Chapter 8: Supernatural

"Okay, okay. That's enough. Mind summing it all up for me now?"

As I contemplated the many decisions I've made over the years following the matter, I was met with an almost overwhelming barrage of clarifications regarding the incident that took place last week.

My mind had already grown numb over what was happening, and as I struggled to keep up with what Kevin was spouting, I made an unconscious split-second decision to calm him down on his endeavor to spill the beans.

It's not that Kevin was talking complete and utter nonsense. He was making a whole lot of sense at first. After all, I was the one who told him to tell me everything without excluding a single detail.

Perhaps I made a severe lapse in judgment when I first said those words. Still, as I heard Kevin explain to me in minute detail everything and anything meaningful about what happened last week, I suddenly started getting the feeling that maybe he was just maundering.

But Kevin wasn't the type of person to go on rambunctious ramblings like a kid with ADHD, who was paying more attention to his surroundings than to the sound of his lips flapping.

That's what I thought, anyway. Couldn't tell if Kevin had ADHD or not. But then I remembered that I wasn't in the right state of mind and was already losing my grasp on reality.

Looking at me with the blankest expression anyone could muster, he suddenly questioned me with a hint of doubt in his words.

"Didn't you tell me not to leave anything out? I even recalled all the times I did this and blah blah blah. (I know you're reading this, so have a great day or something, idk.) And even the time you pissed your pants and how I was forced to clean the mess? Are you sure you want just the summary?"

I was not gonna be pissed off and disoriented any more than I had already been.

In my haste, I did something I would quickly regret. Fortunately, I wasn't too angry, as even with Kevin's unnecessary twittering, there were bound to be plenty of things to unpack.

Yet somehow, I regretted ever being born with every word that came out of Kevin's mouth.

"Yes. But you didn't need to go over literally everything. I said anything important, but then you went on a tangent and started telling me more than you should've. Looks like you need some constructive criticism. Didn't anyone ever tell you--"

"Anything I say can and should be significant. Isn't that what you told me earlier?"

"Well, yeah... But it's--"

"Then I don't see why I should stop."

"Sigh. Do as you please, Kevin."

I didn't want to unnecessarily argue with someone who was here for me for the entire week.

Besides, Kevin wasn't always rambling. 90% of what he was saying was something that could be used as a point of reference. No matter how minor of a detail it may have been, like me pissing my pants or him cleaning my piss for me, it told me a lot that I needed to know.

Nevertheless, Kevin listened to my complaint and talked for a few more minutes before he decided to leave. He was essentially saving his most valuable info for last. As he continued to speak to me, I stopped struggling to understand and focused on every single sentence like I was learning something highly mandatory for an upcoming test.

However, even though I knew his words' importance, I still had trouble processing everything.

But I did remember the most significant bits, and as I was doing that, I felt a surge of emotions welling within me.

For the past week, I had been stuck in a coma, unable to do anything, and Kevin was one of the only people there to watch over me.

'He's quite the consistent and caring man, huh? What a guy, worrying over someone who is nothing more than an acquaintance to him.'

From when the figure disappeared as soon as time resumed, Kevin wasted no time rushing into the room and checking on what had happened to my unconscious self.

The entirety of the police department was seemingly perplexed over what had happened—someone disappearing from nowhere without anything explaining what led up to the phenomenon.

The higher-ups continually denied such claims regarding how or why the figure vanished. They said it wasn't possible and that the camera that captured the footage of our interrogation was either faked or bugged.

But rather than denying everything and yelling at us for our incompetence, the lower-ranking department members spent their remaining days tracking where the figure could've gone. And so, for the past week, they did just that. It just didn't make sense for someone to disappear without a trace.

Unfortunately, they could find next to no information about the man or who he was exactly. No background information, no phone number, nada. It was as if the man they were looking for didn't exist. They even took screenshots of his face and compared it to the many individuals whose data had already been implemented into the database, from criminals to citizens, even other police officers. They made sure to be as thorough as possible.

As a result of the man's 'disappearance,' the police station tightened its security following the incident, but what led up to that resolution in the first place wasn't just the fact that someone random and innocent-looking had disappeared from nowhere.

No, the incident just had to go viral. Viral enough to appear on the news.

Not that it made national headlines, but it was a cause for concern. And the police even issued wanted posters regarding the bizarre individual.

