Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “One of the waitress I interviewed, did mention that they were asking for Emily by her name, which I assumed because the restaurant is named Emily’s,” said Emma.

  “I’m just grasping at straws here. But it’s the only thing that made sense to me. The way they disappeared without being seen. The way they acted. It all looked a little too staged,” said Vik. “Like to lure me out. That they can get to me whenever they want, like they have the upper hand in this fight.”

  “Do they?” asked Emma.

  “Sadly, yes,” said Vik. “I don’t know anything about them or their motives. They seem to know a lot about me and my past.”

  “You must know something. At least they feel that way. Otherwise, why would they write that message on that note?” said Emma.

  “I have no idea who was Anthony’s mysterious partner. Olivia didn’t know much either. She mentioned a woman once, like her voice reminded her of someone. But nothing else that I remember,” said Vik. “I don’t even know any woman who survived 1/1 apart from Sam and Olivia.”

  “There must be someone,” said Emma. “Someone who Olivia knew too.”

  “We didn’t have many friends,” said Vik. “Only had each other.”

  “She had a special place in your life, didn’t she?” said Emma.

  “She did,” said Vik. “Never knew it would end this way. I thought I had everything under control. Yet, it slipped away slowly. Then I started to believe that I could change things, you know. But things were so far beyond normal that it looked like the fight wasn’t even worth winning. She stood by me all those times when others didn’t.”

  “Not even Sarah?” asked Emma.

  “No, but I don’t blame her,” said Vik.

  Eric interrupted. “Let’s go.”

  Vik got up and went outside, where Karen was waiting for everyone.

  “Hey,” said Vik.

  “Hey,” said Karen.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” said Vik.

  “You aren’t exactly holding your breath for that,” said Karen.

  “That wasn’t for you. That was for them,” said Vik. “They gave me a lot of grief for not wanting to be a part of the task force.”

  “You gave them back in kind,” said Karen.

  “Something like that,” smiled Vik.

  Karen smiled too.

  “I’ve been here thrice, and the place is still giving me the creeps,” said Karen.

  “There’s something unnatural about the place, isn’t it?” said Vik.

  “Exactly,” said Karen. “The silence is deafening.”

  A flash of lightning and peal of thunder heralded the onset of torrential rain.

  “That’s too loud,” joked Vik.

  Karen laughed. “Can you ask them to hurry?”

  “Technically, your team,” said Vik. “Act like a leader I believe you know you are.”

  “It’s too much of a hassle. I work better alone,” said Karen.

  “Only because you haven’t found someone worth working with,” said Vik. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that.”

  Karen laughed. Vik laughed too.

  As they looked at the sky, they saw a flare. Then another one a few seconds later. They looked at each other in shock.

  “They’re in trouble,” said Karen.

  Vik ran inside and told everyone to come out. Karen told them about the flares.

  “Did you see where it came from?” asked Eric.

  “It was almost vertical, so I think we can narrow it down to a couple of blocks. Let’s go,” said Karen.

  They got on their bicycles, and everyone followed Karen. Emma hopped on Vik’s bicycle, but Vik didn’t start pedaling forward.

  “What’s the wait?” asked Emma.

  “I think we should take a different route,” said Vik.

  “Why?” asked Emma.

  “Just a gut feeling,” said Vik.

  Vik yelled to inform Karen that they will catch up soon.

  Chapter 12: Oppression

  Karen, followed by Eric and Joey disappeared from Vik and Emma’s view, as they rode away on their bikes. Vik rode the opposite way. He went as fast as he could, knowing that he might have to cover more distance to reach that part of the town from the other side.

  “I still don’t get why we aren’t going with them,” said Emma.

  “Just trust me, okay?” said Vik.

  “If Mark and Mortan are in trouble, we should all be helping them together,” said Emma.

  “We’re a contingency plan so that all of us aren’t sitting ducks when we arrive. We don’t know the reason for the flare. Maybe they found someone or..” said Vik.

