It was cold and dark with only a little of light every so often in the gloom, there was an awful smell that lingered in the wet maze of brick-walled tunnels. ‘Drip, drip, drip’ echoed the sound of water. ‘Tap, tap, tap’ came from the running feet in a narrow tunnel. ‘Splash’. A foot collided with a puddle. Ahead of the others was a young man around twenty years old. He had long messy black hair tipped white tied back in a low pony tail. His bangs covered his ears and forehead. His grey eyes matched the colour of a storm. This, accompanied by his pale complexion proved the strain on his body. He wore a motorbike jacket and pants coloured black, striped red down the sides. His boots were black and metal capped. He was a tall, well-built man. His hair flew behind him as he bolted down the tunnel.
“They're catching. What's the plan?” whispered a snide voice inside his head.
“Shut up, Demon.”
“No, I won’t, Soul”
He took a left turn into a dead end. “Oh great, a dead end. What are you going to do now, roll over and die?” said the demon exuding sarcasm.
“All going according to plan.”
“What plan?”
The sound of running feet stopped. “Nowhere else to run.” A man spoke. There were five of them wearing black military-type clothes. They aimed their guns at Soul. “Time for you to die.”
“I’m not the one who’s going to die.” Said Soul. With a calm face, he raised his right hand.
“FIRE” yelled the man. They all pulled their triggers. Nothing happened. They kept trying with no success. A reddish glow gradually emulated from the gun's handles, simultaneously, red veins started to appear on Soul's hand. Their weapons dripped from their grasp, landing on the ground in puddles as the men screeched. Soul, not missing a beat, ran up to the men, pulling out a thirty centimetre blade from his waist and struck. He plunged the knife up under one of the men's chin, straight into his brain. He spun around, removing a second knife from his sleeve, stabbing the next man in the throat. Blood trickled down his hands.
“YOU BASTARD!” howled the third man charging at Soul. Soul pulled out one knife from the corpse. The body fell to the ground, blood pooling. He stepped to the right, dodging, and spun to the man, arms outstretched. Blood splattered the walls like a Jackson Pollock painting. The man's dead body slumped to the ground as his head rolled away. The other two turn, running back the way they came. Soul brought up the knives and threw them at the fleeing men. Both knives firmly planted themselves in their heads.
“That was the plan. Why couldn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t need you.”
He walked to collect his knives. Then his phone beeped. He received a message from Sasha that said 'Soul could you meet Shadow at the hospital? He will explain everything.' “What does Sasha want?” said the Demon. “Don't know, but it would be good to see Shadow. I wonder how things have been for them.”
“Yeah…. And you want to see Shadow hahahaha. That's so funny.”
“Shut up” he walked away from the bodies. “I wonder who they were” pondered Soul
“Who knows? They were annoying”
………..
“This is great” an angry voice echoed in the alley. A woman was standing in the middle dressed in a red longish coat, scarf tied around her neck like a tie, knee high boots, and a black shirt and pants. Long black hair with white sticks flying in the wind. She had amber eyes and gorgeous skin. 'Ring, ring'
“Yes”
“How are things there?”
“Could be better. We lost an agent” she walked out like a model looking towards the dawn. “and the boy's not here either, Cashel” she said cutely.
“Anastasia, what else have you got to report?”
“A cop was taken to the hospital”
“Investigate him”. The phone goes silent.
“I cannot believe he did that. So rude. And now the jerk tells me to investigate this cop. I so wanted to paint my nails.”
………
'Beep…. Beep' was the sound Brad awoke to. He blinked his eyes a few times to shake away the daze that suffocated his head, and to remove the sleep from his eyes. He was greeted by a white ceiling. Brad peered to his right where a window and a couch were positioned. In the opposite direction was the door, and a narrow window shielded by the curtains. Two people were silhouetted through them. The ajar door allowed Brad to hear the conversation.
“OK, I understand”
“You have to protect him, Soul”
“I know, Shadow, that's why Sasha had him secretly moved to a different hospital”
“I have to go now. Good luck.”
“You too.”
'They're unusual names. What were they talking about?' Brad pondered. One of the silhouettes disappeared from the window. The other man entered the room, standing near the bed with one hand on his hip. Brad shot up in a sitting position.
“Oh, you're awake. How do you feel? By the way, you can call me Soul”
“What's going on? Didn't I-” Brad paused as revelation of the situation struck him like lightning.
“-die” Soul finished Brad's sentence “Yes you did, but you were brought back to the land of the living.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“Some people have that power.” Soul slapped his hand on forehead while his other hand perched on his hip in slight aggravation which was slowly increasing. “Man, I don't have time to explain everything to you. I don't have all the answers either.”
“But I do” voices the Demon smugly. However, Brad couldn't hear him so Soul ignored the prick.
“If you're feeling okay we can leave. We're not safe here. Let's go”
“But wait. I have to report to my chief first”
“That's all been taken care of”
“What?” Brad was baffled.
Soul chucked Brad a bag of clothes. “Change quickly” he ordered, walking to the door.
“Okay then” replied Brad feeling irritated.
……..
“Where is he?” said Anastasia through gritted teeth. She stared at the empty room in the hospital where the cop was supposed to be. 'He was the only survivor and the only witness to what transpired in the alley' Anastasia thought, her head shaking with anger, muscles tensed. She stomped to the middle like a child throwing a tantrum. One of her subordinates rushed into the room.
“Sir, the records have been altered” he was visibly trembling where he stood. “The ambulance brought officer Brad Smith here but he was discharged an hour later.”
