Jane, Defender of Decura Chapter 1

The Adventure Begins

"Your lunch break was over thirty seconds ago." The wicked voice snickered through the staff room with an equal level of disdain and glee, forcing the sole person currently enjoying their break to repress a groan. "Please manage your time better Jane or I'll have to report you to Selena."

Jane looked up from the magazine she was reading, spotting the assistant manager standing in the doorway of the break room. "I still have two minutes left" she said, pointing towards the clock. It had been a rather stressful shift at Foodland today thanks to the flood of customers, and yesterday’s shift leaving extra work for her, so Jane was excited to finally take a break and rest her aching feet. Looks like she wasn’t even going to get that thanks to Myra being Myra.

"Well it's super busy out there" Myra explained, speaking with a level of superiority well above her below-average height. "So this break needs to end now.” Myra motioned Jane to rise from her chair with a turn of her head. “Come on, up you get."

Jane rolled her light blue eyes and dragged herself from the table. "Pretty sure you take more than three minutes every single day" is what she wanted to say, but wisely chose to keep it to herself. Insulting the assistant manager was not the best idea for somebody wanting to keep her job at Foodland, nor would it ease the difficulty of this shift. After putting her long black hair up in a bun, Jane left the break lounge and returned to her register, not even bothering to acknowledge Myra further despite the burning desire to give the woman’s smug face a good slap. “Just power on through Jane” she told herself.

Despite her much needed break ending sooner than expected, Jane put on a brave face and prepared to do her best to help any customer in need. However, that enthusiasm was immediately tested when the very first customer she served tried to use several coupons that had expired many months ago. When Jane tried to explain to the elderly woman that the coupons were no good, the lady exploded into a rant about how the youth of today had no respect. Despite getting called many harsh names, Jane maintained her cool and resorted to a simple but effective tactic. “I can get the manager if you’d like” she said with a calm smile, and the disgruntled old woman immediately fell silent.

Foodland’s manager was a woman named Selena Moore. Loud, abrasive, and very intimidating, Selena was not the kind of woman most people could stand up to. She just had this intense aura about her, and while Jane didn’t like her manager almost as much as Myra, she could at least respect Selena’s hard work. At least the manager acted like a manager.

Eventually the customer paid for their groceries and stomped away, Jane making sure to bid them a wonderful day before they left. Jane didn't get a chance to relax though, as she heard the abnoxious clearing of a throat the second the enraged customer left the store.

"What's the matter with you?" Myra growled, Jane turning around to find her assistant manager mere inches from her face. "You can't let a customer leave the store angry like that."

"She was using expired coupons" Jane explained, one eye twitching as she wiped the spit from her cheek. "Some of them were from last year's Christmas sale."

Myra wasn't in the mood for excuses, like always. "What if she never comes back to Foodland?" she asked in a tone that implied she didn’t want an answer. "You just lost us a customer and, in case you don't understand basic business, we need their money to pay you."

Jane had the urge to pull her pint-sized assistant manager's purple hair out, but simply apologized and promised to do better in the future. It seemed to work as Myra shook her head and left, leaving Jane to envision stuffing her assistant manager into her register. It was a soothing image, one Jane had used more than once to remain calm.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Jane spotted a regular customer exiting his car just outside the store. Well, it was more accurate to say the man was struggling to exit his car. His well advanced age and crutches certainly made the task a difficult one. Without missing a beat, Jane darted out from behind her register and rushed outside to the old man. It would leave her co-worker on the second register to serve the other customers alone, but Jane couldn’t ignore someone who clearly needed help. It wasn’t because she had something to gain by helping the old man. Jane knew it would just feel ‘wrong’ not to provide aid when she could. “Hello sir” she said, putting on the kindest smile she could. “Come for your eggs and milk again?” The old man chuckled and nodded, Jane’s presence always bringing a smile to his face. “Then let me get them for you.”

“Thank you” the old man said.

“Was there anything else?” Jane asked, and the old man nodded and handed Jane a small shopping list. “I’ll sort this out for you, sir.”

