I have to become stronger

As they walked home, Zeke was still very tired, so Luis held a hand over his shoulder and helped him lean on him.

"You really should stop with these nightly dates" he said.

"They are not dates, I told you..." replied Zeke yawning.

"It's just that I have something important to do, and Yuki's helping me"

"Almost every night? And if it's really that important, do you know that I can help you too?"

Zeke hesitate to give a proper answer.

"Okay, let's say I believe you, and Yuki's the only person who can help you, still, these nocturnal outings cause you insomnia, which slowly affects your health"

"Yeah...you're right, I'll try to reduce their numbers, I don't know how efficient will be, but I will try at least".

"In addition, from what I've seen, the powers of the demon somehow neutralize the effects of insomnia, and I'm recovering much faster than I normally should, so I'm good for the moment" thought Zeke.

A few more minutes passed and the two reached an intersection between two roads.

"It's ok here, from here I can walk alone till home, thanks for help Luis."

"Are you sure you're good?"

"Yes, besides that I need to call Yuki"

"And we just talked about that..."

"Relax, it' not for a meeting, she wants to know that I'm getting home safely"

Luis remained silent for a moment.

"How...adorable...aww, you two are perfect for each other"

"I told you, it's not exactly what you think..." replied Zeke a bit irritated.

"Don't start writing scenarios in your head Luis, I'm more than sure Yuki wants to know when I get home to make sure I'm not caught in a fight with a Hals alone" he thought.

"Now leaving the subject with me and Yuki aside, don't you have someone to text to?"

There was a moment of silence between the two, an awkward silence. None of them said anything, Zeke looked at Luis waiting for an answer from him, and Luis realized what was happening.

"I FORGOT! I'M SO DUMB! HOW COULD I FORGET SUCH A THING?" he replied putting his hands in his head and crouching on the ground.

"What?! What happened?" asked Zeke worriedly.

"Zeke what have I done? I'm so stupid...I forgot to ask for her phone number...what do I do now?"

Zeke refrained from making any malicious comments at that moment for a second, but in the end he told Luis what he needed to hear.

"You're indeed very stupid" replied Zeke as he pulled out his phone to call Yuki.

"Hey! It's really mean of you"

"Besides this as you can see it's 8:43 pm, as far as I can remember it was written that at 9 pm the restaurant closes, so you have about a quarter of an hour to go back to the restaurant and ask for her number.

"Huh? but we're already quite far from the restaurant, I don't know if I'll be there in time..."

"This depends on you, and how much you want her number, I can't help you with this, it's all up to you, all I can do is to support and encourage you"

"Yeah but...do you think I can do it?

"Well as long as you make your mind, nothing can stop you, so yes, I think you can do it"

Confidence began to grow inside Luis. Zeke's encouragement made him really feel that he could do it, he even started to say to himself 'Yeah...I can do this! I can do this!'. He returned and was ready to run to the restaurant, but before he left, he told Zeke one last thing.

"Zeke! Thank you for everything you've done today! I can't tell you how happy I am to be your friend"

"You're welcome Luis, it was my pleasure"

After the two separated, Luis runs as fast as he could to the restaurant with hope and adrenaline being the only things which gave him power. As he was running, he slowly began to run out of air, but the adrenaline in his body still kept him afloat. Even though he was quite fit, the road to the restaurant was quite long. Those fifteen minutes seemed to pass too fast, everything around Luis seemed to move too fast, even so, the restaurant it still seemed miles away from Luis.

Finally, Luis arrived in front of the restaurant. When he took out his phone to check if he still had time, it was 9:06 p.m. He was late, the lights were already off, and the door seemed to be closed

"No...not after all this struggle today...I can't fail now just because of a stupid mistake..."

Luis waited two more minutes in the hope that someone would come out, but in vain...it was already too late...

"Hmm, so I understand that some of us are not really made to find someone special. I think I will go home now...I still have some games to finish..." said Luis with a low voice. All the hope he had, was now gone, his mood changed completely, Luis was completely defeated by fate this time.

But just before he left, the same fate that had previously punched him in the face, extended a helping hand and showed him the right way now.

"Oh? Have you forgot something, dear?" a sweat voice has said.

Luis froze. It didn't take him more than a moment to recognize whose voice it was, and without hesitation he turned his head to the source of this voice.

"Amber" he said with a sigh of relief. He smiled and kept talking.

