VICTIM ZERO
The sounds of children screaming out in joy, filled the walls of Ricky Pistachio's arcade and pizzeria; their jubilant cries echoing throughout the establishment as they had the time of their lives.
All across the building, beeps and chirps emanated from the many arcade machines that littered the premises, their flashing lights attracting all kinds of people to try and win their spoils - letting out loud victorious fanfares and dispensing large amounts of tickets whenever someone won it big.
Jace navigated the crowded aisles, a piping hot pizza held firmly in his grip as he made his way to a row of tables in the back that was situated next to an indoor play gym. As he passed by people chucking round orbs down skeeball tracks, and customers going to and from the salad bar, his outfit, a light green t-shirt with a cartoon squirrel and a pair of khakis, helped to discern him as an employee of the restaurant, making it easier to go to and fro between locations.
He walked up to a table housing a family of six, comprised of two parents, a teenager, and three rambunctious kids that were driving their mom and dad just about crazy. Upon approaching, all three kids snapped to attention when they saw him walk up with the pizza, with the parents giving an audible sigh of relief for this reprieve.
"Okay." Jace began as he set down the pizza on the family table. "I have one pepperoni pizza with extra pepperoni slices; your Hawaiian should be along shortly as well. Is there anything else I can get you?"
"Yes, do you have any of those parmesan and pepper packets for us to use?" Asked the mom, who was dressed in a beautiful polka dot blouse.
Jace clasped his hands together in affirmation, giving a curt nod of his head. "I'll see to it that you get some." He replied helpfully.
The mother gave her thanks as Jace took his leave from the family's table.
On his return to the kitchen, Jace stopped at a couple of empty tables on his way, collecting any dirty pizza trays, and any disposable cups, plates, and utensils that he came upon. He piled the articles of trash haphazardly atop the tray, resulting in it becoming a rickety Pyramid that he had to focus on keeping upright.
Approaching a set of trash cans set just before the entrance to the kitchen, Jace took the tray and unceremoniously dumped all the refuse on top into the bin, not missing a single piece.
After getting rid of all the garbage, Jace turned away from the trash can and walked up to a big, black windowed door that led to the kitchen. Pushing on the door ever so slightly, it swung open, allowing him to pass through.
Walking in, he was immediately hit with a blast of delicious scents from all the food being prepped. Such as the pleasant aromas of pizzas in the oven, cheese melty, and pepperoni greasy to no end. Or the chicken and other meats that were basted in various sauces and spices to give it a tasty tang.
The atmosphere around him quickly changed as he made his way into the kitchen. From the cheery, fun-filled environment of the ground floor, to a strict, cut-throat work zone.
Here, everyone's main focus was preparing the food so that it was fit for customer consumption. Whether that was operating the ovens or deep fryers at searing several hundred-degree heats. Assembling all the pizzas, seasoning the chicken wings, making sure the salad bar was fully stocked, and everything in between. Or just simply ensuring that the workplace was clean and up to code. Everybody here all played a role in keeping the kitchen at smooth operation.
Many of his co-workers could be found flittering about the aisles, moving from place to place as they worked to complete various tasks. On the several metal counters in the area, he watched as men and women in fresh, clean aprons chopped up vegetables, kneaded dough, and cooked up vats of sauce, all of which came from the large refrigerator in the back.
Large shelves and racks held all kinds of tools that found frequent use in the establishment, such as pots and pans, cheese graders, and cutting knives, pin rollers, and pizza slicers.
Over in the back, Jace observed the dishwasher that they used to clean the pizza trays, a big, hulking industrial-grade machine with multiple forward facing racks for easy loading. Walking over to the washer, Jace deposited the trays so that they could be washed later.
With that taken care of, he turned to the sink that was situated right next to the dishwasher. Turning on the faucet, he let the water run out the tap so that he could wash his hands after handling all that trash. Pushing down on the nozzle to the supplied bottle of soap, Jace squirted the stuff onto his palm, not stopping until he had a quarter-sized amount in his hands.
Getting his hands wet, he began to lather up with the soap, making sure to thoroughly scrub everywhere he could and ensure that no nasty bacteria still clung to his skin.
Rinsing off his hands, he turned off the water and reached for a paper towel. Ripping it off of the roll and using it to soak up all the excess water.
After that, Jace wandered over to where the pizzas were made to check on the family's Hawaiian. A whole section of the kitchen wall was devoted to a conveyer belt that fed into a large oven that blasted at over six-hundred degrees.
As Jace came up to the large industrial oven, he could begin to feel the mass amounts of heat it put off. It caressed his skin ever so delicately, giving off a pleasant feeling similar to the sun shining down on a warm summer day.
He spotted another employee hovering around the end of the belt; Whenever a freshly baked pizza came out of the oven, she would be ready to take it off the belt and get it ready for cutting. She was dressed up in the same work attire as he was, the only difference is the black apron she had tied around herself. She must have seen him coming because she turned to face him right as he approached, beads of sweat dripping down her dimply brow from being so close to the hot oven.
"Hey, Jace. If you're here for the pizza it's just about done." She said, beating him to the punch before he had a chance to speak.
"Oh, uh...thanks, Jenny." He replied a bit caught off guard.
"No problem!" She shrugged as she kept her eyes on the conveyor belt, watching as the track slowly crept forward. After a moment, a Hawaiian pizza came rolling out of the oven. Its crust was a crisp golden brown and was topped with rich sweet pineapple, and juicy chunks of ham.
Using a pair of oven mitts that she had secured over her hands, she took grabbed the pizza off the conveyor and transported it to a nearby counter where another worker then proceeded to move it to a clean tray and slice it up into equal pieces.
Giving a quick nod of thanks to Jenny and the unnamed worker, Jace gripped his hands around the pizza and carried it back out the way he came. Walking back out onto the main floor, he made his way back to the family's table with their pizza in hand.
He had to swerve around several kids as he headed for the tables, each of them crowding around various arcade machines, gaining high scores, and winning prizes. In one instance, he had to dodge to the right to avoid a collision with a little boy about seven or eight who was running gleefully down the aisle, a big stupid grin on his face as he held a large bunch of tickets to his chest.
Approaching the family, he came to find that several of the pizza slices were already missing, with the three kids happy chomping away at them. The parents saw come up to the table and quickly clear a spot for the Hawaiian. Jace placed the pizza down, wisps of hot white steam wafting off of the Italian delicacy.
"Thank you so much!" The mother commended him, gratitude in her voice.
"Oh, it's nothing." Jace smiled, waving off her praise. "It's just my job, I help people. But...you are welcome non the less."
The woman smiled back at his words, the sign of another satisfied customer.
"Well, on that note I hope you enjoy your food and I will be right back with your pepper and parmesan."
Jace left the family to eat in peace, their pleased and happy faces still fresh in his mind. One of his favorite parts about working here was the people that he helped on a regular basis; he liked that he was able to make a difference in their lives, even if the difference was simply making sure they got their food on time. Jace liked helping people, it made him feel worthwhile; that he was needed and was put on this earth for a reason.
More recently, however, this job of his had taken on another purpose, and that was serving as a much-needed distraction from all the potentially sinister things going on in his hometown. Everywhere he went, he was greeted with the foreboding presence of a dark conspiracy, the faint lingering traces of a struggle everyone says didn't happen. An evil, bubbling and festering right under everyone's noses as it threatened to swallow up Angle Springs, and no-one being the wiser for it.
But, at least here at Ricky's, Jace was able to get away from it for a while. When he was at Ricky's, he was able to clear and relax his mind, temporarily putting all those distressing thoughts out of his head.
Coming back up on the kitchen doors, he was about to push through before he was stopped by his boss, a tall, somewhat skinny man who walked with an air of authority.
"Jace." He spoke, his voice powerful and commanding. "I need someone to help bring out Ricky, You got this?"
"I'm your man sir!"
