ch9-24 on the store

9

‘who the fuck is Sneaker!!!?????’ I slammed my fist into the wall. I had heard the name before but I didn’t recall where. We were staying in the house that we had basically stolen. ‘jes im getting hungry.’ ‘ok rob I’ll make u some food.’ ‘can u make us some of ur special chili or some soup?’ ‘why rob?’ ‘well its been a month and I just love your cooking’ ‘rob…thanks.’ I smiled at him. It was no lie. I make some pretty good chili. And soup? Cmon all I do is take it out of the can, unless im making chicken noodle, and add some...stuff. But it was well known fact that I cook food almost perfect more than 90% of the time.

I searched the cupboards but there was none of the ingredients to make either chili or even soup in a can. In fact all the food the man had was cereal and oven pizza. I sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy cooking with barely anything. I thought I should go to the nearest store but take someone with me. I called for anybody but no one answered. I walked in the house a bit and found nix in a room which appeared to have been a little girls. ‘nix’ ‘oh what? Oh sorry’ she had jumped when I called her. ‘jes u scared me’ I saw a vase had fallen and exploded. ‘oh let me help you nix.’ ‘no its okay ive got it.’ I grabbed a broom and dustpan from the hallway closet nearby and helped nix pick up the shattered vase. ‘so what were you doing in here?’ ‘it reminded me of my room and besides, u told us to look for clues on who this man was.’ ‘yeah I did’ I did tell them to examine the house. I didn’t think they would have gone farther than outside though. ‘nix wanna come with me to the nearest store?’ ‘jes were still in the same neighborhood. Its not like we went twenty years in the past. It was just a few days.’ but it felt to me like maybe 40 years had gone by.

‘do u want to come or not nix?’ she looked at me kind of like it was a bad thing to say. ‘yes, I would like to come with you.’ ok thanks. I need company and just in case, some one trustworthy.’ we walked on to a little store. The sign said out too lunch. I looked at my watch 1:10. The sign said the people would be back by 1. ‘wow great huh?’ nix giggled. I laughed too. Then my mind refocused on her hair, semi short, blonde, beautiful. I slapped my self and nix looked at me with one eyebrow raised. ‘lets walk in shall we?’ I tried not to stare at her blonde hair and looked away down an alley. When I looked a little bit closer at the figure in the alley, I noticed it was gesturing for me to come. I slowly started walking toward it and then nix said, ‘what r u doing? Lets hurry and get the stuff!’ ‘ill be with you in a second’ I walked toward the figure and it turned out to be a short little man. He talked in a low but fast voice ‘u want something cool mister? it’s all the rage with teenagers like u!’ I thought about it ‘what is it then?’ the man smiled that showed teeth only his mother could love. But even that is not an accurate description of the filth hanging from his burly woolen coat. odd how he wore a coat in the middle of June…. ‘this is a dagger that has been sought out for years, for it was made by the same crafter of the one who made the famous katana sword, Gassan.’ ‘…isn’t that Gassan the Japanese swordsmith?’ I remembered from reading one of the many books I read. ‘he also made a katana and named it after himself.’ ‘that is correct. But he also made a crude version of a Basilard. And here it is..’ he opened a case he had in his pocket and sure enough there was a stiletto in there. I had seen a basilard before and this looked like a relative. ‘its made from the hardest Damascus steel, giving it the name the Damascus stiletto.’ ‘but….I thought that Gassan had never made any other weapon other than a sword. And isn’t true he was an oni-demon?’ ‘yes most of that is true but he was a skilled swordsman and could make anything without the feeling of being held back. He did many things no one understands today. But that is because he was a demon.’…I stared at him in disbelief. A dagger that was made by a demon was in the possession of a little man and he was going to give the thing to me. Just hand it over? ‘this seems fishy’ ‘all of his swords chose their owners, just like his first ever katana chose Mitsurugi. If u really believe in him then take it and see if it chooses u. aren’t u at least curious?’ ‘I am’ ‘then try it out’ I held my hand out and struggled trying to extend it. A part of me said that he was lying. Another part of me said to at least try. And the third piece of me said if it was the real thing, would it choose me so freely? I took the small dagger and unsheathed it. It gleamed in the sun and I held it up. I then asked something that I hadn’t realized until now. ‘how can u see me?’ but the man wasn’t there anymore. And nix was behind me tapping me on the shoulder. ‘if any of the guys see u with that thing they’ll ask where u got it. What r u doing over here talking to yourself anyway?’ ‘but there was a man…and he…gave me this stiletto.’ ‘likely story. Hurry up and tell me what you need.’ I stared at her for a few seconds. She didn’t believe me? But the proof was in my hands. ‘nix this sword was made from Damascus steel.’ ‘whats that stuff? Titanium? I have no idea what u mean jesse’ it was the first time she had called me jesse ever. And I was taken a back. I felt the sword quiver as I put it in its sheath. But I ignored it thinking it was just like any small dagger. But that wasn’t all I saw when I looked back at the alleyway. The case the little man had shown me was still there. And so was a sword, I picked it up and it had etched in the side “Gassan del Vetito” I stared blankly. The little man had the legendary sword, Gassan? ‘jes put that thing down before you hurt yourself’ I looked at nix. She was exasperated and waiting. I looked down in disbelief but, as if by magic, another sheath big enough for the sword appeared at my feet. I swear that the second I picked it up, I saw the little man wink in the jewels embedded inside the sword hilt. I stood still for a couple of seconds. ‘jes hurry up!’ ‘im coming. im coming’ I attached the sword to the left side of my belt. and I put the stiletto on the belt part that sticking on my back. I had no other easy access points for the thing. I quickly trailed nix into the little grocery store, still stunned what happened. I tried to recollect everything that happened and tell nix but every time I tried speaking I would forget it. I just thought that maybe rob would like to hear it. Or even scott would be interested.

