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Update, this is the full 2nd chapter. |
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2
…Awareness…
The automatic doors opened with a low creaking noise and revealed the parking lot of the hospital that had been bathed in sunlight. A cool breeze pressed against Ilan’s body, trying desperately to keep him within the fortress of the hospital. He embraced this breeze and took a moment to close his eyes and enjoy the relief of a deep breath. Fresh air filled his lungs for a moment and then was released from his body to once again provide life for others. Ilan made his way from the hospital into a large square parking lot. Surprisingly, only a few cars placed in several different spaces resided in the lot. Only a few feet ahead of him was Julia’s “master of the road” that had transported him to the hospital. A faint smile formed on Ilan’s face as he located Julia with his eyes, she had her seat reclined, her head cocked upward at the sun roof. Ilan ceased moving when he felt the edge of some object poke the side of his leg. He lowered his hand into his pocket and effortlessly found the card, with a quick movement the card resided before his eyes and bathed in the sun. The words were an interesting combination of white and black letters on a light blue card, he hadn’t imagined it; Fallows was real. After taking time to examine the card, he heard the opening of a car door and then the sound of Julia’s voice calling his name. His smile returned as he looked up and watched as she began her short journey out of the car. Julia started, “Ilan, hey-“she was cut off as she tripped on her short journey and fell flat on her face. Ilan released a short lived laugh as she recomposed herself, patting the small dirt marks on her pants then giving a nervous smile. He slipped the card back into her pocket then approached her; the smile on his face faded when he shifted his gaze to the car and noticed Reed as he sat his reclined seat back up. He sent a friendly wave to Ilan who still hadn’t recovered from the shock to his mind, thus he gave no response whatsoever. Reed opened his door and exited the car, by the time he slammed his door shut, Julia had arrived a few feet before Ilan. With great reluctance, Ilan gave a quick wave to Reed who began his way toward he and Julia. Julia smiled, “How are you feeling, better I hope.”
“Yeah, I don’t know why it happened…must’ve just been the cold,” he sighed.
It’s good to see you standing and well.” Reed said nervously to Ilan, they both sensed the strange tension between them. An awkward silence commenced between the group of three, it lasted until Julia’s voice sounded.
“Well, lets go”, she grabbed Ilan by his right arm and guided him to the car. Reed watched as she led him, he smiled slightly then started for the car. The awkward silence commenced once more as they began their drive from the hospital to Ilan’s house, the silence was broken again by Julia.
“So, you sure you want to go straight home? Reed and I are going to me up with Lyra and John for ice cream if you want to come. The only thing running through his mind when he heard her words was: Great now there are two couples I have to deal with.
“No thanks, but thanks for asking. I’m really tired and the doctor said I’d need plenty of rest. Besides, I have work the rest of this week.” He lied.
She noticed his fragile excuses, “But its Sunday, so you work Monday through Friday and only have Saturday off?”
“Y-yep that’s exactly what I’m saying Julia, nothing but work, work, work for me-“He was cut off by a sarcastic comment from Reed.
“And sleep!”
“Yes, of course, sleep and work that’s all I have time for anymore, you know?” He had buried himself now.
“You just went and saw a movie with us on Friday, so what you’re saying is obviously not true. Furthermore, two weeks ago you just got hired at another place so there’s no way you have to work everyday of the week. Finally, you can get some rest after having ice cream with us, okay!”
Ilan tried to come back with something, anything, but he couldn’t refute her phenomenal argument on such an insignificant topic. He simply rested his back on the seat, cocked his head to the sun roof and fell into a common habit of his called a “cat nap.” This nap was summed up as short by all means when he awoke as the car parked; he gave a low sigh then unbuckled his seatbelt. Ilan egressed from the car and slammed the door shut; he began mentally preparing himself from the annoying blast of chatter that was guaranteed to come from Lyra. It wasn’t that he disliked her or John; he just honestly wasn’t in the mood for her personality. The three of them entered the store and at that precise moment a wave of sound forming the words, “Hey guys, over here”, bashed through their ears. Even Ilan wasn’t prepared for the shear terrifying shock to his system from her vocal attack. Ilan turned back to the door but by the time he began his reach to open the door she leaped before him with a wide smile. “Ilan how’ve you been, I’m so glad to see you, oh how are you, do tell, come on tell me, how are you?” Ilan’s mental capacity exploded and he did the only thing he could think of, he gave her a tight hug and held it long enough for him to regain his sanity.
