Chapter 10.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act III,

Part I

ME: Just a quick note here; from now on each time I get the tenth mark of this story, such as 10, 20, 30, etc. I'm going to give special shout-out to all my reader(s) who have taken a few moments out of their time to read this story and/or review it!

On Fanfiction. net;

To :icon14AmyChan:, your reviews always leave me so filled with giddiness at your curiosity and your humor; you always find some way to crack me up!

On Deviantart. com;

To :iconDoodleBotBop:, your comments always mean so much to me! You give me so much information on Cassie that it gives me so much to work with and I greatly appreciate that! I truly hope I'm doing this AU story behind your amazing pictures justice!

To :iconTheSilverTopHat:, Your reviews mean a whole ton to me as well; I'm still a little fuzzy on some facts on the Archipelago and the people and magic that surround it and I'm so happy you're there to give me a hand when I need it!

To :iconJoy-horses:, You have a way of being honest and funny at the same time! I truly do hope you keep commenting on Tidal wave!

Okay, that's all my main readers for readers and reviewers for now! I truly hope I'll have more in the future!

Anyways, on with the story!

"Boys and girls of every age,
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see
This our town of Halloween . . .

This is Halloween, this is Halloween . . .
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene,
Trick or treat 'till the neighbors gonna die of fright!

It's our town, everybody scream!
In this town of Halloween . . ."

"This is Halloween" – Marilyn Manson

~X~

The Master was growing impatient.

He could smell his game coming.

His bait was close. Just a few steps within reach.

Just a few steps within reach . . . And with those Sharks.

Those lowly half-breeds. He can practically smell that filthy human scent hanging among them.

They were still near his game. They were still mocking him. Taking what was rightfully his. And strutting that right in front of him.

What right did they have to his game?

She was his.

He tracked her down, he marked her, she was his!

HIS!

She was his from the beginning! They had no right to move in on his prize!

For three sun rises and three sun sets he waited.

The Master could not wait any longer.

A low growl sounded from beside him. He looked down and smiled.

He wasn't only one growing impatient.

"Yes . . ." He growled back to his second-in-command. "You are getting hungry as well . . ."

Another growl was his response.

The Master grinned. ". . . Well then, my dear comrade, it's time for us to finally take what belongs to us."

Another growl, more happier and more guttural than before, sounded from his second-in-command this time. Followed by a feral grin that matched his own.

It was time.

Time to finish what he had started. For good.

"Let the hunt begin."

~X~

Cassie almost stumbled in place from what she had just heard. "So, you're saying that something's been killing innocent people?"

Riley nodded. "Or just innocent girls. According to what –" He snorted a little, much to their chagrin. "– According to what Les and what Mother Logai said."

Cassie wrung her hands. "And I'm the only one that's gotten away? Alive?"

"So it seems." Tuff nodded sadly. "That's one of the reasons why Dr. Marlin wanted us to bring you to him. He says that you may be the key to putting an end to these murders."

"Oh . . . So it really does depend on me, doesn't it?" Cassie mumbled. She stopped from where she had been pacing around the campfire, looking down at the ground. Tuff and Riley watched her, their expressions easily portraying their guilt. She didn't need to look behind her to see her tail growing a deep blue river, as dark and as heavy as the sudden weight that came over her shoulders.

Everyone knew the phrase of suddenly baring the weight of the world on their shoulders. In this case, it was more like the weight of Great Maple Town; that fact did nothing to ease the burden.

The three had managed to make it back to camp before the sun set. Which was rather stupendous considering they ended up spending a great deal of time at Mother Logai's store then intended and the amount of shock they gained after the said Jakkai pointed out what time it was. Giving a hasty good-bye with a promise to drop by again for obvious reasons, Cassie swore that Tuff and Riley were trying to rip her arms out of her sockets as they pulled her out of the town and into the forest.

There they began a mad dash to reach the end of it, this time not allowing for any moment of rest. Cassie's side had started to burn up with the forced exertions and the medicine they had given her earlier beginning to wear off, making it hard for her to breathe again; Tuff saw this and immediately pedaled back and scooped her up in his arms, much to her embarrassment and protest, and rushing back to join his brother. She felt her side aching again from the memory of her having to hold on to the Shark-man tightly as she was jostled and shaken in his arms with each step Tuff took.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of hard sprinting that would've made the greatest of athletes envious, they finally caught sight of their camp. Nearing the fire-pit, Tuff made sure to set Cassie down as gently as he could on the log closest to him before both he and Riley collapsed onto the ground, totally exhausted. Riley dryly joked about his heart popping somewhere in their race as he took in massive gulps of air into his throat.

