deckerroosevelt

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 15, part 2

   The man gave Decker a smug grin. “That took too long. Have you lost the touch of this? It’s been long hasn’t it? Where were you for all these years, huh?”

   “None of your business, Millie. You didn’t die then? You took the body of an innocent man?” He seemed extremely frustrated. “Look, it all was an acc–”

   “Don’t you dare.” allegedly Millie hissed. “Don’t you dare to say that again. I know you and behind all that soft tissue there’s ice. Even I wouldn’t take you as my victim.” 

   Suddenly the footage went out and we didn’t hear nor see anything. The officers started rushing all around trying to get a connection inside the room. But I bet there was no way to do so. I mean if a two way mirror suddenly becomes a one way mirror, there’s nothing you can do really. We who knew that looked at each other. 

   “We should head back. We should prepare for tomorrow, right? We’re still going over to that grandma you talked about, Loki?” Yumekui suggested. “You coming?”

   “Y’all go ahead. I want to stay for a bit longer.” They left.

   I was left there puzzled. A thought in the back of my mind had surfaced back after all of my attempts to silence it. I had so many unanswered questions of Decker and now I was certain he had something to hide. Obviously. Could I sneak inside? The door was locked but I could try. 

   I looked at the lock but then I got an idea. What if I could just forget the lock? It was silly but it could work and if it worked it would be more than just getting inside. I could come up with a way to use my ‘ability’. I closed my eyes and tried to open the door quietly. Luckily the door wasn’t loud but it did not open. 

  I took a deep breath and tried again. No luck. I started to worship the thought there was no door at all inside my mind and I didn’t even realise it before I was inside. The door didn’t open but I went inside through it. And neither Decker nor Millie seemed to notice me. I kept thinking that I was one with the wall and eavesdropped on them.

   “How many do you have now?” Millie asked bitterly with a totally changed voice. Her form had changed from the man to a creature with long black hair and a huge zebra swallowtail on her face. Her structure was modified to have a tall torso but half of the spine was formed from broken rib bones. Her collarbones were out like all the victims had. Her words were cold and rough.

   “Does it matter? I’m basically helping them.”

   “Helping you say?! Did you help me too? Am I saved? I don’t think so. I don’t like to kill you know? But I have to because I have a bigger mission”, she laughs.

   “No, you don’t. You should have died back then. That’s your faith. Now you’re just escaping your faith and trying to justify your life with no meaning. You are a burden to society. Literally”, he answers with an unnaturally calm voice.

   “You are the useless one! You should die! Maybe I have to take you after all”, she reached for Decker with a sudden action and the table shattered. 

   “I have stuff left to do. You don’t. So, what if I should take your life and then I can do more research on you. I did hope I could do it while you were alive. Millie, you are a peculiar one and extremely interesting, you know?” he reached for the butterfly on her face.

   “No! Don’t call me Millie! I’m Jane and you can’t change that! Jane, Jane, Jane! I remember it!” her now visible eyes were wide and had a hint of madness in them when she smiled. “How’s Judy? Did you take her at last? What name did you give her?”

   Decker crushed the butterfly and some purple liquid oozed out of it on Millie’s slash Jane’s face.

   “Keep Judy safe. I’ll come back from the dead to crush you if something happens to her”, she threatened but she had already accepted her faith. Somehow she seemed a bit relieved but at the time this Judy was very important to her. Who was she? 

   I slipped out of the room through the wall and started running away from the station. I had to get to the house before Decker could. The others could know about Judy.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 15

We had just gotten to the door of the Miracle company with a searching licence. The doors are shut so a police officer aggressively bangs on the door. 

   “Police, open up!” 

   After a couple of minutes the man we saw earlier opened up with a confused and annoyed expression. “What’s going on? You have no right to investigate here.”

   “Actually, we got a licence after connecting you to an attempt to kill a girl in a school funded by Ms Miracle”, Decker smiled and showed the papers to the secretary’s face. “In other words, let us see her. Now, please.”

   The man explained that Miracle wasn’t in the building at the moment and we invaded inside to search while we waited. He didn’t seem pleased but who would. Everything was too normal in her study. Papers, files, pens, snacks. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except a faint sharp smell. We weren’t able to locate the smell’s origin but it wasn’t that strong. Maybe just some bad spoiled food somewhere. 

   The deeper we went the dirtier the place got. The factory area itself was completely empty and dirty. However trucks allegedly full of their products left every morning from there. There were no records of any employees in years. 

   We left the factory with our hand practically empty except that the secretary whose name we didn’t get was taken to be questioned at the station and the factory was temporarily closed for suspicious activities. We got to watch while an officer tried to question the man. 

   “What’s your name?”

   “I don’t have any ID.”

   “Then how come you have a job?”

   “I wouldn’t call it a job.”   “So you don’t get paid? Why don’t you just quit?”

   “I can’t.”

   “Sure you can.”

   Silence.

   “What do you know of the school? Have you ever met this girl called Merinda?”

   “Yes.” A grin.

   “Was it a part of your job?”

   “I wouldn’t call it a job.”

   “I know. You said that earlier. Could you answer my question?”

   “I could.”

   “Will you?”

   “No.”

   The officer gets up frustrated and leaves the room. The man stays there looking at the exact same spot where the officer had sat as if he never left. Everyone was expressing their frustration and trying to come up with ideas of how to get answers. I kept my eyes on the man. 

   Clatter.

   Goosebumps go down my skin and my stomach turns.

   Clatter.

   He looks deep into my eyes even though it’s a two way mirror. 

   His eyes snapped out when the door flung open and Decker stepped inside. He didn’t have as intimidating aura as the officer but somehow the man seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden.