“Then I’ll meet you at the counter” the old man said, already hobbling towards the store’s front door.

“Alright, but I’ll be carrying your groceries back to your car” Jane insisted, and the old man accepted Jane’s suggestion with a chuckle.

Jane carefully marched through the small store to retrieve everything on the customer’s list and, in less than three minutes, was placing the bagged goods in the man’s boot. Bidding the old man have a wonderful day, Jane returned to her register with a sense of accomplishment flowing inside of her.

That deed kept Jane fueled for the rest of her shift, though she still struggled at times not to glance down at the clock on her register’s screen. Everyone knew doing that would only make the day seem even slower. Unfortunately for Jane, her eyes didn't seem get the memo and continued to peek from time to time. "I've still got another hour until the store closes..." she thought, holding back a sigh as she waved goodbye to yet another customer. "Can this day just end already."

"Not if you keep staring at the clock it wont" Myra growled, causing Jane's eyes to widen when she realized she'd just said that last part out loud. "Tell me something miss Lim... Do you want to keep this job?"

"Of course I do" Jane assured after spinning around to face Myra. "I need the cash for rent and-"

Myra threw her hand up, interrupting Jane. "Well it sure doesn't seem like it" she said. "You're constantly taking breaks longer than you should. You cause customers to leave the store fuming and you only seem to care about when your shift will end." Myra smirked and held out a piece of paper. "I've written a report for Selena, explaining why I think we should let you go."

Jane was stunned. Myra was... Well, she was a bitch. But would she really do something like that? Jane worked hard, harder than Myra certainly. "Please Myra, I need this job" she pleaded. "It's my mom's birthday in a few weeks and I'm so close to having enough money to get her a necklace she's always wanted."

After removing her glasses to wipe them down, Myra folded the report and placed it in her pocket. "I suppose I can overlook everything that happened today" she said. "If you do me a little favor." Before an irritated Jane could ask, Myra held up a sponge and bucket with a single glove inside. "A child has been sick behind the store. Selena told me to do it but..."

"I..." Jane hesitated for a moment as her fists trembled. So Myra was just looking to get out of doing work, again. Jane was tempted to tell Myra to go jump of a bridge, but the thought of that report kept such humorous suggestions in Jane’s mind. "Okay... I'll do it right away."

"Thanks Jane" Myra giggled, handing Jane the bucket. "I'll look after your register while your gone. Brace yourself. I think that kid had a little too much-"

Jane didn’t even wait to hear the rest, marching off with the upmost of urgency. The moment she left the store’s back door, a foul smell assaulted her nose, almost driving her back inside. Not wanting to lose her job, Jane pulled her shirt up over her nose and pressed on.

It took her a while to clean up all that vomit from the concrete, and the smell caused her stomach to churn more than once. Eventually though, Jane left the area almost completely spotless and, better still, just as her shift was coming to an end. “Thank god...” she thought. “Survived another day.”

After quickly gathering her things from her locker, Jane hurried to the door. However before she could make it out of the staff room, she was stopped when an arm blocked the doorway. "May I have a few words with you before you go Jane?" a rather imposing woman asked, her calm expression betrayed by the three scars, all of which Jane guessed came from knives, lining her face.

"S-sure Selena" answered Jane while doing her best to look happy to see her intimidating manager. "What's up?"

"Myra handed me a note earlier today explaining in great detail why I should fire you" Selena said with a disapproving frown, and Jane felt her heart skip a beat. "I know Myra likes to slightly over exaggerate things Jane, that's why all you're getting is a talking to... This time." Selena held up the same note Myra had threatened Jane with just less than an hour ago. "I looked this over. And while I’m certain it is overblown, I must insist you do better at your next shift."

"Are you kidding me right now Myra?!?" screamed Jane's mind as she nodded. "I'm sorry Selena" she said. "I promise I'll improve."

