On the street in a police car...
"Here is location Kruidstraat, we are looking for a run-away child. She's appears to be sixteen years old and has long blond wavy hair and a grey hoodie."
The police van was riding through the main streets of the city, while the officer reported their activities and request for help through the microphone.
"It's told to us that the Rotters are looking for her, the reason why is unclear to us. She has already be threatened by what seems an assassin, who is locked up in her cell. Assistance for the search requested, over."
What's going on here. I have never encountered such a paranormal thing in my whole career.
The receptionist of the police office was driving with a bit of haste, while the siren and light were off.
The third cop was looking for her out of the window from the back seat, while the older cop took the passenger seat.
"What do you mean, the assassin is free? Like I said, she is-"
He got interrupted with an unexpected report from the main office.
"How has she godverdomme managed to escape from that cell?" The officer was the normally the most professional of the bunch at their office, so it was odd to hear him swearing over the ether.
"Gerard, what's going on? What do they have reported to you?" The cop on the back seat was a bit worried about the situation.
"She has broken the iron cell door and now she is on the run. What the hell is going on with these two?" He knew that the headquarter couldn't answer that question.
I wish I could explain the breakout of her by myself, but I don't know it either. However, I am grateful that Uthan isn't involved in this hectic mess of a situation. Hopefully, he won't have to worry about these kinds of cases. I am almost certain that he never had done fieldwork before, so this would be too much for him if he was with me.
The three of them couldn't clarify the event and resumed to be silent towards each other, while Gerard came up with a new question in his head.
What did Uthan, if he has never done fieldwork over in Washington and why has he chosen for doing police work? He didn't seem that strong to me.
The HQ told that him that they will inform all the cops on the street, but warned him that it wasn't the most urgent case on their list, so they didn't send an extra police vehicle out to search for her.
This isn't normal, I don't know if I would call this supernatural, but this is at least abnormal. Hopefully we will find a reasonable explanation for this whole situation.
The driver of the van decided to turn on the siren and the lights and signalled to the rest of the traffic that will move at high speed through the streets to the highway.
Before a bar, somewhere in the city...
"This was the only place that could provide us private space at the moment, so that's the reason why we waited after dinner to talk about your upcoming matter," Max Sandshelt explained, when they arrived at the front of this particular bar.
"It's okay, we prioritized the privacy for a good reason, hopefully you would agree with us after the upcoming conversation," the monotone voice of Kasuka said.
"Can you already tell the reason why you two needed to talk in private?" Max was still filled with questions and curiosity about the topic.
"I also like to talk about it in private, it's about something confidential and personal for me."
Uthan was trying to calm Sandshelt curiosity and looked to the door of the bar.
I have already figured out some things by myself, but I would like to get it confirmed by another one of my kind. I don't know if she sees herself as a monster, so I would like to know that too.
"Alright, we can talk about it in a few minutes. I will ask the bartender if he can go somewhere else when you three talk," Max gave up his questioning phase for now and knocked on the door to get a call back.
"Are you mister Sandshelt? My previous guests have left the place."
"Yep, we are standing outside, can we come in?"
"I am finished with my preparations, so come in!"
Max opened the door and saw how the bartender was adding the finishing touch to the prepared table for them.
"Welcome, I don't think you are here for a drink, so I will go to my living room upstairs, just yell when you need-"
"!"
On the last word of his welcoming speech, he got interrupted by a falling object from outside, behind the guests. A dull metal sound was the catalyst for a sequence of fast paced events, as the bar got filled with deep thick smoke followed by everyone covering their mouth.
Can't see anything here, what's happening here? The question popped immediate in his head as he couldn't see who was before him.
"!"
I hear footsteps, though, they are too heavy to be one of ours.
His ears were busy with locating the source of the sound, while he was searching for his three colleagues.
A silhouette doomed up before him, signalling two grabbing hand towards the vaguely represented person next to him. He realised that he could do now the thing that he always has hoped to do.
