Absolute Magic

10

2010-08-02T18:09:00.003-04:00

10. Time's Spoken Word

48 Hours before the Bombing in Philadelphia
The ‘Herser’, a Hidden Restaurant in Venice, Italy

“How insulting, having to share a restaurant with these filthy reapers.” His majesty: King ‘T. Williams the Third’; he sat in the vast hall with empty tables surrounding him. On looking reapers sat far from the tyrannical king. “What an uncharted setting I find myself in. Even If I manage to behead these entire cretin’s I’d still be dining to a mediocre resort.” King Williams sat tall with his mantle behind him, his crown above him, and his long-blonde hair stretching to his lower back, but all anyone else could see was his proud civic that was flaunted on the back of his mantle. The symbol closely resembled the reaper’s emblem: An upside-down white cross with the name ‘REAP’ written overtop of it. This emblem was a right side-up black cross in front of the letters ‘HALO’.

With every bite Williams took, insults slurred from his mouth to the nearby reapers; but the reapers dared not oppose one of the great kings of Halo, for their mortal was rivaled as the closest power to God himself.

Williams took a bite from his Lobster. “Mehh… How insulting, this lobster is not adequate enough to taste the lips of a fine gentleman, such as myself.” He spat it out. As the floors of the restaurant now tasted Williams’ rejected fare, a man not so unfamiliar walked overtop the discarded piece of sea fish. “Hmm?” Williams noticed the adjacent pair standing behind him.

“Damn. These were some very nice boots too.” Weston’s Romanian accent never failed to encourage the mood.

“Heh. What an insulting toddler.” Williams denied them the face-to-face as he continued to eat his second round of Lobster. “To intentionally come up from behind, is to be an intentional fool.” Williams inched his smirk wider. “It could be… dangerous, you know.” The dramatic statement caused the atmosphere to blur for only a single second. The neighboring reapers began performing the most peculiar method of struggle anyone had ever bared to witness. Their arms began wrapping themselves around their necks as if freeing themselves from the overwhelming presence.

What is this feeling? I can’t tell. I’m choking! I’m choking! Weston had gone blind for that single second, feeling the utmost despair to the center of his core. He had gripped around his neck and locked eyes with his chest. Before he knew it, the single second became 5 seconds, and the 5 became 10. The sounds of collapsing reapers had barely filled the hazy atmosphere as sound was almost void to Weston’s person at this point. No more! Stop!

“Your majesty, please stop your man before we suffocate to death.” An unfazed voice, spoken with tranquility, came out from behind Weston Valor. “I apologize for my rudeness, but I wish not that you should have the death of our men ruin your afternoon.” This man spoke with Williams as if he stood on equal grounds with him. He wore a genuine Ecuadorian Panama Hat that brimmed around the top part of his face. After lifting the hat back into place his entire face was revealed to be a gaunt and very confident-looking man crossing no more than 30 to 35 years of age. He bowed to the feasting King and lead Weston the way as well.

King Williams turned back to find a prime representative to the head of REAP’s fine organization. He faced forward once more and spat the lobster from his mouth. “Enough, my Luke! Your spirit lingers too long in my presence. It insults me!” He stood. Williams was a titan by normal height standards, rising to the 2 meter spire and facing downward at his inferior other.

“I apologize your majesty, please forgive my insolence.” The man named ‘Luke’ was a lot shorter by Williams’s standards. His height rivaled that of Weston’s, even noting the two of them bowing in complete unison. This man’s existence however, barely stood on the same grounds with the disturbed and impassive young archer. Although standing alongside each other, the difference in ‘height’ was as clear as the conquering of Mount Everest versus a necking worm who only dreamt for the sky.

The fallen reapers slowly picked each other up noticing their utter defeat in this repulsive confrontation. Every face towards the four proctors was rejected by the back of a single bowing man. Most of the customers scurried through the open doors, caring naught for their bill. Other men, who dared not leave, were fastened tightly to their seats, knowing perfectly well the outcome of moving a single finger.

Weston’s leave had returned, looking literally pale in the face. In fact, with the gasp of his first breathe he threw his entire self back off of his bow. His face told the four of them everything there was to know. He was a pawn in this passionate game of chess, and although he managed to check the king, his bishop came out from hiding to throw ‘pity’ back at the lowly simpleton.

“Forgive his imposition your majesty, it’s not everyday he stands in the presence of such dominion.” Once more the informal voice found its way passed the artificial atmosphere and into the ears of the proud and vigilant King. His panama hat twisted with his head to face the bowing and noble Luke. “You must be Luke of the Four Gospels. What an honor it is to meet such power. It is almost frightening.” He removed the hat upon his respect. “It is a pleasure, to say the least. I cannot express to you the absolute grace. To be fronted with such sovereign...” He turned slightly to the much taller Williams. This instance made Luke rise to his dismay.

“I must disagree with you sir, for there is much difference between ‘power’ and ‘sovereignty’.” His voice muffled from beneath the mask now displayed overtops his entire face. This mask was specifically down-sized from the shape of a white heraldic shield, harboring a large ‘black cross’ across both eyes and down to his chin. All heads suddenly met Luke’s hidden expression as he continued his inspiring principle. “My place is not one to accept such credibility. Being the 3rd brother I… I’d much rather you ease your choice of words.” Luke’s concealed and brazen nature seeped through the white exterior that delegated his position beneath King Williams.

“Such strong words.” Weston’s superior had pitched a few laughs before letting slip the modest opinion. “Indeed, you’d make a fine addition.” His lips immediately caught themselves as his eyes captured King Williams, who was daunting his stifled repression. “Ah...Ha…Ha, but what kind of man would I be, stealing another man’s soldier.” The once, casual man was now fluttering his arms back and forth in front of one of the most frightening beings on earth. Williams slid forwards. He bent his head and exhaled his hilarity.

“Indeed. What does a man of your stature need with a little runt like this?” Williams eyed the unconventional man before him. “Don’t insult my being here with that kind of excuse, you toddler.” The king’s arms opened towards the back of him, indulging the man with seats. “How long are you going to pretend like I don’t know you, hmm, Lieutenant General ‘Matzen the Pride’?”

Weston sprung from his daze once he’d heard his commanding general’s name from the mouth of such royalty. He looked up at his superior to find a secure posture and a proud glow about the surface of his skin. Williams and Matzen both sat among the squared table. Luke was gone from Weston’s sight long before he had cared to notice. Lieutenant General Matzen had removed his favorite Panama hat and begun the discussion.

“Come now, your Highness. Simply just ‘General’ is fine.” The trespasser was now being served for dinner. Matzen had gathered only a few pieces of chicken before he conversed in what seemed to only be 'small talk' between the two of them.

The blond-haired Lieutenant was a slave to the extraordinary spirit he felt not moments ago. His innovation towards this roaming experience left him baffled and corrupt. He felt great displeasure and he wondered just how much longer he must sit at the children’s table watching people like Matzen and Williams exchange secretive words. That’ll be me someday, he’d think. He’d be on top and overthrow even his own father, but for now, he stood. He stood because he knew standing showed quality, standing showed character and repute, but most of all standing showed promise, and it was this promise he cared for most of all.

“Ha! Nothing but insults, general-boy.” Williams was a fundamental backbone to REAP’s parliament. Being from a separate organization however, the kings of Halo were indirectly essential to the building of any future the world had to offer. He laughed out again, spitting most of the food into Matzen’s face. “You think because the heretics over at REAP’s central command are worried, we Haloes are going to help you?” Williams wiped his mouth from the same lobster he had spat out many a time already.

“Your majesty, if they wanted your help they would be speaking with you today instead of myself.” Lieutenant General Matzen wasn’t the type to show his hand on such minuscule expeditions. He had given Williams the gist of any real importance, and this is what kept Williams, and the rest of the Haloes at bay. “These days have been rough, particularly on the chairmen.”

“Ha! That fool Marx, I haven’t seen him in years. Even if he asks me politely I won’t answer his call.” Williams took quite a swing from a half-empty bottle of whiskey, only to have droplets trickle into the clean blond beard he had shaped, outlining his face so well.

“That aside your highness, I would like to ask you personally as an overseer to a certain dilemma we’ve found ourselves in these past few days.” Williams wiped his chin and stared at Matzen intently.

“A favor? You may be crossing a line, general-boy.” Williams smiled off the bitter taste.

“A favor is not what I’m asking your highness.” Matzen pulled from his dark suit an envelope. Williams set aside his provision and looked down at Matzen before tugging the envelope from his fingers. Williams kept from opening the sealed packet until 5 simple words sprung his brow over radiant. “It’s evidence… of the records.” Matzen’s silent words shook the wary king. It was this simple allegation that had Williams overexcited about a single piece of paper. “I take it; you’re accepting my offer then?” He didn’t respond, instead he slipped the envelope into his pockets and rose from his seat.

“Contact me in a couple of hours. Whatever you want, it’s yours.” He neatened his majestic garments and gave a nod to the seated general. “Come, my Luke. We have other business to attend to.” He gave his back to Matzen who was encouraging a smile as he rested his chin against his fist. Williams began to move. His steps were silent but not unnoticed; he could hear the people’s eyes shifting his way with each step, as if pushing him further and further. He stopped in front of a bowing blond archer. His arm reached for Weston’s back to lift his body higher. “Child, how good are you with that bow?” Weston felt as if he was struck by lightning. To finally speak to such royalty, to be recognized as someone worthy, it had finally come.

“A... Add… Adequate, your majesty.” He felt dense as the stutter pulsated throughout his body.

Williams pointed to the invisible Luke. “His brother is one of the best I’ve seen.” Weston couldn’t see where he was pointing, but he kept from adjusting pose as he stood underneath the king. Williams’s mild glare had become overcome with frustration. “Become stronger than him.” He barked. Weston didn’t understand the basis of this appreciation, but he hadn’t cared to think on it.

With that, the both of them had left, leaving more than just the scent of royal grace behind them. A short, black-haired waitress came out from behind the group of terrified reapers to ask of something of more importance.

“Sir, the king has asked that you were to pick up his bill.”

“Wha… What?!!” Matzen had almost fallen off his chair after gazing upon the dozens of plates on the very table in which he now dined at. He noticed that each plate had barely been touched and that every serving was simply bitten and spat back into other helpings that were on the same table. Weston had approached the shaken general and advised him of a greater matter.

“General Matzen sir, does the bill also include the second table to the side? It looks like there’s more there than here.” After pointing out the 5 dozen plates that were tossed aside by the ‘un-appreciative king’ the young waitress fiercely nodded stating the amount of times Williams had bitten off their delicious recipes and spat them back in disgust.

“My… my wallet. She’s going to cry!” He began to sob, realizing that the reapers weren’t the only ones to suffer complete and utter defeat.

37 Hours Later
Austin Meehan Middle School Parking Lot

“Y-You bastard! You killed her!” A menacing voice echoed.

“If you want to hate me, please go right ahead. Let your last vulgar moments embrace your entire soul.”

Three men, one woman; all of them were enriched with the darkness of outer cosmos. Of them lays a man with his head erected forwards, on the face of the cold and dreary asphalt. Two of them stood, with their shoulders abroad and flaring their outward rage at the defeated beast before them. Lastly, the female, had a clean slice across her throat. As her head crashes into the hard rock she faints into her half-dead fancy of a dream, spilling all her precious blood across the grounds of mid-level education.

“I swear I’ll…. I’LL KILL YOU!!” The barely conscious Samuel Kings tried as he might, but his wounds were too great to stand. Sam’s body flexed. He felt the weight of all his endeavors standing overtop of him and increasing the invisible pressure against his two shoulders. His expensive slim cut, two-button silhouette now mixed colors with the blood evacuated from his body. The lamp fixture above him had slowly began to fade.

“Sergeant Lime, prepare the ‘Dissipative Structure’.” The marauding commander stood behind his Sergeant, safe from the veil of luminosity.

“Right away, Lieutenant Valor.” The eyeglass-wearing Sergeant stepped into Sam’s weakened domain. He was a lithe type of somebody. His antique posture always reminded Weston of a doctor he once knew.

“This is the last night you’ll be using that title, Adrian.” Weston watched as his Sergeant removed the small mechanism from his haversack. The small antennae resembled the instrument more and more of an ant, as its body was only the size of a tick. A fine strap was hung from the sides of the tick, long enough to wrap itself around any beast. Sergeant Lime approached the half-dead Samuel.

“What’re you doing…. Get away from me…” His attempt at a break fall was haltered by the small mechanism in the hands of Sergeant Lime. “Ahhh-!” Sam felt the squeeze of suffocation around his neck.

“What do you think, Mr. Kings? How does ‘Captain Valor’ sound to you?” Weston ducked closer to the strangled Samuel. “It was particularly hard to find you, you know, especially after our last encounter.” He brushed off the apparent rubble on Sam’s shoulders. “You’ve killed plenty of my men already, Kings. I need you to look me in the eye and tell me how the 5 of you fell off our radar.”

Samuel’s eyes blazed with the glimmer of the fading lamp above him. He realized then that his life would not end tonight. This false hope kept his mouth shut in front of the reaper himself. Weston couldn’t stand the seconds he held him; he immediately tossed Sam’s head off his grip and back into the rough surface of organized car lots.

“Don’t get me wrong. We could’ve shot you and your dead friend anytime we wanted, you should consider yourself lucky to still be alive. Well, for the most part.” Sam’s eye’s twitched over to Lily who was racing her blood as her far from her as possible. Sergeant Lime had also taken the time to attach the strange mechanism around her neck as well. Sam looked back at Weston with the deadliest of scowls. “Talk!” Weston screamed.

For Sam, these sorts of circumstances seemed impossible. He always had the upper hand in a duel, but when the time came to lose his heart would sulk and it would murk behind his pride, and until this affair was over he’d remain in complete isolation. Death would follow Sam as far as possible and it took him all of his strength to not turn face and kiss the beast of his most feared adversary. With this significant thought in mind Samuel inserted himself back into reality and gave out his heaviest chortle.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! That Crowley-boy is one clever sonuvabitch.”

“Tell me! Now! Where are they?” Weston was touching upon desperation.

“Why don’t you tell me, reaper.” Sam’s voice began to regain character, and his mocking self was in control at last. “The world’s strongest power, the ‘Righteous Embassy of Abnormal Practices’. It has been said that not a single mystic can escape the power of REAP’s detection radars, why is it that three high school brats can surpass this legendary axiom?”

“I can make you dead more than you already are, you big oaf. How should we know how you sinners walk the planet?”

“Don’t be naïve, you little shit. They’re already dead.” Sam coughed and exhaled, in that order.

“What?”

“You can’t find them, right? Anyone can be picked up by that junk-heap-piece of scrap metal. Even regular humans. If you can’t find them than they’re dead.”

Weston tilted down and stared at Sam’s half-beaten exterior. He pounced back removing his deadly shadow off the poor man.

“Hah! Now who’s being naïve? You expect me to believe that bullshit? I know you’re trying to cover for them. I commend you for not spilling their location to me, even as you lay there dying, but there has to be something that can make you talk.” Weston removed his bow and aimed lower at Sam.

“You’re really an idiot then. I’ve got nothing to lose. How are you going to find them if I don’t tell you, hmm? Blow up the entire city?” Sam used up all his last words to joke in front of his greatest enemy.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He paused. “I don’t care if I take the lives of all these blind fools. I’ll blame it all on the embassy. They’re all expendable to me. The only thing I need is power. The only way to get there is ‘up’.” Weston had begun his famous chant.

“I’ve seen you pull on that bow plenty of times now. But do you really know how to kill?” Weston had ignored Sam’s breathless comment as he recited the words that would seal Sam’s fate. The words Weston sang grew softer and softer with each passing breath Sam took. His life was at its end next to the very person he loved most dearly. “Lily…” His words passed her like dead air. His reach felt the gap between them, but no matter the difference, she was still lost to him.

“For your insolence I shall let you suffer. I’ll pray you won’t be so cheeky in the face of your creator.” Weston shot. It had struck Sam’s back and onward into his chest. The hindering tempo slowed his metronome to a single note every 5 seconds, and he felt the taste of fresh blood run up his gullet. The fading lamp fixture had finally passed, and with it came the veil of despair among the fallen.

“Lieutenant, the device has been activated.” Sergeant Lime watched as Weston crossed the guilty frontier. “West, please pass this grief you have on the murdered. You’ve killed once before.”

“I can still count my losses, Adrian. There is no law against it.”

“It makes you weak in front of the enemy.”

“Shut up. I know that. I’m leaving before I’m caught in the cyclone.” The 20-year old Weston Valor had counted 2 murdered bodies by his hands. His first was the beloved 2nd Lieutenant, Laken Courland. Weston took almost 5 minutes before releasing his bow against her. He remembered the anguish he felt soon after the bow had struck her skull, and the color of his hands that followed the same night. In the case of Sam’s bluntness, he was truthful of the fact that Weston had no idea how to kill his enemies. I’m still… still so far away from him, from father, from that masked bastard, from the entire world. I’m still weak. Weston faced forward for the last time. “Make sure to retrieve the devices after it’s over. I’ll meet you back at the base.” Weston watched his Sergeant place the final gadget in between the two bodies, and it began to glow.

Weston had left the murder scene. The mess from the two responsible corpses was a sight that would leave any ordinary murderer in awe. Both Sam and Lily lay completely mutilated while their blood colored the sturdy grounds of ‘Austin Meehan Middle School’. Their final moments with each other included struggling breaths and faint-spoken speech. This instance broke the two lover’s bonds and sent them to hell to be tormented individually.

The two tick-sized devices wrapped around both of the body’s necks began to shine a fancy red simmer. The gadget in between Sam and Lily extracted an unbelievable amount of both cold and warm matter, and then came the gusts of very excessive winds from both Sam’s and Lily’s collars. Within the thermal dynamic boundaries came a blinding turn of the air and it seemed as if water itself was beginning to form between the three gadgets. The mini cyclone began to form, and with it Sergeant Lime threw the last device over top of the spinning cycle. Everything lined up perfectly to contain this beast of nature, but in the midst of the disastrous upheaval laid the bodies of Louis Crowley’s murderers, as well as his saviors. It was impossible to see the ripping of skin and cracking of bone from outside the cyclone itself. The force had grown so dense that it was actually eliminating every piece of flesh from the two dead bodies. Sergeant Lime simply stood, safe from harm as he waited out the process.

The airborne-spinning tube of water was perfect in its make. In the eye of the destructive cyclone contained the centerpiece of the entire course. The side pieces were strung around the dead, and the ceiling piece saved the final gadget from any damage. This cyclone spun within the dark and silent atmosphere. It spun horrendously fast; anyone that tried to see through the beast would fail in their attempts, although the problem didn’t lie with how you could see through it, it was a matter of how fast you could dodge the sight altogether. The centerpiece within the tube was accompanied by another being, someone so slick and soft that they basically walked straight through to the center without a single drop to touch her white gowned attire. She knelt down at the crowding gadget and pitched it into the cyclone itself.

Quickly afterward, she dragged in the two corpses and found skeletal expressions in place of their own. She looked up at the cyclone and noticed it beginning to diminish, so she moved fast. As fast as her blood could race and as fast as nerves could twitch, she was one full second ahead of time itself. She had pulled from her white pockets a rock. It was a dirty kind of rock but she hadn’t the time to brandish its ugly blackened smolder. She had placed the rock between the mouths of both beings and within 5 seconds each their skin began regrouping themselves overtop the white rigid bone. She saw their faces begin to plunge out the lifeless sealing as they slowly regained consciousness. Sam came back first with the most vulgar of tongues. He looked over his shoulder to find the white dressed lady kneeling over Lily as well.

“You are…?” Sam knew her, but not the face. It didn’t matter to him for a single second because after looking around him, he found that he was brought back from hell to another type of hell. “What the f…?”

“Please, be quiet.” The lady hadn’t the time to be answering such useless questions. In a split second she was already knelt down at Samuel’s ear. “You are going to listen to me. You are going to do exactly as I say, because this world is corrupt. You two are alive against the will of time. You two survived because you serve an even greater purpose than death.” Sam heard every word from her beautiful voice, but the concept of ‘serving death’ was lost in his dictionary. “Rebel, Samuel Kings, rebel against the force that brought you to your knees. Make them fear the world as you feared them, and start the anti-revolution they’ve been planning for years.” With her final words, she was gone. Sam threw his head back and forth but it was too late. It was at this same second that a rogue gust of wind grazed the lamp fixture over top of the dissipating structure and it came back as a strong and truthful ray of hope. This lamp shined down against its own time, even after the long months it shown it was finally ready to rebel against nature and keep on shining.

