It is September 21 2009, 9 year old Quade was hanging with his older brother, James Phoenix and his friends. James decided to bring Quade along to the their late night hangout trips. In an Abandoned Mansion where they would have a bonfire, telling each other spooky stories. One of the friends was able to sneak behind Quade as the story came to a climax. The friend jumps on Quade and frightens him. The group had a good laugh, as Quade did not find that amusing.
"We should be go back now, or mom is gonna be pissed." he complained.
"Don't chicken out now, you wanted to come with." replied James.
"Chill little man, the real fun is about to begin. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for Search & find ooh ooh. Give me my camera, also take one random piece of paper out of the hat and keep the description to yourself. If we’re gonna make this work, please don’t act weird. Last thing I need is for people to comment under my videos ‘fake as fuck’, Capiche?! Alright let's get this party started." said Samuel, one of the friends as they enter the mansion.
"Don't stray too far from me. Remember this is just to have fun." said James as he comforts Quade.
Present Day, the morning after the events regarding the deep ones, Patty woke up on a hospital bed along with Quade & Lauren by her side. The doctor was informing her about her current status and hands her the treatment information.
“She suffered mild injuries, I prescribed the treatment that she will be taking for the past weeks to come.” he said.
“Can I go home?” asked Patty.
“I understand you want to leave but I highly recommend that you stay so we can monitor your progress.” he replied.
“I really want to go home.” she pressured.
“Understood. I will fetch your medication, the nurse will bring you some fresh clothes.” said the Doctor as he walks out shaking Quade’s hand.
“Thanks Doc. I’ll bring the car around.” he said as he waited outside to drive them back to their apartment.
The drive was silent, but Quade broke the silence after apologizing for not letting her in on the true nature of his work.
“I really don’t want to talk about it now.” said Patty as she cuts him off mid-speech.
“Sorry-yeah.” he said as he silently sighs with guilt.
They arrive at the apartment and helped her settle in. Soon after, Quade receives a phone call from Richard which he answers, unexpectedly it was Henri ordering him to return to the bunker with a low aggression tone. At the bunker, he enters and not surprised, sees Richard tied up.
Henri jumps on Quade enraged.
“motherfucker! what did you do to me!!” screamed Henri with confusion and pain in his voice.
"Henri calm down" he replied.
"What the fuck did you do to me!" he shouted in Quade’s ear.
"I had no choice. I did not know how to fix you. What the fuck was I supposed to do, let you die!?" he replied pissed.
Henri tries to grapple him but coughed so bad, he went numb and fell. Quade drags him to his bed and re-injected the tubing needle containing the medicine.
"Don't move, I will explain everything." said Quade as he freed Richard and filled Henri with everything that happened within the two years he missed out.
"Did you manage to retrieve McLean's source?" he asked.
"No, although I Killed him with the blade. His tethering to the world has been severed. According to his wife, he was dabbling with dark magic. Summoned some monstrous being from somewhere. From there, I came across an extraterrestrial being from space that crashed on the outskirts, the usual alien cliche, only this one was friendly and now an ally, next thing I know, he leads me to him. Richard Lawrence, cursed immortal from the 17th century. The very thing that did that him is after us, after we failed to stop him being freed from his imprisonment. Under the town there’s a tunnel leading to an uncharted territory, old kingdom and shit. Decedents of the Sumerians still exist. I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for Lauren, she managed to find it using old world war two records and a necklace I gave her from your garbage box." said Quade before he was interrupted.
“Who the fuck is Lauren? wait- garbage box? You gave her access to confidential information?” he said aggressively.
“You labeled it garbage. I didn’t think it would lead to an entire civilization that was believed to be extinct. Did you know? Huh? The fact that both Richard and the knowledge of the Sumerians were both sealed by a Former Kal Blade. The funny thing is, none of it was in the records. What else is being hidden.” fired Quade back.
“Our job is not fucking exploring the past, it’s preventing future threats from happening. I brought you in to be a fucking protector and all of sudden you chicken out at the lab, now you damned me to this bed.” he said, referring to the moment he became a zombie.
“I did not agree to be a mass murderer! That’s all it is with you! Kill Kill Kill. We could’ve saved them. I was close!” he replied enraged.
“They were beyond saving, you naive fuck.” said Henri as he coughs.
“No No! Fuck you! You talk about being a fucking protector. You knew those girls went missing years ago and you did nothing about it. Your action of ignoring it, Your Consequences left victims, adding Patty to the list! You were so obsessed with killing anything that you don’t understand, the fact that you couldn’t even see the shit that was brewing under your nose.” said Quade as throws a tantrum before calming down.