Me and nix walked into the little store and saw everything I needed except, my secret ingredient. I only know what the ingredient is and no one else knows it. If rob did he would have tasted it by now. But I couldn’t find it and said, ‘nix wanna go to a different place?’ ‘no they’ve got everything we need here.’ ‘ok then’ I reluctantly grabbed a cart(it disappeared when I touched it) and started picking up some random food items. Nix was holding onto my arm. If u didn’t know that we were just friends at the time you could have said we were married, or at least looked like it. I wanted to tell her how I felt but, I kept it inside as we picked up some sobe and mountain dew from the soda racks. We walked together to the house where everybody was and rob was on the porch waiting and waving. I could see him smile. As we walked closer he walked inside to tell everyone we were back with food. ‘jes, is rob acting weird or is it just me?’ ‘I think he matured somewhat. Hes not acting weird.’ I smiled at her ‘hes acting like an adult.’ ‘oh well, its just that he came up to me this morning and asked if u had asked me out yet.’ ‘and what did u say?’ ‘I said no.’ ‘what was his expression?’ ‘he looked a bit sadder somewhat. Why would he ask something like that?’ ‘hes rob. He has his moments.’ she laughed at that again. It was my only explanation for stuff he does that seem weird to other people. It was actually the best excuse for his behavior. But I tried not to dawdle on the subject.

‘nix?’ ‘yes jes?’ ‘what...are u going…to do…when this is all over with?’ ‘I don’t know maybe just sit at home and watch tv.’ ‘do you think…maybe…’ I tried forming the words but no sound came. ‘yes jes? go on’ ‘I was wondering if me and …u could…’ I sighed and didn’t say anymore. I could tell she frowned. She let go of me and walked up the steps, carrying the cart with her. I check the time and it was just turning 2:30. Me and nix didn’t look at each other while she helped me cook. We talked but no eye contact was made. A couple minutes later I had some soup ready for everyone. ‘hey everybody get your soup on. Clam chowder for everyone who wants it.’ ‘yes thanks dude.’ ‘anytime rob, anytime’

10

‘dude your soup is awesome!’ ‘rob, u have no idea how many times you have told me that.’ ‘but its true’ and on he went getting his seconds. I stared at my soup and it was only half done. We were all sitting at the largest table the man had in his house. I stared at the wristband I was still wearing. It said ‘play hard’. I then held back my laugh. I tried to change the subject in my head. ‘so what did you guys find out?’ scott looked up from his soup, it was dribbling from his mouth, as if he had just drank a big gulp. ‘well….we found out that his name was Marcelo Mcjagger. His daughters name is Rose Court Mcjagger. He had a son but the son is still in the hospital with his wife. But that wasn’t the bad thing we found out.’ ‘what is it?’ ‘he was a drug dealer. But he didn’t deal in just drugs like cocaine. He also dealed in electronics and security theft items. Things that could help in robbing a bank. Others thing that could help you steal from stores without being detected.’ ‘so he was a bad guy…’ ‘I told you’ I looked at rob just finishing his seconds. ‘ok u were right rob. U can have my seconds if you want’ ‘thanks jes.’ ‘anytime rob.’ he got up and picked more soup from the bowl. I had made enough so that everyone could have seconds.

I looked at my watch. 2:45. ‘guys we should look around a bit more. See if we can find out who this “Sneaker” is.’ we walked around the house looking in some random places. I walked into the room where his son would have slept. I eyed a mysterious tape. I picked it up and it said ‘in case of emergency’. I looked around for a vcr and placed the tape inside. I watched as the man told his kids how to handle drugs. I was astonished that anyone could make such a video for his kids. He kept stroking his daughters hair and he looked at his proudly al the time. As if they were going to follow in his footsteps. I punched the tv and nix walked into the room as I did. ‘Oh my god. Jes what happened.’ I withdrew my hand from the tv and it had a little splatter of blood on it. Either the effects of the cloak was wearing off or when I touched the tv it suddenly had become like us. Only able to phase through anything and affect the world around it. ‘nix, please. I need some time to think.’ ‘tell me whats wrong.’ ‘I…I…’ I couldn’t tell her just in case someone walked along in the corner. And I was right because the second I was about to say anything anna walked into the room. ‘jes! Nix! What happened? I heard a crash.’ ‘the tape in the vcr.’ I pointed toward the tv and anna ejected the tape inside. ‘well it looks normal.’ ‘it is not normal!’ I was about to yell my head off. ‘anna you have no idea what I just saw.’ ‘well then tell me about it’ ‘no its not in my place to do so. Watch the tape yourself.’ ‘fine I will.’ she walked out of the room. Nix stayed there expecting me to says something. And I whispered ‘I didn’t think she would actually do that’ nix giggled. I laughed. I then noticed something else that I hadn’t realized. Me and her still hadn’t switched pants. the chain on my baggy pants were jumping whenever she giggled. It looked like she was jumping up and down. I then stared at her pants, which were still on me. They felt like tights. But they were extremely comfortable and it felt like I wasn’t wearing any pants at all. I then remembered the simpsons and how homer kept thinking of flanders saying ‘it feels like im wearing nothing at all, nothing at all, nothing at all.’ I laughed a bit harder and said, ‘nix, wanna switch pants?’ ‘ok, but these feel warm. I like them.’ ‘maybe ill give them to you as a present someday. Haha’ ‘hehehe’ I took off her pants and threw them toward her. She caught them and took off my pants. I grabbed them from her and placed them on. It felt good to be with good old baggy pants again. I think looked and turned a little red. She was wearing pink underwear. I turned away and pretended not to notice. But I looked back and saw her hair. The blond hair with a slight white tint intrigued me so much. She looked at me and saw that I was still there. She immediately put her pants on and turned red. I tried reaching for her and caught her arm. ‘nix can we also….ummm….’ I tried getting the words to come out but nothing happened. ‘yes jes?’ she looked at me waiting for me to ask her out. I thought for a second that she might say no. and I didn’t say anything. But as if answering a call, another force said that she would say yes, if I would stop being such a coward. ‘nix do you…want to…’ I got so much courage at the thought of me and her. ‘do you…want to go….out again?’ she smiled and nodded. I smiled too. She jumped and hugged me. After a few seconds she whispered in my ear, ‘if you had said something else I probably would have kicked you.’ I laughed and she giggled. She then grabbed my hand and held it close to her chest.

