by Zac Atie
”Get out.” She snaps. “I won’t tell you again.”
The next day, lunchtime. Bastion is still replaying his encounter with Veronica over and over in his head, and that supernatural feeling becoming more aggressive. It was like trauma, where you can’t stop thinking about what happened, and how it depresses you and constantly gnaws at you, not letting you concentrate on anything. It comes back to you during conversations, pulling your attention away and thrusting flashes into your head. What bothered him most was both her appearance and her words. She had some Victorian style clothing, with an odd accent, and an odd choice of vocabulary. It just didn’t fit here in the modern day out in society. Perhaps in some sort of festival, or some sort of historic grounds, but Veronica was quite obviously comfortable in that attire. Vander noticed Bastion’s lack of concentration. “Are you alright, man?” Vander asks him, worried.
”Err, yeah. Yeah, I'm just tired is all, I was up too late last night reading.” Bastion lies.
”Nerd.” Vander laughs. “I think you’ve been working too hard.”
”Yeah, perhaps.” Bastion laughs. “Exams and stuff, I suppose. It’s our last year, don't want to fail at getting into college with bad grades.”
”College ain’t shit.” Vander said. “They make out like it’s really hard to get in, and they’re going to treat you like it’s training for the military, but it’s practically highschool with a little more freedom. Whatever, you know… you should come out tonight, it will be fun.” Vander suggests.
”Where?” Bastion asks. Perhaps going out with Vander would be what he needs to get his mind off of Veronica. Nights out with him were always fun, and he’d usually get up to mischief while Bastion chided him and tried to stop him, while secretly wanting to go along with it.
”Get a load of this. We’re all going… to the beach!” Vander beams. The notion of going out with Vander instantly died in Bastion’s head.
”The beach?” Bastion frowns, unimpressed. “The hell would we go there for?”
”You must have seen it in movies, guys and girls lighting a fire and having fun, drinking beer. Girls will be there, come on! Chillax! We’re young! Let’s have some fun, before you get depressed with a crappy desk job!” Vander laughs.
”Well, firstly, I don’t care if there’s girls there, I have a girl friend. Second of all, that’s a stupid idea, sand all over the place, people getting drunk. Thirdly, people will complain and the police will be all over us like it’s a bank robbery.” Bastion says. “Sorry, just not my thing. Thanks for asking though.”
”Well, Talia’s going.” Vander says, knowing that’s going to get a reaction.
”You asked Talia to go? She accepted?” Bastion asks.
”Yeah, she’s not your slave, is she?” Vander laughs.
”Of course not, but for gods sakes! She’s going to get drunk, and guys will be there? What the hell, dude?” Bastion snaps.
”Yo, chillout, just come along. For one night, it will do you good! Socialize with more than at least 4 people a day! Besides, Talia isn’t some total dumbass, is she?” Vander says. “It’ll be fun!” Against his will, a brooding Bastion agrees, knowing that he’ll come to regret going, since its likely going to be loud and obnoxious.
Loud and obnoxious it was. Bastion and Talia was sitting within the group of drunk, loud teenagers, telling stories about how stupid the people they know are, such as their boyfriends or friends, complaining about the way they flip out at the tiniest thing, or that boys always cheat on girls. Bastion got really sick of it after the seventieth time hearing the same story. Talia was beside him, drinking everything she could get her hands on, her right arm around him. If he wasn’t there, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her balance. “Your parents are going to be mad as hell at you, you know.” Bastion whispered in Talia’s ear as the ranting teenagers continued what they do best. Talia shrugs at the gesture. She wasn’t on good terms with her parents, she hated her mother, and loved her dad, but her dad was in America. Vander was elsewhere, bragging about his name and making a girl laugh. He looked pretty sure of his chances with the girl, who was named “Leticia”. Unfortunately, the ranting went round in unofficial turns, and soon, it was Talia’s turn to begin to moan about things going wrong in her life. After talking about her mother, and school, she decided to rant about Bastion. “EVERY time this… CUNT, called Veronica walks by, Bastion figures he’ll just lock onto her skirt and track her ass everywhere until his line of sight is broken!” She rants.
”Now, that’s an exaggeration, I don’t do that at all.” He says, although she wasn’t far from the truth. “Yes you do!” Talia huffs. “You stare at her for ages!”
”I stare at YOU for ages, actually” He says, trying to snuggle her, but she doesn’t fall for it.