“What’s the matter with the cycle? Why’s it stopping?” Sergeant Lime watched his brilliant mechanism begin to disrupt. He could see two silhouettes from within the paths of water, but he was for certain that the two dead bodies were already depleted. “Who’s there? Show yourself!” He called. Lime removed his weapon from his holster. He looked again, but this time he saw no one. The silhouettes were gone. Did they escape from the rear, he thought. He kept tilting his neck back and forth to angle around the falling paths of water. He looked and he looked, his head even tilted upward and faced more towards the sky, and then it tilted even more upward than upward itself. He kept looking and noticed that his sight was not so comfortable anymore, in fact his entire head felt as if it were upside down and facing towards the rear of him. Why is everything upside-down? What has this cycle done? It’s made it so I can’t even face forwards and in an upright position anymore. I think I’ll shoot it just in case. Lime had reached for his gun, but he felt no gun. In fact he felt no reach at all. At that point he noticed that his head had been severed and was separated from his body. It was the matter of how fast he could notice and how fast he could die, for without a head on his shoulders his senses all but stopped, and to his side came the beast of his demise.

“It doesn’t look like you’ll hear this but, I’ve always liked the saying: An eye for an eye.” Samuel stood tall once more, above the body of the severed sergeant and beside him the woman of his desires. He lived again and was about to wreak havoc on the cruel life he had so endured.

9

2010-07-06T04:37:00.006-04:00

9. Elimination

REAP’s American Headquarters
The finest technologists hidden in America

“Chief Hadwind Jagar,” A white-lab-coat from the large hub-like station called out to the CEO of the REAP section in America’s central headquarters, “We’ve confirmed a bombing at the roundabout near 45° Northern and 75° Western. It seems to have only abolished a singular building deep inside Philadelphia, sir.”

“What?” A mustachioed man wearing a white-blue lab coat dashed to his own station. “Who the hell ordered an Air Strike?” His German tone began cursing the invisible bombers throughout Philadelphia. He brought the small sector upon the larger monitor in front of the entire hub, grabbing the rest of the white-coat’s attentions. “Search the area for any trace of military aviation.” He began stroking his gigantic, blue hair due, which was now standing on all ends. Jagar had a very noticeable scar which sat vertically underneath his left eye; the shape would always leave the impression of a cross-mark to those who had the opportunity to see it.

Mr. Blanc, the leading operator in this division, sat next to Jagar to reveal the information of the moving component exposed on his computer. “There seems to be an escaping ‘strategically-built’ bombing unit not 50 miles south from there.” The larger monitor brought up a small aircraft moving at 500 knots down the lower half of the screen. “He seems to be increasing acceleration. Should we contact the pilot?” Mr. Blanc looked off towards the wise chief who was basically jumping up and down at this point. Jagar took a couple of seconds before calming himself. He grinned.

“I see.” Jagar stopped his frantic and even chuckled a few. “No need Mr. Blanc. That aircraft… is unmanned!” He posed and struck his large smirk on top of the rising hub as if showing off his brilliance to the entire technologist division.

“Amazing sir, you’re right. The broadcast that was sent out showed no sign of human-maneuver, and the acceleration has increased to over 550 knots, and still rising. There’s no way there can be a pilot in there.” Another white-coat spoke of Jagar’s astounding observation. Others began applauding and Jagar’s face accepted the immediate praise.

“Yes, yes. I am great!” Laughter threw his total veneer off course, and he stroked his enormous hair due once more.

“Um, sir,” Mr. Blanc interrupted Jagar’s glee, “Didn’t you just use the heat-detection radar?” He pointed at Jagar’s monitor which demonstrated a blinking lock on the escaping grey airplane. “And shouldn’t we be trying to mask this UAV before others discover it due to the legitimacy of the circumstances?”

The entire division halted their applause and stared back up at their faking Chief Executive. Jagar had coughed off his merriment and brought his neck down to his leading operator. He cleared his throat. “Mr. Blanc, begin cloaking this urgent interference. See if you can do the same for that bombed quarter in Philadelphia as well. I don’t have time for this silly business.” He coughed again and sat down at his station looking fairly upset.

“Yes sir.” Mr. Blanc mockingly smiled up at his Chief Executive and forged another grin when looking back at his monitor. He adjusted his blue specs and grazed over his smaller-sized hair-piece. As he continued the observation he hit a lead that questioned the aircraft itself. “Chief, it seems as though the aircraft is of American-Air Force Personnel and is en route to a dock; it’s stationed near Central America, sir.” The larger monitor showed the unit coursing straight towards an ‘X’. The screen adjusted in size to show the entire course.

“The National Guard?” Jagar rose and began pacing back and forth. “What does the American Air Force have to do with this? Furthermore, why hasn’t our state’s division in Pennsylvania taken care of the cover up?”

“Sir, because the demolition was of ‘American’ personnel we cannot use our masking system against it, and the National Guard also seems to be in panic.” Internet reports began popping up one by one repeating apologies from the military and Court-martials against this sudden ruin. “Sir, the UAV has almost reached its destination but it refuses to decrease in speed, additionally it seems to be descending rather quickly.” Mr. Blanc’s face jumped back, he shot up and struck his words straight through Jagar’s head. “Sir, if we do not stop the unit soon it’s going to crash-land right into Central America’s docking coast and take hundreds of other carriers and aircrafts with it, but not only that, the explosion could be large enough to be noticed by more than just the residents.”

“In deed, we cannot let this remote-controlled-cruiser do as it freely wants anymore.” Jagar continued his pacing.

“What should we do sir?” Jagar walked up and down the hub and back over to Mr. Blanc. “Sir!”

“Mr. Blanc, how many GBU’s or any other Ordnance Ammunition left on that UAV?” His finger rose, requesting not a single person to question his methods.

“We have tracked the UAV far enough to find not a single piece of ammunition left on there. The vehicle isn’t even loaded with any defensive API or any other types of shells, sir.”

“Excellent, than I think we’ll have this coast stationed down near Central America launch their own arsenal at the rogue aircraft.” Jagar smiled and sent his fingers down to the keyboard of the devilish scheme. “A base launching at their own aircraft, it’s brilliant! Ha-ha!”

“Sir, we only have 10 minutes before impact, if you don’t get in contact with them soon it wouldn’t make any difference.” Mr. Blanc’s fingers were everywhere at this point, touching screens left and right until his chief would tell him otherwise. “Sir, the UAV has just entered Mach 1.”

“Ha-ha. Of course it wouldn’t matter either way, my little white companion.” Jagar’s joke made Mr. Blanc sink lower in his chair. “The American’s SAM’s are far too weak at this point to stop something moving at Mach 1.” Jagar smiled again and had his proxy send a message to fire on the upcoming aircraft. His proxy took the visage of a top ranking militia officer.

“Sir, if you’re so set on them failing than why send the missiles at all?”

“Because, Mr. Blanc, all we need from them,” Jagar’s head shot up and he combed back his hair due, “Is the cover!” He did his famous grin again and began to elaborate. “Once we have America’s blind eye we’ll be able to send some of our own artillery against this scoundrel.” Jagar began his merriment once more and received even more applause than before. “Yes, yes. Thank you. You’re too kind. Although, I am that good. Ha-ha-ha!” He had his hands on his waist and was laughing out loud.

“Chief,” Mr. Blanc came out of nowhere again to ruin Jagar’s fun, “Shouldn’t we first tell the division near Costa Rica to prepare aviators and their own weaponry before we run out of time?” Mr. Blanc adjusted his glasses as everyone else turned around and continued working.

“Yes… umm… of course. Exactly what I was going to say, Mr. Blanc. Excellent work.” Jagar cleared out his throat and sat down again next to Mr. Blanc. “But actually, I heard that General Brine was down near Costa Rica this week. Maybe we can just leave this to him?”

“I’ll contact him immediately, sir.” After removing void information about other prints that was lying around Mr. Blanc’s table he pulled out his phone and began entering the General’s personal numbers. The conversation was short and orderly as Mr. Blanc backed his chair up to tell Jagar that the General says: “‘Nope’.”

“What!! That demon ‘Kempy’, what an old grouch. I used to play golf with that greedy bastard every single weekend, how could he not do me this one little favor!” Jagar began running up and down the staircases of the fine hub-stations. “I swear, if he ever asks me to clear his duties for him again I’ll tell him that he can just forg-…” The phone off of Jagar’s lab coat began to ring. “Oh. Hold on one moment you guys.”

All the technologists gave their chief the most scowling of looks, their heads facing opposite the larger monitor who revealed to the hub that there was only 5 minutes until impact.

“Ha-ha-ha. Well that was our friend General Brine, he just wanted to call back and let me know that he changed his mind and will be taking care of the incoming UAV. What a nice guy, huh? Why don’t we just forget all the bad-mouthing I gave him a few seconds ago, alright?” The entire hub all looked up again and gave Jagar the deepest and most awestruck of faces Jagar had ever seen. Jagar cleared his throat once more. “Mr. Blanc! Let General Brine know to wait until the cover from the American’s SAM’s to make his move.” Mr. Blanc dully turned his chair back to his station and gave the order.

Jagar sighed and sat back into his arm chair as he watched the rest of his plan on the larger monitor in front of him. A multitude of questions began arising in Jagar’s head. Why in the hell would someone send their own UAV to destroy itself along with the rest of its base? Possibly to cover up the even smaller lead found in Philadelphia? Still, this seems far too clever to be the fault of any Military personnel. This is definitely bigger than them. Is it the Haloes? Could they be up to something? No, it can’t be them. But still, what’s in Philadelphia?

“Wow. What a trail. We can all thank our brilliant Chief Executive for the indestructible plan, right?” Jagar rose, speaking highly of himself again. “How about some more love for your chief, huh? Just for the heck of it? Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Everyone sank lower in their stations and tried their hardest to ignore him. “No? Not a single clap? Come on you guys!” Mr. Blanc, on the other hand, tried his hardest to hide the snickers on his face. “Mr. Blanc… You… You killed the atmosphere. Clean this mess up!” With those words, Mr. Blanc was rolling all over the floor in tears, causing the rest of the hub to join in on the fun. Jagar clinched his fist in irritation. “Damn… you…Mr. Blanc…”

Lincoln High, Philadelphia
1:28 pm; Lou & co.

“Shhhh. Keep hidden.” Lou ducked back into the large bushes covering the gang from the rest of the blackened debris around the fairly large region that used to label ‘Abraham Lincoln High School’. “I see someone coming. Back up.” Lou whispered as loud as he could to his two conscious friends.

The explosion hung around the area like a gigantic fog looking for its own head. It lasted a good half hour or so before the authorities finally made their way to the scene. Police guards and detectives all over the prospect were chatting up witnesses and calling up their superiors for information on the vessel that caused this fracas. The stench left by the entire mess had most of the town in disarray, all of their children and their husbands/wives were dead. From one single strike of the earth the townspeople’s breed was purged into death. The bodies brought from the wreckage were charred and hardly recognizable. They were found in shards, some of them had missing arms and some had missing torsos, but they were wanted as evidence to anyone who’d take the time.

“How’s Lez doing?” The silent Ash questioned the still and soundless Lesley, lying unconscious in the hands of Stanley Miles.

“She’s just fainted; she’ll be fine when she wakes up.” Stan eyed her back-and-forth leaving no access for sprains or other injuries to befoul her sleeping body. He looked up. “What about you? What’s with your wrist?”

“It’s nothing. I just twisted it from the fall. I’ll patch it up when I get back.” Ash consoled his broken hand, feeling almost nothing from the dead weight.

“Guys, there they are! The blue guys and their huge weapons. The ‘Reapers’!” Lou stared straight through the tall bushes that were covering all around the back way of the school. The four of them had dashed into the forest before anyone could spot them. It was Stan’s plan to see just who’d show up after the amazing bomb testing that had almost killed them. “You were right, so these guys are still after us.” Lou kept his voice low and his head did the same, it was extremely hard to see anyone across this district of calamity.

“That’s hard to say for sure Lou. I’ve seen their methods once before involving the most precise snipers ever witnessed. Bombing an entire public school and hoping to hit a couple of highschoolers, it’s just too eccentric even for these guys.” Stan thought for the longest while why they hadn’t just scoped them out in the beginning like they did to that other man at the police station. “Is it possible they don’t know who we are? I mean, they’ve seen our faces clearly enough, I even told that guy our names. What more do they need?” Did they destroy the entire building on the belief that we let loose some information on them? How reckless can these guys be? They could’ve done their research before blowing up a monumental institution as large as a public school. It has to be something else, although the earlier theory explains why they’re here at this very moment.

Ash’s face curled up with the utmost confusion that ever puzzled him before.

“What’s wrong Ash? Another injury?”

“Why isn’t it fixing itself?” Ash couldn’t take his eyes off of the broken school. “Huh?! Why aren’t you fixing yourself?!” He pointed at the non-responsive mess of a school.

“Fix…the school?” Stan rested Lesley on a nearby log. “Ash, you mean like that time the streets began fixing themselves?” He ducked down to match both Ash and Lou. “Maybe there’re too many people around. You think that’s it?” Stan’s questions were piling up but nothing was to be answered. I can’t believe how much stranger this town’s become. The danger is stacking up even more as well.

“What I wanna know is why those ‘reapers’ can walk around the joint freely and not get nailed for having such dangerous weapons slung over their shoulders.” Lou saw 3 of them walking across the fields of their once proud school heaving back the huge guns in front of almost everyone in town. “They’re not even looking at them, look.” Lou pointed up at the townsfolk who were all just glaring at the smoking building. “It’s like they don’t even exist right before their eyes.”

“That is strange. I wonder if they can see them or not. But then again, why can we see them then?” Stan brought up this strange hypothesis of them being ghosts or anything of the sort. “In any case, it’s best if we stay hidden for a while. If they really are after us than you can be sure that they’ll go after anyone we know. So we’ll have to keep silent too. As far as they know, we’re dead. We can’t be seen walking around the neighborhood like it’s nothing anymore, we have to go somewhere far.”

“So… we’re going to say nothing and just let our parents think we’re dead?” Ash mused at the thought. Like that’ll have my old man worrying. It’d be another excuse for him to call up those insurance guys again.

“We’re still going to need a place to stay, Stan. We can’t just sleep out here for the rest of our lives you know.” Lou wondered how long this ‘dead’ thing would be. He didn’t want to be on the run from these guys for the rest of his life, he wanted to go to college and build his career as a professional athlete. “We’re… we’re not gonna run forever…. Are we?”

“We’ll figure something out Lou. For now, I think it’s just like you said. We need a place to go. And since Lez’s passed out I think I should be the one to mention her cousin.” Stan looked down at the unconscious Lesley. “Lez has been living at her cousin’s place ever since her parents moved to France. Her cousin has work over in New York so she’s never around anymore. I think its safe enough to stay there for now. Plus, Lez was never involved with any of this in the first place I don’t think she’s wanted by these reaper-guys.”

“So it’s decided then. We stay there until we can get some answers and figure out a way to dodge these freaks.” Lou grabbed the two of them by the shoulder. “I don’t know how to say this to you guys, but I think you deserve this much.” He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.” Ash and Stan both gave him a rather goofy look. “I’m sorry I started this mess. If I hadn’t gotten lost than you guys wouldn’t have tried to find me. I’m sorry Ash got sent to the hospital. I’m sorry that our freaking school got blown to bits. And now, I’m sorry they’re after us.” He looked down and arched his head down to his chest.

Lou felt the hands of his two comrades resting on his shoulders now. Then, altogether he felt a throbbing across his stomach. The two friends, on the receiving end of an apology, had both sank their fists straight into Lou's gut. Each of them looked quite conceited about it. Lou’s head fell lower as his knees bent over.

“You better be sorry, you bastard.” Ash spoke first. “Do you realize how much money I had under my bed? And now that I’m dead my dad’s gonna find that $64 bucks and use it on some cheap hooker.” His face quickly changed into a disgruntled 11-year-old boy.

“My collection of DVD’s almost reached 100 you know. I just needed 3 more. Now that I’m dead I can’t stare at the amazing compilation I worked so hard to get.” Stan’s face had also changed into a grieving little puppy-dog.

It took Lou a couple of seconds to catch his breathe before carving out another apology. “Yea… I know… I’m sorry guys… I…”

“But you know…!” Lou’s apology was interrupted mid-sentence. “Living like a ghost might not be too bad either.” The two of them tousled his hair and gave him a lame smile. "It's no use wallowing in the past."

“You idiots.” Lou smiled back and prepared for his rebuttal. “If you guys were alright with it than you could’ve just said so!” He aimed for both of them as he leaped and punched. Ash and Stan began swinging back at the overexcited 18-year-old, making sure to keep extra quite as to not get caught from the lurking reapers. “Alright!” Lou stopped the play fight. “So we’re gonna somehow sneak off to Lez’s place and then we’re gonna meet up at the spot those two ‘creepers’ told me about to get some damn answers.”

“That’s right. So for now, we can’t just walk around without disguising our faces.”

“Yup. But I swear if we have to live like this for the rest of our lives than when I die I’m going to find God and kick that bastard’s ass!” Ash began laughing at the ridiculous joke Lou had just screamed out.

“Ha-ha-ha! Kick God’s ass. Are you stupid or something?” Lou gave Ash a jab to the cheek and the two of them began fighting it out even more.

………

REAP’s American Headquarters
Weston Valor

“Private Vanderwood, have you located the infiltrators?” Weston Valor; speaking into his Walkie-Talkie shaped device.

“No sir, not under all the rubble and debris. They must’ve been blown up with the rest of the building sir.” The response also came from Weston’s device.

“Double-check it and then triple-check it! Once you’re absolutely sure they’ve been eliminated than you and the rest of the squad can return to the base in Pennsylvania.” Weston’s smirk grew larger as he sat in his comfortable lounge-chair drinking the most expensive of wines. “What a great week it’s been. Not only have I eliminated the three high school brats, but I’ve managed to kill off that oaf - Samuel Kings and his accomplice. My rise to the top should be eminent.”

………

8

2010-06-07T20:42:00.003-04:00

8. Air Strike

The Night After it all
Ashton Dews; Nazareth Hospital

Tattered and lifeless lays the body of a once-courageous fool. Sown-up and bled-out he remains petrified as he played the recurring events in his dreams. He slept alone in the small but pleasant hospital-room. The air was so thin and still, it was as if time itself had stopped.

Ash was patched from his lower abdomen to and around his lower back. The bandages crossed over most of his torso; he could feel them squeezing his stomach as they tread across the small hairs of his chest. The mountains of pillows beneath him were much too uncomfortable to rest in, but Ash had laid there speechless since his outlandish cries earlier that day.

His dad had come and gone around 6 pm, giving him an earful of false heartache and remorse, followed by the hours of ear-piercing frustration that Ash had heard many a time. Ash’s father was a businessman, he was sharp and he had almost no time to spare even for his own son. After the death of Ash’s mother 3 years ago, he spent a lot of time screaming and asking questions to strangers he would bring home, and once finished he would pay them off. Ash - the curious boy he was - looked into what his dad was working on. He eventually discovered a few pages of life-insurance scripts with Ash’s father listed as one of the beneficiaries and he figured that it was only typical of someone like his father to be worried about something so ill-mannered. The distance between the father and son became colder and colder since then. It was a divergence without words, without faces and without sentiment.

Ash had become used to his silence around his father; he would simply listen to him whenever he needed. There was no need to talk about what had just occurred that day, about how Ash had almost died from some magical deviant, which confused him even now. It was fine, as long as Ash lay quietly while his father lashed out at him with words of disillusion and the silent rebukes of condemnation.

The moonlight was hovering over Ash’s bedside and with it came all the fear and confusion Ash was shielded from. It was a lady. A lady dressed in white. Though, the moonlight caused a blue inkling in her outward glow. This blue and white lady was also illuminated by the moon, but her face was not so fortunate. Her face stayed hidden behind the black shadows even as she approached the sleeping teenager. There was no one to question her intrusion, or to ask of her purpose with an unconscious young man. It was this same lady who was in control of the frozen time, and her presence left not a single scar to the air that hovered so silently around them. She reached inside her blue and white pants to pull out something very peculiar.

Ash made a silent moan and shifted over to his side, the silence around the entire room made him very tight and uncomfortable. Ash’s eyes took a peek around whatever he could catch in his singular eye-shot. He saw the floor with the alluring white veil of the moon and his shadow’s cast as he lay in bed; but Ash noticed another cast, and this one was larger, it stood taller and it was gripping something in between its two hands. A tree, he thought, but he knew a tree didn’t have fingers, and a tree could not move as fast as this shadow did. The fastest he could, he turned over to his other side and he saw the shadow-caster.

