Flint jolts awake from his slumber, causing him to fall off his couch. He looks around in the room in a panic, but he eventually calms down when he realizes he is still in his living room. He slowly stands up, this time more calm.
“Daddy?” a familiar feminine voice asks him.
Flint turns over in the direction of the noise. It is Lily.
“Oh, sweetie…” he mutters.
He looks over to the clock in the living room. He squints in darkness trying to make out the time, 5 a.m.
“What are you doing up so early?” he asks her.
“I heard you screaming and shouting.” She replied. “Are you okay?”
He nods his head while he sits himself down on the couch.
“You should go back to bed Lily, it’s still very early.” He tells her.
Flint stretches for a moment before standing up slowly from the couch.
“Where are you going, Daddy?” she asks.
Flint stops himself and slowly sits back down.
“Sweetie…I…I have another case to work on.” He tells her.
“Oh…” She whimpers. “So you’ll be gone again for a long time right?”
Flint sees the look on her face and he knows it all too well. He takes a deep breath to compose himself.
“Look, sweetie, I know how hard it will be for you and Dad, but…but…” Flint struggles to finish what he will say.
“But it’s your duty, right?” she asks.
Flint jolts slightly when he hears her say that word.
“Duty…” he mutters.
Before he can speak further, Lily goes up to him and gives him a tight hug.
“I’ll miss you Daddy, but you told me before you have a duty. Even if it takes a while, I know you’ll be back Daddy. I know you’ll make this world a better place when you’re done!” She tells him.
“Sweetie...” He mutters.
He couldn’t find it in himself to hug her back, because of the events from last night, but he doesn’t force her off until she is finished. After some more moments, she let go of her hug. Before standing up, he at least shows some affection by brushing her hair up and kissing her forehead.
Flint stands up and makes his way to the door.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie. You got a day of school ahead of you.” He tells her while he is at the door.
“Aren’t you going to say bye to dad?” Lily asks.
Flint’s hand is gripped tightly on the doorknob. She is right. Not only does he need to say bye to him, but he also needs to do something else, apologize to him. He is still regretful of the events of last night and still shivers at the fact that he hit his dear. He still loves Ronlo dearly, but he just can’t find it in himself to say anything to him. He hates what he is about to do.
“Just go back to bed sweetie…” he mutters to her.
He opens the door and locks it. Lily is left there in the room all by herself.
“Daddy…” she mutters.
She walks over to the table in the living room, trying to find her project. She finds it underneath the table and pulls it out. Although her tears stain her portrait, it did not do any major damage. The tears make the image of her and her fathers’ happiness stand out even more. She can only wish the happy image portrayed in the portrait would come true. She takes it with her back into her room and hides it away.
She tries going back to sleep, but she shivers and squirms around in her bed. Even her stuffed toy that she sleeps with doesn’t soothe her. Even though she tries her best to fall asleep, she can’t. She leaves her bed and goes to her dad’s bedroom door.
*knock* *knock*
She hears the shambling footsteps from the other side of the door. It opens, revealing an awake, but somewhat tired Ronlo.
“Lily, it’s still early. You still have time, now go back to bed please.” Ronlo tells her in his tired voice.
“I woke up because Daddy was making noise in the living room.”
“He was?” He asks her.
“Yeah, but then he left to go to work. He told me he’s taking on a new case.”
Ronlo becomes silent. Lily can see tears roll down his eyes.
“Dad? Are you alright?” she asks her father.
“…Yes…yes, I’m fine…” he says, wiping away the tears. “I’m just tired Lily. Now please, go back to bed.”
As Ronlo is about to close the door, Lily asks him, “Can I sleep with you, Dad?”
Ronlo stops.
“Lily, you’re a big girl. You can sleep by yourself.” Ronlo tells her.
“I…I…I had a nightmare. It’s so scary that I can’t sleep.” She replies.
Ronlo tiredly sighs and lets her into his and Flint’s bedroom. He helps her up to get into their bed, tucking her in first before getting into bed as well.
“So, what was your nightmare about?” Ronlo asks her.
“It’s scary Dad…” she mutters.
Ronlo sees her shivering. He gets closer to her and lifts her head to face his. With the same hand, he softly caresses her face.
“Lily…If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. But, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.” He tells her in a caring tone.
“Alright then…” Lily mutters. “So…I was in my room in the dream. And…and…I heard you and Daddy shouting at each other. You were saying so many mean things to each other. You were hurting each other…”
Ronlo sees Lily almost break down into tears. Quickly, Ronlo brings her in for a hug. Lilly burrowed herself into his chest, eventually succumbing and crying in his embrace.
