The Child of a Torn
Fate
By: Mylifeinshadow, Quiet Man, and The
Mobo
The Child of a Torn Fate
Chapter
1
The Big Bad Wolf
"Are we there yet," I asked my
dad.
"We should get to the hospital any minuet now, Eric,"
was my dad's reply. It was my tenth birthday, and we were going to
see my mom. I was told she got hurt somehow when she was little, but
no one told me what happened. She had to go to the hospital every so
often.
"Here," my dad said, handing me a shoebox. "Your
mom won't like it, but you'll need them someday."
Rather odd
gift to remember while driving to the hospital. There were two guns
in there. Two very weird, and very fake, guns. They looked kind of
like something from a horror movie. The dominant colors were red and
black, with strange symbols on them. They had skulls bulging from the
sides, with dull spikes on the top, like those on an alligators back,
holding a bar. One was merely a mirror image of the other, perfect
for using one in each hand. No real guns would be made like
these.
"Dad, I'm turning ten, not six," I whined.
"Unless they can actually shoot bb's, and they don't look like
bb guns, it was a bit of a waste for you to buy these."
"O,
I doubt that, but humor me and keep them, all right?"
"Fine,"
was all that I could say. They seemed like they weren't that cheap,
so I had decided that, if nothing else, I could pawn them off on
someone at school.
I'm not sure where my family stood
economically. We weren't very poor, but we weren't very rich, either.
If I knew what my dad had done for a living, I would probably have
had a better idea. Whenever I asked him what he did, he always tried
to avoid the question, and I never got a straight answer from him. He
would disappear for at times, sometimes just a few hours, sometimes
for a few days, but he always came back. I was afraid he was involved
in something illegal, but he never came back with any questionable
injuries, and we didn't live in hiding or anything like that, so I
decided that it couldn't have been that bad.
He always had this
strong prescience about him, like he'd always be there for me,
protecting me, caring for me. He wasn't big, but he was tough. And it
showed. His muscles were very finely defined on every part of his
body, and he could lift me easily with one arm.
His closet was
mostly t-shirts and jeans, with one gray suit, and plenty of jackets.
My dad always wore a jacket, anything from a light and fancy dress
coat to big black trench coat. That day, he was wearing a white
t-shirt with blue denim jeans and coat, and had his rich black hair
slicked back. I thought he was living in the past.
I was wearing a
way-too-large black shirt with the fox symbol on it and blue cargo
pants almost big enough to fit my dad, and sandy colored belt that
you wrap it around metal rings instead of buckling it. I like big
clothes, and I like black clothes. Not that I was emo or anything.
Black just goes with everything. Even my buzz-cut-short, dirty-blonde
hair.
We finally pulled up into the hospital. There were a few
cars in the lot; it wasn't over crowded, nor was it empty, but when
we walked in to the hospital, I was creeped out. The lights were on,
the quiet lobby music could be heard over the low droning of the
air-conditioning fans, and the twelve black e-z chairs were in their
place against the sidewalls undisturbed, but the place was deserted.
The worst part was the eerie chill I felt run down my spine. There
was no cold in the air, no chilly draft, yet my hairs started
sticking straight out of the goose bumps that were popping up on my
back. It was easy to tell my dad sensed it too; I could almost see
his muscles tighten in anxiety.
I looked down the hallways that
were on either side of the desk, running diagonally from the lobby,
forming a V shape. They, too, were the same as normal; they weren't
dark and foreboding, they still resonated with the hum of the
electrical equipment and the soft droning of the air conditioning
fans. Yet the hallways also had an inexplicably eerie feel to them. I
felt like there was someone, or something, watching me. I felt like
around every corner, in every room, was a monster just waiting to eat
me. I felt like if I moved, something would notice me and to hurt.
I
was afraid.
I was scared and afraid.
More so than I had ever
been in my life, and I had no idea what to do. I simply turned to
stare at my dad and wait for him to tell me what to do. He never did.
He went running down the hallway on the right, and took something out
of his coat. It looked like a gun; a real one. And with that, he left
me.
He left me scared and afraid.
He left me scared and afraid
and alone.
