Hidden memories uncovered
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Time seemed to slip from Grant's fingers before he finally got up from the ground and gave his broken bike one last look before he walked away from the bike and the house. It took him an hour of walking to reach the cemetery where his Grandfather had a Memorial headstone. He knew the route by heart since it was the same place his mother was buried. His head was so swimming in sadness that he failed to notice the sky getting darker with clouds. Grant even ignored his hunger as he walked among the headstones in search of his only family.
The first Headstone, he found, could only break his heart even more. The Headstone was brand new, and yet seemed to carry a majesty that only came from older headstones. As he finally arrived in front of it, the sight made grant's knees buckle. It was his Grandfather's headstone but the urn was missing and dates of his birth and death were scratched off with a really sharp tool. Only his name "Bartholow Horus Zane " remained, emblazoned upon the smooth stone.
Grant's immediate thought was his bastarding family. However he immediately shook his head in denial at the thought, sure they may be ignorant, absentee opportunists, but not vindictive enough to deface a tombstone. Maybe Robert, but that was his own beef, nothing that would fall on his Grandfather's shoulders. Grant cooked his brain trying to think about who would do something like this, then a conversation that Grant had with his Grandfather last year popped into his head:
" Grant, come over here for a second." Grant, who was about to ride away back to his dorm, stopped and went over to his Grandfather, who was gesturing with his bony hands to sit next to him on the porch. Before Grant could ask what was up all of a sudden, his Grandfather started. " Look, I know it will be difficult to hear this, but when I die, I'm going to be cremated. Some old friends, or some people acting on their behalf will come to take my ashes away. However, these people may do.. More than that. Try not to think too harshly on them, I am sure they are acting within the purview of the rules concerning stuff like this. I did not bother reading past the rules regarding residency and the like." Grant scratched his head and asked, " Grandpa, residency rules? Grandma told me you are a local boy, but you actually come from somewhere else?" The grandfather scrunched his already wrinkled forehead and said, " Something like that, it's complicated."
Grant tried to remember more but then a groan reached his ears as a nearby toolshed's door opened to reveal the groundskeeper for the cemetery. Grant had met him a time or two visiting his mother's grave, which thankfully and sadly was untouched. He ran over as the man had fallen to his knees in a coughing fit. Grant was about to put a hand on the man's back and ask if he was alright. The hand got swatted away by the grounds keeper with a huff. " I'm alright kid, it will take more than that to put me down." Grant backed away two steps as the man got back to his feet. He got steady leaning against the toolshed as Grant asked the question, " just what happened to you?"
The Groundskeeper stared at Grant with a blank expression, unsure about how to answer the young man. He opened his mouth but stopped and ran past Grant, when he spied the defaced tombstone. On top of the tombstone, it was the first time Grant had seen the man cry. The groundskeeper was hugging the defaced tombstone, like it was his lover. After a minute, Grant spoke up, " do you really not know what happened?" Grant's voice snapped the groundskeeper out of the mood he was in, as he spoke, " I honestly don't know how to answer you kid, the last thing I recall is personally placing the newly finished stone in time for your relatives to arrive, then standing up to greet them."
Grant pressed further, " And then what happened?" The Groundskeeper only shook his head and said, " A headache is what, like I have a hangover, but I know for a fact that I had no booze the previous night. I might toast to the old man tonight, but for right now I need to head home to contact the owner of the cemetery to see what we can do about this vandalism." The groundskeeper then left to take care of his business leaving Grant alone with the headstones. He then sat down on the damp grass as the heavens cried for the young man. Who could only stare at the cold stones in a daze.
By the time he moved again, his clothes were soaked from head to toe, the rain showing no signs of stopping. The street lights turned on as Grant exited the Cemetery to begin the long hard trek back to his dorm. While his feet propelled his body forward, Grant was stuck inside his own head, all his grief and loneliness swimming around in a fog of questions as Grant tried to cut through it all to figure out his next steps, moving, jobs, Cheap apartments, who is hiring, what's the budget he had right now. Noise and Time passed by Grant as he left rural residential town and headed back to his college town. The short connecting road between the two, got a whole lot longer for one without any form of car or bike. However, Grant pressed on despite the protests from his empty stomach, as the trek was going to be long enough as it was without having to take a break.
The rain continued to beat down on Grant as not even the Moon wanted to light Grant's path as he walked the pitch black road. Hours passed until the lights from the College town finally appeared in the distance. The light at the end of his dark tunnel, but then something else caught his attention. Grant was no longer alone, as a pair of figures were clearly seen on the left of the road, just standing there. Despite not holding an umbrella, both figures were completely dry, as if the rain was too afraid to touch their black suits. Grant crossed the road to get a better look at the two. The man was having a conversation with his companion, a female with a great figure and her shoulder length black hair on a ponytail. Grant could not hear what they were talking about due to the rain but the man would occasionally shake a metal container he was holding at her.