"Glad to hear it" said Selena before removing her arm from Jane's path. "See you tomorrow." Jane nodded and quickly left the store so Selena wouldn't see the rage in her eyes.

By the time Jane reached her apartment, the anger inside her had swirled up so much she tried to kicked the front door open, only to be reminded she had to unlock it first when she almost toppled backwards. “Calm down Jane” she told herself, taking controlled breaths through her nose as she retrieved her keys from her pocket.

Stepping into her humble abode, a one bedroom apartment that, while small, provided Jane with all the space she needed. It wasn’t anything amazing. But for her first home away from home, Jane felt she’d picked a good place.

After closing the door behind her, Jane dropped her purse on a nearby table and stumbled into her room, throwing herself on her bed. "What the hell is Myra's problem?!?" she thought while burying her head in her pillow to muffle her screams of frustration. "Does she have some kind of vendetta against me?" When venting into her pillow didn't help, Jane turned her gaze over to her bedside desk, a smile returning to her face when she spotted the photo of her and her parents. Both smiled back at her, and Jane thought back to the day the photo was taken.

Jane was sixteen at the time, and she’d taken her parents out to the park for a nice picnic to celebrate their twenty year anniversary. The weather had been perfect on that day, and the food Jane had prepared had been even better. She was so proud of her work that Jane didn’t even protest when her mother insisted they all take a photo together. Jane normally disdained having her photo taken even at the best of times, but that day... That day had felt different. It was almost like she knew what was going to happen two weeks later...

After having a relaxing shower to clear her mind, Jane put on a comfortable green shirt and dark green pants, grabbed a soda from her fridge and returned to her lounge room to chill in front of the television. Her apartment's wooden floor was a little chilly so Jane slipped on a pair of comfy red sneakers before sitting on her couch.

Unfortunately, the moment she sat down, Jane heard something slide through her mail slot and tap against the floor. "Mail at this time?" she thought before turning her head to see a bright purple envelop laying at the base of her front door.

Curious as to what it contained, Jane quickly retrieved the envelop and returned to her comfy couch. It had no stamp, nor return address. It was just a blank purple envelop. "It's probably one of those shiny credit cards that say they'll save you a lot of money but are really just there to rip you off" she thought while opening the mystery mail. “That or some church trying to drum up excitement.” However the only thing this envelop contained was a letter written in a very fancy text.

Congratulations Miss Jane Lim!

You have been hand picked to go on an all expenses paid trip to Decura! The land of all kinds of amazing adventures, both big and small! This offer goes out to only the most special individuals on the planet, and you Jane are one of them!

Did you know that there are so many wonders in this and many other worlds just waiting for you to find them? And don't forget about all the interesting people you could meet! All you have to do is sign below and I will take care of the rest. You don't even need to resend this letter anywhere, a signature is all I need.

This is a once in a lifetime offer Miss Jane. If you refuse it, you'll never get another chance at an adventure like this in your entire life. You have until you fall asleep tonight to decide. I'm sure you'll sign it though, otherwise you'd be such a dullard.

Signed
A friend called Kip.

Jane raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous letter. "All I have to do is sign it?" she thought while scratching her head. "How exactly would this Kip person know I even accepted?" After shaking her head and accepting the letter as some stupid prank, Jane dropped the paper on the couch next to her and turned on the television. “And Decura... Where even is that? Maybe it’s some kind of tiny country in Europe? Whatever... It doesn’t matter.”

Needing a distraction, Jane started to flick through television channels. However it seemed no matter what show Jane was watching, her attention was continually drawn to the letter as the word "dullard" repeated itself in her mind. Even after she put the letter away in a drawer, Jane couldn't help but glance over toward it every few minutes.

Eventually she couldn't even focus on the television at all and, after throwing her arms up in the air in frustration, stomped toward her drawers and pulled out the letter. "Mock me will you?!?" she growled before slamming the letter down on her table. "You want me to sign you? Fine! I'll show you I'm not a dullard!"