"I sense darkness in this one"
It was a
hoarse and rasping voice, almost inhuman, and it seemed like I could
"feel" it resonate through my mind as much as through my
ears. And it came from behind me. If I was afraid before, then I was
terrified. I never heard anyone come through the door, and certainly
nobody walked around me, but it definitely came from behind me. Every
fiber of my being was stiff from fear, but I had to turn around. I
was moving agonizingly slow.
"What do we do?"
The
voice was the same in every way, yet had somehow seemed to be
different. Great. Now there are two. I could see them now. If I was
terrified before, now I'd be petrified.
Wolves. Ghosts. Ghost
wolves. Black, floating specters, slightly transparent, staring me
down. It was almost like they were made of air; their deathly visages
slightly flowing to a non-existent wind. And there were three of
them. I would never have thought it possible, but my fear had just
reached a new height.
"Take him."
It was all the
third said. But with that, the wolves lunged at me. I was thinking,
as most probably would, "I'mgoingtodieI'mgoingtodieI'mgoingtodie..."
I was too scared to move. But I felt, from deep within me, a sort of
tug.
It felt like every particle in my body being pulled outward,
but resisting. The feeling started moving outward, to the edge of my
very being. It felt similar to flexing the muscles in my chest, ever
consistently expanding the area of muscles being flexed, while at the
same time releasing the ones I had just flexed. But it wasn't just my
muscles. This was every part of me, from the center of my bones to
the edge of my skin. The feeling stopped moving below my waist, and
did not encompass my neck or head, but continued un-abated through my
arms.
When it reached the tips of my fingers, it stopped. The
flexing feeling stayed in my fingertips, and it felt like it stopped
before it had time to relax the muscles in my arm. I felt it from my
fingertips to just below my elbow, but was more relaxed the closer to
my elbow. Then it started feeling like all the blood in my arms
rushed to my fingertips as well, as if I had been swinging my arms in
circles. The strangest part was when both the feelings extended
beyond my fingers, and I could still feel it.
It all happened in
an instant.
I covered my face with my hands, and waited for them
to kill me. But they didn't. They couldn't.
End Chapter 1
Chapter 2
The not-so-angelic angel
On
my hands I wore gauntlets; gauntlets that had not been there less
than three seconds ago. They were cruel looking things; they looked
like they were made of pitch-black obsidian, but clearly were made of
something much stronger, and felt like metal. They were thin, but
just feeling them gives you a sense of impenetrable strength; like
nothing but something else of this material could break them.
On
the inside of the arm and on the palm, where the metal did not cover,
was a strange leathery feeling material, giving off a similar
impression of strength. They had wicked barbs on the outer section,
and the fingers extended to curved points, forming ruthless looking
claws, none too dissimilar to some birds' beaks. They were truly
horrendous things.
"Fight them, Eric."
It was a young
girls voice in the back of my head, probably a little older than me,
almost like a conscience. But no conscience would tell a person to
fight, ghost or otherwise.
"If you don't fight them, I'll
have to do it for you."
Definitely not a conscience. Could
one of these ghosts be in my head? But then why would it have me
fight the others? Is there some kind of war going on in
hell?
"There's always some kind of war going on in hell. And
don't think so loud; someone might over hear us."
"Think
so… what do you mean someone might over us? Scratch that, first
tell me, WHAT ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HEAD!?"
"I'll
tell you later; now, you need to get rid of the wolf."
"Well,
first of all, there are three of them. Second, and most important,
THEY'RE GHOSTS!"
"Then let me help you. This would be an
excellent demonstration of the uses of possession."
"Wait,
what? Possession? I'm not letting some ghost possess me."
"Well,
not only am I not a ghost, I'm not giving you a choice."
She
was like a switch. She starts talking all dramatic like and using a
"voice" that made everything seem like a life or death
situation, then jump straight into a sarcastic, snobby little
attitude. It's like there were two, but I could tell she was the same
person.
And with that, I blacked out.
I awoke to
find myself lying on the ground in the hospital, the grotesque
gauntlets and ghost wolves gone. Was it just a hallucination? Did I
fall unconscious when I walked in the hospital?