"Great! Now what I need you to do is to get the attention of all the kids here, walk around the building a bit and make sure they know that Ricky is going to be coming out." He said, explaining the plan to Jace very clearly even though he had done this several times before. "Then once you have a sizable amount of kids bring them over to the stage where we'll bring him out." His boss gestured to a large wooden platform only a few feet from the front door, a big velvet curtain hanging just beyond it.
"You got this handled?" His boss asked.
Jace nodded.
Once it seemed like everything was taken care of, his boss made a move to leave before being stoped by Jace.
"Hang on sir!" Jace started, reaching his hand toward him.
His boss turned back to face him, an inquisitive look on his face. "Yes? what is it, Jace?"
Jace nodded with his head back in the direction of the family he just left. "I was supposed to get the family at table thirty-two some pepper and parmesan." He stated conflictedly, conveying his prior commitment to his superior.
Jace's boss gave a quick nod of affirmation. "Very well, I'll make sure that they get what they requested. But for now, I need you to go find an audience for Ricky, Got it?" He finished with a stern undertone in his voice directed at Jace.
"Yes sir, I'll get right on it." Jace nodded.
"You do that!" His boss gave him a hearty pat on the back as he walked away.
Once his boss had cleared the vicinity, Jace did as he was told and began drumming up attention. Clapping his hands together loudly, he began to shout out as he raised his voice, making sure that everyone near could hear him. "Alright, kids, if you wanna meet Ricky follow me!" He called out as he weaved between tables and video games, steadily attracting kids big and small.
He wandered the premises of Ricky Pistachio's, constantly calling out to let all the kids he came across know that Ricky was coming out. After a few minutes of doing this, he came to find that he had caught quite a crowd, he had a sizable mob of children following in his wake so they could meet Ricky. Jace saw several innocent and energetic little girls and boys behind him, he saw the three kids from the table he had waited, and he had even gotten the attention of the guests from a large birthday party.
After a couple more rounds throughout the main floor, he began to lead the little parade he had formed towards the stage. Jace cleared any loose chairs away and began helping the kids find a spot to sit on the soft carpet. Once they were all seated, Jace walked up onto the stage so he could see them all at the same time.
Jace put his hands together. "Alright kids, you ready to see Ricky?" A chorus of yesses and cheers rose at his words.
"Ok then, repeat after me. WE WANT RICKY! WE WANT RICKY!" He chanted, urging them to join in.
And join in they did. As Jace chanted those three lines, more and more kids began to follow along; lending their voices to a growing symphony that was filling the ground floor of the establishment and catching the attention of on-lookers.
"WE WANT RICKY! WE WANT RICKY!" WE WANT RICKY!" They cried in unison.
"Ok, that's great. Now, start clapping your hands together, loudly enough that he can hear us!"
At Jace's command, they began to incorporate clapping into their chant, enthusiastically smacking their hands together as they sought to draw Ricky out.
"Did someone call my name!" Came a high-pitched voice from behind the curtain.
A grey furry paw poked free of the red velvet fabric, slowly pushing it aside as an employee in a big squirrel costume stepped onto the stage. A grey mascot with a green t-shirt and cap came out and began waving to all the children, a big cartoon smile and eyes adorning its face.
Once the kids got sight of Ricky, they became ecstatic; cheering and calling out for him while reaching out with their tiny hands.
Ricky rewarded their joy to see him with that same, plastered on smile, greeting them all from atop the stage.
"Well, hello there kiddos! Are you all here just to see me?" The mascot put a furred hand to their chest, feigning a sense of surprise.
All the kids nodded their heads.
Ricky placed his paws above his heart happily. "Really? That's so nice of you, that you all came to visit me!"
Jace watched as the employee in the costume did their best to please the kids, but he knew that they were likely in complete misery. He knew from personal experience that wearing that suit usually resulted in hours of agony.
There was one time when a co-worker of his had to leave on short notice, so he filled in for her. Shortly after donning the squirrel costume, he found that it was incredibly uncomfortable, causing his skin to itch, and his lungs craving for fresh air in that stuffy environment. And on top of that, it could get really hot in there, to the point where he would start to sweat profusely. That all happened back in October, so he hated to imaging just how much worse it would be in the middle of summer.
As Jace watched the display going on in front of him, the squirrel suddenly clasped his hands together hopefully, a gasp emanating from behind his furry face. "Do you... do you want to be friends?" Ricky asked the kids tentatively.
All the children immediately said yes, cheering and clapping at his proposal to be friends.
Ricky squealed like a giddy little girl when they said yes, jumping up and down as he let out his excitement. "You do! Oh, that makes me so happy to hear that!" He clapped his hands together again.
"hey?" The big squirrel bent down closer to the group of kids, his voice taking on a hushed tone. "Do you know what friends do?"
The kids shook their heads.
"They DANCE!" Ricky cried happily, bounding back to full height. "Do you all wanna dance?" He asked them.
All the boys and girls vigorously nodded their heads, big smiles evident on their faces.
"Great!" Ricky exclaimed with joy once more.
Watching as all the kids got excited about the prospect of dancing with Ricky, Jace took his queue to step in. "Ok kids." Jace clapped with his hands as he stepped up to the front of the stage, earning their attention. "It's time to stand up!" Following his command, the children began to get to their feet as they got off the hard ground.
Once they were all up, they stood there patiently as they awaited further instructions from either Jace or Ricky.
"Ok kids, are you all ready to dance with Ricky?" Jace asked the kids, to which they all gave a resounding yes. Jace smiled. "Alright then. To start, bring up your hands like a squirrel" Jace told them, holding his arms up and pretending to eat a nut as he mimed what they should do.
The kids did as he did, following his example. They held up their arms and pretended to be squirrels, with each of them having varying degrees of fun with it; none of them being able to keep a straight face.
Ricky took over the instructions for the next part.
"What you wanna do now!" He said to the kids in his squeaky voice. "Is raise your little butts in the air like a squirrel lifting its tale!" Ricky explained in uncomfortable detail.
Jace was really glad he wasn't demonstrating this one.
Mirroring Ricky, they all held up their rear ends, the expressions on their faces being clear evidence that they were having way too much fun with what was going on. As they stayed put like that for a few seconds, the air took on a calm feeling as the kids held their position while waiting for further instructions. Suddenly, however, a light sound of hissing air pierced the silence. Jace cocked an eyebrow as he tried to figure out what was making the noise, swinging his head in several directions as he tried to decern the source.
When the hissing stopped just as abruptly as it began, Jace didn't know what to think. It was only when he noticed that several of the kids were chuckling and stifling laughs, and a chubby-cheeked kid was blushing at the seems, did he figure out what had happened. One of the children had farted.
"Pee yew!" Exclaimed a little girl with a freckled face and green dress as she waved her hand in front of her nose as she chuckled hysterically. A few others chimed in as well, adding their own comments to the pile and making farting sounds with their mouths; further embarrassing the unfortunate boy who passed gas.
"He farted!"
"Stinky!"
"My uncle farted one time, and the lady next to him passed out from the smell."
"Ok, that's enough!" Jace firmly commanded the unruly kids, intent on quelling their inappropriate behavior and sparing the chubby-cheeked boy from further embarrassment. "Settle down, all of you!"
Shaking off his discomfort with the particular move, and the events that followed. Jace took the reins once more to relay the final dance step. "Last but not least, you want to crouch down and bend forward," Jace spoke softly, showing them what to do. "And then bring out your arms and hold them out, like you're a little squirrel scampering about on the branches of a tree.
As the kids tried to perform the move, several of them could be seen struggling to pull it off. Some of the kids would repeatedly lose balance and tumble to the floor, putting out their hands to catch themselves. Luckily, none of them seemed to be hurt and they would get right back up, not a scrape or bruise on them. Despite these setbacks, they kept on trying to get it right, finding pride and accomplishment in themselves when they managed to pull it off.
"That's great!" Jace applauded them, causing them to beam at their work happily. "What I want you to do now, is take all three moves you just learned and combine them into a dance." He instructed.
