Soul Sister

Chapter One: Sister?

It was a nice summer morning on DaVant family farm.  And Raymond Devin, nephew of farm owner Theore DaVant is on his way from the fields after a hard day’s work. The farm is quiet as the sun is setting bathing the crops in a pleasant orange glow. Raymond’s lanky twenty-two year old body makes its way towards his uncle’s farm house.

However, a few meters short of the door, he looks towards the sunset, and notices a figure on the nearby cliff. “Huh?” he tells himself, he moves towards the mystery person, as he moves closer, weaving through the fields of corn and rice, it becomes clear that it was a girl, maybe 5’3, maybe shorter. She had short hair reaching an inch or so below her shoulders, she was deathly pale and thin, almost malnourished. Upon reaching her, he stood there for a while, with an eerie sense of familiarity or deja vu, he asks “Uh, excuse me but..” as he puts his hand on her shoulder, “Are you lost?” the figure turns as her face becomes visible due to the faint afternoon sun, he freezes in shock. The feeling of familiarity was justified, her face, was just like his, she could pass of as a cousin, or a sister.

The girl’s dark blue eyes pierced through him, enticing confusion. “She couldn’t possibly be” he asked himself. The figure merely looked back at what she was staring at, He follows her gaze and sees the quaint little town, where he and his uncle go to get supplies. “Uhm, is that where you live? Do you need help getting back?” he turns only to find his would be damsel in distress was gone. The only footprints in the moist ground was his, no other tracks to be seen. This was, of course, rather weird, maybe he was just tired, it must be fatigue. He walks back to the farm house, dazed and confused.

The house was rustic and simple, a bathroom, two bedrooms and a guestroom on the second floor, with the kitchen, dining room, and living room and another bathroom on the first floor. He opens the door giving his uncle an indication because of the nice and loud creak that he has heard. “How’s the fields Ray?” Theore asks as he enter the living room to greet his nephew, the 38 year old rancher has quit his day job for the much simpler life. “Fine, something weird, but fine.” Raymond says while ascending the stairs. “Weird how?” his uncle asks back. This was when he asked the question that will change his life, along with others.

“Do I have a sister?” was his only response. It ran through his mind faster than bullet through his skull.

Theore had a worried look on his face, after thinking for a split second he says “Almost”. Raymond was visibly confused “What?”, he says expressing said confusion. “Wrong woman got pregnant” was the answer, “You remember your cousin Bianca? Last female birth in the family” Theore says while stroking his stubbled chin. “About sixteen years ago, that’s how old she is right?” “And you forget how old your niece is? Harsh” Raymond snaps, his uncle was a bit weird, but otherwise really protective of him. “You know I have bad memory Jonathan” “Har har really funny” Ray’s words trailing behind him, as he climbs up the alarmingly creaky stairs. “Jesus Christ I swear I’ll fall into a pit under here” he whispers under his breath.

His room was the guest room of course, the second bedroom was for his cousin Eric who’s still out on the field, being a city guy hasn’t really helped with his situation, and neither has his condition. However, the difficult work on the farm was a nice dose of fresh air from college life and trying to get a job and such. But there was one thing stuck on his mind, who was that girl, he doesn’t have sister, but she looked so real and so, familiar he felt weird inside, questioning his sanity aside, he grabbed a book and plopped on his bed, it was his passion, just reading.

A few hours pass and Theore knocks on the door, Ray opens the door and sees his uncle leaning on the wall “Hey Ray” he greets Raymond, with a different than his usual tone. “You’re going back in a few weeks right?” Raymond quite sadly answers “Yeah, I gotta go back and find a job after all, no sense wasting a degree”  “Well, we’ll miss you, and now that you mention it, I miss the city too, maybe I’ll drop by sometimes” was his uncle’s thoughtful response “Hehe, mom’ll be psyched” “She sure will be, dinner’s ready by the way”

And so dinner hijinks ensue. After brushing his teeth and his oh so average nighttime things to do. He plops down on a way too stiff bed and stares at the ceiling. His mind is still on that girl on the fields, and the town, from that spot you can barely see the taller buildings, the only thing you can see from that spot was…
                “A hospital!” he said to himself. “Maybe, just maybe, wait, what the hell is she anyway?” he once again managed to get confused because of himself this time. “Was that a ghost? Jesus.” He stands to turn of the light, since he doesn’t have a lamp. “I think I’ll go there tomorrow, just, just to see.” He says closing his eyes. “Just to see who she really is” his brain is filled with what she could have been, a ghost? Impossible, surely those don’t exist? A hallucination? He hasn’t been doing drugs.. lately, nor has he ever. It will have to do with a normal girl for now, until he will find out tomorrow, “Or whenever I decide to just forget about it, but it’s just too real” he thinks. As his mind falls to unconsciousness and until he wakes up the next morning, she would be the only thing he’ll be thinking of.

The next day, he wakes up rather early.  Walking or rather limping to the bathroom, passing his already dressed cousin who greets him with a hearty “Well you’re up early, ain’t you” “Shut the hell up Eric” “Whoa grumpy Raymond, what’s the matter?” “Weird dream” “How weird?” Eric asks, regretting it as soon as the words were uttered.

The explanation taking up fifty thousand words, involved the following : a chicken, a martini, a woman throwing coffee, a cat, Alabama, and apparently, jumping off the Arc de Triumph with a parachute made of chicken skins while wearing skis and a Viking helmet and then landing in a kiddie pool, while eating a chocolate bunny.

“Shit man, your subconscious is fucked up beyond repair” was Eric’s, totally justified response. “Yeah I should NEVER take drugs, whatever happens when my subconscious and audio-visual cortex meets will be catastrophic.” Ray answers, and upon realizing that they made it to the dining room during the explanation, decides to sit down. “Grill me a cheese bro” he “asks” “Dude do it yourself” was Eric’s “polite response” “Hey I did breakfast yesterday, the rules clearly state that a bro shall not make breakfast two days in a row with the exception of holidays or when it is a full moon on a third Thursday of the month” Raymond explains, the so called “House Rules” “Man I hate that rule, but whatever, cheddar?” “American, we have slices in the fridge” and after discussing usual twenty year old things and the witty banter between cousins, they stand to leave. And then Theore walks in

“Mornin’ Dad”

“G’mornin uncle”

“Morning kids, how’ll you spend your days off?” he asks the two. Eric’s answer was “I’ am gonna work on my bike, thing’s still broken” with an approving nod, Theore says “Good, and you?” he asks Raymond “Can I go to town?” “Hmm?” was the inquisitive response “Can I?” “Sure” the affirmation was music to his ears. And so he runs up the stairs to his room to get changed to his travelling clothes and after running out the door, stops to grab the wallet he left behind in his rush. “Get me a spare chain!” yells Eric from the garage. “Sure, sure!” he snaps back “You know what kind?” Eric yells again “Same as mine yeah yeah!” and so off he goes. On a small adventure of his own.

The trip was taking so long, for him anyway, it was too uneventful to pass quickly. After arriving at the town entrance he walks around trying to find out what we was supposed to do. After a few minutes of aimless wandering, he finds himself on the town plaza. He looks towards the farm and sees the old swing set he used to play in at the farm. However there was something off, there she was again. Swinging to the wind. This was the only spot you can see the farm, the spot she was staring at, this was special to her. He looks around to see what’s so special about this place. But when he looks back, the girl was gone. After this encounter, he looks around once again, and then he remembers, he was near the hospital.

He walks toward it and as if some supernatural force beckoned him, he goes in. The clerk wasn’t  there, but there was another nurse. She was a blonde woman, in her early twenties or so he thinks. “Uhh excuse me miss?” “Hmm?” “Can I ask about births?” “Oh surely” she steps behind the desk. And  asks “What year?” he replies “About 15 to 17 years ago?” She flips through the record books up until the last page. “Oh dear” she says as she reaches the last page. “We don’t have records that far, I’ am sorry”

“Oh” was the disappointed reply “Just out of curiosity sir, why do you want records?” “Uhhm, this might sound weird but, I was a girl yesterday, and she, well, vanished and she kind of looks like me so I figured she might be my sister or something” “Oh my, that sure sounds exciting, maybe she’s a ghost?” she asks, but Raymond responds “I thought that too, but I don’t think so, still thanks miss.. uhh..” “Serena” she answers, “Oh, thanks Miss Serena, I’ am Raymond” he says as he leaves through the front door. “Goodbye” Says Serena. “Wait!” she exclaims, and he turns to face her “I think they have more detailed records at another hospital” she gives him the directions and say good bye once again

As soon as Raymond was gone, Serena’s face changed from happy to curious. “A memento, that guy must have a strong connection with her”. As she steps out of the desk eventually to the stairs and the balcony. She spots Raymond on his way back to the farm. “Such a sweet kid” she says leaning on the bars. “It’s about time I put her body to good use” As she stares into the bright blue sky, she  closes her eyes and swears her oath, to help that one kid with a sister.

