Marshall was finishing his food, when he saw Simon rush in. He seemed a little anxious. "Simon? You look like you saw a ghost."

His friend chuckled nervously. "Close enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Ok, this big guy in a black robe is in this vacant parking lot. I was about to go to the motel to find Stragos. But this guy was mega-weird, he bent over to tie his shoe or something. Then! He leaves and turns into these crows!"

"Crows? What do you mean, he *turned* into them?"

"Changed. Morphed. His body separated and there was just a group of black birds, crows or ravens, about ten or fifteen of them. They flew off."

"Mondo bizarro! HOW? I mean..hey, this is Eerie. I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"That's not all. After he touched the ground, it melted, these red cracks appeared. Kinda like an earthquake. Steam, red marks, molted asphalt. Lots of screaming came from it. I got the Hell out of there."

"Wow. Hardly anything in Eerie surprises me anymore."

Then, a young boy, probably fifteen, ran in. He had a wound in his side. "Help!"

Mr. Radford came out to the floor. "What is it, you hurt?" He saw the cut. "Jeez! You need to see a doctor."

The man shook his head. "No! No doctors, it'll heal. It did before. Some psycho is after me, this guy in dark clothes. He has this weird knife-spear." He immediately turned around, seeing the door open. Sensing danger, he grabbed a fork. He lowered the fork, it was only a kid with white hair. "Oh, just you. Stay out in the sun too long?"

Dash snarled, "Shut up!"

Mr. Radford asked, "You new around here?"

The boy said, "No, I've been here for six months. I'm Mark Andrews. My mom works in the mall. I go to BF Skinner Junior High."

Marshall got up, walking over to Mark. "Cool, I go there. My mom works in the mall too."

Mark nodded impatiently. "Gee, that's nice. But I gotta go."

Radford said, "Go out the back way. Back of the store, past the restroms, the Exit door." He pointed to an area behind some supplies.

Mark took off, making his way to the exit.

Marshall said, "That was weird. Man, weird stuff just keeps on happening."

Dash laughed, "Oh, that's not the last of it."

The door swung open with force, as a stranger strolled in. Zophael, the 'Spy of God'. He wore black pants and overcoat with a grey shirt. He had dark wavy hair. The way he walked in, there was something dangerous about him, even though it didn't show. Something serious. He sniffed the air, then walked to the young boys.

Marshall saw a scar on his neck, it appeared to be a zig-zag combined with an x.

Zophael asked, "Did you see a boy in here? About five foot tall, red coat, blue jeans, holding his side?"

Dash sneered at him, "It depends. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. How much is it worth to you?"

Zophael walked closer to Dash slowly, his face more solemn. From his expression, it was obvious that he wasn't pleased with that answer. "Where is he? What kind of response do you call that?"

Dash smiled, "An equal opportunity response."

"You will tell me what you know, or you will soon learn what eternal torment is all about, stranded in maggots and worms, your skin burning to black pitch, and your agony will NEVER end."

"Wow, that's original! Did your mom teach you that corny dialogue? I might know something. How much cash you got?"

Zophael leaned close, considering how to punish this monkey. No, there were other people present. He stepped back, reaching for a napkin at a table behind him. He held it up to Dash's face.

Dash saw a crisp $20 bill in the man's hand. "Pleasure doing business with you." He took it and put it away..oblivious to the fact that he was putting a
tissue in his coat pocket. "Okay, you just missed him. He left about ten minutes ago, out the back, but he could be anywhere."