She was now plunging the peculiar object into Ash’s stitches and causing him to scream out, but she kept her hand over his mouth. Ash was far too weak to knock her away and the pain was too great to withstand. Ash was fading back into another dream and his eyes were closing. His best attempts to see the face of his murderer was too far-gone, but he tried none-the-less.

The assailant was over top of her victim, she covered his mouth and stuck her weapon in between the cavity of his wound, her face still draping in the darkness.

Ash had lost the struggle, he had fainted, but his resistance hadn’t left him with nothing, he had seen it, the face of his killer, and even though he had fallen, he felt victorious. His brain had left him with one word: Mom?!

The room was forced once more into an unmistakable silence. The air was thin and still, but this time the room was shaken. The room was disturbed with the dirtied smell of blood that came from the lifeless body that lay in Ashton Dews’s hospital bed; and the room shivered with the final words of the blue and white assailant.

“Good luck.”

3 Days Later
Lunch Break; Abraham Lincoln High School

“Alright, explain this to me one more time.” Lou sat in the cafeteria eating his bologna sandwich. He mentioned to his friends about what had happened the day of the large earthquake.

“I already told you, the lady in white came at me with some kind of rock. I thought I was going to die.” Ash sat on top of one of the many tables in the large area. Every student was on break and they sat with their tiny lunches chatting with their tiny groups of friends. The four usual friends sat altogether at one of the smaller tables listening to Ash confess his murderous fantasy.

“As impossible as that sounds, it could have been a hallucination.” Stan was back to normal after witnessing the incident at Bradford Park, but he still could not believe everything that had occurred that day. He tried putting everything behind him and leaving Lesley safe from that conversation. “It could’ve just been one of the nurses, they wear white too, you know.”

“It wasn’t a nurse. Plus this lady was wearing pants.” Ash kept his story moving. “The weirdest part of it was that this person looked like my mom.” Small giggles came from Lesley Belial. Ash jerked over to her. “What?”

“It was a dream Ash. Just let it go. What I want to know is how you managed to heal that deep gash in just a single day.” Lou finished off the last bites from his sandwich. “There’s no scratch at all?”

“There’s nothing. I felt so much better the next day. It was like a hangover, you know? It only kills you for the first hour or so.” Ash lifted his shirt to find not a single cut on his body. Stan raised a question as to how that was even possible, but he insisted on leaving that behind him as well.

Ash got off the table and sat next to Stan. As soon as he was about to dig in to his own sandwich he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Ashton. I heard you were in the hospital. I hope you’re all better now.” A girl in the same grade: Alex Cerise was a popular and very attractive cheerleader that ordinarily dated the very large of football players. Ash stepped back and dragged Alex with him. Question marks grew on the faces of Lou and the gang. They tried their hardest to tune into what the two of them were talking about. Ash came back with a larger smile on his face.

“Did you just see that? Well?” He began bragging too early as Alex was still only feet away from them. “That’s like the second girl today.”

“Hmm, two girls? Are you sure it wasn’t just the same girl twice?” Stan joked.

“Yeah, that is two more than usual.” Lou followed up by stroking his chin. Stan and Lesley began laughing at Lou’s joke.

“Laugh if you want, but because of that I got a date this weekend.” His grin became much wider as he sunk his teeth into his tuna fish sandwich. “Ouch.” Ash felt a kick from his teeth, almost as if the tuna fish was rejecting him.

“What is it?” Stan asked him. Ash checked his sandwich.

“I dunno.” He put his hand against his cheek. He then wiped the sweat off his face. "It's so hot out today."

“It’s the middle of November, Ash. It’s like 45 degrees out.”

“I just feel… warm…” Ash put his hand over his head. “Whatever, it’ll pass, I hope.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. All four of them wore the Lincoln high uniform. A golden polo shirt over top of a white long-sleeve shirt, and lastly a pair of black slacks. Stan and the rest of them had taken off their polo shirts, usually until the break was over. They remained slouched into the seats of their table even after they’ve finished their lunch.

Lesley had stepped over to some of her other friends from the school’s choir. Her casual pastimes included skating, singing and helping Stan with his study groups. She had few girlfriends of her own, but she always found it much more entertaining with her three companions.

“So we’ve got that assembly-thing happening after Lunch today.” Lou reminded his two friends.

“That’s right. I almost forgot. Stan,” Ash zipped back over to Stan and began jogging his memory about the usual routine.

“I’ve got the equipment ready. All I need to do is set them up.” Stan petted his backpack and grinned at what was inside.

“Excellent.” Ash acted out the famous ‘Burns’ hand movement from The Simpsons. “I’ll help you set them up. Lou, we’ll see you and Lez at the usual place.”

“No problem. Just don’t get caught, alright?” Lou packed his stuff and stole Lesley away from her friends.

Every month, when an assembly was brought up by the principle, the gang would pursue some kind of prank, just to make the presentations more entertaining. Ash and Stan had begun these pranks for the first time when they were both in their freshman year. It was one of their most favorite hobbies whenever it reached the middle of the month. After setting up their famous pranks the two of them would join Lou and Lez outside, where they hid a bunch of chairs and a mini-fridge. The entire thing was always observed from the camera Stan had hooked up over the auditorium so they could watch their pranks in action.

The two of them joined Lou and Lez after they finished with the preparations.

“Hey, guys. Want a coke?” Lou tossed one over to Ash as they sat down to their comfortable arm chairs.

“When does the assembly start?” Lesley asked. She was deep into one of her books that Stan had requested to her.

“About 10 minutes.” Stan checked his watch.

The four of them relaxed. They were not usually the bunch to skip out on such occasions, but the fact of the matter was that each assembly was as boring as the next, and they decided that it was only fair to listen through a computer screen while they lounged in their comfy seats. Stan took this opportunity to ask Lou of what had happened after he escaped that day.

“Lou. You said that after you were saved by the couple they talked to you about some location. What exactly did they say?” Stan whispered over to Lou as to not disturb Ash and Lez.

“I was mostly told to just keep quite and keep hidden.” Lou sat back and reminisced very patiently.

Moments after Lake’s Execution
Lou, Sam & Lily

“You idiot! You almost died!” Sam released Lou from his fastened grip and began questioning away. This same circumstance felt very familiar to Lou.

Lou took further steps back from the two killers, having been deceived by them before.

“Listen. I don’t know who you guys are or what’s going on, but I don’t want to find myself on the ground again listening to you talking about ‘magic’ or whatever.” He kept the both of them in sight and eyed Lily’s hands especially.

“Calm down, twerp. You think we busted our asses to save you just so we can kill you?” Sam sat down on a nearby log and held his head upward. He kept his right hand over his left shoulder. The same shoulder Weston had pierced with a couple of his arrows.

“I-I don’t understand you two. You turn from friend to foe to friend again, all in just the blink of an eye. And-and that… whatever happened over there,” Lou pointed at wherever he thought they had come from. “You expect me to believe that whatever just happened over there was real?” His erected arm had unsteadied itself. Lou felt his nerves jumping all inside his body. His mind blew back to the second he saw Lake jump up and shield him from his death, the image was forever burned into his memory. “One second I’m running and then the next…”

“We don’t expect you to believe anything, Louis Crowley.” Lily had shaken off the fear from the overpowered Weston Valor. She became quite and content once more. “What we want you to remember is this fact alone,” Lily paused and forced her shoulder to stop bleeding. “They will never stop, not until you are erased from this world. They are the reapers that haunt you in the night. If you were lucky enough to escape from them today, you will regret not dying the day they first caught you.” Lily leaned onto a small tree and whimpered for her bleeding shoulder.

Lou almost couldn’t hear Lily over the panic of escalating fear that struck him the moment she had spoken those words. His recollection of the entire ordeal was faint and he could only think back to the moment the whole nightmare had begun. “They were fast… they had guns. They were so fast.” His blank stare left him frozen as he imagined the speedy Weston flip over another arrow straight towards him.

“HA!” Cried Sam, his head rose to its full extent. “Kinda puts your whole ‘basketball all-star’ league into perspective, doesn’t it?” He snickered a couple more before shooting a dead glance at Lou. “But if you think they were fast than you haven’t seen anything yet.” The cut from Sam’s right eye had stopped bleeding leaving a small trail from his temple to the start of his ear. “You’ve entered this world and now you can’t get yourself out. It was bound to happen some time or another.”

Sam stood up. He walked over to the wobbly Lou and threw his large arm around both his shoulders again. “Let me tell you something I probably should’ve told you hours ago.” They began walking. “Magick is a weapon of the mind, so naturally ‘the smarter you are the stronger you are’.” Once more, Lou felt all of Sam’s weight on top of him, and he was being dragged along with the strange beast. “Our teacher wants to help you. He thinks that there’s hope inside of you. I on the other hand, couldn’t care less. But last time I followed those instincts it got us right back to where we are now, so we’re going to play by his rules and keep you alive this time.” Sam smiled, Lou could tell it was false but there wasn’t much he could do about it. “So, here we go…”

Sam whispered into Lou’s ear. After releasing him once more both Sam and Lily shot out and left Lou to his vexed confusion. Lou believed what he had always believed, but now he was baffled at the occurrence of these two strange beings. It was Lou’s beliefs against theirs and he didn’t know what to think anymore.

…

“Incredible. So there are even faster and stranger people than those two?” Stan kept his voice down and scratched his head. “That same archer though, if it hadn’t been for a call he got, he would’ve murdered both Ash and myself. This was right after Ash got a call from you. Ah, that reminds me,” Stan pulled out his phone, “I tried calling you when we got to the hospital but your phone was off.”

“It was the weirdest thing actually. Later, after I got home, I checked my pockets but my phone was gone. I might’ve dropped it back at the cemetery.” Lou hated the thought of going back to that place, thinking of all the blood he witnessed coating the graves of the dead.

“So, in the end they told you about an old folk’s home, and a trail?”

“Yeah, they told me November 18th at 3:32 pm on 8580 Verree Rd.”

“Okay, so tomorrow we’ll check it out. After everything that’s happened I’ll be relieved to hear some answers.” Ash brought them back noting that the assembly had begun. The four of them watched the small screen in front of them.

“Alright, so when the principle finishes his speech we’ll pull the switch.” Ash giggled as he chugged back his coke. Lesley had to ask what their plan was this time.

“I hope you guys aren’t going to do the firecracker bit again.”

“Nah, but that was funny. I’ll let you explain this one Stan.”

“We basically set the speakers to another microphone. At the receiving end waits the largest sound we know. By the end of the assembly everyone’s eardrums are going to burst.” Ash and Stan high-fived and watched the rest of the lecture.

The hour-long lecture flew by as Lou thought more about who Laken Courland really was. They hadn’t known each other for very long but to Lou he felt as if he had known her for several years. She was dead now and he knew it, he could still see her praying to her mother’s grave and he wondered what went wrong. She wasn’t sad when she held him, on her last breath she held Lou as close to her as possible before being murdered by the golden-haired archer. There was nothing Lou could do anymore, but he didn’t want to give up like this. He would find answers, and he wouldn’t stop until he answered the question: ‘Why?’.

“He’s finally done. Wow, a whole hour, how the hell does he do it?” Ash was almost asleep by the end of it. “Let’s do it.” He smiled and pulled a remote from Stan’s knapsack. “Kablooey!”

Just then the loudest and most atrocious sound came from directly in front of the four teenage students. All four of them looked up to find a large gust of wind forcing them backward for a good 10 seconds or so. It was painful and erratic. The four could not see past the strange breeze that had toppled them backward, but the ever-elusive sight dangling in sight was their very own school. Their school was colored with a beautiful red and orange and was peculiarly dark despite how much day was in the sky. The heat given off the school grew larger and larger, the deafening cry that came from it was enormous and it left the heaviest set of bells in all four students’ ears.

Stan rose. He winced as his hands covered the two carillons to the sides of his head. His vision was coming back to him and he looked up at his school. His face cringed even more at what he thought was only a dream. The large building that stood before them not 30 seconds ago was completely destroyed. The char that was left from the explosion left the grass covered in darkness. The bricks that were blasted meters away from their foundation found themselves caught into the pavement and into other buildings. Stan had found the hole towards the top of the once-proud establishment; it was a catastrophe if he knew one. The entire building and everyone in it was destroyed, the bodies of brilliant professors lay next to the millions of bricks and ceiling tiles, the classrooms had transformed into a simple black cave that begged for disintegration. The ruins of their kingdom, barely standing was a pile of ash and smoke.

Stan helped the three of them up and watched as they imitated Stan’s expression only moments ago.

“We-we didn’t do that… did we?” Ash commented.

Lou remembered back to what Lily had told him. “They will never stop, not until you are erased from this world… If you were lucky enough to escape from them today, you will regret not dying the day they first caught you.”

“Is this… what it means to be hunted?”

7

2010-05-25T17:10:00.002-04:00

7. Execution

12:10 pm
Lou & Lake; North Cedar Hill Cemetery

“Lake, who are these people?” Lou kept his eyes fixed on the six armed men.

“You didn’t tell him? What a treacherous girl you are.” Weston scoffed and pulled another arrow from his quiver. “Well, I guess I’ll tell him for you. You see boy, she’s one of us. Well, she used to be.” Weston smeared the widest grin on his narrow shaped skull. “Can you really even trust her?”

“What do you mean ‘one of them’? Who are you people?” Lou shuddered as his head began to pound. Ugh... I still have this rocking headache. Lou’s head was about to explode. “Someone tell me what’s going on!” He took a step forward. The three gunmen leapt up and pointed their large arms at Lou. “Whoa, easy, easy. It was only a question.” Lou raised his hands. He felt faint and couldn’t stop sweating.

“It’s alright men.” Weston shot another one, this time it connected with Lake’s left leg and she plummeted to the ground leaving a vulnerable Lou. Weston aimed again, dead-set on Lou’s skull. He fired. “He’s my kill.”

The arrow stopped an inch from Lou’s left eyeball. Laken Courland; a shot to her leg didn’t keep her quick hands from grabbing an arrow moving at 450 feet per second.

Lou flinched. “Ahh! What the…?”

“Incredible. Even as you lay there helpless, you still raise your hand to the enemy.” Weston gave her small applause as he let go of his bow. “I expected nothing less from my former partner.”

“Lake, are you alright?” Lou ducked inward. Former partner? “Now I really need to know what’s going on.” He paused. “Lake, Who are you?”

Lake wished the arrow hadn’t gone completely through her leg. Her hands hovered over it but were careful not to touch it. Her focus was divided between Lou’s questions and her ability to stand up and face the enemy.

“Enough talk, boy. Men, proceed to the judgment of Miss Laken Courland.” In seconds, the two swordsmen leapt out from behind the gunmen and grabbed the fallen girl; her hair broke through the ponytail, leaving an explosion of hair all over Lake’s face. Both of them stood to the side of her, carrying an arm between the two of them. Lake tried her best to wiggle her way out, but her throbbing leg felt chained to the earth, dragging her lower and lower. “Let’s make sure you don’t try to escape this one.” Weston slipped her a dose of something from a small syringe. He waited till he saw Lake’s eyes clamp wide open. “You feel it? It’s sharp, isn’t it? It only lasts for a couple of minutes but it leaves you in quite the trance.” Weston removed the syringe and ordered the two soldiers to drag her body in front of one of the graves.

“Wait… no, stop! What are you doing to her? What did you inject her with?” Lou tried to reach for Lake but was interrupted by the gunmen approaching him.

Weston had pulled the smallest of arrows out of his quiver, no longer than half a foot.

“Your last words, 2nd Lieutenant Courland. Please explain yourself before this arrow reaches the inside of your brain.” Weston’s words caused a flinch in Lou’s neck and he saw Lake staring straight back at him.

“I resigned my former post as 2nd Lieutenant this morning, West.” Lake tried her hardest not to cry, her words were silent and breathy. “The REAP organization is a powerful company Lou, you must understand their control over people like us. They do what they need to keep the peace. Unfortunately, that means doing anything.” Lake stopped forcing out her words. “This morning, when I saw you collapsed in that earthquake, I saved you and I ran. The reapers… they cover up anything. They would’ve killed you if they saw you there.” Her tears began to flow down her hidden face.

“And that is precisely what intrigues me, Miss Courland. What history do you have with this peasant?” Weston’s gesture aimed at Lou. “Who is he that you would sacrifice your own life to protect? He is a boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that is all!”

“Hey, she saved my life! I don’t know what you guys want with me but she doesn’t deserve this!” His stutter was obviously spoken beneath his tongue. The warning of a trembling sense was shivered down both his legs.

“Shut it kid. You’ll get your turn.” One of the gunmen held his AK-47 inches from Lou’s face. Lou had only to watch his savior, moments from death.

“The chairmen have ordered your fatality Miss Courland. The Colonel spoke to me personally about your elimination. And the elimination of everyone collaborated with this mess.”

“This went as far as the chairmen?” Lake’s weeping front had transformed into a sneering narcissistic visage. “Sorry I gave those lazy geezers something to worry about.” Her laughs came out as coughs and her face was as bloodshot as her eyes.

Weston kneeled and faced her.

“You know, the best part of that drug I gave you is that it completely concentrates your blood. It thickens it. Your body should feel very heavy by now and your muscles should feel utterly exhausted.” Weston stepped back and dusted off his dirtied pant legs. He held up the small arrow. “I call this arrow the ‘Long-legs’ after my favorite spider.” He began fondling the tip of his deadly weapon. “This small arrow is set to extend extra limbs upon impact. But by then the arrow should be lodged deep within your skull. If the singular shot doesn’t kill you, the resulting compartments will.” Weston’s proud glare made Lou cringe at the thought.

The already-fallen Laken Courland fell lower and her eyes were completely bloodshot. She gasped for breath and her hair dripped with her tears. “It’s… such a …. such a shame…” her words were wheezed from behind her teeth.

“Are you alright Miss Courland?” Weston mocked. “Please speak with your head not touching the ground. We’re not animals.” Weston nobly plucked his bowstring with the arrowhead of his most dangerous weapon.

Lake forced out a snigger. “It’s amusing, isn’t it? That the lowest person here today isn’t the person with her head against the floor.” Lake began lifting her head to find Weston’s flustered expression. “Is your collar tight enough, Monsieur Valor?”

Weston scoffed and lowered his head. He began pulling back on his bow.

“Please remember one thing, West.” She looked up again. “When you’re inches from death and you look back on your life, just remember what I told you today.” Lake paused and took a deep breath. “You were never on the right side! You and all of REAP can burn in hell!” Spit flew from Lake’s mouth and onto Weston’s pants, her tears began flowing again as she turned to Lou.

Weston began his chant. “Please lord; be merciful to this lost soul; repent all sins and have pity as she dies trusting in your boundless …”

“Keep praying Blondie, we’re gonna add 5 more tombstones to this graveyard!” A deep and familiar voice was heard about 10 meters in front of Lou.

A know this voice: Kings, his name was Kings. Lou saw Sam and his female accomplice. He saw Sam’s huge exterior rush over dozens of tombstones. He saw him knock down the two soldiers who had Lake chained in front of her mother’s grave. They’re saving her. Lou’s fear from earlier had vanished with the appearance of his former murders.

“Don’t hold back men, this is Samuel Kings. He is also convicted with the earlier incident.” Weston pointed the guns towards the tall and rather, sinister creature.

“How’s it going Crowley-boy? Remember us? Hahaha!” Sam had his large hands gripped around the neck of one of the soldiers, using his body as a shield against the incoming gunshots. The bullets were fast and loud.

Lou ducked and covered his ears. AHHHH! My head, it’s killing me!! He backed off as much as possible to hide behind a nearby tombstone.

“Sam, get down!” Lillian Knights; much smaller compared to Sam, but was calm and in control of all her surroundings. She stood behind Sam and had prepared something special for the 3 firing soldiers.

Sam smiled and jumped out of Lily’s way, revealing Lily’s right hand engaging in a swiping motion. Her wrist was moving at rapid speed and her elbow followed, presenting Lily’s rollercoaster-like formation. A final sweep flew the full extension of Lily’s arm and the sound of a blustering breeze reached all the way to Lou’s ear. From a single flick of Lily’s wrist all three soldiers were knocked off their feet from an invisible gust of wind. They flew back over 3 tombstones.

“Whoa.” Lou was glad he had stayed hidden, and was clear of Lily’s hand. He tried to find anything on her arm that made her do what she just did, but Lily’s arm was bare from the shoulder down.

Lou searched for Lake after having watched all 5 soldiers defeated within minutes. His eyes panned over Lake’s mother’s grave and found her flat on her back, gasping for breath. Lake. He hoped his courage was enough to cross over to her, but his legs trembled at the thought of getting struck by one of Weston’s arrows.