The sight was pretty strange and had seemed to grab Grant's attention for too long as the couple noticed Grant watching them. The Man sneered in Grant's direction as he then vanished in the blink of an eye and then the next second Grant passed out.
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Grant opened his eyes, staring directly at the dorm ceiling, A headache raging in his skull, both from the deluge of new information and Zack screaming in his ear, " Grant, Grant! Wake up!" Grant slugs Zack as he sits up in the bed, effectively shutting Zack up. Grant marveled at his healed hand before he spoke, " you are giving me a migraine." He quickly shuffled off the bed and stood up ignoring Zack's insistence that he lay back down. Grant walked over to the hole in the wall and peered out over the edge at the street below with only a whistle showing his impression.
As he looked out over the street, he spied the Man that had knocked him out. His Black suit looked pristine as the man gave Grant a slight bow as a greeting. The man then signaled out to Grant pointing at the entrance to Crowder, or an area in that direction, before walking away. Grant attempted to do the same but a hand on his chest courtesy of Zach stopped him. Zach, for once, did not have that mile wide grin on his face, but obvious concern. Grant tried to move past, but Zach and his hand held firm.
" What in the hell is going on?"
" How would I know?"
" She said you knew."
" only to stop you from asking her yourself."
" Who was that woman?"
" No idea."
" She knew you."
" Apparently"
" Rammed you through a wall."
" Felt that."
" Choked you out."
"Felt that too"
" laid you out then vanished."
" they like to do that."
" Whose they?"
" Another path."
" What?"
Grant finally juked out of his roommate's path and bolted for the stairs, nearly tripping three separate times in his haste to make it outside. Upon exiting the dorm, he spied the man in black again, ducking into one of the only isolated alley type paths in the whole college. Upon turning the corner, Grant was greeted by the woman in black next to an impossibility. Behind the Woman stood a metal platform, gleaming silver even in the shaded alleyway. What grabbed Grant's attention was the hole directly under the platform, or rather the absence of anything. It was clear that the platform continued below but it just ended in the absence. The Woman in black then stretched out her right hand and asked simply, " Ready?"
Grant hesitated as thoughts of his grandfather and his family flashed across his eyes. He turned to look at the man he followed. The Man shrugged and said, " I can't give you an answer Kid. To quote a famous movie mentor, ``We can only show you the door, you have to open it,'' or something like that." He laughed as he got on board the Silver platform as well as the Woman. She tapped the right side of her black shades twice before speaking, " Time's up, We have to leave, you coming?" She once again offered her right hand to Grant. In an act that surprised both Agents and Grant, he grabbed her hand and was hoisted up onto the platform. Guardrails then popped up from the platform as the whole thing sank into nothingness, vanishing without a trace.
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When Grant finally came to his senses, he was bound by zip ties on his hands and feet. Due to the darkness around him, he could discern where he was, but the occasional vibrations on his butt told him that whatever he was sitting on was in motion. A sudden bang of something hitting metal drew his attention in a particular direction, emerging from the darkness was the Man in black that had knocked him out. He approached and shook Grant's hand. " Evening, call me Doug and the lovely woman to your…" It took him a second to get the reverse of left and right, " …Left is Amelia, we are recruitment Agents for the New Necropolis Knighthood." Grant turned to his left halfway through the man's introduction to look at the Lady in black call Amelia as she gave a wave to him before speaking, " i'm through with the deep dive, sending it to you now." She then tapped the side of her black glasses with Doug doing the same.
Doug let out some Hmms and Ahhs before he spoke again. " Grant Springs, 24 years of age, perfect physical condition, Little on the chucky side due to an improper diet, can be fixed though. Studying electrical engineering, bold choice, i must say. Amelia, what is with the black bars over the family history section?" Amelia immediately double tapped on her glasses before speaking, " Expunged, above our paygrade. Interesting, the copy sweep just came in, looks like we have ourselves a unique." The man's face seemed to light up as he tapped on his glasses.
Grant was shocked by the revelations that the two were spitting compounded with the info they dug up on him. His head felt like it was doing corkscrews in his head that he was silent throughout the whole thing even when the two turned towards each other and mouthed out the conversation that they seemed to be having. After a while, Doug turned to Grant and spoke out loud again, " Here is the deal, kid. After some deliberation, we would like to extend an offer to you. Do you understand?" The question snapped Grant out of his tailspin and he blurted out, " What are you people talking about?"
The two look at each other before Amelia approaches Grant with something that looks like a gun with a needle on the end. She forcefully tilted Grants head to the left as a sharp pain went through his right ear. Grant screams, " what did you do to me?!?" Amelia smiled as she patted Grant on the head as she said, " popped your piercing cherry for one. We find letting your Subconscious work out the details, infinitely faster than you spouting off a million questions we can't answer definitively or might be misinformed about due to our ignorance. So this handy little thing will track you, transit the offer to your mind and black out our meeting from your memory through nanomachines, Night night." Grant was about to ask something before blacking out.