Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ The Stone Lotus ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter Ten

"Lee?" Hwoarang asked as he took a sip of his tea. He felt better now, since the topic had seemingly changed, though Michelle was silent now. The older woman stared down at her own cup, half in thought, half mortified. She sighed heavily and looked up at him, and managed to relax when she saw that he was smiling at her fondly as he waited patiently for an answer.

Finally, she murmured, "Like you said, he was my boyfriend... We travelled around alot, especially after his brother died. Well we did anyway, until I met Danny."

"Jules' dad, right?"

Michelle nodded and let out another heavy sigh before taking a drink of her tea. Carefully, she set her cup back down on the table and looked back up at younger man. Hwoarang leaned back in his seat and gestured for her to continue.

"I guess...I would of had to tell you about him anyway. His brother was the boy that fell down those cliffs. But, Robert I have to ask," she frowned folded her hands on top of one of another after placing them on the tabletop, "How did you know about that?"

He frowned a bit, "I'm not sure how." The younger man then drank a bit more of his tea. "If it's something you'd rather not speak about, I understand." Michelle let out an uneasy chuckle at his vague explanation.

"I see," she murmured as she thoughtfully rested her hand on her cheek, though still ill-eased. "I suppose I should ask you one more thing before even attempting to go on..."

"And that would be...?"

"Do you believe in God?"

Hwoarang rolled his eyes and threw his arms up in disgust, "What is with everyone and asking that? No, I don't fucking believe in God! I never have and I never--"

"--Okay, okay," Michelle chuckled as she straightened up in her seat. "I obviously hit a nerve."

"No, it's just..." the younger man slumped back in his seat and buried his face in his palms. Michelle leaned back in her seat and waited silently, again her hands resting on the table. It was a moment before he slowly pulled his hands from his face, revealing the aggravated yet horrified expression on his face. He then closed his eyes and let out a shakey sigh before reopening them and making eye contact with Michelle again.

He took another deep breath then continued, "It's just that Jules asked me the same thing today at the cemetery. And well--" He stopped to feel in his back pocket for the photo; his fingertips ran across the rough surface of the scratched emulsion before he pulled his hand out again, leaving the photo where he had safely tucked it.

"Robert?"

"Why does she hate me so much?" he asked to himself.

Michelle shook her head sadly and looked down at her hands, "I'd tell you everything I know, but it's so much of it is not my place." Hwoarang bowed his head; his shoulders hunched as he laughed at her comment.

It meant to him that he was to stop asking questions.

The front door finally opened, and he lifted his head slowly; Julia and Xiaoyu entered together, giggling and gossiping.

*****

Lee sat on the edge of the bed in his hotel room, his head hung down as he rubbed his the back of his neck painfully. The top few buttons of his oxford shirt were undone and the ends untucked. On the floor next to his bare feet, a bottle of scotch sat half empty. Sitting next to him on the bed was a laptop. He moaned once and looked up at the computer that was flipped on next to him, picked it and the alcohol up, then slid back on the bed to start working again.

Upon leaving Anna's that afternoon, Lee had had spent most of the day trying to figure out exactly how he could help her. However, he had little success. As soon as he had returned to his room, Lee had called his father's home and office, only to learn that the elderly man had went on an emergency business trip. The details had been sketchy, of course, which Lee hadn't expected to get anything out of Heihachi's receptionist at all anyway. But, he was still somewhat hurt that he couldn't speak to his father of all people; Lee and Heihachi had gained an understanding of each other over the past twenty years, and they had put aside their differences to at least respect each other.

He took a swig from the bottle and started typing again.

The laptop had been hooked up to the hotel's internet connection, and Lee worked quietly and patiently. During his youth at his father's company, he found he had a talent for two things: heavy drinking and hacking. Lee rarely use the latter, though he still was quite the drinker; that was mostly consolation for the other things he had given up over the years, namely the abundant drug use. But, he still drank and smoked to his heart's content. Dimly, he knew it was simply because of how empty his life was now that he indulged so much in those habits. However, as long as he could keep forgetting about the rut he was in, he was fine.

Lee frowned and closed out of another airline website. All day, he had been searching through secured databases, looking for recent passengers and ticket purchases. He yawned once and pulled up another airline site then started working again, steadily overriding and bypassing each password prompt. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he knew he would know it when he came across it.