   “Millie Miracle”, Decker smiled and looked down. He set his eyes intensely to the man. “Hello at last.”

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 14, part 2

   Shards of glass shattered everywhere and the knocking on her door echoed everywhere. It was a lot louder than I had anticipated. I pulled Merinda up to the window and we started climbing down. The knocking ended and we shared a gaze. I jumped down and a sharp pain on my legs made me fall. I got up quickly and helped Merinda down. She was quite weak so I held her up. Lucky enough she was quite small sized because I wasn’t that strong myself. 

   A tall figure towered in front of the main doors. It was taller than the doors but its spine was a bit weird. I realised I was staring when Merinda grabbed my hand and started running. The figure moved and I ran too. An orange flickering light burned my eyes in the dark. The huge bonfire. People with collarbones outside their chest were in a circle around it. We were supposed to get them at some point too. I couldn’t say why but they are pretty crowning human’s neck and chest areas. 

   Merinda yanked my hand with a sudden turn to the left. We left behind the school and ran on the street. I tasted blood in my mouth and my legs were screaming from pain. Merinda just kept running. She was so brave. A shadow grew on top of us and Merinda speeded more. The shadow was getting larger and stronger. With a sudden move we lunged to the car drive and a bony thump echoed on the ground. Before I processed anything we were on the run again but the shadow wasn’t behind us anymore. It was in the front and we ran right to the owner of it. 

   Decker.

   “Stupid, stupid, stupid Ambeth”, he cursed and dragged us to a car and speeded away. The journey was completely silent and Decker’s anger could be sensed all around the car. Merinda had passed out but I didn’t dare to look at her nor Decker. 

   We took Merinda to our guestroom. Decker made sure I didn’t believe she would stay. She had her own family and life. He then took me to his office and handed my book to me. 

   “Look up your teachers. Tell me everything that’s suspicious.” I did as I was told. It felt like reuniting with an old friend. First I looked up some of our teachers and the headmaster. Most of them had a colourful past with crimes and drugs. Lastly I found Mr Banting and a name popped to my eyes. Millie Miracle. His wife was the owner of the Miracle company. Could they be connected?

   “Yes! Finally! You know what this means, Ambeth dear?” he asked me, eyes full of triumph.

   “No?”

   “We got a reason to interrogate Mr Banting's family and through that Miracle! You know what Loki found from your room? Miracle’s pills. We can charge the company for aiding the school’s cult and that way we can connect our case to this.”

   He took his hat and his jacket and left me there. The school would get put down. Would I be separated from Merinda? What does it matter? She will see where I live and who I live with. What if she’ll be scared? There are so many things I don’t know about her yet.

   My book caught my eyes. It was just lying there without supervision. I could get answers to every question I have about her. Just a peek wouldn’t hurt, would it?

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 14 (Ambeth)

They were going to burn Merinda and I was locked into my room. I looked at the clock. 6 hours until the ceremony would be done. Soon tears blurred my vision and I buried my face in my hands. I felt extremely cold from the fear. I tried to curl up under my blanket but I couldn’t sleep.

   How dared Decker lock me up here when my only friend outside was walking to her death. I betted he wouldn’t even do anything to it. He was behind all this. If I would’ve never gone to the school, I wouldn’t know Merinda and I would be sleeping peacefully. 

   I threw the blanket away and stumbled to my closet. I packed a small bag. Some extra clothes for Ambeth and I layered many shirts over myself. I wouldn't be able to get my  jacket nor my outside shoes. I only had  my sneakers that wouldn’t be so warm in the snow. I didn’t care. 

   After my bag was packed I went to the window. The wall had some cracks in it that made some risky but usable steps down. Unfortunately the wind was quite strong today. It was dark there but after I’d got a reasonable distance from the house, light would go normally again.  

   I placed my foot on one of the first cracks. It was smaller than I remembered or I had just grown. My foot slipped and my stomach turned but fortunately I got a hold of the wall. I lifted myself up and placed my foot to a better crack. I got down without any further heart attacks. 

   After I got down I had to collect my thoughts. What was I doing exactly? Saving Merinda of course. But how? I don’t know yet but we’ll see. I began my journey and went to the school in complete silence. I had trusted the adults there. How did things end up like this? Merinda had bragged a lot about the ceremony. They said she was special. And she was. But not their special. My special. She didn’t deserve such death at such a young age. If I had my boom I could have looked up the teachers. I was desperately trying to find someone to blame. Decker, the teachers but in reality I had given so many good words about Merinda. Whenever a teacher talked about Merinda I always had to compliment her to them. It could be my fault. But who would be dying instead of Merinda? Me?

   The school looked utterly threatening in the dark and after I had found out its secret. One window had lights on and I assumed it was Merinda. She was told to stay there alone for a few days. She had been in isolation for three days to prepare. Her soul had to be “clean” they said.  I ran to the gutter and climbed to the window. Knock, kno- Her face was on the window. Usually so pretty Merinda who now looked terrible. She had the most terrified face I had ever seen. After seeing her face I saw the door. It was jammed shut with all kinds of furniture and someone was constantly knocking there. Merinda’s mouth formed a ‘help’ but I couldn’t hear a thing. How long had she been shouting there while we were out on breaks? The handle had been removed and I couldn’t break the window. Whoever was knocking would hear and go down to wait for us. But I had no other chance. I looked down and analysed that if we’d fall we wouldn’t die. Just get hurt. 

   I took out my notebook and ripped a page. On it I wrote: “We need to get out quickly after I break the window. Can you do it?” She nodded but I think she didn’t really process anything. I didn’t care and smashed the window with a rock I took from the ground before climbing.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 13, part 5

   “Who is your P.E. teacher, Ambeth dear?” Decker questioned with a cool expression.

