Chapter 7 Whites Out
"Fine I'll start, what are we going to do with these ghost kids?" Zabuza asked. He hoped they weren't going to use or revive them. Part of the reason they agreed to be here was because they didn't stoop as low and wanted to stop the Order of the Cage.
"Help them pass to the afterlife. Get the counseling and closure they need to move on in peace." Nikki said. She then asked "Have you felt any lingering effects from the Cain parasite?"
"Nope, I'm as bright eyed and bushy tailed as always." Zabuza said. He wouldn't even know what she meant, but with limited questions the imagination can't help but grow in absurdity. "Can you even defend yourself?" Zabuza leaned closer to the back seat to ask. She'd make noises with her jewelry, be spotted instantly, and the smell of cake usually drew people. He was aggravated at her for seeming like a pest and hindrance. The vanity that made her and easy target, the smell that made him hungry for food.
"Yeah." Nikki simply said. Haku tried breaking the tension once again with his final question. "What kind of weapons are at the base for us?" He asked. Zabuza usually wasn't this openly suspicious, he was more of a watcher, even when he mostly kept to himself he was scheming to acquire what he wanted. Why did it seem like the longer they had to work with someone the quicker they began to irritate Zabuza? Haku included.
"Several kinds. People sell from dimensions almost all over. I'm supposed to take you to our armory after we leave." At least that thought seemed to settle Zabuza, and even if he's wrong to be settled down, he and Haku outclassed Nikki and Gaia completely.
When Rose returned they were on their way to the school greenhouse to continue. She was able to gain warrants to search before picking up Haku, Zabuza and Nikki. With Haku using his three questions, Zabuza using two and Nikki using one they each had much to consider. Haku thought about what to ask Gaia. Zabuza thought about testing a new weapon against the new team mates, seeing how much he'd have to save them and how he'd cut these little girls down to size. Nikki thought about which questions were too important to let time itself tell. Maybe Gaia would help them.
The sawmill converted greenhouse was quite unusual. Hidden by plum trees, and using indoor lighting to sustain the plants, due to what was a permanent overcast in Dwindlings. The building was closest to the Sebastian River, which once powered the mighty mill. Upon entering everyone grabbed sunglasses held in a container on the other side of the door, Nikki placing her other glasses on her head. The walls were used to reflect, and in the company's stinging eyes overcompensate for the lack of natural light. Everything was white and brutal to naked eyes, one's hearing was also assaulted but the loud humming of a generator. Rose almost didn't hear the call she got from Otto. The town's only apartment building showed security tapes from two nights ago of three children in an abandoned hallway, not the same as the ones from the church but uniformed specters all the same.
When the call was over and everyone's eyes adjusted to look around, they found a red line almost as like a trail of paint leading to a spot and seeming to drip into a hidden compartment. Rose broke out in a cold sweat and was hyperventilating, she ran outside and left the others. When Haku and Nikki went to check on her she assured them that she just needed some air and to go on without her. When the door was closed the children from the tape and church circled her, a long butcher knife floated in front of Rose's face and before she could cry out her eyes turned completely white and she gripped the knife with such an intensity her knuckles matched. The generator was so loud that nobody heard her drive off.