Raymond is walking back towards the farm, he checks his phone only to see that it’s pretty early. But if he walks home it’ll be too late for lunch. So he heads back and goes to eat lunch. After arriving in a nice street side restaurant, he orders and grabs his food and heads for a table outside, after a few moments, he thinks “Am I willing to go there just for this? This is a bit silly, but she, she seemed so sad, I wonder…” As he bites into his food like a mongoose, “I wonder what it would have been like” again taking a bite and leaning on his arm “To grow up with her” his mind is filled with various sibling activities and his brotherly instinct automatically jumped to taking her to her prom and threatening her date. He snaps out upon realizing he was still hungry and ordering another. “Could’ve been nice” he says. “It could have been quite fun” he thinks, “Really fun” he leans back after finishing his food and closes his eyes “I guess I’ am going to have to find out” he stands and walks out into the street.

Deciding to stay a little more, he walks around a little, appreciating the nice change of scenery from his trip that he’s doing for a change of scenery.  After a couple minutes worth of walking, he decides to go home, but upon remembering his cousin’s “polite request” he goes to the hardware store to buy the chain required for Eric’s bike. “This was not as cheap as I thought it would be” clutching his recently purchased item in hand.

The sun was still up, when he decides to finally go home for real this time. The walk was nicer and more pleasant this time around. The sun was not nearly as hot, and the wind was nice. And this gave him time to think, after what seemed like hours of walking, he finally realizes that he was home. Entering through the garage pass their old truck and seeing his cousin messing around with his bike, decided to greet him with a heavy metal object to the back. “Here’s your shit” he says “Jesus H. Christ, that hurt like a motherfucker, what the hell?” “That shit’s expensive!” he exclaims quite angrily “It’s not like I won’t pay you back!” was the answer.  “Geez fine” Raymond shouts while making his way to the house proper.

Plopping down on the sofa, which is way to fluffy for his taste. And thinks once more, it surprised him on how much thought he has put into this decision, he was always a “What happens, happens” guy. His thinking session was ended early by his uncle arriving from the fields. “Hey Uncle” he greets Theore. “Hey sonny, what is it?” he answers “Can I…” “Yes?” “Can I go on an overnight trip to the city?” he finally says. “Well” his uncle answers “You have a few weeks to go, and going on a trip might be a good idea for you, it would be a wholesome activity for you” “That a yes?” was Raymond’s confused response “*sigh* yes it’s a yes” Theore confirms “Score!” Raymond runs up his room to grab what he thinks is enough for an overnight trip to the city.

“It doesn’t have to be just one night you know” Theore says while he creepily appears on Raymond’s doorway “Hmm?” “Go on adventure Raymond, it will be a nice change of pace for you” he says “Really?” Ray asks, could he go on a journey that will change his life?

“Sure” the words of confirmation were music to Ray’s ears, the sense of adventure filled him up, he packed more clothes and grabbed most of his money. “Bye uncle!” he screams as he runs down the creaky stairs once more. And as fast as he came in he ran out the door, passing his cousin with his now fixed bike “Bye douche” he says “Yoh what” was Eric’s answer, while visible confused “Uhh, bye?” he follows up.

And so Raymond runs at breakneck speed, first through the town, saying goodbye to some of the people he knows there. Now he’s on his journey. That will change his life, like he said, but not always for the best. As he steps out the town borders into a small unpaved path towards the city, he had a sense of fulfillment run through his body.  “This was the life” he says to himself.

However, not everyone is happy with this, in the brushes hid a shadowy figure, vaguely human in form with piercing red eyes glowing in the shadows of the trees and grass. In his hand was shank, a large shard of glass with a bit of cloth wrapped around it to serve as a handle. In the creature has an intent to kill. But for now, he was watching. He was guarding.

A couple of hours later, the sun was starting to set and city was in sight. Raymond tightens his grip on his bag and takes a deep breath. He takes another step and another until he’s back to a full jog. But, there’s a weird feeling, a sense of danger. And so he stops to look around, a shaking in the bushes a ruffle in the trees. His eyes dart back and forth between the sounds until finally the sounds stop, he knows, he stares at the rather large patch or brush. “I know you’re in that brush!” he challenges the thing “Or whatever the hell you are. Kitty? Puppy? Wolf?” he exclaims

“GRAHHHHHHH” the figure exploded into action, dashing towards Raymond, shank in hand. His swift downward slice was easily dodged, Raymond backsteps to get out of his shanks range. “The hell?” he shouts while assuming a defensive pose with his arms out. Raymond drops his bag for more mobility and prepares to dodge another attack, he was near a cliff and he can easily push him off. “DIE!” screamed the figure. Charging once again Raymond seizes him by the arm, but his assailant easily breaks free. “Whoa whoa whoa bitch!” Raymond shouts. The attacker grabs him by the shoulder and pushes him down to the rough road. “Shit” he had to get up, “I have to fight back somehow”, he scrambles for a weapon “Come on! A rock, a stick, anything!” his mind is racing faster than his hands.

“Get the hell off my nephew” a loud voice emanating from the trees and then a load distinctive shotgun blast is heard. The attacker runs off jumping off the cliff and landing on the hard ground below. Emerging from the trees is none other than Theore. “Sup pops” Raymond greets his uncle “That’s it? You nearly died here” was his uncle’s angry response. “The hell was that guy’s problem?” “Probably a mugger, how are you so calm about this?!?” Theore angrily exclaims, Raymond dusts himself off “I’ am more concerned with how that guy survived that fall” “He did a roll, I thought you knew parkour” “Well geez it’s not like I had a nice view of him”

As the two move closer to the edge they spot the figure running off “It’s dangerous out here Roy” said Theore “One mugger! That’s it!” Theore walks back the way he came and reaches in to his brown coat. He pulls out a small suitcase-like box, roughly the size of a book and as thick as a medium-length novel. “Here” he says, tossing the case to Raymond “This’ll help” he adds. Ray then opens the case and inside sees a handgun and some extra magazines “A Glock?” he says while examining it. “A compensated Glock 17 with fixed night sights.” He says “I thought you would know” Raymond thoroughly inspects his new firearm. “This ain’t necessary you know” Raymond says breaking the brief silence.

“Oh it is” Theore answers examining his own weapon a German Gebrüder Merkel Drilling combination gun. Engraved on one side is “Darius - Protector” and on the other, “NETHER”

“It really is dangerous to go alone in these parts” he then adds “You should be able to use that easily enough” ”I’ am not that much of a wimp, why the compensator?” Theore simply walks away, leaving Raymond behind. “It’s for your own good Raymond” and continues to walk away. Raymond tucks his gun into his bag and turns around to continue his journey.

“Reavers” Theore whispers to himself, then adds “This is not right, there’s something wrong” as he turns to look at Raymond disappearing into the setting sun “I don’t know if it’s the right time to give an old friend a call” he says under his breath.

“Damn” Raymond says to no one in particular “What the hell was that about?!?” he sighs and brushes it off, feeling secure with a glock in his bag he presses on. The city was within his sights, it’s so close that he can probably shoot someone at that distance. A few minutes later he’s within the city. The place seemed rustic and a bit old.

He went to rest a bit on a park bench, there was something off, there where tiny little wisps of smoke flying around. It was wonderful, tiny colorful little buggers. He didn’t know what the hell it was “What the hell are these things?!?” he asks himself. “Must be those Northern Lights things, must be!” he mumbles to himself. Then he went on to a store to buy some snacks, then he wanders off.

After a bit of wandering the sun has nearly set, Raymond finds himself near the hospital. It was quiet and eerie. There were barely any people the dark haired nurse behind the desk actually looked bored to him.  “Excuse me but…” “Yes?” “Can I ask about birth records?” “Oh sure, follow me” After a few moments they were in the records room

“How long ago sir?” she asks “About fifteen to sixteen I guess” the nurse pulls out a rather large binder “Here you go sir”. Raymond takes the large binder and sits on one of the tables in the library styled records room. Flipping through each and every page, through all the births, after sifting through thousands of names. He found nothing. After putting it back in its place, he heads out.

“Did you find it sir?” asked the nurse “Sadly no.” he says “Uhmm sir, if you really want  to find records, there’s a train for the city that has a census building” “Oh!” his eyes perk up towards her “Really? What time does it leave?” he rushes up to the desk with sparks of hope in his eyes “Err, near midnight” said the slightly frightened nurse “Oh my god thanks!” he says and runs off, as quickly as he arrived, he was gone.

He was gone, the nurse was confused on why a young man would be so interested in birth records. “Wow, such a weird boy” she says, her eyes then swipe sideways to the door that’s creaking open, it was another nurse, slim and quick, she makes her way towards the front desk and leans on it, “What weird boy?” she asks, brushing her shoulder-length blonde hair “Oh just some kid looking through birth records” was the answer, the blonde nurse scoffs and flutter her lashes, “Oh that’s probably just some boy looking for someone” The nurse is pushed of the desk by the other “Yeah yeah, probably, get off the desk” Now on her feet, she says “Sure, whatever” her eyes now on the wide open hospital doors, into the dark night, following the vaguely visible figure running towards the train station. She says nothing, but she grins.