He released his hold on her and began in an improvised cheerful tone, “Oh hi Lyra, it’s been a while since I last saw you.”
“Yeah it has, we have so got to hang out more often, you know you and John used to always hang out, he’s been wondering why he hasn’t seen you.”
Ilan imagined in his mind shouting, BECAUSE YOU CAME AROUND AND I CAN’T STAND YOU!, however he reframed from saying anything other than, “Oh, I’ve just been really busy with work and my parents funeral and all.” He hated using his parent’s death as a way of, at least, turning down her volume and lowering her joyful spirit. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a few words on behalf of his parents. They all migrated to a booth in the far corner of the ice cream shop and sat down. Ilan tried to shut out her voice as it once again sounded to chatter with Julia and Reed. John sat in between Lyra and Reed, the combination of their voices aggravated him to say the least. After a few more minutes of waiting, a waitress came over to their table for their orders. Ilan had never heard of such a place as a, “dine in”, “take your order”, ice cream shop. The waitress had already made it to Ilan’s order when he refocused his thoughts, he named off the first thing he’d thought of: Vanilla. However, it only occurred to him when he received his ice cream, that he absolutely hated Vanilla ice cream. After experiencing the miserable pleasure of eating his Vanilla ice cream, he entered the conversation, “So…John how are you?”
With great reluctance he answered, “Let’s just say that I’ve seen better days. How are you…well I mean with things right now?”
“I can also say that I’ve seen better days, of course you know about my parents and then about the hospital incident. I’m just hoping that things start to look up for me, same for you John.” He gave a faint smile then pushed the bowl of finished ice cream to the side.
During their conversation, Lyra had caught wind of how John responded; she cut Reed off in the middle of his sentence and turned to John. She questioned his unhappiness which made him feel rather uncomfortable so he stood up and shouted, “I have to go to the bathroom!” The few people that were around them sent shocked stares in his direction, he quickly escaped from the booth and hid in the restroom. Lyra then turned her glance to Ilan and questioned him, like an agent of the military probing for answers. He simply answered with a quick, “I don’t know.” Julia and Reed finished their ice cream, said their goodbyes, then migrated from the booth then headed towards the exit. Ilan hastily followed behind them after giving a quick wave of goodbye, as they made it to the car they noticed John coming out of the bathroom. Reed shook his head in disbelief then got into the drivers seat of the car, Julia hopped into the passenger seat, and Ilan in the back.
The ride back to Ilan’s house was silent to say the least so Ilan took full advantage of the opportunity to sleep. However, no sooner than he closed his eyes the car came to a halt, he reopened them, quickly remembering how close his house was in relation to everything else. Julia turned around from her seat and gave a warm smile to him, “Well I had a pretty good time and I’m sure I’ll see you some time soon.” Ilan gave no verbal response, he simply nodded then got out of the car. The cool breeze relaxed him; he inhaled the fresh air, said his goodbyes, and then shut the door. Reed waited for Ilan to get inside his house, he put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. After closing the door, Ilan slowly made his way to his couch in the living room. He had avoided what his mind truly wished to focus on for long enough, now was the time to think on what had happened to him. Again he felt the ridges of the card in his pocket, he pulled it out and read it once again: Professor Fallows, Master in the study of History. He examined the card and found a phone number on the back, he gave out a sigh and thought, “why not.” Ilan pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open, and dialed the number. His fingers flowed effortlessly as he dialed them; it seemed as if he was meant to call the number at that exact time. After the first ring, the voice of Mr. Fallows rose from the speakers of his phone in a brief, “Hello.”
“Mr. Fallows?”
“Yes, may I ask who this is?”