I was her prize. And she was mine.

11

At about 2:30 we left the house with another clue. A man named Tim. He was supposedly the man that gave Marcelo his supplies to sell. He lived in the neighborhood and was surely the one we needed to find to figure out who Sneaker was. And there was still the thing about the man who gave me the sword and knife. Was all that true?

We walked about three miles to the house. Nix was holding my arm the entire time. I had my arm over her. We were hanging in the back with rob leading and scott and anna talking in deep conversation. ‘yes but what if…’ ‘that cant happen….’ ‘but its so….’ ‘no its not!….cant you….?’ I was barely listening. I was more interested in the stiletto I had received. ‘hey scott come here for a second.’ he looked at me and asked ‘what do you want?’ ‘I want you to do something for me real fast’ ‘ok but make it fast.’ I held the dagger in its sheath and said, ‘try holding the handle.’ ‘why?’ ‘just do it ok?’ ‘fine’ he reached out to touch the handle but he stopped. ‘it wont let me touch it’ ‘what do you mean it wont let you?’ ‘its got like a barrier around it I cant get any closer.’ ‘hmmm’ I placed my hand and touched the hilt. Everything seemed fine. ‘are you sure. Im touching it right now.’ ‘I see that’ he touched the handle on the dagger and immediately threw his hand back. He was blowing on his hand. ‘dude whats wrong?’ he showed me his hand. There were scorch marks on it. ‘jes that thing is dangerous. don’t use it.’ ‘but then how come I can touch it?’ ‘…it was probably just….my imagination. I thought the hilt glared at me.’ ‘it takes a pretty big imagination to see that.’ ‘be quiet. I know what I saw. It was evil.’ ‘ok joe, ill believe you.’ ‘will ever stop using sarcasm?’ ‘probably tomorrow’ he just stared at me and then walked back toward anna. I heard rob yell ‘were here!’ ‘shhhhhh’ ‘oh yeah right.’ he whispered ‘were here’. I could hear nix hold back a laugh. I whispered to her ‘I told you he has his moments.’ she giggled for that. I could feel her relax and lean her weight against me. We walked together up the steps. Scott knocked this time. The door creaked open, then it swung open and the man there looked around. ‘is your name tim?’ the man jumped. ‘whose there? Ive got a gun’ he fidgeted and groped the air behind him trying to reach the gun that we could see was on the table behind him. ‘no worrys my man. If you just tell us where to find Sneaker, we’ll leave you alone.’ ‘but even I don’t know who he really is.’ he was still struggling to reach for the gun. ‘well then tell us someone who might know.’ ‘ the guy that lives across the street. He knows but…now that ive told you, I have to kill you.’ he put his hands in his pocket and pushed a button. All of a sudden a huge monster popped out of the ground behind us. It was a giant. It looked human except for the fact it was 20 feet tall and it had hair in every place you could think of. ‘let me handle this’ I looked at scott, then at his hand where he touched the dagger. His hand had turned totally black. He was cursed, and he knew it. ‘ill kill the monster no sweat.’ no sweat? The thing was 5 times his height! How could he hope to kill it? But if I knew scott like I did, he would do everything until the end.

He jumped out and started running toward the giant. It saw and took out of the ground a huge club with spikes and swung it at scott. He jumped to the side and one of the spikes on the club narrowly missed him. He looked at us and motioned for us to stay back. I thought of what his girlfriend would say right now. She would be screaming for him to stop or something. But no he was determined. The arm he had touched the dagger with was now starting to turn black. Almost to his elbow. He jumped high in the air and kicked the monster in the face. The giant staggered back a few feet and then with its enormous hand swung at scott. He got hit into the wall and lay still for a few seconds. ‘jes you have to help scott!’ ‘no nix. He can handle himself.’ she stared at me. I knew scott better though. He wasn’t the type to give up or lose. He got up from the rubble and started rushing toward the giant at high speed. The monster looked for him. Scott was still invisible until he touched the giant. I thought I saw him smile. But it faded and he started running up the giants arm. The giant felt him and swung its club at scott. He jumped off and one spike on the club cut his left shoulder. He fell but he smiled. The club was still going and hit the giant in the arm. Blood gushed out of the huge creatures arm and it yelped in pain. I was amazed that nobody else was coming out of the houses to come see this. The place was deserted and then I thought and realized. ‘tim! Rob you have to look for him in the house!’ I looked and found rob was already on the porch. he looked at scott and prayed. He then rushed in the house. My focus went back to the monster fighting scott. He may have been fast and strong but the monster had his own abilities. every time it swung the club at scott, it would send him flying backwards. Scott would hit the first thing to stop him. And the giant would grin a little. I motioned to scott the giants eyes. And he saw what I meant. His eyes were unprotected unlike his tough skin. Scott pulled out his shotgun and shot 6 times. The first 4 hit the monster in the mouth and it just shrugged those off. The next 2 bullets though, landed on its right eye. Both bullets did. It was a double barrel 12-gauge after all. I looked and saw scott was running toward the giant with knife in hand. The monster was holding its eye with both hands. It was obviously crying and bleeding. Scott ran up its stomach and the giant punched his own stomach in an attempt to hit scott. It yelped in pain again. Scott jumped to the giants shoulder put the knife in his hand and ran to the monsters neck. He pressed the little knife in its neck and ran around the monster’s throat, dragging the blade inside the skin of the monster as he went around. He then kicked the monster’s head again and this time, all that could be heard was the spill of blood and scott yelling.