“Oh, really?” she bit her words.
“Y-yes. And the police description on him and the hospital description we have describe him differently.” He stammered.
She sharply turned one eye back that could have split the room in half. Speaking harshly, she spat “So what did he look like then?” He did not meet her eye. She faced forward.
“Brown hair tied back, green eyes, white skin. He wore a shirt that had the joker printed on it under a black and red coat”
“SASHA!” she yelled clenching her hands. The glass windows shattered into dust. The floor and walls cracked around her. Simultaneously, her force seized her subordinate's throat. He gasped for air, hands clawing at his neck, blood dripping from his ears, his eyes burst, painting the floor. Bones cracked as if there was an intense pressure squashing them as her eyes darkened. She let the corpse drop to the floor with a thud. She left the room smiling sadistically, leaving him dead and drenched in blood.
…….
Brad wore a plain t-shirt, jeans, joggers and had a leather jacket slung over one arm. He followed Soul through the hospital to the car park. Soul walked to a red sports bike. He chucked a helmet back to Brad that landed with a thud in his stomach. Soul mounted the motorbike, strapped on his helmet, then pointed with his thumb, cueing Brad to hop on the back.
“Where are we going?” asked Brad placing his jacket and helmet on.
“Somewhere safe. Now hurry up”
Soul revved the beast and sped towards the exit. The intensity of the take-off caused Brad heart to lurch as he nearly fell off but he grabbed onto Soul's jacket. They went on the free-way. After ten minutes Brad inquired “So, where is this safe place?” Soul turned left at an exit that lead to the bush. “Blue Mountains”
“That's several hours away!”
“We're taking a short-cut” Soul veered sharply onto a dirt road that left skid marks and dust in their wake. For the second time that ride, Brad nearly met the road face-to-face. “Through the Dream Time.”
“The Dream Time?! That's only a story told by my ancestors”
“After everything that happened last night, you think it's not real?” The bike launched off a ledge, into the air. Brad was sure Soul was actually trying to kill them both. Brad felt his veins fill with adrenalin. To his delight, they landed safely on a ledge on the opposite side, instead of plummeting to their deaths. “It's quicker to go through the Dream Time. But the windows don't appear often, only at certain times.”
In the distance behind some trees, a strange light started flickering different colours. They rode around the trees heading towards the light.
“is that it?”
Soul didn't answer. They were engulfed in the light. All around them were native animals and plants, and spirits dancing into different forms, telling some incredible story of all the many lives that existed in this land. There were stars and colours merging with them. It was magical. Brad's heart was consumed with mystic and wonder.
………
A small, obscure silhouette sat in front of the Television which was the only source of light in a living room. A thud sounded at the front door. The person stood, and followed the noise, opening the threshold. Two men were on the other side, both at least a head taller than him.
“Hi, Soul” a prepubescent boy greeted him at the door.
“Hey. Can we come in, Apep?” Soul asked.
“Yeah”. he moved out of the way to allow them access. Apep had long, light orange hair that cloaked his right eye. The opposite eye was more pale than a green apple. He appeared to be thirteenth. He wore a white t-shirt and black pants but lacked shoes.
“Oh, this is Brad” Soul pointed with his left hand to the other man accompanying him. At that moment, Soul's phone rang. “Hello….Yep… I understand, bye” he put his phone away.
During this call, Brad lectured Apep.
“I hope you don't answer the door to people you don't know often.”
“I'm in no danger, Dude. Everyone else is.” Apep said mischievously, leading Brad to a realisation that this kid is certainly not average.
“Looks like we'll be staying put awhile” Soul interjects.
……..
In a dessert, on top of a colossal red rock, sat a boy watching the sun rise. “How long do we have to wait for?” asked Zeraph impatiently.
“Not long. My friend will be here soon. He will” North declared anxiously.
North sat next to Zeraph. They soaked up the warm sun. North wore a dark grey hooded vest, a long red shirt with a belt around it, purple pants and grey slip on shoes. He had silver eyes. No wings or tail or claws either. He was an ordinary person.
“Uluru is really beautiful” commented North
“but being up here is illegal”
“but that view is amazing”
“true, but illegal”
“who's going to know?”
“no one is” came a new voice
“That's right” said North. They lost their smiles. Shocked, they looked back, turning their bodies too, but still sitting. A man clad in black leather, with black spiked hair, and a fringe covering half of his left eye. His irises were white, his complexion brown.
“Aaron” yelled North happily, running up and embracing him in a tight hug.
“It's good to see you too”
“Hey Zeraph, this is my friend. Now we can move to the next part.”
“Hold it” interrupted Aaron and pushed North a step back. “We can't. Something big has happened”
“What happened? What's this next part?” demanded Zeraph. North and Aaron stared into his eyes. His Blue and black eyes.
……..
'Tap, tap, tap'. The sound bounced off the tiles, and echoed around the room as the thin high-heeled shoes strut through the apartment. “I know, I know. I shouldn't have killed that guy, but I was furious because it was that damned Sasha. Do you know what he di-” Anastasia stopped what she was going to say. She stared at the back of Cashel who was sitting in a chair peering out the wide window of the Gold Coast high rises. “What is it? What's going on now?” she spoke, her thick Russian accent slipping through in her seriousness.
“It's the GEI” He stood and walked to her “They did it.”
“Did what?” she questioned, looking him in the eye seeing his fierce anger
“They released a gas. They have started a biochemical warfare now. Those people have created an epidemic and it's only the start of our problems.”
“But we can handle it, right?” She draped her arms around his neck.
“Right, we can” he smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.
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