“Its…Ilan Torroto, we met in the hospital. Well I was calling because I want to get all this nonsense sorted out.”
A sudden change occurred in Mr. Fallows’ voice, “Podam, is it really you? You’ve chosen my help over…never mind, we need to speak in person.”
“Where would you like to meet?” Ilan replied in an uneasy tone.
“Do you know where Onyx University is, it’s where I teach, which would be the ideal place for us to meet.”
Ilan thought about it for a second, thinking about the consequence of looking further into the strange events that had happened. He made up his mind, “Alright, how’s tomorrow at noon for you?”
“Perfect.”
Dr. Thompson sat in his office looking over the final report over the body found in Canton Park. After scrutinizing the body they found various symbols that corresponded with those found in the studies of the Podam. Down the twists and turns of the baffling hallways, the elevators and finally through the door requiring a security card was the room where the body was laid. The three associates of Dr. Thompson were finishing a final examination of the body. One had short brown hair and green eyes, his name was Marcus, the second was a young lady with long brownish blonde hair and brown eyes, her name was Jessica, and the third had short blonde hair with blue eyes, his name was Greg. Jessica pulled a black plastic cover over the body, even though the heartbeat was faint; his body was still stagnant. Thus, they considered him dead. Greg placed some of his materials and books over on his small desk. Marcus tossed his pair of gloves into a nearby trash can with a quarantine sign on it. As Jessica moved away from the body she heard a low noise. She turned to the body for a few seconds then started towards the door. The noise caught her attention again; she turned and saw that the arm of the body was hanging out of the plastic. She quickly headed back to the body grabbed the arm and put it back under the plastic. However, as she began to walk away the body’s hand grasped her wrist tightly. She released a loud squeal that caught the attention of Marcus and Greg. In a quick movement, the body arose from the plastic. It released the hold on the wrist then grabbed her neck just as tightly. Greg ran to the phone and called Dr. Thompson who had already begun heading down to see them. Marcus grabbed a scalpel that he caught out of the corner of his eye and charged at the man. The man threw Jessica into her desk with immense force. She landed and screamed in pain. Marcus sent the blade of his scalpel into the man’s stomach. It was obviously ineffective, for the man simply pulled the scalpel out and stared down at Marcus. The man had a dull look in his eyes, an eerie emptiness that terrified Marcus to the core. In one sift movement, the man stabbed the scalpel into Marcus’s neck. He fell backwards onto the floor and kicked away from the man, he writhed as the river of blood flowed from his neck. Greg dropped the phone to the floor then ran to the door, he pulled out his security card to escape. A sharp pulse of pain went through his body as the man pull tightly on his hair. He threw Greg onto the examining table with a force that nearly shattered his back. Greg tried to get up but could not, his body could no longer move. The man stood beside the table and started in a nonchalant tone, “Where is the Podam?”
Greg tried his best to speak but his words were garbled by the blood in his mouth. The question was repeated and Greg tried with all his might to speak but the words would not come out. The man gave him a fierce scowl then sent his fist through Greg’s chest, the force of the blow killed him instantly. Marcus watched with his last few breaths of life as Greg died, his body slowly ceased its squirming then he was still. The man watched as he died then headed over to Jessica who had been thrown into her desk. She tried to crawl away but the man grabbed her leg and pulled her towards him. He looked down at her with the same empty expression on his face. A low symphony of whimpers and moans sounded as she the man put his hands on each side of her face. The same question that he had asked Greg was repeated to her. Tears rolled down her face as she answered, “H-he was here b-b-but he left…I don’t know w-w-where he is…please don’t kill me.”