They deemed him as someone dangerous and a menace to society. It was impressive how one man could completely shatter their egos enough to be wanted as if he had just pulled off the biggest heist in the galaxy.

Kevin recounted everything he did to protect me from the swarm of constant reporters filling up the hospital I was in. The footage they went through did show my appearance after all, according to Kevin. However, I was fortunate not to have my whole face discovered, as the camera only revealed parts of my back and not my facial features.

And as I expected from a bunch of certified stalkers, they were still able to get ahold of my identity. If not for the footage, it could've just been through other, more conventional means, which was what I thought happened. It's not like my identity was highly confidential information or anything anyway.

The police couldn't interview me on what had happened at the incident since I was still in a coma, but they were at least honorable enough not to reveal to everyone who I was. Unfortunately, that only backfired on them.

Thankfully, Kevin had been proactive to the point of asking them not to interview me for the time being, even if I were to regain my consciousness, so I was already more than grateful for the guy.

I owed him for what he did. That much was obvious. But now wasn't the time to think about how I would do it.

Something more salient was bothering me, and it wasn't the type of information I expected Kevin to trust. He was just like many other people. I didn't think he'd believe that the Aztecan guy from before could somehow teleport to whoever knows where.

It definitely had something to do with the supernatural. I wanted to deny everything I was seeing at first, but I knew I wasn't dreaming or hallucinating. I wasn't the type to take drugs, nor was I the type to get high or intoxicated.

Sure, I had done it a few times in the past out of curiosity, but it just wasn't for me. I didn't like being more weakened than I had already been throughout my life. Besides, I grew up around junkies and addicts before I met Irene, and let me tell you. I fucking hated the way they smelled. Just wasn't quite my style.

As I thought of what lay ahead of me, I couldn't help but feel like the world I knew had been flipped upside down, like the constant state of Australia.

People with supernatural powers or something of the sort existed. With the extra information I had gotten from the goofy male a week ago, I knew I was being ushered into a brand new era.

I had no idea what awaited me. I couldn't fathom the possible dangers and couldn't tell if other people were like 'him.' After all, I've never encountered other people that could use some kind of magic as he could.

The closest experience was Irene himself...

'Huh.'

Come to think of it, Irene was the only other person I could compare 'him' to, but the latter was far more terrifying and had a completely different feel to him.

Yet, for some reason, they were... strikingly similar.

'Could Irene secretly be him?'

I joked to myself again. I knew just how far-fetched my theory was, but there was no way to tell if I had been right or wrong. This wasn't something my instincts were telling me, however. It was just me creating hypotheticals.

Before I could think more about the matter, however, a familiar woman walked into the room.

She quickly spoke to me in a soft but somewhat cheerful tone.

"Great to see you doing well, Mr. Rae. It has been a busy week."

The woman was none other than the secretary who escorted me to the room that Kevin and the weird individual occupied.

She was, as far as I can remember, still wearing the same clothes. She appeared to look no different from before. Still a bit timid but also a bit confident.

In other words, still screwable-- I mean scorable.

A faint smile formed on her face, and she looked at me with eyes filled with traces of relief. She seemed to be worried about my predicament.

"I would like to apologize, first and foremost."

'Wait, what?'

I was confused. What did she even do that would warrant such an apology?

"What do you mean "apologize"? I don't recall you doing anything wrong."

"No, it's... I'm sorry for not being more cautious and ignorantly letting you into the room with that mysterious man."

"That's not something you should be apologizing for."

I thought it was strange for her to be remorseful over something she had no control over. This wasn't anything I'd be willing to overlook. No matter how nice you were, there's no way you'd take so much pity on me to the point of even apologizing to me over something with an outcome you couldn't have possibly anticipated.

"I... I'm sorry for apologizing then!"

She suddenly lowered her head and bowed. First Kevin, and now the secretary. Just what was it about them that made them act so nicely but also so weird to me? Well, Kevin was somewhat of a dead giveaway. But her?

"Okay?"

An awkward atmosphere blanketed the surrounding area for the next ten seconds.

"..."

"..."

Then, the silence was broken when one of us finally decided to speak. It was the secretary.

"...I actually came here to inform you if you wanted to... umm... get interviewed from the department?"

Right. That.

I could tell how annoying the coming days were gonna be. Waking up from a 7-day coma was unlike what I had anticipated. I was suddenly a little famous, and now the cops wanted something to do with me instead of just leaving me be.