"I want to help people, I know how it feels to be helpless and alone," Uthan said when he did his interview for the police. The police chef who did the interviews looked suspicious towards him, but didn't throw a harsh comment towards him.
"That's an odd reason for wanting to do police work, but it's a good motivation to do this work," the chef responded with approval.
Uthan knew that he didn't lie about it, but he was also aware that he didn't tell the whole truth of his motivation.
I want to prove that I am not a monster. If I am able to help people in need, then I can prove that I am not a monster, that I am human like everyone else.
For him, catching bad guys and helping others weren't the core reason for his request to serve the police force. In fact, you could say that it was a selfish reason to prove his own point.
"You don't look like to be built for this job, your body doesn't look like a durable one."
"I know that, but at least give me a chance and I can prove it otherwise," Uthan spoke these words with confidence and as a matter of fact, he got the approval to enter the Police Academy, where he showed, that it wasn't a smart thing to only look to someone's appearance.
However, he didn't end how he thought it would. He managed to graduate at the Police Academy with relative ease, but he didn't get the position that he wanted, which wasn't even a high one.
All these months of training, for nothing.
He was disgusted when they putted him on the administration department, only doing paperwork. Even with his voice, they didn't allow him to do call-centre work. As a cop in Washington, he didn't get the chance to show that he was a good person, that you can't call somebody a monster by his looks.
The disgust became much stronger, due to his colleagues from all different sections, bombarding him with accusations of him being a monster. It all resulted in the complete shutdown of his social activities.
They don't let me do good deeds, I look like a monster, so they treat me like that. They don't let me providing the proof that I can help people, that I am human.
And with all that negativity in his mind, he got send away from his own home, which he saw as a new chance without these bastards, who assumed that he was a monster.
I am not a monster; these rotted cops are monsters.
However, he found the truth about himself. A disgusting truth at first, one that he didn't want to hear. If he could change one thing in the dialogue, it would be the revelation that he is actually a monster the whole time.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for him. He got almost all the proof to state as a fact that he was a monster. It would be an unbearable truth if he didn't encounter these odd persons.
From the unnatural greeting from his new mentor over here and the honest response from a girl he met due to confusion, to the seductive lady in bus and the other-worldly meeting with a Japanese actress, who was the thing that he didn't want to become.
He faced the reality that he was indeed a monster, who was standing now in a sea of planned smoke, witnessing the silhouette before him trying to grab someone.
There was just one thing he wanted to do all these times and he now founded the chance to do it. He solely grabbed the figure by the left arm, while he stepped before the grabber to block the way for him.
He could see the man now much more in detail, revealing the black clothes and a simple, but yet effective, gas mask.
I want to help, to protect, even as a-
The smoke wore off and when they looked around, they notice that there was something wrong with the current situation.
With a small look towards the bartender, they saw that even he knew that there was something odd about it.
"I only see three of you, I thought there were four people before that smoke grenade," he said worried, while knowing nothing about the upcoming revelations.
At least I did what I have always craved for, I've done something which could proof my point; however, I know that it isn't valid for my argument anymore.
HIs body was in a relaxing state, an artificial one. He wished that he could move, but his muscles didn't respond to the commandoes of the brain's motoric centre.
His unconscious HQ didn't get a lot of information to process, due to the fact that he was blindfolded when he woke up from the slumber. With no visual input, he could focus his mind on some of the circumstantial stuff and the current situation.
Is this the reason for that crappy script that I received from mister Sandshelt? They wanted to kidnap her, I know why they wanted her, but how have they found it out?
Instead of the target, they took him with them as the hostage. He still thought about the choice that he made that first day, which did and didn't turn out the way he would.
In a back street ally…
She looked behind her, nobody was following her anymore. She didn't even know if she was being watched, but that didn't matter to her as she was recharging herself from the long the run she had made. Her longs were calming down and heart started to pump her blood in her normal tempo again. Meanwhile, eyes were scanning the surroundings in a haste and her ears were searching for the sounds of sirens from the police cars.