"No, I
certainly am not a figment of your imagination. Someone like you
wouldn't be able to imagine a person as perfect as me. And for that
last time, don't think so… o. I forgot. You can't. Well,
we'll…"
"Will you stop treating this like this is
normal? There is a little girl in my head ridiculing me for…"
"I
am not a little girl. And no, this isn't normal; it's a first for me
too. So stop thinking a listen to me."
"Stop thinking?
If I did that I'd die."
"You know what I mean. Now,
first off, I'm not going to answer your questions. Anything you need
to know, I will tell you. And right now, that's a little about
you."
"About me?"
"Let me finish."
"Mmm…
no. I don't want some THING telling me about me. Maybe if you told me
who, or what, you are, I'd be more inclined to help."
"Snotty
brat, I'm here to help you. All right then, you can call me
Light."
"Light? What kind of a corny name is that? It's
like some thing from a lame fairy tale or something."
"I'm
a voice, in your head, that just helped save you from ghosts, after
you magically summoned demonic gauntlets."
"Touché"
"Now,
will you let me finish?"
"… Fine. I don't
seem to have much of a choice anyway."
"Well, then, a
little about god…"
"I thought you were telling me a
little about me."
"Ugh, you really know how to try a
girl's patience. Just listen. Basically, Heaven and Hell are real,
but probably not in the sense you think o…"
"Hey, I
just realized, you can read my mind, can't you?"
"Seriously,
you have to be the slowest person I've ever met. Yes and no; I can
only hear what you're consciously thinking."
"OK, I just
wanted to clear that up. Don't want a girl going through my head,
learning all the secrets of manhood."
"O please, little
boy, men can't keep secrets from women; it's a physical
impossibility. Now, for the last time, stop interrupting me."
"For
the last time? So, you're, going to, like, go away if I interrupt you
again?"
"Fine then, have it your way; but when the Big
Bad Wolf comes back, I aint helpin'."
"Hold on, the big
bad Wolf? Like, "Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf"
the big bad wolf?"
"I don't know why mortals always
associate her with The Big Bad Wolf; but yes, she is one of the many
The Big Bad Wolf has driven insane since he was bereft of his own
sense. She was rather lucky that The Big Bad Wolf did not kill her,
or worse. She is currently being kept at Dumpty's asylum."
"You
know what? I have no idea what you're talking about, so please stop
explaining."
"Now can I finish?"
"I won't
interrupt, but I can't guarantee that I'll pay attention, or, for
that matter, understand."
"Humph. Then I'll give you the
abridged version; you're a half demon, half daemon, and there is a
certain powerful, ancient, did I mention powerful? demon after you.
I'm here to help train you. I'm ready to start when you
are."
"What's the matter?"
"One
of us is insane, and since I'm talking to a girl in my head, it
probably doesn't matter, 'cuz we're both me. Which means I'm insane.
Which means…"
"Sorry to rain in on your little doom
an' gloom parade, but I am neither a figment of your obvious
insanity, (you got that part right), nor in your head. In fact, I've
been having a nice leisurely stroll down the perfume aisle for the
last few minuets. Funny though, you know you never got up after you
blacked out? Lying on the ground probably isn't the best thing to do
when your father just disappeared."
"Crap, I forgot
about dad!" I bolted up and ran down the right hallway, trying
to remember which hallway my dad started down earlier. I guess I got
it right, because as I turned down the hallway, I could see one of
the doors looked a little odd. Most hospital doors aren't decorated
with skulls, nor do they generally have an eerie, pulsating
glow.
End Chapter 2
Chapter
3
Rebecca and Red
"You know what, Light? I don't think
this is just imagination. I refuse to believe I can imagine such a
creepy door." I slowed down as I reached the door. I was afraid,
to be sure, but I had to find my dad. I was just a few steps away
before "Light" interrupted me.
"Um, Eric, I really
don't think you should go in there just yet."
If she was
actually talking to me, I would have probably said she sounded
scared. She certainly seemed to be. She, who could possess my body,
who could fight ghosts, and do god knows what else, was afraid. And
that made me afraid.
"Um, well then, what now? I want to find
my dad; I'm not leaving him here." Boy was I cocky. I was a ten
year old, with no weapons, no experience; the only thing that I had
in my favor was a voice in my head that seemed to know more about
what was going on than me.