   “He’s a very professional dietitian. He told us. His name is Alexander Banting but we call him Mr Banting.”

   “Your P.E. the teacher is a man?!” Treacher asked in surprise. “And he taught you that worrying about your weight is a good thing? You’re a freaking child. Tomorrow I’ll come to the school and have a chat with this Banting.”

   “But tomorrow we have a ceremony. You can’t come”, Ambeth put back.

   “A what? I don’t remember putting you to a religious school.” Now Decker looked extremely puzzled. So was I. What on earth was going on at Ambeth’s school.

   “No,  it’s different. Tomorrow is the big day for Merinda. She is the chosen one. She gets to meet a prophet that runs the school. I need to be there to support her and nothing can go wrong!” she screamed.  

   “Did you put her in a cult school, Decker? Where did you find that school exactly?” Neda was stunned.

   “That’s not important. We need to stay calm. You said they will have a ‘ceremony’ for Miranda tomorrow? What kind?”

   “A cult–? Oh god… They will burn her. Oh, no. She will die! She can’t–” Ambeth panicked and ran out of the room. “Not on my watch!”

   “Ambeth, wait!” I shouted but she was gone already. I got a bad feeling and ran to her room. Empty. “Ambeth!” Silence. 

   A package caught my eye on the floor. ‘Miracle diet pills’ it said on the front. I snatched it and ran downstairs.

   “Ambeth left and look what I found from her room”, I showed the pills. Decker got up and strided away without saying anything. He had that unreadable face while going again and I was left there looking at the others in confusion. Everything happened so fast. 

   I felt like I had to go after them both but I honestly didn’t want to. I didn’t want to face whatever would lie in there. Call me a coward but I sat down with the others. 

   The hours went by and we kept waiting. It was soon midnight and we hadn’t heard anything at all. We all were getting worried and I felt a weight in my stomach. I should have gone there.  

   Then a click of the door echoed through the otherwise silent house. We all got up in a hurry and ran to the hall. There was Decker and Ambeth who was in distress. He didn’t say anything, just walked past us holding Ambeth’s hand.

   “I need to help her!” Ambeth cried. “You can’t just let everything happen–”

   Decker took her to her room and locked the door. “This is for your own best Am.”

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 13, part 4

    It was nice finally being able to talk to Ambeth outside. She talked about her school days and I got to be involved in the conversations in the crime scenes. Not with the police though. They knew it was a paranormal case, I mean that’s why we were there, but we didn’t want to make them paranoid. Decker explained that people don’t want to know that there’s something they can’t notice. Of course it meant that I wouldn’t get credit for my ideas but at least my closest people knew to give me credit. I don’t feel so useless anymore. I can just walk to places which has turned out to be quite beneficial especially when a company that doesn’t want anyone to come inside is involved.

   I had gone twice or thrice to the Miracle company but I haven’t been able to locate Ms Miracle herself yet. It was like she never came to work. I shouldn’t have been so scared there as I was. We were sure that the creature wasn’t able to remember me. Otherwise it would’ve killed me there. The factory was still a bit spooky. Not like haunted spooky. But it was just wrong. I never saw anyone smile and everyone was like moulded from the same mould. There were a lot of sick “motivational” signs like “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” and “Be the best version of yourself and skip meals.” I know those are very toxic but they just penetrate into your mind. 

   I was completely in my thoughts walking to Ambeth’s school. I bumped into a few people  but of course it makes no difference if I just continue or apologise.

   “Loki! What a coincidence!” a familiar voice came from ahead. 

   “Mary! Is that you?” my mood brightens.

   “Yes. I moved a few weeks ago. My stuff is still here and there but I finally got my kitchen done so I was going to do groceries. How have you been?”

   I surface the case we’re having to her. “We’re a bit stuck with it. The Miracle company’s not cooperative and even if I could go there, we couldn’t even find Ms Miracle herself. One of us got badly injured during an attack and we still haven’t made progress.”

   “The Miracle? They have been big in the industry for such a long time. And I live quite near. I’ll keep my eyes open for you. Come to have dinner some day. And take your friends with you too!” she smiled warmly. 

   “Sundays are ‘off’ for us but it’s not really a job. It’s a hobby if you could say so. Do you have anything next Sunday? Some third party opinion would be appreciated.”

   “That’s set then! Now I’ll have to go plan the meal. See you then! I’ll text you my address”, she waved and walked in the opposite direction.

   Mine and Ambeth’s mood was tired. She didn’t talk much and it was fine with me. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk. We needed a search warrant to the company but we couldn’t prove any connections to them. I was desperately trying to think of a way to get there when I heard Ambeth’s stomach growl. 

   “You hungry?”

   “No. My stomach is applauding”, she smiled at me proudly. I didn’t process her words at first and just stared at her. I even stopped walking.

   “What did you say?”

   “Our teacher said that when our stomach is growling it’s applauding for our self control! I got the best grade with my weight”, she got a sudden burst of energy while explaining. “I’m quite tired though. And hungry. But I am a model student in P.E. class. I don’t even need to be athletic!”

   I didn’t know what to answer so I took Ambeth from her hand and walked home as quickly as I could. Decker had to hear this.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 13, part 3

   Saiyan was in a weak condition for a long time after the incident. I had only lost fat but he had lost some muscles too. Decker said he was lucky no limb gangrene. He had to roll on a wheelchair for a little while until his muscles would be able to hold him up. Just when he had made a solution for the fire problem he got another barrier to break. I blamed myself because if I would have held tighter onto him this wouldn’t have happened. He even had problems breathing and doing anything. 