"Yes, I forgot something"

"Well, it seems to be something important enough that you have to run here in a hurry, your luck is that I just closed and I was going to leave, but I saw you running in a hurry here and I wanted to see what it made you come back so fast"

"Well..." Luis said, taking a short break.

"Hmm? Yes? What is it?"

Luis began to change his face color. His face began to turn the color of the setting sun into a vast ocean.

"I've come because...I forgot to ask your phone number...so I can talk with you when I'm not at school and you're not at work..."

Amber was silent for a second amazed by Luis's words. After that she burst out laughing so hard that her tears were enough to fill an entire lake.

"Don't take me wrong" she said "I'm not laughing at you, but I find it very funny that you really ran this far just to ask for my phone number, when you could only come another day. So I understand that you wanted to talk to me so much tonight that you forgot that this variant exists?

Luis is stuck. At that moment, he realized that what Amber had said was true, and that he could really come another day to ask for her phone number and not bother so much now to be on time.

"Yes, I haven't realized that yet"

Amber continued to laugh out loud at the whole situation, after which she gave a surprising answer to Luis.

"Well, don't worry, I appreciate the gesture, I find it very nice what you just did" she replied with a big smile on her face.

In that moment Luis looked deep into her eyes, eyes so beautiful that anyone would get lost in them. A blue so beautiful and mysterious, like the bottom of an ocean that hides so many mysteries ready to be discovered.

"Do you want to go out with me?" he said without realizing it.

Both of them remained silent after that. The wind began to blow harder and faster so Amber asked Luis.

"Did I hear that right? The wind is blowing pretty hard so I don't want to get it wrong"

Luis realized what he just said and stoned, but it was already too late to retreat from this, so he continued with that.

"Yes, I asked you if you want to go out with me"

Amber blushed a little before giving Luis an answer.

"Well, you really surprised me with this"

"Is this a bad thing?" asked Luis a bit worried.

"Definitely not! It's just that...I didn't expect you to ask me so soon. I realized you were going to want to ask me out after tonight, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, you really surprise me Luis" she replied laughing.

"Well, I also surprise myself this time. So? How do this idea sounds to you?"

"Sounds great! Of course I want to go out with you!"

"Tha...that's great!"

"I'm looking forward to go out with you Luis, but until that I think you'll need this" she said, handing him a piece of paper with a number on it.

"Yeah, this will be very useful" he said laughing.

"You know it's quite dark outside, do you have anything to go home with?"

"Well, I do have a driving license, but I don't have a car yet, so I usually walk home"

"I'm glad to hear that, this gives me the chance to accompany you till home tonight"

"I would be more than happy if you will do that" she said giggling.

"So? Shall we go?"

"Of course"

The two began to walk towards Amber's house, meanwhile talking about other things.

It is getting darker and darker outside. The faint light of the setting sun stretched through Amber's brown hair, this time untied, making it look golden.

This image, with Amber's bright brown hair, accompanied by her charming smile, will remain imprinted in Luis' memory for a long time.

"Huh? Have something happened?" she asked.

"No, not really, just that...you remind me of someone..."

"Is this person important? Is she a girl? Maybe even a very important girl? Of off Luis, don't you know it's not good to play at more tables?" she replied teasing Luis.

"She's women to be more precise, and yes, she was very important to me...when she was still alive..."

Amber stopped teasing Luis. She remained silent for a few seconds, after she said.

"I'm...sorry to hear that...who she was?"

"I'll probably tell you another time, right now I don't want to get into a sad atmosphere"

"Ok, if you say so, I will respect your decision"

The two continued to talk about other topics until they got home to Amber, then parted ways.

Nothing interesting happened for a few more days, things went normally, Luis and Amber started talking more and more often, Yuki and Zeke continued to train, as usual, until it was already the end of the week, and the weekend was about to begin.

It was Friday, and Zeke had just finished his class, so he was getting ready to go home. However, a pleasant surprise awaited him at the gate, it was Luis, who behaved very strangely.

"Hi Luis"

"Oh...hi Zeke, how are you?"

"Well, I'd say I'm better then you, but I would lie"

"Why did you say this?"

"Didn't you really look in a mirror today?"

"No, why? Do I look weird? Do I have something on my face? Or does my hair look bad?"

"No, you're hair looks good, but you have something quite weird on your face"

"Huh? What?! What do I have on my face Zeke? Please tell me!"

"A big smile that covers more than half of your face" he said laughing.

"Man! I could've had a heart attack! Don't scare me like that!" he replied a bit irritated.

"It's today right?" he asked continuing to laugh.

