Morning came, and the tired Lorian was still fast asleep. His eyes moved rapidly, and his face turned sour. The vivid green scenery turned red, his hands were bloody but he didn't have any wounds. He looked up front to see the abyss stare at him, sucking his soul out of his body.
"Argh!" Lorian screamed as he woke up from his sleep. His forehead was sweating profusely, and his breathing became hurried.
"Having nightmares?" said Virgil who was playing a game on his PC.
"I- I can't remember." Lorian sighed, his hands resting on his knees.
"Well, then you don't need to remember. Don't worry about those so much." Virgil advised.
Lorian went silent for a while, thinking about the contents of his dream. He felt the dream was so vivid that he thought it was real. That it happened before but couldn't remember it.
Lorian stood up from the bed, arranging it back and straightening the crumpled blanket. "I guess you're right," he whispered.
Virgil shook his head while he smirked. "Anyways, the old man wanted you to come back. Bring this back with you," said Virgil while he gave Lorian a folder.
"Eh, I'm going back already? Why am I here in the first place?" Lorian asked, confused.
"I don't know what's on grandpa's mind. He's an eccentric one." Virgil casually replied.
"Grandwhat? You're sir Pablo's grandson?" Lorian was shocked at this sudden information.
"Yeah, it's not really a secret. My full name is Virgil Enero Kasador. Grandpa is my mother's father." Virgil shared.
"Wow, that's amazing." Lorian praised.
Virgil sighed when he heard Lorian's reply. "He's not fond of me. I'm nothing but a tool to him," he whispered.
Lorian saw the change in his expression and didn't want to push things further. "I see. Then I shall be going now. Thank you, Virgil. I'll visit you when I'm free," he said.
Virgil nodded, his attention focused on his gameplay. Lorian went out of the containment room, carrying the folder with him. Ann and Lorian passed each other, as Ann went to the door of the containment room to seal it.
Lorian arrived at Pablo's office. Inside, Pablo was sitting on his chair, with documents in his hands. Busy in signing and pushing the seal on each paper.
"Excuse me, sir. I'm back from my detention with documents from Virgil." Lorian reported.
"I see. Welcome back Lorian. Don't go anywhere, we will be having another meeting." Pablo replied, looking at Lorian with a warm smile.
Pressing a button, he directed the microphone to his mouth. "Sao and Ann, please come to the office," he called through the PA system.
A minute later, Sao and Ann came knocking on the office door. They went inside the office, Sao looking fresh from his bath and Ann with her cold demeanor. Pablo handed Ann the folder that Virgil gave, while Sao sat next to Lorian.
"Welcome back partner. So how was detention? Is it scary? Did you sleep well?" Sao asked in curiosity.
"As you can see I am fine. Without any scratch." Lorian replied.
"That's wond-"
Before Sao could finish what he's about to say, Pablo coughed. "Attention please, regarding firearms I have already sent a letter asking the regional director to let me issue firearms. But I provided a condition in it that you need to have a license to hold firearms first."
"Yes!" Sao rejoiced.
"Don't celebrate for now. We don't even know if the director will agree to our proposal." Pablo said. He then looked at Ann and nodded.
Ann with a remote projected an image on the wall. They were two burnt businesses shown to the projection that was black as charcoal. And some images of human figures and animals that were burnt to a crisp.
"Location of these events all happened in the town of Holy Mary. Two businesses were targeted, a gasoline station and a piggery. Both are owned by the same family members. There were about 30 casualties when the gasoline station exploded. They were customers going to refill their tanks, the majority were passengers of a jeepney." Ann reported.
When Sao and Lorian heard this, their bodies trembled and brows furrowed.
"The suspect?" Sao inquired.
"Based on the CCTV video that was recovered, it was a man. But not a regular man, he could shoot fire out of his body like a human flamethrower. There is one we suspect, by analyzing the attacks we noted it down to the youngest son of the Bataller family, Sancho Bataller." Ann answered.
Lorian's face was conflicted when he heard that they were facing a man this time. Sao noticed this and he looked at Pablo.
"Sir, are we allowed to dispose of this man?" Sao asked.
Pablo puffed smoke out of his mouth. "Supernatural beings who harm humans are to be eliminated," he casually replied.
Sao looked at Lorian giving him a thumbs-up. This made Lorian confused. 'Am I a hired killer now?' he thought while laughing awkwardly.
.
.
.
The streets of Holy Mary. It was a busy day on the streets and the corner lay a filthy young man. His eyes were full of hatred and madness, hiding it by lowering his head and wearing the hood of his jacket.
With a can in front filled by the passerby with their spare change. He didn't want sympathy, he despised it. But to continue living, he must swallow his pride.
A man stood before him, he wore a long coat on a sunny day paired with glasses. He didn't move, his thoughts were unknown. Annoyed by this act, the filthy young man grabbed his can and stood up. With a psycho blocking others from giving him coins, he planned to change location.
He went to the alley, where the nearby restaurant threw their trash. But to his surprise, the man on the coat followed him. Couldn't suppress himself, he faced the man as he gritted his teeth.
"What's wrong with you? Are you mocking me?" he berated.
"Nothing, you're just interesting to me. Your eyes! They blaze like hellfire. You're perfect, very perfect," the man in the coat replied.
"Fuck off man. I don't have time with you." The young man pushed the other as he walked away.
"Then before you go, you can have this." The man in the coat placed an eyeball inside the young man's can.
"When dusk came, swallow it. And you'll have the ability to burn everything that mocked you, that looked down on you." the man in the coat said, as he walked away vanishing in the alley.
The young looked at the can and was flabbergasted. It was an eyeball, a fucking eyeball! Worried that the guy was a serial murderer trying to push the blame on him. He threw the whole can inside the trashcan and escaped rapidly far from the area.
He went to the park sweating and exhausted. Never in his whole life had he walked this far. The anxiety was still inside him, making him sweat nonstop.
His throat went parched as he lost lots of fluids from his sweating. He inserted his hands both in his pockets trying to search for a spare change he kept so that he could buy cold water. As his right hand went inside, he felt a round object. And when he pulled it out, it was an eyeball with a blue pupil.
"Argh!" he was horrified. This time he didn't care about secrecy, he threw it with all his strength and ran away in the opposite direction.
But no matter what he did, it will return to his pocket. The young man surrendered to his luck. He's been doing this all afternoon until the sun had set and the moon appeared.
He sat down on the ground, tired and hungry. With the eyeball on his hand gazing at it eye to eye. The young man was squeezing it like a stress ball when he remembered what the man in the coat said.
He was reconsidering it at the beginning. However, his stomach was rumbling. This morning till dusk, he didn't eat a single thing. With nothing to lose, he popped the eyeball in his mouth and swallowed it.