“Ha! That’s the way!” Sam had let go of the defeated soldier’s neck and made a run for Weston Valor.

Weston couldn’t take anymore interference. He grabbed two regular arrows and immediately fired them at the charging bull in front of him.

Sam gladly took both shots to his left shoulder and shifted his weight onto his right side. He held out his right palm and clenched in open fist as if holding a small dagger. Weston was unprepared for the threat in front of him as he was reloading his bow with another arrow. Sam was only a couple of feet in front of him when he whipped his entire arm upward as if slashing the air itself. Weston didn’t know what to expect as he slid a few feet backward. He watched Sam halt completely in his tracks, frozen as his arm was still reaching for the sky and his palm still gripping the ‘invisible dagger’.

“Are fancy poses all you and your partner are good for?” Weston was prepared once more, his breaths were tapered after hopping out of harms way. Sam only smiled and let down his arm.

“What lovely hair you have, good sir.” Sam teased as he lowered his right hand revealing a lock of curly blonde hair fairly inked with stains of blood.

Weston touched his right hand to his left cheek. He felt the warm and wet company of blood, which was now dripping its way down Weston’s face. Weston reached again to feel for his beautiful hair but only to notice the absence of many strands. When did he…? Finally, he dried his dripping red cheek with the sleeve of his jacket and marked on; removing any fury he had left within his eyes.

“I believe I’ve taken this ordeal too lightly, but now that I have the four offenders within my sight, I shall eliminate each of you, indefinitely.” Weston removed a pair of black gloves with white crosses labeled on the wrists and an emblem with the letters ‘R.E.A.P’ read overtops the crosses. “With the duty of a lieutenant, and as a descendant from the Valor family, I shall not fail my obligation towards God or my father.” After slipping on both gloves his head rose to reveal the blue-eyed fiend who appeared much larger than the previous blonde-haired archer.

Weston’s glare had Lou begging for death. To him, Weston and his 1 Bow & Arrow felt like a thousand pistols aimed in his direction. Everywhere Lou thought to escape there was a wall of bullets moving at the speed of Lou’s racing heartbeat. But as he digressed his own fears he was quickly reminded of a dying young lady. “I’ve got to reach Lake. I’ve gotta help her.”

Weston reached for another arrow from his quiver. After simply touching one, a soft wisp of steam began to pump itself away from Weston’s hand.

“Samuel. We can’t win, we have to run. Now!” From the very beginning Lily knew the outcome of facing a Reaper’s 1st lieutenant, and her decisive measurements weren’t for naught. She suddenly heard a rumble from the distance. Are more of them coming?

“Not now babe, we’re just getting to the good part.” Sam let Lily’s haste fly straight passed him and he concentrated on the miniature behemoth standing before him. He locked both his legs and shot both arms downwards, again clenching his open fists as if holding something in between. “Take your best shot, Blondie.” Samuel’s smile grew larger.

No, we’ve got to run. He’s too strong. They’re coming, we have to leave. Lily watched as 2 of the fallen gunmen slowly recovered, she watched as their hands and legs were coming to life reaching for their hefty set of armaments. She listened intently to the feet of the many more soldiers’ only seconds from where they now stood. Her eyes however, couldn’t help but become enticed by the sudden movement from Louis Crowley who had made his way over to the fallen lady who seemed motionless. Half-way, she saw Lou’s legs trip and stumble over something as insignificant as a stone or simply the grass in front of him. Lily saw how much he dreaded running in this undead-battlefield, and she witnessed his agitation by the way he cringed his face, but what she couldn’t stop staring at were his eyes; the eyes of a man willing to leap out from the world that once safeguarded him and into the fiery hell that cast even the bravest of warriors into despair.

Gotta make it. Gotta make it. I hope she’s alright. Lou could feel Lake’s kiss again. He saw the most innocent girl in the world shot down by a group of costumed men with massive weapons lugged over their shoulders, all for the sake of keeping something ‘hush-hush’. The only moving creature once more was Louis Crowley; running in the same shorts he wore since 6 am that morning. He felt a strange feeling just then: he felt that the very moment he began racing towards her, that that moment would never end. He felt he’d be locked in that moment for days and days, and by the end of it he wouldn’t save her. He felt he would miss that 3-point shot that the entire team was counting on to win the game. And he felt that he would die.

“Come at me! I’m waiting, tough guy!” Sam thrust himself forward, awaiting the first shot from the solemn soldier. The non-existent clatter from the eyes of the two men made the gravity increase tenfold.

“Sam! They’re here. We have to leave!” Lily’s voice was drowned by the gunshots and the stomping of the dozens of soldiers who were all only 15 meters away. She felt a sharp sting in her left shoulder and she knew it was too late. The reapers had appeared to eradicate any trace of ‘mystic flesh’ found on this graveyard. From the front end to the back, the herd of blue soldiers carried guns, they carried swords. Some were large and some were larger.

Lou hadn’t cared to look up. His prime directive was set on his half-beaten comrade who was still lying on the ground in front of her mother’s grave, motionless.

Sam heard the commotion moving in from the side of him, but he knew he couldn’t lose sight of the prey, not even for a second. Bullets whizzed by his ear and even grazed Sam’s knee, but he wouldn’t budge until the foe in front of him was the foe beneath him.

Weston could hear them, his party of soldiers. They’re finally here, huh? A little too late. I have all of them in my range and I’ll take each of them down in less than a single second. First target: The moving good-for-nothing kid who began this entire mess. Weston readjusted his aim to the moving target directly behind Samuel Kings.

He’s aiming at the Crowley-boy. And it looks like Lily’s already down. We might have to move out before we’re completely surrounded. “Lily!” Sam’s head did the tiniest of twists to reach out to her. “Take the girl and….”

“Sam, watch out!” If it hadn’t been for Lily’s forewarning the arrow would have most likely struck Samuel’s head clean through to the other side.

What a way to catch someone off guard. This guy doesn’t let a single mistake go unpunished. Sam had tilted his head just enough to barely keep his right eyeball, and yet the arrow’s path was still set for its true objective.

Gotta make it. Gotta make it. The arrow, still moving at 500 feet per second was painting a bulls-eye straight through to the center of Louis Crowley’s forehead. Lou was running blindly into his demise but all he could see in front of him was his savior, crying for help.

Oh shit! The arrow’s moving way too fast now. I can’t make it in time. Sam hopelessly tried to reach out for Lou but knew it was pointless.

The arrow finally hit. The sound it created echoed throughout the entire cemetery. It had so much impact that the four people surrounding it wore the same distraught expression.

Lou caught her. The arrow sunk deep within her chest. She could no longer stand on her one foot and she had barely any life left inside her. “Lou……..” Her words were so breathlessly proposed that the only thing Lou heard was his name. She hugged him for the last time.

That chick took the hit for him. Unbelievable. Sam began to run. He could see Weston reload his weapon. As much as Sam could, he frayed off any arrow that was directed at the four off them and he grabbed Lou. “Sorry kid, we gotta run.” Sam had left her, the person Lou was dying to save, and the person who saved his life not once, but twice.

“Stop. We have to save Lake. She’s lying there. She’s still alive!” Lou was cushioned underneath Sam’s armpit. “Let me go!” He struggled his best but was no match for Sam’s locked grip. Sam was now ducking in and out, evading bullets and arrows. He constantly looked over his shoulders to find Weston’s arrows spiraling towards him.

“Lily! Are you okay to run?!” He was only steps away from her.

“Yea, I’m fine!” Lily hadn’t stopped ogling at the girl. She was collapsed and crushed by Weston’s single arrow. The image of her rising from the ground to take the arrow straight through her chest for someone else was the most astonishing instants Lily had ever witnessed. She broke sight of everything that could kill her and joined her partner as they ran as fast they could.

“What are you doing?!” Lou screamed. “She’s still alive, I have to save her!”

“Don’t push your luck, kid. What do you think would happen if she found out that she sacrificed her own life so that you could go back and die, huh?” Sam was still dodging most of the bullets shot at him.

Lou tried hard to see over Sam’s arm, trying to find Lake. He instead found a lock of blood-stained hair that Sam had inadvertently cut from Weston’s head. Lou tried over Sam’s arm again and found the gang of soldiers lined up in front of Lake and Weston. Lake remained poor and immobile but Weston didn’t take a second to even consider her pain before he killed her. Lou couldn’t watch anymore, his weakness caused a kind person like Lake to be killed and he couldn’t do a thing about it. His head rolled down to his chest and he sniveled for the shortest while.

“I… I can't believe it. I don't know why...” But Lou stopped. His sorrow was strong, but his determination was stronger. He became well enough to rise and look back again, but the soldiers and Lake were far gone. Once again he saw the blood-stained hair from the blonde archer. He looked again, but this time the red color was beginning to diminish. The red was literally rolling off the hair and disappearing. What came underneath was a blackened sludge that resembled blood, but was in no way the same. Lou picked it up.

“Is this … black blood?”

1:30 pm.

6

2010-03-11T18:22:00.006-05:00

6. Lunch with Strangers

12:05 pm
Somewhere in Fox Chase, Philadelphia

A room enclosed in thick sheets of darkness. Regularly, this room blinds any being upon entering, but a pair of remarkable companions saw straight through the alluring veil. The two of them sat next to each other, studying the upcoming events. The male shade sat in the dreariest of dazes, having said not a single word for the past hour.

“What do you expect to happen, Wing?” The female shade began engaging herself in what seemed to be the most one-sided conversation of her life. Wing had taken another sip of his tea before reclaiming his former position. “Please.” Her voice fraught with the burdens of her own pry.

A serene spirit began to illuminate around Wing’s body. The room, in which they both dined in, could not contain the limitless glow that had suddenly erupted from the body of the male shade.

“I’m sorry old friend, but it is not for certain. Please understand. I only wish for the peace of this world.” His words kept a dead silence for the next few minutes. Wing, finally finishing the last of his tea, adjusted his specs back over his nose; he removed the glow about him which cast the room into darkness once more.

“The dexterity of your students may guide the free from danger, but I sense an immoral behavior behind their motives.” Wing’s female companion had finished her observation and quickly wrapped her lips around the edge of her teacup. Wing simply sneered at her remark.

“Have patience my dear. They are still young and rebellious. Soon, they will find what they desire.”

“Master Wing, you speak of desire and peace in a world filled with revolt and fury. I wish I could see what you see.” The silence in her voice made the room shift in color. What was once an ugly mask of obscurity had now altered into a slithering violet mist.

“I pray you, Lady Fortune, never seek my eyes. There is more to the future than 5 minutes of serenity.” The temperature abruptly rose from within the dark room. “It all begins with an unfortunate execution.”

Earlier That Day
Louis Crowley; Somewhere in Mayfair, Philadelphia

The mind of Louis Crowley was put to rest the same morning at 6:45 am. The world had changed in the last 4 hours and unknown to Lou are the events of his friends. Where have the consequences of Louis Crowley brought him, and how has he outlived himself from a vile death?

Where am I? What do I remember last? Lou’s dream-world would remain the same as always. I was running again, like I always do. But this time was different. Lou ran in his dreams, he’d hear the voices of guards. I’m here again, running. Why am I always running? Why do I never finish this dream? Am I running away from someone, or am I running for something else? Lou awoke.

“…What ...the hell?” He quietly asked the room, expecting no answer. He looked down at himself, still in shorts. He felt a slight aching from his head. Ouch. What the…?

Lou lifted his entire self and circled his head in all directions, then back at where he lay. “A couch, huh? Well, I guess it’s better than a grave.” He mused and began paying special attention to the fire place directly in front of him. Above it was a framed picture of a married couple, the groom of whom looked awfully familiar. Lou reached for the frame. “That can’t be…”

“Oh! Oh! Please don’t get up!” A timid voice came from behind Lou’s couch, and suddenly a trip and a cry was all that was heard. “Ahhhh… owie.” It was a shy-looking lady in her late teens/early twenties who had oddly tumbled over her own feet whilst carrying a damp cloth and some first aid.

Lou’s hand was frozen in air as he glanced down at the frivolous girl beneath him who was now covered in unused band aids and eye pads. She had long blond hair that tied into a ponytail, and her face was so gaunt and elfin that it left one word in Lou’s mind: “Bookworm.” Lou lowered his arm.

“Darn…” The ponytailed girl tried to lift herself off her own fall.

“Um. Are you alright?” Lou lent his hand towards the new and rather, ditzy girl.

“No, no. Please. I’m fine.” She began reassembling her shattered first aid pieces. “Ha ha ha, how strange is it for someone who just woke up from a concussion to ask something like that?” She giggled to herself.

“Yea… that is kinda weird.” Lou stared closer at the girl’s smile and recognized her from the picture above the fireplace. “Ah. Is that you?” He pointed at it, and his arm gave out. “Oww…”

“Ah! Please don’t get up so suddenly.” The girl leapt forward at her picture and gracefully hid it from sight. She turned and consoled Lou’s aching head and injures. “You must rest, Louis.”

“Nah, it’s only a headache.” Lou grabbed his head. Wait a minute…. Lou glared back up at the concerned girl who was nursing him back and forth. “How do you know my name?”

“...Ah!” The girl gasped at Lou’s eyes. She tried to avoid eye-contact and threw on a false grin. “I go to some of your games, you’re really talented.”

Lou didn’t buy it, but there was no harm in playing charades until he found his way out.

“That’s twice in one day. Am I that popular?” Lou gave a soft laugh and glared back at the half-reliable girl. “Well, you know my name. It’s too bad I haven’t gotten yours yet.”

“Oh! I am so sorry. My name is Laken Cr…” A short pause stared her off into space. She came back a second later. “…Courland. Laken Courland. But please, just call me Lake.” Lake’s eyes came back from their idle leave to find Lou’s eyes just darting at her. “…Umm… I hope you don’t mind, I found you lying unconscious in the middle of the sidewalk.”

“Sidewalk?” Lou released his locked glare towards Lake. “Uh. Oh, I guess that’s what happened, huh?” He rested his aching head back onto one of the many pillows. “But… that can’t be… I remember a shady couple, and an earthquake.”

“You hit your head kind of hard, Louis. It’s best not to think of it.”

“I guess you’re right. It was weird though. The big guy, he stopped a knife in midair without touching it.” Lake flinched. “I guess you can use a simple trick with strings and stuff though. Ha ha, what am I saying, right?”

“...People tend to doubt what they don’t understand.” Lake’s face turned and her smile had transformed into a heartbreaking frown.

“Pardon?” Lou wasn’t paying too much attention.

“Ah… nothing, don’t worry about it.” Once again, an automatic transformation changed her sweet and soft expression, lighting the enthusiastic girl crazily.

“Hmm. You still haven’t answered my question, you know?” Lou pointed again.

“Question? The picture, you mean?” Lou nodded. “Yes, that was me... and my husband. It’s been some time since then.” Lake let her head sag as she sat cross-legged next to Lou. “We were married. We were young and incredibly happy at the time.”

“I take it that ‘you were happy’ means you're something completely different now, huh? I’m sorry.” Lou turned away.

“No, no. Please don’t be. Seeing you just reminds me of him, and it brings back all the great memories we shared.”

“Seeing me? Why me?”

Lake tensed up. “It’s just that… you look a lot like him… your hair. Ha ha.”

“Whatever. I’m grateful you found me. I must’ve looked pretty stupid out there lying face first in the pavement.” Lou lifted himself off of the couch and on his feet In front of her, she in turn followed. “I need to make a call, if you’ll excuse me.” He reached into his pocket. “Jeez, there’s like 20 new messages here. What the hell’s Ash doing this early in the day?” He turned to her. “What time is it?”

“It’s about… a quarter to 11.”

“Whoa. I’ve been out for 4 hours? That’s ridiculous.” Lou dialed Ash’s number.

Lou, I can’t tell you why, but I have to get rid of your phone. They’ll be able to trace you. I also have to get rid of your spirit. I’ll take care of that in a second. You don’t seem to trust me right now, but I hope you don’t hate me for this later.

“Dammit, he’s not answering. Why call me then?” Lou paced his way back to Lake.

“Umm. You must be hungry.” Lake looked up at Lou and smiled. “I just made some lunch. Care to join me?”

“Well, I could eat. I really need to see what my friend wants, though. I’ll wait for him to call back.”

You have to understand Lou; I can only hide you in here for so long, before they trace me and find you. We’ll head out soon; I just want you to trust me.

The two of them sat and began gobbling down the burgers and fries.

“Louis, random question. Do you know what separates a candle-lit dinner from a regular dinner?” Lake turned away, blushing.

“Sorry? What was that?” Lou was busy sinking his teeth into the delicious burger in front of him to notice anything else.

“…Ah… No, I’m sorry. It’s a stupid question, never mind it. You should eat.” Lake took another bite from her burger.

Lou stared up at her again. I don’t think she’s part of the pair that attacked me earlier, but she’s definitely suspicious. A girl like her, does she even know what sport I play? My name isn’t that popular. Also, casually walking into an earthquake at 7 in the morning to pick up my unconscious body, the nicest guy in the world wouldn’t even do that. Other than that though, she’s pretty nice. The cutesy face is obviously an act though, I don’t know why but I can’t trust her until I’m absolutely sure.

“That was great, the fries were heaven.” Lou smiled and got up with his plate.

“Ah, I can get that for you. You’re a guest after all.”

“You know Lake, after all this I don’t think I’ve thanked you yet. It’s almost like you saved my life back there. So, thank you.”

“It’s no problem, it’s common courtesy to help those in need.” Lake looked up again at Lou, and once again met his razor sharp eyes. “Ah… If you don’t mind now, I’m heading out to meet my mother. If you want to tag along, it’s on the way to where I found you.”

“Of course, how else am I supposed to get back home?” Lou searched for his shoes.

If I don’t do this than Lou’s in trouble, but if I do do this than they’ll be able to find me. I’ll have to take that chance, he has no idea what this world, and what they, are capable of. Now, I just need the right moment.

“We good?” Lou called. “I’ll be waiting outside.” Lou reached for the door, opened it and walked out. As both feet met the outside of Lake’s Apartment, Lake called him back.

“Lou!”

He turned, finding Lake’s face jammed up against his. Their lips connected and they shared the same breath. Wh... What’s she doing? This heat, it feels so sensual and… addictive. But I don’t even know her. Still though, she did save my life. Lake reached around Lou and he did the same, they lasted 5 seconds in a statue-like state, until he had to stop.

“I…umm… I don’t… I don’t understand why you suddenly kissed me like that.” Lou backed up and stared at the ground, his hands distancing the two of them.

“I’m…-I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just… you’re so incredibly handsome and you look like my dead husband… I just wanted to see how it would feel.”

“Please, don’t take it the wrong way, but I don’t even know you. I appreciate you for saving my life, but I don’t know you well enough to feel anything for you except my gratitude.” Lou’s eyes glanced at both ends of the hallway, finding no one.

“Please, forgive me. It was my mistake. I hope you still don’t mind if we walk back together.” Lake put her hands in her pockets and shot Lou her most innocent look.

Lou sighed and laughed it off. “Of course not, as long as we’re clear on this understanding.” They smiled and set off.

Lake’s hands stayed jammed inside her pockets, she finally found the off switch to Lou's phone. That may not have been the best way to do it, but at least Lou’s safe now, and once I get him out of here he’ll be home free.

“So, how long till we reach your mom’s?” He didn’t look at her. At his pace it seemed as though he was the one leading her.

“It’s only like a 5 minute walk. I hope that’s okay. How’re you feeling?”

“Never better.” He gave the lame thumbs up signal. “A walk never hurt anyone.” Although, at this point, Lou’s ‘walk’ looked more like a ‘march’, and his arms and legs were flying up and down in the most synchronized formation. Lake blushed.

Five minutes had taken its toll on Lou and he was sweating bullets just by standing next to the once timid, Laken Courland. They both stopped and stared at the enormous field in front of them.

“Wait a minute. I know where we are now. This is Hawthorne. But that’s…” Lou couldn’t say the words in front of her, knowing what it means to be standing outside a cemetery. “Lake, when you said you were visited your Mother, you meant…”

“I’m sorry, I should have mentioned…” Her head was so far-gone into her chest that she was practically staring at the floor.

“No, no. Don’t apologize for that. I’m sure it must be hard for you. I know how it feels, trust me.” Lou comforted the girl as best he could, his arms on her shoulders. “Both my parents…”

“It’s okay Louis. If you only count your troubles, than you’ll never notice the joys.” Lake’s head slowly lifted itself up revealing the ever-growing grin on her face. “Someone said that to me... when she first passed away.”