Fueled by all of today’s frustrations, Jane scribbled out her signature. After signing the letter, Jane slowed her breathing before returning to her couch, relieved. "That'll teach you" she snickered before turning to stick her tongue out at the letter, only to find it was nowhere in sight. "Well that's... odd."

Despite her best efforts, Jane was unable to locate the letter even after spending an hour turning her apartment upside down. A sense of dread suddenly came over her, and Jane made sure all of her doors and windows were locked. "Better keep the lights on tonight" she thought while peeking out of her bedroom’s blinds.

With the thought of somebody spying on her in the back of her mind, Jane found it hard to relax. Every small creak filled her mind with images of terrifying intruders. Suddenly her phone buzzed, almost causing Jane to jump out of her skin. Slowly and with a nervous sweat pouring down her face, she grabbed her phone, only to breath a sigh of relief when she saw it was only her mother texting her. "Probably just checking to see how I’m doing" she thought before checking the message. "Yep."

After responding with a simple "I’m fine Mom," accompanied by a smiling emoji, Jane dropped her phone and resumed watching television. Her earlier fear, while diminished, was still present, and Jane found herself occasionally eyeing both the front door, and where she had left the strange letter. However, it didn't take long for her comfy couch combined with the warm light from the television to overwhelm her and she slowly dozed off.

"Hello there."

Jane shot up so quickly she almost immediately fell back on her butt. After giving her eyes a quick rub, Jane gasped when she noticed something odd about her surroundings. Most notably was the fact that she wasn’t in her apartment anymore. In fact, she didn’t seem to be anywhere anymore. An empty white space spilled out around Jane, going on as far as she could see in all directions and leaving nothing to focus on. "What... What the...?" she mumbled, still a little groggy from her brief nap. "Where am I?"

"You're not anywhere, yet" whispered a voice, causing Jane to quickly spin around.

Standing behind her was a woman with shoulder-length orange-hair wearing rather casual purple suit. Immediately, Jane felt an intense fear overwhelm her and her body started to tremble. Despite appearing human, the woman had glowing red eyes and the sharp-toothed grin that looked like something out of a horror movie. This mystery woman looked like she was about to transform into some kind of hideous monster and lunge at the nearest victim... Jane.

Despite her brain screaming at her to run, all Jane could do was slowly back away. However the moment Jane took a step, the orange haired woman gave her a wink and pointed down.

Jane's gaze cautiously dropped down to her feet and she gasped when she noticed there was a massive vortex of blue crackling energy, easily larger than a football field, right behind her. The edges of the swirling mass barely tapping her heels, and Jane was lost as to how she didn’t notice it until now. Had it only just appeared?

"Thank you for accepting my offer" giggled the woman as she raised her right hand, red mist starting to swirl around it. "I promise you won't regret it." Before Jane could ask any questions, the woman rammed her hand into Jane's stomach, puncturing both the green shirt and the skin to give an opening for the red mist to pour through.

Despite having a hand shoved through her skin, Jane felt no pain nor bled a single drop when the woman removed her hand. "What did you do to me?" she asked while checking her stomach, only to find it and her shirt completely undamaged.

"Just a little something to help you enjoy yourself while you're visiting Decura" the woman giggled. "Have fun!"

Jane reached out to the woman, her mind burning with questions. "Wait just one second!" she shouted.

"Okay" said the orange-haired woman with a smile, and Jane breathed out a sigh of relief. "One." Before Jane could react, the woman pushed her over the edge with a single hand, sending her plummeting into the maelstrom of crackling energy below. "Bye!" the woman yelled cheerfully while waving at the screaming Jane.

Suddenly, a burning sensation rocked Jane’s body. The pain was so intense, she didn't even notice the vortex she was falling into was rapidly getting narrower and narrower. Within seconds, the once enormous vortex now appeared to be barely wide enough for Jane to fit. Searing pain continued to ravage Jane’s body, while the sides of the cyclone slammed into her from all sides. It was the most agonizing and intense moment of Jane’s life, and it lasted barely ten seconds before being replaced by dead silent darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED....