Chapter 3: Forget the promise of progress and understanding.

Everything moved slowly to Walter; he could sense things better than others. Up until today, it had been annoying at best and overwhelming at worst. Tonight was the first time it had ever caused him pain. Walter found himself curled up in a patch of grass beneath one of many forest trees, with no car or road in sight, but he felt pain. The more he tried to figure out what was wrong with him, the worse he felt. Walter clung to his chest, feeling and hearing his heart hammering against his chest and his stomach squeezing in on itself. His eyes burned from the faint moonlight, but that didn't compare to the headache he was experiencing. It was like turbulent waves were crashing inside his skull, and if he didn't constraint, it would bleed out, and the pain would become worse. Every noise was amplified by a thousand; chirps of tiny animals became gigantic roars, honks of distant cars became explosions, and the ticks from Jerry's wristwatch were as if someone was slamming a gong next to Walter's ears. Still, the ticks were the most pleasant of all the sounds, if only because they were consistent, like a metronome. Walter focused on that, and only that, and in time, the pain lessened.

Looking at the watch, Walter was shocked but not surprised that hours had passed. The party started at eight. Walter had only stayed for forty minutes, and now he was learning that two hours had passed since he had tried to escape the creepy woman and ended up in this field. The thought of her made Walter's head hurt again, and he looked all over, trying to spot her. To his relief, he couldn't see or hear her. Thinking back, she was probably just the result of drinking too much with dozens of pills in his system. That was what he told himself. However, Walter still felt like he was in danger and probably would be if he didn't get home in time to take his medicine before the New Year lights.

For half an hour, Walter stood in place, thinking through his options, finding out where he was and how he got here, and stabilizing himself from what could only have been the worst panic attack in his life. Given how panicky he was when he fled, one of his friends would have likely called his parents, and since he hadn't returned home, they likely had already called the police. If Walter stayed here and hoped the police found him in time, they would probably want to question him and detain him for the night. Walter had been reckless and felt he deserved punishment, but that had to wait for tomorrow; he could not afford to miss his New Year's treatment. His first years without the treatment were terrible, at least according to his parents. In truth, Walter couldn't remember anything about New Year's nights, only that he was a mess.

Looking up at the distant, faint stars, Walter recognized a few constellations and began mapping out his path home in his head. It would be a long and unpleasant walk, but he had always been fast, so if he kept moving, he should make it home in time. When Walter took his first steps forward, he felt twigs and rocks pinch the bottom of his feet. To his confusion, something had torn away the bottom of his shoes and socks.

Massaging his head, Walter tried to think what could have caused this. If he closed his eyes, he saw himself leaping from his car to escape the creepy woman and sliding across the freeway on his feet before bolting off into the forest to hide. However, that was likely just another hallucination. There was no way a human could jump from a vehicle moving that fast and still be able to run. More likely, he had crashed his car somewhere and wandered off in a daze. Walter pressed on and promptly forgot about the vision. As he walked home, he wondered if his friends could still have a good time after his episode, how worried his parents must be, and how other people were enjoying New Year's.

Kara hated New Year's. It was a day of loud noises, people having fun, and false hope. All businesses closed after 14 o'clock at midday, which meant no restaurants to steal food from and no libraries opened for her to clean up in. Homeless shelters were rare but typically packed on this day. The only pleasant thing about this time of year was the final moments of summer, when nights were warm but carried a cool breeze that made sleeping outside pleasant...so long as it didn't rain. There were also many drunk, happy, and undeservingly confident people to swindle.

Kara had laid out a lovely, semi-clean, brown quilt with auburn strips that matched her hair color. She positioned herself in front of the elaborate water fountain that overlooked the rest of the public park. All across the trimmed grass plains were inflatable castles, food stands, carnival rides, rigged game stalls, and hordes of people wandering around until the New Year lights began. With hours to go until the main event, people would come to this fountain to escape the noise and watch as the strange dragon statues squirted multi-colored water as they did every five minutes. Kara noted where the law enforcers had taken post in case her plans went south.

It wasn't long before Kara spotted her next target for the night: a tall, muscular man with a trimmed brown beard traveling with two male friends. She waited until each of them had tossed coins into the fountain to confirm they had money before she pulled out four four-sided dice.