The man’s face was blank, he began with the casual tone once more, “Oh but your two friends are waiting for you, we wouldn’t want to worry them would we?” He pressed both his hands on the side of her face with immense pressure, she released a shrill cry then everything was silent. The man located a sink and rinsed off his bloodied hands, he then found a closet. Inside were three shelves, each with scrubs on them. He dressed himself in the blue scrubs and headed for the door. However, he needed a security card to get out. He looked out of the glass slit in the door and saw a man in a doctor’s coat headed for the room. The man stood against the wall so that the door would hide him after being opened. Dr. Thompson put his card into the slot the quickly removed him, he opened up the door and was appalled by the horrific sight. He stepped further into the room slowly, he began to shake as he saw each of his associates dead. The man walked out from his position behind the door and approached Dr. Thompson. With little effort, Dr. Thompson was pushed by the man into the wall in front of him. The man charged at Dr. Thompson who stared in horror as he noticed that it was the body that had been stagnant for so many days. The man punched Dr. Thompson in the stomach which caused blood to rush into his mouth. Then came the same question he’d asked both Greg and Jessica. “Where is the Podam?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Taurus, now answer my question.”
“Why did you kill them, what do you want with the Podam?”
Taurus became frustrated, “Why do you ask so many questions? I killed them because they couldn’t give me what I need. Now tell me, where is the Podam?”
“Alright…I have a file in my office, room 428, with all the information about the Podam, the file is under the name Ilan Torroto.”
Taurus threw Dr. Thompson aside then made his way out of the room, closing the door behind him. Now on the ground, Dr. Thompson felt his stomach, the blow had done far greater damage than he’d thought. His body began to shake violently and more and more blood gushed out of his mouth. Within a few minutes the cold grip of death took hold of him and the room was silent once more.
All was silent as Taurus made his way through the confusing maze of hallways until he reached the elevator. It sprung open with a loud ding, a short man with balding light brown hair stood before Taurus with an awkward smile. Around his neck hung a name tag on a cheaply made necklace; his name was Frank. Taurus stared blankly at the man then asked, “Going up?”
“Yes, it’s all you can do when you work where I work.” He tried to joke, Taurus was not amused.
“Where do you work?”
“Well down in the morgue of course, you must be new here. Wait, where’s your name tag?”
Taurus clenched his fist tightly then sent a wicked glare at Frank, “I lost it and yes, I am new here.”
“Well come on in, you can get a new one at the front desk.”
“Thank you.” He entered the elevator and the doors closed.
The doors of the elevator opened up, his feet made a squishing noise as he stepped from the pool of blood coming from Frank’s body. Taurus peered around the main lobby of the hospital, that strange aroma that was unpleasant to the nose presided in the air. After noting that no one, save for the lady at the front desk, was in the main lobby, he made his way toward the door. She called his attention as he reached the door, “Excuse me, all employees must sign out every night.” This woman was short and plum with black hair and a dark complexion, her name was Charlene. Taurus slowly approached the desk, “I’m new here so I didn’t know about the rules.”
“It’s fine, just sign the clipboard”, she handed him a clipboard in a manner that showed how this process had become routine for her.
“Thank you.” He grabbed the clipboard, stared at it for a moment, as if he was pondering something. Suddenly he bashed her on the head with the clipboard rapidly; he stopped when he heard a final moan. The thought of using the file in Dr. Thompson’s room had escaped his mind. He felt his power returning to him. Soon he would have enough energy to locate the Podam easily. He headed out of the hospital and out into the young night. He peered into the sky and breathed in the fresh night air. Taurus then closed his eyes and held his arms out; he could feel his energy returning at a fast rate. His voice was raspy and filled with hate, “Podam…where are you?”
Julia stood on her deck and watched the scattered clouds in the dark night that was illuminated by the moon and stars. She held a glass of wine; she had recently reached the age of legal drinking and was taking advantage of it for the first time. Reed was inside the house making pasta, the only thing he could cook. He hummed a tune that had gotten stuck in his head from earlier in the day. Julia spotted something moving in the sky at immense speed, “A shooting star!” She yelled to Reed. He bolted outside to see it, revealing his childlike side for a brief moment. They looked at each other then back up to the sky. He grabbed her hand, she turned to him and they kissed. Julia hugged him afterwards then whispered something in his ear. A wide smile appeared on Reed’s face. He kissed her again then held her close to him. After a while they both headed back inside, Julia laid down on the couch as Reed checked on the pasta. Oddly, Julia found herself wondering about Ilan. She pulled out her phone and sent him a text message: So, what are you up to?