As Jace and Ricky watched, the kids began to incorporate all the moves together: they held up their arms as if they were eating nuts, lifted up their imaginary squirrel tails, and scampered around on the branches of a tree.
"That's perfect!" Ricky cheered once they finished. "Now that you have the dance down, we can have our own little party! Do you like that idea?"
As the kids enthusiastically replied to Ricky and his ramblings, their eyes glued to him unwaveringly. Jace decided to take that moment as an opportunity to slip away for a minute. Slowly, Jace ebbed himself away from the group, making his way for the large velvet curtain behind them.
Pulling the fabric aside, Jace pulled open a space big enough for him to fit through and slipped backstage.
The area back here was all messy and cluttered, props and equipment lying haphazardly around the place from previous and upcoming events. Large floodlights cast a bleachy glow down on him, causing his skin to have a pasty appearance when under them.
Heading towards the back corner, he passed by a set of speakers, and a rack of old, dusty costumes. Coming up upon his desired location, he found a high, three-legged stool, and resting on its scratched wooden seat was an old stereo.
The stereo was old and beat up, its boxy body covered in dings and dents. The black paint it was originally coated in had been chipped and worn away in several spots, revealing the dull grey metal underneath, the same going for the many knobs and buttons that had seen frequent use over the years. However, despite its crappy condition and sore appearance, the one good thing about the stereo was that it still worked and functioned properly.
Lifting up the lid of the CD compartment, Jace quickly checked to make sure that there was something in there to play - which there was.
Picking the stereo up and stuffing it under an arm - the handle had come off years ago - he made sure he had a firm grip on it before going back the way he came.
Instead of going straight back toward the stage where Ricky and the kids were, he made a slight adjustment in his course and headed for a table resting against the wall. On the table - among other things - was a green, plastic box. Inside, were bags upon bags stuffed with tickets, all of them neatly folded together and held in place with rubber bands to maximize space. The tickets had been put away specifically with situations like this in mind, as a reward for the kids that partook in their events.
Snatching a couple of bags out of the box, Jace made his way back out onto the stage and was greeted by Ricky's endlessly smiling face.
"See! There he is!" Ricky declared to the children once Jace had fully stepped back out onto the stage. "I told you he'd come back!"
Jace nodded. "Yeah, I went to get these!" He said, holding up the stereo and tickets for the kids to see.
"What's that?" Asked a small boy in the crowd, his eyes and voice full of wonder.
"This!" Jace began. "Is called a stereo, and a very old one at that! If I had to wager, I'd say that it's from the nineties?" Jace mused aloud.
"What does it do?" The small boy asked again.
"Well, just like the radio in your parent's car, this old thing plays all sorts of music." He hefted the stereo up for them all to see. "And we can't have a dance party without music, now can we?"
He received a chorus of resounding "no's" and shaking heads.
Setting the stereo down on the stage, Jace powered it on and turned up the volume before starting the CD. Jace stood up as the music began to play, an infectious, toe-tapping, upbeat rhythm. "Ok then, are you all ready to dance?"
"Yeah!" they all unanimously replied.
"Alright then!" Ricky Declared excitedly. "Let's get this thing started!" As soon as he said that, Ricky immediately started them off with the dance, doing all the steps they had shown the kids. The children joined in not long after, following along after Ricky as they danced away, having fun as they did so. As they danced, Jace watched as they did moves they had learned in perfect order.
They almost effortlessly pulled off the dance as they had shown them, a somewhat semblance of grace in their movements. Eating nuts, lifting their tails, and scampering on branches, they performed all the moves successfully, multiple times over.
Jace could see the parents watching them from afar, taking videos and pictures of their children to remember this moment. And, even though, when looking back at this day, those grown-up kids might feel embarrassed for having done this, right now they didn't care. Sure, they might look silly, but that didn't matter to them; what did matter, was that they were having fun, and that was all that mattered.
They continued to dance like that for a few more minutes, each of the kids flailing their arms about wildly as they played. But gradually, things began to slow down, one by one, the kids began to bow out, whether from tiring out from the fun they had, or because they simply grew bored.
Once all the kids were done, Jace had them all approach the stage, where he knelt down and handed them each a big strip of tickets. Their eyes light up in joy when he gave them their prize. As they ran off to show their parents their new reward, he would catch glimpses of the happy expressions on their faces - expressions that he helped create.
...
Jace's workday was drawing to a close. After grabbing his helmet from his locker and clocking out, Jace made his way to the backdoor that led out to the employee parking lot. Pulling open the heavy metal door, Jace stepped outside and into the frigid air. He, exhaled, his breath coming out in a cloud of white steam.
Jace stepped away from the door, emerging further into the parking lot as he followed the side of the building. The parking lot they used was sandwiched into an ally between Rickys and a convenience store, which the two establishments share.
Making his way down the length of the parking lot, Jace sidestepped his way around an old station wagon that had pulled too far ahead, before coming up to an old, rusty back rack next to a chainlink fence bordering one side of the ally. The rack was mostly bare, save for an old mountain bike Jace had gotten from his father. Fishing a key from his back pocket, Jace knelt down to undo a chain he had used to lock the bike to the rack to ensure it wasn't stolen.
Storing the chain in an onboard pouch he had installed under the seat, Jace pulled his bike off the rack and preceded to mount it. Fastening his helmet atop his head of black hair, Jace made sure that it was tight and secure as he buckled the neck strap.
Before kicking off, Jace glanced upwards at the sky. The sun had already begun its long descent to the horizon far below, a quarter of the parking lot already blanketed in shadow as it sank behind Rickys.
Jace would have to get moving if he wanted to get home before dark.
Steering his bike to the parking lot's exit, Jace rode at a slow pace as he began his ride home.
Before he reached the road, he caught sight of someone coming along down the sidewalk. He was a young man, probably fresh into his first year of high school. He had his hair done up in a bowl cut with a pair of big, round, Harry Potter type glasses resting on his nose. And even though his puffy sweater, Jace could tell that the kid was a bit on the scrawny side, as the said article of clothing was a bit of a loose fit.
Holding back, he slowed to a stop on his bike as he allowed the kid to pass. Once the boy was gone and the coast was clear, Jace was about to get back on his way when two more emerged down the sidewalk.
Unlike the first kid, these two guys were buff and bulky, each of them grabbed in red and white letterman jackets, a picture of a growling cartoon wolf on the right sleeve. They strutted about with a delinquent air about them; Jace had only just seen them, but he already knew they were up to no good. As he stood there, he watched the two jocks hastily approach where the other kid had just been, mischievous grins on their faces.
Shortly after they left his field of view, Jace heard a cry of distress.
Feeling a sense of concern, Jace kicked off from where he was and sped after the two jocks. Exiting the parking lot, he rounded down the sidewalk in a hurried rush. Glancing ahead, Jace saw the two punks from before harassing and shoving the poor boy around. They were a fair distance ahead of him, and unfortunately, due to them being on a usually quiet street, it didn't seem like there was anybody currently nearby to intervene.
Quickly closing the gap between them, Jace urged himself faster, his gaze firmly locked on the two jerks as they bullied that kid. One of them, a blond one, tore the glasses off the kid's face and tossed them on the ground away from him - an amused smirk on his dumb face as he did so.
"HEY!" Jace shouted once he was within range, skidding to a halt on his bike and launching himself off as it clattered to the ground. "Leave him alone!" Jace commanded as he took off his helmet and chucked it at one of the bullies.
The two jerks paused to regard him as he stood there furiously, adamantly demanding that they release the poor boy. When they didn't oblige, he insisted again, leading to a standoff between the three of them, neither of them moving a muscle. Jace didn't take his eyes off them for a second, one of the thugs currently was holding the kid by his shirt, while the other stood between him and Jace, keeping him away.
"Let him go, now! Or I'm calling the police!" Jace threatened one final time.
At this, the two jocks shared uncertain looks with each other, before seemingly coming to a silent agreement. Begrudgingly, the two of them began to back off, with the one that was holding the boy up, setting him back down. Unfortunately, the jock apparently felt he needed to get one more hit in because right after he set the boy down he gave him a hard shove. Causing the poor boy to tumble down off the curb and into a puddle of slush - a by-product brought about by the warming spring air.