*****

It was raining again, and Forest Law ran outside of the hall where he had just finished classes that afternoon. He tugged a black tabagan over his head and pulled off his black horn-rimmed classes as he made it to his little beat up red hatchback, most of which the paint job was gone and replaced with rust. When he got in his slammed his door, but it didn't catch. So, he slammed it shut again, this time much harder. It closed this time, and the young man smiled to himself before starting the car.

He ended up getting caught in traffic, but didn't mind, and he listened to the radio and sang along to himself, drumming on the steering wheel as he waited for traffic to inch forward. Despite being stuck at the moment, he was enjoying his freedom. That, he savored every chance he got since he had started studying abroad a couple years, and he had found this year that he loved Australia. The atmosphere was different from America; the people were more openminded and friendly, and everything was familiar enough to where he still fit in. Forest had even acquired a bit of an accent, to which both Julia and Paul had teased him about the last few times he had called them, though he honestly couldn't hear the change in his voice.

Finally, traffic moved.

When he made it home, the first thing Forest did when he stepped through his tiny apartment door was pull the soaking wet hat and black t-shirt he was wearing, revealing the huge, intricate tattoo of a coiled black dragon on his back that he had gotten last year, and went over to his phone to check messages. He frowned when he saw he actually had quite a few and sat down on his small couch to listen.

"Forest, this is your father... I know you're probably in class now, but this was the only time I could call. I just wanted to tell you happy birthday and that--"

"--Next!" the young man scoffed as he pressed the message button on his answering machine.

"Okay...1,2,3! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!. . ." He smiled as he listened the voices of a few of his classmates singing together off-key, and he laughed at the insane birthday wishes they gave him.

When he got to the last message, he was grinning fully, and waited for the speaking to start. However, he frowned as he heard silence. After well over a minute, it clicked off. Forest's frown twisted as he bite the inside of his cheek, and he decided that it was probably a wrong number called from a mobile phone that didn't quite hang up. Yet, he checked the caller ID box and cycled through the calls from that week, and he found that the call came from a local payphone. He shivered and tried to think nothing of it. He then picked up the phone, dialed out, and waited as the other side rang.

"Yello?" a sleepy male voice yawned.

"Hey, it's Law," Forest chuckled into the phone. "I'm hoping this is Derrick."

"Oh, hell yeah!" the other young man laughed, perking up. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten your birthday. I was thinking we could go out to the pubs tonight for starters."

"Sounds fair enough to me," the American replied pleasantly. "I've got a couple of things I have to take care of before we leave, but shouldn't take me long. Oh, and is Grant there at all?"

"Yeah...you two still work together, huh?" Derrick's voice dropped a little from disappointment. "You know, get out while you can, Law. He's neck deep in shit."

"Don't worry, this is my last job," he replied quietly. "This bookie shit is too fucking stressful."

"Glad to hear you finally figure that out," the other young man sighed, though there was a hint of doubt in his voice. "Anyway, let me go get Grant." Forest could hear Derrick bellowing in the background, footsteps, and a click as the phone was picked up.

"Yeah?" another male voice asked into phone, this time it was tired, stoned sounding voice.

"Hey, yeah, this is Law. Just wanted to know if we got in all the bets for the boxing match tonight."

Grant coughed a bit, "Yeah. You won't believe who put in a bet in late today."

"Who?"

"Tracy Freedman."

Forest blinked, "Isn't he...like some big American business tycoon? Works for...Mishima, I think."

"Yeah, and he's supposedly part of a mafia ring. I personally didn't believe all that bullshit until he gave me the money he was putting up..."

"How much?"

"Fifteen million, American."

"Holy fuck..." the other man gasped as he shot up from his seat in shock. "I mean, I know this is fucking middle weight world championship, but my god!"

"Yeah, and you'd THINK he was going for Fox," Grant chuckled.

Forest frowned and sat back down slowly, "You're telling me that someone bet $15 million on Ewin Lewis instead of Steve Fox?" He then rolled his eyes and reached over and picked up the pack of cigarettes and the lighter that had been sitting next to the phone. "Either he's an idiot or...the fight's going to be fixed. Christ..." He then popped a smoke in his mouth and lit up.