He fell to the ground and yelped in pain. The force of the kick must have hurt him bad. I ran over to him and anna and nix followed. I grabbed him and saw the monster about to fall. its blood was flowing from its neck and arm and mouth. I ran with scott in my arms. He was heavy but I could lift him. Nix and anna ran in front of me. The monster landed with a “THUD” that shaked the ground. I tried to keep balance and held onto scott as he barely breathed. I ran into the house where rob was. I saw him having the man tied up and in a gag so he couldn’t speak. Rob held his revolver at the man, ready to pull the trigger. I found a table in the kitchen and put scott on there. I saw what was wrong. The curse from touching the dagger had spread over most of his body. The only places it had not touched were his left leg and arm and half his chest. He was blackened, as if burnt. And he was screaming in pain. ‘nix get me some water now!’ ‘ok Im gone.’ she left to get water and held my friends hand. ‘its ok bro, I wont let you die.’ ‘jes….please….get me….some where…like a…hospital….’ he said hospital with exasperation in his breathe like he didn’t want to go there, but he knew he had too. ‘ok bro. rob keep this place under security and anna stay with rob, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Its 3:30. Ill be back hopefully by 5 with scott. Where’s nix?’ ‘im here and I brought water.’ ‘thanks. Bro drink this it will help.’ I held a glass of water to his mouth and he feebly drank. I could see the color return to his eyes. He was at least better a little bit. ’nix help me carry him to the hospital.’ ‘jes, Tim’s car I out there we can just put him in there.’ ‘ok but please hurry and get the car ready to drive.’ she nodded and left toward the garage picking up the keys off the table. I followed her placing scott on my back. I turned to anna and rob ‘ill be back’ ‘ok terminator’ ‘rob…hahah…ill see you in a bit.’ I walked toward where nix had gone through and saw she had the car out in the garage turned on. It was red but had black stripes going on the side. ‘im too young to drive.’ ‘so am I but …’ I felt for scotts wallet and found it. I took his license. ‘nix hold this. We are going to drive. Fast. Make sure scott gets some water every few minutes.’ she looked at me and nodded she crawled in the back where I had lain scott and gave him some water. I backed out of the driveway and tried to remember where the nearest hospital was. It was in another town.

I got into 3 gear and peeled out of the house. Driving down the streets and out into the freeway. I put the car into drive and when I had 70 on the speedometer I put the car on cruise control. I had driven a couple times before. Only twice was I ever on the freeway though. What was the point of me having to drive anyway? I could just walk basically anywhere I wanted. I pulled into the next town and drove toward where I remember was the hospital. ‘jes take a right here.’ ‘I know.’ she gave scott some more water and he was breathing a little more normal. I saw the hospital and pulled in the driveway. ‘cmon nix lets go.’ ‘ok’ we jumped out of the car and I went to the back door, opened it, and took scott out with the little strength I had left. He was really heavy and I took him into the door and stopped. ‘jes let me help you.’ I looked at her in an expression that meant, please do. She understood and took scott on her shoulder. We walked to the front desk and placed scott on there. ‘we have an emergency. He needs help.’ ‘please wait one moment I will call the doctor.’ a few minutes later the doctor walked through the doors and he looked at scott and said ‘is he the one?’ ‘yes hes been hurt badly.’ ‘I see that take him with me.’ we walked down the corridor holding scott as we went. Nix kept looking around as if she thought one of the knives the doctors had was going to fly at her. With my free hand I held hers. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. The doctor took us to one of the many rooms in the back and we could tell that it was an important area. I looked and saw something I thought I would never see again. It was one of the Japanese people we saw from the store! We walked and nix looked at me and then pointed at the man. I nodded and she gasped. She almost let go of scott. But I shook my head and whispered ‘no nix. Let them treat scott first.’ she looked down and then nodded. I know she wanted to beat the hell out of them but I couldn’t let that happen yet. Scott was our priority right now. We set him on the table and the doctors went to work on him. I couldn’t stand looking at the blood but there was something I had to know, ‘how can u see us?’ the doctor stared at me and said, ‘this is a hospital not a joke. Please leave and wait outside.’ I thought for a moment. Rob has never been wrong when he’s serious. How could they see us. I then found out why. Nix was touching the wall as she leaned against it. The hospital could see us. When we laid scott on the desk, the receptionists saw us. And when the receptionists called the phone, all the phones sent the effect through out the entire phone network. The second she let go and touched the stack of papers, the entire hospital could see us. I waited in a chair and then nix walked toward me, still touching the wall. ‘jes, he’ll be alright.’ ‘I know but, hes my bro and I have to worry about him.’ ‘its okay’ she was using one hand to rub my back. I smiled at her. She smiled back.

12

‘Bro! are you okay?’ ‘im fine.’ I was about to vomit but I ignored the feeling. Scott was covered in blood around where the giants club had hit him in the shoulder. ‘are you sure your ok’ I was holding him up. He could walk because he had amazing healing abilities and could recover fast. I held him up on my shoulder and he limped on his right leg, the same leg he had given the fatal crushing blow to the giant with. Nix followed me and she started the car and drove back to the house as me and scott talked in the back of the car. I gave him back his license and he took it back. I could feel myself kind of phase, more like my body was blinking. I knew the effects had to be wearing off. I checked my watch and it was 6:30. ‘well looks like its gonna take us longer than we thought. We have until tomorrow at 12:30. Noon and that’s when we have to start over again.’ ‘well then guess we have to hurry’ we pulled up to the driveway and rob was holding anna. He was comforting her. I looked at him, astonished. He never had a girl for a friend. I was thinking he learned something form nix, and then nix winked at me when I was helping scott get out of the car. I winked back.

