“What to do, what to do.” He began to pace around the scene as if he was pondering it.

“What are you planning to do with that I wonder?” He gestured towards the knife in my hand. I looked down and really thought about it.

Was I really going to do this?

“I don’t have a choice.” I said pathetically. It was the only response I could think of.

“We always have a choice, August.” He said.

How did this man know my name?

He moved to stand behind Cooper. I now realized she was frozen in place. Her face stricken with a mix of fear and anguish. I looked around and even in the darkness I could tell that time here was standing still. Finnal hadn’t stopped breathing, but was frozen in place too.

“Do you think she would want this?” He moved faster than I could track and was now standing behind me looming over my shoulder and speaking into my ear. “Would your parents?” I spun on him, but he wasn’t standing there anymore. “Tsk tsk. Are you just going to disappoint everyone again?” He spoke and I turned around again. He was standing in front of me. He stood with two arms up. I hadn’t noticed it until now, but he actually had four arms. Two extra ones were tucked behind his back as he stood there. He was holding a white card in one hand and as he deftly flipped it I could see a symbol of the knife on it. The other hand held the black card i’d been given by The Vagrant.

“How did you-?” I said realizing I wasn’t holding the knife any longer.

“You always have a choice.” He sat at on the bucket at our table, his long spindly legs looked ridiculous. He put the two cards face down on the table. He shuffled them and looked up at me.

“Chose to pick up the path of Brutality.” He tapped the card on the right.

“Or choose to trust me and you could live up to your potential.” He smiled and tapped the left card.

“If you choose the white card, your debt will be wiped clean. I can promise you that. You’ll walk free from here. But the price you pay will be his blood.” He pointed his gnarled finger at Finnal laying there and then he pointed at Cooper, “But you’ll lose her.” I looked at Cooper still frozen in anguish. I felt my stomach drop.

“She’ll be changed by this act. She’ll understand why you did it, but your relationship will be forever altered. She may forgive you, but she’ll never forget. It will haunt her until her final breath.” I swallowed hard.

To finally be free of that debt was everything I wanted, but to lose Cooper to get there?

“And the Black card?” I asked. “What happens with that?”

“This one is an opportunity.” He tapped the card emphasising it.

“An offer… But you’ll need to trust me. I promise we’ll clear your debt here and make sure she’s taken care of too. But just know you’ll probably never see her again.” I felt a spike of fear at that. “She’s going to forget all about you as will the rest of the world. You’ll become someone new and you’ll be working exclusively for us.”

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“Us?” I asked. He smiled again.

“The Collective.” He said matter of factly.

“That… Didn’t explain anything.” I said.

“Get used to it. We’re not exactly the most forthcoming group.” He said.

“And what would I be doing for The Collective?” I asked.

“Whatever we ask.” He said. “And in turn. We make all of this disappear. That Includes your life here.” I sat there considering the offer for a second.

“And for how long?” I asked. He cocked his head clearly surprised by the question. “Just trying to clarify the rules.” For the first time in our interaction he smiled slightly.

“I can see why he chose you.” He said almost under his breath. “Once we achieve our goal, you’ll be released from your service.” I attempted to open my mouth and ask another question, but he cut me off. “No, I won’t tell you what that is. I don’t go about revealing our group’s interests to someone I cannot yet trust.”

“And yet you’re asking me to trust you?” I retorted.

“Yes. I could have let you have your way with this cretin, but instead I gave you a moment of pause and an offer of a better path.” He said, his smile had faded. “Now. Choose a card, August.” I breathed in and out trying to calm my nerves. It definitely was a gamble. I reached down for the card on the left and he smiled again.

“A good choice.” The four armed man said. He handed me the Black card. “You’ll be needing this.” Another of his arms came out from behind his back and he looked at the wrist watch on it. “We better hurry. You’ve got a train to catch.” He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and produced a thin silver pointed rod. It looked like it had a handle and a carved design on it. He did a few swishs of it over his head and the two goons, Finnal and Cooper seemed to melt in the floor like they were made of black liquid and then they were gone as if they were never there.

“What did you do?” I said in shock.

“Cleaned up your mess.” He said continuing to swish the small rod around. “Don’t worry. They’ll wake up in their beds as if today never happened. They won’t even remember you ever existed.”

“Is that a Wand?” I asked him about the rod in his hand.

“Yes.” He said, his tone making it clear he did not want to elaborate further.

He leaned down and picked something small that glimmered and threw it to me. I caught it and realized it was Finnal’s gold tooth. I considered it a moment.

“Keep it. As a reminder.” He said.

I looked at him and I thought I could see a expression of pity briefly. It quickly disappeared and he stepped towards me. I pocketed the tooth.

“Now, I need you to think of everything you’d need for a trip away.” I looked at him, confused. “Just do it. You’re already late.” I pictured my clothes and things I would need and he did another swish and suddenly a small suitcase appeared at my feet.

“Ah you travel light.” The four armed man remarked. “Grab it and take my hand.”

“Which one?” I said and immediately regretted the snide remark. He shot me a look of pure fury and grabbed my shoulder. Then I felt the whole world lurch as shadows formed around us and suddenly we were standing at a subway platform. He released me my shoulder and looked at his watch again. I could hear the rumble of a train approaching and could see it’s headlights down the tunnel to our immediate right.

“Good. We made it.” He placed my suitcase down. “This is where I leave you.”

“What?” I said. I was feeling a little sick.

“Get on the train. Show the ticketer the card and ride it all the way to the end of the line. If there’s anyone else on the train, try not to make too much small talk.” He stood above me, but moved in very close to my face and leaned down. Now that he was close I noticed his eyes were pitch black without any discernible pupils. “And don’t even try to talk about any of this.” He touched his finger to my lips and I briefly felt it burn me. I flinched back and rubbed at the skin but couldn’t feel anything there.

“What did you…” I began to say as I turned back, but the four armed man was already gone. I stood alone at the station with just my suitcase.

“What the fuck just happened…” I said. Just as I did the train pulled up to the station and the doors slid open. I did the only sensible thing at that moment and I stepped inside.