Chapter 13 - Here we go again

Far away in the same district.

Inside a tall skyscraper with red windows, a black-haired man in a nice suit paced around his superior's office.

"Place your ass on the goddamn seat, lieutenant. You are getting me annoyed. Moving around like a hungry rat, tsk."

The black-haired man said with a frown, "What do you think is taking him so long, boss? It's not that long of a trip. Fuck, it's dark out there. We have been waiting for hours. The site is most likely getting cold and that is not what we want. Maybe I should go alone. It's better than waiting."

"You youngsters. Are there really pins on the seat?" Captain Vice sighed as he looked at his impatient junior. He quickly donned a fierce face and scowled, "I'm your superior, goddamnit. And when I say sit, I mean put your fucking ass on the fucking chair. Do you understand that, Lieutenant Mars?"

"Fine," Mars shrugged in guilt and took a seat.

"And what do you hope to achieve by diving into the scene? How long have you been in the Crime Bureau? Two years? Three? Well, you managed to climb the ladder well enough, so you must be privy to the delicate secrets kept by the few."

Mars scoffed, "We don't need them. We can—"

"We can do nothing. We might fool ourselves, fool the kids that New Order claimed the world with the might of the Crime Bureau, but between you and I, the fucking truth is out there. Let's face it, we are useless. The Crime Bureau was initiated to placate the regular people. The true heavy hitters are those divisions that deal with the unnatural. Valid, we are part of the Defense Force. But we are meaningless and out of our depths here."

Mars argued, "Meaningless? We can still do someth—"

"Something? All our detectives, brightest minds from famed academies, failed to apprehend what or who is at work here. In the past few days, half of them committed suicide. And a good few turned mad because they could not understand. How does a man vanish in his own home without any signs of entry or any signs of exit? Silence. No clue from the brightest lots our bureau prides itself in."

Mars' eyes flickered sadly. The case of the vanishing victims was making more noise in the Bureau than in the outside world. Many questions unravelling faster than a bat out of hell, but no answers.

"T-There has to be some explanation."

"There is an explanation. It is just not one that we can understand. The laws of the other world are not something for us regulars to experience. The higher-ups knew that. That is why they requested an agent from the Special Investigation Agency. Someone not from our world. Someone who understands the obscenity of the magic. Do you understand? Sheate your pride and think about why you chose to work here."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Vice shook his head as he gazed at Mars with concern. He was once like that, but the supernatural world… the divide it brings can never be rectified. Only through such understanding can the various divisions of the Defense Force attain unity.

"We have a place in this world. We have people to protect. So, what does it matter if we lay down our pride to fulfill our duties? Our goal has always been the safety of the people, not glory. Our—"

Suddenly, the door burst open and a cheerful voice sounded, "Yoohoo, it is I. I am here. I have arrived, finally. Thank you. Thank yo—Uhh, what happened here? Why the murky air? It feels like I stepped into a room full of shit. Am I interrupting something? My bad. My bad."

Mars looked at the newcomer with dashing red hair. His eyes were full of disbelief. Weren't the night guards said to be mean-looking and hard to approach?

'What's with this bum? Fuck, he has grease on his lips. Wow, he couldn't afford to clean himself before arriving. Wait, was he eating just before? I waited for hours while he joyfully ate. This brat!!'

'I knew it. Night Guards are all shitty people!'

The newcomer munched on a fruit from the bulging bag in hand. He suddenly tensed, sensing angry stares coming from a fellow young man in the room.

"Uhh, why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?"

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Frosty breath escaped his lips. Raven clamped his lips swiftly but there was no stopping the icy breath which made his mind descend into madness.

'Now is not the time for delirium. Think, Raven. Think. What is this?'

The lingering haunting melody intensified and tendrils of icy mist reached out hungrily. Raven reacted instinctively. He evaded every attack and kept retreating the opposite way. 

'I cannot let that hit me!' The tendrils were powered by some mystical magic. Whatever they had contact with withered, taking on a pale temperament. This was no mere ice magic.

Raven getting closer to the exit of the alley. 

'Damn. Who the hell thought it was smart to make alleys long? This is basically a labyrinth!'

It was impossible to outrun the danger. 

The melodious lullaby assaulted his senses with full force. Raven's eyes blanked out for a few minutes.

Suddenly, he awoke in a strange place. A world shrouded in darkness. This place seemed to mirror reality but exuded the profound aura of desolation and death. Bone and skulls lay scattered everywhere. 

'Where the hell am I now? I don't think this is Earth.'

It might seem like he was still in the alley, but Raven suspected this was another world entirely. A world of white and black and a completely obsidian sky.

'How did I get there? Is this my real body? Astral Projection? Wait, shouldn't I be dead? Is this hell?' 

Many thoughts swirled in his mind.

Shaking his head, Raven decided to explore before making assumptions only to find that he couldn't move his body. It failed to respond to his thoughts!

Suddenly, the air froze around him, and his seventh sense screamed at the back of his mind.

'It's back!' Raven's heart was filled with dread. 

Why did his body decide to fail him now of all time?

What's with the sudden pace of things?

The melodious lullaby resurfaced. A presence appeared behind him as the death song caressed his ear. The melody then took an immaterial form with bony hands touching his face. 

'Shit!'