"Did you wish for good fortune, gentlemen?" Kara asked in a friendly tone. Two guys nodded, but the bearded one just had to say something smart.

"Yeah, but it looks like you need it even more."

Kara let out a fake laugh but covered her mouth so they couldn't see her plaque-ridden teeth. One of the bearded guy's friends laughed alongside him while the other frowned and pulled out another coin. He was about to offer it to Kara, but she held up her hand and declined it. She knew she could get more out of these three.

"Oh no, I've got plenty." Kara pulled out a handful of coins and paper credits and laid them out before her. "But, I'm willing to make more. How about you?"

The group smiled and sat down as Kara showed them her dice. "How about a game of Hanged Man's Hue? Check the dice for yourself so you can trust me when I say I didn't rig them. Last year, we got red lights for when the gods smiled at bravery, but I don't think I've taken enough risks. How about you guys?"

Once everyone had tested her dice, they sat in a circle with Kara, who pulled out a wooden bowl from her backpack. Kara made the first bet and placed five coins in the bowl before passing it to the next guy, who did the same. Once everyone had made their initial beats, Kara, as the dealer, went first. In Hanged Man's Hue, the four-sided dice have colors at their tips instead of numbers. Typically, you would want to get as many of the same colors as you could, with four of the same awarding the roller an automatic win. However, Kara didn't care about winning the first round. She needed to build their confidence up first. On her first roll, she got only two blues, and victory went to one of the challengers, who got three greens and took the pot. With the round over, Kara passed the bowl to the man beside her. It was his turn to be the dealer, and just as Kara predicted, he was betting more than the last game.

Once everyone had a turn as the dealer, Kara had lost most of her starting money. All three of the guys congratulated each other on their perceived win.

"Care to go another round?" Kara asked, already putting money into the bowl.

"You don't have much to bet with, but if you insist," said one of the men.

It took everything in Kara not to smile. She waited for everyone to place their bets before she rolled the dice and got four perfect blues. The three men's jaws dropped as Kara collected all the money and passed the bowl. As Kara expected, no grown man would want to admit they lost a gambling game to a scrawny high-school girl. They kept playing, hoping their luck would return, but as the game progressed, Kara demolished that hope. Kara kept rolling perfect rolls, or at least three out of four of the same colors, while none of the other players got more than two. What's worse, the sunk cause-cost fallacy had set in, and the men kept playing, even after they had lost all the money they had started with. The breaking point was when all three men rolled one of each color on their respective turns as dealers, which were automatic losses.

"Care to go again?" Kara said, already playing with the dice in her hand.

The bearded man stood up. His face was beat red, and a vein popped on his forehead. Kara tried to look behind him to spot a law officer, but they had moved on.

"You're doing something!" the man yelled.

"You rolled the dice before we started. Nothing's wrong with them!" Kara was being honest. She hadn't done anything to the dice, but at the same time, she felt like she had cheated. There was no way to explain it; she always rolled well when concentrating. It drove her stepdad crazy; it was one of her few pleasant memories of him.

"Hey, Jun, let it go," one of the bearded man's buddies said, putting himself between Jun and Kara. "It's not worth it."

The man named Jun huffed and kicked the bowl of money at Kara. She was stunned for a second but began scoping up the credits and coins as the grown men walked away. She was thankful the exchange hadn't gotten worse than what had happened the first time she had tried to do this. The thought made Kara scratch at the faded scar across her left cheek. Once Jun and his friends were out of sight and Kara had collected the money, she went to the food stalls to get dinner.

In the fourish years Kara had been living alone, she had picked up hundreds of survival strategies. However, she had two weaknesses: money and food. A wise woman would find a safe place to hide the money, as banks didn't hold money for anyone without a fixed address, but Kara tended to listen to her stomach rather than her mind. The smell of boiled ovirasters, fried chicken, cakes, and chips was too tempting. By the end of her splurge, Kara's pockets were nearly empty, but her stomach packed for the first time in a month. She was proud of herself for saving anything at all.

Once she had her fill, she started the long walk back to her camp, hoping to get there before the New Year lights went off. For a moment, she was glad to be away from all the crowds, but when she was walking alongside a road, with nothing but the chill and tessterras to keep her company, she began to wish she had someone to walk along a dark road with. Someone to tease, complain to, or even walk in silence with so that she wouldn't feel alone.