   Decker had been right about the slow recovery and to be honest I don’t think he’ll ever fully recover. His heart isn’t like it used to be. Saiyan mostly spent his time in his room either coming up with inventions and trying to gain his body back. He also started making rather ugly bracelets. I use it because I didn't want to insult him now. We on the other hand had to continue with work. At least we got extra motivation for it. I don’t know if I did right by saving Saiyan. He said that it would’ve been better if he died there in the beginning of his recovery but it could be just the toughness of the start. I really don’t know.

   Few weeks after the incident Saiyan rolled to the dinner table with a hint of joy on his face. Me and Treacher shared a hopeful glace. Something had cheered him up a little. 

   “I cracked it! Ambeth, you will go to school with Loki.”

   “I always do, don’t I?” she gave me an unsure smile as if asking. 

   “No, but tomorrow you can converse with him!” Saiyan claimed with a triumphant mood. I could see the surprise and excitement in everyone’s eyes. 

   “No way! How? Tell me, do I have to share my brain with Loki?” Ambeth joked and everyone laughed. I didn’t know how to feel about everything but I chose to look excited.

   “No, no. I figured that if you need to be aware of Loki all the time in order to remember him–”

   “So I need to stare at him the whole time. I’ll look dumb”, Ambeth cut him off.

   “No! I made bracelets that simulates his exact heart rate on your wrist. That way you constantly get a reminder of him. I tested it by going outside for a while with the bracelet. I gave one to Loki already, you see. And I remembered him!” he explained with a slightly too fast tempo. He was getting excited. I looked at the ugly bracelet and it started to make sense.

   “And I thought you just made ugly bracelets”, I joked.

   “Rude. But I admit that it is a bit ugly. The visual part is still unfinished”, he confessed. “But that’s not important. The important part is that it works.”

   “True”, I consented.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 13, part 2

   I took my chance and bolted to running. My foot stepped on something soft and I slipped on it. I caught myself with my palms and a spiking pain was on my wrists and my palms were tingling. As an instinct I looked at what I fell on. It was a skeleton that had bones glued on new places. The skin was hanging around it but there wasn’t anything else inside the skin except the bones and a heart that was pulsing inside the skull. The collarbones were taken outside the skin and adjusted to look like the crown of the body on the chest.

   I didn’t want to stay there any longer and got up and ran all the way out. 

   “What the hell?” screamed a voice whose owner I had bumped into by the door. “Loki?!”

   “Saiyan?!” I got up and remembered why I was running after seeing movement in the dark. “We need to get away. Quick! Keep your eyes on me.”

   I grabbed his arm and started running. I heard the clattering and cracking all around my ears. Like I would still be inside. But I wasn’t. There was movement in every shadow and bush. My hands pressed into fists. Wait. Where’s Saiyan? I made a stark u-turn back without slowing down.

   After a few seconds of running I saw him on the ground. There were those worms squirming over him. Saiyan had a few holes here and there. The worms had eaten holes to his sweater and there were bleeding scars on those places. The worms were getting bigger in sight. They were sucking Saiyan dry who was already getting thinner and thinner. He wasn’t obese before but he wasn’t unhealthily thin like he was now. I ran to him crushing every worm I could. After I had gotten the biggest worms off him I lifted him and started running. He wasn’t heavy but bony. I felt sick feeling his bones while holding onto him. I felt like some worms were on me while running and I tried to hit myself and squish every worm I could to death. I was getting very tired and my muscles felt numb. Then I saw the light of a police car. Maybe they had gotten an alarm from the warehouse. I waved desperately to them and an officer came out of the car looking at Saiyan with concern. 

   The next moments were blurry and I tried to explain everything to them but it was hopeless. An ambulance came and gave him hydration and some first aid. Soon Decker came around and he took us home after convincing that he knew a place specialising in these unnatural  wounds. 

  Saiyan was lying on the backseat unconscious and I sat next to Decker on the shotgun. I was in my thoughts trying to come up with a way to explain everything to him when we got there. 

   “That was close.”

   I didn’t process the sentence at first. Did he just talk to me?

   “Surprise surprise”, he said with a sarcastic tone. “I remember you. I just couldn’t talk to someone other people don’t see in public, you know what I mean?”

   I looked at him with my eyes wide open and he gazed at me while driving with a careful smile. A sharp stinging-like pain shot into my stomach area.

   “Kill it!” I heard and I hit myself. My hand had blood on it and my shirt had a stain of green and red that mixed to a nauseating brown.

   “The recovery for Saiyan will be long after this. Your condition we need to check and then we can say more instructions for you”, he said. “The only positive thing is that we now get a sample of the things that cause this.”

   He looked like he was thinking of something else too and he had an unreadable expression again. 

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 13, part 1

I was a bit early in the scene that day because I woke up early to take Ambeth to school. She wanted to meet up with Miranda early. They wanted to do some last minute revision together but that meant I had to wake up earlier than usual. But then again I could start work early.

   It was still dark outside and the wind was strong and chilly. The city was somehow soothing and quiet. I didn’t see people anywhere except some quiet individuals. I was opening the door to the warehouse. We checked it every day in case of more victims. A butterfly flew past me. I followed it with my gaze scared for the worse. Then a big flock of them flew out from the opened door and I was left in the middle of them. I never really thought that butterflies could be stingy and sharp but they were and I tried desperately to shield my face. I’m pretty sure they weren’t normal butterflies. They couldn’t be so sharp. I fell backwards from the force of them.