Scott and me walked up the steps. ‘rob did you find out about the guy across the street?’ ‘no not yet. Me and anna agreed to wait for everyone.’ ‘ok that’s good. Are you ready to find out?’ ‘yes’ they all nodded and scott apparently stopped limping and pointed to the house. We started walking over there slowly and I waved for anna because it was her to turn to knock on the door. She knocked and we waited. A short man walked out. He was short to me but he was the same height as scott. He talked in a low voice. A little fast as well. ‘hello and who are you? Where are you?’ ‘were right in front of you and we need to talk.’ he kept looking around for us. Anna then grabbed his hand and he nearly fell over. He could see us now just like the people at the hospital. ‘what are you here for?’ ‘were here about sneaker’ ‘oh…I see. well then what do you want to know?’ ‘his name and where we can find him’ ‘he has no name, but they say he also goes by the name Freddie.’ I gasped. Nix held my hand, she knew what I was thinking. “But it couldn’t be him could it? He’s dead!” I kept thinking and my mind kept racing. Anna kept talking though. ‘where can he be found?’ ‘no one knows exactly but I usually see him at the bar on the other side of town.’ ‘you mean the one that has that big empty parking lot?’ ‘yes’ ‘thank you’ she let go of him and we turned to walk away. ‘im sorry but I cant let you leave.’ I felt my body blink again. I looked at the watch and it said 7 pm. ‘ill take care of him guys.’ ‘no anna please lets leave him before another gets hurt.’ she grinned at rob ‘I can take care of him rob zombie.’ I held back my laugh. I forgot thatwe used to call rob, rob zombie because it is one of his favorite bands. ‘fine but make it quick we don’t have too much time.’ anna glared at me ‘you know I can kick his ass in under 5 minutes.’ she then turned to face the short man but he was not short anymore. He was apparently part vampire. He had grown about 2 feet taller and he had his fangs baring at us. He was holding an electromagnetic wave gun, like the one I was eyeing at the store. Anna took out her ak-47 and said, ‘lets go’

I stared as anna jumped from spot to spot, dodging the blows from the vampire. She was extremely flexible and was able to do the splits to barely miss the vampire’s deadly grip. She then pulled up from the splits and uppercut the vamp in the head. He went flying in the air for about 3 seconds then looked down at anna. She jumped and ran around the siding of the house. The vamp followed and so did we. She pulled out her gun and pointed it at the vamp and the vamp shot from his electric wave gun. The bullet stopped in midair. And the electric waves stopped where the bullet was. I thought that her speed had increased dramatically. She still did not have the force to shoot the gun once and then recover though. She staggered and tried catching her feet. The vampire lunged toward her and smacked her with the butt end of his gun. Rob gasped. Anna got up but then fell again. The vamp laughed at her. I looked at nix and she was burying her face in my arm. She couldn’t look anymore. I looked back at anna and she apparently had kicked the vamp in his gut. I turned and saw her just as she swung her leg and roundhouse the vamp. He went flying and anna trailed fast. She shot a bullet as she flew and he caught the bullet in his hand. I know its weird, but he caught the bullet in his hand and then ate it. Then the bullet came out of his hand and shot right at anna. She held the gun up and the bullet stopped on its metal. She threw the gun to rob and she went straight for the vamp. She knocked him on the side of his head with her punch and he staggered back. He then launched a kick straight toward her. I saw her grin and she disappeared. Literally vanish. The vamp kept flying forward with his kick. I looked around for her and so did the vamp. She suddenly appeared right above him and nailed a kick right on his face. She then back flipped off. He turned around holding his bleeding head. He lunged toward her again and she disappeared again. He hit his head against a wall of the house. She appeared a couple of yards away from him. The vamp then jumped and kicked off the wall and headed straight toward anna. She moved out of the way and as he was passing her she took her knife and jaded it into his body, crawling and cutting at him as he flew forward. He never landed. He was dust before he touched the ground. Anna had just killed a vampire. She almost collapsed but rob caught her. I smiled. She had found happiness with someone, finally. And I looked at nix. She was smiling too. ‘come on guys. Lets go see if we can find this sneaker guy.’ they all looked at me and nodded. We walked off to the car from Tim’s place. We got in the car, me and nix and rob and anna in the back. I was holding nix and rob was holding anna. While nix and anna were talking I looked at rob and mouthed ‘did you ask her out, dude?’ and he mouthed back, ‘yes dude’ ‘awesome’.

‘May I see your identification please?’ scott fidgeted for his wallet. He pulled out his license an showed it to the cop. ‘weren’t you just in the hospital that disappeared and reappeared?’ ‘maybe, but I was just in the hospital.’ ‘ok then’ the cop walked back to his car. I looked at scott worried. We had hastily buckled into our safety belts and rob had decided to wait outside of the car. Me, nix, and anna, were buckled in the back and I put my head through the car and said in a whisper ‘rob sit in the front seat quick!’ ‘ok’ he quietly sitted himself in the front seat. And acted like he was there the whole time. The cop came back a few minutes later. ‘I wont give you a ticket because everything checks out but if I catch you driving like that again, then…’ he put his finger to his throat and made a slitting noise as he ran it around. ‘catch my drift’ ‘yes sir’ I noticed the cop was about to make argument about if rob was there beforehand but scott said. ‘have a nice night’ and speedily drove off toward the other side of town. We were closing on a bridge and then I looked back and saw that the cop was still following us. I tapped scott on the shoulder and he saw the cop in his rearview mirror. He pulled over on the side of the road. At that moment, I saw something I thought would never happen.

The car had kept on driving and another man had jumped out of the car. The car had then swerved off the bridge we had been driving toward. We immediately got out of the car and walked toward him. I saw his hand was mechanical. It glistened in the evening sun. The man apparently had quickly gotten out of his disguise as a cop and had changed into what he really was. A robot. He was taller than me. He was buff and he walked toward us in a weary old timer strut. I was about to say something when nix held one of her fingers on my lips. She looked at me and I knew what she wanted. It was her turn to fight something scary big and evil looking. I nodded and she walked toward the robot. He grinned at her. ‘what is your name?’ ‘my name is Phoenix.’ ‘well mine is Roger Von Kitsap’ he held his hand out. Nix shook his hand and then they both jumped back. He bowed and so did she. ‘I was told to stop you from seeing Sneaker, but I also noticed that you give some courtesies when it comes to fighting’ she smiled and said, ‘the only thing is, I don’t give a fuck about all that niceties crap. I just do it because I want to.’ the man chuckled and raised his hands, like a boxer does. Nix didn’t raise her hands she just stared at him. ‘are you ready to die Mr. Roger?’ ‘only if you are ready to die like the real mythical bird did.’

