Persona: Triple-A Chronicles 1

by ~Andyus

A suffocating darkness that no one saw...

A scaled arm hidden under the sea...

An armored justicar whose sword pierces evil...

This and many other things were the ones that marked my life in an outstanding way...

Someone once said "Time is given once, and never again." I realized sometime ago that he was wrong. In the night, time lies hidden… available only to those gifted to hunt, cursed to be hunted… This is the story of three persons, two chosen to have a dire fate, one made to have it…

Part I: A rude awakening

Because someday, sometime, I was going to notice…

Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

March 21st, 2007

11:50 pm

Life is similar to so many things... like an mp3 player.

You get one... and when you get it, it's useless unless it has things into it... and you decide what to put into it... you may know how to do it, or not... you may ask for help to do it, or not... you may keep it in order, or just leave a mess... and then it stops working, in 99% of the cases you will ask someone to help you.

That's why i like to believe that i work to help people with their lives...

- All right sir, you see the only two buttons on the player? the one in the front, that has the white sqaure, and the one at the top? what you have to do is press and hold those buttons, together, at the same time, and keep them holded for ten seconds... alright, it's back to normal now? Great... you're welcome, sir, remember, mp3 and gps support is open for 6 am to midnight if you need to call back... and have a nice day.

That's right, i was (and still am) an mp3 player technical supporter. Not one of those pesky telemarketers that could call when you were in the shower and ask if you would like free vacations, a real supporter, called only when needed, which is much more often than you can imagine.

I'm not going to say who hired us, but we had calls from all over the world with people that talked spanish and english. People you would never think that they would call.

I particularily remember helping a US army sergeant in adding music to the Ipod his daughter sent to him, and recommending a child tracker for a worried mom whose son was leaving for college. It is really fun, but it's still something that had to be done, and a honorable thing if you ask me. And the best thing of all, i found out that i was good at it.

Still, i was about to end up my third month there, when i found out that i still didn't knew a thing.

- Hey May! can i take my break now?

- Sure, Andy, go ahead.

There were two calls waiting, so supposedly i couldn't take my break in that moment, but Mayra and the other supervisors liked me a bit. As i said before, i was good in this fixing mp3 stuff. A bit more than most of them were. Everyone who had a question came to me instead of them. I even took some calls when an angry customer had asked to speak with a supervisor (and solved the case). But it was more than just respect what made them give me some freedom.

Thing is, on the 15th day after i got this work, one of the managers came up and asked me to be supervisor myself. Even so, he told me to choose one of the current ones to be replaced by me and returned to agent status (chain is agent, supervisor, manager, in case you don't know). They were scared as soon as they found out, but i refused, and said that i was a good agent, and they were good supervisors. That made them respect me not only as someone who knew a lot, but as a good person.

I still amaze myself as how good i remember it all. I looked at my watch, it said 11:59. I got out of the offices, crossed the security door and got on the elevator. I really thought for a second to take the stairs, after all i just needed to get to the 4th floor and i was on the 2nd, but the elevator arrived particularily fast. I got in and dialed the 4, the doors closed and i was starting to send a text message, when it happened.

The last thing i saw was my cellphone saying 12:00. Everything went dark. Suddenly the air felt heavier, and the elevator stopped moving.

I waited patiently until the lights returned. But fifteen minutes passed, and there was still no sign of any change. My first thought was a power failure, but when i tried to reach my cellphone it didn't respond. It had full battery, why had it stopped working? then i also remembered that the building had a power generator in case of emergencies. The personnel computers, the magnetic doors and the elevators were maintained by it...

I started to sweat, and knocked on the metal door.

-Hey people, was there a power failure or something?

Nobody answered. for other 30 minutes i retried the same question.

- HEY! security! is there anyone out there? HELLO?

My cellphone slipped from my hands and fell to the floor. When i tried to reach it, i felt something else on the floor. Something liquid. I couldn't see it, but i got my stained hand close to my face and smelled it. Blood.

- Blood... what the... what the heck is this? SOMEONE! ANYONE!

This time, i did hear something. A grabbing. The sound of a hand that grips something was below me. And getting closer. Could someone be climbing the elevator's cable to rescue me? maybe a fireman or one of the security guards? In just a second the sound got extremely close and i felt something that was hitting the elevator hatch.

- Hey, who's there? are you going to help? you need me to open the hatch?

I was about to do so, but suddenly my hand stopped. Which kind of firefighter or security guard doesn't answer? The first thing that someone does in a moment like that is advice the rescued one, try to talk to see if they're alright... or at least say "don't worry, i'm coming". Which kind of security doesn't say a word?

That wasn't someone that was going to help... I wasn't even sure that was someone... I started to hear growls and groans... it sounded more like somtehing.

I'm a calm person. If a customer gets angry, i still calmly say what i have to say. If someone tries to mug me, even if they take out a weapon, i will say that i don't want any trouble and solve things peacefully. But when i get trapped in the elevator, in the darkness, and feel something closing in to me... well, i wasn't THAT calm.

Well, i freaked out. i started screaming, crying and all that. For around another 10 minutes the knocking on the hatch continued. the hatch started to bend. In any moment, it would break and let that thing in the elevator. I slipped on the blood of the floor and fell to the ground, and there i stayed. I covered my eyes with my hands and muttered two last words:

- Please... Someone...

- Do not be afraid.

I opened my eyes, and i could see. There was a light. A blue light that came from the elevator mirror. I got up and looked at myself in it. But it wasn't me who looked back.

-W..who? what are...

- The time is almost up. Do not give in to fear. Control yourself. Stand your ground...

The light turned off and the darkness returned. The knocking continued, and the hatch started to creak. But i didn't cry anymore.

Whoever that voice was, he was right. Keep calm, look for options. If you don't have options, wait until you have one. That's what i always said or thought. Calm is useless if it doesn't work under pressure. I had to control myself. I stood up, and prepared myself.

The hatch opened wide, and i saw two bright dots in the dark. Something was looking at me.

I felt it preparing to jump. I felt it jumping down. I felt it going through the hatch. I felt it opening a claw...

Then, light.

I opened my eyes. The elevator was moving. The lights were back on. The monster had dissappeared. In the now clean floor, my Cellphone was turned on, still showing 12:00. But my body was still blood-stained. Only one if the hatch screws was still in place, keeping it from falling down. The metal door of the elevator opened. The security guard in from of the elevator exit saw me. He said something, but i couldn't hear it. i fell on my knees, then hit the floor. My eyes were closing...

I opened them, and i looked around. I was still in an elevator, but the weirdest one i had ever seen.

There was a spacious room on it, with a blue light that bathed all of the victorian furniture. There was a grand cage behind it, with a golden clock that moved at an amazing speed. I was sitting on a hard wood chair, beautifully adorned and, should i say, quite comfortable. Over the blue carpet, there was a round table with a big mantle covering it. And in front of the table, two persons were looking at me: an old man, with a pointy nose, sitting on a great couch, and a blond girl standing nearby.

- Welcome to the Velvet room, my dear guest.

- End of Chapter I -