She checked in her mind if there was anything that she could do to ease the situation, something that she could do to hide somewhere they couldn't find her, allowing the city to return to his formal state of activity.
This will be better for everyone, for my parents and friends, the cops and that freakish lady with the knife.
It wasn't a choice that she made with confident nor a decision to make herself happy. In her eyes, it was a chosen path that was considered the best option for all the people involved in this mess.
In the mess that I have created, so I need to solve it to, but how? I don't have the power of strength to fix this, even when I am supernatural.
She had convinced herself that this was the best way to end this event, her own hope couldn't rescue her from the next step that she was going to take.
I must leave this country, I need to depart from the Netherlands to find a place where they can't find me. If my parents won't find me, then so be it. If they can't find me, then the kidnappers won't able to find me too. I need to go on a ship and set sail for a distant country to restart my life.
Worthless, that was how she described herself. Unable to fix her own problems, relying only on others to clean all the trouble that she caused. She haven't done anything useful and she would never be able to solving her own mistakes.
She couldn't take the responsibility of being the cause and catalyst of this situation. She could avoid this all, if she was more cautious to notice the people who passed by.
It's all my damn own fault, the best way to resolve this would be me leaving this place.
She hope for a far and distant land: Mexico, Ivory Coast Kenia, New Zealand or Chili, just far enough for everyone to step out their worlds, out of their everyday life.
Her body had recovered herself, but her mind was immediately in panic when she sensed the rag before her mind. The smell of the remnant was oddly comfortable and relaxing, combined by the absurdly hygiene of a laboratory. Before she had the strength to shout out loud what was happening to her, the muscles of her body were in a state of artificial calmness.
I have messed-
Her eyes closed fast, while her mind allowed her to think about only one word:
again…
"Why does our client want this innocent girl anyway? This is already feeling suspicious to me, so if he managed to put us even more off, then I will doubt if we are going to follow his orders."
With the eyes still being closed, she was coming back from a deep slumber, while her ears were starting to collect all the data that they could find.
She felt her heart pumping in her usual tempo, while she was covered by a black sheet, warming her skin to the normal temperature.
It's noisy, I can hear the engines working like a mad person. Am I on the highway or something?
"!"
She was surprised by what she saw when her eyes opened her vision again. With a piece of clothes in her mind, muting her voice, she looked into the eyes of gentleman, probably in his 30s.
This is strange, they are coming over as honest.
"Are you okay?" the voice said calmly, "Sorry, that we have been harsh to you, but at least, you are not hurt."
The man observed her body with a honest smile and worried eyes, where after he sat down next to her on the floor of the van.
The van wasn't that interesting looking from the outside, wearing the logo of local mechanics company and driving as civilized as the most people would do.
"You have been lucky, maybe there will be hope for you. At least you are not captured by these god damn evil folks."
She was frightened by the suddenly change in his voice.
"Don't talk to her in that way, there's a huge possibility that she even didn't hear of them, so don't talk to her with your anger."
Another calm voice commanded with politeness towards the gentleman and made Denise wondering who these people are.
The Rotters, that was the name of the gang, almost specialising in breaking into people's houses to take their electronics and non-sentimental jewellery. The wealthy treasure that they took, where sold for the market price to people who were looking for some new things to purchase. They pretend that they were selling it legally, earning less money than the underground dealers.
Their name wasn't only a reference to the name of the city itself: Rotterdam. Instead, their name was also resembling and symbolizing their status in society, the reputation that they had before this gang was initially formed.
"We are rotten, fallen to the deepest bottom of society. They have never noticed us nor helped us to recover from our mistakes. We are just here, waiting for the day that will never come, waiting to just rot, fighting against the urge to turn ourselves into full-time and merciless criminals."
That was their statement, their reason to disrespect and disobey the rules of society. They laughed about the behaviours of others, who are pretending to fit into this large community of people. The Rotters just did what they pleased and were doing it in their own ways. They found pleasure in their pranks and were teasing the police, which turned them into the rivalries of the cops.