Cassie, wanting to help, quickly gave them some water that they had stored on their sub, along with a little for herself to make the medicine into tea with as per were the instructions that were explained to her earlier by Tuff. As they gulped down the water and Cassie started the fire and put the kettle on, she placed her hands squarely on her hips and demanded that the two men explain themselves and what in the Maker's name was going on.

Despite being a little out of breath, they both of them only shared a look with each other and with the girl who was giving them the most affirmative glare they had ever seen from her, before reluctantly agreeing. Although now, she was sure that she was probably better left off in the dark.

All of it was too much to take in; a string of mysterious, gruesome killings, a monster that no one can identify and her being the only breakthrough they had to solving it?

This whole situation sounded exactly like a situation out of one of her old mystery murder novels.

Only problem, this wasn't a book. In a book, whenever you got frustrated with the progression of a story, you could just skip to the end and use the knowledge you gained from the earlier pages to piece the puzzle together.

No, this wasn't a book. Because regardless of now knowing the conflict of the story, Cassie's memory was emptier than a lonely bookshelf.

She wished now more than ever that Vince was here.

Tuff and Riley watched her wrap her arms around herself as she grew quiet. They didn't have to be witch doctors to know the feelings and thoughts were running through her head. They didn't really agree with the idea of a young woman like Cassie suddenly being tossed right into the middle of a situation that she should have no hand in to begin with, but neither one had a say in the matter.

She had been attacked without any provocation, gravely injured before she had gotten away by some sort of miracle, and was drifted into their hands while hanging dangerously on the brink of death by some crazy twist of fate.

Either someone up there was giving them a chance to do some good or someone down there just wanted to give them another opportunity to get screwed over.

It would not be the first time that's happened.

Either way, they were all here now, with the girl who's face did not look like she had anything to give them and the two brothers who were completely clueless as to what to do if they did get an answer. And there was nothing that could be done about it.

Even more so when Cassie finally looked back towards them, her face as grim as their thoughts. "So, me remembering who attacked me is the only way to stop all this?"

Inwardly wincing at her saddened tone, Riley nodded again. "Yep. Hate to say it, but yep."

Cassie's ears dropped. She looked to ground again and brought her hands up to her head. "I can't . . . I'm not sure I remember . . ." She shut her eyes. The world disappeared as she focused hard on her memory.

She could feel them shuffling like a deck of cards, falling blissfully into place.

Swimming with Vince –

Coming over to Blue Island –

Swimming up to the surface –

She was just about to reach the middle of the deck. A sudden heavily shrouded hand then clasped over it, causing the flimsy cards still falling from above to clatter on-top of it and fall off into the unknown.

Howling –

Fear –

Teeth snapping –

Having to get away –

Pain –

Her head began to ring with agony again, making her temple swell much to her frustration. She felt her eyes tighten at the feel of it and opened them, burning holes into the grass at her feet. Once again, she had nothing. How could she be so clueless? Better yet, how useless?

She felt small tears burning in her eyes when without warning, she let out a shout of frustration. "Why can't I REMEMBER anything?!" Tuff and Riley jumped at the volume of her shout. Not caring the act was childish and most likely more hazardous to her growing migraine; Cassie started to slam the heels of her hands into her head hard, all the while biting off, "Stupid, stupid useless fish-girl! Why can't you just –"

Riley sprung to his feet and rushed over to her, grabbing her wrists and stopping her before she could ram a hand into her rapidly aching temple. "Hey! HEY! Don't do that! You're banged up enough as it is, so don't make it worse!"

Cassie blinked up at him, somewhat confused as to why he was stopping her from punishing herself. Riley somehow sensed her unspoken question and caught sight of the small tears threatening to leak from her angrily sparking eyes because then he gave a light sigh. "Look, don't go beating yourself up over this. You're not useless and you're definitely not stupid." He grinned at her, hoping to lighten her spirits a little. "I mean, after all, you did get away from the thing in the first place, right? If you can do that, then you gotta have brains stored in that pretty little head of yours."

Cassie gave another blink before saying in a sharp tone. "I only got away because I was lucky!" She yanked her wrists back, making Riley blink this time at her actions, before tightly tucking them across her chest. "And I don't even know how because that thing apparently scared me enough to make me suppress my memory! So not only have I lost my friend's whereabouts in the process, I lost a crucial piece of memory that could actually be used for good but each time I'm this close to grabbing it," She inched her fingers together in emphasis to her point. "It's taken away again and I'm left with nothing but a headache and a reminder of that on my side!"

