CHAPTER 22:
“I told you not to touch my hair! Give it a rest already”
“You told me that already. However, your hair is unbelievably smooth. Did you also get that done?”
“No, i just got the tips frosted”
Having said that, Sasha crossed her arms and looked away
Sylvia stopped playing with her hair for a moment
She contemplated while playing with her own hair
(Do I need to do something with my hair too? Maybe I'm too old(200 years old) for stuff like that…)
From the other side of the room, Zoe was arguing with Annabellw over cooking
“What?! You're telling me that you fry stuff now?”
Zoe shaked her head with hands, and exclamation marks above her head appeared, although invisible to the naked eye
“Oh, would you calm down? Yes, we fry stuff because it makes them more tasty. Stuff from your time can be pretty boring”
“Hmph…yeah you're right. I'm still getting used to these new garments. They're inexplicably comfortable”
“No shit. You bought off the finest stores, of course they're going to comfort you. Anyways, on the task at hand”
Annabelle moved her hand to the handle of the frying pan, shaking it gently
“Whatever you say, ohh! Are you making carbonara?”
“Yep, luckily I remembered to buy the ingredients this time”
While all that was going on, Haru stood at the entrance of his new room
His arms crossed, and the back of his head resting against the wooden door
(What the hell happened back there? Why was I being targeted specifically?...)
A loud notification coming from his smartwatch interrupted his thoughts
(Shit! That scared me…I need to lower the volume next time)
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
He swiped across the small circular screen
The sender of the message was unknown. They didn't even have a profile picture
The message read as per the following:
“15 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003, at the pub, meet us there at midnight”
Haru scoffed and pinned the message. It now appeared at the top of his messages
(Seems sketchy. Could it be released to the red light pointing at me? Well, there's my chance…)
He looked right and left thrice to make sure no one was looking
Slipping 2 fingers, 1 to open the blackjack box located at his back pocket and the other to pulp out a rune card
He activates the rune card between his 2 fingers. The red spades on it radiate a bright red as he vanishes in thin air
The bar was filled with a brooding mood
It was quiet. People were drinking beer and chatting amongst themselves casually
A cat nearby the chairs was stretching as the waitress set a bowl of catfood in front of it with a smile
The bartender was making the drinks for the customers with a suit on
Haru glanced down at his own clothes. He didn't really mind
(Whatever. Am I supposed to find them here?...)
He sat down on one of the stools
“Hey, bartender. Mind grabbing me a gin and tonic?”
The bartender's hands stopped. Turning his gaze back to look at this new kid
“You sure you want alcohol kiddo? Besides, I'm gonna need an id, making sure you are ever 21”
“Tch, yeah, right, like you give a shit really, you let the others here, im pretty sure they dont even know if they have an id”
The male bartender raised an eyebrow. His intent wasn't ill
“Very well. You're correct, id or not, im not trying anymore”
The bartender grabbed a towel to clean a glass, preparing the gin and tonic
Across Haru sat two men, they were debating about the concept of the “supernatural”
“How can there be such a thing as the supernatural man? It's all bullshit. Science has debunked that Shit ages ago”
The man burped and set his drink down harshly
“Im telling you, man, it's real! The government has been hiding it from us! Haven't you seen the latest news about what's going around the world?”
“It's just conspiracy theories. Get your head out of your arse you old fart. Don't believe everything these bastards tell you”
“Oh really? How do you explain what happened in Rome and London? How could a segment of the Vatican be turned down by a single earthquake? And how can the streets of Buckingham palace be destroyed like that?”
“They caved it in themselves, and for the other one, they had a construction job. Don't be such an airhead”
Little did these two men know that the cause of what they were talking about was sitting right next to them
“Both of you are wrong”
Just as Haru said that the bartender put the gin and tonic in front of him
Then he went back to organizing the glasses
“What did you say, punk?”
Haru moved the cold glass to his lips. The glass was empty after a pee gulps
He slid the glass across the smooth surface of the wood and stood up
“You heard me. You two are ignorant fools”
In anger, the man on the right stood up and flipped a butterfly knife in his hand
“You punk! You better take that back now!”
“...”
By the time the man who had stood up realized it, Haru was already past him
“You little shit!”
The man abruptly pivoted and tried to stab Haru in the head
The butterfly knife was stopped as haru swiftly grabbed the man's wrist without even looking
“Such a Con artist”
A loud cracking noise could be heard in the entire bar as the man's wrist was suddenly bent the other way
“Guh! Stop that!”
When the man blinked, the next thing he saw was Haru's elbow flying to his face
Blood flew from his nose as his eyes dotted the other way
The forced knocked him back, landing him on the floor
Haru took a look at his nose bloodied elbow
(What a mess…Sylvia is gonna kill me for staining my clothes…)
“.....”
Even the cat near the stools had stopped eating her food
Not even the crickets could be heard
The waitress almost spilled the drinks on her plate
While the bartender unfazed, he continued his work
The whole bar was brought to an abrupt stop
The man on the floor was knocked out cold by the no look elbow
(What if they aren't here? What if instead they're on another floor?...)
Harus's eyes moved to the ceiling
(That's it. The roof…)
He walked forth
Near the stalls there was a door leading to a spiral staircase
But there was no doorknob
Thud!
The brought was brought down by Haru's fist
The wood of the door is now stained with his blood
Stomping over the broken door
Haru ascended into the staircase
(I'm almost certain that they are connected to the red dot, whoever they are…)
When he reached the end of it all, there stood before him was a metal door
With a sigh, he opened it
(What?!..)
The spit in his throat froze, his eyes shaking, and his limbs stuck
Near the rooftops edge stood both his parents
They were both calm as ever in casual clothes
(Impossible, no, they wouldn't…i can't move!...)
The only thing that could be heard was the door creaking…