Lou was speechless. He stared at her for the longest while. He gave her no more glares or vulgar frowns, his eyes couldn’t keep off her smile. Of course, after a while, his mind came knocking on his head opening the door to his brain and: “Ah!! Well… We should go in…” He removed his hands and wiped the sweat off his head. “Your mom probably doesn’t expect many guests, ha ha.”

The cemetery at North Cedar Hill was the largest set of tombstones Lou had ever seen. He had no idea where to start and where to end. Funnily, he noticed that if he stood in the middle of the gigantic circle it looked it a basketball.

“This is her grave here, Louis.” Lake was at the end of the basketball shaped circle. He hopped his way over to her. Lou read the tombstone.

In Memory Of
ROSEMARY COURLAND
Who Died
August 3rd, 2008
Age 34 years
Beloved Mother and Wife

Wait a minute. Thirty Four years old? That doesn’t make much sense. Lou stared back at Lake in front of the grave, hands up against her chest and mouthing away with both eyes shut. How can she be her daughter? Unless… she was adopted?

“This ...was last year. It must’ve been tragic for you, she was so young.” Lou crossed both arms and waited for Lake to finish.

“It really was. I’m just sorry I missed it.” She whispered.

“Really? You didn’t see her pass away? What happened?” Lou uncrossed his arms.

“I’m not exactly sure. But my dad says it was terrible. She was the only one at home when it happened. The house was burned to the ground.” Her eyes couldn’t keep off the skies.

“That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.” An unfamiliar, Romanian voice was heard about 2 tombstones down from them. He carried a bow and arrow and had the curliest of blond hair ever seen on a boy.

Both of them turned to face him. “Who the hell are you?” Lou inched Lake closer to him.

“Weston Valor, you of all people...” Lake handed off Lou’s gesture and stood firm in front of the blond-haired archer.

“Don’t you speak to me, you traitor. I don’t know what interests you so much in him, but he will die. As will you.” Weston pulled further on his bowstring.

Wha…What’s going on this time? They know each other? This shy girl who lost her mother and her husband, she’s protecting me. Lou attempted to defend his protector only to have an arrow shot his way. After opening his eyes Lou found Lake’s arm in front of him with the arrowhead gripped between her fingers. What the hell was that? I missed everything just now.

“Lou, please stay behind me.” Lake whispered gently behind her shoulder, her eyes not budging off the enemy in front of her.

Another voice came twenty feet from behind Lou. “We’ve arrived Lieutenant Valor.” Five men: 3 of them gunman, two of them swordsman. All 5 looked incredibly silly wearing a 4 pocket polyester blue pants with a Rubberized Nylon Jacket, carrying their weapons over shoulders. The gunmen had Solid AK-47’s with an enormous metal stock covered by the logo of the word ‘R.E.A.P’. The swordsman had sheathed double-edged blades with the hilt of the sword being the size of their forearms, again logoed with the same word.

“Darn it, reapers.” Lake shoved Lou to the side of her and concentrated on both sides of the battlefield.

“Once again, Miss Courland, you find yourself in the most desperate of times. There’s no where left to run, so …it looks like ...I win.” Weston’s smile read ‘checkmate’ across the most bloodthirsty of teeth Lou had ever seen.

5

2010-02-08T15:53:00.004-05:00

5. The Real World

“Well, whaddya know. The kid’s got thick skin.”

The man standing 6 feet over Ash’s body gazed at his stained dagger. He kept hovering as he now focused his attention on the trembling Stan.

Stanley Miles watched his fallen friend, quaking as he lay on his side, agony and all.

Dammit, what am I doing? With all my brains why can’t I figure this out? Why can’t I MOVE. His face was pale, and Stan tried his best to pace his way backward, inch by inch. Start Thinking. Don’t lose track of his movements, and don’t trust his tricks.

“AAARGHH!!” Ash’s pain left him no choice but to cry in complete distress. The knife had penetrated from his lower back and straight through to the side of his abdomen, clutching the side of his stomach was the only thing Ash had on his mind, as well as wallowing in his own anguish. He bled slowly, tainting the grass about him.

“Ash! You hang in there buddy.” Stan trembled, and brought his foot slowly in front of him, all the while summoning his entire being to do so. Stan could feel every bone in his body quivering, the closer this man and his rapier hurried forward the tenser Stan became. This was a mistake. But I thought that… surely two proactive teenagers could apprehend a full grown man with a phony magic trick. I was wrong, this is all wrong. Stan brought his foot back and counted the milliseconds he had before he was caught.

A single stone the size of a golf ball was stumped behind Stan’s white Adidas. It was a stone that had lived for years and it was stuck beneath the feet of some giant at Bradford Park with its head towards the sky. This stone not only sat with it’s head held high, it’s adjacent body mimicked the composure of the man in front of it and at any moment would be pushed off it’s roots and thrown into the cruel community.

“I’m sorry boys, but I must end this quick, before they show up and ruin my fun.” A hidden smile behind the man’s hood crept its way out of the darkness. “You see if I don’t end this here than they’ll eliminate all of us, and that would just wreck my day.” The voice and smile was now lost behind the darkness of sown fabric.

5 feet in front of Stan’s face was the charging killer, and as he took his last step, Stan took his. What promised Stan a quick escape horribly landed him a dive face first into the fields of his demise. NO! Not yet, I still haven’t figured the trick behind it all. Who’ll show up? Who’ll wreck the day? WAIT! Stan turned first and stared at the airborne dagger held by the clocked figure. It’s over!

“It’s over! Hahahah!” The man went for the plunge, a hole through the neck would calculate: instant death. Stan hid behind his hands and flinched his entire body. This is my fault, I did this to us.

……….

Stan raised his quivering head to find his murderer brought back 20 feet away from him, his arm raised to an arrow stuck beneath his shoulder blade.

What?!

“What’s over boys? I just got here.” A teenaged man no older than Stan came from the camouflaging bushes. His voice ran with an uneven trace of a Romanian accent, his blonde curls sat beneath his ears. The sole point to his distinctive attire was his outfit. His shirt seemed as if it was painted on, a mix of steel-blue and white was coloring his upper body, with a pitch black overcoat covering his midsection. He wasn’t a large creature but he certainly wasn’t tiny. He held a bow in his left hand and carried arrows around his waist.

Stan doubled back at the clocked assassin. Thank god. This guy must be who he was talking about. Stan watched him stare at the cast-in arrow, if it wasn’t for the hood Stan could finally see this man lose his deviating smirk. Though, he showed no signs of trauma.

He began yanking at the shaft hoping for it to pop out only to have another one sore straight at his chest. The arrow was exceedingly swift; Stan did not even see the golden-haired archer reach for it.

“Sorry sir. Don’t touch the arrow.” He grimaced.

“W-Who are you?” Stanley called.

“HAH! He’s the bad guy, kid.” His hood began to float in the driving winds, revealing the man’s ugly yellow smile. He tried again at the arrow now sunk in his chest.

“You wish, loser.” His blonde curls also began to drift. “I was busy with another operation, you just happened to cross my path. Unlucky for you.” He began tightening his bow again.

Stan almost tripped his way to his broken friend when an arrow launched itself straight in front of him. “Move and you’re dead kid.” The blonde archer didn’t seem to be on anyone’s side.

“Don’t change your target in the middle of a fight boy; you’ll end up killing yourself.” The black cloak was now behind the archer and attempted a slash causing a leaping blue blur straight into the air. The archer shot 3 more down at his target. “Hahahah! You think shooting aimlessly will help you? I’m over here boy!” The black cloak was now underneath the floating archer who, at this point, was more than 20 feet in the air.

“Have another one, you cretin.” His trajectory was shifted directly beneath him and a shear slice of the arrow pinned the man and his cloak. A fancy grin lit up the archer’s face. He landed on an empty cloak; the archer weaved his head over his shoulder revealing an escaping black-haired figure yards away from him.

“Sorry boy, but I’d rather not face the lot of you today. Enjoy your catch. Hahahah!” His words faded away with him, and with a thick smoke covering his blurred appearance, he instantly vanished.

"Dammit!” Screamed the blonde archer, clenching the black cloak in his right hand. “Had this cloak not have gotten in my way...” He whipped it across the fields, it flew with the wind. His head twisted at Stanley who was now comforting his fallen friend. “Hey!” He pointed. “I told you not to move.”

“I apologize, but my friend and I were victims...” An arrow shot straight past Stan’s face grazing his cheek and leaving him speechless.

“I told you NOT to move!” His accent became thicker with those words and his eyes were a frustrated red complex, his bow was as straight as his posture. Ash’s injury was worse and was bleeding much more rapidly now.

“Who…*ughh*… Who is this jackass?” Ash’s face slowly lifted itself to the archer who had lost his prey. A noise began to breach from the inside of Ash’s pants, his phone was ringing. This caused all heads to jerk over at Ash.

“Turn it off.” Ash reached in his pants and rejected the call. “I need names from both of you. You’ll understand why later.” The archer held a tight grip on his bow, leaving no room for questions.

“I am Stanley Miles. This is my friend Ashton Dews. We both study at Abraham Lincoln high.” Stan raised both hands prompt to his answer.

“Thank you, but I need not your foundation.” The archer did not bat an eyelash to either of them. “What you’ve seen today was something an average being should never have witnessed. And that is precisely why I must do this.” He redirected his aim at Stan. “I shall reveal to you my name. In this unfair world a man without tranquility has no reason to keep living. I am Weston Valor.” Weston closed an eye and pulled back. “Please lord; be merciful to these fallen souls.” Another tune suddenly startled the inside of Weston’s jacket. Weston kept his eyes on the two frozen bodies, pulling out an odd device from the inside of his pocket.

“Valor.” Speaking to someone from higher demand must’ve been the only reason to cancel a death sentence. “You found her?” His attention was dropped from the two victims. “Don’t kill them?” Stanley gasped, We’re being watched? Where are they? Who is he speaking to?

“Yes sir, I’ll leave these two to the approaching reapers.” Weston turned the device off and lowered his bow. “Don’t feel thankful. If not by me, than by others.” He gave them a smirk and disappeared further into the trees ahead.

Stan’s relief brought him to his hands and knees. “What was that experience just now? As far as my understanding of the laws of this world reach, there were about 20 broken rules just now.”

“AAAHH!!” Ash gave his second deafening cry. He kept a heavy panting rotation and he coughed at least twice every breath.

“Ash, don’t worry about it buddy, alright? I’m gonna get you to a hospital, just hang on.” Stan grabbed the black cloak that was harshly tossed by Weston Valor and wrapped it around Ash’s large gash. “Alright Ash, we’re gonna get you standing. Don’t worry. My car’s not far.” Stan threw his arm around Ash’s left shoulder and did the same with Ash’s arm. They both walked their way to Stan’s car and Ash was placed in the back seat. From the way that guy was talking, it sounded as if there were more of them coming. It’s been 5 minutes and I haven’t seen anyone. In any case, I better take care of this problem first. He hurled himself into the driver’s seat and started up the car.

“AAHH! It feels like it’s still inside me! Every …br-breath I take.”

“Try NOT to talk Ash, it’ll get worse. Take nice and easy breaths.”

Stan remained quite until they reached the hospital. What happened today? This was not part of anything I planned, and there were much more guests than I had anticipated. They were… incredible, and they threw my plan completely out of whack… NO! It wasn't them. It was me and my abundance of vulnerability. I froze out there and watched my friend get axed. With all the wit I have, I am still so weak and pathetic. “I’m sorry Ash. This is all my fault.” Stan hauled Ash out of the backseat and they hopped their way to the hospital.

“Ha… *ughh* … I’ll give you a break for now, dude.” Ash was spilling blood from his lips. He wiped them and continued. “After all… th-this is your first slip-up, right? We-welcome …to the real world....” Ash suddenly began coughing more and more blood. Stan was doing most of the walking by the time they reached the waiting room. In came every nurse and stretcher they had to carry the pouring bucket of blood that was: ‘Ash Dews’. Stan sat in the waiting room with his head between his knees.

“Welcome to the real world, huh?” Stan closed his eyes and imagined the same fight play out through his mind. “Just… which world is that?” He threw his hands over his face and counted down from ten. The world revolves around the sun. The largest creature is the blue whale. The sky is blue not green. Humans live and they die. These are all things that make sense to me. A man cannot disappear and reappear at will. A man cannot leap 20 feet in the air with any kind of shoes. These discoveries are not real, and they must never be recorded by man.

A female receptionist came up and asked him to fill out some paper work, handing him a black-inked pen. Is she going to attack me too? Stanley adjusted his glasses and began to write Ash’s information. Nazareth Hospital was written in Bold at the top left corner of the page. Oh yea. The hospital. And Ash. That’s where I am.

The sentence from the cloaked man rehearsed through his head again. “He’s the bad guy, kid.”

If he was the bad guy, than why did he save us? All of these questions will never be solved. And this eccentric world will only get stranger. Stan’s head was aching from all the wild things he imagined, he finally shook himself back to reality, remembering the call during all of the nonsense. “Ah! Lou!” It was Ash’s phone that he called, but it was not like Lou to leave Stan out of the picture, why had he not called the both of them? “I’ll try calling him now.” Stan waited a while to hear a ring, but there was nothing. “He must’ve turned it off. Why would he do that?” Stan hopped off his chair and skipped most of his way to Ash’s room.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” Stan stopped. He was now standing behind the gates of Ash’s horrendous nightmare. He listened to the voices of overdramatic doctors. He decided to wait.

“Re…reapers…” Stan whispered. “He called them reapers…”

..........

..........

“Dohaaaa!!” The sounds of collapsing bodies echoed through the forest of Pennypack trail, and there stood at least 7 individual voices.

“Only five of them, huh? Well I guess I can be content with that.” Another body landed in front of the black figure.

“Can you, really?” Asked the smaller and more feminine figure.

“Of course not!!” Screamed the black figure, contradictory to his previous response. “How can I be satisfied with a couple of peons with fighting skills worth shit!?” He kicked the unconscious corpses in front of him.

“Be calm Samuel. If we don’t hurry, than we’ll receive a little more than we can handle. Remember what Wing told us.” The familiar statures began racing off into the surrounding trees.

“Wing, that bastard! Why is he still ordering us around, Lily? He’s an old man for Christ’s sake!” The two bodies continued hopping trees until they reached the streets of Mayfair.

“Just do what he says for now. Remember what he told us? The two of them should be safe now, and we should get a move on or else we’ll miss it. What time do you have?”

“Noon.” Said Sam. “I’ll take him on for now. But I just can’t believe the same kid we tried to kill earlier is the same kid we’re going to rescue.”

“Try to conceal your spirit. We don’t want to run into anymore Reapers.”

“Sure.” Sam exhaled softly and continued running. “We’re coming Crowley boy. Give us a sign alright? Hahahah!”

..........

4

2010-01-11T17:30:00.006-05:00

4. One Death After the Other

He waited. An entire morning of mixed scourging blunders with no second for hydration, this man was dead set on his goal. If ever he had to race through these unsettling events again he would be ready, and he wasn’t about to let anything get in his way. He was a true champion when came the time, but for now, he only waits.

“Man. I’m so thirsty.” With that, Ash gasped another quick breathe.

He stood on the corner from Lincoln High awaiting the arrival of Stan and his car. His appearance draped a murky exterior against the casting shadow of the large building. He hoped to hide himself from the inescapable blaze that came from the one and only sun. The same sun that cursed him from the very moment he awoke that morning.

“Stan, if you’re not here within the next minute, I am going to hunt your ass down.” Ash counted down a minute from his watch. The time on his clock read 9:02 am and yet Ash was sure he gave the precise location in which he’d wait.

A composed and humble young man sat, parked from the corner of Lincoln High. His intentions for getting up that morning had not entirely been based on his friend’s frantic distress call, but he was engaging himself nonetheless. This charismatic companion has been praised many a time for showing up wherever he was needed, but now finds himself baffled at his own initiative.

“This is right, isn’t it?” Stan gaped a small pause to reveal his watch underneath the sleeve of his gold-yellow polo shirt which was only an inch longer than his button-down shirt sleeves, his added on black tie was meant to match his remaining black slacks.

Stan sighed, reading the time out loud. “9:03. As usual, I can’t trust Ash to keep a time schedule that he even picked out.”

He continued to sit in the seat of his black tinted Ford Charger, which he had won months back in an astounding competition, representing Lincoln High in the states’ collection for a student’s theories in the field of epidemiology.

“I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since he was on foot, but honestly.” Stan adjusted his glasses back on to his nose.

“That’s it! I can’t wait any longer for this text-book-riding nerd.” Ash stepped out from the shadows and glanced around the empty streets, the sun caught him dead in his eyes. “I said I’d wait, but I didn’t mean forever. He might’ve parked somewhere near by.”

Ash began walking the sidewalks until he had noticed someone across the street, the first person he had seen for a while in this zombie town. Everyone must’ve taken the news seriously. The man covered in black looked a bit familiar to Ash, but he left the idea alone. He saw passed the stranger a darken-colored Charger sitting across the side of the road from him.

“Finally!” Ash gave his nerves a break and rushed over to the other side of the street. He couldn’t help but notice the familiar man staring back at him, it was a very ominous feeling but Ash tried to ignore it.

Finally against Stan’s charger, Ash gave the window a gentle knock, finding Stan asleep in his own car. “Dude, open up!” The knock alone was enough to bring Stan back to life. Stan unlocked the car doors and gripped his hands around the wheel.

“What’s up man? I told you to wait at the corner. This is no corner.” He slid himself inside of the car and slammed the door behind him.

“Oh. Were those the directions? Sorry about that Ash. I suddenly felt tired just now.” Stan gave a faint smile and scratched his head with concern. “I was fine in the morning. It was only a little while ago I started to feel … tired I guess.”

“Well wake up man. There’s no time to feel uneasy about losing your 40 winks. We’ve got to do something about our missing pal."

“I see. Once again, I apologize. Let’s find Lou.” Stan breathed a handful and exhaled it all out. “I figured we’d go ahead and report someone missing first, than we get to the plan I told you about.”

“Sounds good. I still have a few questions on that plan, by the way. It’s very brilliant, but I’m not exactly sure how you connected some of the dots.”

Stan gave a short hiccup of glee and started the engine to his vehicle. He changed gears and began heading towards the closest police station. “I’ll tell you about it later my friend. Just trust my intuition for now.”

Ash expected a complicated answer involving more of Stan’s theories about the laws Physics, but this answer was no surprise to him either, usually when something was as complicated as the Bermuda Triangle Stan would leave out the answer to unravel itself. Ash sighed and left him to his driving, they would be arriving shortly and Ash still hadn’t thought exactly what he’d say. Truly, Lou could have gone anywhere, but Ash could not shake the feeling something gone horribly wrong. Ash knew that Lou would never miss out on his days of practice; he wouldn’t run off anywhere unless it was absolutely necessary. The evidence of him missing was close to 70%, leaving a 30% chance of him safe and sound somewhere close.

“Did you get a chance to text his phone?” Stan still concentrated on the road ahead, even while asking something relevant.

“I must’ve messaged him about a dozen times already. I didn’t find his phone at his house either so he must have taken it with him.” Ash checked his phone for any reply, but his face gave a disappointing scowl and he immediately stashed it back into his pocket. “Nothing. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he could at least pick up his phone.”

Stan gazed at the empty streets of Mayfair, there was little to no traffic. Ash kept special attention to anyone walking during these times of danger. He noticed another man wearing black clothing walking opposite them and hiding his face under his hood. Those sure are popular clothes. This is the third guy, I think. Ash didn’t take too much interest in this guy; they were approaching the department now.

“Alright Ash,” Said Stan. “You just tell them what you saw and I’ll explain the details about Lou.” Stan found a nice spot to pull into across the street from the station. It would have taken them some time before they found the entrance had they not noticed the enormous crowd towards the outside of the station. “Seems we’re not the only one missing a friend.”

“Let’s see if we can squeeze through all these people, I hate waiting in line.” There was no line to speak of. This scrambled crowd was everywhere, and it was far from calm.

“Are you kidding? You haven’t found the killers yet?”

“My kids have to walk to school everyday, how can I be sure the killers won’t take them then?”

“How hard is it to find a couple of thugs? This town isn’t as big as you make it out to be!”

Line after line, everyone had something to say. The doors were shut tight and no one could enter. It seemed the police were in a crisis of their own.

“Everyone, please be calm. We’re doing all we can to assure that these assailants be put behind bars. We would appreciate it if you all would please return to your homes. As far as we know, these killers are only murdering their victims on the streets. There should be no danger while indoors.” A man dressed in officer clothing continued his preaching all the while being drowned out by the plenty of concerned citizens.

