Sun didn’t know how to comfort Roger and it was eating her up inside. The way he glared at her with accusing eyes made her feel like everything that happened was her fault. Although her mind told her it wasn’t, some deep feeling in her gut told her that this was all her doing.
Their trip home was much less eventful than the trip to Asheville. No secret mission, no monsters, no sudden confessions of the truth that turned Roger’s world upside down. But now they had a name to follow up on and could finally get revenge! Sun thought that Roger would be happier now that he knew who was behind his family’s death, but his eyes were so devoid of anything it was difficult to look at him.
When they had arrived home he retreated into his room and hadn’t come out. That was six hours ago. Sun wished she could do something to help, but didn’t know where to start. So she went to the bathroom and sat on the counter to talk to the only person who would have answers.
“Why isn’t Roger excited to finally have a name?” Sun asked.
“He’s experiencing something called ‘biting off more than you can goddamn chew.’ I think that’s the technical term. All you can do at this point is sit back and watch the fireworks. That’s my plan anyway.”
“There’s gotta be something I can do to help.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You don’t need to anything. The ball’s in his park now and it’s up to him to decide what to do. Your job is to just sit there and stay alive, which I guess can sometimes be a struggle in your case.”
Sun narrowed her eyes at her reflection.
“Was that creature really after Roger?” Sun asked, remembering what it had said to her while it had her pinned.
“Awww, you got me. It was actually after you. Congratulations, you figured it out!” Alter clapped soundlessly on the other side of the mirror. “In my defense, would you have gone on the trip if you knew you’d be putting Roger in danger? You needed to get that memory, otherwise, this entire thing would have been a huge waste.”
“You risked Roger’s life just so I could have that rock? I can’t even do anything with it! Every single time I use it, it just puts me back in the same place and I can’t get any closer to the city!”
“That’s because it’s a memory, dumbass. It’s not really something you can interact with since it’s already happened.” Alter replied, exasperated.
“What am I supposed to do with it then if I’ve already seen it?”
Sun didn’t get the point of having to carry around a crystal that only showed her one thing.
“Well, would it please you to know that if you collect enough, you can find out who, and what, you really are? It’s like a game! The more you collect, the more points you get. And these points just happen to unlock some of the greatest mysteries known to all. If they’re used incorrectly though, they become corrupt.”
“Was that what that monster was?”
“Gimme a round of applause, you are a genius. Clear crystals hold the keys and can be used in a lot of different ways. You’ll learn them eventually. Corrupt crystals can be purged, but you’re the only one that happens to have the magic touch, so there may be more baddies after you.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”
“Never asked. Plus, you weren’t a target until you came into possession of one. Whatever you do, don’t lose it. Do I need to remind you what we had to fight to get there?”
Sun shuttered at the memory of that giant creature. She would be perfectly content in life if she never saw one again.
“Why should I even try to find them if I’m just going to be put in danger? I mean, I still don’t remember much anyways and I actually like my life here. I mean, Roger does have his ups and downs, but I really do enjoy living here in this world. Plus, you seem to have the ability to give me back my memories anyways, why even bother getting the rocks?” Sun patted her pocket where the rock lay hidden.
Alter’s face fell and Sun was surprised to see a look of sadness pass over her mirrored self. Even in those black eyes, Sun could most definitely see a pool of sorrow tucked away behind all the sarcasm and snide remarks.
“Someone’s at the door,” Alter said with her eyes downcast, and then she disappeared.
Just then Sun heard a soft rapping of knuckles on the door. When no one came to respond, the knuckles tapped the wood again. Sun passed by Roger’s door and saw no light from under the crack, so she assumed he was asleep. It was only seven, but she supposed he was tired from the trip and didn’t want to bother him. When she opened the door, she met a man she didn’t recognize. A look of surprise crossed his face, then a look of recognition, and then a smile blossomed, revealing perfectly straight teeth.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Hello, sweetie. You must be the girl he adopted. My name’s John Sato, I work with Roger. Is he home?”
Sun was disarmed by him; Roger had never talked about work at home or the people that worked alongside him, so she didn’t know if this man was really telling the truth. As if reading her hesitation, he pulled out his badge and showed it to her.
“See? I’m friendly.” John said while tucking it away again. “I heard that Roger came back from his trip today and was hoping to talk to him.”
Still not a hundred percent sure this man was telling the truth, she turned to yell for Roger to come to the door. All of a sudden she felt a wet cloth cover her mouth and was pulled backward out of her house.