His body turned around and Raven saw the full form of the entity. Its terrifying visage was an incorporeal female entity in rags with an undefined form. She possessed an ethereal beauty marred by cracks and wounds on her translucent skin, torture marks, and specks of blood.

"S…Sw…Swe…Sweet." Her voice was a whisper.

The female entity tried touching him but her hands went through his body. She seemed surprised, and her control over her powers slightly dropped.

Raven shouted in his mind as panic surged within him, 'Now!'

Something clicked in his mind. Due to the supernatural danger, his connection to ❰Seventh Sense❱ was stronger and he was able to deduce some of its abilities.

Immediately, his mind blanked, and when he awoke again, he found himself in the real world. He gazed at the tendril of mists that built up around him. As if mirroring the female entity's emotion, the mist remained motionless. Raven felt a wave of relief. He quickly rushed out of the alley without ever looking back.

Minutes passed quickly.

As Raven entered his room, he released his breath and locked the doors instantly. 

'What was that? It's definitely supernatural.' His mind buzzed and he sought for an answer.

'If whatever-that-was wasn't distracted, I would have died. Fuck, I got lucky.'

However, an unsettling sensation lingered in the air. Strangely enough, Raven felt disturbed. He couldn't understand his mind anymore. He should be safe, but why was there such a deep level of unrest?

'There's something wrong. ❰Seventh Sense❱... argh!'

His mind ignited with searing pain, as if engulfed in flames. The feeling of unrest became strong and his eyes began to bleed, followed by his ears, and then his nose!

❰Seventh Sense❱ was speaking to him. Something lingered in the air, an unspeakable presence—the female entity. She was hiding. But where?!

Raven struggled to endure the agony. His sight had already turned red, but he finally understood how to stop the pain. 

'I have to find her!'

Raven looked around the apartment searching for the creature. He spent five minutes thrashing around the apartment and his mind began to slip to oblivion. He was slowly losing him. All of a sudden, a wild thought hit him.

'Could it be…?'

In a flash, he soon appeared in his room, near a mirror that was covered by thick clothes. Raven took a deep breath and unveiled the mirror. Immediately, he recoiled in terror. 

The female creature gazed at him from within the world in the mirror. Her grey eyes sparkled with curiosity. She seemed to find him extremely interesting.

'She can't interfere with the real world!' Raven discerned as he thought of his previous encounter with her.

She used the mist to attack. But this time, there was no mist. Raven wondered if she didn't want to harm him or if she couldn't. Either way, he was safe here. His ❰Seventh Sense❱ was weirdly silent which he took as a good sign.

"S…Sw…Sweet. I.. I–" The female creature whispered incomprehensible words.

Raven seemed to sense something and said, "What are you?"

"I…I…I…"

The female creature ceased her attempts to speak and stretched out her hand outwardly. Her gaze lingered on him as if gesturing something.

'Should I?'

Raven trusted his instincts. He reached out his hand to touch the mirror surface in the same spot the creature's palm was. To his surprise, he could feel the creature's hand, and it was warm and soft. Almost…maternal? 

The creature revealed a faint smile. She separated her hand. But suddenly, her head jerked sideways in an unnatural manner that would have spelt death for any mortal. She snarled and a terrifying aura burst out from her. Instantly, she disappeared.

'She left?' Raven shook his head. "No, she found another prey!"

Raven finally felt truly safe. He gazed at his hand on the mirror and a blush crept on his face.

'Fuck, what was I thinking? Why did I think she wouldn't harm me? That was so–'

Immediately, he saw a weird pulsating symbol as his hand lifted from the mirror. The symbol was in the same position where his hand had been.

'Did she leave this for me?'

'Why?'

'Should I?'

Raven had to admit his curiosity was his best and worst trait. Yet, even while knowing this, he still touched the symbol. 

The symbol pulsated for a second. In the next moment, the mirror surface morphed into liquid metal. Raven frowned and attempted to remove his hand, but the liquid mirror sucked his body in.

'Fuck, here we go again!'

Yep. His curiosity was his worst trait.

….

Raven fell into a pile of broken furniture. The sharp pieces slashed his skin and blood seeped from his wounds.

'I'm back in the mirror realm.' 

Raven squealed in pain and looked around. The surroundings resembled his room, but it was in a state of obsolete ruin. A portion of the room had a gaping hole that offered a chilling glimpse into the outside world.

'It's just like the regular world, but bleaker. Interesting.'

Raven felt a wave of excitement. Things were becoming truly interesting. Just as he was about to investigate, an unsettling sound filled the air. 

*Krrr!* 

A grotesque creature with sleek, unnaturally smooth skin flew into the room through the breach. It had the titular appearance of a small imp with wings tinged with an aura of malevolence.

*Krrr!*

The moment it landed, it looked at Raven and snarled with delight. Raven didn't need to be a genius to understand what it intended for him.

Raven's face turned ashen. It wasn't just one imp. More of these mirror imps hovered in the sky, gliding towards him!

'Yeah… I gotta go.'

Raven turned to the mirror and activated the symbol. His mind turned to a stream of light within a dark void. A beacon of unknown origin beckoned him with an irresistible pull.

 Just when thought he was safe, Raven's mind was ensnared by the same beacon. Just like that, he was sucked into something else beyond his comprehension.

'FUCK!' Raven screamed in his mind.