“I got a few hours” Raymond says to himself running along the sidewalk while checking his phone. “I need to get some supplies!” he follows up while immediately turning, “There’s a store!” The doors open as he gets by and he enters the convenience store. He shuffles through the store shelves picking up toothbrushes and other toiletries. “Who knew there’s be a convenience store in such a rural town?” he also packs his bags with as much junk food and softdrinks possible. Although most of his luggage was filled with clothes, there was a surprising amount of barbeque flavored chips that managed to fit.

“Wow, food and a toothbrush” said the guy on the check-out counter “Going on a trip?” “Haha, yeah, on an adventure! That kinda made me sound like a kid didn’t it?” Raymond replies “It kinda did, nice reference, but you’re a bit tall” after the small talk and the payment of goods, Raymond makes his way out of the store, and continues towards the station.

“A couple hours more” Raymond says, as he sits in a park bench, the dark sky was shining with brilliant diamonds, Ray leans back to stare at the shimmering wonders above. “Wow, this is great!” his vision is dragged back down when he remembers the glock in his bag. “Wow, uncle must really think I’ll get in trouble again” he thinks, examines the pistol once more, he puts it up to his face, looking through the sights “Son of a gun, it does have night sights” between the three glowing dots he saw another shimmer. “What the-” he jumps sideways narrowly avoiding a kitchen knife. He turns off the safety and aims at his attacker “You!” he shouts, it was the same one as earlier, still brandishing his shank, along with a much larger machete “GRAHHH” it shouts Raymond hesitates for a split second, he does a roll to the side, dodging the creatures swing. “Damnit” he says, as his body stands up time seems to slow down, pumping with adrenaline and caffeine, he sets the creature’s head squarely between the green dots. And pulls the trigger, however the assailant only seemed shaken, another , and another and another shot, it dissipates into black mist.

 Raymond is shaken, sweating nervously, as he removes the magazine from his smoking pistol, “Four bullets” he says, between pants and gasps for air “four bullets in the head was what it took, God, wow, the hell?” he grabs the figures machete, “It’s real” he mumbles “The fuck man?” he adds swinging the attacker’s weapon. Walking back to his seat and bag, he sits down and puts his hands on his head. “What the hell is going on here” his mind is addled and his body is shocked. “Argh!” he shouts in frustration

He stares into the night sky, trying to collect his thoughts. And there he saw it again. Tiny, colorful wisps of smoke and light. Playful little things “What the-” he says, “These things look real” he adds while holding one in his hand. The blue-greenish little wisp was playing in his cupped hands “Hehe. Cute little thing.” The wisp flies near his face, touching his nose “Hey!” the thing glides around him and eventually landing on his head “I’ll call you Danica!” his mind now clear, forgetting the attack just moments earlier. Danica leaps from his head and flies away. “Heeeeey!” he screams, Raymond picks up his bag and runs after her. “Where are you going?” His eyes fixed on his new companion he didn’t even realize he was already at the station. “Ow” he shouts, as he hits someone. “Son of a bi-”

“Hello sir” said the train attendant, whom is currently dressed more like a bellboy rather than a train attendant. “Uhh, hello?” Raymond responds in his confusion. The train station was very gothic, with wrought iron lamp post lining the brick-laden station that looks vaguely European. “Sir Devin, I presume?” asks the mysterious stranger “Ye-yes, that’s me” Raymond answers nervously “Well sir” said the mysterious attendant “You are a bit late for your reservation”

“Reservation?” asks Raymond “I have a reservation?” he follows up “Yes sir” answered the spooky attendant “Follow me sir, let us get you to your seat, we do not like it when guest are late for their appointments” as his new friend picks up his bags and heads for the train, stopping by the desk. “It’s Mister Devin” he says, the lady behind the counter hands him a ticket. “Here you go sir” the attendant says in his somewhat gravelly voice.

The ticket was bronze in color and particularly thick, almost as if two or three regular tickets were glued together. Engraved eloquently in gold foil mas “Mr. Devin” underneath it, as is written almost as well written was “Seat 108” “Woah, this is some fancy-ass shit” he thinks to himself. “This way Sir Devin” his guide beckons him to follow “Here is your luggage” he adds, pointing to a rather large leather suitcase. “The fu-, That’s mine!?” “Indeed sir”

Raymond walks up to the suitcase resting neatly on a counter. On the handle is a tag, labeled only with, once again, “Mr. Devin”, it was a dark brown leather with bronze accents, with the exception of the four-digit combination lock which was either gold or gold plated. “Empty” Raymond says, as he shakes the heavy case to hear what’s inside. “This way sir” his guide says again. “The train leaves in a few minutes, we would appreciate if you were to sit on your proper seat sir.” “Oh, of course” he answers, making his way towards the train.

“One ticket please” says the blonde woman, in the blue blouse with bell sleeves trailing behind “Where to ma’am?” she leans on the counter and says “Round trip” she says twirling her finger “The train is one way ma’am, it just changes directions at a turntable” “Awwww” she pouts, shifting her weight to her other side, making her blonde hair sway, “One to the end then” she says disappointingly. The clerk opens a binder, flipping through pages and stopping abruptly. Pulling out a ticket once again. This time it’s Silver in color but the same size, emblazoned on the front in gold foil is “Ms. Mattea” beneath it is “Seat 41” “Thanks!” She says sauntering away “Ma’am your luggage?” she turns with her skirt and hair fluttering in the wind “I got it!” she says, walking past several other people, she picks up her small briefcase, she sits on a bench and puts it on her lap, and starts humming an old Saturday morning cartoon song while swaying her head sideways to the tune. “Let’s see eighteen eighteen” she enters those numbers and the lock clicks open. “What do we have here?” she whispers “Hmm, clothes and toiletries, my old things, and…” her voice seems to disappear as soon as she saw it.

A small silver lighter. It was generic and indistinct, but this one seemed important, she picks it up with great care. She flicks it open and a small flame emanates from it, she stares into the flame her eyes blank. Her mind however, goes back, into the darkness that she had already escaped. “Ahh!” she yells, dropping the lighter and almost dropping the suitcase. “No..” she says, gasping for air “That’s over” she adds, covering herself with her arms, still panting. “Over…” she says again

“There we go” says Raymond, as he sits down on his seat, which oddly enough, was more of a room. “So now what?” he says, in the corner of his eye was the briefcase “Hmm, this thing, heyurp” he says as he hoists the large briefcase onto his lap. “Let’s see here, zero, nine, one, seven?” those were the numbers on the case “What the hell does that mean zero nine one seven” zero- nine- one- seven that echoed inside his head over and over. “Let’s do the classic maneuver! Zero -zero- zero- zero” *click* “The fuck?” the hinges creak open and a small layer of dust is scattered into the air, “Seriously? Wow.”

“THE INSIDER” was the text on the only thing inside, “A newspaper? And whoa, dated today. The fuck?” he flips through the pages like a guy would flip through birth records. “Hmmm, seems like it was a boring day” he says while going through several articles tackling such small-talk worthy things such as “Stolen bike” and “School Prom Ends In Tragedy” “Jesus” he says as he looks out the window, the midnight sky is dark but still lively. The twinkling stars, the wisp of color.

“Danica!” Raymond shouts to the teal colored wisp out his window, he opens said window and grabs her “What are you doing trying to keep up with a train?” he says to her “You can stay in here!” he adds while closing the window with his other hand. Danica bounds around the cabin, and lands on Raymond’s head. “You stay there you!” he says playfully “Read the paper with me Danica” he says, he continue reading the seemingly boring newspaper. “What a boring town ain’t it Danica?”

He was far too engrossed in his boring but still somehow entertaining paper to notice the blonde woman who waved hello, nor the several other people who walked past him. He didn’t bother, what does bother him, however, was how long the trip was taking. There was nothing to do but read the paper, and he was bored out of his mind. “Oh Jesus, there’s absolutely nothing interesting in thi- ohhh!” he says, finally spotting an interesting article “’Robbery by Geniuses’ huh?” after reading the entirety of the article. He was still bored. He then decides to pass the time with a very long song.

“Ninety – nine bottles of beer on the wall” sings Raymond, while the train goes on, continually chugging along the old train tracks. No station in sight, nothing but a dark, dray and barren landscape that he never thought would appear so close to their fertile farm. The ground was very similar to a dried up savannah, dull, brown, cracked earth with very sparse vegetation. It was a pretty depressing sight.

“Eighty – seven bottles of beer on the wall” echoes across the cabin , he looks out the door, seeing the very well dressed people passing his door, and once the beverage trolley rolls up, he gets a cheap sandwich and some cheaper coffee. “It’s important to get at least a lettuce in your diet Danica” Danica, not having any visible emotions, simply hops up, while still on Raymond’s head, causing a small but still audible *thump*

“Sixty – one bottles of beer on the wall” once again, Raymond observes the train, leaving his cabin to explore the rest of it. The train had a luxurious red carpet with orange wallpaper. The bright lamps that lined the walls lit the train in a bright orange glow, there was a feeling of being in a whole other time. The train resembled one of the old steam engines, but more luxurious. The other passengers, although not numerous, were rather over dressed for a simple train ride. Feeling incredibly out of place in his simple black shirt, he goes back to his cabin, donning a simple brown coat. And being greeted by an overly hyper wisp, only calming down once Raymond let her on his head once more.

