A loud snap, followed by a thump made his eyes open as he pulled away from an uneasy sleep. He reached his hand up and touched his face as he stared up at the white plaster ceiling, and the bumpy surface. The air around him was cold, and he didn't want to remove the covers just yet as he rolled over staring at the black alarm clock resting on his scratched wooden nightstand. 6:30. He closed his eyes as he pressed his face into his pillow, knowing that it was still dark outside. Humans weren't allowed to wake up before the sun. He groaned as he forced himself up onto his hands. He shook his head, shaking the sleep from his mind and body as he stumbled through the darkness of his room. He scooped up his bath towel from the floor, and stalked through the cold basement of his home. His mom emerged from the laundry room smiling at him, waving her hand. He waved back to her, wishing he could smile, but to him it was too early to be happy about returning to school after a long and joyful winter break.
He stepped into the bathroom, and slung the towel onto a tiny hook before starting to run the water. As he let the water run over his body he began to wonder about the horrifying dream that had plagued him just before the sudden awakening, in which he was actually thankful for. He was in a very similar shower, except it was more or less a jagged memory of the time he spent in a twisted laboratory, and following the events three months ago he knew that he had lost two very important people in just a short time, he was thankful that he still had anyone left to support him. Kaz let the water dampen his growing long brown hair as he rubbed his fingers over his incoming facial hair. Ever since Novembeard, he had been thinking of growing it out a bit. His mom thought it wasn't a good idea but his sister said he should definitely try to go for it. Judging that Jessica probably had a better handle on what was going on in the world, he went for it. Still he wondered how long it would last.
Dying himself off, he wrapped the towel around him and set off to get dressed. The rest of the house seemed silent. Edward probably wasn't going to wake up any time soon, but Jessica certainly should out of bed by now. He smiled. He was glad that he was liked by his sister, and even his younger brother was starting to grow on him. Even though he got thrown into a small den in his mom's basement, it certainly felt more family like than waking up to his stern father, who still would have greeted him with a cup of coffee held firmly in his hand...Kaz stopped halfway through getting dressed, feeling sad. 'When will I get over this...old man...if you're out there, I'm sorry I couldn't be tough like you.' He pulled up his jeans and his thermal black long sleeve. Like a zombie he came up the stairs into the kitchen where his mother was busy eating her own breakfast.
"Huh, shouldn't Jess be up?" He asked peering down the hall and the woman shook her head. "She had to get to school early she's already gone." She said smiling. "Oh wow that sure beats me. Must be pretty motivated." He took a seat at the table after pouring himself a bowl of cereal and he slowly began to munch away. "Has the new term started yet?" His mom asked clearing away her dishes. "Not yet, " he started with a mouthful of corn flakes. "It will end sometime in March."
"Still going to graduate early?" She asked and he set his spoon down going towards the fridge to get some orange juice. "Yep. I'm still doing double credit load to make up for what was lost. Thank god the standards at Stadweld carried over." He was really thankful for that. They managed to recover the most vital information from that now deserted city, and he would be able to graduate early, and then, finally he would be able to start to piece his life together. Cleaning up his own dishes, Kaz gave his mom a hug before grabbing his bag and heading out the door, looking up at the thick layers of snow that coated the side of the driveway. He was surprised that his mom was actually single, and living in such a house. It wasn't the largest house in the wealthy suburb, but it still was a nice home for someone who worked at a publishing firm, if it could be called that. Tightening his scarf around his face he trudged along the street, seeing his school towering in the distance. It was surprising, ever since that...unfortunate incident he found himself both distanced from people, and yet also more approachable. He was also surprised that there were many of those who survived the Stadweld incident in the same town as him.
He had seen Hiro and Norie even from time to time, and what was even more surprising was the fact that Rey Pichanto, perhaps the most notorious student to ever set foot in a public school had also come. He had heard a strange rumor that her father was on his death bed, but had yet to pass. 'That would be strange if there were two fatherless children from the same town, wouldn't it?' Though to him, one thing was obvious. Rey was not about to let anyone become her friend. He hadn't been the one to bring it up, but it had gone something like this. "I don't give a damn whether or not a bunch of kids were there with me! I have my own shit to figure out, so just leave me alone." Being strikingly beautiful and also a terrifying woman, made her extremely dangerous. Though he hadn't heard anything of her getting hurt...
Aside from her, everyone else seemed to get along just fine, despite being in different grades. So naturally the senior was set apart from the others, but time to time they would get to talking. Times were hard. Norie had heard that he had lost his father, and also that he had a sister. He was worried that she would make the same mistake as he did with Kylie, but it never did escalate to that, at least in the month period they had talked. Norie had spent a lot of time in the hospital, and even though she was torn up by her loss of Maki, she still had friends who were there to support her.