Both Riley and Tuff remained silent as they looked at the hand pointing to her covered yet injured side. She looked down at her feet for probably the third time that night, allowing a stray tear to make its way down her the curve of her cheek and adding bitterly, "To top it all off, you both might end up getting hurt or worse because you were ordered to protect me and I can't do anything at all to help; how do you call that not being useless?"

Tuff stood up and looked at her before saying simply. "Because you can't help what you can't help."

Cassie looked up at him, confused. She watched as he came over to the both of them, saying, "You can't just expect things to turn out exactly as you want them to; there are things that are just beyond our control. Like you end up attacked when you never wish for harm or you end up losing parts of your memory that you didn't think you'd lose . . . Or being blamed for something that wasn't even your fault to begin with."

Cassie looked up right into the faces of the two Half-Sharks in front of her. Riley was smiling gently down at her and Tuff was doing his best to show matching support in his voice as he continued, "Nothing ever comes as expected. It's one of the simple rules of life. You can't change that. But what you can do is not go and blame yourself for what can't be helped. You simply just find a way to fix it or cope with it and hope for the best."

Cassie simply looked at the both of them in silence. She was speechless at his words. The both of them knew this said rule for a fact and they were content with it. She was surprised to say the least.

She usually prided herself on how to see people as they were. She thought that she had them figured out pretty quickly back when they met. How they often go about their day, how they react to each other and trouble while relying heavily on the natural "flight or fight" instinct. That was proven when Tuff and Riley reacted accordingly around her when she threatened them for answers earlier on and when they were trying to stall for time to escape when Les confronted them back in the Great Maple's Marketplace.

So how did she miss the fact that trouble always found the both of them yet they just brush it off and wake up with the next day? She hadn't an idea whatsoever.

. . . Maybe it wasn't something she could help. Just like Tuff said, right? . . . Right.

Riley watched another tear sneak out of her eye and only shook his head good-naturedly before kneeling down and ripping off one of the patches of the knees of his pants. "Good point, brother." He said with a smile. "No sense kicking ourselves over from things that Ol' mother fate throws our way." Cassie started a little when Riley then brought the patch up to her face, wiping the tear away before gently sliding it over to her other cheek. "Just grin and bear it. It's easier just to accept things as they are and get on with it."

"Riley," Cassie begun, bringing her hands up to his wrist to stop him. "You don't need to, I mean, your –"

Riley shook his head. "Ah, forget it, Cassie. I'll just ask Mother Logai to fix it up for me next time we go see her." He then winked at her with another flirty grin. "Besides, I'd do anything to stop you from crying. You don't know it, but you actually look a lot better when you're smiling."

Cassie said nothing, only allowing him to finish his work with a light blue dusting on her cheeks.

She couldn't help but feel flattered in spite of the situation. She, obviously, was not one of those giggly, bubbling types of girls that got all embarrassed the instant an attractive yet strange guy gave her a soothing compliment. Maker knew that to be true. But Tuff and Riley weren't strangers. She knew the two Sharkmen, one of which smiling in satisfaction with his work and the other trying hard not to once again roll his eyes at his twin's flirtations, not too much but within a comfortable degree. They barely knew anything about her yet they were going out of their way to cheer her up when they could've just told her to get over it and stop crying or left her alone entirely.

Not that Vince ever said anything like that to her; he wouldn't even be with her if that were the case, but still, the motion was well-appreciated.

Cassie felt her fingertips graze Riley's hand as he finished; a small gesture to show that she was grateful for him wiping her tears way which Riley took with another grin. "Riley . . . Tuff . . . I –"

Tuff felt something vibrate thunderously on the very back of his brain. He felt his hair literally stand on end as a very, very cold chill run down the curve of his spine to the tips of his toes, making everything in him twist tighter than a rusted coil. Danger . . . Something deadly was coming . . . Run, get away, run . . . !

Cassie saw Tuff straighten out and felt her heart drop at the sudden panicked look in his eyes. "Tuff, what is it? What's wrong?" Cassie asked, she and Riley both looking at him.

Tuff's breath caught in his throat, making him hard to answer and his voice choke a little at the oppressive chill burning through him. "W-we are not alone."

Anything else that Cassie would've asked or Tuff would've said was shushed by the sound of a growl.

Riley, Cassie and Tuff whirled their heads towards the sound and each froze at what they saw.

