Jarvis Light: - Nick Venom (non fiction books to read TXT) 📗

“Where did he go?” Jarvis asked, looking around his destroyed apartment. His dog was nowhere in sight. “What do I do now?” He asked himself. He heard Andy coming down from his apartment, stomping down the rickety stairs. “What happened?” He heard Andy shout. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not. My life has changed,” he muttered while looking down at his hands. “What happened to me? Why is God laughing at me?”

“What do you mean?” Andy asked him before reaching the room. His eyes widened instantly as he looked at the damage of the fight. “W-Woah… what happened here?”

Jarvis shrugged his shoulders. “I wish I could tell you, Andy. I don’t understand… anything anymore.”

Andy nodded, approaching Jarvis. He laid a hand on one of his shoulders, staring deeply into his eyes. “Let’s deal with this in the morning. I have no idea how this happened, but… there’s nothing we can do to reverse it. You can sleep in my apartment and we’ll discuss the consequences of whatever happened tomorrow. How about that?” 

Jarvis nodded. “Y-Yeah… That would be perfect.”

Andy nodded, turning around. He led Jarvis to his apartment, which was a direct clone of Jarvis’s apartment. Every apartment was painted, furnished, and organized in the same exact way, leaving no space for differences.

Andy brought Jarvis to the living room portion of the apartment, which was only the size of a small bedroom. He pointed at the couch, telling Jarvis to make himself comfy, before going to a closet in his minuscule bedroom to gather blankets and an extra, somewhat clean, pillow. He brought it to Jarvis, handing them over. “Good night, Jarvis.”

Jarvis nodded, muttering a thank you. He threw the blankets and pillow on the rotting couch before turning around to face Andy. “Hey, Andy?”

Andy turned around, staring at him. “What’s up?”

“Why did you trust me without hearing an ounce of my story?” He asked.

Andy grinned. “Because I don’t have a reason not to. Sleep well, Jarvis.” Andy told him before turning around. He headed off to his bed, leaving Jarvis in the living room - who stood dumbfounded at Andy’s answer, thinking it over. Because he doesn’t have a reason not to believe me? I could be lying and… No, he knows me. We’ve been friends for a long time, so I’m sure he could tell if I was lying or not. Jarvis smiled in the direction of Andy. Thank you, Andy. Thank you so much. It looks like God is only smirking. 

***

The next morning arrived faster than Jarvis expected. He could only get a few hours of sleep before the sun woke him up. He jumped up to his feet, finding Andy awake before him. He was dressed in dark blue jeans, a blue tee-shirt, and black boots - it looked as if he was dressed to leave. 

“Good morning,” Andy said once he noticed Jarvis awake. Jarvis nodded his head in acknowledgment, slightly drowsy. “I made some eggs, want some?”

Jarvis nodded. “Thanks,” He said as he approached the dining room table - which was a coffee table used as a dining room table. He sat down at a chipped plastic chair as Andy handed him a plate of scrambled eggs. 

“It’s nothing much, but the price of eggs went down and they should be nutritious, or so I heard.” He said before sitting down opposite him. “Eat as much as you can. Don’t worry about how many eggs I have.”

Jarvis nodded as he stared at the eggs. He couldn’t spend his money on eggs with the cost of cigarettes increasing by the days. It was a luxury to him - a sight beautiful enough to nearly make him weep tears of joy. However, the sight was tainted when memories of last night’s fight re-entered his mind. He bit his lip at the memories. 

After some time devouring his food and getting a couple of more plates, Andy intertwined his fingers and stared at Jarvis. “What is your plan now?” He asked him.

Jarvis furrowed his brows. “Plan?” He questioned.

Andy nodded. “You must have an idea of what to do. Whatever happened last night was something crazy. If you’re being tracked by a gang or the mafia… will you stay here or leave?”

Jarvis bit the inner part of his cheek. “I… I can’t stay here. I have to leave.”

Andy nodded. “Then… I’m going with you.” He declared. 

Jarvis tilted his head. “Was my brain damaged yesterday or did you say that you’re going with me?”

Andy shook his head. “I had been asking around and sifting through records and… I found out that I have an actual relative. An aunt who lives in the suburbs. I planned to leave as soon as I could to meet with her. Maybe she’ll let me stay with her or… something.”

“You don’t have a plan?” Jarvis said, mocking Andy.

Andy scowled at him. “Don’t you dare use my words against me!” He joked. Jarvis stared at him, smiling. “Anyways, before I was rudely interrupted, I was talking about my aunt. I don’t know much about her aside from her name and address, but… she seems like a nice person. I do want to meet her, even if she refuses me.”

Jarvis nodded. “Have you seen your other relatives before?”

Andy smiled a sad smile. “Nope… most of them died before I was born or later in accidents. My mother was struck by a drunk driver and my father committed suicide a month later. He couldn’t live in this world without her… but he never once considered his son. He was too caught up in his grief that he blocked me out.”