"Well, anything. I don't know what
is behind that door, but by the looks of it, it's not gonna be
pretty. We need to be prepared for anything."
For a girl, she
was a pretty bad liar. I knew she knew exactly what was behind that
door, but I'll be damned if I argue with her just before running head
long in to some kind of creepy demon door thing.
"And just
how do I do that?"
"Do you think you can summon your
demon claws again?"
"Umm… you mean those things from
earlier?"
"Sigh. Yes. I'll try and help, but I never was
too good at that stuff. Do you remember what it felt like?"
"O
yah. I'm never going to forget those scary things. I'm going to use
them?" I hated those things. They were scary. They looked like
something that was about to murder me; not save me.
"All
right, good. Just imagine what it felt like too summon them.
Visualize them; imagine them on your hands. Feel them. Picture them
in your mind to the minutest detail; I'll handle the rest. One of
these days I'm going to teach you to do this on your own."
I
did what she asked. And something happened. But it was different. I
was in control this time. It wasn't in involuntary action; I brought
it about this time. Sure I had some help, but that didn't matter.
This time, I saw. This time, I nearly hurled.
The claws did not
just appear; they didn't pop out of no were, materialize slowly, or
do any of that stuff. They grew. From my arm.
The black metal
started poking its way out of my arm just below my elbow and snaked
down my arm, popping up as curved lines that pushed themselves
together into one solid sheet. The leather straps started just after
the metal. They launched out of the metal and wrapped around my arm
in a sort of crisscross fashion, but the pattern had neither rhyme
nor reason that I could see. I watched as the metal
wrapped around each of my fingers, leaving tiny gaps so that I could
still bend them, which were promptly covered by the leather. This
probably took about a second, though it felt like an eternity. It
made the wolves look like pleasant company.
"What the… did
they just grow out of my arm?!"
"Oh my goodness. That
was… unexpected."
"O, great, that fills me with
confidence."
"It's alright. I had my suspicions, I just
didn't expect to be so… correct."
"All right, I'm
ready."
"O, so you get some cool claws think your all
that, huh? Do you even know how to use them?"
"Umm,
well, no…"
"I didn't think so. Just leave yourself
open to me this time, I'll only takeover if we run into anything you
can't handle. Which is probably anything and everything."
"Well,
don't you just have a wealth of confidence." I tried to be
brave. I didn't want to go in there. I wanted to have no part in any
of this. I wanted to go home, sit on the couch next to my dad, and
watch TV. But I had to get my dad before I could do any of that. I
think she was doing the same thing, I just didn't know why; or, for
that matter, who for.
Of course, I forgot about what dad gave me
in the car until it was too late.
A girl. That's all there was. A
little girl, who couldn't be much older than me, wearing a hooded red
cloak, holding a straw basket. And a huge, jagged, bloody sword. She
crouched and jumped at me.
"All right, I'm tired
of this. The hospital my mom was at is haunted, my dad left me, I've
been talking to a girl in my head, get jumped by another girl, and
then find my self lying in bed at home. I WANT ANSWERS!"
I
was tired. I was confused. I didn't know whom I was talking to. And I
was hungry. I didn't know why, but after my first bit of shock, all I
could think about was how hungry I was.
"I know what you
mean. I'm a little confused myself."
Her again. The misguided
little freak girl. She was frustrating, conceited, and down right
annoying. Most girls, you can at least avoid; this one was in my
head.
"You? Confused? Little-miss-know-it-all? I'll bet
that's not a first. Tell me what happened. Who was that
girl?"
"So now it's the cold shoulder treatment?"
I just figured I was insane. I
didn't think it was too bad, at least I knew what was normal and
wasn't. If I start confusing the fake for the real, then I'll get
some help.
"Dad?"
I knew he wouldn't answer. He
couldn't. I knew he was gone, I watched him run off. But I was alone.
Even the voice had left me then. How was I going to go on? I was too
young to do anything; I was just starting middle school. That was
about when I heard the door open.
"Eric? I'm here!"
A
woman. A woman that I did not know. I could hear her high heels
clacking on the hardwood floor. It sounded like she was carrying
plastic bags. Her shoes made a good deal of noise when she took them
off, and the practically stomped her way into the kitchen. Boy was
she loud.