A large, bushy-furred, mean-looking dog slowly stalked out of the forest, each twig under its paws snapping effortlessly as though they were bones it seemed eager to break. Without a doubt their bones. It was about triple the size of Tuff and Riley and then some, with messy, blotchy goldenrod and gray fur and a collection of black spots dotting its shoulders and going down the back, it's bowed legs and paws and tail were the same color black, each digit on them ending with white, thick and lethal claws. Under a shrub of scraggly, ratty blackish brown hair, they could see the near pure white color of its eyes, glaring hungrily at the three of them as its large tongue curled out of its mouth and around its great, big sharp yellow teeth.

Everything about this beast was pure muscle and power. And everything else that made its aura was fueled by nothing but absolute and utter hunger.

Tuff and Riley instantly got in front of Cassie, the both of them stiff-backed with fists clenched and shoulders squared. They both of them were thinking the same thing; they had promised Dr. Marin that they'd keep her safe and they aimed to keep it.

After all, like their mother always said, when a Quillotian promises something, they keep it.

Cassie felt her ears drop in annoyance at that but the rising ache in her side put aside any complaint that she had on the matter. She did know how to fight, but considering everything else there wasn't much point to it if you had a number of stitches sewn in you. Quietly frustrated with this thought, she simply pressed a hand to elbow of the brother closest to her and gripped her dainty hand around the joint, hoping to get some solid ground to stop her own chill of fear from rising quickly within her.

It was a good thing too, because when the creature got close enough; close enough for them to smell its raunchy and vulgar scent something fierce and catch enough hints from its hard to see human-like features to see it to be a were-dog, it growled out in a nearly impossible sentient tone that sent a great shiver into their bones, ". . . You Half-Sharks . . . Are interfering . . . With The Master's hunt . . ."

Tuff and Riley glanced at each other. The Master? The hunt? What was this thing talking about?

Cassie, from behind them, drew one of her ears up at those words. ""Master" . . . "Hunt" . . .?"

Tuff turned his eyes back to the Were-Dog, watching warily as it started to edge toward them, drool dripping from its mouth. He tried his best not to let the fear show in his voice as he said, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. If our being here is a problem then we'll go."

The creature grinned near manically at that answer. "Yes, you will go . . . But you will leave The Master's prize to me . . ."

Riley bared his own fangs towards the Were-Dog, his heavily accented voice on the edge of a growl. "What are you talking about, flea-bag? What prize?"

The Were-Dog lifted a paw and pointed simply to Cassie from where she peeked out from behind Tuff. ". . . The fish girl . . . She belongs to The Master . . ."

"Fat chance!" Cassie snapped abruptly, taking a step out from behind Tuff and jutting out a hip in defiance. "I am nobody's prize!" Tuff and Riley, despite being as nervous as she secretly was, had to admire the small blonde's gusto.

"STUPID GIRL!" The Were-Dog barked. "There's no point to fighting it! You are The Master's game! He has claimed you for himself and there is nothing you can do about it!"

"Oh, we'll just see about that!" Riley rumbled boldly, his hands going to the hilt of the massive sword that he had strapped to his back earlier that morning and pulling it out, letting it sing as he braced its weight easily in his two hands. Tuff followed his lead, lowering his hands to the belt on his waist and gripping the identical hilts on each side before sliding them out smoothly from their sheaths and crossing them in front of him with a near silent clang.

Cassie didn't ask Tuff for her knife. He was still carrying it in the satchel that hung at his waist and she berated herself for not asking for it sooner. She didn't want to draw attention to herself while she took two small steps backwards towards the fire and slowly reached down for the kettle . . .

"Foolish half-breeds!" The Were-Dog went into a fit of something that sounded like a sick remix of a cough and a laugh. "You have no right to defy The Master! This is his domain and you have no cause to be here!" The hacking swiftly stopped, a little too quickly for Tuff and Riley's liking. "If you dare to take what The Master has claimed as his own, you both shall pay the price . . ."

"Oh, like we haven't heard that before." Tuff rolled his eyes at his dry joke as Riley huffed in agreement beside him.

". . . Very well, half-breeds . . ." The Were-Dog snarled, tapping its claws against the ground, licking its chops one last time. ". . . Then you both shall die LIKE DOGS!" Without warning, it sprung towards them, claws raised and teeth wide open thirsty for blood.