Jace cursed the two out as they carelessly ambled away, not giving a damn about the kid they just shoved down.
Still seething as he watched the two thugs vacate the area, he bent down and offered his hand to the boy. Shiveringly, the boy accepted, giving his clammy hand to Jace to help him up.
"T-thanks!" The boy thanked him through chattering teeth.
Jace looked the kid over, his mouth frowning as he looked upon him in his sorry state. The boy was visible shivering from head to toe from the cold, icy water that now clung to his clothes, skin, and hair.
"Are you all right?" Jace asked worriedly hoping the kid was fine, even though he knew the kid really wasn't.
He simply nodded in response, the water clinging to him all the while. "P-physically? Yeah! But if you hadn't intervened it probably would have b-been different!" He noted grimly through the cold. "Those t-two bullies are always causing me and the other w-weaker kids at school all kinds of trouble!"
"Are you going to be okay?" Jace gestured to the boy's soggy state.
"Yeah, I'll be f-fine! I actually live not too far from here, s-so it shouldn't be too long till I'm able to change into some warm c-clothes."
"Are you okay to travel by yourself?"
"I'll m-manage." The boy reassured him. "Hey, uh...do you see my-my glasses anywhere?"
"Yeah, I'll get them," Jace said as he stepped over to where the glasses had landed and bent down to pick them up. He frowned at the glasses once he had them in hand, however. They had been scuffed up a bit from the landing, while this wasn't too big a deal, what was a big deal, was the fact that the left lens had been damaged a bit, resulting in a big crack and a few small chips running the length of the innermost side.
Jace hissed through his teeth before gingerly handing the glasses back to their owner. "Their uh, a bit busted up." He said as the boy fit them on his face, blinking a couple of times to clear his sight.
The boy sighed in an upset manner." Gonna have to get a n-new pair...but, it should be able to d-do for now" The boy nodded his head at Jace appreciatively. "Thank you for your help." He said before turning to go on his way
"No problem," Jace replied. "Be careful on your way home!"
"I will!" The boy assured him.
After the kid went on his way, Jace did the same. Walking over to where his chucked helmet had landed, he picked it up and fastened it back on his head before heading back to his bike. Setting it up on its wheels, Jace mounted it and was prepared to get going...when suddenly he felt as if he was being watched.
Turning his head around, Jace craned his neck behind him as he looked back the way he came. There, standing right next to Ricky's was a big Sandwing at least as big as a bus - just watching him. Had it...been there the whole time as that kid was getting picked on...and it did nothing about it?
Jace's mind suddenly found itself racked with questions as the dragon just kept on staring at him nonstop. Feeling weirded out and uncomfortable from its endless gaze, Jace broke contact with the dragon and quickly rode away on his bike.
Amber lazed about in her small room. Laying on her bed, she stared up listlessly at the ceiling. She'd had a particularly sluggish day at school, resulting in her being all beat out and drained from the excruciatingly long day she had. She'd been presented with a pop quiz that she was unprepared for. She was flunking in history class. And to top it all of, she had gotten into an argument with a mouthy student, and after saying a couple of harsh things, was sent to the principles office where she was promptly suspended, leaving her mom furious at her.
Laying on her side, her back up against the wall, she quietly tried to let her mind and body relax after all the things she had gone through today. She let out a deep groan, her eyes silently mapping out her room as she rested there in agony. The tiny closet with all her loud clothes, the walls that had been covered in so many posters that you could barely see the pink paint underneath. And the nightstand right to her bed, with a lamp and a single picture frame.
The picture in question was of her whole family, it was the same photo as the one out in the hall, with the whole family with happy smiles on their faces. Amber growled lowly at the picture - and more specifically - at the image of her father. She glared at his smiling face as he had his arms wrapped around her and her brother, no place in the world he'd rather be.
"What are you so happy about!" She snapped at the photo bitterly. Turning over, she scooted forward towards the end of the bed and forcibly slammed the picture frame down - ceasing her view of his face.
"Where was that so-called "love" when you ran off with that hot European supermodel and left us in the dust? Where was that love when you took the woman you cheated on mom with and carted her off to some tropical paradise?" She cried out at the overturned frame, her voice exuding pain, sorrow, and hate. "Where was it then?"
She dropped her head into her covers and began to let out soft, muffled sobs into her sheats, past trauma coming back to haunt her as painful memories came surging back.
Did he even know or care how much what he had done hurt her, kyle, and mom? Did he ever actually love any of them? Ever think about them; or try to contact them? Judging by his actions - it didn't seem like it.
As she lay there moaning miserably, there was a knock at the door - which she promptly ignored. When there was no answer, the person on the other side of the door knocked again - and again, she ignored it. There was a third knock, and she ignored this one as well.
After several times of being ignored, the person on the other side of the door elected to simply let themselves in. Pushing the door open with a shakey creak, Ambers's mom slow stuck her head in the room, her caring face full of concern upon seeing her daughter crying on the bed.
"Amber?" She began tentatively. "Are you all right?"
At the sound of her mother's voice, Amber immediately ceased her crying. Sitting up, she wiped the tears forming in her vision, her eyes pink watery messes as she met her gaze. "No! I'm fine!" She adamantly choked out, her voice cracking as she did so.
"Ohh, baby." Her mother cooed, stepping into the room and approaching her with open arms. She crossed the gap between them, the golden rays of light pouring in through the window bouncing off her mother's floral pattern dress.
Approaching her afflicted daughter, she sat down next to Amber and snuggled up to her, pressing her warm body into hers as she wrapped her arms around the girl. Amber tried to shy away and get out of the embrace, but her mother would not allow it, stubbornly holding onto her little girl as she fought to escape.
"It's ok." Her mom cooed again, her whispery voice tickling her ear. "You don't have to hide your pain from me! I know you're hurting!"
"No, I'm not!" She objected, once more trying to escape her mother, and once more failing at it.
"Come on, honey, what is it? You don't have to hide your pain! Is it School, your boyfriend?" She paused as her gaze fell of the downturned photo, before maneuvering herself so that her brown eyes were staring right into Ambers. "Is it your father?"
Amber grew silent, her attempts to get away from her mother coming to a stop. Her head sinking down till her eyes were staring straight down at her feet, which were garbed in dark green socks. She opened her mouth, her voice coming out in but a whisper so quiet that anyone would struggle to hear it. "I don't want to talk about it!" She squeaked out.
"What was that?"
"I don't wanna talk about it!" She snapped at her mom suddenly, loud enough that she was sure she heard.
Her mom recoiled a bit from her sudden outburst, the surprise on her face evident as she backed off slightly.
Amber sighed, her voice carrying a hint of remorse at her actions as she ashamedly shirked away from her mother. "Please!" She muttered quietly, her voice lacking any strength or energy. "I don't wanna talk about it!"
Her mother stopped pushing after that, quietly backing off as she watched her daughter sulk miserably. "Alright!" Her mother relented, giving Amber the space she desired. "I'll stop asking."
She placed her arm on Ambers's shoulder, but she made no move to acknowledge it. "I'm sorry!"
Amber stayed quiet as her mom then got up and made her way out, the old wooden floor creaking under her weight. As she was about to exit, Amber watched as her mom came to a stop, her hand resting on the door-frame. Her mom cast her gaze back on Amber, her eyes kind and loving. She opened her mouth to speak, "I know you're hurting, but you don't have to bottle all this pain up and keep it to yourself; Please, Amber, don't feel like you're alone." She spoke softly, before walking out the door and pulling it closed behind her.
Once her mother left the room, Amber let out a sigh of relief that she was no longer on her case. She hated it whenever her mother got all into her business like that, thinking she had a problem when she didn't. Her mom didn't know what was going on inside her head, so she couldn't possibly know whats going on with her.