"Yeah....and I'm very excited"

"You don't have to be too excited, I'm sure you'll be fine"

"I hope it will be too"

"Have you thought about where you are going?"

"I have some places in mind, but I don't really know what type of stuff she likes, I could take her out to a fancy restaurant, or at mall, or at the cinema but at the same time I could take her out to a much quieter place, such as a walk in the park after which we could go to a nearby family restaurant. I don't really know where to go...Zeke please help me! I don't know what to do!" he said bagging Zeke.

"Calm down! You don't have to stress about things like this!" Zeke replied as he puts his hands on Luis's shoulders to calm him down.

"Think about it, you have been talking for a few days, you need to know a few things about her and what she prefers, put things together and draw the conclusion yourself where she would like the most."

"Yeah, you're right I need to calm down, now, now, now oh sh*t, I think I'm going into hyperventilation"

"Are you kidding me? Are you really that excited?"

Luis nodded in agreement.

"Ok, ok, let's go in a much quieter place and talk, sounds good?" replied Zeke while rubbing his eyes.

Luis nodded again.

"We should go to my place, there's always quiet"

"And do you think this would be a good place to talk?"

"Yes"

"Ok, let's go then"

Zeke and Luis began to move to where Luis lived. The two went to an area where Zeke had not been very often in the five years he had lived in Paxton. It was a rather luxurious neighborhood, with tall and well-appointed blocks of flats, with expensive cars parked in the parking lots in front of the blocks of flats and in specially arranged places.

At one point the two stopped in front of a very tall building with many windows, which seemed to be both a hotel and a company building.

"We're here" said Luis.

"Did you really live here?" asked Zeke amazed.

"Yes, I do, now come in"

When they entered the building, Zeke began to admire the surroundings. The main room downstairs was like a hotel reception, a huge room with a few sofas in different places: around the fireplace, in front of the big TV that a slightly older person was watching at a game of football. On the floor was a red carpet that led to the elevator entrance and the stairs. Besides, all the objects in that room seemed to be more expensive than the average cost.

"That's insane man, I am very happy for you that you can experience all this luxury"

"Well, yes, but let me give you some advice, Zeke, everything that is expensive in this world comes at a cost, in addition to all the money you pay"

"What you mean?"

"I'll tell with another occasion"

"Okay, if you say, shall we go?"

"Yes"

The two continued talking until they reached the elevator. However, an unexpected incident occurred at that time.

The two were in, and the doors were ready to close. The two were still talking, when something happened, a person familiar to Zeke passed in front of the elevator doors that were closing at that moment, and Zeke noticed his presence only with the corner of his eye.

Once the elevator doors were closed, Zeke realized what had just happened and stopped talking to Luis.

"WAIT, WAS THIS...?"

"Huh? What happened Zeke?"

Zeke was staring at the elevator doors, which were now closed, as if waiting for someone to open them and enter.

"Are you feeling ok Zeke?"

"Luis...a quick question, are you familiar with your neighbors?"

"Why are you asking this?"

"I thought I saw someone I knew, please tell me, is there anyone with orange hair in this building?"

"Orange you say...hmmm, I don't think there's anyone besides me"

"Oh, okay then..." said Zeke with a sigh of relief.

"I could swear it was him...I could swear that the person who had just passed the elevator was Heng! but what is he doing in a place like this...? oh...in the end I think it just seemed to me...or so I want to believe" he thought.

"Why do you ask? Is this person important?"

"In a way, yes, he helped me with something and I would like to thank him again, but in the end I don't think it was him, and I just confused him with someone"

"I'm sure you'll meet him again someday, and you'll have the chance to thanks him"

"I hope too"

Once upstairs, Luis leads Zeke to his apartment. He had the number 412. After he opened the door, he politely invited Zeke inside.

The interior of the apartment was something of a dream. It all started with a small corridor where you let your clothes in before entering the house itself. Followed by a huge main room where you entered as you walked after you leave your things at the entrance. After this there is a kitchen without walls separating it from the living room, on the right side of the way forward.

The living room was huge, a room of impressive size, comparable to that of a normal apartment, which contained a lot of valuables, including a huge TV on the wall, a piano sitting in the middle of the room, armchairs made of well-crafted material, with a huge glass window on which you could admire the view of Paxton and more.

"Did you really live here Luis?" asked Zeke amazed.