“W-Woah,” Jarvis muttered. 

“Yeah… I don’t have the best life. My parents are gone and many of my relatives are either dead or missing. The only person that I know about is my aunt. I want… I need to meet with her and see if I could learn about my family. She has to have something relating to my parents or my other relatives. Maybe I have a niece or nephew in a different state or maybe my father left me a note that I never found. Even if there’s nothing there for me, I still need to meet with her. I want to die knowing that I was able to meet, at least, one of my family members. I could even meet more and get to know about my parents’ past and learn about my culture.”

Jarvis nodded. “Wow… I didn’t know this.”

Andy nodded his head, a dishonest smile on his face. “I don’t like talking about myself too much. Plus, there’s nothing much going on in my life. Unlike you, who was able to get a girlfriend, albeit a gold digger; I haven’t had much luck with women and my only friends are you and a hobo who disappeared long ago. I think he said his name is Wing-San or something.” He explained. Jarvis nodded, taking in all of the information with his mouth wide open. “Well… We should get going now before it's night. We have to go and explain to the workers what happen and try to pay for it?”

“What if we run before they catch us?” Jarvis joked.

“Well, if you want to be branded as a criminal, then go ahead. However, I want to meet my aunt face-to-face and not behind bars while asking for bail money.”

Jarvis smiled. “Well, let’s go show society that we’re still functioning.”

“Half-functioning, at least.” He joked. Both men laughed out loud before they decided to leave. Andy packed up his stuff and made sure the gas and water were off before heading downstairs. Jarvis followed him, glancing at his destroyed apartment. 

Andy ignored the apartment, reaching the front desk where a drunk employee was sleeping. “Miss?” He said, shaking the woman. 

She refused to wake at first, but a few good shakes woke her up. She stared at Andy with irritation, barking “what ‘ya want?”

“We’re turning in our keys. And-” He took out some money, getting some more from Jarvis. “-this money is to fix up damages in his apartment.”

The receptionist nodded, barely listening to him. “Sure, whatever.” She took the money, stuffing it into a drawer of her desk. She waved them off before going back to sleep. Andy stared at her, dumbfounded by her attitude. Although unprofessional, for a cheap and deteriorating hotel, it made sense for her to act like that. Who wanted to work at this hotel?

Jarvis turned away from the receptionist, walking out of the hotel. Andy followed behind him, stopping on the doorstep to bask in the warmth of the sun. “What a beautiful day.” He said out loud.

Jarvis nodded. “It feels… strange. Like we’re in the eye of the storm. Temporary peace and warmth.”

Andy patted his shoulder, walking out in front of him. “Then let’s follow the eye until we reach our destination.” He remarked. Jarvis nodded, a small smile on his face. 

“You’re right… let’s follow the eye!”

***

The two men traveled on foot to the address Andy was given. They couldn’t afford to take buses or trains, instead, walking the entirety of the trip. They watched as the scenery slowly shifted. The grays, blacks, and browns of the slums changed to blues and greens of the suburbs. There were fewer hobos and deteriorating buildings crowding the neighborhoods and fewer empty plots taking up space. It was a fresh breath of air for them, who lived in the slums for years with rarely any ambitions or motivation. However, now it was different. They had crossed into the suburbs and left the slums in the rearview mirror of their invisible car. 

Andy looked around their surroundings, glancing at the addresses of the houses they passed. “My aunt’s house should be… close?”

“Don’t tell me we’re lost,” Jarvis remarked.

Andy shook his head. “We’re not… We’re just… Yeah, we’re lost.” He gave up on making up an excuse. “Well, anyway…” He said in an attempt to change subjects. “Have you figured out how your power works?” He asked.

Jarvis had explained everything that happened to him during their couple of days of walking. Every single detail was brought out from him being kidnapped to waking up in a capsule to being attacked by a man masked in black at the hotel. Andy was surprised at what he was hearing, but he already trusted and believed Jarvis. 

“Not really,” Jarvis said as he stared at his palms. “All I know is that it comes out of my hands and I can use it as a torch. I don’t know how to control it or anything.”

Andy furrowed his brows. “Based on what you said, you escaped your capsule. Maybe you can’t use your powers because you came out early. Whatever they did to you wasn’t fully done and you are unable to control it is a symptom of it. It’s like you have defective powers.”

“Thanks for calling my powers defective.”

“You’re welcome.” Andy retorted, rolling his eyes. “Now, there has to be a way to control it. Maybe you have to… I don’t know, uh… channel it through your body or something?”

“Channel it? That would make sense, but… how do I do it? Should I sit down and try to meditate or something and see if that helps?”

Andy shrugged his shoulders. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’m just throwing out suggestions and seeing if any of them stick.”

Jarvis nodded. “I’ll try to meditate and see if it works. When we sleep tonight, I’ll do it.”

“Make sure you