probably overworking his brain, he decided to just sleep it off as that worked well with his previous cases of migraines.

Falling asleep proved quiet the hurdle as he felt himself floating between sleep and being fully conscious. He felt disconnected yet he could still vaguely hear the muffled voices of his brother when he barged into his room, mumbling something about why he was asleep so soon, and that of his siblings that occasionally passed by.

Several voices phased in and out, all while the throbbing pain continuously pulsed in his head.

Eventually he felt everything go quiet and dark, he finally fell asleep…in peace.