While she walked through the city, Kara noticed park benches with bumps to keep people like her from sleeping on them. Further on, it became impossible not to spot the metal bolts sticking out of every building's steps like warts. Even outside the city and walking beside the highway, the government had laid out stone spikes underneath bridges. Still, humanity tended to be stubborn, as Kara noticed a mattress placed over the spikes. A man in clothes more torn up than Kara's was leaning against one of the spikes while a woman slept on the makeshift bed with her arms wrapped around a little girl. The mom and dad had scabs across their skin and sunken cheeks, but the child looked as healthy as one could get for living under a bridge. This child couldn't have been older than five but already had more than Kara. Kara signed, dug into her packers, and put the last of her winnings in an empty tin soup can next to the father.

"I was gonna waste it anyway," Kara whispered to herself. As she turned around, she felt something grab her arm, and her blood frozen in her tightened veins. She spun around to see the homeless father, his eyes wide open and glowing blue. Kara opened her mouth to scream, but it felt like an invisible weight was pressing down her lips.

"Don't be afraid," the man said in a voice that sounded like it changed tone, pitch, and accent with every syllable. He stared into Kara's eyes and smiled, showing all his chipped and rotting teeth. "Continue on your path. By this time next year, you will be part of the Great Game!"

His blue, glowing eyes disappeared and returned to a standard brown. The homeless man stopped smiling and looked as dazed as someone who had been hit in the head by a nuffle ball. He let go of Kara, who wasted no time running far away from the bridge. She did not stop until she had reached the farm where she had hidden her camp. The elderly couple that owned this farm, the Alfredsons, had more land than they knew what to do with, and their weird son was always obsessed with his work on the other side of the farm. Not once had they had never ventured this far to find her.

Past one of the silos, over a tiny hill, and hidden next to a creak underneath overgrown trees and bushes was Kara's tan tent. Once she entered, she fell to her side and let out a long groan as she felt her back and legs ache from her run. As scary as the man with the glowing eyes was, it wasn't unheard of to find people abusing weird drugs on the streets. Hopelessness is a terrible thing to deal with sober, and chances are, that's why some people end up homeless anyway. It's why she learned to avoid other homeless people; it's better to be alone than with another scar. However, while the drug theory could explain his strange behavior, voice, and message, it couldn't explain the eyes. Thinking about it made Kara's head sore, so she eventually gave up trying to figure it out and instead curled up and closed her eyes, hoping she wouldn't encounter anything that weird again.

"Where are you, bitch!" a familiar voice yelled. Kara didn't move and listened for the man to shout again. "I know you're here somewhere. Come on out!"

It was Jun! He had followed her, but for how long, and how come she didn't notice? Kara wanted to smack herself for not checking if a car was following her, but none of the people she had crossed had stalked her for so long. She held her breath and went completely still. The only part of her that moved was her eyes as Kara tried to spot Jun through her tent in the darkness. In the distance, she heard a dog growling and became more nervous. The Alfredsons didn't own a dog, so Jun must have brought one to track Kara.

"I'm gonna kill you, bitch! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO-huh?"

For a few seconds, the world became silent until it came to a violent end as Jun let out a scream more horrific than anything Kara could have imagined. Snarls, growls, and a sicking tearing noise soon replaced Jun's screaming, and they counted long after. Droplets of something pelleted Kara's tent before something big crashed into the side of her tent with a sicking squish. Kara waited for the chaos to stop before she crawled to the front of the tent and zipped it open just enough to glace outside. There, she saw two glowing red eyes staring back at her.

Whatever it was that spotted Kara pouched at her, letting out a loud bark that sounded more like a cannon shot. It barely missed Kara but destroyed her tent. Kara dropped her backpack and forced herself to run even faster than when the blue-eyed man had grabbed her. Nearby was a silo which Kara started climbing up. She was about halfway up when the entire structure shook, causing her to lose her grip. She just managed to catch herself, but as she dangled, she got a look at her attacker below.

It was a dog in the loosest sense of the word. It was covered in red scales, was as big as a car, and had frills where ears should be. Its snout was covered in dried blue blood, mixed with Jun's fresh red blood, and Kara could see that because its eyes were burning brightly like torches. The monster let out another bark before it rammed into the silo. Kara screamed incoherently for help as the beast rammed into the silo again and again. She heard it let out a series of guttural snarls from below as she kept climbing, not daring to look back. Once she was close to the top of the silo, the beast let out one last roar before Kara heard a loud thud, followed by silence.