She glared at him and then ran toward him. Like a bullet she was faster than anything I have seen. Scott tugged on my shoulder and said ‘she fights like Tifa from final fantasy.’ ‘dude I know. Shhhh’ I asked him to be quiet and he did. Nix was running all over the place kicking and punching. And the man was either blocking or dodging everything. He usually paused and looked at her while she caught her breathe. ‘well done, your faster than I thought but, your just a little girl, are you prepared to fight for real?’ she winced when he said little girl. ‘I wont hold back anymore if you won’t’ ‘all right then’ he held his hand out and like an eruption, his hand had left his arm, shooting straight toward nix. She caught his hand and punched the robotic connections that were connected to his hand. They shattered and she held his severed hand in hers. The man just laughed and the hand nix threw on the floor, had caught itself and started walking back to the man. She gasped. ‘haha I’m a robot. You cant kill me normally’ he shot his other hand faster than the first and it clocked her in the head. She fell on the floor clutching her head. I yelled, ‘nix. NIX!’

15

It looked as if her spirit had been crushed. She was clutching her head rocking back and forth. ‘nix get up please’ I was on my knees begging and praying for her to get up. She looked at me and I looked at her. She then said one thing. ‘the dagger. Hand me the stiletto you received.’ I walked toward her and gave her the stiletto, placing it in her hand. She immediately got up. ‘but, doesn’t it hurt?’ ‘no it feels like a normal dagger to me.’ I just stared as she walked off and I could see her…glowing?

No she couldn’t be, but she was. She was turning a red. A crimson red. A really bright crimson red, was flowing out of her body. She looked at me and smiled. She then jumped high in the air and land on the robots arm. She swung the stiletto at him. He grabbed it but he immediately let go. She jumped off him and he just stared at his hands. ‘what is this?’ I could see his metallic hands were turning a shade of blackened red. Nix was still glowing. I could feel heat radiating off of her. She shook her head and her hair followed. She had suddenly gotten…wings? She was transforming into something I never saw before. But as she turned to face me, I saw what she resembled.

A great phoenix that, burning almost. Covered in fire. She turned around and the robot yelled, ‘what did you do…I cant… breathe…’ he was holding his chest. She looked at him and spit on the floor. The spit turned into flame and then the flame vanished. Nix was walking slowly toward the robot. The robot was backing up and finally started yelling, ‘get back from me you monster! Get back or ill kill you!’ ‘try to kill me then’ ‘fine I will’ he tried hitting her with one of his mechanical arms but she caught it and the hand vanished into ash. He staggered back and bumped into the wall of the bridge. ‘I thought you were going to kill me’ ‘ah I will’ he tried hitting her again but this time the arm vanished before it even touched her. I saw sweat trickling down his face. She was about to burn him alive. She held her hand out. I saw the dagger glow a bright red then calm into a light blue. ‘now you’ll see I’m no little girl.’ all that could be heard was the clinging of metal to metal. And the robot existed no more. In fact the only thing that remained was just ashes, but even the ashes plunged away with the wind and the sun almost fully set.

‘nix’ I held her close. She was warm still even though she was not radiating the pure crimson red anymore. I was trying to wake her. She had fallen asleep and had transformed back to normal. ‘nix wake up please. I know its late but I ant you to see something.’ she was still sleeping. Anna was sleeping as well. Rob was holding her. And scott was driving still. ‘we’ll be there in about 10 minutes jes. Better get ready.’ ‘ok bro’ I let go of nix. I took off my short. Scott tossed me my blue shirt, the one I always wore when we were training. I then took off my pants. ‘sorry dude but I don’t have your pants here.’ ‘its okay’. I looked at nixs pants. I quietly took her pants off and replaced them with mine. She had not awoken at me pulling her pants off. ‘phew. She didn’t notice.’ her black pants were tight but comfortable. “perfect” I thought. I looked at my blue shirt and said to scott, ‘do you have the other one I had?’ ‘you mean the black one?’ ‘yeah’ he tossed it to me. I took off the blue one and put on my black shirt. It was tighter than the blue one, but I could breathe easier in it.

‘ah that feels better. Some normal clothes. Hmmm. Scott?’ ‘yeah?’ ‘do you have my Speedo shoes?’ I laughed at the question. I love those shoes. They were water spiders and they felt comfortable. The only problem is that they were thin and when I step on a rock wearing them, my feet get pierced along the crack. ‘yeah I have them’ he tossed them to me. The orange glinted in the moonlight. I placed them on and felt nix stir as I did. I whispered to her, ‘are you awake yet?’ ‘yes…sort of’ ‘haha’ ‘hehe’ I looked at her and her eyes also shined in the moonlight. I looked at my watch. I couldn’t see it though. ‘wanna see a trick?’ ‘ok’ ‘oh not this again. Are you going to show her the thing with the watch?’ ‘yes. shut up scott.’ he stayed quiet and placed my hand on the watch. I lifted my hand and flicked my wrist, the wrist with the watch on it, in the dark. A sudden glow of aqua emitted from the item. I read the time. 10:30. “only 1 and a half hour till the effect is completely gone” ‘are we almost there yet scott?’ ‘not almost. We are there.’ I looked and saw the lights of the bar. It said ‘old mans saloon’ weird name for a place like this. It was pretty lively. I opened the door and nix climbed out of the car. Then I did. ‘I’ll stay here with anna.’ I thought for a second and said ‘rob, im sorry but you have to carry her with you.’ ‘fine’ he rolled his eyes as he said it. He picked anna up and walked off toward where scott was standing. I felt the sword, not the dagger, the sword quiver. Nix still had the dagger. Apparently the curse it put on scott had not affected her. I wondered why…