"You're telling me," Grant laughed. "If Freedman wins, there's no way our unit is going to be able to pay him thirty mil. It's pretty fucked up."

"Eh, we'll worry about that when the match starts later," Forest replied as he pulled his cig from his mouth and glanced over the clock on the kitchen; smoke escaped his nostrils. "You coming out with Derrick and me tonight?"

"I'm going to try, but I have a few things require my 'immediate' attention, if you know what I mean."

"So, I shouldn't hold my breath, in other words."

"I wouldn't say that," Grant chuckled. "Just give me call on my cell phone whenever later on, and I'll catch up with you guys."

"Alright, tell Derrick I'll meet him in an hour at you guys' place, and later."

"Ciao!" With that, Forest hung up and went to change.

*****

The ringing of the phone was what finally woke Anna up, and she groaned and slowly sat up from where she had passed out. She brought a hand up to the back of her head, which was still throbbing with pain. She looked around.

It was daylight, and her front door was open, save the storm door. Carefully, the redhead propped herself against the wall and rose to her feet, her hand still to the back of her head. She then staggered over to the phone.

For a few moments, she rested over the desk where the phone sat and listened to it ring, partically hoping that the call notes would pick up, which it did, and the ringing stopped. She sighed with relief and sat down behind the desk. Still rubbing the tender back of her head, she pulled open a drawer in the desk and began fishing around, looking for painkillers.

The phone rang again. Anna's frown deepened as she continued to ignore the phone until she found the bottle of asprin that she had stowed there. With bothered huff, she picked the phone with her freehand.

"Hello?"she mumbled as she craddled the phone between her shoulder and ear; with both her hands free, she feebly attempted to twist off the top of the bottle.

"Anya, darling!" a raspy, yet lilting Irish voice cried conscendingly. "I've been trying to reach you all day!"

Anna finally popped off the lid, "Nina?" Carefully, the redhead tilted the bottle towards her palm and tapped it twice; four pills spilt out into her hand. "My god, where are you?" She opened her mouth, popped the pills in, and swallowed.

"I can't talk long, I have a possible 'commission' in the works. I just wanted call to check up on you--"

"--Nina, I really need a favor of you."

Nina chuckled, "Now, really?" There was an awkward pause at that moment, to which Anna knew Nina was smiling to herself.

Of course, they hadn't spoken to each other in two years. Though Nina and Anna had never exactly gotten along well even as children, the chasm between them had deepened with Nina's sudden reinterest in working as a hitman. That was something Anna never quite understood, her sister's infatuation with reliving a life that had brought nothing but misery to their parents and to themselves. The very reason that Anna blamed her current situation on.

Had Nina only not taken that job twenty years ago, had Nina not made the same mistakes their father had made, had Nina not decided to pursue the matter further, Anna was certain that she would had a normal life, possibly with marriage and children. Her thoughts lingered on the thought of having children as she waited for her older sister to reply, and after she carefully set the bottle she was holding down onto the desk, the younger woman absentmindedly placed a hand over her stomach.

"What is it?" Nina finally asked, again her voice was amused.

Anna cleared her throat a bit, "I recieved some a bit of disturbing news about my health yesterday. Nina, I...I can't have children."

There was a bit a silence before the older woman replied, "I see." The glee that had been in her voice was gone now, replaced with something Anna couldn't quite recognized. It almost sounded like remorse, but she decided that knowing her sister, it couldn't had been.

Nina continued, "I know my memory isn't as good as it used to be, but...for some reason I recall you being pregnant a long time ago. Maybe before we woke up?..." Her voice trailed. "Maybe I'm thinking of someone else." A hint of frustration was leaking into her voice. "Maybe it was someone else...? God, I hate when this happens. I can see this so clearly, except for the faces... They're all so fuzzy..."

"No, no, you're right, Nina," the younger woman sighed. "Kazuya and I were expecting at one point. I don't suspect that you remember Chicago very well at all. I'm actually surprised you recalled that."

"Well, I just don't understand. What happened?"

"Apparently, someone took the liberty of extracting all my ovum during some point of our sleep."

A heavy sigh sounded from the other end of the line, "You're being rather nonchalant about the whole ordeal, Anna."