He replied: Nothing really, just lying in bed, you?
Oh me and Reed are about to watch a movie and eat some Pasta.
Pasta, is that all he can make?
Ha, yeah but don’t tell him that, lol.
Lol, alright I won’t. Well have a good night and I’ll seeya sometime.
Goodnight Ilan.
A smile formed on her face as she closed her phone, for some reason he had that effect on her. Reed entered the room with two bowls of pasta accompanied by two pairs of chop sticks. He started, “Okay now this time I will figure out how to use these!”
“Okay, my apprentice”, she joked, “shall we begin?”
He smiled and replied, “Yes sensei lets do this.”
At the same time, the shooting star glided over fields that were a couple hundred miles away. However, this was no shooting star. In fact, it had no relation to a star whatsoever. It was mass of dark energy that came from an unknown origin. It crashed into the ground with great force, a massive crater was formed. In the center of the crater knelt a tall young man with grey hair that appeared to shine in the moonlight. His entire attire consisted of one color: black. He wore a long leather jacket, underneath was a black shirt, black pants, and black combat boots. He slowly stood up, a second mass or dark energy landed on the right side of the crater. In the fresh crater was another man, however this man wore a dirtied and torn straight jacket. However, the sleeves were not tied together, the restraint had been broken off. This man had a mass of hair that spiked off in several different directions, it was an aggregate of dark brown and green. He had a look in his eyes that made him appear drunk or at least not capable of comprehending things. The man in all black leapt out of the crater and looked at the second man, “ Senazi, so you decided to follow me?”
“Yes master Innus, I have no choice…your word is law for me!”
“Good, I’m glad someone sided with my genius. The other Deathstalkers were insane not to follow my ideals. No longer will I collect the lost souls like I’m commanded to. Ha, now I will take souls at will and gain more and more power. Then I shall awaken the dark castle that once towered over these lands and the world will be mind.”
“But master, what if the others try to stop you?”
“Let them try, I’ll just take their energy as well…the more that come means more energy for me. Senazi, I’ll need your assistance in the construction of my future empire.”
“Of course master, I will follow you till the end.”
The two of them conversed further then evaporated into a dark smoke. A city known as Charlottesville, which was only ten miles away from Ilan’s home, the dark smoke began to form, from the smoke stepped out the two men. Innus and Senazi peered around the city; Innus gave his servant a quick smile then spoke. “This is where we’ll begin, this city’s fairly small. We’ll collect the souls of all these people in little over a week and then we’ll move to the next one.”
“Yes my lord, how do you say we go about this?”
“Lets go for the silent approach, make them think that the people merely die in there sleep.”
His servant nodded then headed down a long street. He walked up the first driveway he saw and teleported into the house with the dark smoke from earlier. Innus smiled then headed the opposite direction.
Raiko sat upon the roof of Ilan’s house; she felt that something terrible had just descended upon them. Fernous sat at her left and Ruso sat at her right. Ruso looked at Raiko and started, “You feel it too?”
“Yeah, a very powerful force is now among us…it worries me greatly. Fernous what do you think about this?” Raiko asked.
“I’m not sure, I sense three threats and a faint fourth but maybe they mean no harm to the Podam. I say we should just keep a close eye on him, you never know…if we happen to save him, maybe he’ll trust us.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea! Good thinking Fernous.” Ruso told him in a rather childlike manner.
He nodded to her then steered his attention to Raiko as she spoke, “Alright, I say we stick with your plan Fernous…let’s hope these feelings of worry will not intertwine with the mission of the Podam.”
They three were in agreement, Ruso teleported to the others to report the plan. Raiko and Fernous stared at the sky, pondering about what was to come. Below them, in his bed, was Ilan who made a fruitless attempt to sleep. He also felt something strange, he could feel a change in world. His powers as the Podam were already forming and he knew this too. Hope was the only thing connecting Ilan and Raiko. Hope that this new force, whatever it may be, would not interfere with the mission of healing the world.
 Dual blader · Sun Jun 29, 2008 @ 07:47am · 2 Comments |
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