“Thirty – two bottles of beer on th-” he was abruptly stopped by the train suddenly losing speed. “Aww fuck” he says as he hits the window out of shock, shocking him once more. As the train is slowly grinding into a halt “Finally” says Raymond, a chauffeur appears and tells him “The train will arrive at the station shortly, please gather your belongings” “Oh, all right” he answers

He fold all his clothes and stacks them properly on one side of the suitcase, along with his rolled up bag. The surprising amount of barbeque flavored chips that fit in said bag now has even more room. And on top of the organized mess is the glock, his only form of defense, laying on top of a bunch of clothes next to the extra magazines. Raymond sighs heavily.

Raymond exits the train, with the bright light nearly blinding him. The station looks even more gothic than the previous one. People few and far between letting Raymond see the magnificent station. The floor was lined with yellow tiles and the entire station was enormous, being lit by crystal panes lit from the inside by shining globes, all atop exquisitely carved posts of wrought iron. The counter tops were white marble with gold finish. And the staff wore black and white uniforms, simple yet elegant.

Among the other passengers was a well -dressed man in a trench coat and hat. A hulk of a man, obviously standing over six feet. “Oh well what do we have here?” says the man, “He’s all grown up” he adds. He then proceeds to pull out his wallet from his coat, revealing a his firearm of choice, a Ruger SP101. He flicks open the wallet and flips through the several flaps, finally locating a calling card. “I guess it’s time to give an old friend a call.” As he removes the card and closes his wallet, returning it to his coat pocket, the same pocket bore a word, a logo of sorts.  A single word in all caps. INSIDE.

Another passenger, a blonde woman happily side stepping through the thinly spread crowd. “Excuse me, pardon me, coming through” she says gleefully. Skipping across the floor and arriving near the exit and desks, she stops and leans on the wall. Watching the crowd, picking them out one by one until she has found him.

“You have yet to arrive sir” says the attendant, mysteriously appearing behind Raymond, “Whoa, who what, the fu-” was the weirdly jumbled up mess of words that escaped Raymond’s mouth. “There is another train you must board in order for you to arrive at your destination” “Fucking seriously?” Raymond exclaims in frustration “I’ am afraid so sir” says the attendant, gesturing to the many trains on the station, he says “The train labeled Phantom – 13 will lead you to your destination”. Raymond does a quick scan to locate it “Just your ticket at the door sir” he adds. Raymond stares in awe as more trains stream in a systemized manner.

“Ma’am do you wish for some assis-” another attendant’s attempt at a sentence was a failure for the blonde woman she was speaking to interrupted her “I know what I’ am doing, please don’t mind me” “Oh, my apologies ma’am please by all means, excuse me and proceed” says the chauffeur “Thank you” she replies. She then walks across the station to the trains.

“Hello sir” asks yet another attendant, of course the amount of personnel was appropriate for the size of the station, the man in the coat simply replies “Good day” “Your usual destination sir?” asks the attendant “But of course!” “For business sir? Or pleasure this time?” the chauffeur asks what seems to be one too many questions “A little bit of both this time around” he answers with a grin. He pulls out a mobile phones and makes a call, he walks toward the train, phone held up to his ear, with a smile on his face.

“Train Phantom – 12 is now departing, the next train, Phantom - 13, will be leaving soon, please finish all activities as soon as possible” said the voice on the intercom.

“Hey! That’s my ride, hells yeah!” Says Raymond, rather sick of being in a station. And being bored out of his mind

“Oh dear, this is my train” says the blonde woman, walking towards the train, swinging her arms to the breeze.

“Finally” the man in the trench coat exclaims, after his call was finished, he only needed to get back.

The train doors open with a flash of light from the lamps within, and the passengers file in a line. Though there is less people the line was still considerably long. “Oh God not a line” says Raymond. As he falls in line to get to his ticket.

“Hello Mr. Devin” says the ticket man “Ticket please?” he asks “Oh yeah, here you go.” Raymond answers. “Ahh yes, you are cleared, please enjoy the trip” he says. Raymond enters the train, which resembles more like a large limousine. There were no cabins near the door, but rather, a posh café looking lounge. With sofas and tables “Holy shit” says Raymond, “This train looks way more roomy on the inside, than it looks like from outside”

“Let’s see here, one o’ eight, one o’ eight.. hmmmm” Raymond says having trouble finding his seat “One o’ four, one o’ five, one o’ six, one o’ seven aaaaaannnnnnd one o’ eight! Finally!” he yells. Opening the door, he did not expect what seems to be a small room, rather than a cabin. “Son of a fuuuuuuck!” he exclaims “Wooooo!” he throws his luggage on the chair next to a desk, then jumping on the bed “Shieeeet! And I didn’t even pay for this!” As he feels a slight tugging on his coat, he remembers “Oh! Sorry Danica” he says while letting his little companion out.

“Okay now let’s see here” he says, examining his temporary new abode. It vaguely looks or rather resembles a modern apartment, white and black in design, with modern looking furniture. “Whoa” he says, “This is amazing!”  he says “Is that a router?!”

“Let’s see here, room forty one” says the blonde, “thirty two, thirty three, thirty four, thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight, thirty nine, forty, forty one, forty tw- wait” she says, doubling back. She holds the doorknob and twists, with a loud audible click. “Ahh, so cozy” she says , the nice wooden cabin was all she needed after all this “There you go” she whispers as she lets down her luggage. And clicks it open. “Time to get dressed properly!” As  she removes her unfit for travel clothes, for something much more appropriate. Then there’s a knock on the door. “Oh jeez not now!”

“Excuse me, Miss Mattea? Is it?” says the man outside. “Err, hold on” says Mattea, Desperate get at least SOMETHING on “Uhh yes?” she says peeking her head out her open door, seeing a large man in a trench coat, she has to look up. “Hello Miss Mattea, you seem to have dropped this outside your door.” The man holds out a small purse “Umm, yes that is mine, thank you, uhh mister?” “Mr. Blanc” “Uhh thanks Mister Blanc” her face slowly becoming a deep shade of pink. “Good bye have a nice trip” she says, blisteringly fast then shutting the door even faster. “Uhh, you’re welcome?” says the man.

“Oh well, that was unusual, time to get to my room then.” Says the so called Mr. Blanc “Let’s see, room sixty six.” After a bit of walking he was near “Sixty three, sixty four, sixty five, sixty six, here we go” gripping the bronze handle, he opens the door. The minimalistic room with white walls and a single black bed. Plus a desk. “This will do nicely.”

“Internet access bitches” says Raymond “This will do train, this will do” he adds. However, he spots a bookshelf, “Oh hells yeah” he says. Skimming through the many books, trying to find one of interest. “Hey, this one seems nice! ‘Spectre‘ a ghost story, seems legit” and so he removes it from its place and sits on the desk. “This is uncomfortable” so he gets up and tries the bed “This is too comfortable” he says. “Maybe the lounge thing?” and so he walks up to try the lounge thing.

“This is as good place as any I guess” he says, he sits down and flips through the book, after ordering a coffee, he starts reading rather quickly. Unknowingly, he starts reading out loud “He grips his weapon tightly, the abomination sits in the shadows as he-” “Hey there” says a blonde woman in a blue sweater. “Nice book?” she adds “Uhh yeah” “Mind if I take a seat?” “No, not at all” she sits down right across from him. “Your name?” she says as she leans on the table with one hand on her chin and one on the table. “Raymond, Raymond Devin” Raymond answers, being twenty two, he does have experience. “And what can I call you?” He asks “Mattea, just call me that” she says “Mysterious aren’t we?” says Raymond.

“I kind of figured you were into that, reading a book and all” she says “And it’s never a good idea to give stranger your full name, which I didn’t ask for.” she adds rather playfully “God damnit” Raymond shouts Mattea giggles and says “So now that that’s out of the way, how’s the book?”

“Well, only the first two chapters seemed to be planned while the rest is poorly constructed, the characters are the only thing fleshed out while the story itself can get pretty vague, the paranormal part of the story remains unexplained as of yet and I’ am already a good chunk into it”

Wait….

Ignoring that, he continues “And there’s this forced romance that’s badly written and very corny.” “Wow, sounds somewhat familiar” answers his new companion “Well if you think it’s that bad, why not just put it down?” she then asks “Well It’s still interesting, and I’d rather read something interesting and bad, rather than something good but boring.” “You know you are absolutely going to kill yourself with that mentality.” She says gesturing with her hands “Well if I didn’t like interesting things, I wouldn’t be talking to you now would I?”

