Chapter 2: Down from the Mountain and Into the City

At the base of the mountain, Theo found himself standing in the middle of a small parking lot.

Behind him was a forest of cypress trees. A winding dirt path could be seen, sticking out from amidst the trees. This was the entrance to the hiking trail. It had taken him a long time to locate the trail, nearly two hours in fact.

He ran across quite a few people on his way down, but most of them screamed in shock and quickly fled. Those that weren’t fast enough doubled over and vomited on the spot. Every time he saw such a scene, he bitterly smiled. By now, Theo had gotten used to the smell, but seeing their reactions reminded him of just how bad it really was.

Eventually, he escaped the mountains. Theo briefly surveyed his surroundings.

To his right was a small outhouse, while parked near the corner of the lot, a white minivan. It was the only vehicle in sight, and judging by the delipidated state it was in, it had been here for quite some time. Technically speaking, this was the official entrance to Harwick mountains and right now, it appeared deserted.

Theo lightly smiled. He remembered it being like that in the past too.

After looking around for a moment, Theo picked a direction and immediately continued walking. Although his mind was still a bit hazy, as the day progressed, bits and pieces of his foggy memory slowly started to surface. Tracing back a path using those fragmented pieces, he made his way towards the city.

He trekked down a winding back road for nearly an hour, before he finally arrived at an open highway. Off to the side of the road, he saw a billboard. It was advertising for a local burger chain. He paused for a moment. Another memory surfaced. The burger chain was rather popular, and he fondly remembered eating out at their restaurants quite often as a child. Written below the ad, there was a short message.

[Harwick City, 2 miles away]

“Looks like I’m close.”

Anticipation welled up in his heart. Theo looked up at the blue sky. Judging by the position of the sun, it should be around mid-morning right now. At his current pace, it’ll take him less than an hour to reach the city, and nearly two hours to make it back home.

“But will there even still be a place for me to go back home to?” He couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Twenty-five years was a long time. In that sort of time, a lot can change. People, places and most importantly, hearts. His only family… the place that the two of them had called home… would it still be there? Would she still be waiting?

Truthfully speaking, he did not expect much from that place, but still, he wanted to return. At the very least, he needed the closure.

He shook his head and continued his journey. He walked beside the interstate and watched as the cars zoomed by. At first, not a lot of them appeared, but as he drew closer to the city, the number of vehicles that passed by gradually increased. Soon, the empty interstate had transformed into a busy highway congested in traffic.

Still, no matter how many cars there were, none of them stopped for him.

This did not really surprise him all that much. Harwick was a major metropolis, one of Greater Calehan’s largest. People from the city were well known for being a lot colder and less sociable than those from the countryside. This sort of rule applied even on Mistelhan, much less in a modern-day world like Plume.

He briefly recalled the city’s layout.

Harwick city was located in a somewhat unique position. It was nestled between two mountain ranges, while its back was protected by the vast ocean. If Harwick had been a city back on Mistelhan, then it would have certainly been an impenetrable citadel. On Plume, it was merely an international hub for trade and transport.

Harwick was divided into three districts, the Oceanview district, located to the west by the ocean, the Urban district, located to the south, and the Mountain district, located to the north by Harwick Mountains. Right now, he was closest to the Mountain District.

That district in question was known to be a bit more residential than the other two. It was primarily composed of suburbs and neighborhoods, although it did still have quite a few commercial areas. It also happened to be the place where he once lived.

Two hours passed. In that time, he finally got off the highway and entered a much smaller road. Soon, the empty fields had transformed into small shops and local restaurants. After rounding another corner, he arrived at a quiet neighborhood. There was a slab of polished stone, two words engraved onto its surface.

“Valery Hills…” Theo read aloud the words etched onto the plaque.

He remembered this place well. I mean, how could he not? This was his old neighborhood. It had taken him nearly four hours and twenty-five years, but finally, he had returned.

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He only stopped for a moment, before he continued walking. This time, his steps were slower, more deliberate. As he walked, he often closed his eyes, and simply savored the atmosphere. Right now, he was walking down memory lane. The nostalgia in the air was almost palpable.

He passed a small park with a broken swing set. A few steps later, he was at a basketball court. The fencing around the area had started to turn brown from rust. He did not stop. Soon, he was standing in front of a community swimming pool. The pool was empty, an [Under Maintenance] sign placed by the entrance. Theo kept walking. After a while, he was strolling beside a beige colored concrete wall.

The wall continued on for more than two blocks and partitioned off a sizable amount of land from the rest of the neighborhood. He lifted his head and squinted his eyes. A little distance away, he saw a metal gate. A guard in a blue uniform stood by the entrance.

He tilted his neck to the side and caught a glimpse of the plaque etched onto the concrete pillar by the gate. It depicted a single animal; a pudgy dove.