She wasn't in pain. While she had been back when her father left, she had gotten over it. The pain she felt when her dad took off was just a distant memory; even if she did sometimes still feel it, that didn't mean that was ok for her mother to come barging in to try to help with something that was none of her business.
And she wasn't bottling up her feelings, she just didn't feel like spilling out the contents of her heart and soul like she might have done in the past. If she didn't want to share what was going on in her head then her mother needed to respect that; she had no right in telling her that she needed to connect with other people when she didn't feel like it.
Amber wasn't in pain. She wasn't bottling up her feelings. She was fine...right?
She groaned in annoyance, why was life so hard all the time? If it wasn't her father leaving then it was trouble at school. If it wasn't trouble at school then it was trouble with her mom. Sometimes, she wished that it would just stop, that she could cease with all the trouble and get away from everyday life for a while.
As Amber sat there on her bed complaining to herself, her eyes wandered to a shiny glint coming from between the nightstand and her bed. She sighed to herself, whether it was trouble at school. The trouble with her mom. Or trouble from a mysterious device she got from a wanted man...life always had trouble.
Getting off the bed and onto her knees, she crawled to the edge of her bed and reached her arm in the crack between it and the nightstand. She had stashed the device right behind the leg of her bed, where the was a space just big enough for it to fit, and where no one would see it. Reaching back, she took hold of the device and pulled it out of its hiding spot.
She gazed down at the strange device nestled snuggly in her hands. In the few days that had passed since she first got it from that dirty man, it had already brought her boatloads of trouble. aside from all the attention, it had brought down upon her from various news sources, she had also been contacted numerous times by dragons and other representatives of their cause all asking about the device, even though she told tsunami that she didn't have it. It was like they didn't believe her...
...Of course, they had a valid reason for that, but still.
And for all the trouble this, old, rusty thing had brought her, she still had no idea why it was so important. Despite all of Ambers' attempts to get inside of it, she just could not figure out why it was so special.
She had tried everything she could think of to open it: looking for nonexistent batteries and charging ports, using a screwdriver to wedge it open, searching for an on button, even bashing in around to try to force it open - but nothing worked.
She stared down at the thing in dispair. She didn't even know what it was, or what it did, all she had gotten from MR. Richardson was that it was important to both the dragons and humanity, as to why she still firmly remained none the wiser.
And it was kind of driving her crazy.
There was something about this device she had that made the dragons and humans want it really badly...but just how far would they go to get it? Obviously, enough to where a man would break into their world to steal it...or is that even what really happened?
For being an incredibly "dangerous" man, he had sure seemed pretty beat up and on the edge of death when she found him - as if the dragons weren't telling the whole story. And on top of that, the things he told her really contradicted what the dragons said, with what him saying 'do not trust the dragons' and 'do not believe their lies.' But what were they lying about, who were they really, and how far would they go to get the device back?
Would they kill to get it back in their possession; have they already killed as they sought the retrieval of this strange device?
Ever since that man told her these things, all these questions have been nagging in her brain, refusing to go away unless they're answered.
Who were the dragons really?
What was so special about this device both groups wanted?
And the one that she wanted to have answered the most...
...What kind of trouble had she found herself dragged into?
As these questions bounced around inside her head, the sound of the doorbell going off brought her back to reality.
Amber heard the sound of footsteps on the old dirty carpet as her mom approached the door, immediately followed by a creaky groan as it was pulled open.
"Can I help you?" She heard her mom ask, her voice coming off muffled due to the closed door.
"Yes, is there an Amber Gomez here?" A girl's voice inquired.
"Yeah, she's my daughter, do you need something from her?"
"Oh, no no! I just want to ask her a few questions that's all. If it's not too much trouble, I mean."
As Amber listened in on their conversation concerning her, she absentmindedly stashed the rusty device back under her bed before standing up and tentatively making her way to the edge of her door.
"Alright then, come on in." She heard her mom invite the girl inside before closing the door behind her.
"Amber!" Her mom called out to her. "There's someone here who wants to see you, come say hello."
Amber sighed internally, she knew what this was about. There was another news broadcaster here to interview her, they just kept on coming - and she was sick and tired of it. She had told all these different news sources all she knew, and yet they wouldn't stop coming back no matter how many times she told them that there was nothing more she could give.
"Let's get this over with." She sighed as she reluctantly opened the door.
Stepping out into the hallway, she made her way over to the kitchen where she saw her mother conversing with a young woman roughly a year older than her. Amber lazily approached the pair, slacking in her step as she unenthusiastically neared them.
Her mother's eyes were on her in an instant, popping with enthusiasm as they fell upon her. "Ahh, Amber! Come say hello to Maggie Crystals, she's come to speak with you." She said, gesturing to the girl next to her.
Amber looked upon Maggie disdainfully as the reporter she was. She had a head of black flowing locks and brown eyes that stared back at her, as well as skin that had a warm chocolatey glow.
Maggie reached her hand out towards Amber for a friendly shake. "Hello Amber, it's nice to meet you."
The feelings, not mutual. Amber thought dryly as she took Maggie's hand.
"I'm here on behalf of Angle Springs daily, and I'd like to get your story on the Richardson case." She held up a laminated reporter badge that hung around her neck via a lanyard.
Amber cocked one eye. "Didn't Angle Springs daily already cover this?"
"Yes. But we're looking to get a follow-up story." She replied easily.
"Ok?" She raised an eyebrow but quickly let it go.
"So, shall we sit and get this interview started?" Maggie suggested as she indicated towards the couch in the living room.
Amber nodded at that idea. "Yeah let's do that." She said, eager to get this over with.
As if on queue, Maggie immediately made her way over to the living room with Amber in tow. From behind, Amber noted the gray suit that the reporter was wearing was crisp and sleek, a far cry from the clothes she currently had on - a pair of dirty pants and a shirt that had amassed a collection of stains.
Approaching the couch, Amber sat down on its old and worn faux-leather surface, while the reporter sat down on a chair opposite her.
"Would you two girls like a snack maybe? Pizza rolls? Mozzarella sticks?" Her mom called out to the two of them after they had sat down.
"That'd be great thanks," Maggie replied back to her mom, who then in turn began digging around in the freezer looking for something to make.
"So." Maggie began, turning her nation back to Amber. "Let's get started on these questions." Maggie pulled a notepad and pencil out of one of her pockets and got ready to write down anything she was told.
"Ok. so first, how did you come to find yourself at the building where you first encountered MR Richardson?"
"I went out with some friends to explore that abandoned building that one of our group came across." She explained.
Maggie Nodded, her gaze fluctuating between Amber and the notepad. "Uh-hu. And what was your reaction when you first encountered MR Richardson?"
"Well. It was a bit of a scare." Amber confessed. "I wasn't expecting for there to be anyone else there aside from us, so when I encountered MR Richardson I panicked."
"How so?" Maggie inquired.
"I let out a lout screen when I first saw him, one that alerted my friends to where I was. And then, there was a moment where he pulled something out of a bundle of cloth, I had thought it was a gun, but it actually turned out to be..." Amber caught herself, she almost let slip the info that she knew of the device. "Nothing, it turned out to be nothing." Amber finished, saving herself in time.
"That must have been quite a traumatic experience, are you doing ok now after that happened?"
"Yes, I'm fine!" Amber snapped at the reporter. "You don't need to worry about me!"
Maggie shot her arms up placatingly. "Ok, I'm sorry! I didn't mean touch upon a nerve there. I was just asking."
"So, as I was saying." Amber began as she got back to her story, shooting the reporter a look. "After my friends showed up, we quickly contacted the authorities, and they arrived shortly after. They carted Richardson away in an ambulance, and I and my friends were subjected to question after question by dragons and reporters alike."
"That is all really fascinating." Maggie offered encouragingly as she scribbled things down on her notepad. However, her scribblings came to a halt a moment later as she looked back at Amber, curiosity in her eyes. "Hey, Amber." she began. "Before they took MR Richardson away, did he have anything in his possession, a device maybe?"