“Oh yeah I still got it, wait does that mean at one point I thought I lost it?” he thinks to himself “She’s cute I guess, and nice, we have the same interests I guess” he adds to his thoughts. “So, do you have any preferences?” she adds “Blondes” “Wha-” she confusingly answers, as her face turns a slight hint of pink “Mystery and war” “Huh? Ah what?” “You asked if I had novel preferences, and I answered ‘Mystery and war’ ” “Oh yeah, uh I spaced out a little didn’t I? Sorry I, I tend to do that” she replies.

“So how about you? Do you like reading much?” Raymond asks “Well, I do read occasionally, mostly romance and all that, not really into the more complicated stuff, but I do enjoy them sometimes, but they get to difficult to follow, I’ am not really a wordy girl you know?” “Uh huh, not much” Raymond thinks, which is different from what he says, that being “Oh, I understand, say now that you seem to be becoming a bit boring, can yo-” “Me? Boring? Ha! You don’t know half of how interesting I’ am” she says quite angrily, turning around and brushing her hair with her hand. “Sassy one ain’t she” Raymond thinks “Well tell me some of it then, any trivia? Black mail material stuff” “Like I’ am going to tell you! You still a stranger after all, you tell me something”

I’ am beginning to see his point, oh right the story.

“Well, I guess I can tell you something, I guess I need to talk to somebody about this, might as well be a ‘stranger’” he says “Oh dear, I don’t think you’re fine with talking about it” “Oh I think were cool” he says “Si here it goes, hold on to your seat” and so Mattea turns towards him and props up her head with her arms, a pose saying ‘go ahead I’ am listening’.

“Back home I saw a girl, she was standing there so being the gentleman that I’ am” “Which is not much” whispers Mattea “Hey what?” “I heard you say fuck 5 times when I was ordering food, and all I ordered was a sandwich plus there wasn’t even a line” she says “Fine, I swear a lot okay, still a gentleman!” he angrily exclaims “So I walk up to her and try to talk to her, but then she disappeared” Mattea gasps “I don’t know if that’s a genuine gasp or not but, yeah sure” he says “So to continue, I got a nice look at her face before she disappeared, and well she sorta looked like me? I guess” “Wait what?” “Yeah, it’s weird, so you know what I do?” “Let me guess” she sarcastically says “You can try” “You went to someplace that’s memorable to you?” she answers “Close, but no, she was staring at a little town over yonder and I went over there, I got into this clinic but they didn’t have birth records that’s that old” “Well how old did she look? Preteen or post? Is that a thing? Postteen?” “I don’t think that’s a thing, but she looked about sixteen or so” “Well if you say so” Mattea beams, with an ever so slight grin on her face.

“Fine don’t believe me!” he says, frowning “I don’t even know if I believe me” hiding his face in his folded arms on the table “So now I get redirected twice like a URL, and after being attacked twice by some madman with a thick skull, and riding a train and now riding this weird ungodly breed of a train and an apartment.” “Hey don’t be like that” her calm voice made him jerk his head up, “If it makes you feel any better I’ll tell you a story!” “I didn’t tell you a story I told you what happened” he protests. “Too bad I’ am telling you anyway!”

“So I died.” “What kind of fucking story is that? You died?” Raymond, skeptical of the authenticity of the story, interrupts “Hahaha, okay fine, I was just trying to cheer you up” Mattea’s gentle voice almost made it authentic, Raymond could not tell. “So don’t feel bad about it” she says standing to leave “If you believe in what you saw and what you’re seeing, then pursue it, that’s what my friend used to tell me before she-” her face turned into a frown horribly fast, “Oh it’s okay you don’t have to-” Raymond tries to salvage the situation “Before she died” her body limply plops down back to her seat.

“She died” she repeats “Do you want to talk about it?” asks Raymond, hoping he could cheer her up the way she did to him. “I, I guess I should” she weakly says “So what happened?” “Well, I’ll make it quick so, let’s just say she died for me.” Her mind seems to dart back through the times they spent together. “If it wasn’t for her, you wouldn’t be speaking to the person you see before you” “Oh, are you alright?” Raymond tries to be comforting but his voice is more suited for debates and heavy metal screaming. “I’ am, I’ am fine, I guess, thank you” her voice sounding more and more calm and gentle “I needed that” she rose to leave, without as much as a good bye

“You’re welcome?” he says as she walks off, much more somber than the way she walked towards him. “Wow, that chick has some problems, and I to think I thought I did” he says. After this encounter, he walks back up to his room to avoid such other people who seems to be having a bad day.

“Let me tell you Danica, these people should see psychologists” he says as he opens the door stepping into his, somehow dirtier room, the walls were now light gray instead of pure white, the furniture was a bit more rugged and looks as if it’s been there for a good couple of days. “Yoh what?” he asks “Did you do something?” shoving his face near his colorful companion, with a suspicious look on his face. Danica, unable to speak, hits him in the face. “All right! Ow!” he shouts “I should get some sleep, Jesus I’ am tired, fuck it all” he says jumping on the bed “Wake we up when the month is over” he yells

A couple of measly hours later

“Summer has yet to pass leave me alone!” he screams at Danica futilely trying to wake him up. “Oh come on! Five more minutes!” a slightly loud thud emanates across the hallway, making a couple of other passengers stick their heads out. “Oh sweet Jesus, ow!” he bolts upright as a book hits him square in the face. “How the hell do you even DO that?” he asks, stroking his head covered in very messy hair.

“Oh god, this sucks” he wearily says “I shouldn’t have slept at all, not sleeping is better than sleeping a couple of hours, remember that Danica!” after putting his shiny friend on a loose coat pocket. “Caffeineeeeeeeeeeeeee” he groans. He resignedly walks down the hallway on an epic quest to get another cup of coffee.

“Oh well this is a nice seat” he says upon finding a window seat “Ahh to see the sun rising. Wait shit.” He looks outside to see the ground is much more fertile, and up ahead, is a bridge and a tunnel “Whoa, this is the shieeet!” the lush green meadow nearby provided a nice change of scenery. “Wow this is nice” he says while sipping his coffee

“Excuse me” says a familiar voice “Uhm excuse me?” she adds, unknowingly trying to talk to an unconscious person, a tap on the shoulder , she thought that might get his attention“GAH!” he shouts “GAH” she shouts “GAHHH” he shouts louder “GAHHHHHHHH” she shout louder “STOP SCREAMING!” he says “AHHH- okay” she says, after a heavy sigh, she says “Whoo, okay are we good?” she asks “Oh hey, it you! Mattea!” he replies “Y-yeah. Hey Raymond” she answers rather sheepishly “Uhh, so- sorry about yesterday, I mean earlier.” She adds “I don’t think that was appropriate” she says covering her chest with her arms “Oh its fine really” he responds rather quickly “I guess it was good for you? You look better? Cuter too.” He suggestively says “Aba- wha-” she flusters and blushes “Uhh- err I got your book” she pulls out the book “Spectre” from her purse “You left it on the table, I got it when I went back, since one of the staff asked me to return it to you”

“Oh thanks!” he gives her his thanks “Well, I have to go now” she says “Thanks for everything” jogging away with a wave good bye “You too!” he yells back “Wow, I’ve been flirting with such an innocent girl, I didn’t even notice” he whispers under his breath “I feel forty” he then adds.

“We will be arriving shortly please make sure you have all of your belongings are with you” the intercom blares with the warning. “Oh shit” he runs through the hall all while with a paper cup of lukewarm coffee in one hand and a book on the other, as he enters the door, he was in such a hurry that his room has changed even more, brighter and more casual looking. “Bag” he says, but then he feels a thump on his chest “Wisp” as he opens his coat to let her out “Sorry Danica” she bumps his head “Sorry, ow, sorry, ow” he grabs his suitcase and puts it on the desk “Okay, clothes? Check,” after checking to see his clothing is all there  “Food? Okay that’s there” after seeing all the barbeque flavored chips that fit and bottles of soft drinks popular among young college students “Glock...” he takes his weapon into his hands and examines it. “Check I guess” he sighs and puts it back.

Darkness fills the room, save for the light bulbs “Tunnel” he says. He packs his bag and shoves the book in his hand into it, and prepares to leave. “Let’s go Danica” he says to his bright little companion. Walking out the room, suit case in hand, standing out the open door looking at his room. “Well that was fun” he adds.

The train grinds into a halt, stopping at a highly urban station. “Whoa, what?” he says as he steps out into the buzzing station full of people.  “I was not expecting this!” Slightly dazed, he walks towards the exit. The place was filled to the brim with people. Some boarding highly modernized bullet trains, while others, like him, were getting out of old steam engines. “That’s bizarre” he says to himself “What is this place? Technology  kitchen sink terminal?” He follows up.

The station was huge almost akin to a shopping mall. “Holy shit” he says, as the bright signs of several shops hit his weary eyes. “Damn” he exclaims. “This place is great!” he adds. Walking pasr many stores and occasionally entering some, he manages to enter the city through what seems to be the only entrance. The city almost seems to have no other exit other than the train, since it looks, from where he’s standing, to be walled in.