“What a mess.” Ash began. “If I knew it’d be like this I wouldn’t have mentioned the police.” The two of them pressed their way through the heated crowd, in search for a way in. Stan had finally reached the doors to the building when they immediately flew open. A rather short man was being evacuated out of the building by another officer.

“But I’m telling you, I know what I saw!” The shoving wouldn’t stop and the crowd wouldn’t let up, it was a riot about to happen. “If you would listen to me, I’m not lying!” The man was insisting to resist the officer and scream in front of the entire mob. “I said listen to me!” Just then, the man stopped in his tracks shoving the officer aside. The crowd went dead silent and circled around the disturbed gentleman. “What I saw wasn’t a lie. I know what I saw might not make any sense, but it’s the truth, and if you don’t believe me you might end up regretting it!” The fallen down officer solemnly picked himself off the ground and sighed in disbelief. “I saw the killing in front of my own eyes! This is the first piece of evidence you cops have and yet you deny it? More people will die and I’m not leaving until everyone here knows it. You’re just lucky that ball of light I saw earlier didn’t wipe out this entire area already.”

Ash’s eyes began to glow with enticement. Stan frowned and doubled back at the strange but hysterical man. The man was covered in sweat and was red, giving off the appearance of a nervous and disheveled individual.

“I saw it, and I couldn’t believe it at first either, but you can think what you like after you hear me.” He stroked his untidy mess of hair and wiped his hands on his pants. “This man was dark and tall. His smile was as crooked as his methods, but worst of all, you could feel the evil off his presence. I know this, having escaped his attempts myself!” The crowd lit up with orderly murmurs and occasional questions from the back. “I know this, because he himself let me go, I wouldn’t be here in front of you had he killed me this morning.” Questions of ‘he’ began to stir up within the crowd and people began to ask of plural ‘hes’. “I saw him kill his victim before he chose me next.” The man’s eyes were filled with tears at this point. “But he doesn’t chase you. He’s much faster than that.” The man finally lifted his head and gave a daunting smirk. “He vanishes and reappears right before your eyes. HAHAHAHHA! It’s crazy, right? How is that even possible?” The crowd suddenly began an even louder chatter.

Stan turned to Ash and created a signal to clear out of the crowd instantly. Ash followed and took steps out of the enclosed circle of residents.

“What do you need, Stan? This crazy guy might have some clues.” Ash kept his voice down and wished his head over the many people, trying to find that strange short man again.

“That’s exactly it, Ash. There’s something to this man’s story that doesn’t make sense.” Stan began. “This killer has been hiding his method of kill for the longest while, and yet he suddenly lets one slip. Why would he let loose his ability to everyone in the district?”

Ash handed Stan a rather puzzled look and put one hand on Stan's shoulder. “So that’s what you’re curious about? I thought for sure you’d be raging with questions of how the hell he's teleporting.”

“At first. But there are plenty of ways to deceive ones’ eyes, especially in the dark. I already have a few guesses on how he’s doing it.”

The loudest burst of a gun was heard from the distance and it left an enormous echo in everyone’s ears. The crowding mob jumped up in fear and all of them screamed a tremendous amount. “What the hell was that?” Everybody around the station began clearing and ducking their heads, the two cops had rushed into the building and were yelling in distress, asking anyone to call the ambulance.

The area was cleared in seconds and the only thing in sight was an entrance stained with the blood of a dying human-being. “Ash, let’s check inside the station.” Ash gave a nod and ducked down until they reached the station. Inside was a desk and some cell cages, but everyone in blue suits were crowding around a leaking corpse. The two teens glanced ahead towards the middle of everyone’s interest to find the preaching, sweaty-short man lying dead with his eyes open and bullet holes in both temples.

“This was definitely the work of those killers again, probably trying to stop this guy from spreading such nonsense about them.” One officer claimed that this homicide involved two people, having one bullet from each temple. “What precise aim these guys have. Both bullets lost momentum as they collided inside his head.”

“Ash, let’s get out of here.” Stan stared at the time finding the numbers '9:47' written on it.

The both of them kept their head down and rushed over to Stan’s charger. “That was unexpected. Things have gotten way out of control. Now a third party is involved with the mess of Philadelphia.” Stan panted as he gave some gas to his vehicle and they rode out of the parkway.

“A third party? What do you mean dude, those were obviously the killers that wasted him.” Ash was baffled from what had just occurred. His mind had been stuck on pause ever since he heard that deafening blast.

“It can’t be the killer, Ash. As you’ve just witnessed, this group committed homicide directly in front of the public. Not only that, their focus was singled out, killing only one individual. Contrary to the killer who kills his victims outside of any witness’s eyeshot, with a knife no less.” Stan was going back and forth, barely paying attention to the road in front of him. “No sir. From that sequence we’ve just witnessed, we now know that the killer works alone, whilst the group who killed that man work in cooperation with each other, and are excellent shots to boot.”

“So what? This hasn’t at all helped us with our search. In fact, it’s made things even more blurry. We now have a disappeared Lou, a vanishing killer, and professional snipers to worry about. We’ve taken many steps back.”

“On the contrary my friend, this may have helped me strengthen my plan.” Stan’s face illuminated and he had become solemn and content once more. “Let us review what we know. Our friend Louis Crowley had gone missing around the time of 7 O’clock this morning. That is only one part of this mess. The second part is the killing and the surveillance. Ash, I suggest you take some notes.” Stan removed a pocket-sized notepad from one of the compartments found in his car. Ash gave him a shriveled stare and stole a pencil from the same compartment. The two of them brought up the mechanics of the situation giving Ash’s wrist something to scream about. The end results had Ash writing the following:

1) Lou’s disappearance
2) Explosion & Cover up
3) Killer A
4) Killers B

Each topic had a multitude of conceptions which had pages of estimations and valued percentages on those estimations. Stan gave his explanation towards the vanishing killer to be a simple use of a darkened vale mixed with smoke giving the illusion of his transparent opacity, he then includes the people’s fear and he has them physically beat and psychologically beat.

“If you ever want me to write something again, I swear I’ll beat the crap out of you.” Ash consoled his aching wrist and asked of their next move.

“I’m sorry to say this Ash, but our first encounter has to be dealt with Killer A. If we are to continue our search we must come across this mass murderer first.” Stan’s voice didn’t sound the least bit scared and it was towards his best interest to have Killer A as his first objective.

“That’s fine, I just hope that after all of this planning we’ll find Lou safe and not killed by some murdering freak.”

“It’s best to think Lou is alive and well at the moment. I’m sure that his body would’ve turned up if he had been found dead. For now I need you to concentrate with me at the moment since we are on the verge of catching our man. I’m sure you must’ve already noticed the empty streets, and the man in black.” Ash recapped the man in black with the draping hood over his face. “I first noticed it when that same man walked passed me at around 9:03. I decided to pretend I was asleep and he’d just pass by. Thank god that worked.”

So that's why he was asleep, thought Ash. "So now, according to what we’ve seen and where we’ve seen him, we should be gaining on him soon." Stan had concluded the first part of their plan and was ready to being immediately. His face expressed his proud and vigilant glow.

Ash’s face took another painfully puzzled look. “Once again man, when you connect the dots I think you start at the end.” Ash nudged his companion and Stan took a right turn into a deserted park.

“Remember Ash, this killer is one of a kind, that’s why we’re in this park.” Both of them waited for 5 minutes before stepping out of the vehicle and into the clear-cut fields. “We’re here to walk round until he shows up, when that happens we both jump him and nab him before he can do his Houdini trick.”

“I’ll do more than nab dude. I’m going to kick his ass until he starts talking.”

The two companions waited around for the most of 2 minutes before they saw him. He came, just as Stan had planned it.

“We know you’ve been following us sir. We don’t know why you’re after us or why you’re killing all of the town’s residents, but we’d like to ask you to stop.” Stan began straight with the ‘good-guy’ approach. Having him still 20-30 meters away was more or less their advantage, if they can see him than they won’t get hurt. The dark-clothed man took fairly small and subtle steps, a soft smirk could be seen peeking out from under his hood. He pulled out a knife that was at least 8 inches long.

“That’s right Mr. Badass; bring me what you’ve got. I want to see how much your disappearing act could help you all the way over there!” Ash screamed his words at the approaching man, throwing more and more curses at him. The same aura he felt before was now creeping closer and closer. “I’m afraid me and Stan are about to show you how much pain you’ve given this town.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” Ash could feel these blood-thirsty words blowing overtop of his right ear. His heart began to race and his body froze. He conjured enough strength to inch his head over his shoulder and find the same man he was just speaking to behind him.

“Ash, behind you! He’s behind you!” Stan was conducting the hell out of his hands but Ash was frozen in a state of panic.

“How many times have I seen you today, boy? You must’ve been dying to meet me.” Ash stayed tense as his assailant stood behind him, stroking his blood-stained knife. “Well, I might as well give you the pain you were asking for. HAHAHAHA!” As best as Ash could, he tried to move his legs, but he was forbidden to do so. The hooded man closed the gap between Ash and his knife, and before he knew it Ash felt the sharp sting from the large blade. All he heard was the sound of Stan’s panic and the laughter from the manic who popped a hole straight through him.

3

2009-11-16T18:15:00.003-05:00

3. Run, run, run!

“’BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP’!!”

Ash didn’t wake up. The clock that read 6:00 am had Ash laughing in his dreams.

The alarm stopped after a few minutes and it became absolutely silent in the drunken teenager’s room. The sun was trespassing through every corner it could find behind Ash’s curtains, striking him straight in the face. It felt warm and it made for a much more comfortable snooze.

To interpret his dreams you would need Dr. Suez’s brilliant imagination, but in a more realistic perspective Ash was reliving last nights’ journey. He couldn’t help but become the life of the party and challenge the host to a Beer Pong competition. Having won, he went on to wash down a bottle of Jack Daniels and continued to hit on almost every girl at the party. Of course, in real life he doesn’t remember how he got back at 2 am so his dreams were replaced with him dropping off a couple of attractive girls in a silver Camaro.

Ash was now shifting in his sleep, trying to screen the sun’s cover from his eyes, but he couldn’t escape its glistening veil. He began tossing back and forth, accidentally finding himself on the edge of his bed and falling off. Desperately trying to keep on his mattress he felt out anything he could grab onto, but to no avail. His failure finally led him to open his bloodshot eyes; he tried the best he could to vision out the time. It read 6:23 am.

“Ugh! Damn you Louie. Damn you and your morning exercises.” Ash wheezed very softly tasting nothing but last night’s mixture of god-knows-what. His face rolled up in disgust. Ash placed both hands on the floor and balanced himself upward. ‘Walking’ was something he felt he would never be able to do again after last night. He paced his way to the door and tumbled over nothing. He forced his eyes to stay open and shuffled his way to the bathroom, carefully.

After the most awkward shower he’d ever had he reached for his toothbrush but found his razor between his fingers instead. He glanced up at his reflection to find the devil staring back at him.

Ash spent about 20 minutes cleaning himself up and was finally able to walk straight, he made a leap for his water bottle and decided to finally head out hoping he might catch Lou on his way up.

“Looks like a nice day out. Lou might’ve gone for the gold today. Maybe I can still catch him.” Ash smirked and posed a runners position at the end of his driveway, afterwards shooting himself towards the regular route.

He wasn’t only 2 minutes in when he noticed a rumbling disturbance coming about 20 minutes ahead of him. The pavement underneath his feet began to shake simultaneously causing Ash to stop. “W-What the hell’s going on here?!” His voice shaken in bewilderment. “An earthquake in Philadelphia, especially on a day like this?” His face questioned the shudders that were becoming louder and louder, and noticed where the source was being held. It was on the same route Ash and Lou normally jog through every morning. Ash’s eyes suddenly lit up and he gulped. “Lou, you better be miles away from there buddy.” He began running towards the quakes, concerned for his friend. 6:47am.

Ash sped up, dropping his water bottle by accident. His feet were charging faster than ever despite the distracting tremors. He noticed parts of houses and trees scrapping their way downward, cars were being damaged from the splitting asphalt and birds were seen clearing from the source of disaster.

“Man, out of all the weird things that happen in my morning runs, this one takes the cake. And did it just get hotter all of a sudden, or is it just me?” Drops of sweat began zipping down Ash’s forehead. He squinted, trying to grab anything into his eyeshot. “I think… I see…” he couldn’t make out too much with the surrounding ball of light. “What is that?” Ash’s eyes dipped back in as he made out specks of movement from the area, which looked more and more like ants as Ash came further into view.

Only 10 minutes away from the area, the surrounding ball of light suddenly disappeared. What was left behind was a distorted shockwave that sent Ash aback a few centimeters, causing him to cease in his pursuit. “Holy crap! That felt very weird.” 6:54am.

Ash halted to grasp what he was first dealing with. If there really were people over there they may need his help. He insisted on dashing forward once more, it was the only way to make sure his friend Lou was dead or alive. As he took off towards the now-destroyed area, he began seeing things clearer, but what he didn’t notice behind him was that all the cracks and the rundown houses began reforming themselves. Everything was starting to re-evolve leaving not a single trace of proof to this colossal ruin. 7:01am.

The source of inquiry began un-rippling and it started to look brand new. Ash hopped right over a large chunk of concrete that he’d almost tripped over. He turned back to notice that it was gone and the large resulting pit was conveniently filled in. Ash slowed his pace and brought his head back towards his direction; he brought his hands and knees together and grabbed a short breather.

“I-I don’t understand…” his long awaited pursuit had been in vain as he stared straight up and saw nothing but the same old streets he’d run passed every morning. “Wha-…What the hell?” He coughed out in repetition. After his blank and dead expression, his eyeballs stopped ping ponging, and he finally just had to scream out.

“WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!!?”

7:06 am.

Ash looked up and down to see if there was anything or anyone that would explain his current situation. He doubled down at his feet and saw a few stains of blood but thought nothing of it.

“This is absolutely bullshit!” He began yelling to himself. “Did I run all the way here worried about you for nothing? Am I still drunk?” To his perplexing state he realized that one thing still didn’t add up. “Where are you Lou!?” His head was flying everywhere as he spun around at least 4 or 5 times. “Where is my head today? This all happened right in front of me.” Ash raced corner to corner and through the intersections of every street they usually pass but found nothing.

“Don’t lose it Ash, don’t drift away now.” Barely whispering to himself; he began wiping his entire face with the body of his sleeveless, teal-colored tank top. His anxiety was now smeared all over his shirt and over-tops his black polyester shorts.

He could’ve sworn he saw the repairs to the quaking earth fix itself, none of it made any sense. Worst of all, his buddy Lou was probably caught up in the middle of it. For all Ash knew, Lou could've been burnt to hell in the depths of the earth’s core.

Ash bent down at a crack he had seen before it was sealed. He rubbed the shear surface of the concrete afraid it would open up again. He kept his hand on the concrete and thought of something. “I’ll check back at Lou’s place. Maybe he made it back before all this commotion began.” He tilted himself back up, eyes stayed glued to the rough surface of the sidewalk. “It’d be a load off my mind.” He bolted off in the same direction he came, this time he paid close attention to anything unusual about the ground beneath him.

He must’ve looked over his shoulders over a dozen times, looking for the same yellow ball of light. He finally reached his neighborhood; his eyes couldn’t keep still as they inspected every single driveway and house among the region.

7:45 am.

“This is the last place he could’ve gotten too. You better be here you sonuvabitch.” Ash rang the door bell to Lou’s house. He hoped Aaron was awake by now.

“Yup, hold on!” A deep and petulant voice rushed the door as fast as he could walk. That was Aaron alright. Lou’s uncle from his mother’s side and his only guardian ever since he was 5 years old. He was usually up at around 7:30 am for work, and back by 8:00 pm for dinner and sleep.

“Oh! What’s up ‘Trash’? Lookin’ for my boy Lou this early in the mornin’?” Aaron came to the door half dressed holding an apple in one hand and a tie in the other. He was about the same height and size as Lou though he looked almost nothing like him; his black hair was the only thing that spotted the resemblance. He’d call Ash the ‘Trash’ because of a certain incident involving Ash losing to Aaron in one of their basketball games and him falling in their garbage bin by accident; although, that was 6 years ago.

“You can go and check up on ‘em, I’m runnin’ a bit late.” He stuck his second leg through the remaining leg of his fluid black slacks. Aaron had the television blasting and Ash couldn’t hear anything upstairs so he decided to run up and pan around for himself.

“Thanks man.” Ash skipped steps on his way up, forgetting to take his shoes off.

“No prob. But hey, you should really listen to the news man, it’s like they’ve got some kinda conspiracy going on.” Aaron didn’t mind the shoes in the house, since everything in the there was tossed on the floor like every other jacket at the end of the day.

How can’t I listen to the news, you have it blasting through the damn roof. Ash pretended not to hear Aaron as he made his way up the hefty staircase. He couldn’t help but overhear the systematic news anchors as they reported in with some incriminating info.

“…Another 2 victims from the streets of Holmesburg, Philadelphia found dead early this morning outside the steps of the St. Dominic Church, we presume the killers murdered them some time last night in, what it seemed to be, a fatal incident. The couple had stab wounds at about 8 inches deep through their torso and other unexplained areas on their body. This couple will never have the chance to pray ever again I fear, no; they will only know their last moments in this world as a brisk and colorless afternoon...”

These reporters get way too deep with someone just dying. Ash continued to scope out even a single clue of Lou’s whereabouts, even a missing bag would help. He already figured that Lou wasn’t upstairs so he searched down in the basement but to no avail. Ash tripped over a basketball as he came from the bathroom. I can’t believe he hasn’t gone missing sooner, under all this junk, there’s no wonder he’s lost. Ash has visited Lou’s place many times before but he was always surprised at how much of a dump the place could actually be.

7:59 am.

He returned downstairs finding the fully dressed Aaron sitting on the edge of his couch and finishing off his coffee. He paid close attention to the broadcast as he took another sip.

“…We advise everyone to be careful around the outskirts of your home. Please walk with caution and agility. Gather with any friends, and or relatives that you can collect to assure your safety. Until we can identify and arrest these killers, even walking across your own driveway is perilous…”

“Wow,” Aaron sang his awkward surprise in front of his nephew’s friend. “Can you believe that? It’s almost like we’ve got our own Jason Voorhees around these parts. You better be careful ‘Trash can’.” Aaron threw on his mocking expression and stared up and Ash trying to scare the 18-year-old.

“That’s not funny man, these killers are probably real, you should be careful too. And I told you to stop calling me that. If anyone’s the trash can around here, it’s you and your damn pig of a nephew.” Ash rebutted Aaron’s taunting by kicking the basketball that followed him from the bathroom. He then pointed out his open palm at the floor around them and kept special attention to the wall, there were even dirty pairs of boxers on top of the TV set for Christ’s sake. “Speaking of which, I gotta go look for ‘Pigpen’ right now. I couldn’t find him upstairs.” Ash was about to leave the dump back in Aaron’s hands when he heard something familiar.

“…sudden burst of earthquakes hitting dead center Mayfair this morning. Residents report the incident as an ‘Apocalyptic Wakeup-Call’. Could this be a first sign to Pennsylvania’s downfall? Evidentially, geologists propose that there is nothing to explain this sudden catastrophe and further say that there should not be any more disruptions from now on, cataclysmal or otherwise.”

Ash’s face took the expression of a terror-struck maniac. I knew there was something going on this morning. I knew I wasn’t going crazy. Ash slowly formed a half grin and continued listening.

“Although residents claim they heard the eruption, witnessing their own property in its demolition, evidence proves that nothing in the vicinity has been damaged. Our associates, along with detectives, are still investigating the scene in search for anything remotely related to the incident. Satellite pictures show no activity from the scene except for a teenaged-boy running to and from the area. Later reports show that…”

Wait, wait. So Lou simply ran through there and everything was fine? He ran “to and from” there? No way in hell is that true. It’s a cover up; someone is definitely trying to hide all of this. Ash couldn’t take it anymore he was going to go down to police station himself to report a missing Louis Crowley.

“Thanks for the help Aaron, if you see Lou can you tell him to call me?”

“You got it. Later ‘Trash can’!”

Ash dashed out and sang a similar phrase he would tell Aaron many a time before. “Go to hell, Aaron!” He kept a cheery face on while he sang his jingle back to Aaron, expecting a quick and loud response.

“I’ll see you there Trash heap!” Aaron tried his hardest to yell back at Ash as he was speeding away from sight. It was their regular send off whenever they’d see each other, it wasn’t meant as anything harsh but neither of them could stand to not poke fun at the other.

Ash quickly ran back to his place to grab his cell phone and switch from shorts to blue denim jeans, he threw on a slick and thin coral, red buttoned short-sleeve shirt over his teal tank top leaving the buttons undone. He then shot out of his house as fast as he could. I’m running a lot today, Jesus.