A name surfaced to his mind; Valery Heights. It was a private high school located right where the three largest neighborhoods of Harwick’s Mountain District intersected. Technically speaking, it was a part of Valery Hills, but it also accepted students from all over the district.

A complicated gaze twisted his expression. Valery Heights just so happened to be his old high school.

He spent more than three years there, although he never was able to graduate. So, technically speaking, Theo was a drop-out.

“Has it really been twenty-five years…” He mumbled quietly to himself as he looked past the gates and stared at the area beyond. It was a big place, consisting primarily of three buildings, all interconnected by a glass and concrete walkway. It was as if time had winded back, back to that distant past. Nothing much seemed to have change, it looked nearly identical to the one within his memories. Either that or his nostalgia was messing with his sense of reality.

Theo breathed out a sigh. He wondered whether this was what alumni felt when they returned to school after experiencing the tumultuous years of adulthood. While his situation was a bit different, it should still be the same feeling, right?

Although he purposely took a detour in order to see his old school, Theo did not really want to visit the place. Just a quick glance was enough; he already had his fill of sentiment.

He shook his head and prepared to move on.

Seeing the guard standing by the gate, Theo thought it might arouse suspicion if he were to walk directly in front of the school. He was primarily concerned about any misunderstandings that might arise, especially considering his current raggedy appearance. Theo had no power right now. If the police were to somehow get involved, then he was pretty much screwed.

Since he did not want to attract any trouble, he decided to cross the sidewalk and preemptively distance himself from the building.

Unfortunately, he was a step too slow.

His actions had inadvertently attracted the guard’s attention. The man looked up and frowned. After a pause, he slowly made his way towards Theo.

Theo glanced back. He noticed that the guard looked almost identical to the guard he knew in the past. “Maybe, he’s a relative?”

“Hey!” As Theo lost himself in his own thoughts, the guard’s sudden shout spooked him awake. Theo seriously did not want to cause any trouble, so he lowered his head, and hurriedly jogged away from the school.

****

Andrew Henning was having a bad day.

As a security guard for Valery Heights, he had his own fair share of troubles, especially when dealing with the sudden surge of delinquency that took hold of the student body population. More and more often, students could be seen smoking behind buildings or picking fights with one another. Actually, such cases were common in most schools, but things had gotten considerably worse in the last few months.

Lately, the local gangs in and around the city have started to spread their influence onto Valery Heights. Petty schoolyard bullies turned into low-time thugs overnight, while the number of reported cases of schoolgirl prostitution suddenly experienced a huge spike. As a private school, you’d think this place would have this sort of thing under control, but the truth was different.

Cases such as theft and extortion had become commonplace, and even more serious crimes, like rape and assault, also started to crop up. The overall situation gave the school board quite a headache, and as part of the lower hierarchy of power, their frustrations naturally affected him too.

The school began cracking down on the students, and as a security guard, that means he naturally had to start acting serious for once. It was his job to enforce the rules, but given his status as faculty, he really couldn’t just beat these kids with a baton. He felt it a bit unfair. Their new policy meant that any unaccounted-for infractions fell on his head.

This collective punishment sort of thing really did not sit well with him. At the very least, he shouldn’t be a part of that ‘collective’.

During one of the rare lulls in his routine, Andrew suddenly spotted a youth walking through the street. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were ragged, traits that Andrew interpreted as a sign that the youth had recently gotten into an altercation with someone.

Naturally, Andrew assumed that this sorry looking youth was another student experiencing the throes rebellion. Of course, this ‘student’ was Theo.

“Another one of these brats trying to skip class?” Andrew scowled. When it came to these reckless youths, he bore a bit of a grudge. He immediately stalked over, hell-bent on dragging the kid back to the building.

By this point, most normal people would have noticed the stench, but Andrew was different. As a youth, he had broken his nose during a college bar fight. Although there was no external mark, the wound had not healed properly and as a result, Andrew lost his ability to smell. So, instead of a smelly beggar hobbling through the streets, all he could see was a violent delinquent.

The youth was getting farther away. After he yelled at him, he noticed that the kid actually started running! This all but confirmed the youth’s status as a delinquent student.

Luckily, Andrew thought himself smart. He knew of a secret way to instantly stop these guys dead in their tracks.

“Hey, stop this instant!” He angrily yelled. “If you keep running, I’ll have to call the cops! Don’t force my hand!”

A few seconds later, he noticed the youth’s shoulders trembling, before he came to a stop. Seeing this, Andrew let out a smirk.

No matter how ‘badass’ they may like to act, in the face of the law, these punks are all useless.

Andrew slowed his pace, and walked towards the ragged youth with a bit of swagger in his step…