  “Or?” said Emma.

  “Someone found them,” said Vik. Emma held on to his light blue shirt tightly.

  Emma put her arms around Vik’s waist as they gained speed. Vik rode like a maniac speeding through impossible angles, cutting past the houses and driving through backyards. The rain got heavier with time, which made the streets extremely slippery. Karen, Eric, and Joey were forced to hold back their speed. So was Vik when he nearly skidded off the road.

  Karen arrived first, followed by Eric and Joey, and stopped their bikes. They knew they had arrived at the right spot when they saw a man sitting in the middle of the street, tied up with ropes and bleeding heavily. Even though they were almost fifty yards away, they could hear his silent cries.

  “It’s Mortan,” said Eric.

  “We got to help him,” said Joey, and hopped back on the bike.

  “It’s a trap,” said Karen. “He’s bait.”

  Karen looked around but couldn’t see anyone. She shushed them so that she could hear a sound as faint as a snail crawling on the grass. A lot of different sounds reached their ears. Their heavy breaths, Joey’s growling stomach, and the occasional cry of a bird. Mortan wasn’t moving. They couldn’t even tell if his eyes were open as his face was looking at the ground. He was sitting in a pool of blood. Karen didn’t have it in her heart to assume if it was Mortan’s blood or Mark’s. Her ears searched for a sound, while her eyes looked for Mark.

  Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Someone skidded to a halt. Their ears searched to locate the source. It was coming from behind them. A few seconds later, a sound of someone cocking their gun and another dragging a sharp object against the ground, reached their ears. Mortified, they turned around.

  They saw 2 men and a woman standing in front of them. They looked like civilians in normal attire, except for a glowing ring that each of them was wearing on their left hand’s index finger. The blue glow would flicker randomly. The woman was holding a machete while the men were holding handguns. They stopped moving when they were nearly 20 feet away from Karen, Eric, and Joey.

  Karen took a step backward. So did Eric and Joey. The two men and the woman came forward a step.

  “We’re cops. Drop your weapon,” said Eric as he aimed his gun at one of the men. Joey and Karen aimed their weapons too.

  The other one fired a shot that struck Joey on his left hand, who dropped his gun. He yelled in pain, while the guy aimed at Eric.

  Eric lowered his gun. Karen helped Joey.

  “I’m fine,” said Joey.

  “Eric, we need to go,” said Karen.

  “We can take them,” said Eric.

  “Turn around,” said Karen as she saw something entirely different.

  She and Joey saw an unimaginable sight. Around ten men and women were standing between them and Mortan. Eric froze when he turned around.

  “We can outrun them,” said Joey.

  “Not their rifles,” said Karen.

  “We have to try,” said Eric.

  “We have to trust Vik and Emma. These people have shown their hand,” said Karen.

  “Are you sure? Maybe there’s more of them,” said Joey.

  “Then we’re screwed,” said Karen.

  “What do we do now? Just raise our hands so that they can beat us up like Mortan?” asked Eric.

>   “Follow my lead,” said Karen.

  She raised her hands and turned around to face the two men and the woman. The two men and the woman didn’t change their facial expressions. Their gaze was frightening yet constant. The eyes were wide open.

  “Take us to your leader,” said Karen.

  “How do you know they have a leader?” whispered Joey.

  “People like these usually do,” said Karen.

  No one said a word. Karen asked again, but her words were met with a resounding silence.

  “Try in Spanish,” joked Joey.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. How can you joke at this point?” said Eric.

  “We’re all going to die anyway,” said Joey. “I got this.”

  “Just don’t do anything stupid,” said Karen.

  Joey stepped forward. So did the woman with the machete. She looked like a waitress, which was Joey’s expertise in his own words. He would charm them by being the kindest customer ever. His good looks would do the rest, especially if the bar weren’t set so high.

  “He’s going to die, isn’t he?” said Eric.

  “Is he any good?” asked Karen. “At flirting.”

