The Unknown Factor
Chapter 0 Atonement
""Superstition, bigotry and prejudice, ghosts though they are, clinging tenaciously to life; they are shades armed with tooth and claw. They must be grappled with unceasingly, for it is a fateful part of human destiny that it is condemned to wage perpetual war against ghosts. A shade is not easily taken by the throat and destroyed."
It was late November and the wind was blowing fierce and the frost was biting at everyone's noses. The snow was ankle deep and you could barely see two feet in front of yourself.
A boy was outside in all this chopping fire wood to but in the basement for later use. He didn't like this task but he knew it had to be done, or else his parents could not bake and if they could not bake they couldn't make money.
"Bread" the boy thought hungrily as he finally chopped the last piece of wood with the old rusting ax. He put the ax under his shoulder and picked up the small remainder of wood and put it under the shoulder along with the ax
He trudged threw the snow toward the cellar door his shoes wet from the snow. Using his free arm he swung open the cellar door and hurried down the stairs into the basement closing the door behind him.
The cellar was only illuminated by the bright white glow from the small window on the side of the room almost buried in snow. The boy could see his own breath as he set the pile of wood down on the rack were the kept a decent supply of wood, varying from boards or logs.
The boy had noticed the heater had gone out. The heater was old, but did a wonderful job of heating the house Even though it would go out at the worst times. The boy was constantly being nagged at to go and see if it was still lit. He was actually glad he had been down here when it had gone out, so he could light it and go up stairs to warm up and eat lunch.
The boy ruffled the snow from his black hair and pulled off the goggles he wore to keep the snow from getting in his eyes. He walked over to a work bench and pulled out a tool box. Inside was a verity of rusting tools, among the rusting fixing implements was a box of matches he had kept down here for just these occasions.
The boy pulled out the box of matches and walked over to the oven to the heater to relight it. He opened the small heater door and struck a match on the match box. He was about to relight the stove when he heard a scream from upstairs.
It was his mother! The scream was soon shortened with a loud 'Whack!' like someone stabbing something into wood. He then started to smell smoke and soon the air in the basement was unbearable. He ran toward the cellar door he had just come out of only to find it blocked by something.
"HELP!" the boy cried out in anger and fear as the smoke got thicker. He gave up his futile attempts at opening the blocked door and ran to the one leading upstairs. He opened the door only to be greeted by hungry flames burning all around him.
He ran though the living room to the large kitchen and saw his mother. She was impaled with an almost medieval sword. He stared horrified at his mother as the flames became too much to bare and the smoke became too heavy to see. He ran calling out for his father only to find him at a worse fate.
He walked into the store front to see his father stumble to the ground. "Dad!" the boy called out about to race forward to his father. "RUN!" was the only words that came out of his father's mouth before he was impaled with a large pair of scissors.
The Boy looked at the murderer. He was tall and covered in head to toe in a large trench coat. He had a large array of weapons on his back, everything from Javelins to swords, to a collection of spoons that hung from a key chain. The murderer looked up from his latest victim and looked at the boy.
His face was covered in bandages and he wore a bowler hat that fit tightly on his head. The boy could make out a sickly blue eye from the bandages and… a smile. The murderer laughed almost in a cackling manner as his horse voice let out the words "Now what do I do you in with?" The boy was more shaken with rage then with fear.
He pulled off his jacket and threw it to the floor leaving only a white t shirt. The boy flew at the murderer launching a heavy kick into his chest. The murderer was thrown back smashing through a glass case that had once contained bread for sale.
"So… are you the one who will also feel the atonement?" he said his voice no longer filled with emotions only smoke. The boy saw a large chunk of glass sticking out of the mans chest. "Freedom at last!!!!" the murderer rang out as a ghostly apparition was thrown from his body.
The apportion looked like a mummy covered in head to toe in bandages. It soon let out a howl of pain as it disintegrated into blue and red fragments. The boy looked in confusion as the murderer said his last words. "Thank…you…don't …let... It take away your… humanity"
Suddenly the boy felt something behind him. He turned around to see a pair of yellow eye and set of sharp teeth. In a blur of red the creature knocked into the boy sending him into a window. The boy was thrown out into the snow, his insides burned and his eyes stung like they had been drenched in vinegar.
The boy got up and started scratching his palms as the broke out in horrible rashes. He looked down at his shirt as blood started seeping from his chest in a strange mark. He felt like his mind was a crowded hotel room for two but it was housing five. He couldn't control his own actions as he started flailing
His arms around like he was attacking something, and he started to growl and roar. Long after his house was nothing but ashes the boy collapsed.
He lay in the snow fallen field as snow flakes doted his body. He soon drifted off to sleep and found him self on a dog sled restrained in a strait jacket. He was laying down on the sled looking up at an old man in a brown suit with a grey mustache saying "Hurry, hurry!" The boy tilted his head a bit to see not dogs pulling the sled but a boy. He soon passed out again as everything faded to white.
He awoke and found him self in an old looking medical room. Everything from the beds to the light bulbs looked old. He tried to sit up but found his arms and legs restrained. His palms and chest were bandaged, and he saw what appeared to be claw marks in the bed were he lay and burn marks on the ceiling. No more then a few seconds after waking a girl walked into the room from a door obscured by curtains.
The girl was blond and was wearing a yellow outfit. He could see something on her wrist that appeared to be a bracelet, but only got a glance at it. "What's going on here?" the boy said almost in a growl. The girl glared at him and said in a harsh tone "Wait for the doctor" as she sat on gurney across from him and looked up at the ceiling. Soon the man from the sled came in and greeted the girl "Hello Rena". The girls face looked said when the doctor said that name. He moved over to the boy and sat down in an old wicker chair.
"I bet you have many questions" he said with a smile. "Yes I do" the boy said his voice showing signs of exhaustion. He was trying his best to stay awake. "I have only one thing I need from you to answer any of those questions" the doctor said. "And what is that?" the boy asked. "A name for you" he said looking totally serous.
"That's easy! my name is…" the boy looked confused. "My name is…" the boy looked scared and confused as he struggled with the straps on his arms. The boys body parts sort of had a mind of there own as the whipped violently around trying to get free, but with no avail. The doctor did not look at all worried or surprised he just sat there patiently waiting. The boy's goggles had slipped back over his eyes from the shacking of his body.
Eventually the boys strange fit stopped. Huffing from being out of breath he said one word "Hazard". The room started spinning like a violent top as colors and light blurred together in one blinding white blank. The doctor spoke "I think I should wait to answer those questions till you come back to a suitable state of mind Hazard" the doctor said as the boys vision cut to black as he passed out.