‘cmon dude get over here’ ‘ok I’m coming’ I walked a little faster holding nix. She was clutching my arm politely. I opened the door to the bar and let her through. She walked on looking back at me. I smiled and walked in. the smell of smoke and alcohol immediately wiped the smile from my face. I tried to breathe but only got a bigger whiff of the smell. “I promise never to smoke” I thought. But then I remember that I would never smoke anyway. I made that promise along time ago. To my uncle Fred. My mind was thinking of him then and there. I missed him. I held back my tears, but I could feel one flow on my face. Nix was crying too but I think it was caus eth smoke was in her eyes. She looked at me and probably thought the same thing. We walked forward, behind scott and rob carrying anna, and saw one man that stuck out. I saw him and then jumped. “he cant be…but he looks like him so much…he has the same eyes” nix pointed toward the man I was staring at and I nodded. We walked toward him and he saw us. He talked in a voice that made me think of my past. ‘hello what do you need from me’ scott spoke ‘we would like to know something.’ rob held out the chip. ‘oh yes that I can remember. lets see…hmmm’ he was scratching his short goatee while thinking. Just like him… ‘ah yes, I was the one who purposely dispatched that chip into foreign hands and sent it to someone I know would try to fix the problem.’ he pointed to me. ‘how am I supposed to fix the problem’ my tone was calm and quiet. As I always had it when I was talking to him… ‘well your fixing it now aren’t you? Your coming to me for help aren’t you? Just like the rest of those greedy bastards that want my help.’ ‘we will pay you in any way’ he smiled at that. ‘gracias but no’ I know that Spanish accent, the same as… “is it possible, no it couldn’t be. My …my …” ‘there is a way you can pay me though. We can have a fight, to test your skills with that pretty sword you have there.’ he pointed at the sword I had on my belt. The sword was quivering as he said it. Nix felt it quiver too. She looked from me to the sword and back at Sneaker. ‘Jesse, please.’ ‘if there is no other way then I will have to.’ ‘spoken like a true swordsman.’ I looked at him. He was walking out side. He stopped at the door and said ‘if your wondering how I can see you, then take any guess you want to. Its easier to guess than you think, miho.’ “no… he can’t be my…my… no he’s dead, but could it be, no… but he said miho the same as he always said it…” I followed him outside but I was held back. I turned and saw nix was holding on my arm. ‘please Jesse. Don’t die.’ she hugged me. ‘I don’t want to lose you. Jesse please’ I looked at her and hugged her back. ’here’s your stiletto back’ ‘thanks’ ‘no problem’ I patted her white blonde hair and smiled at her. ‘I’m not going to die. I’m going to live on for us’ she then kissed me on the cheek. I rubbed the spot where she had kissed. It was warm. It made me a little confident. I walked to the door and out of the corner of my eye, I saw nix crying on scott’s shoulder. He was still staring at me. I shook my head and opened the door to the outside. Me and Sneaker found a spot in the moonlight in the parking lot. He bowed, and I bowed. ‘come at me, sobrino’ And then my mind came back to reality.

17

‘uncle’ I was staring at him. Rob and scott and anna and nix were in the bar looking out. Rob was carrying the sleeping anna. Nix was crying and pounding her fists on scott. Anna opened her eyes and watched me through the glass, still in rob’s arms. ‘uncle? I thought you were dead. I saw you die’ he looked at me and chuckled ‘im here though ain’t I, miho?’ ‘but its.. Its…impossible. You died 5 years ago’ ‘I may have died in your memories but im right here ain’t I? living proof that im alive.’ ‘I don’t want to fight you. You taught me how to hold a sword and shoot a gun. You know me too well’ ‘well that may be so but haven’t you had times where you practiced those things with your friends? Like scott. Didn’t you go to his house every month to spar with him?’ ‘yes but…’ ‘and isn’t true that while scott was teaching you to strike with force, that you were teaching rob the basics of holding a gun?’ ‘yes… but how do know this?’ ‘im not dead. I’ve been watching you, in the shadows and the trees, for the past 5 years. You almost caught me a few times too. I remember the one where you actually had your face about 5 inches from mine.’ ‘but that night was so dark I couldn’t see you.’ ‘but you knew I was there didn’t you?’ ‘I thought it was a cat or something I didn’t think it would be my uncle fred!’ I was glaring at him. He was there for me the entire time and yet he did nothing to help me? I couldn’t believe it. ‘ I can’t accept the fact your alive. The truck hit you square on…I saw the blood… it flew everywhere…’ I was staring at my hands and thought about that day. The memories flooded back and I saw the blood on my hands and face. I saw myself crying with all of the blood smeared on me. I saw…the truck hit my uncle right as he walked on the road. I saw…so many things I didn’t want to remember. I looked up at my uncle, standing there smiling the same smile. His eyes the same as they had been before, one was green and the other was green with blue in the bottom. I looked at my reflection in the Damascus sword. It was the same except I had blue eyes with brown in the bottom of one. ‘I’m sorry uncle.’ ‘what are you sorry for?’ ‘for not believing that you were still alive. Even though I did go to your funeral’ ‘the funeral didn’t have a corpse of me to bury.’ ‘I remember that now.’ the funeral as I recalled it had not had an open coffin burial. ‘so we have to fight don’t we?’ ‘yes we do, miho’ ‘but I don’t want to’ ‘I want you too. And I want to see how much stronger you’ve gotten.’ ‘fine then no more excuses’