Tuff, Riley and Cassie immediately jumped out of the way, leaving it for nothing to meet but the fire. The Were-dog's paws landed straight into the center of it, making it unleash a great howl of pain and nearly topple back as it yanked them back out. When it brought them to its face, it went wide-eyed at the amount of third-degree burns and singed fur on them. Anger quickly quelled its shock and it snapped its head towards the three of them, a fierce growl climbing out its throat. It opted to stand upright on its bowed legs, choosing to spare its hands anymore pain then they already endured, and twisted itself around before rushing towards them.

Tuff reacted first; bringing both his swords up in a criss-cross and meeting with bottom of its arms full-on when it swung down hard towards his head. He forgot to account for the amount of strength it was going to put into its swing however, because he nearly bent backwards at the sudden force that jarred through his wrists and into his arms. Grunting, he did his best to keep his arms up and put everything in his upper body to push the Were-Dog arms back.

Tuff also tried his hardest not to throw up at the blunt force of odor coming from its underarms. Seriously, have dogs never heard of personal hygiene?

He didn't have time to ponder on that or otherwise kick the beast away from him, because Riley then came over and tackled the Were-Dog right in the side of its ribcage and sent both him and it to the ground. The Were-Dog landed flat on its stomach, giving Riley a chance to loop its arms under its shoulders and bring his hands behind its neck in a tight and effective choke-hold. He relying wholly on his natural Shark-man strength to subdue this overgrown poodle and hoped this would be enough to end it.

While this went on, he both stuck his tongue out and made a gagging sound at the utter stink of this thing's hair under his chin. His thoughts were nearly the same as his brother's. When was the last time it took a bath?

The Were-Dog grunted and snarled underneath Riley, wildly snapping its teeth and whipping its tail blinding behind them in a mad attempt to get him off. When that didn't work, it quickly pushed itself up despite the pain that flared through its paws and flipped itself over; landing fully on Riley and earning a loud and surprised "Yolp!" before his arms loosened almost instantly.

Cassie exclaimed Riley's name in fright on instinct, drawing the Were-Dog's attention. Before either one of the twins could stop it, it flipped back onto its feet and charged towards her. "You're who I want! YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" It bellowed madly.

"I don't think so!" Is all Cassie said before she snapped her arm out and hit the beast square in the jaw with the near-steaming hot kettle with all the energy she had on her good side, resounding a large crack from the metalwork and the bones of the monster's chin. It also yelped at the sting of the hot metal branding on her thick-furred skin.

Before the Were-Dog could recover, she swung hard again, again and again, creating a steady rhythm of cracks and crunches while bashing the heck out of the kettle. Huge droplets of tea spurted out of the currently-being destroyed kettle and hit a few spots on Cassie's hands and the creature's face, making them wince from the scalding hot water. Ignoring the burning liquid, she gave another swing that was harder than the last . . . Only to have the Were-dog grab her wrist, stopping it in mid-swing before it could do anymore damage.

The Were-Dog clutched her wrist so tightly that Cassie cried out and unwittingly let go of the kettle, making it drop to the ground with a thud. She tried to bite back tears as the Were-Dog then swung her up like a piece of string, causing her bad side to pull as her body unwillingly twisted and threw her down hard to the ground. The back of her head cracked painfully against the ground's hard surface, grunting at the blooms of pain that traveled from the crown of her head to her shoulders and the grueling feeling of wrongly-pulled muscles in her thin arm.

"You are going to regret that, you little fish!" The Were-Dog growled before then adding insult to injury by stomping down hard on her side. Cassie heard herself scream shrilly at the mind-shattering pain that thundered in her. She pounded on the beast's leg as hard as she could to get it off her, but it only dug deeper into her side, making spots start to dance in her eyes. "Once I take you to The Master, he will make suffer!"

"GET OFF OF HER!" Tuff shouted as he ran towards them with swords at the ready. The Were-Dog only growled as swiped out a thick arm, catching Tuff in the chest and sending him flying right into a recovering Riley, making them both crash to the ground.

"Tuff! Riley! AGGH!" Cassie shrieked again when the Were-Dog once again stamped its foot. She could feel her vision go dark again. If she didn't do something now, she was done for –

She felt something blink in her head. Something familiar. She almost smiled. DUH!

The Were-Dog glared back down at her with a toothy grin that rivaled Riley's in sardonic glee. "You are finished, weakling!"

Cassie only needed a second to concentrate. She shut her eyes tightly and thought hard on all the jumbled nerves that were collected in the base of her tail. Through the bundles of pain and numbness that threatened to follow, pure raw energy started to come alive. It shot straight up through her back and piled up onto the corona of her eyes, reminding Cassie of that sweetly familiar tingle. The same feeling continued to build and build and build in her tail, growing a great ball that would've rivaled a rock boulder until she could barely control it any longer.