  “Out of the 5 of us, he’s the best,” said Eric.

  “He better be,” said Karen.

  “You don’t think so?” asked Eric.

  “He’s not my type,” said Karen.

  “What’s your type?” asked Eric.

  “Not a man,” said Karen. “Currently.”

  Joey kept moving forward towards the woman, who reciprocated every step of his. Soon, they were standing only a foot apart. Joey put on his most charming smile. The woman smiled back.

  “Unbelievable,” said Eric.

  “I know that smile,” said Karen. “Wait for it.”

  “What do you mean…” said Eric, before he saw Joey getting punched in the face.

  Joey fell on his knees. His gums were bleeding, so was his nose.

  “I didn’t even see it coming,” said Joey, spitting blood.

  “Maybe you could try,” said Eric. “Is she your type?”

  Karen rolled her eyes.

  “What?” asked Eric.

  “I was joking,” said Karen.

  “I’m sorry. I thought you were a lesbian,” said Eric.

  “I’m not,” said Karen, and stepped forward. “I’m bisexual.”

  She went to assist Joey, taking one step at a time. But to her surprise, no one else came forward. She picked up Joey and told him to get back to Eric.

  “What’re you going to do?” asked Joey.

  “Never had a blonde before,” said Karen.

  Joey was surprised as he walked back.

  “Did you know she’s a lesbian?” asked Joey as he stood next to Eric.

  “Not the time,” said Eric. “She’s bi, by the way.”

  “We sure know how to pick them,” said Joey.

  “Shut up,” said Eric. “Don’t forget why we are doing this. We still don’t know where the hell Emma and Vik are.”

  “Maybe they found another group like this one,” said Joey.

  “God, I hope not. They’re our only hope,” said Eric.

  “Why haven’t they killed us already?” asked Joey.

  “That is...actually a good question,” said Eric.

  Eric and Joey watched in anticipation. Somewhere in their hearts, they expected Karen to pull off a miracle. Karen stood calm and looked straight at the woman, who tilted her head to the right. Karen closed her fist and punched the woman on the face. No one came forward to defend the woman. Karen felt like she had hit a stone wall. She couldn’t close her fist anymore. Joey and Eric were dumbfounded.

  “I thought she was going to flirt,” said Joey.

  “Me too,” said Eric as they looked at each other.

  The woman raised her machete. Karen was frightened. She believed her plan had backfired. She took a step back to position herself for an evasive maneuver. The woman came down hard with her machete, before they heard someone yell, ‘Stop!’

  The woman’s arm stopped inches away from Karen’s neck. She turned around. Eric and Joey noticed a figure walking towards them. The group behind them bent their knees, and raised her weapons above their heads.

  “What is happening?” said Eric.

  Karen smiled.

  A muscular man, dressed as a wildlife hunter, walked slowly towards the woman and Karen. The woman was on her knees, so were the other two men. Karen turned around and gestured to Eric and Joey to stand their ground.

  The man stopped a few feet away from Karen, and took the machete from the woman. Karen noticed that the rings on their fingers weren’t flickering anymore, rather glowing brightly.

  “Who are you?” asked Karen.

  “Shhh…” said the man. “I ask the questions.”

  Eric and Joey started walking forward, but the man gestured them, with the machete, to stop moving.

  “Let the adults talk,” said the man.

  “What do you want?” asked Karen.

  “Who are you and why are you here?” asked the man.

  “We’re here to investigate the deaths that happened in this town a few weeks ago,” said Karen.

  “What’s there to investigate? They died. Slaughtered, to be more precise,” said the man.

  “Did you do it?” asked Karen.

  The man’s eyes changed their colors. They turned from black to blue, before turning black again. Karen was petrified.

  “Maybe you should care more about you and your friends than a bunch of dead people,” said the man.

  “Take me to your leader,” said Karen, trying to sound confident.

  “I haven’t even met him. Not all Alphas meet their leaders,” said the man.