In the midst of this ordeal Ash found himself back to square one, even with his estimation about the cover up, it wasn’t enough to help him figure out why and who set it all up. Ash knew that he’d need a bit more brain power to figure out this entire mishap.

“They couldn’t have made it any harder for me to find you, Lou. First of all there’s that damn huge explosion, which no one can figure out. Secondly there’s that seemingly shady murderer that’s been lurking around Holmesburg. There could be a thousand reasons why you’re missing, man.” Ash didn’t like riddles especially long and confusing ones, he was more of the expert all-star. “I’m gonna have to grab my main man for this one."

8:26 am.

Ash continued to run quickly and efficiently towards Lincoln High. He stuck his hand in his pocket to fish out his phone. Ash punched in the 10 digits and hit ‘call’.

It took three rings to hear the person at the other side of the line.

“Hello? Stan Miles speaking. Who may I ask is calling?” Stan’s content and proficient tone of voice never failed to impress.

“Dammit Stan, you’ve had my number for the longest time, why haven’t you registered it yet?” Ash lost his definite reason for calling in the first place.

“I prefer not to keep the useless numbers available to me.” Jokingly, Stan struck him a good one before Ash could throw one first. Ash continued to run.

“Just listen, okay?” Ash disregarded the joke and returned to the task at hand. “It’s about... 8:30 in the morning.” Ash glanced at his watch. “I woke up a little late for my run with Lou and so he took off ahead of me. I went to follow him when I witnessed a kind of 'disturbance' on the path ahead.” Ash was taking every short cut he could find to get to his destination. “I went to check out the scene and see if Lou was alright, but when I got there there was nothing out of the ordinary and Lou had disappeared.” Ash was now clenching his phone. “I searched everywhere, man. I don’t know where the hell he’s gone to. Goddammit!”

“Alright Ash, I hear you my friend, just calm down.” Stan’s voice was disrupting from Ash’s side, it was almost hard to make out. “Where are you now?”

“Right now, I’m heading towards Lincoln.” Ash passed by a man wearing dark cloak with his hood covering his face. He was sitting down at a bus stop and waiting. Ash glanced at him for a good 3 seconds and then continued forwards, paying attention to his phone again. “I was hoping we could maybe meet there and collect our thoughts.”

“Good plan. I’ll meet you there with the car, that way we’ll have better mobility.” Stan thought of everything useful at this point and it was making Ash feel more at ease. “Try and explain more to me about what happened, I’m a little confused at this ‘disturbance’ you mentioned.”

Ash began thoroughly explaining the situation to Stan. His open shirt was flapping back and forth while his hair clashed with his vision; he had to brush them back more than 10 times to see in front of his face.

The tall 18-year-old individual, that ran while speaking on the phone, was out of sight at this point. The hooded man had finally decided to look up and stare back at the now-blurring Ash Dews.

“Uyyrhhhggggg!!!” The man made an unfamiliar moaning noise and rested his head back down, staring at the edge of the bench between his knees.

In a sudden delusion, his hands and knees began to appear transparent, the rest of his body slowly followed leaving the strange hooded man with no limbs to call into vision.

“’AUHH HAH HAH HAH!’” To this baffling occurrence, the hooded man let out a holler that gave the impression of a strong but faint laughter. A wisp of smoke covered the remains of the once visible man and was then blown away in the breeze.

8:49 am.

2

2009-11-09T21:01:00.008-05:00

2. The Royal Duo

“’BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!!’””

“Urg! This is my nightmare, every morning.” Lou’s alarm clock had gone off and Lou’s head was struggling to dip back into reality. It had buzzed for about a minute or so and it sounded as if it was getting louder. Lou hid himself under his pillow hoping the noise would pass by, but it kept on him like bees to honey.

He finally leapt out from underneath his pillow to beat his sworn enemy senseless; it read 6:01am has it made contact with Lou’s fist.

Lou kept a calm mind during most of the day, but only when he’d suffer the disturbed yelping of his clock early in the morning would he lash out at anyone and anything.

He waited until the clock had crash-landed onto his pigsty of a floor. It’s buzzing finally ceased. He now stood panting, holding the fist he launched at his clock and at the same time staring down at his beaten opponent. A ray of sunshine could be seen shining through Lou’s window and splitting the room in half. Lou stopped his frantic to squint back at his window, dropping his fist to yawn at the new day.

He pulled the sheets that had fallen to the ground because of Lou’s outburst, back onto his bed, making sure he hit every corner of the mattress and over the pillow. His bed was always made to be perfect, which is miles apart from how clean his floor was. Lou stumbled over yesterday’s outfit and tripped over to his door, catching himself and removing the shirt that was caught on his toes. He glanced once more at the dead clock and walked out.

"Gonna need a new alarm clock,” Lou sighed and threw his head back in an agonizing moan. “Dammit.” He slowly shuffled towards the bathroom across the hall. 6:03am.

Lou turned on the shower and closed the door behind him. His every morning showers were like a blessing, he felt renewed from simply touching the warm water. Lou rinsed his hair out and stepped from the shower, having a towel at the ready. He watched his reflection in the mirror as he toweled off and noticed his pitch-black eyes gawking back at him. He fixed his hair before throwing some of his favorite workout clothes on; brushing his hair towards the center of his scalp. 6:16am.

He got dressed and set out for his morning run, grabbing his water bottle on the way out. He wondered if Ash was still hung over from last nights party, but decided to strike the thought and leave Ash to rest this morning. Lou’s morning workout comprised of a half-hour run along with some up and down-hill jogs, he would then return to do a couple of body exercises and rest for the remaining time he had until heading out for class.

“It’s Saturday today,” he remembered. “I guess I’ll do an extra long jog this morning.”

Lou ran. 6:22am.

Whenever Lou ran he’d never think about running, he’d only think of where he’d end up and nothing in between. In most cases he would leave his eyes shut, but on a day such as today, with the rising sun and the deviant breeze, it made Lou feel completely blissful, and so he’d leave his eyes open for part of the way.

Sticking to the sidewalks was always his plan; he ran a good kilometer still feeling the large path ahead. Lou became anxious because today was the most brilliant of days; he intuitively shut his eyes and slowed his pace. Running along the sidewalks with your eyes closed was a danger and he knew it, so he’d open them a couple times as to not bump into anything, although he would soon realize that having your ears closed is also pretty dangerous. 6:31am.

“Hey.” A faint and distant voice barked at Lou, whose mind was no where near earth at the moment.

“Hey!” This time Lou knew someone was calling out to him as the sound became even louder and closer.

“Wake up, you idiot!” The voice hesitated the last few words, making sure Lou caught every one of them. Lou’s eyes ripped open and he broke from his daze, stopping right in front of a large man.

To his surprise, he saw two people in front of him, a man and a woman. Of course to Lou, he only considered them to be simple road-blocks in his excursion.

He stared them up and down before coughing out his words. “Are you guys talking to me?” Slightly pointing towards himself, he made sure not to sound too rude, even though they called him the idiot.

“Of course, you. You see any other idiots out here, huh?” The man gestured a kind of back-and-forth motion with his hands, pointing at the empty street they were now standing in. “How ‘bout you, Lily?” He now held his palm down at his lady partner.

This guy is totally obnoxious, I should just apologize for whatever it is I did and leave. Lou only stared at the large man with the smug look on his face, and he coughed out once more.

Lily responded with a smiling expression and added the only answer the man was looking for. “Nope, it does seem like you’re the only one that fits that description.” Her arms crossed as she stared up at Lou who was significantly taller than her. She wore a short and tight, white tank-top underneath a sleeveless, blue jean jacket complementing her ripped denim Capri pants. Her belly only somewhat hidden beneath her jacket and her Capri pants swayed well with her luscious curves.

Lou’s plain expression became much more unenthused. He slid his eyes down to Lily and brought them back towards the much larger man, who was only a bit taller than himself but looked almost 10 years older. Lou caught his breath while he waited for what they would say next.

“Ha-ha, we’re just joking with you, kid.” He wanted to burst into laughter but he held himself firm. “What? You think we’re killers or something?” The thought hadn’t crossed Lou’s mind until the exact moment he mentioned it. The man continued to laugh, holding his sides while his long and shady black hair waved across his shoulders. With each laugh the man’s torso caved, demonstrating just how much he was enjoying it. His full attire was scorched black, his top suit lighter than his bottom slacks and topped with a casual open jacket.

Lily insistently interrupted her partner’s delight by developing a small furrow in her forehead and calmly yelling up at the large man. “Settle down Samuel, you’ve had your fun.” Lily seemed a bit more in charge than the loathsome oaf, who kept his incessant laughter until just after he heard his partner’s screech.

Sam was now wiping the faint tears outlining around his eyeballs, almost apologizing considerately to Lou and Lily.

“I’m sorry little guy, looks like I’m having a little too much fun here.”

Is this guy high? Let me pass already, Jesus! Lou couldn’t help but curse the two road-blockers in front of him. He’d never do it out loud, though. What do they want?! 6:35am.

Sam took a short break to catch his breath and gave a minor smirk before throwing his serious face back on. “I’ve been kinda watching you and your basketball games. The way you and your buddy look when you’re out there is almost magical, wouldn’t you say?”

Lou was so relieved to hear the word ‘basketball’; he exhaled and relived his burrowed smile. It made sense to him now; the two were most likely college scouts and were here to confirm admission. “Thank you, I try very hard and practice almost everyday and…”

Lou’s life’s story was suddenly interrupted. “Yea, that’s all very nice and good, but the one thing that’s fishy is how astronomical you guys look out there. Not that it’s impossible, but it makes me very anxious, and it’s why I’m here.” Sam rudely interrupted him before Lou tried a fancy curtsy or anything of the sort.

Sam turned his head slightly and gave one eye’s attention to Lou. “The both of you are clearly gifted at such a young age.” Sam mused for a split second, thinking of something interesting, but the kid annoyingly continued, speaking before Sam could contribute his notion.

“…Oh, I know what you’re thinking.” Lou clapped his hands together grabbing more of their attention. Lou was incredibly excited to have this opportunity appear from out of nowhere. “Sir, I can speak directly for both Ash and myself when I say that we’re not on steroids or anything of the sor-”

“That’s not what we’re here for, idiot!” Lou was interrupted once again, but this time the large man was furious and was about to lash out if need be. Sam had to wake him up somehow, and by the looks of Lou’s stunned expression, he could say it worked. Lily simply eyed Sam back, her face read ‘don’t get worked up’.

Lily’s grimace could not stand in front of Sam’s hysteric intent anymore. “We’re here because only a handful of us know what’s really happening on that court. You and your friend couldn’t make it anymore obvious.” Sam pointed him out but his interrogation was not done yet.

Although knocked back, Lou felt like he was being falsely accused in this confrontation. Jeez, why don’t they just shine a light in my eye? “Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I understand what you’re saying.” He was tripping over his own tongue and his attempt to demand an explanation became a desperate apology of reasons he wasn’t sure of. Lou’s breath was back but he was sweating even more from this conversation than his run.

Sam buckled his lip and straightened his jacket. He gave a beaming stare straight into Lou’s skull. Sam was on the edge of exploding, he couldn’t even stand in one spot anymore.

Lou’s face tilted and he gave a confused lean toward Sam who, at this point, was pacing around in circles. There’s probably a ridiculous explanation for this as well. 6:38am.

“Sam,” The still and calm Lily shot Sam the most scowling of looks. The tampered man was being mentally directed by this attractive woman. It was as if Lily was the controller and Sam was the toy car. She raised her right hand high and brought it down with her voice, “Calm down.”

He exhaled and stopped his pacing. “Ha-ha, looks like I got worked up over nothing again. Ha-ha, sorry ‘bout that, kid.” He tossed his right palm on his forehead and closed his eyes. He took a breather and came back. He raised his right arm again and threw it over Lou’s shoulder, his large body grasping all of Lou underneath one arm. “Walk with me, kid.” They began walking in the same direction Lou had just come from. Lily followed a few feet behind.

Lou felt all of this man’s weight lagging on his shoulder, although Sam did most of the walking Lou was dragged along with him. He found it strange how polar this man could be at times and how easily influenced he is from a single woman. Lou knew for sure now that they were not scouts. Who are these people, what kind of situation is this?

“Listen, Crowley,” Lou wasn’t too surprised to hear his name from them, if they really do visit his games than they would have to know who he is. Regardless of this fact it still through him off a bit since he’s only heard them call him a kid or an idiot. Lou continued listening from his left ear, “You obviously have no idea what we’re talking about, and what’s more you don’t know what kind of situation you’re in either.” The thought of them being killers came rushing back into Lou’s head. Lou decided to keep quite until he could find a single opportunity to run. “If you wanna run than by all means,” Sam gave a wave to the front of them with the back of his left hand. “All I ask is that you hear us out.” The two of them stopped, as did Lily.

Sam released Lou from underneath his dead lift grip and turned to face him. Lou connected eyes with Sam and they both stood on mutual grounds. I guess I could hear them out, what could this guy possibly be packing anyway?

All of a sudden Lou felt a bulk and hollow ache from the mid-centre of his torso. His eyes didn’t know where to look but his reasoning told him to stare down at his stomach. His mouth gapped a groan as he bowed his head to see Sam’s heavy fist burrowed through his abdomen. Sam’s arm was gone and Lou couldn’t help but give in to his pain, his knees crouched and struck the sidewalk with a dull crash. He grabbed his stomach with such grip that he never wanted to let go.

“Here’s what I think you’re doing out that court, little man.” Sam stared down at the fallen Lou who he saw in hopeless distress. “Don’t get me wrong, Crowley. You’re a good kid and I’d hate to see someone like that fall, but…” Sam stopped to throw his palm over his face trying to cover the sadistic appearance he was now displaying. “What good is a drug if you don’t use it, right?” Laughing out this sentence as best he could he began hysterically cackling, throwing his head back as he did.

Lou could not recall the last few seconds. He tried his best to lift his head upwards at the laughing spire but his eyes were bouncing back and forth at his body to see if there was anything missing. 6:42am.

Sam bowed his body to lean in towards the side of Lou’s head. He was down on one knee and his mouth was hovering just a few centimeters from Lou’s left ear as he began to whisper. “Do you know what Magick is? Huh, Harry Potter.” Lou’s mind scrambled as he felt the heat from Sam’s words, he made a face to remind Sam that he was in excruciating pain. “Magick is the bare essence of this world. It is the science and the art that ultimately causes a transformation to occur using a man’s conformity along with his will.”

Lou’s effort at comprehending what Sam was saying was too much to handle while trying not to tumble over at the same time. He couldn’t tell if he was being serious or he was just giving him a few final words before he killed him. Sam’s body was brought back by his partner in crime, Lily. She put one hand over Sam’s shoulder and let him continue, his face was dead serious as Lou could finally inch his head upward towards them.

“Of course, you wouldn’t believe any of this until you’ve seen it with your own eyes.” Sam stuck his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket. Lou’s eyes screamed for mercy as he saw what was held in Sam’s right palm. “This dagger is a rarity in my collection, though I don’t use it for killing my prey.” The deafening black, 6 inch blade was as crisp as the blade from any normal katana, and it was pointed straight at Louis Crowley. “You see Crowley, my colleague and I take pride in our hunts for new prey, but not just any prey,” Sam’s index finger shifted back and forth. “We love taking care of the make-believe trash that call themselves Mystics.” The feeling in Lou’s legs slowly made a comeback.

“Samuel, I think you’re throwing too many new words at him, I think you better explain this new one.” Lou hoped that Lily would stop him like she’s done in her previous conditions, but instead she was egging him even further.

“Yes, you’re right Lily. Mystics are ordinary people, such as you and I, who embody the force of Magick itself. Now, who, do you ask, can embody this force?” Sam did not expect an answer from the floor-kissing Louis so he continued with his lecture. “Well, to put it bluntly, ‘everyone’.” The last word sent shivers down Lou’s spine. “But! Do you see anyone around the globe calling themselves Mystics; do you think most people even know what a Mystic is?” Again, another question Sam had to answer himself. “Most people around the world are so incredibly oblivious to this practice that they refuse to believe such a force exists. They live their lives normally and accomplish tasks that take them days while we Mystics could accomplish in less than a minute.” Sam bent down once more with the dagger clenched in his hand. “But! There are those people who make it their life’s work to discover the truth behind Magick, and those that have come so accustom to it that it’s almost like an extra limb to them. It is those people, the real people that give me the thrill. Any killer can find a woman alone in an alleyway and have their way with her, but I like the hunt as much as the kill.”

Lou’s legs could finally move again and the pain in his stomach was beginning to subside. Just as Lou inched his legs out of place Sam had chopped the side of his hand against Lou’s back forcing Lou’s body downward to face the ground, but Lou’s arms caught pavement before his face could and he was now on his hands and knees.

“I’m sorry Crowley. It looks like I spent too long preaching, so you decided you wanted to run your ass outta here? This isn’t English class you fool.” Sam stood back up beside Lily and continued his final words. “The best part about you is that you fall in between the two types of people I mentioned earlier. You don’t know what Magick is, but somehow you’re able to utilize its force of energy, incredible at such a young age.” Lou’s head made its way back up at the two assailants. “I’m going to show you one more thing before you die Crowley, this’ll make you believe every word I just said and wish you were still alive to see more.”

Lou’s eyes stayed shifty at Sam’s face and at the dagger. Sam suddenly let go of the dagger and was sent plummeting towards the ground, Lou was almost relieved, following the Dagger as it fell from the towered height when he noticed that the Dagger stopped just a few feet off the ground. It must’ve been Lou’s eyes because the Dagger had stopped in midair when it should’ve crash landed into the jaggy concrete sidewalk like he expected gravity to accomplish. FALL!!! Lou screamed so much in his mind for the Dagger to fall but it didn’t, in fact it was doing the opposite.

“Do you see now, Crowley?” Sam had raised the Dagger from its downward state up a few inches in front of his face and reversed it to point at Lou, his open palm beneath it. “This is the power you have inside of you. You’ve had it since you were a baby, you use it every day when you cheat the win out of every basketball game, and you can see it right now in front of you.” Lou saw nothing though, he only saw Sam with his raised palm beneath a levitating dagger that was pointing straight at him. What was so magical about that?

“Allow me to introduce your first and final meeting with any Mystic out in this magnificent world.” Sam pointed toward Lily and formally bowed to her. “This is Lily Knights, my most beloved woman, and my crime inducing syndicate.” Lily was swirling her long bangs that circled her face, and brushed them back behind her ears to match her short auburn hair. “And I, your reaper and the most treasured human being ever to stand before you. I am Samuel Kings!” With his final words he made a plunging motion with his right palm which was still levitating his black dagger. Lou bit hard and hoped the pain would only be for a second. The dagger was aimed towards the back of his neck. 6:45am.

“’DOHHHHHHH’!!” An incredibly large thundering roar came from a few yards away from them.

A forceful vibration of radiance caused tremors throughout the earth and suddenly there was such an intense heat wave that the three of them felt like they were cooking over a flaming volcano. The pressure at this point was so strong that it forced the two killers to kneel to one knee, while Lou collapsed face first into the sidewalk, knocking him unconscious.

Buildings and trees began falling around the three of them and the earth slowly began to crack.

“Wh-What the hell is this intense irradiant pressure?” Sam yelled as best he could to balance over the immense noise of tremors bridging the grounds beneath them. The surface of the roads in front of them began to split with a leading crack coming from further down the road. Sam turned to see if he scope out where the source of this pressure was coming from, his head took small swings as it faced a light so large and bright that it knocked Sam’s head back a few. “Such unbelievable light, whoever’s over there is a person I’ve never sensed before. No one around this world has that much power. It’s a Magick I’ve never witnessed before.”

“Samuel!” Lily brought Sam back to the situation at hand, and before they were crushed to death by the falling buildings or sunk to the depths of the earth from the earthquakes, they had to leave fast. “Let’s go, now!”

Sam stared back at the unconscious Louis Crowley who was for sure going to die from this subliminal disaster. “Good bye Louis Crowley. You would have known a better world had you been more aware.” He took one final bow to the boy and the two tried their best to restore their energy just enough to leave the scene unharmed. It took them about 5 minutes to avoid the destruction and then they realized that they finally were out of the concentrated pressure of the strange and powerful Light.

“Sam. What the hell was that, I’ve never felt anyone even remotely close to that source of radiance before.” They were still running while Lily requested an answer from her partner in crime.

“I’m not sure Lily. But I can tell you this much, it wasn’t just one person standing there and letting loose their immense structure of energy. There were two of them, and they weren’t simply going out for a morning jog like our friend Crowley over there.” Sam began to stare off in the direction they had just vacated. “They were engaging in the most fiercest duel ever known to man-kind.”