Ambers's breath hitched in her throat.
"Did you see him with a device; did he give one to you."
"N-no, no device," Amber replied hesitantly. Why did everyone want this device so badly - what was so special about it?
"Really." She asked disappointedly. "He didn't make any mention of a device, or something called the...FATED?"
Ambers skin paled. Her eyes growing wide at the mention of that word
Did she just say?...
The look on Ambers's face must have been all Maggie needed to see because once she heard her mention the FATED, Maggie's eyes lit up in realization.
"Ahh, so he did talk about the FATED...which means you must know of the device.
Amber didn't know what to think. "Wha-? H-how did-" She narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Who are you?"
Maggie cast a quick glance back over to the kitchen, where Ambers mom was now hunched over the oven as she slipped a tray in. Turning her attention back on Amber, she leaned in close and spoke in a hushed voice. "My names, not Maggie." She admitted guiltily as she took the reporter badge off her neck. "And I'm not really a reporter, this badge is fake - I made it myself."
"Well then, who are you really?" Amber asked.
"My real name is Vanessa. Vanessa... Richardson."
Amber raised her eyes in shock, throwing them wide at this realization.
Magg- or Vanessa nodded her head, confirming Ambers suspicions before she even had a chance to ask. "Yes, as in Anthony Richardson. I'm his daughter."
Amber found herself struggling to find words that accurately described what she was thinking." W-what! Why are-"
Vanessa quickly cut Amber off. "Look, I promise that I will explain everything. But first, is there a more private place for us to talk?"
Amber looked from Vanessa to her mother in the kitchen, then from her to the hallway that led to her room. Looking back towards Vannessa, she slowly nodded her head up and down. "Yeah, I have a place. Follow me."
Getting up off the couch, Amber led Vanessa back the way they had come towards her bedroom. Passing through the kitchen, the two of them caught the attention of Ambers mom, who stopped what she was doing to speak with them.
"What's going on honey?" She asked confused as she looked at the two. "Are you both done already?"
"No mom." She waved her mother off easily." Maggie...and I were just moving to a more private location in my room. So that's where I'll be if you need me."
"Ok." Her mom nodded. "I was just asking." After that, she turned back to her work in the kitchen, leaving Amber and Vanessa the freedom to walk away.
Opening the door to her bedroom, Amber allowed Vanessa to slip in before she did the same, locking the door with a click behind them.
Turning around, Amber looked to face this mysterious girl that had shown up suddenly, claiming to be a reporter. She found Vanessa currently inspecting the overturned photo frame, her fingers were floating around the edge of the object, no doubt about to set it up right out of curiosity.
"Don't touch that!" Amber snapped harshly, causing the girl's fingers to suddenly retract.
"Sorry." she apologized.
Amber shook her head in an annoyed manner before looking back at Vanessa."Alright." She began, shoving away what had just transpired. "Its time for you to start talking, what are you doing here, and why were you pretending to be a reporter?"
Vanessa gave out a short relenting sigh, nodding her head up and down as she did so. Sitting down on Ambers's bed, the fake reporter locked eyes with her and began her story.
"It all started after I snuck into the hospital in order to see my father. While I was there, he mentioned something about the FATED, and how he gave 'it' to a girl, and how 'it' 'must be protected.'" She explained. "Now, I didn't know what he meant, I still don't know what he meant? ...But... I had heard about how a group of high schoolers had an encounter with him, so I figured that was the best place to start. I first checked on the other girl from your group, and when that revealed nothing - I found you."
Amber held her hands up suddenly, confusion plastered on her face as she halted Vanessa in her speech. "Hold on!" She started. "If you came here specifically to find out what your dad gave me, than why were you pretending to be a reporter? Why couldn't you come as yourself?"
"Because it wouldn't have been safe for me to do so." Vanessa conceded. "Several months back, my father vanished under mysterious circumstances. Now, on the day of his disappearance, I received a frantic call from him. He had told me that someone was after him; he was being chased. He sounded panicked and scared, he told me 'They' were coming; He couldn't stop mentioning 'the dragons' and 'Infiscape.' I tried to get him to calm down, to relax and speak clearly, but he wouldn't stop rambling, he kept saying that 'death' and 'destruction' was coming."
"He then told me to go into hiding, saying that 'They' would be looking for me because I was his daughter."
Amber listened to Vanessa's story intently, her full attention on this girl as she explained, not once speaking up as she spoke.
Vanessa continued. "After that, he abruptly cut off. Worried, I tried to call him back, but all I got was an answering machine. I didn't hear from him again after that, he didn't call again, and he didn't come home the next day or any of the ones following. And so realizing that something must be wrong, I went into hiding per his wishes. And not long after doing so, Infascape suddenly comes out claiming to have opened a portal to a world full of dragons."
Once she had finished, all Amber could do was stand there and look down at the girl, a small pang of sorrow welling up within her.
"And that leads us back to now." Vanessa shot a serious look in Amber's direction. "As I said, my father mentioned something about 'FATED' and how he gave something to a girl. So please!" Vanessa begged, her eyes locking with Ambers. "If he gave you something, please don't keep it hidden."
Amber found herself mulling this over inside her head, was this really the best thing to do. After hearing Vanessa's story, she found herself feeling sympathy for her plight, she wanted to help but...should she? When MR. Richardson gave her the device, he told her to protect it at all costs, that meant hiding it away from the dragons and any other prying eyes that might be seeking it...but did he also intend for her to keep it hidden from his own daughter?
Amber thought it over for a few moments, the idea bouncing around inside her head as she decided what to do. Finally, she decided on what her father would most likely want.
Taking a deep sigh, Amber let her shoulders droop as she pointed underneath the bed where Vanessa was sitting.
"It's under the bed." She relented.
She watched as Vanessa followed her finger to under the bed. Getting down on her knees, Vanessa looked under the bed before reaching her arm under to grab for something. Retracting the arm, the device was exposed to light once more as Vanessa pulled it out. Getting up and sitting back down on the bed, she began to inspect the device in the same way Amber had multiple times.
Vanessa examined the object just as thoroughly as she had, turning it over to look at every angle on the device as she sought to understand it. "What does it do?" Vanessa asked inquisitively.
"I don't know!"
Vanessa was seemingly undeterred by Ambers's lackluster response, continuing to look the device over in spite of it.
"So, this is the thing my dad gave you. The thing he's so obsessed about." She flicked her eyes back up at Amber. "Did he tell you what's so special about it? Did he tell you what the FATED is, or how to operate it?"
Amber shook her head. "I don't know anything about the FATED. And he tried to tell me how to use it, but he passed out before he could."
"Well, that makes two of us," Vanessa noted grimly.
Amber folded her arms. "So what are we going to do then?"
Vanessa pursed her lips, her eyes focused on the device as she seemingly thought something over.
"Well?" Amber asked, impatience creeping into her voice at Vanessa not responding right away. "What do we do?"
Vanessa tore her eyes away from the device and cast them back onto Amber, a contemplative look on her face. "There's... someone I know who might want to see this." She said finally. "He probably won't know what this is either, but he's been looking into some strange goings-on in this town, and I know he'll want to take a look."
She sat up with the device still in hand. "He needs to see this." She declared. She passed the device back over to Amber, before turning to leave. "I'm going to leave now so I can change out of these clothes." She said gesturing to the suit. "But I'll be back in a couple of hours to pick you up, then we'll head over to his place." She cast Amber a look. "Be ready."
She then made her leave, giving a parting farewell to Ambers mom as Maggie before going out the front door.
After Vanessa left, Amber just stood there - device in hand - as she tried to take stock of what just happened.
Posing as a reporter, the daughter of MR. Richardson came to her home asking about the device he gave her. Now, Vanessa was going to be taking her and the device to see someone who had been looking into this kind of thing...apparently.
"What have I gotten myself into?" She asked herself aloud.
...