   Then like nothing would’ve happened there were no butterflies at sight. I got up and peeked into the warehouse. First left then right. It was dark outside and inside so I didn’t see much. I tried to put on the lights but they didn’t work. Such a cliché. I took out my flashlight and glanced again. Now I saw a zebra swallowtail’s worm squirming on the floor. I took a few long but steady steps forward and stepped on it. I wouldn’t take any risks. Then I walked to the direction where the worm was coming from. I looked in every direction except behind. I was too stressed. 

   It smelled hideous inside and there were some worms as there were a few dead butterflies. The place felt a lot bigger than usual but after I had wandered to the other side of the building and had seen nothing I started to question whether there would have been any bodies. I turned around and walked to the other side glancing between every shelving but there was nothing. I had a bad feeling about the place and I didn’t want to go all the way to the other side again. I felt like I wasn’t alone there. My final decision after a while of staring at the wall was that I’d go outside and wait for back up. 

   A clatter came behind me. My stomach sank and my pulse increased. Nothing. 

   Slowly I turned my neck and I saw movement. Clatter. As if someone had a bag of small bones. Crack. I turned my head back to the front. Another crack and more clattering.

   Blood was flowing in my ears but the sounds were clear in the otherwise quiet and tall warehouse. Among the cracking and clangour there was muffled weeping. I couldn’t recognize the gender of the weeper but it was right behind me. 

   I was sweating more than I had ever done. Could it be that the creature didn’t remember I was right next to it? Or did it want to indicate that I was next? 

   Crack.

   Should I try to leave? Did I have any other options? Not really.

   Crack. The silent weeping stopped. Clatter.

   A heavy silence was back and I turned my head a little. Movement in the dark.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 12, part 3

   The next day we went to talk with everyone who works at the warehouse or is some other way connected. There were some regular staff members and we really wanted to talk to Ms Miracle but we weren’t able to. Out of curiosity I tried to google her. I had painted a picture of a blond rude looking woman in my head but honestly she wasn’t anyone you’d think twice of on the street. A weird thing I noted was that she was never really publicly visible but now she had disappeared completely from the eyes of other people. For me that is understandable because many had criticised her brand based on her looks. There are a lot of stereotypes and body shaming in this industry and the brand’s sales have actually gone up after she vanished from the public eye.  

   The man we saw the other day was her adviser and secretary. He wasn’t happy to be interviewed but in the end he answered most of our questions. He used the answers “That’s confidential information”, “I can’t comment on these matters”, and “Ms Miracle does not wish to see anyone in a while due to her medical reasons.” He didn’t seem to understand that three people had died in a horrible way that is completely unknown to us. He just raised concerns that the company has something to do with this. Why else would he have been so secretive?

   “He knows something for sure”, Yumekui broke the silence at the dining table.

   “Yeah, we should investigate them more but we have to keep possibilities open. We don’t know anything for sure”, Neda signed. 

   “I’ll go bring food for Saiyan. I’ll be right back”, I got up. I wanted to also ask what he was thinking about everything. Saiyan turned out to be very intelligent but he sometimes got too much into his inventions. Maybe he wanted to get to his family as soon as he could without burning them alive.

   Just when I was opening the door it opened and Saiyan was there. I am embarrassed to admit that I shielded my face with my hands when I saw he wasn’t wearing his gas mask. But soon I realised he had some weird pipes coming out of his neck and chest. 

   “I did it! I can live without the mask! Though this is a bit weird– You’ll get used to it. It’s not perfect yet but I can at least eat with y’all now.”

  “I won’t even ask how that works but I’m glad! You look so different without the mask. That’s something to get used to”, Treacher seemed surprised.

   “It’s not ready yet but I’m trying to get the fire under control. How cool would that be if I could control the flames! I would be like a superhero– whoops!” Saiyan was so excited he dropped his cutlery. “I’m also trying to think of a way we all would remember Loki outside. That would make things a lot easier, right?”

   At that point I got more interested. The thought of being able to talk to them outside intrigued me but also scared me. I wasn’t used to it and it would be a massive change. I couldn’t do everything I normally do outside. I couldn’t talk to myself aloud etc. But it would be worth it.

   “That would be nice, Saiyan.”

   “I have so much time for everything now! I have to stay here so why not make use of the time. I usually don’t have so much time with all the studies and music and everything. I usually…” I zoned out thinking about all of the possibilities I’d have. I wanted to hug him but I was too scared I’d mess some of the pipes up.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 12, part 2

   Later that day we went to take a look at the warehouse. It was quite well investigated but we took more pictures and we got handed the blueprints of it. We were talking to the police there (or they were) when I saw a lanky man in a black suit approaching. He limped with fury there and started talking with a fast pace and a bit of a shaky voice.

   “We can’t empty this warehouse. It’s our main storage for god’s sake! This is absurd! We had nothing to do with this– thing! But we have to pay and hold conferences expressing our condolences?!”

    A police officer walked forward and took out a little notebook. He clicked his pen and started with a calm thick accented voice. “Calm down mister. We can negotiate this out. What do you keep inside here?”

   The man was a bit taken aback but answered. “O-only some ingredients, supplies and ready products.” He observed the officer's face for a bit. “So we don’t have to move them?”

   “I didn’t say so but I’ll see what I can do. I’ll keep you informed”, he turned around and walked back to the other officers in a slouchy manner. The man also turned around and limped back where he came from but this time more calmly. 

  The man hadn’t said his name nor position and thus raised suspicion. Fortunately we didn’t say any major details to him. The police noted down to investigate more to the company, ‘Miracle’, and ask around about the man. He was seen on the cameras they had set up. Also I listened to Decker and one other officer’s chat about how we are mainly in charge of the investigation. The police forces would help with more dangerous things.