"Eric?"
Then I realized; I wasn't afraid.
It might have been her friendly attitude, it might have been that I
had had enough fear for the rest of my life the night before, but I
wasn't afraid.
I sat up in my bed, and realized that I was still
wearing the same clothes as the night before. I didn't really care at
that point. I hopped on to the carpet and started padding
my way the four or so feet out of my room to the top of the steps. I
didn't make it.
My legs crumpled underneath me, and I fell with a
"thud". It didn't really hurt; my legs just felt like they
had no muscles, but it caused my dressers to shake, and I could hear
my mini dragon statues shake. I had a black display case that held
twelve of the things. They were a little bigger than my hands balled
together, and were made of some kind of heavy plaster. Each one had
its own name and a fake jewel of a corresponding color they were
depicted as protecting.
I could hear my display dagger, about 1½'
long, the handle a red dragon, the blade his fire breath, wobble on
its stand and clank against the mirror. Around the mirror, on their
tiny shelves, the fancy wooden display cases holding my extremely
expensive letter openers rocked and fell. The pendulum of my clock,
the fireball of another dragon, rocked back and forth more violently
than normal. I was glad to notice that the other statues, one of two
dragons fighting over a pit of fire, a fake crystal ball held by the
flames between them, one, mounted on a wall, of a dragon wrapped
around a small sword, and one of Jesus the savior, were rock steady.
The lady, whom I had yet to identify, called up to me, "Eric?!
Are you all right?! I thought I heard something fall!"
Still
feeling a little on edge, but not wanting to make a scene, incase I
should know this person and only forgot, I yelled back a bit
sarcastically, "Not something, someone."
"Oh my
god! Eric, are you all right?!"
Well, who ever it was she had
seemed to care. That didn't matter to me though. "My legs feel
like Jell-O, my clothes stink, and I think I'm going insane. Who are
you and why do you care?"
At this point, she came running up
the stairs, and I finally got to see her. I guess she was pretty, if
you could see past the girl cooties. Actually, she almost looked like
a model. Dark brown hair that came straight down to her shoulders,
and tanned skin, she was trim, though a little flat breasted, but she
wasn't dainty. She had well defined muscle; she wasn't skin and bones
like models; and she had a hard expression on her face a refined lady
would never be able to pull off. She was wearing a I still didn't
recognize her. She wore a deep yellow t-shirt that came loosely down
to her hips and very baggy black cargo pants with a white belt that
had a weird, round buckle. She had good taste in clothes, but I still
couldn't recognize her.
"Eric, what happened? Are you all
right? Say something."
She was down on one knee staring down
at me. I was laying down on my back with my hands behind my head, but
my legs were in awkward positions. My left leg was bent, my foot
underneath my rear, while my right leg was only slightly bent, but
was facing out to the right. I could feel my legs, I knew they were
there and that they were in awkward positions, but I couldn't really
feel with them.
"You still haven't told me who you are. I
think that's a bit more important."
"You talk big for a
ten year old. I'm Rebecca. I'm a nanny, a sort of long-term baby
sitter. I got a job watching you from some lady; she sounded young,
but she certainly didn't seem to be."
"So basically,
you're here to replace him."
And then it hit me. He's gone.
He's gone and I might never get to see him again. I cried then, a
cried long an hard, until my body was too dehydrated to produce
anymore tears. She took it the wrong way. Two hours she spent, trying
to console me and make me think she wasn't bad and that it would be
fun and so on, but that wasn't my problem. Finally, when I could
breathe long enough to talk, I did my best to tell her.
"Go
sob away.sob sniffle I don't sob care."
I wasn't
thinking straight, so didn't too good at conveying the message, but
at least she left me for a minuet.
"I'll go get you some
water," was what she said, but was gone for a while.
By the
time she got back with a bottle of ice water, I had just about
finished crying, and was starting to get some feeling in my
legs.
"All right Eric, here's some water. Now, why don't you
tell me some things. What did you mean 'You're just here to replace
him'?"
"My dad; Light called you to sob replace him.
He left, and, and, and, I'm never ghunna see him again."
"I
can't believe that. Do you know why he left?"
