My Life is Simpler Back Then

"Finally! Someone managed to do a breakthrough!" Howard unlocked the door to the President's office and kicked it open, but not hard enough to incur damage… just to look cool. He then waved the folders in his hand. "I figured an upgrade for our comms so little shits won't be able to kill it again and again!"

Allan was busy typing and cross-referencing things with the spread files on his table. He only regarded the inventor with a glance before speaking, facing the screen again. "How fast will you be able to mass-produce them?"

Howard grabbed a chair, turned it around, and sat down. He placed the files on the table, covering some of those kept open. "A week, but I could give the elite squad theirs in two days. What are you working on?"

"Your funds."

"Mn, I wish we could be like that little Belphegor witch. What's wrong, honey? You need money? Hell will provide for you, baby…" Howard sighed. "Can't you ask him to pay up somehow? I don't care what kind of fee you ask for… just get money from him. That'd solve some problems of mine."

"Don't bother Noah about little things." Allan chuckled.

Howard then started whining about how money wasn't a 'little thing' to him. In his own boredom, he spied on a strange file on the table. He reached out and picked it up, browsing through an agent file. "Percival Beckett… his name sounds familiar."

Allan wanted to snatch the folder, but Howard was too far from his reach. He only let the man read the file as he wished. It wasn't like secrets abounded the notes. Besides… "It should. He handled the Science division before you. However, he's also a field agent whenever he wanted to test his creations."

"He hunted witches using prototypes? Wow, he must be very ballsy to risk malfunction…" Howard flipped the pages again and frowned at the photos. This Percival Beckett seemed to be very lively, but the key was… posing next to Allan. They seemed to be friends. "You look very close."

"I keep important people close."

"I'm very flattered, brother." Howard laughed before going through the file. "His achievements seemed to be too little. I mean, with the level of importance you had on him. Is there another folder?"

Allan eyed the inventor, and it took him a few seconds to realize that Allan was staring at him. No, the President was glaring. Howard then straightened his back and placed the folder down on the table. The President set his work aside.

"The Science division was only around for five years when I lost him. You don't need to know too much about him. Just go back and finish my comms."

Howard twitched as Allan seldom spoke like that towards him. Perhaps revisiting that person's life was painful to Allan and to the colleagues who knew him. The inventor only got up and spoke a few reminders before heading out. He then sighed as he scratched his head. "Shucks, Big Brother grew—

"Hm?" He spied a small figure peeking from the corner. They were already in the hallway so the secretary didn't seem to notice her, too. Howard then walked towards the blonde girl. "Hey, little girl, why are you here?"

"Noah…" Rosanna peeked out of her hiding place. "I… felt like something bad happened to Noah. I've tried calling him again, but it won't connect. Can I go see him in New York?"

"I doubt that would be possible. Not only would that make Noah sad, but that would also make things harder for him. Just stay in your room." Even a decent human being would know that sending a girl to a witch and demon hotspot was not in anyone's best interest. "Come with Uncle."

Rosanna only looked away before she decided to run off. Howard frowned, but he dropped it as soon as the child was out of view. He was not a babysitter after all.

The girl picked a floor in the elevator and rode it back to their guest room. When she walked out of the elevator, she stopped in the middle. She then took out Noah's phone and dialed a number. However, it wouldn't go through.

"Noah, I'm scared." Rosanna sniffed as she walked again, her wrists wiping the tears from her eyes. "Daddy's making contact… Noah, come home…"

…

Luca walked along the busy halls of the hospital. It was different from wherein Noah was confined before, but the sights were nonetheless the same. No matter which one he walked in, it was always filled with chaos and death… the only difference was whether things were loud or quiet.

He then proceeded to Carlos's room, but he found no one watching over the patient. Moreover, Carlos looked so crestfallen, tears wetting the bandage on his cheeks.

Knock, knock. Carlos brought his eyes to Luca's image, and he smiled a little after sniffing and drying his eyes. "I hope you don't mind the clutter."

"We saw Richard at the police station. What happened?" Luca sat down on the stool. Since he didn't find Noah in their motel room, he just decided to get some more info from Carlos about Seclusion. Somehow, it was also a way not to be alone with his own thoughts.