Henri remained quiet as Quade sat back down.
“What happened?” asked Henri calmly.
“a Cult – a Cult is what fucking happened. They go by the name of ‘The Estoric Order of Dagon’ like hell I know what they’re praising at. They infiltrated the port of the town. Been here for a couple of years, targeting young emotionally broken people. They kidnap the males and feed them to the sea creatures as nutrition. The females are raped to produce ‘hybrid’ off-springs. Reports from forensic shows they’re half human and half what ever those things were, then Patty was targeted. Her sudden disappearance was the reason we found out about all of it. I don’t know if it’s luck or fate that we made there in time after--.” paused Quade.
“I’m not a mind reader. Speak up boy, After what?” asked Henri as he seemed visibly confused.
“After I ripped them apart while being on fire, like demon type shit.” he replied.
“Were you conscious of the state you were in? asked Henri.
“To some extent, some of it was just blurry.” he replied.
“Did you hear a voice?” asked Henri.
“Yea- what?” as he realizes what Henri just asked.
“What do you mean by that? Why are you saying it like this wasn’t the first time it happened?!” asked Quade.
Stolen story; please report.
Henri sighs heavily and remained quiet.
“What do you know Henri?” he asked calmly.
Henri took one last glance at him before noticing Richard’s wounds healing from a far.
“What’s his deal?” he asked.
“I already told you, Don’t go off topic now. Tell me what you know” said Quade before getting a call from Sergeant Baker.
Quade answers the phone, “Sergeant?”.
“You need to come down to the station. Roxanne won’t break but there is one suspect that wants to speak to you and you alone. I don’t know what went down at the lake house but by the looks of it, they’re terrified of you. One of them claims they saw you on fire. Now look, I never went out on a limb like this before. I can only buy you a few more hours before all this becomes public.” said the sergeant before he ended the call.
Quade holds his head as he feels overwhelmed with responsibilities. He stands up and as he was about to walk out, he couldn’t help but ask Henri why he chose him as his successor.
“I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me.- Hermann Hesse” said Henri as he coughed himself to sleep.
“This is not over.” said Quade as he sighs with annoyance and leaves the bunker. Back at Patty’s apartment, The two were binge watching the TV. An in-between show advertisement started playing, showing a person underwater diving which Patty changed the channel without hesitation. The following channel displayed properties for sale, which seemed normal until it displayed a lake house for a promotion sale. Patty, with visible discomfort keeps changing the channel until she finally stopped on a sports channel. She leans back on the couch with ease.
“I’m going to order some takeaways. What would you like to eat?” asked Lauren.
“I’m not hungry.” she replied with a tiring tone.
“You haven’t eaten anything this morning, you need eat something--.” pressured Lauren but was ignored.
“I just want to be left alone, please.” said Patty as she stares into the TV.
Lauren nods her head as she sits back down and let her be. Down at the Station, Quade enters Roxanne’s interrogation room and on sight, she felt uncomfortable in his presence. Quade stares right at her with full contact as he sits down.
“You know who I am. You know what I’m capable of. I suggest you co-operate cause I am way beyond being patient. How many others are there like you? are there more cults that I should know about?” he asked with a low aggression tone.
“You can cage me, torture me but it won’t make a difference as he will rise once again and all of you shall fall to his benevolence for he shall cleanse this world and become one with the sea-” she replied before she was cut of by him.
“Alright that’s enough. Know this, who ever you think will come for you ‘shall’ not come. What ever is left of your sea buddies is nothing but burned ashes. As for you and your son, well he’s not hanging in there very well. I mean he’ll make it through, not unless I pull the plug.” he said as he stood up.
“You’re bluffing. The police won’t allow you to do that.” she replied with fear in her voice.
“The Police won’t do a damn thing about it. As far as they are concerned, I do whatever the fuck I want.” said Quade as he looks her in the face with a cold stare before walking out the interrogation room.
“hey hey! Wait!” she screamed but it fell on deaf ears.
Sergeant Baker questions Quade about his methods and whether he was actually going to kill Oliver.
“Relax, It was a bluff. Give it time for her to stress out, eventually she’ll spill it all, if she cares that is.” he said as he walks out with Sergeant Baker to the stations outdoor basketball court.
There, Baker introduces Quade to Vincent, a hybrid man in his 50’s sitting on a bench, chained up.
