chyp: It's always fun to get new things, and the more expensive they are, the better!
Traffic slowed Wesley down as he inched his way along one of the many Peachtree Streets. Atlanta was a nice enough city, he thought to himself, but he could hardly understand how people managed to get around. Atlanta was home to over thirty streets with the same name: Peachtree. There was Peachtree Road, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Trail, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Street, the list just went on and on. Even James sometimes had trouble maneuvering through the city, and he had been raised there, albeit in a suburb.
Somewhat impatient, Wesley abruptly turned off of Peachtree Street onto a smaller road that he believed to be an alternate route to the Main Library. This was an unprecedented move for him; he usually only knew one way to get to any given place, and he seldom, if ever, deviated from that known path. But now he was tired and just wanted to the day to end. He liked the idea of being different from other people, but he disliked the additional responsibility that came with the job.
As he drove down the empty street, he found his way back to the Peachtree Street he had been on earlier, but now he was much further along. Pleased with himself, he slowly merged back onto the main road, after cutting off two cars. It was after he got back onto the road that he saw what caused the buildup of vehicles. Turning down the music, he saw a large group of people staring at something, or someone. Still inching down the street, he craned his neck to look. Suddenly, he saw a person, the same guy who lay in his house just hours ago, tear through the crowd and race down the sidewalk. He immediately noticed the bloodstain on the boy's shoulder and recognized him. Wesley sighed, slightly annoyed, and stopped his Ford Explorer, much to the dismay of the cars behind him. He turned his hazard lights on and started chasing after the youth.
"Hey!" he shouted as he ran after the boy. With a shoulder wound like that, the boy ran amazingly fast.
Jordan knew that voice. He turned back momentarily to see Wesley running after him. He groaned. Wesley was a track star and even at his current pace, he knew that it would not be long before Wesley caught up with him. He ran even faster, weaving through the many concerned people. Some had already taken out their cellular phones, calling for help. Holding his shoulder with a pained expression, Jordan ran around a corner and into another stream of pedestrians. Wesley was hot in pursuit. He wanted to find this guy as quickly as possible, but things certainly were not going his way.
"Excuse me, excuse me," he kept saying as he pushed through people.
He was getting closer to the blond before he turned another corner. Wesley ran behind him, turning the corner along with him. Before he could extend his hands out to hopefully freeze the culprit, he was gone. All Wesley saw was remnants of blue and white lights, causing him to blink furiously and look again. Had he just seen the boy glimmer? He walked back to his car, which took longer than usual, and ran the scene back in his head the whole way.
Matthew and James parked in the parking lot of Lenox Mall so that their intentions would not be deemed suspicious. They walked around the mall and saw the tall brown building that they had seen on the news. The building looked like a normal building, brown in color, and constructed from bricks. There was a small sign in the front of it that said "MENSA of Atlanta." Without that sign, no one outside of MENSA might never have known about the place.
The two brothers noticed the yellow police tape that spanned the length of the building. Two police cars blocked the entrance of the building, while the police officers stood outside. One officer wrote things in a small notebook and the other talked through her radio.
"How do we get in?" James asked. "Too bad Wes isn't here."
"Through the back," Matthew advised him. "There are only two cars out there. I see those two out in front of the building. I'm assuming that they're the only ones around right now."
"We should hurry up," James said, looking at his watch. "It's almost five o'clock and the sun's going down. And I have…"
"A date tonight, I get it!" Matthew finished his sentence.
"That's not what I was gonna say," James said.
"Yes, it was," Matthew said. "We'll just take a quick peek to make sure it's not demon related, then we'll leave the police to handle it. It'll take five minutes at the most."
"Alright," James said as his cell phone beeped.
"Homeboy?" Matthew asked.
"No," James said. "I gotta take this call. You go ahead and I'll meet you in a minute."
"You're kidding," Matthew said. "You're putting your girlfriend over your brother?"
"It's important," James said, showing Matthew the text message.
"Jimmy," Matthew said, "don't be stupid. The sooner you come in, the sooner you can get out. Besides, if there's anything in there, I'll need your help."
"Fine," James said, returning the phone to his pocket, "but if this message really is more important, I'm gonna kick your ass."
"Whatever," Matthew said.
The two calmly walked past the front of the building, casually looking at the two officers as they strode past. Since there was no direct way to the building from the mall parking lot, they had to go in front of it, then sneak around to the back. Upon reaching the back, Matthew heard a strange noise that seemed to come from beneath him.
"You hear that?" he asked James.
"Hear what?" James asked.
"It sounded like a…a subdued scream," Matthew said. "I think it may have come from inside. Let's go."
Touching James' shoulder, Matthew activated his phasing power. Both brothers became slightly transparent, and walked through the back wall. Inside, they found that everything looked abandoned. There was a sort of eerie quietness throughout the place, but Matthew knew that he and James were not alone. The building was taller than it was wide, which meant that the headquarters was spread over many floors.
"There's a directory here," Matthew pointed out to James as he walked toward the staircase. "Let's check out the personnel office. There might be something we can go on in there."
"Like what?" James asked.
"Maybe a list of current members," Matthew suggested.
"I think the room is down that way," James pointed down the hall, "but we'd have to cross the front door. It's glass and the cops might see us."
"Clone yourself," Matthew suggested, "and go talk to the cops. See if you can get anything out of them."
"I can't hardly control myself and a clone at the same time," James protested. "Everything gets all weird. My vision goes double, my movement is…"
"Just do it," Matthew urged.
James took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Moments later he opened them. In one field of vision he saw Matthew standing next to him. In the other field of vision he saw himself in his own truck, still in the parking lot. Slowly, the clone exited the truck and approached the two police officers. Matthew had to constantly maneuver James' original body to keep it from walking into a wall.
"Excuse me," the clone James said as he approached the officers. "What's going on around here?"
"It's official police business," the female officer said. "You should stay away from here until we know what's going on."
"You mean with the disappearances?" James asked.
"You an investigator?" the male officer asked, putting his notebook away and joining the female.
"Uh, no," James replied. "Just curious, that's all."
"Well as long as you keep watching the news," the female informed him, "you'll know as much as you need to. Have a good day."
A few minutes later, Matthew noticed James take a deep breath as his clone disappeared and he became one again.
"I got nothing," James said.
"Well it wasn't a total loss," Matthew said, pointing out their location. "While you distracted them, I moved us across to the personnel room."
"Nice," James said. He flicked his finger and the door flew open. "Let's see what's in here."
The two brothers searched throughout the room, looking for anything that could be helpful. While James shuffled through the cabinets and file folders, Matthew typed away on the computer. As they searched, a strange moaning sound drifted upwards. Matthew stopped; this marked the second time he had heard a weird sound. He looked at James, who wore a perplexed look on his face. Apparently, this time he heard it as well.
"You heard that, right?" Matthew asked.
"Yeah," James answered. "What do you think it was?"
"No idea," Matthew said, "but the longer we stay in here, the more I think that this is demon related."
"I was afraid you'd say that," James said, sighing.