"Well, the problem is, if that happened to me, I'm wondering..."

"I see. I don't see why it matters now," Nina murmured. "Neither one of us have a chance for a normal life now. And when we left Mishima five years ago, Heihachi made us sign those papers--"

"--I'm not looking to press the matter legally. I just want answers. Nothing more. And...if Kazuya did the same thing to you..."

"Let it go, Anna. It's in the past." The frustration in Nina's voice had grown, and there was a sharp edge to her voice now. "That's something neither you nor I will ever gain back."

Anna was silent at Nina's retort, knowing that most of the anger came not from irritation over Anna's health, but over Nina's inability to full grasp anything from before waking up.

Waking up. Anna still had nightmares about her last memories of Kazuya, the black three-piece suit he wore, the cut she had carved across is face in a fit of rage, and finally the unearthly red glow of his eyes. The frightening look in his eyes when he stared straight into his eyes. Frightening, yet strangely admirable. She had been pinned up against a wall of his office; there was a prick of a needle going into her neck as he held her there, despite how much she struggled. Her eyes grew heavy, and the world blurred and darkened. Only then did he let go, and when she tried to pull herself away from the wall to stand, the younger woman staggered and fell towards him. With all her might, she tried to fight off unconsciousness and failed as she finally slumped over onto the ground, unable to move.

The last thing she heard was, "I'm sorry."

But the images, his eyes, the transformation she had witnessed. Those plagued her until she woke up.

She shot up from where she had been lying, trembling from both cold and finally breaking the endless dream that she had had. For a moment, she leaned over heaving to catch her breath before covering her face to cry. That, she had been waiting to do, though the reason why, she couldn't quite remember. It was then she noticed that she was nude, and she looked around. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim lighting.

Anna recognized the room; it was very a high-tech cryogenic storage unit in one of the Mishima research facilities just outside of Chicago in a rural, isolated area. Kazuya had casually mentioned to her that he planned to completely shut down the cryogenics projects Heihachi had started. Financially, it was draining resources, and the technology for reanimation didn't exist.

The room itself was had several glass tube-shaped tanks large enough to fit a well sized adult in each of them, all lined up side by side in the middle of the room like rows of coffins, and several computers were hooked up to each one of the tubes for montioring purposes which lined the back wall of the room. Anna recalled being disturbed from the sight of the room, which immaculately sterile like a hospital but devoid of any kind of life. Just glass and the machinery, mixed with the strangely beautiful, organic fixtures of rubber tubing and wires that protruded from the tanks and computers like dead vines. It was the the first and only time that he had let her see any of the biotech labs at Mishima.

And she thought little of it then.

With a heavy sigh, Anna looked down then frowned. As she expected, she was sitting up in an opened cryo-cell, one of the very items Kazuya had wanted to have dismantled. Carefully, she stepped out, fumbling a bit from the height of the glorified test tube from the ground and from the darkness. Her knees buckled from lack of use, and the redhead fell to the ground. However, she managed to save herself injury from bracing her arms out of front of her and breaking her fall. She glance up only to see another figure sitting up in another cell. As she stood up, leaning against her discarded prison as a brace, she blinked as she realized who it was.

"Nina?" she whispered at the nude blonde, who like Anna, was shivering from cold. However, the other woman didn't respond to her name.

"Nina," she repeated, this time raising her voice.

Again, no reponse.

"Nina!" Anna looked over towards the doors as she heard a flurry of footsteps hurrying towards them and muffled voices. With an annoyed sigh, she straightened up and and crept over towards the door. She looked down.

There was no handle or knob, just a heavy, mechanized lock with a keypad and a blinking, red LED, which she quickly deduced could only be disarmed from the outside. There was a small window in the heavily armed door, however the glass was tinted and smoked; little light from outside could get it and what did was a faint blue, making it useless to see through. What light that lit the room almost came entirely from a third cryo-cell that remained unopened; Anna could see a third woman lying motionless in the tube; however she didn't recognize her at all.

The sounds of footsteps grew louder and louder until finally stopping in front of the door. Anna moved to the side and took a defensive stance as a precaution. From outside the door, there were a few beeping noise then one louder beep, and a click. The LED light turned blue. Anna jumped at the sound of the click, and her breathing quickened. She crouched down, still in stance to hide a little better as the door slowly opened.