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“Lily…is…is that truly what you dreamt of?” he asks her.
She nods, while she is burrowed in his chest. She eventually looks up at him with her red watery eyes.
“It’s just only a nightmare I have right?” she asks him.
Ronlo can’t even speak. He holds back his tears to keep his composure, despite how difficult it is for him. His silence is enough of an answer for her. Her eyes water even more.
“Dad…why do you fight with Daddy?” she asks him.
Ronlo takes a deep breath and speaks to her, “Lily…I…I don’t want to fight with him. I love him so much.”
“Then why do you fight with him?”
He twitches when he hears her say that. He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath.
“Lily…it’s his job.”
“His job? But he has such a cool job…won’t he make the world a better place?” she asks him.
Ronlo goes silent. He knows that she’s a smart girl, but she’s too young to comprehend why.
“Lily, just go to sleep. Dad’s here for you.” Ronlo tells her.
Lily burrows into him even further, hugging him tightly. Her eyes waver and she falls asleep. Ronlo caresses her back when he still sees her crying in her slumber.
When Ronlo knows she is fully asleep, he lets his tears fall from his eyes. He can’t fathom Flint hurting himself all to fulfill his duty. He can’t remember how long it has been since that fateful day Flint changed; the day when he has been sentenced to a prison of solitude. Ronlo tries so, so hard to convince himself that he can make their relationship work, that he still loves Flint. But he can no longer bear holding this facade.
He quietly stands up from his bed and opens his laptop. He searches for a divorce lawyer on the internet. He finds one and writes down their number on a sticky note. He stares at it for a long time. He then looks back at Lily.
“I’m sorry Flint…” he mutters. “This has to be done.”
He sticks it on his laptop screen. He closes his laptop and tucks himself back into bed. He looks down at Lily and hugs her tightly. He contemplates how he will deliver the news to her.
Flint arrives at his office early. He finds a note on his desk which details a location for him and President Rogers to meet. Flint recognizes the location from local rumors and hearsay, somewhere hidden in the forest. A fitting place for the facility.
He rummages through his desk and file cabinets, looking for the case file. He groans in frustration after he fails to find it. He exits his offices to see Sercas and Serena enter the reception area. His eyes widen when he sees Serena holding the case file in her arms.
Flint approaches Serena with his hand extended to take the case file, but she reactively leans away.
“Serena, give me the case file. Now.” Flint demands.
She shakes her head, continuing to back away from him. Flint groans in frustration while continuing to reach for the case file. Sercas stands in front of Serena, blocking Flint’s advance.
“Sercas, move out of the way,” Flint demands.
Flint tries to swerve around Sercas, but Sercas keeps following his movements, preventing him from getting to Serena. Serena keeps backing away during this.
“No can do Flint.” He replies.
“Why are you doing this? I need that case file!” Flint shouts.
Serena’s eyes widen when she sees Flint finally get past Sercas by pushing him away. Flint runs up to Serena and latches his hands on the case files. Serena grips her hands tighter as Flint tries to pull the case files out of her hands. Flint manages to overpower Serena’s grip and pulls the case files out of her hands, which makes her stumble around for some moments.
“What the hell was that for?” Flint asks, still frustrated by the incident.
“We’re going with you Flint,” Serena responds, stumbling around.
“What?” He responds utterly flabbergasted.
Serena regains her balance and fixes her appearance.
“We’re going with you, Flint. It’s final.” She responds with a more confident tone, now standing up properly.
Flint rubs his head, sighing in frustration.
“Is it hard to understand that this case was assigned to me?” Flint asks them. “I don’t need you two getting involved with my matters.”
Flint makes his way to the door, holding the files in his arms. But before he can walk further, Sercas plants his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
“Flint, we’re not leaving you to take this case alone,” Sercas tells him. “Since when have you ever worked on a case without us?”
Flint ignores his comment and pushes aside Sercas’s hand off his shoulder.
“Sercas is right Flint. We’ve always been there for you in all your cases.” Serena tells her. “Besides, we’re not uninformed Flint. We read the case file. We won’t let you do this-”
“Both of you stop it!” he shouts at them. “I don’t want any of you to be involved with this damn case! It’s final!”
Sercas’s and Serena’s eyes widen at Flint’s sudden outburst. Flint storms out of the office. Sercas and Serena run after him but they are too late. They see Flint quickly drive off.