"You have paid no respect to us, treating us like garbage, so we like to make your daily work as complicated as a time traveling machine with multiple time lines in different universes and dimensions."
"I am worried about our boss, we haven't seen him for more than a whole day."
Denise was following the conversation between the different gang members and was confused by their alignment.
"I will visit his home after this whole job. Hopefully, he would like the way that we have handled this, however, if he was in charge of this, then it would be much scarier for her."
The man in charge was pointing with his head towards Denise, who was amazed by the dazzling colour scheme of his hair. The yellow and purple hair person, continued with observing the surroundings and navigation them to their destination, the place where they were supposed to deliver the girl.
What's going on with him? He looks so nice, but still…
"!" the third man in the van was surprised when she saw a masked figure looking through the window at the back of the vehicle. He could see the neck and was overwhelmed by the fact that the person was on the roof of the van.
The driver looked due to the commotion into the rear view mirror and started to panicking. The whole room started to shake as a box of a young child, eager to hear what's inside the box.
"Keep yourself calm!" the yellow and purple haired punk shouted and embraced Denise fully to protect her from any possible damage.
I don't understand this, why is he protecting me and what's that sensation that I felt when that figure appeared? I am causing all of this, putting other people into trouble and attracting all kinds of shady people towards me.
She noticed a few seconds later the tears that she has shed, she has been silently crying while she was thinking about the whole situation.
"It's fine, I have the feeling that we won't put you into even dirtier hands than us," the punk said calmly and comforted her with a short pat on her head.
She slowly got over the crying, while she was still protected by the man, who was also her kidnapper. Meanwhile, the driver got himself under control again and was now completely focus on the road before them. A road that may lead to a dismiss from their side.
Before a bar, somewhere in the city...
Uthan-kun is gone, why would he leave? He is-
Of course, that wasn't the reason what was going on here. Ruri had heard the stories of people getting manipulated into the wrong position, perhaps here was the same thing happening.
"For God's sake, I hope that this is all filmed by Matt, this isn't reality, real-life isn't not an action-packed movie like Rambo," Max reacted in a hysterical manner, which was way more dramatic than the classics works of Shakespeare. One of his main actors was gone, again.
I want to know him, I want to know how he felt during his childhood, I can't let him go now.
She realized that he was the only other person from her kind and that was a thing too precious for her to just give up. It wasn't the fact that she had friends, however, Uthan was so far the only that could really understand her background as a monster.
"I am going to call the police, I can't let you hurt yourself, these kidnappers seems-"
Sandshelt's words were interrupted, not by other words, but by a specific action from one of his actors. With the cell-phone in his hand, he found the disability to call for help, because Kasuka was covering the phone with his right hand. With a dazzled why on his face, he stuttered with a gulp at the beginning of each of his attempts.
"I am sorry to tell you, but it would be better to keep the police out of this situation. There are some things going on that they can't explain, even after a deeply scientific investigation. It's better to handle this problem by ourselves," the single pitch voice of his was at the moment even more extra-ordinary to hear. Max tried to get some grip on the situation with the current information, but failed and as a result became even more astonished.
"Sorry to tell you this, but there's a thing that you didn't know about him. We wanted to explain to you when we having the private conversation, but it seems that that isn't going to happen."
Kasuka took a look around and saw that the bartender was standing from them metres away.
"Simply said, Uthan-kun isn't complete human."
It took Max some time to process the sentence, as it was told to him in Japanese. He attached the right words to the sentence and restructured it to a line of understandable English.
"Nani?", he got frightened by the unclear situation giving to him, resulting in him responding in Japanese.
He witnessed how Ruri Hijiribe and Kasuka Heiwajima exchanged a few faces from Ruri's side. He figured out that there was interaction and communication going on between them, which looked almost like telepathy.
This was going to happen, it's just a few minutes advanced, that's it.