"Nothing the hospital couldn't handle. Usual family drama. Gay me, angry everyone." Carlos sighed. "They only came to say that they're not going to pay for my bills and to see if I had died. Ricky just got back from paying when he saw them grabbing me. He attacked my big brother…"

Luca nodded. So the thug-looking man was Carlos's big brother. "He hadn't gone back yet?"

Carlos then chuckled. "Not yet. He probably would be pressing charges and squeezing my family dry from moral damage fees. He wouldn't be Ricky if he were to let this go. Not that I wanted to choose whether to stop him or not. Ricky wouldn't listen to my words, only to my tears.

"Hm, his future wife would be so happy… so lucky."

"You two seemed to be so close. He knew you were calling even before he would pick up his phone." Luca tried to lighten the atmosphere by discussing the fun points. The room was already inviting negative entities that a demon might end up possessing Carlos and doing someone's bidding.

Carlos, however, only eyed Luca before he smiled. "What are you? A psychiatrist? I don't need some kind of therapy; I'm okay, bun."

Luca shook his head. "You're not. Demons will be sent to kill you, and your family is pushing you away when you're most vulnerable. You're not safe; you're not okay. Let me help you." He brought his hand to his chest. "My name is Luca, and I work for the Church.

"I might not be the ideal person to be here with you, but I hope you'd let me help you."

"Hehe, really? And you stepped inside some kind of sin house?" Carlos was interested, but he was rather keen on what he should say. "Okay, so Ricky and I… we go all the way back to first grade. Basically, we were neighbors and… friends. Ah, Ricky is popular and all, but he's not a good kid.

"He's easily irritated, and his mouth was sharp despite the classy delivery." Carlos sighed. ���I think he only ended up sticking to me because we're neighbors. He would normally come out of that big house, ball in hand and very expensive shoes on his feet. Walk up to our gate and ask to play…

"My life is a lot simpler then."

Luca only listened as Carlos went on and on about Richard… then he would speak about how he basically worshiped his mother growing up. He didn't mention anything about the Mills or a younger child. It seemed that the Connors 'bought' Montana without ever making use of him.

However, Luca still took the chance to see if Carlos was just not readily speaking about it. If he really was Richard's confidant, he must have mentioned anything about a child.

"A child?" Carlos's eyes flickered. "I think he did mention something about a child before but… his dad wasn't so keen on keeping him around… or was it his mother? Besides, they said that he was more or less eighteen so there's no point in calling him a child or trying to support him at all���

"Ricky actually wanted to welcome him, but… like I said, things had gone differently…"

…

Sneeze! Noah covered his nose as he sneezed all of a sudden. He then looked up the sky and saw that the sun had already set, and it was already evening. Noah walked out on everyone to get some kind of peace, but his mind was so muddled that he got lost with Caliga.

The drifter walked along the empty alley and hoped to find his way back to the motel. He knew he was still in New York City… but probably outside Manhattan. Queens? Brooklyn? Shucks, he's really lost.

When he realized that maybe his smartwatch could help now that it should be functioning after some percussive maintenance, he noticed an approaching figure from the distance. He could also sense movements behind him. However, they didn't move like muggers.

An old woman stood in front of him. Her hair was already white, but her airs and posture were like she was still a young person… a young successful person. What made them interesting to Noah was that the dozen people around him had breathing dead brands inside them.

"Chroma's coven?" Noah stared at the eyes of the old woman, but her eyes were clear like she wasn't past sixty.

"And you belong to none." The woman smiled at him. "Don't be afraid. We're harmless to you, Montana. We just wanted to talk."

Noah raised his chin a little. "What do you need?"

"An extra pair of hands." The woman smiled… "I remember your father was a very idealistic and generous man. I hope you would spare his old friends some time. We just need you to help us 'find' someone underneath the rubble."

'I don't even remember my father.' Noah hummed. "Who are you hoping for me to dig out?"

The woman raised her hand lightly, making the people at the back lower their guards. She kept her gaze on Noah before she spoke again. "Druid."