After she left, Amber simply lazed around the house for a bit as she awaited Vanessa's return. She occupied her time the best she could despite all the questions that lingered on her brain: who were they meeting, what was he looking into, and would he know anything about it. In order to avoid driving herself crazy over this, she opted to keep herself distracted by partaking in meaningless busy work around the house.
Eventually, her mother went to bed, leaving her alone in a quiet house. With her mom's eyes no longer paying attention to her, she was able to act freely without arousing suspicion. Now that she wasn't being watched, she took this opportunity to get ready.
While her mother was in bed, Amber made a point to regularly check the front window to see if Vanessa had returned yet. As she waited for her, Amber made sure to change into some fresh clothes and put on some shoes.
After a couple of hours of constantly checking the windows, she found it as a relief when a pair of headlights appeared ahead, followed by a small car rolling down her driveway. The car came to a slow halt, the engine running hot as Vanessa sat patiently in the driver's seat.
Hastening her movements, she hurried down the hallway and grabbed her coat, and slipped it on. Next, she turned to the backpack she had resting on the floor, she had placed the device inside earlier so that she had a secure place to hold it. Picking the bag up off the floor, she quietly unlocked the front door and slipped outside, silently shutting it behind her.
Once outside, the cold night air began to nip at her skin. Eager to get out of the cold, she hurriedly made her way over to Vanessa's car. Throwing open the passenger-side door, Amber ducked down as she threw her body into the warm interior of the car before pulling the door closed.
"Do you have the device?" Vanessa asked critically as Amber was buckling up, to which she responded by patting the bag she held in her lap.
Vanessa simply nodded her head in acknowledgment before putting the car in reverse and backing out of the driveway.
Amber watched the familiar setting of her home slowly fade away from sight, as Vanessa ferried her to an unknown location.
Once they departed her house, Vanessa began following a series of backroads, twisty dirt paths that wormed their way between snow-laden trees and empty backyards.
"So?" Amber began slowly. "Just who exactly is it that we're meeting?"
Vanessa drummed her fingers on the back of the steering wheel, not once taking her eyes off the dark road.
"The person we're going to meet is someone who has been looking into the strange activity going on in this town as of late. He's been trying to figure out what's been happening recently, and how it connects back to the dragons and Infiscape; aside from my dad, if anyone is going to what that device is, it's him."
"What kind of strange activity are you talking about, exactly?"
"He can explain it better, just hang tight, we'll be there shortly."
She said nothing more after that, instead keeping her lips zipped-up tight as she focused on the road.
Amber would have kept on trying to get information out of her, but she got the impression that it would be pointless. So she instead kept her mouth shut and looked out the window bored, watching as the snow-covered world passed by in a blur.
...
Around ten minutes later, Vanessa pulled up to a two-story house on the end of a dark street. Like its surroundings, there was no light coming from the property, casting the whole place in shadow. The white of the snow offered a stark contrast to the dark of the night. The house's front yard and driveway were unshoveled. There was no car and no evidence of one either, just a small path dug out through the snow big enough for one person to walk down with a little room to spare.
Turning off the engine, Vanessa took the key out of the ignition and got out of the car.
Doing the same, Amber closed the door shut behind her as she followed Vanessa. The two of them made their way down the small path carved through the snow, as she walked, Amber could make out the telltale imprints of shoes and bike tires in the powder - someone had come through here recently.
Coming up on the front door, Amber watched as Vanessa started to mercilessly rap her knuckles on the door.
Amber took a quick glance at some of the visible windows from her place on the porch, there were no lights on, no activity, no sign that whoever lived here was awake at the moment.
She looked back at Vanessa who was still unrelentingly banging on the door - unless the home's occupant was a particularly heavy sleeper, it was unlikely that would remain the case.
Finally, after around a minute of Vanessa banging on the door unceasingly, there was a change. From one of the windows, Amber saw light suddenly come streaming forth out of them, followed by the frantic sound of footsteps as the owner rushed to the door.
From the other side of the door came the sound of the deadbolt unlocking, right before the door swung open with a creak.
Standing in the open doorway was a young man roughly around their age. He had a mop of messy black hair and was dressed in pajamas.
He stood there tiredly, glossy blue eyes staring listlessly at them as he tried to take stock of the situation.
He looked at Amber confused, "who are-" Whatever he was about to say was quickly snuffed out as he laid eyes on the other person at the door. The look in his eyes went from confusion to shock instantly.
"V-Vanessa?!" He forced out breathlessly. "What are you doing here?" He glanced at Amber. "And who's this?"
"Sorry to barge in unannounced like this Jace, but we need your help."
"For what?"
"Something important has come up." Her eyes flashed to the bag at Ambers's side. "Something extremely important."
The two of them shared a look before Jace's eyes lit up in understanding, something Amber was still in the dark about.
"Come on in then," Jace said, stepping out of the doorway and allowing them to enter his home.
Stepping forward, she and Vanessa took up his offer as they walked in, with Jace closing the door behind them.
Once they were out of the cold, Amber took a quick look around at the home of Jace, the one who was looking into 'strange activity. To the left of her was a tall staircase, that led up to what she assumed was a series of bedrooms and bathrooms. To her right, was a living area comprised of a kitchen and living room.
Jace walked up to the flight of stairs before turning to address the two girls. "I'm going to go change." He said, jerking his head up the stairs. "You two just make yourselves comfortable till I get back." And with those parting words, he quickly hurried up the stairs.
While this Jace guy went up to get changed, Amber wandered her way into the living room. She marveled at how big it was compared to hers, with just this one room alone probably big enough to fit her living room, kitchen, and hallway with ease.
She sat down on an old couch that had seen its fair share of days. Ahead from where she sat, rested -what she had to guess - was a forty to fifty-inch TV atop a wooden shelf. Sitting next to the TV, was a base model PS4, with a plethora of games and movies scattered next to it, and even more, stored in the cubbies below.
Setting the bag down on a seat cushion next to her, Amber tried to get comfortable, but thoughts about the device and what MR. Richardson said continued to swirl around in her head. Couple that with the fact that she was now in the house of an individual who was apparently looking into odd stuff that had been going on, and it'd be no shock that she couldn't relax.
Despite the fact she wanted answers about all she had seen and heard, she was now in fact more anxious and desperate now that she was on the threshold of learning - at least a part - of what was truly going on.
She had to get her mind off this.
Cramming her neck around, Amber tried to locate the one other person that was in the room with her.
She found that Vanessa had wandered into the kitchen and had helped herself to a can of rootbeer, which she was now sipping from as she leaned between the fridge and a door that led to the garage.
"Hey Vanessa," she called out, earning the girl's attention. "How exactly do you know this guy?"
At first, all she received from Vanessa was the sound of slurping soda as she drank from the can; pulling it away from her lips, she let out a contented Ahh before facing Amber.
"Jace and I go back a ways; we met each other when we were kids. Our parents knew each other, so they introduced us." She took another drink from her soda. "A couple of years after I and Jace met, my father was hired by Infiscape right around when they were building their new headquarters. Do you remember how I told you about the circumstances under which my father went missing? Well before I went into hiding as he requested of me, I went to Jace and told him everything my dad had told me. I've been checking in with him every now and then, as he's the only one I trust enough to contact; he's also been keeping track of all the occurrences that have been happening in this town, so I make sure to find out what he knows whenever I do so."
Their thoughts were interrupted when the sound of footsteps came from the second floor. Turning their eyes to the stairs, they watched as Jace came walking back down, now dressed in a plain white t-shirt and shorts.
Stepping out into the living room, he attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes as he faced the girls. "Okay?" He said in a yawn, "what is so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"
Amber looked back at Vanessa for help, but the other girl faced her dismissively. "Don't look at me!" She shook her head. "You're the reason we're here in the first place; you're the one he needs to speak to."
"Speak to me about what?" Jace asked as he turned his gaze directly onto Amber.
Okay, this was it.
"A couple of days ago, my friends and I got into some trouble; we encountered a supposedly dangerous man and brought some attention down on ourselves." She began as she reached for her bag and opened it up. "The man, however, kept claiming that he wasn't like how they said...and he gave me this."