"Air leaks in two of the tanks?" a male voice mumbled. "I can't believe he called me to fix that. I don't even work here anymore." Anna's stance dropped with relief; she recognized the voice as Lee's, though the soft quality she had always associated with him was gone. Instead, it was rougher, richer, and darker, a maturity that reminded her far more of Kazuya than of the younger Mishima brother.

Another voice male voice that she couldn't place replied, "Well, that was Mr. Mishima's orders. He says that he doesn't trust anyone else with this, Mr. Lee. I sure you understand?"

"Whatever, just put away your guns," Lee mumbled as he entered the room; both of his arms were raised, and he was followed by two armed soldiers in camouflage and black. One of the soldiers had an assault rifle aimed at Lee's back. "I said, put away your guns. If you want me to get this fixed as quickly as possible, you're going to have to let me use my hands, for fuck's sake."

The soldier nodded and complied.

The Mishima let out a frustrated sigh as he marched further into the room, though he finally relaxed and dropped his arms. He paused, however, and blinked confused as he noticed Nina staring blankly at him in the dark. He glanced over at the other empty cryo-cell before rushing over to the back of the room to switch on the lights. He stopped halfway, though, after the sounds of a quick struggle sounded, and he turned around slowly only to find one of his guards with sprawn out cold on the tile floor and the other staring back in the same direction as Lee with his weapon drawn.

Lee continued to hurry back into the room and hit the light switch. The mercury lights flickered on slowly then lit up the room in a near blinding, cool white light. He lifted a brow out, again perplexed at the situation. Anna stood with the fallen soldier's assault rifle cocked and aim, ready to shoot in her vulnerable state, her eyes not leaving the man in front of her, despite being awashed entirely in light now.

Lee's mouth dropped a little as he tried to search for something to say, finally mumbling, "If I were you, son, I'd drop your weapon. I can guarentee you she's a better shot and much faster than you are."

The soldier glanced over at the older man, "Mr. Lee, but--"

"--Just do it," he growled, his voice rising suddenly. The soldier glanced back over at the nude, gun-toting woman, then back at Lee before letting out a frustrated sigh and carefully setting his rifle on the ground. Slowly, he rose back up, both hands in the air.

"Thank you," she said, eyes still glued on the soldier; as she cautiously walked past him towards Lee, Anna kept her weapon aimed at the soldier as she turned and backed towards Lee.

She glanced over her shoulder at the older man. It was almost unbelievable that that was her Lee standing before her. Again, he looked so much older than she remembered, and his features had hardened a lot. His jaw was stippled in grey and dark brown stubble, which Anna had never seen Lee with even the tiniest bit of facial hair. The sleeves of his white oxford shirt were rolled up messily to his elbows, and his tie was loosened. Again Anna was puzzled; Lee usually dressed very neatly to compliment his brother's style. However, when she looked into his eyes, she felt her anxiety fade; there was no mistake about it now. He was her Lee.

"Anna," he began softly. "How did you...?" He glanced over at Nina, who was hunched over hugging herself to keep warm; she remained silent however.

The redhead smiled discreetly at him, "What do you mean 'how'? Your brother did this." Lee nodded once stiffly then gestured at the heldup soldier to leave. The younger man nodded eagerly, dropped his arms, then ran off. Anna looked back to watch him run out the door then sighed heavily with relief and relaxed. "You know where he is, right? I really need to give him a piece of my mind. And I swear, this time I'm not letting my guard down."

"Well, yes, I technically do know where he's at," he replied, scratching his cheek. "Jesus, maybe we should find you and Nina some clothes first..."

"That would be nice," the younger woman chuckled. "But--"

"--Anna, you do realize that's it's physically impossible for both you and Nina to be awake and moving, don't you?"

"How do you mean?" she asked as she turned fully to face him; her grin had grown into a full, sweet smile. That, however, only caused Lee to shake his head in disbelief.

"My god, it really is you, isn't it?" he sighed. He stepped over to her then gently placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed down at her, concerned. The younger woman's smile quickly faded into confusion as she stared up at him; she bit her lip nervously when her eyes met his.