”No, don’t do that, face the facts!” Talia retorts. Bastion sighs, knowing that he’ll never win.
”Gotta say, you do actually do that, Bastion.” Vander says, smiling evilly at Bastion’s glare.
”Never thought you were the type!” A girl screeches at him.
”I DO NOT, stare at that archaic bitch.” Bastion shouts, getting impatient.
“Archaic?” One of the girls laughs, not understanding what that meant.
“It means old.” Another girl says, one of the more smart ones.
“She’s not old... is she?” Talia asks.
“Well... no...” Bastion says, sighing, thinking of drowning himself.
“What did you mean, eh, Bastion?” Vander asked.
“It’s nothing.” Bastion retorted.
“Sounds like you know quite a bit about her, eh?” Another of the girls said, laughing. Bastion sighs as Talia prods him with questions, shooting another glare at Vander for not having his back, but Vander’s attention was elsewhere. Bastion looks to see what caught his attention, and sighs with relief as a great distraction comes along. “Goddamnit, it’s the pigs.” Vander says. The police officer ordered them to tip their drinks, swinging around his authority at them. Of course, a few heroes decide to rebel, but are soon shut down when one of them goes too far, and gets arrested. Bastion found that hilarious, because it wasn’t worth it at all. The rest pack up and leave, as do Bastion and Talia. Talia waves goodbye to Vander, and Bastion gives a middle finger, and Vander parts ways with Bastion while holding Leticia. It was now Bastion’s duty to carry Talia home, but no way in hell was he staying any longer than that, no way was he going to get another rant. “Do you think Veronica is beautiful?” Talia says, bringing up the dead subject. Bastion curses under his teeth.
”I think a lot of women are beautiful.” Bastion sighs
”Avoiding the question? Sounding rather guilty, there.” Talia groans
”Do you think Brad Pitt is handsome?” Bastion asks.
”That’s not the same!” Talia snaps
”Erm, yes, I think it is. But, you don’t love Brad Pitt, do you?” Bastion asks, raising his eyebrow.
”No…” Talia submits.
”There, problem solved. I think many women are beautiful, but I love only one.” He says, giving her a kiss. That was the end of the debate.
Bastion carried Talia for about a mile before reaching her house. He kissed her goodbye, and left her at the doorstep, running off when he broke her line of sight as to not get involved with the screaming that would soon occur. After running a couple of blocks, out of range of the house, he stopped and leaned against a wall. He had a mild headache. He didn’t take too much alcohol, but he doesn’t do that well with even a couple of sips. That was another problem with him, alcohol. He was sort of curious of how it would feel to get drunk, and act like an asshole without caring of how you looked, but if he tried for more than a can of beer, he’d end up feeling sick to his stomach. He closes his eyes against the mild throbbing in his head, that didn’t feel normal… Then, he sees something… while his eyes are shut. A strange glowing… An outline of a person, but it’s extremely small… as if looking at someone far away. It was glowing, bright
ly. He opens his eyes quickly… Nobody’s in that direction, just a house, but if he closes his eyes again, he sees it. “What the?” Bastion thought to himself. Eventually, he felt the presences… The supernatural presences that were just like Veronica. He picked up another and another… until he stopped picking up anymore. About 6 of them, 2 of the presences he recognized. There was Veronica, who was currently in bed, and the Haven, which of course, was stationary as always. But the two closest were rather odd. One of them didn’t feel exactly… whole, like it was being controlled. How he knew this, he didn’t know, but the outline showed that one of the people that he was detecting had the woman, and was leading her somewhere. “Perhaps… Perhaps I am a superhero?” Bastion asked, then laughed at himself straight away. He didn’t know why this was happening, or how, but he could feel that the woman was in danger. “What should I do?” He asked himself. “What if this is just some stupid illusion?” But it didn’t feel like an illusion. If it was an Illusion, he’d end up reaching nobody, then he could just right it off as him being drunk and go home. He decided to go with it. He begins to walk off in their direction, start jogging, passing cars and streets, following the presences. He had to switch between watching where he was going with his eyes open, and closing his eyes to check the presence’s location. The presences where getting closer, the outline of the people becoming more clear, and before he knew It, he sense their presences without the use of his closed eyes, like he felt the haven and Veronica. “What the hell’s going on??” He asks himself again, but he puts it off for later. Now is the time for action, someone may be in trouble. He begins to