“This is amazing” he shouts from atop the train stations stairs. “I should get a place to stay” he tells himself. And after Danica finds her way out of his coat, he echoes his own words, “We should get a place to stay” running down the stairs past some benches and tables, he failed to notice the woman walking in the opposite direction, and as one would expect, he bumped into her.

“Hey watch where you’re going!” she yells. As Raymond recoils from the impact, he does a quick observation of her. Twenties, with dark brown hair almost reaching to her shoulders, "she was slim and was about his height. She was wearing nothing but a white tank top and cargo pants. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking” he says “Fucking tourists, get your head together, your shirt is even on inside out.” She says, running  off.

“The locals are friendly aren’t they?” he tells himself “And here I thought I was the only person who wears cargo pants” he follows up “Okay back to finding a place to stay”  He walks in the same direction once again, this time with his eyes on the path. After a few minutes of walking, he finds a hotel. “Oh! This one fo sho” as he enters and talks with the man behind the desk, he then figures out the price for a SINGLE NIGHT is more than what his wallet could hold, and so the concierge tells him “There’s a motel a few blocks down that you can afford, look for The Insider building and head two rights past it” “The Insider? As in the newspaper?” “Yeah it’s huge, you can’t possibly miss it, oh and, don’t tell my boss I told you this, it’s a secret to everybody.” “Sure thanks man, how can I ever pay you back?” Raymond asks “You got some chocolate on you?” And so after handing over a bar of Snickers and saying “You didn’t get it from me, you don’t know me, and you never saw me” Raymond heads out to this motel.

“Alright The ‘The Insider’’ building, how do you suppose we find that Danica?” after she bounds around Raymond for a short while, she flies straight up leaving Raymond thinking. “What.” Was what he interpreted “Oh! I get it.” And so he finally gets it “Tell me when you find it Danica! I’ll be right uhh over there!” he says pointing to a bench nearby. As he sits down he puts his suitcase next to him and pulls out his phone “It’s too early in the morning for this shit” he says as he pulls out a bottle of cola and downs about half of it.

A few minutes later Danica lands on his head “Alright where too buddy?” walking down the path she indicated. “Holy shit that’s huge!” he shouts upon seeing the local paper’s news building. “Okay, two rights, let’s try not to get lost” And so, he walks towards the two rights he was assigned. However it was now that he noticed how dark everything is “5:12” he says “It’s still too fucking dark” he adds. He once again fails to notice that, he has indeed arrived at his destination. The small 4 story building that looks like it was built a good fifteen years ago, which was more long than it was wide.

“Ashlyn Motel huh?” he says upon seeing the sign saying Ashlyn Motel “Here goes nothing” he says to himself. He grips the rustic copper door handle and turns it, with a bit of effort and some swearing, he manages to open the door that seemed to be stuck. “Hello, welcome and all that shit” said the girl with her feet on the counter. “Here to rent a room?” she asks “Ain’t the locals just friendly?” he tells her rather bluntly as he walks towards her “I assume you’re Ashlyn”, he then says “Call me Ash” she replies, alluding to his short hair and boyish look. “Okay, skipping the formalities now, I don’t know how long I’ am going to be staying here, so what’s the cheapest option?” “Tell you what” she says, pulling down her feet “Special Price forty five bucks a week, just do me a favor, you just have to-” “Sleep with you?” Raymond interrupts “Shut the fuck before I blow your head” “Well if that’s what you want then” he once again interrupts with a shrug, pulling out a shotgun she says “Blow your head OFF, you dipshit” rather angrily, Raymond, obviously terrified, back off “Okay okay jeez, what do you want woman?” pleased that he has backed down, she continues “One of my clients need help, you’re a tourist no one will bat an eye if you to someone like him” “Why does that sound like it’s going to maim me?” he asks “It won’t, it’s just little bit illegal” she adds “A LITTLE BIT? How the hell does that even work? Is that a thing? Slightly Illegal?” Raymond answers like how a kid will question his mother’s decision.

“Just hand him this” she says, holding out a large cylindrical object covered in brown paper.  Raymond’s eyebrows perk up in doubt “Okay? It’s this or being a hobo and sleeping in a bus station” “Jesus Christ fine” he says unenthusiastically holding out his arms to get the package. “Holy Fuck what is this thing, a bazooka?” he says when he almost drops it with TWO HANDS out. “Close but nope, rifle, disassembled and stuck in a tube”

“A fucking rifle? You want me to smuggle-” “Deliver” she corrects Raymond “DELIVER a rifle to a guy who might fucking murder me the moment he gets it!?” he shouts “It’s disassembled, knowing him, he would take about

Chapter Two: On The INSIDE

Raymond is back in his room to rest after a day’s worth of walking. Obviously tired he goes on to sit on the chair next to his suit case. He starts unpack after saying “Man what a day, it’s getting late, all my shit’s still in this thing, I should get it out, like all of it” he takes out clothes, puts them in the surprisingly large closet, he kept the food but put the glock on the side table next to his bed “Damn this thing does have its uses doesn’t it Danica?” he says to his companion “Time to get some rest I guess” he adds.

He lays down on the bed and grabs a book from his suitcase “Okay let’s see here, page one hundred seventy and oh crap” he says upon realizing what book he was holding “And I forgot to return the damn book, oh well, that shelf was full of books they probably won’t realize one missing in all of those rooms” he adds “Okay time to relax” as he reads on the novel he lets a couple of hours pass, however, many things can happen in a couple of hours.

A few moments earlier.

“Have you found anything Gavin?” Destin asks through his cellular phone “Not yet, but I may be onto something here” “How is that?” he asks “Well, as you might know, he was supposed to have a sister” “Yes that’s common knowledge Gavin, do you have anything useful at all?” he quite angrily asks “Well I checked with some of THEIR records and guess what?”

“… what?” “No no no, you were supposed to guess, come on nothing? Not a clue?” “This is why I hired you Gavin, now do you have something or not?” “But I do. I really do, and you know what it is?“

”He still does” he says. Destin is speechless, but not for long “Are you certain? This is a very important matter, Mr. Devin is a friend and so is his wife, they’ve been helping us for god knows how long, and your old partner was also-” “I’ am certain, while I doubt OUR records might be that accurate, they will probably employ someone who knows what they’re doing, like that one intern chick we barely pay” “Ahh yes her, the ditzy one?” he asks an otherwise unimportant question “Yeah that one, but back on the topic at hand, this may be the motivation we need” says Gavin. “And we should promote her”

“Anything else?” Devin asks just to see if there was more to it than that “Yes as a matter of fact there is something else” “And what might that be?” he asks “Well I’ve been reading his file and guess what? I’ am answering it this time ok? He has experience in firearms and parkour” “Well I’ll be, I assume you’re going to request a higher authorization level ?”“You read my mind” “You got it, but why do you even need my permission Gavin, all those literally belongs to you”

“I ’am a professional” Gavin says before hanging up. “Now Mister Devin” he whispers “Let’s see if we can get you on the inside” he adds, exiting the records room, he walks down a single flight of stairs, his coat trailing behind him, he stops in front of a large steel door in the rather, industrial looking hallway. Pipes on the walls, wires on the floor and several unopened crates litter the area, and to the side, opened crates.

“Starting with your arms, hehe” he opens the door and is greeted by several employees, all working, passing boxes to each other, and carefully unpacking them and such. “Hello Mr. Blanc” one of them says “Please Carl, call me Gavin, you’re a year older if I recall correctly” “Well then” said the employee, apparently named Carl, as he puts his fists onto his hips as if saying ‘Why I NEVER’ “Okay so what is it this time?” asks Carl, now calmer “Rifle? Heavy MG? Something exotic?” “Something Basic” Gavin politely request “How basic?” “Fifth Level Certification Basic” he specifies “Does that even exis-” Says Carl, interrupting himself somehow, he follows up with “I think I got just the thing, follow me?” “Gladly”

The two walk down a narrow hallway passing several other employees, their destination was a rather big steel vault “Level five right? Then let me show you this baby”  Carl then opens the vault revealing a posh, futuristic vault with gun cases lining all three walls, and in the middle, was glass case with a single gun in it. “This my good man” Carl proudly introduces the gun as he removes it from its receptacle “Is a classic Smith and Wesson 686, with a six inch barrel and of course” the gun’s branding reveal a different name, ‘NETHER’ “Our specialty, anti – Occult rounds, basically, this thing is a hand cannon, without the wheels” “Uhh Carl, not to ruin the speech, but hand cannons don’t have wheels” Gavin interrupts “Oh, damn, I meant to say cannon, but it can’t be helped, but one thing I know for sure, one hit from this will send a Reaver back to where it came from, a couple of clear shots can put a Reaper down too” “God damn Carl, why don’t you set me up with one of these? ” “Well Gavin, probably because yours is pretty much a hand nuke” “That’s true” Gavin replies “Do you take checks?” he adds “Very Funny”

A short, but not that short, moment later

Gavin is walking out of the building, towards a certain little motel. “Let’s see if we can do something about your head” he whispers. In his hand is a small silver case, on the other, a piece of paper, seemingly a torn piece of paper of the cheap and thin kind. “But not yet, you should piece it together”

A few moments earlier.