"I hoped that I never have do this again, however, if it is for him, then I am willing to disregard my humanity once more," these words sounded as a poetry in gibberish towards Max.
"You don't have to abandon it, just don't overdo it. Knocking them unconscious will be good enough."
I hope that I won't go full-out on them, that will ruin the whole movie and experience for Sandshelt-kun.
She was certain that Uthan could hold himself restrained, otherwise, that sneak-preview as promotion material wouldn't be done.
Or could I just release a little bit? I don't know how much they can handle.
"Wait, this isn't the time to play as your character. This is something serious, this is no time for role-playing."
Max was going for a strict voice of a teacher, but due to all the confusion in his mind, he failed extremely and sounded like an entitled and spoiled rich child.
Ruri and Kasuka forgave it him, where after Ruri replied with a comment that Sandshelt never saw coming, a comment that would scatter his mind into pieces, figuratively.
"Sandshelt," she started as her face obtained a serious, almost cold expression.
"?"
"Do you remember Hollywood? That serial killer a few years back in Ikebukuro?", she questioned him, the truth couldn't be denied any longer to him.
I still don't trust him fully, but I trust him enough to know that he won't tell it to the others. He's well aware that we like our privacy,
Her expression gave enough hints away to convey the point that she wanted to make, a point about her gruesome past.
Max succeeded in keeping himself calm, while is brain depicted himself kicking the door open of his mind's headquarters, where his consciousness commanded every staff member to process the information that he just got from Ruri. All his mental archives were opened in a chaotic fashion, while the members of the crew were passing notes to each other, where each note was written in a different handwriting.
"I, I see," these words were the only output that he could manage at the moment, the small but noticeable results of his brain's hard work.
Ruri was already pondering how she could find Uthan, she didn't have any clue where he could be at the moment.
I don't know where to begin, so I am grateful that I can at least sense him. Where should I start?
"I could suggest some costumes that will cover your identity. Matt always brings some of his old costumes with him around the globe. You can pick what you want from his collection," Max advised to Ruri. Of course, he doesn't want to lose an idol to a case where she is involved in.
It surprises me that he has figured it out and that he don't try to stop me. He's even supporting this in a some way.
She gave him a small, but grateful smile to thank him and starting running to the film-set.
This was the best that he got, I guess they won't recognize me in this outfit.
Ruri didn't exist anymore as she wore the purple cloak and a colour-matching Venetian carnivals mask. She didn't chose it for a good looking outfit, but rather for the most disguisable pieces in Matt's costume chest. It was good enough to hide her identity, because for an undetermined period of time, she was going to be not human. As long as it was needed to be, she would turn into a monster.
At least, I can sense him, but where should I begin with searching? I am not familiar with this city at all, maybe I will wonder here around after work, together with Kasuka. But back to Uthan, where could he be?
She just had walked up one of the nearby warehouses to get a better grasp of the neighbourhood. There was a multi lane road nearby, but for this hour, it could have been a single lane.
She never thought that she was using the aura sensing to locate someone, which was still difficult to do.
They will probably transport him to somewhere, I may be lucky if I am doing this right.
With a small run-up she jumped with an enormous force in her legs towards the road and landed in style on a bypassing car. With agility she touched every car just for a few second as she was hopping from one car to the next one, trying to find a simple cop between all these citizens.
She got with her hopping-method quicker result than she thought and was first checking the van through the window in the back of the vehicle.
Since why could my senses misled me and how would that be even possible? She pondered as she saw only a few men and a blond girl sitting on the floor of the van.
It seemed that they have seen her, because the whole van began to swing on the road and while she remained her balance, she was already looking for a new car to switch to.
Another faint track of aura putted her mind on sharp, this wasn't an accident, this couldn't be. A second van was approaching the current one and was holding their position next to each other, while swearing words were communicated between the two driver and passengers.
With a gentle step, she switch from van and kept herself low, so that they couldn't notice her.