The ordeal had left Kara shaking so severely that she was afraid her jittering hands would slip off the silo's ladder. She kept expecting the dog to start ramming the silo again or some other horror to drag her down, but Kara was too afraid to check. It was only when her arms began to grow sore that Kara had to look down. The red dog was now lying on its side with a pitchfork jammed so deep into its right eye that the only part visible was its handle and spiked prongs sticking out the back of the dog's skull. Standing over the dead creature was a tall, gangly boy with pointy ears and hair like wet coal.

"W-Walter, I-i-is that you?" Kara tried to ask as she climbed down the ladder. Walter didn't answer at first. He just kept staring intently at the monster. It was hard to believe he was capable of killing such a creature. Slender build aside, he was dressed like a dork who had his shoes stolen by bullies.

"I-i-is it dead?" Kara asked.

Walter spun his head to face Kara so fast it looked like he had broken his neck. He didn't appear to be staring at her, and he held his mouth open for a good while before he blinked and shook his head.

"Oh. Um. What just happened?" He asked.

"I think you just killed that!" Kara yelled, pointing at the monster.

Walter looked back at the monster and tilted his head. "Oh, yeah. I heard someone calling for help, and I guess I killed it."

"What do you mean, you guess? I think I would remember killing a giant dog. Or whatever it was."

"I just…I don't know got lost in the adrenaline. This is…strange. Normally, I get sad when animals die, but I don't feel that way about this thing."

"Maybe because it was trying to kill me like it did to some asshole earlier."

Walter spun around way too fast again and looked down at Kara. His eyes were now swelling up, and he started sobbing. "Someone was killed! I never should have left the farm. I knew there was something bad here. This is what killed the beluacaris! What if that dog had gotten mom and dad? Oh, what if the person who died was a parent? They had to be someone's son! Why couldn't I have done more."

"Hey, hey, hey, quit it. The guy was going to kill me, so there's no need to get too upset." Kara walked over and stood on her toes to pat Walter on the back. Even then, she had to stretch her arm as he was as tall as a stop sign. "I always knew you were emotional, but I didn't know you were a badass."

"What? Do we know each other?" Walter stopped crying for a moment and leaned closer to Kara. It was uncanny how he could go from a blubbering mess one moment to a cold, stone-faced examiner the next. "You're Kara Hume," Walter said in a dry tone as if he were reading off a textbook. "We were freshmen in high school together, but you stopped attending class after three months."

"Um…it's just Kara now. Thanks again for saving me. By the way, what happened to your shoes?"

Walter looked down and rubbed his head. "I've had a pretty strange night."

"Yeah, me too." Kara wanted to say more but couldn't stop thinking about this monster dog and the homeless man's 'Great Game.' Perhaps she would tell Walter about it tomorrow, but all she wanted to do was search the wreckage of her tent for a sleeping bag.

"I was…just passing through when that thing attacked," Kara said, lying slightly. "I'm going to grab a few things and leave."

"Can I follow you?" Walter asked. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt by one of those things. I…I was attacked by a strange monster years ago myself."

Kara felt her mouth drop, and she found herself lost for words. All she could ask herself was how long Walter had been dealing with these things. Kara nodded, dreading facing another monster, and led the way back to her tent. While she appreciated having safe company for once, walking next to Walter was like walking next to nothing unless you talked with him. It didn't matter if they walked on grass, gravel, or dirt; his footsteps made no sound. He would out-pace Kara occasionally, only to stop and let her pass by before doing so again.

"Are you doing that to be annoying?" she asked.

"No, I've just got a lot on my mind, and I'm trying not to think about anything right now. I've got to make a conscious effort to walk normally."

"Are you saying you normally walk too fast?"

"Yes."

"Well, that might have saved my life, so I'm going to pretend it's not freaky for now."

When Kara could hear the creek singling, her camp was near. Walter placed an arm in front of her. "Let's turn around," he said.

"Hey, I need to get my stuff!"

"Kara, remember when you said that monster killed a man who was after you? Well…what's left of him is all over your camp. I can see it even in the dark."