"Yes I do, but I usually refrain from telling people that"

"I think I understand why"

"Hmph, I knew you would get it. For the past years every time I told someone about my financial status, they started to watch me with other eyes, a lot of them start to follow me just because of my money, it was awful...but you are different Zeke, I have trust in you that you won't do the same"

"Thank you Luis...for having trust in me"

"You have shown me many times that you deserve to be trusted, so you have no reason to thank me, eventually I would like to thank you that a person as good as you is my friend.

You know...life is beautiful when you have a very good financial situation, you can afford to go to the most expensive places, to buy the most expensive things...but let me tell you something Zeke...there are two things that money can't buy it"

"And what would these be?"

"The soul of the people...a good man with a pure soul does not need money to be good and to help others, just like you, I can clearly see that you have a pure soul, and for others no matter how much money they have or how much you give them, their soul does not cease to be full of darkness....and... the other thing that you can't buy is...time...all the money in the world can't sent you back in time, remember that Zeke, once a thing is done, it is done...once a loved one disappears...he/she is gone forever..." said Luis with a trembling voice.

As he stood with his back to Zeke, he couldn't see his face, but something felt different about him...it felt like...

"Luis, its ok to cry if you want to, all of us lost something or someone dear, in our lives" said Zeke.

"I know...but...it still hurts...a lot..." replied Luis with a stream of tears running down from his eyes.

"I understand that Luis...it's ok now" replied Zeke as he gets closer to Luis and put his arm on Luis's shoulder.

"Who was it?"

"My...mother...she passed away a few years ago..."

"Oh Luis, I'm sorry to hear that"

"Yeah...me too...but what bothers me the most is not that she died normally...she was killed..."

Zeke remained silent for a few seconds. A terrifying silence was left between the two.

"Huh?" replied Zeke amazed at some point "By who? Did you get him after all?"

"It's...complicated" Luis replied

"What do you mean it's complicated? Does it bother you if you elaborate more? Or if it bothers you to talk about it, we can leave it at that"

"Well... I do not mind, the truth is...I don't really know who killed her...it happened a long time ago, I think I just turned ten, or something like this. I lived a normal life with my family, at that time I did not have the same financial situation as now, we was a modest family living in a city far away from this place.

The house I had then was a medium-sized one, nothing sophisticated about it, and the school I attended was one with a level of difficulty a little above the average level.

Anyway, the fact is we were happy, even if we didn't have the most expensive stuff in our home, even if we could afford more at that time, we have each other, until...that cursed day came...As I told you, it was around the age of ten, so about mid-summer, my father was working as a police chief at the time, and my mother was an accountant for a company, so she was always at home, she was often very busy, she often didn't have time to make dinner, so she ordered some food from the city. As I said, she was very busy with work, but at least I could talk to her whenever I had a problem, she would have canceled all the work she had, no matter how much it was, just to help me.

She was the kind of very hardworking and serious person, she always finished her job on time, sometimes she even asked for more, and even several times she was offered a promotion to a higher rank, but she refused every time because if she be accepted, she would have had to leave the town, and she would have preferred to spend more time with me and Herrler than at work, like any other woman.

Her image will forever be imprinted on my retina, every time I close my eyes I seem to see her in front of me...her long brown hair, a brown so natural and so wonderful, her eyes...the same color as the sea...an blue so beautiful that every man would be lost in them, her waist was always perfect from all the diets and exercises she did.

She was quite short in height now that I think about it, neither her arms nor her legs seemed to be very big as far as I can remember, but there is something that I can't forget, her posture... she always went with her chest out, no matter what, from where or with whom she spoke, she was not embarrassed by the men who looked at her chest, or the other women talking about how bulky it was, she always had the same position, with her chest out, her chin raised and looking forward, she was... perfect I could say..."

"And what happened?"

"I wish I could tell you...one day I come back from school and there were police cars in front of our house...all I can remember was my father screaming and crying over the corpse of my mother who laid down with her body covered"

"Then...how can you be so sure she was killed then?"

"Immediately after this scene, the police took my father to the station for interrogation, the idea was that no one was home that day except the two of them, so he was the main suspect in the murder, but here everything starts to get weird.

My parents didn't seem to have anything bad to do with each other, they quarreled from time to time, like any other couple, but it never lasted more than a few hours, each time one of them gave in and came to apologize even if it wasn't his fault, they just didn't like being upset with each other, it was really cute sometimes if you ask me.

Herrler had no addictions like alcohol or cigarettes, and my mother was a person who could keep his composure long enough.