“He’s the one who requested you.” said Baker as they walk up to the him.
“You called, I answered. What do you want?” asked Quade.
“From time to time we would hear rumors about a man running around at night & day, chasing the myths and monsters. I believe he is you.” said Vincent.
“No shit, your point?” replied Quade with annoyance.
“You believe what you do is right, I ask that you must believe when I say that we did not know about the things that went on with those girls.” he said.
“Oh, It would seem that he did not know, Sergeant.” said Quade sarcastically.
“I guess we have no choice but to free him?” replied Sergeant Baker.
“hmm- Nah.” replied Quade comically.
“We were supposed to be different than the folks in Innsmouth. It’s the reason why we moved away from the old ways. Our kind, just like every other specie, needs to breed a future generation to keep our existence from extinction.All we wanted was to live our life the same as normal humans do without the fear of being judged on our history or target our physical mutation.” said Vincent as he pleads for Quade to believe him by lifting his shirt.
His skin was going through abnormal changes. Bright blue scales lightly forming around his torso, spreading to his neck.
"We live our lives on land for most of our lifetime but through that time, we would go through changes that only we know how to deal with. In the end, we become what were meant to be. You think we asked to be born into this world, feared by others who do not understand us. Some of us tried to live as normal as possible, but we have been shoved into this cruel life regardless. Think about our children, the newborns. What do you plan to do with them without proper guidance, having no idea what's happening to them as they get older. They will feel disconnected, hopelessness in a world not knowing there are others who understand their drastic changes. We are not like Roxanne." replied Vincint with tears in his eyes.
Quade took a moment to think about the situation at hand. He turns to Sergeant Baker, who nods his head, hinting that the old man made some valid points.
"What are you proposing?" asked Quade.
"Let us return to our homes, we shall adopt the children into families of our own. We shall raise them to be decent and continue to live our life normal until what is left of us. You keep Roxanne and her loyal lackeys." replied Vincent.
"This would bring down to a few suspects. Less eyes from the outside. Easier to handle." agreed Sergeant Baker.
"-and what makes you think I should take your word for it?" asked Quade.
"Morally speaking, this is your only viable option." he replied.
"Very well, with Conditions. You cannot leave your designated area. There will Random Check ups, always accounted for. There will be patrols at bay to monitor your movements as well need proper reason to leave the bay. If in anyway you breach our contract of agreement, you and the rest of your families shall spent the rest of their lives in a four by four cell. Consider your freedom at stake." said Quade as he seals the deal with a handshake.
"I understand, thank you--." Replied Vincent with hopefulness.
From a distance, the mysterious humanoid that observed the Lake house incident, finds itself observing the conversation between the three. Quade felt a sense of being watched. He looks around with suspicion until the mysterious humanoid slowly walks backwards, disappearing away from the scene. After the agreement was settled, Sergeant Baker continued to handle the separation, sixteen of the suspects including Roxanne were held back while the remaining thirty two was released with a member from social services oversee the care of the children.
Quade leaves the station, calls Lauren and asked, "Anything unusual on your side?".
Lauren checks through the window blinds and sees nothing but stationed vehicles and birds chirping.
"No, why? Are they here?" she asked nervously.
"That's the thing. I have no idea, I keep getting this feeling that we're being watched. It's been four days already." he replied.
"Don't you think maybe we are being a little paranoid about it. I mean What if they are not after us at all." she said.
"Odessa doesn't lie-" replied Quade before he was interrupted.
"-I'm not saying she is but if we were being hunted by that woman and the yellow king, we'd be dead by now wouldn't you agree, unless something else is going on that we don't know about." she continued.
"Can't let our guards down Lauren" he replied.
"Well, it's not my first time coming close with death, at this point I'm not surprised." she said.
"How- how's Patty holding up?" he asked.
"She's non responsive at times. Hardly eats anything. She's been taking her medications, but I think the anti-depressants aren't working. She puked earlier in the bathroom." replied Lauren with a sense of worry.
"Okay, okay. Try keeping her active and less moody. Just uh-" said Quade as he tried to think.
"-I know what to do. Let me handle Patty and you focus on the coming threat." She reassured him.
"Alright, got it. Thanks." he replied before ending the call.
As he was driving with high speed, Quade felt lightheaded, eyes blurred out here and then. After struggling to focus, he steps on the brake pedal hard. The tires didn't have enough grip, causing it sheer down the road until it stopped. He leans his head against the steering wheel and rests for a few moments, just breathing.