"I'll think about it."

I responded in seconds. I was committed to my answer. I expected the cops to come flocking to my doorstep as soon as I woke in spite of Kevin's insistence.

I didn't exactly mind telling them what I had recounted, if not because it involved the supernatural. Who in the hell would believe in someone who claimed to have seen some weirdo using a power that could somehow stop time like The World in front of them?

I was still struggling to accept the absurdity of what transpired a week ago, but it's not like I was going to deny it forever. There were still a few loose ends, and my newfound duty was to tie all of them.

'Journey? Adventure? Duty?'

There was also that talk about some awakening and that strange 'New Halloween' place.

It was still in the back of my mind for now, but it wasn't something that I was gonna let go of.

'He said I needed to awaken first? Isn't that what I have to do before going on a trip? Or...?'

But before I could think more about the situation, the lady secretary articulated in a more intelligible voice.

"Understood. In the meantime, I'll be... checking up on your condition. They said you're not allowed to leave the hospital unless you force yourself out, which you aren't supposed to do. Oh, and I also work as a nurse here. I volunteered to take care of you."

I wasn't exactly all that surprised. I already knew that she worked as both a nurse and a secretary. Just like how I had been working two jobs in the past, the woman before me was doing the same thing. I just didn't know if she was working full-time in one position and part-time in another like I used to, though.

"Did you perhaps decide to look out for me since I was someone you were already acquainted with?"

The secretary did not blush. I was a bit disappointed. Instead, she responded with somewhat of a nervous voice.

"No, it was... because I was obligated to help you? Hehe," she laughed nervously.

'Sureeeeeeee.'

I definitely believed her.

"Well, whatever your reason was, it shouldn't matter to me. Whether you have a crush on someone as fat as me or whatever... Just try not to get your hopes up."

The blushes finally came. I had gotten what I wanted. But instead of being too flustered to speak, she told me something that would genuinely surprise me.

"I'm... I'm taken."

"Oh. Well, good for you."

"T-thanks."

I wanted nothing more than to leave the room we were in.

***

Two figures could be heard chattering amongst each other in a dimly lit room resembling a place of confinement. The room was as sizable as half a tennis court, but nothing noticeable filled it aside from the figures' presence.

"The day should come very soon," a voice belonging to that of a young man quietly echoed.

"Better not mess it up this time," said the one with a voice that contrasted with the sound of his friend's gentler voice.

"Don't worry, even if I do, I could make do with a meeting or two, and those could be used without implementing Freeze."

"I'm serious. Please don't mess it up this time. And also..."

But before he could finish his sentence, a black spiral the size of an apple formed in the distance.

"Wait, is that who I think it is?" the prideful individual stated.

"Who else could it be?" the teenage-sounding man said in a tone that implied familiarity.

The spiral in the distance slowly grew in size until it eventually rivaled the height of an elephant. When it finally finished forming, a mysterious individual stepped foot inside the room. As they did, the spiral slowly closed up, returning to its previous apple-like size before eventually disappearing.

"Gentlemen..."

A sophisticated voice echoed into the room. It seemed to have captured the full attention of the preliminary figures as they stared at the new figure before them with keen eyes.

"Ahh, if it isn't the Madam, Lady Anastasia. Pleased to see you once again," the prideful figure responded. But no ounce of pride could be heard from within him.

"The Great One returns, and I see you two have done a splendid job at upholding the plan, but it is time I stepped in and helped fulfill my end of the bargain," the Lady said, her voice once again echoing into the distance.

The Aztecan-looking spoke up, unable to hide his excitement, "It's time to work together like the old days. What do you say, Sir Edward?"

"Edward. Just call me Edward. Thank you."

"I see the two of you haven't changed. What a touching friendship," the Madam remarked.

"Gabriel. I trust you'll do the honors this time?"

"As you wish, Lady Anastasia."

Without arguing, the male, named Gabriel, slowly walked until his figure vanished, and his presence could no longer be felt.

The prideful individual, the one named Edward, followed suit and said something in a nostalgic tone, "I can't wait for what's to come next. We'll see how this goes."

Like Gabriel, he disappeared without a hint.

The room had been emptied until only the Lady could be seen.

In a somewhat gloomy tone, she muttered.

"Alteration."