“Are you sure you can do this” asks the voice on the phone “Yes, I shall be redeemed” said the man. The conversation happened at the same time as Destin’s, but rather than taking place inside a luxurious car, this one took place in a phone booth, go figure. “You have been supplied properly, briefed properly, and you are expected to perform properly, do you understand?” “Yes sir” “Good, the first Reaver was a failure, a rather large one, I don’t want to bother poor little Winter while she’s on vacation”

“No need to worry sir, I’ll get a nice spot and finish the job” says the man “Indeed you will, but remember, if you don’t, you know the consequences and how they will be administered” was the answer from the phone, the man clutches his chest, feeling the rectangular, steel box like object “Yes sir, I won’t fail you” says the man, he hangs up and walks away. Oblivious to a certain woman, walking nearby.

“Hmm, an Unredeemed, this will be troublesome” she says “I should find him, and warn him, this could get dangerous” she says. Mattea was dead set on making sure this trip wouldn’t be ruined by anything “Or maybe I should do something about it myself” so she walk away towards her hotel room. After riding the elevator up to her room, she goes on to open the door and stepping into a rather posh room, she heads for her suitcase and opens it. Inside she carefully removes a metallic box. The lid snaps open and reveals several scalpels, and other surgical tools, though mostly scalpels.

“It’s been a while, I still remember why I had to take these along” her mind wanders back, back from the point where her life changed for the better and at the point where it went to hell, the point where she had to defend herself. She picks one of them and examines it, from its handle to its blade “I wonder if I can still-” she tries to say, unfortunately interrupted by the scalpel flying out of her hands and impaling itself on a nearby wall “Oh shit!” she heads over to remove the now stuck operating implement. “I’ am still not that used to this” she says as she pulls out the stuck medical instrument “I should practice some” she says, tossing it to another wall, which invariably made it hit a different one. “Okay, let’s try something else this time” she whispers, reaching out for the now stuck in the different wall scalpel. “Let’s see here” she says, closing her eyes.

As her eyes snap open the scalpel flies towards her open hand, blade first “Oh crap oh crap oh crap” she shuts her eyes, bracing for immense and intense pain “Huh?” she asks, as she slowly, opens her eyes, she sees the scalpel floating a few inches in front her dangerously exposed palm “Oh jeez” she sighs “Okay, time to practice” she says.

A few moments earlier.

“Ahh finally” says the woman sitting down on the park bench, however, her brief rest was cut short, well shorter by a phone call “Yes?” “Hello Winter, it’s me” “Uh, yes! Sir, what is it?” “I’ am just trying to say that, I may have to avail of your service, just a heads up” says the man on the phone “Oh, yes, okay, I’ll be sure to leave my schedule open sir” “Good *click*” she sighs and pockets her phone “On my one week off” she leans back with her palm on her face “And to think it was a nice change of pace”

Meanwhile, right now. As in, now.

“Alright time for bed, it’s what like seven? Man I have the most retarded ideas, DINNER WOOO” Raymond shouts to his otherwise empty room as Danica has seem to have left to explore on her own. “Okay, where to eat?” he walks down the stairs and is greeted by several other tenants “Yoh wassup” says one of them “Yoh” says Raymond. “Okay food time, but where and what?” he exits the motel and wanders around the streets looking for a place to eat. “Hmm, teriyaki place? Nah, steak house? That’s it! Finally some meat, I forgot I skipped lunch, I only ate a burger after all.” He enters the restaurant he gets a nice whiff of beer and beef “Oh god the manliness of this place”

“Okay yeah, just a Salisbury steak and, I probably shouldn’t drink damnit, Anything nonalcoholic I guess.” Raymond says to the waiter “How about some coffee?  Because no offense you look rough bro, on second thought, that might be the reason, coke?” “Sure, and none taken” so the waiter walks off and goes behind the counter. “You new here?” asks a voice, somewhat familiar.

“You!” shouts Raymond, but not too loudly, at the woman in a jacket  attempting to talk to him “You!” she replies. “Man what is up with you? I bump into you okay, inappropriate method of coping a feel, but no need to fucking blow up like that” he says, as the woman sits on the chair across from him “You know, if I didn’t find that funny I would have shanked you right now” she answers “So what do you want?” he politely asks “Company” “Oh wow, I’ am just thrilled to be eating with you now do I?” “Shut the hell up” she politely responds. “So now that we have established the fact that we clearly hate each other, can I call you something other than ‘Absolute bitch?’” “Oh absolutely hilarious, call me Winter” she says, signaling for a waiter

“How appropriate for a cold hearted bitch”

A few moments later.

“Oh, food’s here” she says, “So, say something” she adds “Well let’s see I got here because of several insanities which resulted in me eating a steak with what seems to be a genuine ASSHOLE of a girl” “Okay, that’s uncalled for, okay? I’ am sorry, It was totally rude of me, okay, are we good?” “Heh, fine, you didn’t seem like the type to apologize, so yeah I guess we are good” “Jesus finally” she breathes a sigh of relief. “So why are YOUR here?” Raymond asks “I have a week off, possibly, I wanted to relax and all that”

A few moments LATER.

“Hey, that was fun, I guess I’ll see you around then?” says Winter, “Yeah, maybe, I won’t be staying long” Raymond replies “Well, good bye and stuff” he adds as they walk their separate “You know” he says while turning around “You’re a good person” he adds, and walks away. “What.” She says. A couple of minutes of walking later, she realizes something “And I forgot to ask his name, fuck”

“Oh well, one night thing, he wasn’t that great” she thinks “Probably forgotten about me already” she continues walking away, looking sad “Like everyone else.” She adds. As she walks away towards a rather plain looking house. “I’ am back” she says to the empty house. She sighs and goes to bed.

“Okay time for” bed says Raymond, he walks back to the motel and up to his room, he can’t seem to stop feeling a sense of danger, as if something is going to happen. As he ascends the stairs leading to his room, he opens the door to get some much needed rest. He enters the bathroom to quickly get cleaned up, he changes into something more comfortable to sleep in, the moment he steps out of the bathroom, he’s still wiping off his hair with a towel, he gets a message on hi phone. He walks over to the desk holding it, next to his gun.

“Meet me in the Insider building tomorrow, 3 PM sharp, we need to talk” was the words on screen “Okay what the fuck” says Raymond, “I only went there like, once, and now I’ve got a meeting with someone? What the hell?” he says after reading the message. “Okay, that’s still tomorrow, no need to panic about it now, probably just gonna interview me on how great this city is for the paper or something” he tries to convince himself.

“But now time to hit the sack” he throws himself over to the bed and says “Wonder where  Danica is? She’s been gone a while.” As he turns off the lamp on the nightstand and rest after what seems to be a few days’ worth of adventure “Finally some sleep” he whispers as he falls to sleep.

The Next Day

*beep beep- beep beep* the alarm blares it’s tune across the room “Oh fuck I didn’t turn the god damn alarm off” Raymond says in disgust “Oh god what happened last night? Oh wait nothing, I should sleep earlier, like, not at eleven PM” he groans and stands up, “ugghh, bathroom” he adds, as he walks, or attempts to, he takes a blisteringly cold shower like he does every morning. The kind of shower that makes ice freeze.

“Ahh okay, I’ am good, now what?” he asks himself “I guess I have that meeting at three, but I think I should rest a bit and head on to the census building, I hope intern girl was right” he says as he gets dressed for the day ahead. “Wonder how she’s doing? Probably still an intern.”

Meanwhile.

“You’re getting a promotion to field agent” says Gavin “Oh my god, this is the single greatest moment of my life!” screams Intern, rather Agent Girl, screams with delight and makes a squee face (Look it up) as she runs off back to her office to tell her fellow interns of this amazing piece of news. “Well ain’t she happy” says Gavin. As he tucks his hand into his coat and exits the building “Now that that’s over, time to head back” he says to himself.

Meanwhile.

“Okay” says Mattea  with a heavy sigh “That’s good enough” she says to her scalpel covered room. “I should get some sleep” she says sitting on the side of the bed “But this place is to messy, hmmmm, let’s get cleaned up” she waves her hand in a smooth gesture, sending the medical tools flying neatly back into their container. “Well that was unexpected, oh well” she says, resting her head on the pillow and covering herself in a blanket. “Lights out” she whispers as she turns off the bedside lamp.

*Beep beep be-* a light thud is heard as Mattea hits the alarm clock rather forcefully. “God damnit, this was totally fucking curse worthy” she groans and wearily walks to the bathroom to shower.

No details, end of story.

Back at the motel. Raymond is still in his room watching a movie on the TV in the corner. “Jump!” says the guy on top of the train “Well this is a nice movie, I should get going soon” he says as he slides the chair back to leave “You are never taking her alive!” said the mustached villain “Oh shit he’s got her, okay after the movie” he says.

