°°° Double Tragedy °°° After a while of arguing, Karen agreed that walking back to Sean’s was okay. His most convincing point was that the walk would help him let go of certain pains and grudges he still held against Sarah, Carlos, and his mother. It was already fifty minutes past three o'clock when they left the Curtis Hall Arboretum. With an approximate one-hour walking time, Karen reluctantly agreed. At least everything would be fine, and she’d be back home sipping from a cup of chocolate. She hadn’t imagined that she would be spending the first day of the new month this way. As they talked, they didn’t realize that both time and distance had passed. Noticing some familiar "landmarks," Sean sighed, knowing he was about to get back home any moment now. "Hey… "You know, you still haven’t told me about the Jason situation," he reminded Karen. Although she was tired and felt like speaking would be much more draining, Karen understood that Sean hadn’t yet let go completely
°°° Another Chance at Life °°° • Crest Care Hospital • It had been four nights since the incident, and although the doctor said Kate was getting better, she was still in the ICU. Sean had refused to leave the hospital, and he himself ended up getting sick within that time. Karen spent most of her time with him in the hospital and had Kelly prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Sean every day of those four days. Sometimes, Carlos would suddenly vanish. His whereabouts are unknown. Sarah resigned due to the scene she had witnessed that night. Although the doctor claimed that Kate wasn’t the first to suffer from such an illness, hours and hours of research concerning brain damage didn’t reveal anything related to that. How does a person’s brain melt away like wax, but the person survive? It made no sense. Although she believed in God and miracles, she couldn’t bring herself to accept them. In the middle of the fourth night, at about midnight, there was a little commotion in t
°°° The Unraveling °°° • Somewhere in Central City, Philadelphia • On Tuesday, the thirtieth of July, the public was made aware of the shootout that had occurred between the Philadelphia police and an arms-dealing organization, popularly known as the White Cross, that the police had been investigating. A couple members of the organization had been gunned down, but a few others managed to escape. Amongst them was the man in charge of the transaction happening that night, the head of the Green Wing, Boris Romanoff. The bald fellow had been shot and was unconscious for an entire week and five days. He had immediately sent some of the people under him to check on Kate. Being a major part of his cover, he couldn’t afford to lose her. He knew from the start that she wasn’t always in love with him. He knew that she was initially using him to get over her divorce and then her husband’s death, but after joining the White-Cross, he knew that a well-known family life would not
°°° The Unraveling II °°° • Kingsley Street, Northwest Philadelphia • -Colonel William’s Residence- It was nine at night, but the atmosphere of the house was quite lively. Kelly sat in an armchair with a hot cup of chocolate in her hands, watching her employer with a motherly smile as he played with his granddaughter. The retired Colonel had a game pad in his hands. He had been playing against Karen and was surprisingly in the lead. He had been using the character Raiden against her since they began, and though she had changed characters after character, she never managed to hit a three-game winning streak. "You know, you two should be in bed," Kelly chuckled as Karen’s Raiden lost to the Colonel’s. "Humph… "Oldie's been cheating," Karen harrumphed and folded her hands. "Stop the hating beasties," the Colonel chuckled. "Just admit it, I’m the best player you’ve ever met," he said with a smirk. "Hah!! "Not even by a long shot," Karen laughed. "Let me guess… Sean wo
°°° The Unraveling III °°° -The Green Therapeutic Company- "My name is Gerald Greene. "Nice to meet you, Andrew," the man introduced himself with a smile. "Is that supposed to make me impressed?" Andrew quizzed himself internally but nodded "same" in reply. "How are you feeling?" "Is there anything I can get you?" Gerald Greene asked with his smile still on. "No, nothing. Thanks." Andrew folded his hands. "Are sure? "Because I personally bought you some... "Can we just get this over with?" Andrew interrupted him with a stoic expression. Gerald’s face twitched at Andrew’s rejection of his approach, but then he smiled as he realized what a breakthrough that was. He had managed to identify something that would help him further. He nodded with a smile and asked with a deep voice that suited his structure well. "Why are you here, Andrew?" Andrew looked at him with an angry expression but said nothing. Seeing that they weren’t going anywhere, Gerald shook his head slo
°°° The Unraveling IV °°° • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • -Walker Residence- It had been exactly one week since Kate had awoken, but she was still under medical supervision in the hospital. Being a fragile case, the doctors weren’t willing to take too much of a risk. This was partly because she was their colleague, but mostly because the virus had yet to be fully understood. They saw her not just as a patient but as a very valuable test subject. They had contacted more experienced and trained professionals in the field of viruses. Though they hadn’t made an official announcement to the general public, And seeing as it was a privately owned establishment, the government would not be hearing of it anytime soon. This was in line with Kate’s desire. She knew that should the government get involved, she would become a lab rat, buttered up with promises or threats. Even Crest Care Management was already taking similar actions. She didn’t have to pay for any treatment from
°°° Lords and Vessels °°° -Unknown Location- In a dimly lit, large, and spacious room without any windows or doors in sight, a long bronze table stood. With ten sturdy-looking, wooden high-back chairs on the left and right sides of the table—five per side—and another wooden high-back chair at the tail end of the table, The chair at the head of the table was made of bronze, like the table. It had an octopus engraved into it on the back rest and was the only chair with an armrest. A cloaked figure stood behind the bronze head chair. His hooded cloak covered his face as he looked straight at the chair at the tail end of the table. The room was quite dark, with the twelve flickering candle sticks on the table—one in front of each chair—and the twenty-four candle sticks on the floor, two behind each chair—two meters away from the chairs—as the only lights holding back the darkness. With the flickering candle light, the outline of two other figures, one on each side of t
°°° Therapy Session °°° • Vancouver, Canada • -The Green Therapeutic Company- On Thursday morning, as early as eight, Jason and his brother, Andrew, were dropped off at the Green Therapeutic Company by their father. Andrew had a session with Gerald Greene, a two-hour therapy session that was going to cost them five hundred dollars per hour. And these sessions were to be held twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday. Due to his job, Dan had dropped them off three hours earlier than he should have. The therapy session was scheduled for eleven to one, but Ann wasn’t feeling too great that morning, so driving was not an option this time. And with Jason not yet used to the city, Ann was against having them board a taxi to the company. By the time the session was over, Ann predicted she would have been done with the hospital, so she would be coming to pick them up. It was thirty minutes past twelve, and Jason sat outside Mr. Gerald Greene’s office. Andrew had