As I stepped out of the agency and into the streets, the hot air hit me. Squinting against the brightness of the bright sun, I opened the paper. It showed that the hill was outside the city, the same place where I had first appeared. Walking there would take hours, so I looked around for a carriage. Waving my hand from the sidewalk, my attempts to get the carriage's attention proved futile. After about seven minutes, my arm became sore from waving, and just when I was about to give up, a carriage pulled up.
The carriage was being driven by the same guy who took me last night. "Oh, what a coincidence, young Nightshade," he said, getting down and opening the door for me to enter. I slowly got into the carriage; it was the same wooden one with a comfortable seat. He closed the door and went to the front to control the horses. "Now, where do you want to go?" he asked. I replied, "To the hill where you picked me up from." With that, he whipped the horses, and we began riding.
"Oh, I forgot to state my name last night. I am Jacob. What about you?" he inquired. I replied, "I am Nolan, Nolan Nightshade." The old man fell silent again. Looking out of the window, I observed the surroundings. Then, I glanced at the paper that Michel had given me, rereading the information out of boredom. Night powder remained a mystery to me, but I was determined to figure it out.
Feeling the need for more knowledge, I decided that i will visit the library later. It seemed that Nightshades were well-known, judging by Jacob's reaction. Perhaps they held a respected position, akin to detectives and police who solved mysteries, much like what I was about to embark on.
Lost in thought, the carriage came to a stop in front of the hill. Jacob quickly ran to open the carriage door. Stepping out, I asked Jacob, "Still no pay?" He replied, "No pay." With that, Jacob rode off, leaving me alone by the hill.
I slowly ascended the hill, following the map. It was a small hill, and in about five minutes, I reached its peak. Checking the map again, I noticed that it led downhill. Following its guidance, I descended the hill. Accidentally stepping on some mud on the side, I almost lost my footing, but I managed to regain balance. It struck me as odd – had it rained recently? However, there was no lingering scent of rain in the air.
Reaching the bottom, I discovered what appeared to be a human skeleton, exactly as described in the paper. Strangely, though, it seemed like there was an invisible barrier preventing me from touching it. My curiosity piqued, I attempted to reach out, but an unseen force kept me at bay.
Suddenly, my mind went blank, and a series of unfamiliar memories flashed before my eyes. I saw six people, three on each side, bound from head to toe, wearing black clothes. In the center was the skeleton. A man stood atop the skeleton, cutting his hair and letting it fall onto the bones. An eerie feeling washed over me, and an inexplicable urge to flee surged within. The man turned to look at me, his face initially featureless, devoid of eyes, nose, mouth, or ears. Slowly, facial features manifested, and he took on my own visage. He stared directly at me, and then the heads of the bound individuals exploded.
Abruptly, I jolted awake from the vivid and unsettling vision.
I was lying on the ground, looking at the moon. It was the same scene I had witnessed when I first came to this world. I slowly got up and looked around me. The place was still the same, except the day had now turned into night. The skeleton was still there. I approached it, but the invisible shield was present. The only difference was that no memories flooded into my head. I looked at the hill and slowly tried to get up. I noticed the mud I had fallen on before, and something was strange about it—it was still wet after all this time. I kicked some of the mud off to find that it was red, not the usual color. I quickly climbed up the hill and sprinted toward the city, even though I knew it would take me close to half an hour to get there. After about 25 minutes, I stood in front of the agency.
I burst in to find the whole room enveloped in smoke. Through my peripheral vision, I saw three customers—two together on my left, drinking something, while another one on my1 right, just sitting there. I rushed to the front desk and rang the bell. Michel appeared again. Before he could say his line, I informed him about the red mud on the hill. I purposefully skipped the memories' part, afraid that it might raise suspicion. Michel, after hearing this, said, "Get up, we gotta go; this is an emergency." He then rang a bell, and the customers that were sitting stood up and came behind him while he was in the front, still covering his face.
The two customers stood up, revealing their faces. They looked remarkably similar, unmistakably twins with matching blue hair and strangely red eyes. They were dressed in the standard black coat and hat attire. On my left, the other customer wore a mask—a pure black one with no facial features, reminiscent of the man I saw in my memories.
"Lets go," Michele yelled, leading us out of the agency. He continued to hide his face under his hat. As we entered the streets, people stared at us anxiously. A carriage pulled up in front of us, and Michele got in. It was no ordinary carriage; it was much larger than the usual ones, capable of accommodating about six people compared to the normal two. This one was pulled by four horses, and it was faster. In less than ten minutes, we arrived at the hill.
Michele got down, and we began to ascend the hill. The two twins, like me, struggled to climb, but Michele transformed into smoke and swiftly reached the top. The other man levitated mid-air and gracefully floated to the hill's summit. The entire crew was atop the hill when Michele ordered me, "Where is the red mud?" I pointed to the other side, where the skeleton lay. Michele turned into smoke again and descended. The twins and I, grappling with the descent, followed suit.
Once at the bottom, we witnessed Michele reaching his hand out, which transformed into smoke, lifting the mud. To our horror, there were bodies inside the hill, all clad in white clothes similar to those in my memory. The gruesome sight overwhelmed me, and I vomited uncontrollably, as did the twins. Michele turned towards me, an evident anger in his voice, saying, "Your job and the twins' are done; go back. We will handle this." I knew I couldn't be of any help to a seasoned user like him, so we followed his orders and left the scene.