Meanwhile, in the ruined building near the motel, the so called unredeemed is taking a suitcase up a set of stairs. “I shall be redeemed” he says. As he reaches the rooftop he opens the case revealing a revolver and six bullets. “Just one, but just in case…” he loads each bullet into the cylinder before he snaps it back. “This is way too easy, why give me a top break, it must have cost them, but it’s their loss and my gain” he says as he takes aim squarely at the window. “Sorry guy, I don’t know who you are, but once again, your loss, my gain” as he pulls the hammer down and puts a head between his sights.

“Well this movie is getting tense” says Raymond “Don’t move or I’ll shoot” yells the villain. “Oh damn” he says. “Wait a minute”

A loud bang is heard and a bullet breaks a window, Raymond , somehow drops to the floor before the flying piece of metal  that has recently tried to impale his brain with itself succeeds . “What the fuck!” he yells, he finds his hand already on the desk, reaching for the glock. “Where!?” he bolts upright and peers through the broken glass “Him?” he says as he spots the man with the revolver aiming at him, as the man fires another shot, and the bullet is on its way to his oh so vulnerable face, he merely screams “NO!” he gestures with his hand and the bullet ricochets on a nearby wall and lands in the ground, inert.

“Get back here bitch” he yells, the man, intimidated by his harsh words and harsh gun, makes a run for it. Raymond leaps through the broken window and lands on the fire escape. Straightening his aim, he puts the man between the three glowing green dots. “It may be impossible but..” he pulls the trigger and the bullet manages to hit the man’s leg as soon as he was out of view resulting in a nice loud “OH FUCK” “What? How?” he says, as he jumps from this floor to the one below it, he thinks “No matter, I have to get that guy before he shoots any other tourists or dashingly handsome people” he leaps from one bar to another and finally making it to the slums.

“Where the hell are you!?” he shouts “Right here!” the man screams, he peeks out from behind cover to shoot Raymond, once again, Raymond dismisses physics and somehow redirects it once again “What? This energy, I can redirect his bullets? I think, how?” as he aims for the man once again, he fires off a shot with a loud bang along with it, the bullet was off course, hitting nothing but the wall his assailant was hiding behind. “There it is again? I, I WILLED it to curve? Okay, let’s try that shit again” as his assailant fires off another shot, his fourth, Raymond manages to stop it dead in the air “What?!” shouts the man, “This much potential, shit, this ain’t good” he adds as he runs away.

“I can do this come one” as he fires off two shots, and tries to make them curve past the corner, “Hit, HIT!” he thinks “GAH!” he hears from the corner “YES!” he shouts. He bolts for his aggressor to hopefully extract some information. As he turns the bend he is immediately greeted by two bullets.

“SHIT!” yells Raymond “STOP!” he yells, as the bullets lose all velocity the man immediately accepts his defeat. “Go ahead, do it” he says.

“No” Raymond tells his would be murderer. “Why did you shoot me? I’ am just a tourist!” he shouts as he hold the man by the collar against a wall “Hehe. I don’t know myself, I get paid you get dead I get redeemed” “WHO? Who paid you to kill a random guy?!?” “Hehe, that’s between me and hell boy”

Raymond’s eyes sharpen to the point it would be illegal to own them in a city by federal law. “WHO?” he asks, his voice becoming rough, almost threatening “Heh” was the only response “DO I LOOK LIKE I’AM KIDDING” he says “LOOK AT ME, TELL ME THAT I HAVE NO INTENT OF MAKING YOUR DEATH LONG AND PAINFUL” he adds, as the previously stopped bullets and all the others expended float towards him and ends up levitating around Raymond “Tell. Me. Now”

The man’s face was that of pure horror, panic and fear for his life.  His eyes filled with various images of a gruesome and painful death “Yo- You’re bluffing” Raymond reloads his partially empty handgun to ensure his magazine is full and aims it at the man’s head “Slow and easy” he shifts his aim from head to leg “Really. Fucking. Slowly” The man is shaking violently, nearing death, he remembers just who his employers are.

“Hehehehehe” he laughs “What?” “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” his laugh goes on “YOU THINK THEY’LL LET YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE? AHAHAHAHHAHA” “What, wait, no!” A gunshot is heard, killing the perpetrator. “Shit” says Raymond. “The bullet was upwards, there must be…” he takes out the metal box in his chest that was suspiciously bulging out from his shirt.

“A firing mechanism, with a remote trigger system, whoever wanted me dead is rich or powerful, or both, but why?” Meanwhile, man in a trench coat walks behind him. “Many reasons are possible Raymond” he says

Raymond instinctively points hi fully loaded glock at the man and prepares to fire, “Who the hell are you” “Gavin Alben Solyom Blanc, arms dealer professional and extraordinaire for the occult, pleasure to meet you”

“What” was Raymond’s reply, as Gavin walks towards him he hands him a card, simply stating

“Gavin Alben Solyom Blanc,

Arms Dealer - Professional - Extraordinaire for the occult”

“Oh wow, a Glock 17, that’s it? Wow he’s cheaper than I thought, or maybe he’s poor now, I don’t know” says Gavin noticing Raymond’s gun “What? Who?” Raymond asks “Meet me later at the Insider building, twelfth floor, two doors to the left” he walks away leaving Raymond to say “Great another meeting with a publication.”

“And take this” he says as he tosses Raymond a pair of moon clips “Take his gun, it may be of use, but bring it to us later” Gains says, as Raymond sits on the floor attempting to figure out what just happened

As Gavin is a few blocks away, his theories were confirmed, he decides to sit on a nearby bench to recall all of it. “Let’s see, immense potential, check, obviously a Talented, and there’s still the fact…” he says, stretching his legs “Being a pointergeis is a surprise” he adds he stands and continues walking back to the Insider building.

A while earlier.

“Terminate him” says the man, in front of the large monitor as one of his agents rapidly types commands into the console “How much more do we have?” he asks “Two more today sir” says the woman appearing behind him “We have more on the way, possibly, the ads are woefully inefficient, I mean only people with enough potential can see them” she adds “It helps, it’s better than sending a dozen who’ll get killed before they can even fire off a bullet” he answers “Send in the rest, terminate as necessary, I will be in my office” he leaves the station and heads for the door “We will keep you updated sir Simon” she says as she falls back into the darkness.

“Oh my god” says Raymond “That’s a dead man right there, oh god I’ am gonna get so arrested” he adds as he walks back in horror “That’s a dead fucking man, man!” however, before he goes on a full panic, a familiar looking wisp of light flies  towards him. “Da- Danica! Oh god man, that dude is dead, oh, you’re right, calm down, calm down, that guy wasn’t normal, he, he had some sort of thing, yeah, shit” his words blurt out of his mouth faster than he was shaking in fear “All right breathe, breathe, this would be a bad time to get an attack, all right, whoo, damn, okay, he wasn’t human, clearly, his skin is too pale” he starts making observations. His eyes seem to change color from deep brown to pale blue

“Five foot seven height, about 80KG is my estimation, armed with a single 22 Magnum Ranger Break-Top Mini Revolver with 6 bullets, the moon clip that guy gave me fits perfectly” he says, he picks up the firing mechanism that ended its host. “Single chambered with electrical and remote firing system , a single bullet was loaded and the shell is still there” he drops the thing on the ground and inspects the body itself “Let’s see, possessions, no ID’s, a wallet, a bunch of cash, shit there’s like six hundred in here, not marked, this might be half of his payment” he continues “Nothing else, hmm, credit card, no license and sure as hel-LO what is this?” he inquires as he finds a calling card “Number’s been ripped out, smart bastard, but what the hell does UMF mean?”  those three letters were printed in roman styled font on an eggshell colored card, half torn with only a one revealed in the end.

“What the hell am I supposed to do now, from the looks of it, whoever or whatever wants me dead can afford a couple more, I should be on guard” he says, he heads back. Leaping for the first bar of the fire escape and pulling himself up “Let’s go Danica!” he yells as he makes to his floor and climbs into his room. However, the moment he lands the door creaks open and Ashlyn enters the room.

“What the hell did you do here?!” was what he expected her to say, however, he has greatly underestimated this town “Look I can expl-” “Damn” she cuts him off, “Putting a tourist with windows facing the slums might have been a bad idea” she adds “Let’s get you a new one, I’ll have Colt or some other guy fix this shit up” she gestures for him to follow, and after packing up his things, he does.

“Here’s  three o’ six, between two rooms, on window facing the good side o’ town” she opens the door revealing the similar, but not identical room. “Smaller than three forty, hopefully that’s fine” she adds, leaning on the door. “Well I guess it’s fine, what are you gonna do to three forty” Asks Raymond as he moves into his new abode “I’ll have someone clean it, if I’ am lucky, Colt will help out, otherwise it’s going to have to be some unlucky bastards, lazy assholes all of ‘em, Colt’s just hard to convince to start, otherwise he’s the most decent employee I have right now” she says, “If only he wasn’t so clueless” she mutters.

“Hey” Raymond snaps her out of what seems to be a day dream “Yeah?” “If you have so many employees, how come you pretty much handle the motel alone?”