"B'cuz
there was sob no one there."
"Where?"
"At
the hospital. The place was empty. The clerks, the doctors, the
patients, the friends and family, they were all gone. Which meant mom
was too."
"You mean the Old Faith Hospital? That place
was scheduled for demolition a week ago. They blew it up today. When
did he leave?"
"Yesterday."
"… Who's
Light?"
"Don't tell her. If you tell her, I'll have to
leave."
I didn't want Light to leave. She was annoying, but
she obviously cared, and it was nice to have a friend always with
you. So I did the best I could at lying.
"She's one of dad's
friends. I know it's not her real name, but I don't know her real
name."
"You left." I was going to try to have two
conversations at the same time. I didn't really think about it, but
if I did, I probably would have realized how hard it would be.
Instead, I had Light do the thinking for me.
"Stick to one
conversation, you silly child; you aren't attentive enough to talk to
the both of us at the same time. See, you probably just missed that;
the nice lady asked you to go wash your hands."
"O.K."
I "said" it both through my mouth and my mind.
Under
normal circumstances, I would have protested a babysitter, especially
when I didn't know I'd be having one. But these were far from normal.
I had been slapped in the face with all this stuff; ghosts, spirits,
magic, demons; a babysitter popping up out of the blue was rather
welcome.
I got up and wobbled into the bathroom. When I finished
washing the snot off my hands and face, I went back into my room. I
opened the curtains, and was surprised to see it was night. Was it
still the same day? If so, what day was it? I decided I couldn't
start thinking about the weird stuff that happened until I can
straighten out the normal stuff, so I had a talk with Rebecca
first.
End Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Of Demons and
Daemons
"It's Wednesday, the twenty third of October.
Why?"
Rebecca seemed a nice person. She seemed to know when
asking questions wouldn't help anything, and when asking unwanted
questions was necessary. Too bad she shouldn't have asked that last
one.
"I… I forgot."
I lied. The day we went to the
hospital was the fifteenth. The day before, if I remember what
Rebecca said correctly, they scheduled the demolition of the
hospital. No wonder I was so hungry.
It hit me again. Between
Rebecca and crying, I totally forgot about my hunger. Now it hit me
in the stomach like a twelve-wheeler. I heard it grumble so loud, I
wouldn't have been surprised if the neighbors heard it.
"Was
that your stomach?"
"Yah."
"What do you
want? I've got some ice cream…"
"Yah, sure, you do
that. I'd like some too, but I need something now."
Another
miscommunication. What I meant was more along the lines of "while
you get that ready, I'm gonna go pig out on something." I guess
I can't think any better when I'm starving than when I'm
crying.
"Umm… all right? I guess I'll just go make myself
use full… some where else in the meantime."
Could she be
much more obvious? I went and grabbed a box of Cheese-its and started
woofing them down by the handful.
"How old are you?" I
didn't want her to leave yet, and it was the first thing I could
think of to say that would get her to stay, at least just a few
seconds longer.
"Never ask a lady her age. But twenty-nine.
Your ten, aren't you?"
"Yah, I'm just starting… o my
god, school!"
I think that since I finally had some food in
me, I started thinking clearly. I certainly got smacked back to
reality with a few realizations.
First: I'd been out for a week,
so no school. What do they think happened? Second: I might have been
able to go with ought food for a week, but I'd remembered hearing a
person can only go three days with ought water. How am I still alive?
Third: How am I going to explain what happened to my dad? "He
left" wasn't going to cut it. The list went on.
"Whoa
there cowboy. Your thoughts are so jumbled, you're messing me up.
I've been out for as long as you have, and I need something to eat
too, though you have a good point; how are we alive? Red usually
never lets a single mouse escape her."
"Red? The girl in
the room with the door?"
"All those rooms had doors."
"You know what I mean. The scary one."
"Yah,
she's Little Red Riding Hood."
"And I thought I was
confused before…"
"O please, I've already told you
more than I ever intended to. And I still never got around to telling
you just what is going on. You still want to know."
"Will
knowing make this any easier?"
"You sound like you've
resolved to go through with this. I haven't even told you what you
need to do."
"Well, I seem not to have much of a choice
in the matter. If I don't accept your help I'll…"
"Hey!