   I headed out of the scene to pick up Ambeth. I would brief everything to her after we got home. The way home was very quiet because of course she didn’t notice me there. I couldn’t wait to get home and start talking. I explained nearly everything to her. I knew I wasn’t supposed to underestimate her but I still left the nastiest details untold. She was fascinated by the case and the butterflies. Apparently she has a weird interest in biology and butterflies interest her at the moment.

   “I should search for the company owner and the victims from my book!” she proposed and got up but I held my hand up.

   “No. You need to be supervised at all times while you are with the book by Decker, remember? In addition we don’t have the key to get the book.”

   She seemed visibly sad but understood why she couldn’t read everyone’s lives like she wanted. It must be hard for her to be separated from the book. It was her ability and she couldn’t use it. I could sympathise with her since my ability was just as unuseful. 

   “Well, how was your first day of school?” I changed the subject to fill in the silence.

   “Oh, it was great! I got a friend called Merinda! She is so cool and clever and pretty! The teachers are a bit scary but with Merinda I want to be active! I want to be as clever as she is!” Ambeth started highlighting. Merinda seemed like a good friend and I was glad for Ambeth.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 12, part 1

In the morning I walked Ambeth to the school. She was full of excitement and kept constantly talking about her plans to study well and make a lot of friends. Don’t get me wrong, I was super thrilled for her and wished everything good for her. But I would have lied if I said I wasn’t jealous. I never had the chance to go to school and never will. Ambeth’s ability isn’t negative in any way and it doesn’t hurt her. But I’m happy about that.

   The school was quite small just in case but maybe that was better that way. The school uniforms were nice and comfortable. Ambeth didn’t remember me there but I still said bye to her. 

   After she had gone her way I took my phone out and looked if Mary had answered. She in fact had and told me about her little shop getting closed and her retiring. She was going to move to London so some utilities would be closer to her. Mary didn’t have anything to report but she said that she’d keep her eyes open.

   I walked back home and headed to the library. Decker said we have some new files to go through. When I got there the others were already at work. Even Saiyan who just recently started. I sat down and started going through the papers I had. They were all similar so it was probably the same attacker. None had actually survived to tell what the creature looked like but we had many pictures. Not very pleasing but helpful. 

   One photo was of a little boy. I had seen many starved children and people while looking at the news but this was even more extreme and I wanted to throw up. The little boy had his collarbones and sternum bones ripped out and rearranged to be on the outside of his skin. The skin of her body was stretched between the bones that were rearranged. His spine and limbs were longer than they were supposed to be. His face had scars and tiny holes all over it. The holes were arranged in vertical lines and his eyes were ripped off. The empty sockets were closed with sewed skin on top.

   The two others were similar. Victims had no connections to each other whatsoever. They all were killed at around the same time and on the same week. The boy being the first one following with a young woman and then an old man. The boy was from an orphanage, the woman had lived alone but the man was maybe the most peculiar. He was described as obese due to his bad bulimia that he had had for years now caused by stress at work. In the pictures he was as starved as the others so it couldn’t just be a starving case. They all were found from a storage of some kind. How could the obese man suddenly become as starved as the others when he was even the last one to be… modified there? He went missing four days after the boy.

   As I read further and further the leads start to make less and less sense. The warehouse they were found from (each individually) was always full of swallowtail butterflies. Especially a species called zebra swallowtails that aren’t even that common. In fact they are quite rare and such big flocks of butterflies were even more uncommon.

   The warehouse in question had been in supervision over the clock. It was owned by a company that sells weight loss pills. The coincidence is quite striking. The owner of the company was Millie Miracle but she hadn’t commented anything. Instead her secretary had expressed the company’s condolences. She stated that the company had nothing to do with them.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 11, part 3

   There were no major cases during the next three weeks so we mostly got to know Saiyan more and prepared Ambeth for school. And we threw a surprise party for Ambeth. We feasted until it was time for her to go to bed. I stayed up a bit longer with the others. We were sitting in the living room snacking. Saiyan, Treacher and I had became an inseparable trio maybe because of our similar ages. I thought that Treacher saving my life and me saving Saiyan’s life had its own contribution in our friendship. 

   “I’ve been thinking about an alternative solution to my ‘ability’ as you call it”, Saiyan started. “This gasmask is quite inconvenient because I can only eat in my room. We got the air switched there but it can’t be done outside.”

   “I don’t know what other solution we can make. The air must have more water than usual air to neutralise the burning reaction”, Decker explained.

   “I know. But I happen to be interested in applied sciences and mechanics. That’s what I wanted to be when I grew up but now I can’t. I have done some testing with some different inventions I made and the most potential one was like a gas mask inside breathing ways.”

   Decker started looking actually interested for once. He has been quite passive towards Saiyan after he came along. Maybe because he didn’t want him there in the first place.

  “But how would you get the alternative ‘air’ then?”   “I have made a system that would filter hydrogen to my lungs and then it would burn and become water…”

   I didn’t understand most of what Saiyan was talking about. He was really smart and had even skipped classes and was in college already. He was one year older than me but had already done his master degree. Some brains could be useful in this household for once, though.

   “I should go to sleep. I will walk her to school tomorrow and I can’t really sleep in”, I explained while getting up. 

   “Good night”, Saiyan wished and I left the room. I wanted to message the old woman Mary before I went to sleep. I had finally gotten my phone to work in the house after a bit of struggle. It was still a bit slow but it was better than nothing.

   ‘Hello! It’s the boy you met a while ago (Loki). The one after the Harding family. I finally got a phone to work and I’d like to inform you that Carlton and Neda have passed away. Carlton was clinging to Neda’s memory of him and after an unexpected occurrence with Neda, he faded away. Nobody else was permanently hurt physically and everyone has recovered including me. 