He arrived at school, and headed off to his locker. He hadn't made too many friends, but the stories he told, he had no choice but to soften up a bit on them. Not very many people knew about Stadweld except that all of their citizens had to evacuate, and many of them were hospitalized. "Hey Kaz! How was your winter break?" A cheerful young man asked patting him roughly on the back. He smiled slightly as he grabbed his first period books and closed his locker. "It was fine Dale, nice and relaxing. Yours?" He asked as they walked through the halls. Dale was a slightly large boy with glasses and long black hair, which was covered by a baseball cap. A first class nerd in Kaz's book, but still he wouldn't deny that things of magic and fantasy were of his interest as well. The two had made a great friendship and now that Kaz thought about it, he had no idea how it actually came to be.
"Fine, fine...man are you really going to graduate early?" Dale asked and Kaz nodded as he took a seat inside of his first period class, in which Dale took the seat next to him. "Man...that's tough." He said thinking about something. "Yeah it sure is..." Kaz said opening up his notebook looking over the notes he made right before Christmas break. A new year, a new chance, and for once he hadn't wasted any of his time doing what he thought was right. His grades were looking top notch. "Hey." Dale nudged his arm, and he looked up and saw Norie standing in the doorway of his classroom looking a bit concerned about something. Kaz had given Dale a brief rundown of what had happened at one point as well as all the characters he knew about. Excusing himself, he exited the room and came to Norie with a slight smile on his face.
Though he didn't see himself as one of the key players he had hoped that he was one of the people who had helped the formally energetic girl. "What's up?" He asked, still feeling a bit shy in all honesty, and the girl shrugged, looking out of the window. "A week from tomorrow...me and Hiro are going back." She said quietly, looking around to see if anyone was listening, and then turned back to look out of the window. Kaz's eyes narrowed. 'Going back? To Stadweld? If you're inviting me, I am going to have to decline.'. His concerned look had caught her attention. "I didn't think you'd come, but I had to ask Kaz." She said quietly. "I...I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me..." She stated watching the students approach the school from the lot. "No problem. We have to look out for each other...but...I'm done running around trying to solve mysteries..." He had a hard time saying it, as Norie slowly nodded her head. "Why go back anyway?" He asked leaning against the wall, feeling the heat from the heater warm his arms. She sighed, closing her eyes. "There's something there...for him." She said quietly. "I want...to go back. I want to know...for sure." She admitted, and he knew exactly what she meant. Maki. Not just Maki, but Dare as well he suspected. The entire story had been told to him piece by piece. Placing a hand on her shoulder, and looked her in the eyes. "I'll be here for when you come back." He smiled and they embraced. "Stay safe." He whispered quietly.
For the rest of the day, the idea bothered him. What was Hiro thinking? He didn't know, and a part of him didn't want to. Getting involved wasn't something he wanted anymore. He had seen what had happened the last time he had taken that risk. It got his best friend killed. He finished up his schoolwork, and decided to skip out on staying the extra hour for study time, and returned home. As he came through the front door, his mom smiled handing him an envelope. "Oh, something for me?" He asked trying to sound excited as he took it to his room, downstairs, and closing the door securely. He undid the envelope and slowly removed a folded up letter. The Kanji were unmistakable, even though the rest was written in English. His eyes widened with surprise. (美智子笠原 = Michiko Kasahara). He had sent a letter a while back, and this was the first reply.
How are you Kaz?! I know our time together was short. I'm sorry! >.<, I really miss you, I got your letter, but I didn't have time to write back, forgive me :[... How is Norie doing? I hope she's okay...I wish I could come and visit but right now things are a bit hectic, my parents don't have any intention of returning to America for a while...
You know what's weird? I bumped into Toru! He was doing fine I think...he isn't a people person though...he had business with my parents...everyone over here is fine. You know you should come here and visit. I promise I'll keep my mom away from the Sake!
. We'd love to have you. Please write back soon!! -美智子笠原 (Michiko Kasahara, or just Michi
)It made him smile. It made him remember a time he wish he could have back. He flipped it over to find a little message written to him in different lettering.
Hello Kaz Reinfold. Thank you for assisting me during that horrible incident. Sorry for your loss, I somehow feel responsible for your friend's death. A package will arrive soon with a just compensation.
It didn't say who it was from but his guess was that it was Michi's mom. He folded up the notebook paper and set it inside of his nightstand, thinking he should write a reply, but he decided to wait for the package to arrive.
A lot has changed...but I think...I'm finally turning a corner.
The well furnished office was darkly lit for a reason. One could tell that the sun was setting as the fading orange light was trickling through the blinds covering the windows. At the back wall the desk was lined with papers and lamp that remained untouched in the slowly darkening room. A man sat in his chair looking down at the documents without a definite expression on his face. He looked up slowly, the door at the end of his office then opened, and almost soundlessly a person stepped inside, quietly closing it. The man took a quick glance before shuffling the documents aside and stuffing them into a drawer. As the person came closer, the man removed his glasses and rubbed his face. He was tired, he had been working all day.