slow down, panting, when he passes a gas station. He was very close to the presences at this point, observing as they both were facing each other, then... one disappears. This startles him, and he speeds up again, tired from the running. He was in the middle of town now. Beads of sweat ran down his face and exploded on the ground below him as he approaches his target. He’s extremely close, about a block away now… only… he was at an interior parking lot, the ones with many levels. The presences had been inside this, and one was leaving the other end. He didn’t know whether it was in a car or not, but he had to at least find out where the woman was. He entered the parking lot. The parking lot was deserted, nobody here, just a whole bunch of cars. Light from the street lights peered through the small openings, and illuminated parts of the room, heating up his skin as he passed through it… when, eventually, something caught his eye between the cars. As he passed through one of the lights, something sparkled due to the lighting effect. He stopped and took a double check. It looked like a jewel… a blue jewel. He approached it, and as he got closer, he realized what it was. It was an amulet, one shaped like a snake, with a blue jewel in it’s eye. Veronica had one like this. He walked up to it and reached for it, when he slipped forward when he stepped on a liquid, hitting his head off one of the cars the wall behind the cars. Whatever the liquid was, it was all over his legs. At first, he thought it was urine, and was disgusted… but… It wasn’t. He looked down at his shirt through his dizzy eyes… and at first he couldn’t believe it. But soon he realized. BLOOD! Bastion screamed, and flailed, and then he saw where it came from. It came from a cauterized wound in a woman’s chest and throat! The presence he felt before, it was the killer! And this was his Victim! Bastion screamed again, over and over, in shock, until he stopped and calmed down. People were running to investigate. He quickly grabbed the amulet, and stuffed it inside his sock to keep it hidden. Then he closed his eyes, and let his senses fade as he heard the horrified yells of civilians.
Chapter Two – Secrets known by few
Sebastian Slater
Bastion lies in his hospital bed, finally at peace, the only noise he can hear is the peaceful beeping of his heart rate monitor, as opposed to all the fuss about the murders. His mother, Talia and the police have all been rather frequent visitors, and while he appreciates the attention he’s getting from his mother and Talia, he would much rather just get past this concussion. Being constantly reminded about what he had seen was both disturbing and depressing to him, and he just wanted to move on. His mother was wailing, and hugging him, and fighting off police when they came to question him, telling them to “leave him alone, he’s hurt and all you want to do is interrogate him”. Talia came in, also crying from time to time, blaming herself for dragging him out in the middle of the night, although she couldn’t keep the drama up for too long. Like Bastion, her head was also in pain, although this wasn’t from a concussion, it was from a hangover. The police wanted to know if he had seen anything, how he discovered the body, if he heard anything, that sort of thing. He wasn’t actually suspected of committing the murder because a CCTV camera from a nearby shop spotted jogging towards the car park at the time of death, an airtight alibi. Soon, he was to be let out of the hospital and he could go about his daily life, one step at a time. However, this time, he had one more visitor. Another worried soul, blaming himself for what happened to Bastion. Vander. He sulked in through the door, biting his lip. “Hey.” Vander says.
”Hey.” Bastion replied back, dully. Vander takes a seat next to the bed.
”You’re not seriously hurt are you?” Vander asks.
”No, it’s just a concussion.” Bastion replies, stretching.
”Ah… good...” Vander begins. “Well… look, I'm sorry. It’s my fault you got into this mess. I didn’t just pressure you into it, I sort of also lied about inviting Talia, I invited her after I invited you…” Vander admits. He expects to see Bastion angry, but he wasn’t. “Look, it’s alright, it’s your fault I was at the beach, but it wasn’t your fault that I got hurt, honestly.” Bastion says. It’s actually true, since Bastion had picked up the killer’s presence and rushed after him, completely of his own free will. Vander’s deception bothered him a little, but he wasn’t as angry as he was when Vander had told him he invited Talia behind his back. “Ah… good… I had thought you’d not want to be my friend.” Vander laughs, weakly. Bastion waves off the remark. “So… Did you see anything?” Vander asks, curious.
”No, the killer was gone by the time I stumbled across the body.” Bastion says.
”What were you doing there?” Vander prods.
”Nothing, I was just…” Bastion began.