   As you are a person who sees these things, I’d like to inform you that we have a sort of an investigation service with those kinds of cases here. If you have anything to report, feel free to do so.’

   It was really weird to write a message. I had never done that before. I thought that it maybe should be formal since she’s older than me and I thought that’s how it’s supposed to go, right? I sent the message and went to sleep.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 11, part 2

   I wasn’t religious and I couldn’t say I believed in magic. That got me thinking where do these creatures come from. Why was I born like this? There must be something that affects some people and things that come out as so. But what could it be?

   Frustrated, I left the library and went to my room. I crashed on my bed and closed my eyes. I was exhausted maybe from the short night but I couldn’t sleep. I was too awake. I don’t know how long I laid there but I got up when someone knocked on my door. It was Ambeth with her book. 

   “I found him.”

   “Ehm… Found who exactly?”

   “Saiyan you dummy.”

   “From the book?”

   “Mhm.”

   “That rules out nearly all of our theories. Are you sure?”

  Ambeth handed me the book and there was a picture of the very same boy I had saved the day before. It told about his family, favourite foods and every little detail of his life. I didn’t read it through to respect his privacy though. Why did the book show him but none of us?

   “Don’t read it much, Ambeth. Let’s try to respect his privacy for now, okay? But this is good to know. Thank you. And maybe don’t mention it to Saiyan that you can read his life”, I instructed. 

   Ambeth shaked her head. “I’m not stupid. I'll soon be 13-years old.”

   “When’s your birthday?” I could go look for a gift while I got a mobile for myself to contact that nice lady from the little shop too.

   “In three weeks! Decker said that I can go to a real school instead of homeschooling!” Ambeth claimed excitedly. I could see she was willing to get normal friends and communicate with people her age. “I just need to promise not to look them up from the book. Like Saiyan.”

   I felt proud of her. She was already like a little sister to me. Maybe I could walk her to school every day since people couldn’t remember me. Ambeth wouldn’t be embarrassed. 

   After Ambeth had left I went back to laying on my bed and doing nothing. What would I buy for her? A camera? She could collect memories when she goes to school and hopefully gets friends. She has so much info from other’s lives she could once record her own. And I would get that from the same store as the phone. Though she’d probably need one too. That would have a camera in it too. I came to the conclusion that I’d buy two phones and some chain for her too to attach to the phone or backpack.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I was inspired by TMA but the statement itself is based on my dream (Like nearly everything in this novel) before I had ever heard about TMA. So it has no connections to the Hunt or anything in TMA except it’s in a statement form.

We were having breakfast when the guest came in. I got a déjà vu from it. It was nearly just like it had been for me. He was awkward and looked insecure. He had the gas mask on and apologised with a dry voice for not eating. He had some kind of problem with oxygen. 

   Decker said his name was Saiyan. It struck me that he might not remember what happened before he came here. Not even his name. Like me. And how did Decker know his name? Saiyan didn’t seem like he was used to the fire problem so how did he possess the ability? As I remember I was born that way like Neda, Treacher and Yumekui. How about Ambeth? How did she get the book at such a young age?

   I excused myself and went to the library. I felt like I needed to get something else to think about. I sat on the floor and took a random folder:

“‘CHRISTINE’S’ STATEMENT:

It all seems like a dream but I swear it wasn’t. It all started during the summer. I live with my family even though I’m more than old enough to leave. Don’t get me wrong, I have a stable job and friends but I’m just too lazy to move away. In addition, I can spend more time with my parents. They are quite old, you know. Or could spend more time with them. Now I’ll move out in a few weeks. 

   Anyways, I should start from the beginning. It was a hot day and I was just going to sleep. And for the context we live in an apartment, quite small but comfortable for three persons and two cats. That evening my room was a bit chilly even and that alone was out of the ordinary. Our house always heats up during the summer and the temperature can rise up to 30 degrees. 

   When I fell asleep I had a dream where I was in a lovely mansion with my family. It was very realistic and grand. It had three floors and a beautiful garden. There was a fountain in front of the house and the water was running there. I spent the day there which I’d say felt like a whole day. I dined with my family and explored the house. When I went to sleep there I woke up in our own apartment. I didn’t think much of it except that it was the nicest dream I had ever had. I didn’t mention it to my parents because it wasn’t anything worth mentioning, was it?

   But little did I know that I’d spend the next week or so there. The following night I was there again but it was night. I remembered everything from last night but that time it was night. The mansion was dark and spooky. I went to wander around the house again. When I reached the living room I sat down on a red leather armchair and looked out of the window. A black SUV had pulled up next to the water fountain. I moved closer to the window and a man got out of the car. He stood for a while inspecting the house and then raised his head and looked straight to me like knowing I’d be there looking. It was dark but I saw his eyes. The eyes were crimson red and shining through the darkness. He took a step forward and got into the house. I stayed put and didn’t go down. The man didn’t seem like someone I wanted to meet.

   I heard my dad going downstairs and I remember being surprised he was awake too. For a while I heard nothing. Not even talking. Then I saw the man stepping outside and he said one word to my dad that I didn’t hear. He looked at me with a grin again and got to his car and drove away. 

   I was about to go downstairs to ask my dad what had happened until I heard a deep growl. It wasn’t from a dog or anything but my father. I peeked down and there my dad was with endless fury in his eyes and the red glow. Our eyes met and for a second he looked at me intensely. Then he blinked and he was chasing me. It felt like it was supposed to happen but I was so scared. My heart was pumping like crazy and adrenalin was flowing in my blood. I ran for my life to wake up mom but her door was closed and I had no time to open it. Dad was still behind me and he was faster than me.