So the idea that he could have killed my mother was out of the equation for me, and if it were true, I just wouldn't be able to accept it, he's not that kind of man... but his colleagues...they didn't believe him...they took him to the ward and interrogated him, and in the end, due to lack of evidence, the case was closed and he lost his job because they thought he was to crazy to be a policeman anymore."

"What do you mean they thought he was crazy?"

"Herrler being the chief of police had access to more information than the lower-ranking ones, and it was a certain case that I still remember...several disappearances were reported in a very short time, after which the bodies of the missing people were found in strange places not long after they were reported missing.

It was a long time since my father worked on this case, and sometimes I would take the opportunity to see what it was all about. I think I've been able to see what he's doing in his home office about three times. All I remember were pictures of torn corpses, with claw marks on them, mutilated, and some even worse...

Of course, like any father when he noticed that I was watching what he was doing, he sent me to the other room because he would not have wanted his nine-year-old son, almost ten years old, to see pictures of mutilated corpses.

I remember there were many attempts to close the case and stay on the heels of a wildlife attack... but each time there was a person who resisted and wanted this case to continue...of course he was that person.

He always supported the idea that everything was too well planned to be an attack of wild animals, I even remember that he discovered a route after which he predicted the following targets, so in his eyes, everything was much more than an unfortunate coincidence.

But in the end the case was closed due to lack of evidence, so the wildlife option remained, only that something did not change, even though the case was closed Herrler continued to work on it, continued to work on the case for a few months, until one day I remember he called my mother to his office to talk. Of course I was curious to hear what it was all about. I don't remember exactly all the details, all I remember was a word I had never heard given to a creature."

"And what was that?"

Luis remained silent. A very oppressive atmosphere began to be felt and the tension between the two began to increase very much. Luis looked straight into Zeke's eyes and asked

"Zeke, have you ever heard the term of 'Hals'?"

Zeke swallowed all his words, he was silent for a few seconds. His eyes widened and sweat began to appear on his forehead.

"Are you feeling good Zeke?"

Zeke made up an excuse for the moment that wouldn't make him too suspicious in Luis' eyes.

"Y...Yeah, I was thinking about this word, but I don't think I've heard it before"

"Yeah...I thought you couldn't be heard, I hadn't heard either until that moment, I probably would have forgotten it by now, if it weren't for that scene"

"What scene?"

"I forgot to tell you a detail, but I think you've already realized it yourself, but every time there is a crime or an unfortunate event, people gather around to look at it. This scene stuck in my memory, when the police took my father and put him in the car, everyone was watching him, and he kept screaming one thing. 'I told you, I told you all that Hals exists, and how, soon more victims will be killed if we don't do something, I'm not the one you're looking for, if you don't open your eyes TAMOS will get to power, and we will all be finished.'

This is the last thing I remember, after that I was sent to an orphanage where I stayed for a few months, Herrler lost his job and had to leave town, so he came to Paxton and became a teacher. I haven't seen him in a few years, the first time after that incident was at the age of sixteen.

Then I sat down and talked about everything that had happened, and he...he continued to support his idea, he told me everything about his discoveries during his time as a police chef, he told me that these creatures were called 'Hals' who don't seem to come from our world who kidnap people and kill them later.

He also told me that their movements were too well calculated, so there were two possibilities, either they were very intelligent creatures, or someone smarter controlled them.

That's when he told me about TAMOS, he thought it was a secret company that took care of these creatures to gain power, eventually coming to control everything.

Then...I realized why people thought he was crazy...

I understand that you and him have a very good relationship with each other, but after that moment I started to break ties with him, I managed to get a job at a company where I learned a lot of things and eventually I was promoted to a higher rank and sent abroad to study and work.

That's why now I afford all the things you see around you, the last three years have been some very...busy years for me, but I don't regret anything, I'm glad I was able to manage on my own."

"Luis...you've been through a lot alone...I know your mother would be proud of you"

"Yeah...I hope so...but i don't know if she would..." replied Luis while shedding a lake of tears.

"It's ok Luis, I will be by your side until the end of your life if need be, you're not alone anymore"

"Thanks Zeke...I'm really glad that you're my friend"

"Now, I say we should see where you go with Amber"

"OH CRAP, I ALMOST FORGOT, you're right, we need to hurry"

"You mean, you have to hurry"

"Yes, yes I have to hurry"

"Hmph, I'm really glad that he can pass from one state to another so quickly...Luis I'm really sorry for what your mother suffered, and everything you had to go through, so I promise you...I'm going to get rid of Hals, so that no one else is put in your situation...to lose a loved one....that being said...I have to become stronger!"