6:54am.

1-1

2009-11-02T18:23:00.005-05:00

1. A new Eon

The year is 2009. Times have changed, and revolutions began emerging one after the other. The new generation has taken its course bringing in a new age. With the new democracy taking effect the world today is at ease, and the comfort of 'slack' is the greatest feeling invented by man. Children, previously whipped into shape, no longer have the pressure of life weighing them down anymore. The aspiration to do 'great things' is no longer the greatest priority children think of. The society and everyone in it are deadbeat consumers that have no interest in bringing the slowest era in time to the grandest age it possibly can. There can be no greater disgrace to the word 'ambition'.

Despite all this, there are some who do wish to make it big for themselves, and are working hard to achieve it.

“Hey, pass!” A tranquil request came from the 18 year old Louis Crowley: Philadelphia’s current center forward on the Lincoln High basketball team. This youth wastes no time in discovering his true potential. He ran through the court, his carbon-black hair bouncing with each stride. He passed smaller folk with ease thanks to the incredible build he carried with him. “Ash, behind you man!” Lou’s arms were gestured in front of his chest to signal the pass. He temptingly followed his teammate’s lead calling out his name a good 3 or 4 times.

‘Ashton Dews’, Lou’s arrogant teammate, slash best friend, they’ve been together for as long as they can remember. Same schools, same age, same team and the same rivalry they started since the day they met. Ash was as brisk as he was proud, his draping auburn-shaded bangs could not cover the large grin stamped to his face. For him, being Lincoln High’s current point guard meant getting a one up on Lou.

The score was 110 Lincoln High, to 12 Benjamin Franklin High. Ash continued dribbling across the court noticing Lou’s signals, to which he gave a nod. He sprung passed two smaller players on the opposing team; it was as if he was playing tag, nobody could touch him. The defense barricaded the key distancing Ash from the net; Ash only gave a short smirk and ran up to the right defense man. He faked twice and again faking a jump shot, everyone’s eyes closed in on Ash as he danced with the ball. He suddenly flicked his arm back above the opposite defense man, leaving people clueless as they searched for the ball. There was Louis Crowley – his large body airborne, his hands grasping the orange ball above his head.

Now, this one picture alone made Lou look like a complete demon. His arms and legs were scrambled, his posture was a desperate leap toward the basket, and his face was daunting. His eyes were focused only on the net, the people around him - holding their breaths - were smaller than ants to him; this moment would last Lou days and days until he finally touched the rim of the encircled opening.

The only person moving was the young Louis Crowley, who at this point was slapping the net with everything he had. The crowd’s eyes were still shifting his way when the only sound echoing throughout the entire gymnasium was the sound of a basketball striking the polished wooden floor back and again, the intervals would shorten each bounce.

“Heh,” Ash forged another grin, “That idiot. He steals all the attention.” He scoffed contemptuously and began walking.

The buzzer went off and the crowd cheered like crazy, jumping out of their seats, it was another hero story and this hero had won it all for the team. The entire team rushed towards Lou and raised him up high. Each of them laughing and cheering, they were all so happy.

Of course, that’s not what actually happened. Here is what you'd have heard had you have been one of the two pros:

“Ash, behind you man!” Ash turned to see Lou’s hands gesturing an alley oop; they were in sync with each other even during this heat. He gave Lou a nod.

“You know it pal. I’ll set you up.” Ash had sped past the two forwards in the blink of an eye and was suddenly blockaded by 3 large players guarding the net. It was no hair of his chest as Ash ran up to the right side and began distracting their attention.

Lou had made his jump already and Ash was too busy goofing off.

“Hahaha,” Ash chuckled as he faked the captain of the opposing team. “They’re way too slow man. Check it out, Lou; they can’t even keep up.”

“Dude, stop showing off and let’s finish this.” Lou - still in mid-air - expecting a pass.

“I gotcha, but don’t steal all the light when you get this.” Their words were too quick too read as they moved as fast as lightning. Ash flung the ball over everyone’s heads and into Lou’s arms.

Lou’s perfect dunk was set in motion. It was time to end the show.

The buzzer went off and the crowd went wild. The team had obviously no clue what had just happened, but they ran to celebrate anyway, picking up Lou and cheering.

Ash smiled and walked away, watching his good buddy take all the credit. It was all the same to him; all he cared about was playing the game, winning came naturally. With the two of them on the team there would be no possible way to lose.

“Can you believe Lincoln High won with over a hundred point difference? It’s unheard of.”

“Are you kidding? All of their games are like this. The opponent barely even gets a single shot in throughout the entire game.”

“It’s definitely those two that stole the game, the rest of the team pretty much sat back and watched it all happen.”

“You’re right. Louis Crowley and Ashton Dews, two of them very talented and very tall, people to watch out for.”

“Did you see them out there? They were so hot, haha.”

The same words after every game could be heard from the stands, over and over again. Those two pros were in a league of their own and could dominate basketball, soccer, tennis, you name the game. They’ve completed everything that they’ve raced for; anyone would want to switch lives with them even for just a day. A talent such as theirs only comes every decade or so, and yet there’s two of them, they were like twins. They would get the girls, win the games and ace the grades. Simple high school students like these are not people you run into every so often, it was too remarkable.

“God, that was such an easy match against.... Hey Lou, do you remember the name of the school we just faced?” Ash pensively requested a reminder. He opened his locker and grabbed his bags.

“I couldn’t care less.” Lou’s expression was flat and plain. They had faced and won against so many teams that there was no point in remembering them all anymore. Lou grabbed his towel and wiped the river racing down his neck.

“Yea, I guess we can’t remember every loser we trounce. Haha!” Ash laughed some more and removed the remainder of his clothes, forgetting to close his locker behind him as he stepped into the showers.

They both finished and headed out, speaking not a single word to the rest of their teammates who were all still celebrating. Lou walked ahead and led the way down the empty hall. It was already 4:00pm meaning everyone had left the building, except for a certain someone.

“Let’s check up on Stan, he’s probably finishing up with his study group.” Ash pocketed his hands and walked up next to Lou who was still walking ahead of him.

‘Stanley Miles’; known for his achievements in the science and math departments, a person who likes to think outside the box. After these two genius all-stars, you wouldn’t believe another prodigy in the same year. Although, unlike the previous two, Stan does not consider himself, in anyway, different from any other student; he believes that pride is not something he should exemplify; throwing his personality around is not his favorite waste of time. He is the top class student in Physics, Chemistry, Calculus, Biology and the list goes on. His fluency to health-ordeals and bodily functions is said to rival that of the professors themselves; he could strip down the human body and rebuild it, blind-folded.

Ash and Lou made their way down the bleak, narrow halls which phased an ugly yellowish color as they walked even further. They finally reached their destination which was also the largest room in the school, second only to the gymnasium.

“Yo! Mister Physics man, you just about done with your slumber party?” Ash started with the jokes as soon as he walked into the large room. He was still snickering by the end of it whilst he stared at the 6 senior students seated around a tall-looking dirty blond-haired educator, books open and ears stationed his way. All of them were now glaring at the loud and obnoxious Ash, they all drooped their necks slightly hinting a ‘shut up’ motion.

“Hey, if you guys have time to get mad at me than you're really not making any progress," He pointed at their sagging heads and turned to Lou. "Am I right?” Ash ignored them and brought his snicker back into play. Ash was always getting his laughs at the people he deemed 'underneath' him.

“Ash, don’t be an idiot. Let’s let Stanley finish.” Lou was suddenly overcome with merriment from Ash’s gag. He grabbed Ash’s shoulder and sat him down next to Herald Blue, one of the many students Stan takes credit for. Blue had begun to regain his fallen grades in both math and English after he started attending Stan’s excellent coaching sessions.

Lou, in turn, took a seat next to Ash. “You don’t mind if we join in, do you buddy?” Lou used practicality and not idealism to win people over. Ash grinned and went with it; he didn’t mean to cause a stir.

Stan stood to his 1.87m tower of a body; A small novel in his hands that read ‘Moon Magic’. He wasn’t the muscle-bound creature you’d expect from a skyscraper. Although, he was perfectly proportioned, he was about the same build as Lou, mildly excessive. Stan adjusted his glasses from his nose; he brushed his short hair through and he spoke.

“It’s alright gentlemen. We were actually finishing up when you walked in.” He gave his proud smile to each and everyone of them. They all picked themselves from their seats and thanked Stan as they walked out. All of them passing Ash and Lou with rather irritated faces. They loved listening to Stan speak of the astonishing fables and philosophies he had to tell, and hearing them from his tone of voice made them all the more brilliant.

Five of the 6 that crowed Stan had left, leaving Stan, Ash and Lou. The 3 watched them all rushing themselves through the single door. The last one stayed to join the threesome.

“Yo, Lez, so you were here too, huh? Surprised you don’t get bored of listening to Bill Nye’s lectures all day.” Ash went straight for the cracks, which in turn handed him a first-classed bonk on the head from Stan. His large exterior wasn’t for nothing. Ash simply laughed it off.

“Hahaha. I can listen to Stan talk all day, I suppose.” Lesley Belial, definitely a babe if you ever saw one, and also one of the smartest people in the grade, and then some. Her long dark hair would mystify even the ghastliest of brutes, leaving them petrified whilst Lesley paced on leaving her venomous scent behind.

“Really? I don’t think I’d last a minute listening to this guy.” Ash continued his cracks receiving a second bonk from the silent giant.

Lesley had a slight interest in Stan for the longest while, and she knew Stan could tell. Stan showed the same amount of interest towards her, but he hadn’t the courage to express everything he felt towards her, leaving them bound by a close friendship that could only be broken by a miracle.

“Alright guys, enough teasing. Let’s head out already.” Lou was the main man behind this team of stars. He helped Ash and Stan clean up before commanding a forward-march. Lou would always come up with the ideas and initial the course of action. This was no gang he led, it was the king's of Lincoln.

The four of them walked back out into the phasing yellow hallway. There was no more staff or students left in the building, since class had ended about an hour ago, but the four of them marched on. Passing classrooms and passing stairwells until they finally pushed through the gates of their kingdom. They were like royalty leaving their thrown and walking into the streets of peasants, it was hard for them to not look down on these people.

Ash spoke more of his amazing performance in their final play, and Lou kept on correcting his story by telling it the right way, Lesley laughed at the pair arguing over superiority. Stan had smacked the two of them at least 3 times to get them to stop yelling; only having the two of them start batting back at him. These four were the best of friends. You could say that they knew each other rather well, and if anyone was anyone in Lincoln High, they’d know them as well.

“So anyway dude, Lou and I heard of this party happening tonight. We’re thinking of going. You guys in?” Ash secretly begged them. He would need Stan to say yes since Ash and Lou were car-less for the weekend.

“Sorry Ash, Lez and I were thinking of just hanging at my place tonight.” Stan turned to Lesley and then back at Ash. “You guys are more than welcome to join us, however.” Stan said this immediately afterward to avoid the awkward condition. “We’re just going to finish up some homework and maybe watch a movie. I’ve got plenty of them at my place.”

Lou jumped in so Ash wouldn’t bite Stan’s head off. “It’s cool, champ. I guess Ash and I don’t really have to go to this thing anyway. Could be for the best, I haven’t saved up anything to drink tonight.” Lou continued walking even more poised. Ash couldn’t end it this way, however.

“Well I’m still going, Lou. I haven’t partied in so long; I’m starting to feel like one of those workaholics.” He stared at his hands in disgust with those last few words. Ash looked back up and continued. “I still have a couple beers saved up. You in, Louie?”

“No thanks pal. Enjoy it, I think I’m gonna work on a couple of new moves for our next game.” Lou wasn’t trying to get out of going; he was really going to practice. It didn’t matter if Lou was in the highest league possible, he would practice until he’d drop. If he got cocky enough to take a break he would probably regret it later.

The four of them kept on walking. Each of them lived about 20 minutes from the school, so walking wasn’t the worst possible thing. The dull silence though Philadelphia was like walking through a black and white studio film, the rusty sidewalks and the jagged scenery was the best it would get around here.

Stan’s place was the first to pass, so it was goodbye to Lesley and Stan for the day. Ash and Lou continued their voyage and entered their old neighborhood that they’ve lived in for years and years.

“I’ll catch you later bro. Have fun tonight alright. Remember though, one girl is more than enough.” Lou smirked at his own remark; it was his way of saying ‘keep out of trouble or I’ll pound ya’.

“That’s what you think, man.” Ash’s come back was just what Lou expected to hear. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t try too hard.” They set off from each other and headed to their doors.

The neighborhood was quaint and peaceful, any parent would be lucky to raise their kids in such a small, but organized complex of houses. Door numbers 167-187, with odd on one side and even on the other. Twenty driveways and 20 cars, each lot looked more exquisite than the next. Lou entered 171 and Ash entered 176, only doors away from each other.

Whether they felt the extreme presence of someone watching them became irrelevant. Night-fall had come fast and so did this intruder of the shadows. Over the rooftops he sat. So high from the ground he was almost sitting on the moon. His long black hair followed in the wind, but the large man stayed dormant.

“Well, well. It looks like my intensive judgment worked in my favor this time.” The black shadow spoke, a voice filled with content. “I’ve finally found myself someone to play with. I bet Lily will be happy once I tell her.” The shadow-man began to look upward at the moon above him. The wind was now vicious and shrieked at the incredible aura around this man.

“I wonder if they’ve ever met the grim reaper in the presence of a crimson moonlight.” The mysterious man gave a small but deep snicker and hopped from the rooftops into the shadows once more, the feeling of gluttony disappearing with him, leaving only his words to echo through the crying breeze.

Prologue

2009-10-26T18:50:00.007-04:00

Cold nights; they assign devastating tales only exaggerated in books. The so-called 'secret art' that blends behind the crowd or that washes away our fear and even polishes off a sad mans despair. That sort of thing does not exist, but is strongly believed in, which is why everyone keeps their hopes up for a day of glory, a day of miracles, a day where everyone can experience the 'magical' beauty.

I'm here to tell you that although the magic we love is a sign of hope and prosperity, it is truly a symbolic practice of corruption and death. I'm here to tell you that that magic is absolutely real.

Prologue. The End is the Beginning

The day is of early 1904. An Egyptian night is cold, no matter how hot the days may seem. A man in his late 20's named Alexander believes the same thing, as he hurdles through the temple of Giza, sacred to the residents who used to live there.

An amazing sight from a couple hundred feet off the desert sands, the Sphinx just below eye-height. The same thoughts ran through Alexander's head as he ran on the basis of these sacred grounds. He lacked integrity as a smile drew his mind astray. He thought of possibly expressing this smile on his sweat-covered face, but he didn't.

Panting - Alexander whipped his head over his shoulder to see if they were still following him. His expression remained calm as he threw his face forward again. He took a left, still racing his make-believe-marathon. Torches lit the dark and narrow hallway he found himself running through.

He was driven by his own ambition, knowing he'd never make it if he halted. Feeling proud of his haughtiness, he had that smile cloud his mind again, basking in its riches.

The smile and its riches would have to wait because Alexander felt a sharp injection towards the left side of his torso. Dumbstruck, he gave a slight groan and crinkled his face. Without even noticing it the young man had triggered a booby trap. Alexander jerked his head, checking on his latent injury but quickly looked up again. His eyes shrank as he stared at the hundreds of arrows filling the narrow hallway, each arrow ready to take his life.

Without a moment to think, Alexander had given up the left side of his body to save his life. His body faced towards the right and he hopped back against the left wall of the hallway. He swallowed deeply and shut his eyes, his head hid behind his knapsack. It lasted no more than 3 seconds; each arrow sped passed him like a silent jet. Alexander lost count of how many invaded his body, all of them penetrating his flesh at least 2 inches deep. The impacting arrows carried him a decent foot and a half backward.

Alexander collapsed, landing on his right half. He inched his neck sideways staring at the blood he had just surrendered. The impression reminded him of a leaky faucet racing down his left half and on to the concrete floor. The surrounding torches reflected in his ever-flowing blood.

It seemed at this point that Alexander's dash had come to an end, he was barely able to lift his head from the agony he was in, but that same smile he thought of somehow found its way back into the broken man's head. He plucked each arrow that stuck from his body not caring about the blood he would lose. His efforts pounced him back towards the ominous route to kill himself even more.

It was close. It felt achievable to him now, although price-tagged with his soul. His once vigorous strength and stamina had been brought to a pathetic minimum, and so Alexander dragged his half-dead self to the end of his existence.

He suddenly heard the sounds of voices, not 40 meters away, and he remembered who he was running away from. Alexander could hear their resentment, he could hear their eerie influences, and he even heard the slightest bit of relief. Their breaths and pants, he could hear them all and they were coming closer.

As if all hope seemed lost, he finally saw it. Sitting there in a boxed room not 4 meters away was his prize. He now thought of enjoying the calm and cold night of Egypt. After the one thing he sought out to do he could finally look up at the beaming moon and smile to his hearts content.

The entire room was illuminated by its presence and Alexander limped closer toward it. He held his side firmly and didn't let go, it killed himself to blink as he stared at the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

His face was pale and losing color, it was only a matter of minutes that he would start losing feeling everywhere in his body. Alexander knew that if he kept gazing at the obsession he sought so long to find, he would die a horrible death.

It's luster almost blinded him - he reached and grabbed it between both arms. He squeezed it firmly. Alexander's vision had begun to fade, but it was fine, his eyes were of no use to him anymore. He coughed out repulsively, as if on purpose, and uttered his last few sentences that would seal his fate. Alexander had tears in both eyes and before he knew what he was about to do, he shut them both and did it anyways.

"CRASH!!"

The sounds of steel and glass together made an unbearable sound, even so unbearable that Alexander wished he had covered his ears first. He realized what he had done. He hoped that he could have had a few more seconds with his ultimate - pride and glory, but it was too late. Each of his tears felt like daggers ripping their way down his cheeks.

There he lay, distraught and heart-broken. On all fours did he pose, looking downwards at his shattered prize. He familiarized himself with that of a home-sick dog, so he positioned his neck upward to the open ceiling. It was now dark and even colder.

Alexander stopped his crying and thought no more of it. He instead knew that what was just done was his true pride and glory. His deed was complete, and the world was an even happier place. His last few moments in this world were not going to be of stained tears and ill-will toward man. His manhood strengthened, and he would now have the opportunity to finally stare up at the open sky and ...

Alexander's train of though was corrupt; he felt a new substance penetrating his body. Slowly tilting his head downward he saw multiple structured-pieces of metallic figures piercing from his chest. Alexander did not know what to feel. His pain was replaced by a new desolation and he could not help but collapse, his manhood broken once more.

Alexander did not care that he had fallen, the only thing he cared for was the one thing he couldn't do ... smile. He cursed himself for being so weak as to not even crack a smile. He tried with all his might to even twitch a grin, but his expression stayed the same. A sensation he could barely feel now dripped down his face, his vision was not only blurry, but all at once he saw red. The same red he saw moments ago spewing from his body.

They were talking again, but Alexander couldn't hear them this time.

Was there something wrong with his hearing now? He couldn't find the truth behind his deficiency. It didn't matter anymore, his eyes were closing, and they were closing for good. He could no longer feel the sensation racing down his penetrated skull, nor could he feel the flow from his chest. It was all gone.

One more thing popped into his head before absolute darkness. He suddenly had the impression of a man, similar to himself, smiling. Not only smiling, he was laughing too. Alexander knew that his position was no joke, but he urged himself to find a sense of humor and join the fictitious man. The man spoke and said the most complex of words, words Alexander could not hear. What was this man trying to tell him?

Alexander had passed and there was dead silence. The guards picked the leaking corpse off their holy grounds and dragged him from the room. A voice echoed as they exited with his body, and it repeated: "A new eon begins."

The Beginning

2009-10-20T01:22:00.000-04:00

To start things off, I'd like to mention that this story is a work in progress. Only a couple of chapters have been composed but they have not been reviewed yet. I wish I was fast enough to post a chapter every week but I don't know if I can find the time. I'll try my best to keep a steady pace, hopefully it might graduate over time.

I hope I attract a few people with this series. I aim to have a story filled with everything I've collected. I've done quite a lot of research for it, so I'm hoping it'll last.

I guarantee an action-packed journey with amazing battles and amazing sequence of events. I've spent quite some time creating the character's personality traits, I think you'll find it interesting. This story is for those who want to see (read) some action, and aren't afraid of a little profane violence.

Please, take time to get into this series, it may start off a little slow, but it'll pick up pretty quickly soon after.
Hope for the best.

-Crow