I did my pose as a swordsman. Extending my arm out and sword raised to end at my hand. I barely noticed that the sword was a katana. It didn’t matter. “Its not the weapon, it’s the person” I told myself over and over again for a few seconds to get the thought out of my head that I had never used a katana in combat. I may have held one before but never in combat. I took a breath and my uncle looked at me with his sword behind his back ready to strike. I ran toward him with all the speed I could get. Then turning my hand I swung toward him. He held out his sword in front of him and blocked it. He kicked his sword up and the force threw me backwards. I flipped backwards and landed on my feet, split stepped(a small bunny hop that allows faster reaction time to many movements by activating a certain nerve in the feet which controls your feeling in your feet) and ran forward again. I was ready for anything he had. I swung on my right side and he dodge it. The sword sunk into the pavement and the asphalt was broken where the sword had landed. I picked the sword up, did my pose and swung my arm unto the right of me, placing it behind my back. And switched my hand to the left. I was used to using both hands in combat and I could switch in between very complicated situations. my left hand surprised my uncle as he rose from where he was and stared. I grinned and ran toward him. I jumped and swung but he blocked with his sword. I tried kicking him while I was putting pressure on the sword but he used his other hand to block my feet. I took my right hand and unsheathed the stiletto from my back and swung it at my uncle. He loosened the grip he had on his sword, shifted, and placed his weight on the area where the dagger would strike. It made a ‘klang’ noise that echoed in the night. But I saw and knew the effects were working. His sword was turning very black. I jumped back and spring jumped back on my feet. I stared at him. He was looking at his sword. ‘hmm… you have put a curse on my sword haven’t you?’ ‘I didn’t, the stiletto did’ ‘you always did prefer sneaky thief weapons over heavy rugged and strong weapons.’ ‘I know.’ my stance was meant to be used for a dagger or a short sword.

‘no more talk. We fight’ ‘but wouldn’t you like to focus on something for a moment, like your friends. I looked toward them they were watching me in awe. I was shining black in the moonlight. It could amaze anyone. But I think they were staring at something other than my clothes. It was my style. Scott may have seen me fight before but that was practice. This was real and I was still doing it. I was basically dancing. All my moves were like a noble or a gentleman. I am descended from one of the famous rapier dancers from France about 500 years ago. But that’s not the point. I was dancing. A sight to see and be amazed that something so elegant and graceful could be my style of fighting. I smiled at nix and she cried more. My smile faded and then I turned to my uncle. He was patching up his sword with lee stone, sharpening it. I saw it as my chance but I backed my sword down. Always give respect to your opponent. I switched hands. Now the stiletto was in my left and the katana in my right. Preferably very stable way of fighting. My uncle got up and I said, ‘tio, we don’t have to fight.’ ‘but we have already begun and in the rule book of any sword fight, you have to finish it to be official, miho’ I stared at him, confused and wondering. There was something I needed to ask him before I killed him or the other way around. ‘where is the man who owns the Jake-Marsh all variety stores?’ ‘he is down the street on living youth lane. 165.’ ‘thank you now we resume’ he looked at me like I said something rude ‘but now that you have that info, don’t you want to go and seek the administrator out?’ ‘no. I have some unfinished business with you. But there is one last thing on my mind. How did you escape the death I thought you had?’ ‘I ….I didn’t die completely. I was sent to the hospital but I was transferred back to Chile. Back to sweet Santiago and mom. Your grandma. They left me there because my green card was lost when the truck hit me. As I laid in the hospital room waiting, the doctors told me I would make a full recovery in a year. I asked about you and how you were doing and they didn’t answer. I waited for someone to tell me how you were doing. So I…’ I was listening intently. I knew what he was going to say but I let him say it anyway. ‘…I got grandma to get her brother in law to take you in and take care of you. They gave me your address and I tracked you down after I left the hospital. I found you and rented a house in this town. I’ve waited a long time to see you again. Too bad it has to end like this…’ ‘it doesn’t have to end like this.’ ‘but apparently it does. So lets get back to the fight, miho’

He rushed toward me and I jumped back. I readied myself to block anything he would do. He spun himself and kicked me. I got hit in the side and went flying toward a pole. I put the katana back in its sheath and held my hand out for the pole. I spun around it and glided smoothly toward earth but I looked up and uncle was already speeding toward me. I took the stiletto and rushed him. I braced my self.

19

‘what are you doing?’ I wrapped my arm around him and hugged him. I had missed him so much and it was a shame that me and him had to part lives this way. ‘I’m…going to miss you…uncle’ there was silence for a second and he said, ‘I’ll miss you too’ he hugged me too. After a few moments of silence, I jumped back wards and put the stiletto back. ‘you were the best family I had in the 9 years that I lived with you. I wish we could go back to that.’ I looked and saw him crying. I was crying too. I took out the gassan and breathed deep. ‘im sorry’ I ran toward him and he held up his sword. Before I swung the sword I kicked his blade from his hands and then in the motion I spun in the air and stabbed the katana through his chest. He fell to the ground and I pushed the sword into him further and it got stubbed into the ground. I prayed for a moment. And he looked at me. ‘what are …. You doing….? Finish me off now while you have the ….chance’ he was breathing heavy ‘no. I’m praying’ ‘but its not Sunday’ ‘I know but I’m praying that you will be happy in the afterlife.’ me and him always prayed on Sundays. But this was not a time to remember such trifle things. As I held my hands together I felt something in between them. A strange feeling, as if lightning was surging through my hand. I closed my eyes and jumped. I flipped and kicked the sword, just as Anna had kicked the vamp from the sky, into the ground, into my uncle, farther. I opened my eyes. I couldn’t believe my instincts had done that. I cried even harder and my body told me to do something that made no sense. It told me to snap my fingers. I then realized what would happen. ‘im sorry uncle’ I saw him smile in between his breaths. I snapped my finger, heard a big boom, and my uncle no longer existed. All that was left of him was scorch marks and the sword. The Damascus steel had absorbed the lightning bolt I had summoned. I picked it up and swung the sword with all my might and saw that the lightning bolt transformed and was sent, like a wave or blast of some sort, flying through the air and it exploded three cars. ‘im sorry uncle.’ I cried and lifted my head to look at the moon. I swear I saw my uncle turn into the short little stubby man I met in the alley.

20

‘Jesse?’ nix was standing next to me and she had her hand on my shoulder. She had seen the entire fight, my elegant swordplay and the lightning bolt I had summoned. ‘Jesse please, it almost over. Its time to go home.’ I turned to look at her. I hugged her and cried. She held me close to her. ‘I know he was important to you but, you have to let him go.’ I know she was right but, I didn’t want to accept the fact that he left me alone for 5 y