Amber pulled the cylindrical device free from her bag, the light shining on its rusted surface as she brought it out for all to see.
As soon as he saw it, Jaces eyes lit up in recognition. She watched as he slowly approached, seemingly in a trance as he kept his eyes glued on the device.
Jace stopped across from her and crouched down a bit to get a closer look at the device. He reached out for the device and she allowed him to take it from her. Looking it over, he gently turned it about in his grasp as he examined it.
"This man," he began slowly, his eyes still locked on the device. "Was his name Anthony Richardson?"
Amber nodded her head. "Yeah, her father!" She jerked her head in Vanessa's direction.
"So Jace!" Both he and Amber immediately turned their attention over to Vanessa who was still leaning against the wall and with her arms crossed. "You seem to know a lot about that device there, you mind filling us in?"
Jace sighed. "Of course." Passing the device back to Amber, Jace stood up and made sure they were both paying attention.
He took a breath.
"A few days ago, I, uh...snuck into the Infiscape tech headquarters, and while I was there, I came across the portal in which the dragons first used to get into our world. And through the portal...came your father Vanessa." He said leveling a glance her way. "After he came through, I saw that he was holding that device in his hands; clutching it to his chest protectively. But before I was able to confront him, the portal activated again and he ran off before anyone came through."
He looked back at Vanessa. "I would have told you as soon as possible Vanessa, but I had no way to contact you."
Vanessa simply nodded her head in understanding.
"Excuse me, Jace?" He turned to face Amber.
"Yes?"
"I... have some questions."
"Okay then, shoot." Jace gave the go-ahead.
"The things I kept hearing about MR. Richardson was that he was bad, everyone kept saying he was dangerous, a terrorist. Yet once I actually met him, and he gave me the device, he told me that everything being said about him were lies. And when I met Vanessa here." She nodded her head at the other girl. "She told me that her father disappeared mysteriously and that she had to go into hiding because of it. Then she told me, that you have been looking into strange activity in this town lately."
Jace nodded his head, "Okay, so what is it you want to know?"
"When Vanessa's father gave me that device, I was unwillingly dragged into something I had no part in, and I want to know what I've gotten myself into, and why; I want answers!"
Jace narrowed his eyes. "I never did get your name, did I?"
"It's Amber."
"Well then Amber, if you want answers, then follow me." He said before turning around and making for the stairs. When Amber didn't follow right away, Jace stopped at the base of the stairs and urged her on. "Come on then! Do you want answers or no?"
At his insistence, Amber got up from on the couch and made her way over to Jace as Vanessa joined them. Together the three of them made their way up the stairs.
Ambers mind was racking and her heart beating, she was on the verge of finally getting some information after sitting on all these questions for so long with answers for them. The moment where she found out the truth couldn't come soon enough.
Reaching the top, Jace led them into a hallway that was almost completely bare, with the only thing in it being a lone bookshelf. Approaching the bookshelf, Jace took hold of the side and began to push on it to slide it out of the way.
Amber was confused, what the heck was Jace doing? He was supposed to be showing her what was going on, yet he was now pushing on a bookcase? How was that supposed to help?
As Jace gradually moved the bookcase out the way, Ambers's newfound doubt in him began to fade away as something started to emerge from behind the shelf.
With one final shove, Jace moved the bookcase completely out of the way, fully revealing what had been behind it. As Jace stepped back to admire his handy work, Amber could only gaze in awe at what had been revealed.
It was a door.
A secret door that had been hidden behind the bookcase to keep it away from prying eyes.
Pulling open the door, Jace let it swing out, exposing a dark room to them all. Stepping up to the door, Amber peer inside in the dark interior of the room, she couldn't see much as the light from the hallway didn't offer much illumination.
And then, Jace came in behind her and turned on the light.
And could she just say - wow!
The entire room was pretty much just one, big conspiracy board; countless photos of various people lined the walls, as well as pictures of dragons and Infiscape employees, all of them connected by strands of red yarn.
This was just...wow!
Amber was really overwhelmed; she didn't know what to think. She wandered into the center of the room as she took it all in, she didn't even know what it all meant, but she could sure appreciate the grandness of it all.
As she made her way forward, she noticed a series of indentations on the carpeted floor in several spots, most notably the four in the center back of the room where a bed had most likely been. And that would mean that this had been a bedroom, Jace had converted a bedroom into a full-blown conspiracy room and had hidden it from sight.
And it was all really impressive.
Snapping herself out of her awed stupor, Amber spoke. "What? What is all this?"
She heard the door they had come in through close and turned to see that Vanessa had shut it behind them.
"Amber," Jace began, walking up to her. "Do you see all the photos on the wall, the ones of regular people, not the ones with dragons or Infiscape employees?"
Amber nodded her head. "yeah, what about them?"
"Do you know what they all have in common?"
"No, what?"
Jace gestured to all the pictures. "They're all missing!"
Amber mental reeled at that revelation, they were missing? She looked at all the photos on the wall, only a fraction of them were dragons or Infiscape employees, the rest were ordinary people.
"That's a lot of people!" She exclaimed breathlessly.
"Yeah, it is!" Jace agreed.
"What's going on! doesn't anybody know these people are missing?" Amber wondered aloud.
"It all started with my father - AKA, Victim Zero!" Vanessa supplied as she stepped up beside them. She pointed to a section of the wall that she hadn't noticed before, unlike the other parts of the large conspiracy board, it was dedicated to one person - MR. Richardson.
"Nine months ago," Jace started. "MR. Richardson - or Victim Zero - was the first of many to go missing - it all started with him. On the day he disappeared, he called Vanessa warning her about dragons, and shortly after he vanished - and it didn't help that he did so under Infiscapes watch.
"So fast forward about six months, and Infiscape comes out claiming to have opened a portal to another world - a world full of dragons no less! Exactly what he had been rambling about before he disappeared. And then, people start disappearing left and right, constantly, and no-one seems to notice. I'm convinced that it's either Infiscape, the dragons, or maybe both that are behind this, and that they're doing everything they can to cover it up.
"The one thing I am certain of, however, is that it all started with Anthony Richardson - somehow he's found himself of the very center of all this! Jace finished.
Amber could barely believe all that Jace had just told her, to think that had all been happening under everyone's noses, she just - she couldn't believe it.
"It all makes sense now!" Amber said, more to herself than Jace or Vanessa. "When I encountered MR. Richardson and he gave me the device, he told me to not trust the dragons, he told me that they are not who they say they are and that we shouldn't believe their lies! He knew the truth about them all along!"
"And it helps in reinforcing my theory about the dragons and Infiscape being behind all this," Jace added in.
"What about the people that have gone missing; What's been happening to them?" Amber asked.
Jace shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly have no idea, I've looked, but I just can't seem to find any leads on what's happening to them. Although, when I was at the Infiscape headquarters, I did find mention of a 'Project Darius" something that they're building alongside the dragons."
"However, the one thing I know for certain," Jace continued. "Is that something sinister is going on in this town, and as far as I'm aware - we're the only ones that know about it!"
Amber glanced around once more at the conspiracy room, at the pictures of all the missing men and women, the people that had gone missing and no-one noticed - not even her. She thought back to that day when MR. Richardson gave her the device, and how he warned her to beware the dragons. Back then, she desperately wanted to know what he meant, and now that she had the answers she had wanted, she kind of wished she didn't.
A part of her really wished that she had stayed home that day.
AH HAHA HELLO BOYS, I'M BAACK!
Here's another chapter for you all, did you catch the reference? I'm sure it's very hard to spot. ;)
Hey people, I need some help, if you like this story and want to help in its development, I'm in need of a beta. Now I won't just take anyone, I want someone who can help with grammar, point out any plotholes, help with the story structure if it needs work at times, basically I just want someone who can help me make this story be the best it can be. Also, I want someone who doesn't have a tight schedule, if you beta for me, I want you to have a schedule loose enough that I can get the chapter back at ten days at the latest.
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