She was sure her eyes were glowing near white and sparking currents when she snapped open her eyes and saw the Were-Dog's body being lit up from above her. Paying no mind of its confusion, she grabbed the ankle still on her and uttered lowly, "Let's just see about that."

With those words, she let go of the ball.

SKRZAKKK!

"OWOOOOOHHHHH!"

The Were-Dog's body lit up like a malfunctioning firework; an explosion of crazed energy and light that would've made Cassie cover her eyes if her own weren't ablaze. Her tail was blank but was instead filled with a bright, neon yellow white shine that would've put the color of the purest of light magic to shame.

Cassie had no idea if Tuff and Riley were watching but she didn't let that make her let up at all in her blast. Her mind was in a total adrenaline-powered haze, the whole world shut out save for the river of power erupting out of her. Nothing else mattered to her then. All she wanted was to get. This. Stupid. Dog. OFF!

A small thought tickled in the back of her mind, though. One thing that would've made her laugh for sure if the scenario were any different. Vince would sure have been proud if he were here.

The haze started to evaporate all too soon. Her sight was definitely beginning to grow black now as the tingle shrunk back down from her eyes and down her spinal column. The ball was starting to deflate and the powerfully shocking energy was dying down into nothing fast. The pressure from the Were-Dog's foot had let up on her grieving side but with the liquid fire slowly engulfing her, she barely registered the difference of it being there or not anymore.

From what she didn't see she registered by sounds and touch. She felt herself falling back and hitting something strong and warm and thick. She noted the smell of books, fish and tea. Tuff. Tuff must've caught her as she fell. But where was Riley?

She heard the Were-Dog roar through the fogginess clouding her ears, in what could only be described as near insanity. "YOU LITTLE SHRIMP! YOU WENCH! I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!"

Riley finally made himself known, shouting ferociously, "IN YOUR DREAMS, UGLY!"

Cassie would've shuddered if she could. His voice sounded so inhuman now. He sounded as guttural and as beastly as Tuff had back in town if not more. He even sounded close to Vince whenever he snapped.

Just like that one time . . .

Cassie heard four things echo which sounded more like booms that matched the pace of her own heart as it pumped in her ears.

"RRRROOOAAAAGGGHH–"

SHUNCK!

WHUMP!

"CASSIE!"

At that last sound, the sound of Tuff crying her name above her, Cassie dropped into the dark.

~X~

Dr. Marlin practically kicked down the door to his own small hospital in his hurry to get inside. There was no time to waste. If he was right, he had to hurry. Arthritis and aches be damned.

Once he was clear of the door, he looked around in such a way that would've given one whiplash. Where the hell did he put that bookcase of his? Granted, it was a little hard to see because of the darkened shadows that coated his surroundings. Luckily, since he was a Were-Beast, unexplained creatures that had always learned how to evolve to adjust to their environment, he could easily make out every detail of his office with his old, yet lively dark eyes. If he could just find it –

He almost slapped himself in the head when he finally caught sight of it, still tucked underneath his medicine cabinet. Of course it was there. Cripes, he had to be getting old.

He rushed over to it, falling down to his knees and ignoring the small ache of protest the joints sent at the force of them being rattled around so much. He set his cane down, reached out and started pulling out books one by one, skimming over the cover and throwing them to the ground when they didn't bare the one he wanted. This continued on for two minutes, much to Dr. Marlin's great annoyance and impatience, until he found himself holding a thick, blue journal with only a black label decorating its surface.

He didn't any light to read the title, "Diagnoses and Autopsies".

Finally, thank Maker, he found it! He never thought he would be happy to see it, seeing that he both revered and despised this journal, but still that didn't mean he wasn't relieved that he found it all the same.

Without any further hesitation, he opened it and begun flipping through the pages rapidly until he came to the one of his desire.

"Tuesday, the 7th; Autopsy"

He could care less about how damaging reading in the dark was for his eyes; he had to make sure his theory was correct. He carefully dissected each word written in his almost legible scrawl carefully through his head. He read on in silence for a few precious moments of time before coming to what he almost hoped he wouldn't see.

Once read, all he could do was say, "Oh, Dear mother of the Maker . . ."

ME: WHAT? What is it Doc, WHAT DID YOU FIND?!

Dr. Marlin: (Crosses his arms stubbornly) You're just going to have to be patient and wait, young lady!

ME: Oh, fine! 'Till next time folks!