At that, Kara remembered the droplet sounds and the thing that squished against her tent. She felt like she was going to throw up. As she gaged, she felt Walter gently patting her back.

"Kara…do you have a place to stay tonight?" he asked. "It's too late to go off on your own. You can stay with my family for tonight."

"Thanks, but I think your folks will have a problem with a stranger like me."

"I'm much stranger than you, and they took me in. You'll be welcomed."

Kara was too exhausted to keep protesting and followed Walter. As they walked, he told her about how he was adopted, the mysterious crash he was in, and how a monster even weirder than the dog almost killed him. Walter's story was so detailed that Kara thought he had wanted to say this for a long time. His story only stopped when the blue and white house came into view. Kara was surprised to see the lights were still on this late.

"The sky should be turning any second now," Kara said, looking up at the sky.

"What?" Walter stopped walking and looked at his wristwatch as his body began shaking. Kara felt unsteady just looking at him. "No! No! I thought I had more time!" Walter said, hyperventilating. I can't even get a small dosage in!"

"Walter, what's the matter? What's this about a dosage?"

"I need to be tranquilized! It's the only way I can get through the lights! It takes two hours to take full effect, and we don't even have that!"

"Walter, you're not making any sense. Why do you need to be tranquilized? What's going to happen?"

From above, the two watched as the faint stars dimmed and the sky became as black as ink.

"It's too late," Walter breathed.

Blue lights streaked across the dark heavens, rolling and crashing into each other like waves. Pink stars popped, multiplied, and exploded faster than the eye could track. Between the tides of madness were trails of orange flames that seemed to spell out scripts in an indecipherable language. As much as Kara hated this time of year, even she was captivated by the natural light show of Malcula.

"Blue this year. They say blue is a good year for inventors and making big changes. Got any-" Kara stopped when she saw Walter had collapsed on the ground. His limbs were twitching erratically, and he saw slamming his head up and down. Worst of all, his eyes were glowing blue like the homeless man.

"Walter! Can you hear me? What do I do?" Kara cried out, but Walter only bellowed unintelligible phrases. That was terrifying on its own, but it only became worse when he said things Kara could understand in between fits of gibberish.

"The Great Game continues, and we are but pieces! The gods laugh over planets of corpses as the galaxy burns! The Carrion Lord has sent a descendant of ash to deliver us to the stars! The blood of billions will stain our hands! There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods!"

Kara charged to Walter's house and slammed her fists against the door. When it didn't open immediately, she kicked and rammed her shoulder at the door until it fell off its rusty hinges. Walter's parents were inside the house, gathered around a table with open phone books and used tissues. Their red, puffy eyes widened when they saw Kara and Ms. Alfredson drop the phone in her hand, leaving it dangling off its cord.

"Walter's just outside. He's having a seizure," Kara explained.

The two knocked down their chairs and didn't ask any questions as Kara led them to Walter. While he wasn't thrashing around anymore, his eyes were still glowing, and he was mumbling weird things again. His parents lifted him up and began to carry him inside. Kara, unsure what to do, followed them as they brought him to his room and laid him down on his bed.

"You must be one of Walter's friends. Thank you for finding him for us," Ms. Alfredson said to Kara.

"What's your name?" Mr. Alferdson asked.

"Kara."

"You're folks are probably worried about you. Do you need a ride home?"

"No…they're not worried," Kara answered sadly.

The Aldredson couple looked at each other before nodding in silent agreement. Ms. Alfredson pointed to a door further down the hallway.

"There's our guest room. Right, don't you sleep there for tonight?"

Kara gave a barely audible thank you as she stumbled into the room and collapsed onto the bed. Despite how drained she had become, her mind was filled with unanswered questions. The last thing Walter and his parents needed was a gambling high-school dropout pestering them about strange monsters and mad ramblings. Despite how firm and warm this bed was, Kara reminded herself not to get used to it. She would leave early in the morning before any of the Alfredsons woke up…

…maybe stay for breakfast, if they'd let her…

…and then, she would leave when she knew Walter was okay…

…perhaps she could stay to do a few chores to make up for the fact she squatted on their property for several years, but then she would leave.

*In coming spoilers*

*Note from the author: Thank you for the views so far and for being patient. Coming later this week is the Rogue Trader (hey, wasn't this story called Rogue Eldar?)