Caught by surprise, Sun tried to wrap her legs around the door frame and make as much noise as she could, but the man had pulled her away from anything she could topple over and had a firm grip over her mouth so it was all fruitless. She heard the man chuckle lightly in her ear.
“Who knew that my partner would be the one who had her? Finally, all those years. Finally.”
Sun felt her vision getting blurry and her limbs were getting heavy. She felt herself being carried down the stairs before everything went dark.
______________________________________________________________________________
Roger groggily got up from bed. He hadn’t planned on falling asleep, but a wave of exhaustion had hit him and he couldn’t fight it. The thoughts in his head weren’t sorted yet, but he knew Sun was probably she had done something wrong because of his current behavior. He’d not spoken a word to her on the way back despite the clear dejection glistening in her eyes. His plan was to make pancakes for dinner and hopefully soothe things over with her before thinking of what his plan was regarding Angelo Meli. Of course, he still wanted that bastard to pay for what he had done, but now Roger was feeling his age catching up to him and was worrying about what he would do after he did the deed. Would he get caught and go to jail? Would he even be able to successfully kill Meli? He groaned and reminded himself to take one task at a time, and his first task was to apologize to Sun.
He walked out into the hallway, the house eerily silent. Roger went to Sun’s room, but she wasn’t there. Worry starting setting in; she wasn’t in the bathroom, living room, kitchen, or dining room. That’s when he noticed the front door was slightly ajar. Taking a closer look, there was no splintered wood or signs that someone had broken in, so maybe Sun had left?
Grabbing his coat and gun he stormed out, only to be taken by surprise by a figure standing right beside his door. A person he immediately recognized.
“Your duties as a caretaker are over,” Red spoke into the air, not even looking at him.
“What?”
“You are hereby absolved of guardianship.”
Roger didn’t know how to respond.
“Did you already take her?”
“No.”
“Then where is she?”
Red finally turned to look into his eyes.
“If you try to find her, you will die.”
“Are you threatening me? What have you done with her?”
“I haven’t done anything. I will take care of this situation later, but I’m offering you a choice. I am going after Angelo tonight. Will you come end this once and for all or have you gotten cold feet?”
He was astounded at Red’s cold demeanor. Roger didn’t give two shits about Meli then, he needed to know where Sun was!
“Listen, you asshole,” Roger grabbed Red by their collar and shoved the muzzle of his gun under their chin. “You better tell me where she is or I’ll blow your goddamn brains out.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?”
“You better fucking believe it’s a promise.”
Red just hung there by their collar for a moment before responding.
“He’s taken her to the rail yard beside the river.”
Roger let go and rushed down the stairs.
“You will die!”
He simply flipped Red the bird and kept jumping down the stairs. He didn’t know who had taken Sun, but it was a wrong move on their part. A small part of him hoped it was Angelo so that he could kill two birds with one stone, but he knew life wouldn’t reward him like that.
______________________________________________________________________________
Sun had regained consciousness a few times only to fall back under. He hated that whenever she opened her eyes again there were different lights around her and she didn’t know where she was. Her limbs refused to listen to her pleas and hung limply at her sides, even when John had lifted her from the car. Throwing her like a sack over her shoulder he strolled confidently to a barbed fence, flashing some ID to a guard to let him through, and continuing onto what looked like field a bunch of train tracks diverged. Everything was still a little hazy, but Sun was slowly coming out of the darkness.
“Finally awake are we?” John asked when he felt her limbs twitch. “Perfect timing, I’d hate for you to miss this.”
Sun felt John walk up the stairs to some sort of building and enter after he’d unlocked the door. The temperature dropped considerably, making Sun shiver despite the fact she was usually very good at dealing with cold weather.
“We have to keep it at -35 degrees Fahrenheit to keep it dormant. Even a degree higher than that and it wakes up. But with you here it’s going to wake up for sure.”
Sun still couldn’t form coherent sentences since her tongue was numb, but John seemed to read her mind.
“What am I talking about? This...” he dumped her on a chair on one side of the room and turned her around. “...is what I’m talking about.”
She gasped when she saw a black crystal suspended in some sort of liquid in the center of the room. It was easily five feet tall and three feet across and had jagged crystal edges pointing out in all directions. Considering the size of the other crystals she had encountered, this one took the cake in size.
“She’s a beauty isn’t she?”
Straining herself, Sun managed to turn her head to look at John. His expression was one of complete euphoria and he seemed lost in staring at the crystal. He looked down at her and smiled.
“You’re going to purify it so I can get my wish.”