Flint’s car drives through the bumpy and forgotten roads of the forest. Flint gazes at the trees, which are brimming with life. The bag containing the case file and supplies bumps around on the passenger’s side. His attention snaps back onto the road when he sees a large imposing wire fence blocking the road. The sign on it states: “DO NOT TRESPASS, PRIVATE PROPERTY.”
Flint slows his car to a stop, mere feet away from the fence. He exits his vehicle, taking a closer inspection of the fence. The wiring is covered in a black residue. Flint recoils after getting a whiff of the residue’s foul odor bombarding his olfactory senses.
Flint grabs a glove from his pocket and puts it on his free hand. He covers his mouth and nose with the other as he approaches the fence again. He shakes the fence back and forth, feeling that it can be moved horizontally. It takes Flint a bit of effort, but he slides the gate open. Flint uncovers his mouth, finally being able to breathe clearly.
He takes off his glove and waves it around to remove the residue. After he stops shaking it, upon closer inspection, he realizes the residue is still on the glove. The residue itself seems to have molded itself into a series of veins one will find in their hand.
Flint, though unnerved by the sight, brings the glove with him to the car. He places the glove in a compartment in his bag. He gets on the driver’s side of the car and starts driving down the road.
Driving down the worn roads, Flint notices fewer lively trees. Their colors are duller and the leaves and bark are rotting. He notices in the distance a large facility, towering over everything. He looks back at the road and notices virtually no trees as he gets closer.
The worn forgotten roads lead to the entrance to the large abandoned parking lot of the facility, which is surrounded by the same wire fences. There are several worn concrete platforms and sidewalks scattered about and the road itself is just as worn out as the roads in the forest.
Flint drives deeper into the parking lot, getting a closer view of the facility. The large dome exterior of the facility, like everything around it, has been a victim of the passage of time. Like the fences Flint has seen earlier, it is covered in the same black residue. It has seeped into the cracks and coated the vines growing in between the cracks, making it appear like large black pulsating veins. The several large windows around the facility are surprisingly not damaged but are covered in splotches of black and reddish-brown stains.
Flint parks near the entrance and exits his vehicle. He notices the entrance of the facility: two large steel doors, barred with a plethora of locks.
He looks around the area looking for President Rogers. His search is halted when he hears the loud whirring of the helicopter blades approaching the vicinity. He looks up and sees President Rogers leaning out one of the doors of the helicopter. He jumps off the helicopter when it is several feet off the ground. The helicopter lands and the blades slow to a stop.
President Rogers approaches Flint, who is slightly taken aback by his bold entrance. Flint snaps out of his shocked state when he sees President Rogers extend his hand for a firm handshake, which he returns.
“I do appreciate you Mr. Detective for taking up this case. You can expect a handsome paycheck once this is all over.” Roger tells him.
Flint silently nods in response.
President Rogers steps back and pulls out a revolver from his inner suit pocket. The revolver has wisps engraved on the handle and the nose of the gun is shaped like a ghostly flame. He hands the revolver to Flint, along with a box of ammunition he has pulled out from his pocket.
“Hopefully you know how to use this. You’re gonna need it.” President Rogers tells Flint.
President Rogers runs up to the helicopter and boards it.
“I wish you luck Flint!” he exclaims.
The blades of the helicopter spin fast and whir loudly. The helicopter takes off, leaving Flint there alone. Flint takes a closer inspection of the revolver, still confused and intrigued by its design. He finds the text “Libera Animam” etched along the spectral flame nose of the revolver.
He opens the box of ammunition and notices that all the bullets are splattered with blotches of white and black. He takes six bullets from the box and loads them into the chamber. He puts the gun away in his inner coat pocket.
He heads back to this car and opens the door to the passenger side. He takes out several items from the bag, his lock-picking set, a headlamp, and a small camera. He takes off his hat to put on the headlamp, which compresses portions of his hair. He puts his hat back on as he approaches the entrance, putting away the camera in his pockets.
Flint sees the chains around the handles of the door, being held in place by many smaller locks and one bulkier one. While they are high-quality locks, it isn’t something he can’t pick. It takes him several minutes, but he manages to pick the lock. He puts away the lock-picking set in his pockets.
The doors creak loudly as he slowly opens them. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“Come on Flint. You have a duty to fulfill.” He mutters.
He turns on his headlamp and slowly enters the facility, closing the doors behind him.