”The car park is a hell of a ways off from your house. Did anything strange happen? Who was the dead woman?” Vander continues. “Hey, ease off, alright? I get enough of that from the police.” Bastion scolds him. Vander raises his hands. “Alright, alright, sorry… Well, if you’re ok… then I'm gonna get going.” Vander says, getting up from his seat. “Wait, wait.” Bastion stops him. “Got a question.” Vander sits down, listening to Bastion. “Where’s Veronica, is she ok?” Bastion asks.
”Err... She wasn’t in today… but yeah, I'm sure she’s fine. She called in sick is all. Why?” Vander ponders. Bastion found that suspicious. On the day following the one where somebody wearing Victorian clothes, much like Veronica’s, disappears and is killed, that’s when she takes the day off? It’s not like her to bunk school. Bastion thinks that it may be a good idea to go see her, but then again, maybe it’s not, since she doesn’t really like him. He also has a medallion identical to hers, save the colour of the crystal… If he just showed up with it, it may spark a more dangerous reaction than the one he previously saw. Also, if the police found out that he took evidence from the crime scene, he’d be in some serious trouble. “I'm going to go now.” Vander says, getting up from his seat. “Gotta go see the new girlfriend.”
”Ah, congratulations, treat her right.” Bastion says, and then Vander huffs at his response and gets up. He turns and heads for the door, then stops. “Err, Bastion. You’re not going to continue with this investigation, are you?” Vander says, looking back at him.
”Why?” Bastion asks, suspicion rising. Vander shrugs, smiling, and left the room. Bastion was puzzled about his question, but it wasn’t time to bother about that now. He took out the medallion from his
sock, and examined it. There wasn’t anything actually special about it, except for the gem. It looked rather expensive, and it seemed extremely clear, and it felt as if it had been cut rather precisely. Perhaps it would just be better to sell it off at a pawn shop, but Bastion didn’t really feel like that was right of him.
Bastion is issued out of the hospital the next morning, and he heads to the police station to answer questions from the police officers. There was not much to say, but he did say that he saw someone leave at the back entrance, though he didn’t really see what he was wearing. This was a lie, because he actually sensed that somebody left the back entrance, but he wasn’t about to tell the police that he could sense supernatural presences. If there was one thing that Bastion was relieved about from all this, it’s that he now knows he isn’t crazy, that the presence he feels from the Haven and from Veronica are not fragments from an insane brain, but reality. If it wasn’t for the odd presences he felt, he wouldn’t have found the dead girl, not that it was much of an achievement… but he does now have a medallion. He doesn’t know what the medallion is supposed to represent, or what it’s supposed to do, but it can’t be coincidence that Veronica had a matching medallion. Were there medallions on all his victims? Bastion was confused, and didn’t really know where this got him off at. Bastion returned home to the smell of mint, his mother’s signature smell, as she smothered him with worry, hugs and kisses. Once Bastion managed to pry himself away from his mother’s tears, he checked the clock, noting that right now everybody was about to enter lunch break. He felt there was no sense walking into school in the middle of lunchtime. He’d rather go and cool off, think about this in the place where he feels most relaxed at. His haven. He grabbed a bottle of strawberry flavoured water and a chocolate muffin for the travel, taking bites of his muffin and washing it down with water, wiping the chocolate off his face as he entered the park. He approaches the haven, through the deserted park, crunching leaves underfoot, and crawled through the gaping hole concealed behind the cluster of bushes. He sat on the platform, and took out the medallion again. Here, he felt he may come across something, since the platform had always been his thinking pad, even though it wasn’t all peace and quiet, even though he could hear cars, dogs, people, even though there could be a time where the owner of this small haven of this could open the rusty gates and tell him to clear off, it was still his thinking pad. He came here for study, he came here to clear his head, and he came here for closure. He thinks over the events that happened, trying to figure out what his next move is, from the body, to Veronica, to the killer. He thought of what he’d actually do if he found the killer… call the cops? Rely on his boxing skills? He knows how to track him… Bastion concentrated, thinking about everything he knew so far, when he noticed something. Something small, but something only he can notice. The medallion… it’s beginning to develop some sort of presence… When he closes his eyes and looks at the medallion. It’s almost as if it’s pulling the presence out of the haven, and into the medallion… only, it doesn’t feel as if the haven is changing at all. It’s like filling a small glass with a jug, only the jug doesn’t actually lose any water. What does this mean? The presence stops growing, and becomes a small, faint, light with his eyes closed. Then he looks around. While sitting on his platform, in his haven, he could see a lot more than he could on the streets…