   I hid in the library and locked the door. I heard my dad thumping to the door and trying to break it. After a while he stopped and instead broke the door opposite. I heard my mom’s screams and cries. I hid in the corner of the library trying not to breathe. 

   I finally woke up in my own bed. My muscles were sore and I was all sweaty. The following day was foggy. I felt like we all were exhausted and mom had some bruises. She said she fell from the bed but I was anxious about them. I tried to convince myself that it was just a coincidence. 

   The next evening I tried not to fall asleep but I did. That time mom had red eyes and dad had bruises in the morning. I tried to hide in the library every time but on the fifth night my mom found me and attacked me like a wild wolf. I had a knife with me and stabbed her as self defence. Mom had died during the night. She stabbed herself in sleep.

   The night after that I had the red eyes. I felt an unimaginable anger and fury bubbling inside me. I felt the need to chase someone and beat anyone or anything that came in front of me. It was more fussy than the rest of the week. I wasn’t thinking clearly and I remember some bits of chasing my dad and his face before I threw him down from the rooftop.

   He had killed himself by jumping from our apartment rooftop.

   Just like that I had killed my parents and the dreams ended. I went to therapy but ended it after the first appointment. The therapist was the man with the SUV. I will move to America to get far from here. “

  I read a bit on and Catherine had killed herself a few weeks after moving to America. The case wasn’t followed any further except the deaths of the family were confirmed as suspicious and the therapist did not exist.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 10, part 3

   “I think I should start from the beginning. It’s quite a long story. As you all know Carlton attacked Loki.” She gave me a meaningful look. “I wouldn’t have acted so irresponsibly but I had met him before. I had seen him kill before. It was never recorded so I didn’t know where to start and for two long years I got a clue. I couldn’t let it slip. I packed my stuff and took the first train to Dorking. It was dumb of course but just try to understand me.

   I met the woman who had been attacked by Carlton and I stayed by her side when she passed away. She was in a rough shape and I didn’t want any more poor souls to die like that. I left and headed straight to the winery. My actions weren’t thought through and I wasn’t in a state to interrogate nor fight. But that’s exactly what I did. 

   I met Avery in the winery. She was a lovely person but had thought that Carlton was just one of her illusions. I saw it and she panicked realising all the murders she had seen were in fact real. And it was her father. We had some tea and tried to think of a way to get Carlton away for good. You know what I mean. 

   She had been unstable for years and this surely didn’t do any good for her. She talked to herself a lot and apologised to me many times. I don’t know what was going through her mind at that time.” She looked down and signed.

   “Her state went worse and worse and she started to stare at Carlton and I started looking at him too. He was busy in the garden picking up more of those horrible grapes. Then out of nowhere he looked back into my eyes and probably realised that I could see him without him wanting. He stormed inside and that was the closest look of him I had ever seen. 

   The next few seconds were a mess. Avery screamed, I panicked and Carlton disappeared. Somehow I was trapped in Avery's body and Avery was in mine. I know that I can do that but I had never actually succeeded in it and I didn’t know how to get out. And Avery, she was a human, my body wasn’t habitable for her. She– Her head was a mess and I was a mess and the body was weird. There was a link to Carlton and as she died I got mixed up with her mind. Avery’s body was too small for two minds or one and some rips of another. She insisted on finding Carlon but she was dying. Every day there was less and less of her there. I thought I’d go mad there.

   Her memory of her father was linked to him. It was his link to this world. And when that died, he was no more. Avery was very insistent on looking for her father but I tried to– I don’t know. Her body was getting weaker and weaker. Decker saved me eventually. I don’t know what would have happened if the body died. Avery didn’t make it in the end. And so Carlton died. I didn’t want it to go this way.” Neda was in tears and her words were a bit hard to understand in the end but we got some kind of a picture of what happened. And we were happy about that. The rest of the evening we spent by cheering up Neda and spending time with her. We were glad to have her back.

[deckerroosevelt]

Chapter 10, part 2

   “I’ll call the police there. Where are you?” I didn’t answer him. This boy looked so innocent. He had gone underwater not to hurt anyone. He would have died there eventually. And what would people do to him? I analysed him and he was about my age. Where was his family? He didn’t seem like he had anyone to back him up. 

   “Loki?”

   “No.”

   “No, what? What do you mean?” Decker didn’t have his usual gentle voice anymore. He sounded annoyed like he didn’t care for this boy at all. How could he not?

   “No police. He will come to the house.”

   “What?! No, no, no. He can’t.”

   “Why?”

   “He killed a person. Burned him.”

   “It was an accident. He nearly killed himself.” I closed the line and started dragging him to the house. I must have seemed very suspicious but it didn’t matter. I had to get him to safety. He didn’t deserve to die or to be tested in laboratories like an animal. 

   Decker was waiting for me at the door. He was completely unreadable. A hint of amusement but also annoyance and even anger. Was there some despise among everything too? I didn’t care. I pulled past him and he didn’t care to move aside at all. The others were more helpful. After I had explained what I saw they agreed with me. We made one room habitable for him and let him rest. A note was left in his room for the time when he woke up just like I had when I came there. I wondered if  it was like that to everyone. Would he remember he had killed someone? I hoped he wouldn’t.

   “He’s sleeping now. Should we clean up the case files? I think it is closed now”, I come down to the living room and sit next to Yumekui on the red leather sofa.

   “I can do it!” Ambeth volunteered and started cleaning the table. 

   We all turn our heads when a creak echoes in the room. Neda stepped into the room smiling. She looked much better but some glue was still on her face. The broken parts had been glued. 

   “Are you okay?” Treacher worried.

   “Yes, I am much better. Thank you. Thank you to you all.”

   “So what happened?” Ambeth begged for explanation.