You're talking out loud. Rebecca can still hear you."
"…
Probably get sent to an orphanage."
"Smooth."
Rebecca
let out a sort of giggle. "You make it sound like I'm doing
charity. That Light girl's paying me."
"Oh." "You
have money?"
"Well, sort of. I have access to emergency
funds. I'm only allowed to use it if it is the only way to get out of
a mission ruining situation with ought any death."
"Mission?"
"Yah.
Officially, I was sent on a mission to help you. What really happened
is that I came to help you, and my parole officer was nice enough to
cover for me."
"Your parole officer? So, you're human,
right? Not some ghost thing?"
"I'm not at liberty to
tell you what I am, but no, I'm not a ghost."
"Will I
ever meet you?"
"If my objective is achieved, yes. If
everything goes according to plan though, it won't be for a long
time."
"Can you tell me your objective?"
"No."
"What
can you tell me?"
"Three things. First, you seem to
adapt very well."
"Thanks. And you're not as annoying as
I thought you were."
"We need to work on your
compliments. Second, you're not human."
"You mentioned
that earlier. You said I was half demon, half something."
"Half
daemon. That's a…"
"Hey, you want to go swimming? I
saw a pool on my way through the neighborhood."
Rebecca
interrupted Light, but there was no way I was leaving it off like
some kind of fairy tale were some character interrupts some oracle
telling the main character something, and it turns out they don't get
to say some crucial fact.
"Gimme a sec."
"OK"
"A
daemon is a… spirit kind of thing. It's not like the soul of some
dead person or anything, it's a… well, I will just give some
examples. God is a daemon. So is Satan. So is Jesus, and angels."
"I
think I understand… so my parents aren't my real parents?"
"Well,
yes and no. I can't talk about that though."
"Yes and
no… that means one of them is?"
"No, it means WAIT!
Wow, I almost got tricked into talking by a ten year old. And a boy.
I guess you aren't as hopeless as I first thought."
"Well?
You want to go?"
Rebecca again. I think she wanted to go as
much for herself as she wanted to take me.
"Yea, I'll go.
I'll get my bathing suit."
"Take your time, I'll need to
get mine out."
She went over to the kitchen table and opened
one of the plastic bags I heard earlier. There were clothes and
toiletry items and such in them. I guess Rebecca was staying
here.
"Thanks, Light."
"I figured you two would
hit it off. I figure I might even be able to learn something from
her; not that I'm not perfect or anything, it'll just make me more
perfect."
"Sure, whatever you say."
End Chapter 4
Chapter 5
I went back upstairs to my
room to put on my bathing suit while Rebecca was searching for hers.
I couldn't decide which one to wear; the black and blue one didn't
fit me, the yellow one with flowers on it looked fruity, and the
bright blue one was too big. I finally decided on the blue one; if it
fell off when I was swimming, too bad.
At that point, I
remembered something I had completely forgotten before; the guns my
dad gave me. Were they important? Were they related to what happened
at the hospital? If so, then did my dad expect something was going to
happen? I knew my most reliable source was probably going to just
shrug it off, but I asked anyway.
"Light?"
"Yes?"
"Do
you know anything about those guns my dad gave me?"
"What
guns?"
"The ones he gave me in the car."
"I wasn't
connected to you before the incident with the Big Bad Wolf."
"So
you don't know anything about my life before we were connected? How
would you know anything about my parents? And you didn't know what
I was thinking, I must be thinking quieter."
"I noticed that
myself. And I told you before, I can't 'read' your mind or
anything of the sort. This link is supposed to be a form of
communication."
"But you could see what I was seeing back
there."
"O yea, I forgot to mention that. You analyze what you
see so much, it's hard to believe you're so young. I bet you do
well in school."
"Augh! Did you have to bring up that accursed
place?"
"Do you even know what that means?"
"No, but
I've heard my dad say that when he needs to go to a place he
doesn't want to go to. Speaking of which, do you anything about my
dad? Like, where he is? Or, at least, what he did?
"… I guess
I can read you a little of his file. 'Tim Hillman is a specialist
hit man for mayor Mandy. He specializes in surgical removal of demon
communities without raising any questions.' Happy?"