  “Alpha?” asked Karen.

  “Just a fancy title I earned after I was born,” said the man.

  “Why did you kill them?” asked Karen.

  “The question you should be asking is why we haven’t killed you yet,” said the man.

  “Okay, why?” asked Karen, indulging him in a conversation to learn more about them.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m in a good mood today,” said the man. “In fact, I’ve been in a good mood for months.”

  “You slaughtered 200 people. That’s a crime,” said Karen.

  “So is trespassing,” said the man. “This is our property, and you’re trespassing.”

  “Orange Town is your property?” mocked Karen.

  The man shook her head, and stomped his shoes repeatedly on the ground, trying to tell her that her outlook was too restricted.

  “Could you be more specific?” asked Karen. “Instead of stomping on the ground like an idiot.”

  The man looked at Karen, stepped forward and grabbed her by the throat. She tried to loosen the grip, but failed to do so. Eric couldn’t take it anymore and rushed forward to help Karen. He removed the hold comfortably and pushed the man who fell on the ground. Karen was breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath.

  “Are you alright?” asked Eric.

  Karen nodded, breathing for her life.

  The man got up with the machete in his dominant right hand.

  Eric stepped in front of Karen while Joey came up to assist her. The man was a little surprised as he felt his strength should’ve been too much for Eric to overpower. He and Eric walked around in circles, trying to plan their next move. They had an identical physique, yet Eric’s strength surprised him completely.

  “I’m impressed by your strength. You should join my force,” said the man.

  “No, thanks,” said Eric.

  “Your choice,” said the man.

  He whistled. His civilian army stood up with their weapons and soon surrounded Eric, Karen, and Joey.

  “Oh, and a special gift for you,” said the man.

  He nodded, and one of the men went back and slit Mortan’s throat. Eric was mortified. Joey and Karen watched in horror, as others repeatedly kicked Mortan’s corp
se. They mutilated the corpse, tossing body parts before kicking his head away.

  The man laughed sadistically as Eric looked furiously at him.

  “Now, if you would be so kind as to take his place,” said the man. “Or I kill your cute girlfriend over there.”

  Eric raised his hands, and a couple of men tied him up. They did the same to Karen and Joey. They sat all three of them next to each other in the middle of the road.

  “So do you have anyone else with you, or you’re all that remains of your group?” asked the man.

  “Dozens more,” said Karen.

  “I doubt that, but still, my men would love to take you up on your offer,” said the man.

  He randomly selected four men and two women and instructed them to search every street in the town. He told them to kill anyone they see and bring their corpse when they were done. Joey and Eric looked at Karen, but couldn’t say anything as the man was standing next to them.

  “My name is Troy, by the way,” said the man. “And no, my men didn’t kill anyone except your fat friend on the road and the handsome one in that house over there. That would be the Mennids. They don’t have any rules. Me, I don’t kill for pleasure. I kill for survival.”

  “Why did you kill our friends?” said Eric. “Surely, it wasn’t about survival.”

  “On the contrary. My survival rests on you taking me seriously. And my experience has taught me that the death of a friend gets you all the attention you need,” said Troy.

  “Who are Mennids?” asked Karen.

  “Some clowns led by Xavier. Jester is coming for him. I can tell you that,” said Troy.

  “You work for Jester?” asked Karen, curious.

  “Why, you know him?” asked Troy.

  “No, should I?” asked Karen.

  “No, not yet. We’re not ready for humans yet,” said Troy. “Though I think it’s just stupid. We should just all join forces instead of squabbling amongst ourselves.”

  “Sorry to interrupt your discussion, but could you ask your men to get me something to eat? I’m starving,” said Joey. “Your hospitality sucks. Jester would be disappointed.”

  “Would you like to eat your friend’s heart? I love the brain, so you’re not eating that,” said Troy.

  “I think I just threw up in my mouth,” whispered Joey, disgusted.

  “You expect these people to follow you, blindly?” asked Eric.