"You're late." The commanding tone also carried and irritable feel, but the other person didn't seem to care as he took a seat across from the man. "Come to lie about your failure?" The man added standing up from his desk, despite his visitor taking the place across from him. The older of the two shuffled over to the blinds and closed out the orange sunlight, and at the same time, the visitor turned on the small desk lamp, casting a slight glow onto the well polished desk. The man returned to his seat, staring at the silent man who had dropped in, bearing a soft smile. "It wasn't a complete failure, after all the domes were destroyed." He added with a gesture of his hand. "But you failed to run off the head of the Pichanto." The other added sternly. "I never got a clean shot. Having to return to the city after all that running around...it can really get to you." There was amusement in his words. "You better not be planning anything." The man warned. "Still...even if you were, it wouldn't get you very far."
The two stared at each other wordlessly for a moment, before the younger man placed a vanilla envelope on the table. "Here are the profiles of all the people who played a part in the Stadweld incident." The man flipped it open to see a wide variety of photographs and typed up documents. The man fingered through them, before nodding and letting them slide out onto the desk. "At least you didn't come empty handed...let's see...what of this girl, then, where is she?" He said pointing at a black haired girl who looked rather upset in the picture, and it appeared to have been taken from a security camera judging by the angle. "Rey Pichanto. I don't understand your obsession with a low-time criminal family..." The other stated and the man grunted. "They have connections to the underground, which means a link to Cylinder, which means trouble." The man said tapping his finger on the girl. "Where is she?" He pressed. "Same place as everyone else, you have her father to thank for that." The other replied. "Did you know that would happen? Is that why you failed?"
"I failed because I don't like getting shot." The man laughed. "Well, well, I guess even you have your limits."
"I am only human. Despite what you've heard."
"Why is she in Minnesota then?" The man changed the subject. "She's probably looking for this man." The information dealer then placed down a picture of a fedora wearing man who looked just as angry as Rey did in her picture. "Who is he?" The man asked. "Theodore Lavantes, one of the gatekeepers to the underground."
"Is he a Cylinder?" The man asked sounding a bit skeptical. "No association, he's probably just a well informed rumor lord who has money and power." The man continued to look skeptical. "Illegal power of course, nothing Hive would know about publicly." The man leaned back in his chair, and he then shuffled through the pictures and papers once again and stopped. "What about this little girl? What we her role?"
"Kylie Oswin."
"Oswin?"
"Her name changed when she was recently adopted. The daughter of the Stadweld Mayor." He said leaning back, and man put the picture back down, looking confused. Then a thought came to him, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "What about Maki?" A strange silence seemed to come. Both men in the room knew about the 'potentially inhuman' character who had been a highly prized subject of the Hive organization. They both knew that she was in the dome that exploded, yet they could not be certain of her death. "It's a frantic search. This is just rumor...but I hear even Cylinder is frantically searching for clues."
"Everyone is too afraid to return to Stadweld." The older man chuckled, pulling out a bottle of liquor, and he looked sternly at the other man. "Care for a drink?" He asked and the other shook his head. "Intoxication is not very wise in my line of work." He said with a smile. With an expression that resembled 'suit yourself' the man poured himself a generous helping. With a sigh he put his glass down. "You've been immensely useful. Even though..." He paused, "doing business with you has always had it's risk, so far it's been rewarding." He poured himself another glass and raised it like a toast. "I will have my people working on snaring these slippery bastards. Make sure they don't do anything..unexpected." The visitor stood up extending his hand. "Send my regards to the Big K for me." He then turned around and left.
Standing just outside of the office, the information dealer let out a heavy sigh. He looked left and ride at the two silent guards who were both armed. 'Even though I've been around these mindless guys for all these years..still freaks me out how mindless they are.' He walked from the building and found himself in the middle of a quiet looking town. It was a least a lot warmer here than it was in the Midwest. A nice breeze blew, and he had the suspicion that it might rain. Slowly he slumped back to his hotel room, where he checked it thoroughly for any unnecessary spies. It seems like there dissent even among the higher ups at Hive. Still, "Big K" remains a mysterious, as well as "T", I have worked very hard just get that much. These leaders better not get too comfortable...because if I ever find out who they are, it's going to be a big...'
His thoughts were cut short as his phone began to ring. He took it up and pressed it against his head. "Yes?" He paused for a while. "Understood..." He closed the phone, and then he dialed a number into it. "Hallo. Sprechen Sie Deutsch mein freund?" He paused with a smile on his face. "Ah, forgive me." He laughed as he fell back onto his bed staring up at the ceiling.
"I will come as soon as I can. I'm out west right now...It will be a few hours..." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a picture with a document attached to it. "There is an old friend I'd like to visit, maybe offer him a job." He couldn't help but chuckle at how easy it was. The header of the document he was holding onto read in bold letters: "Kaz Reinfold.", with the picture of the unconscious boy sitting in the middle of a strangely familiar hallway...
Only a fool would so gladly hand over all the information in his possession...the chaos is only beginning.
/End.
No comments:
Post a Comment