Lee's frown deepened, "Do you have any idea what year it is?"

"Anna, are you still there?" Nina asked. The younger Williams sister blinked and glanced over at the front door; she groaned as she noticed Lee's sedan pulling up into the driveway.

She turned back and gingerly picked up the bottle of asprin; she then idly stared at the label, "Yes, I am. I'm sorry, love."

"No, it's alright. I have to go. I'm supposed to be meeting a client today at some event."

"Well, I hope for your sake, it doesn't work out." Anna smiled to herself as she heard Nina chuckle on the other end of the line. "I mean it."

"Oh, I know you do." The younger woman looked up as she heard a soft tapping from on the glass stormdoor; Lee gave a little wave at her, and she gestured for him to come in.

Anna continued, "Well, I won't keep you. Goodbye, Nina."

"Goodbye," the older woman sang. With that, the sisters hung up.

The redhead then set the bottle she was holding down and stood up, stretching. Despite taking the painkillers, her head still ached a bit. However, she made her way over to Lee, who had made himself comfortable on the couch and waited patiently. Unlike the previous day, he was dress comfortably in a black polo shirt and pair of khaki cargo pants that almost completely covered his sandals. He was leaning back in his seat, ankle resting on knee and arms spread over the back of the couch.

She sat down next to him. However, she kept her eyes forward on the storm door. Outside, the blinding daylight started to soften as clouds moved over the morning sun; another rainstorm was on the way in the distance. And for a moment, Anna pondered what had happened to her guest last night, if he was okay, if he needed food or rest. That stopped as soon as a tinge of pain shot through the back of her head, reminding her of the previous night's events, and she cringed until she felt a hand slide slowly up her shoulder and to her neck.

At first, she tensed up as Lee massaged her shoulders, but quickly she gave in and relaxed.

"Rough night?" he asked gently as he continued to knead her stiff muscles. She nodded once, yet was silent. Not wanting to face him, she kept her gaze ahead and watched the sunlight dim and brighten. Yet her eyes closed as his touch intensified, and she let out a soft, throaty moan. Her frown tightened as his hands moved lower and dug deeper into her skin at a faster pace. Her hands balled into tight fists and stayed rigidly at her sides, though she was fighting every urge to guide his hands lower, and was even keeping her own hand from moving to between her legs.

After a few minutes, he pulled away and leaned back into his seat.

"So," he began again, "that was Nina?" Anna nodded, still refusing to look at the older man; she leaned over and rested her arms over her knees. "She didn't happen to say where she was, did she?"

"No."

He chuckled, "I see. Well, I'm pretty sure she's out of the country. I tried calling you last night to tell you, but I kept getting your voice mail."

Anna hung her head, "Sorry, I was busy..." She rubbed her temples painfully, "Anyway, any idea where she went?"

"Australia."

"Heh, how did you find that out?"

Lee grinned sheepishly, "I have my methods." He then leaned over, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey...are you alright?"

She pulled her hand from her face and glanced over at the older man then frowned when she finally made eye contact with him, only to immediately break it.

There were many things she wanted to ask Lee, mostly concerning Kazuya. However, she hadn't quite formed the questions in her head. The corner of her mouth twiched nervously as she fought off tears. Never once had she had any qualms about crying in front of him, yet now she found it near impossible to look at him, and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. If there was one thing Anna had learned after waking up, it was that Lee fed off of her vulnerability; he loved being needed. And usually, she loved the attention.

But now, she was ashamed.

"Anna?" he repeated softly.

"I'm fine," she blurted, whipping her head up. And with an angry huff, she straightend up and pulled away from him.

Lee blinked and pulled back as well, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you comfortable--"

"--No, no. It's not that." She turned around and faced the older man, bottom lip quivering.

"Lee," she started again, her voice nearly cracking, "Kazuya's dead, right?"

He nodded once solemnly, "Yes. I saw the whole thing." His face darkened as a thought came to him briefly, but he shook it off. "Anna, he's really gone." The frown on his face softened, and he hugged her.

The redhead buried her face in his chest and let herself go, still not crying, but at the same time, she felt safe. Lee, however, looked forward at the stormdoor. The sky had darkened to a violent slate grey, and the sounds of crows cawing outside echo, announcing the oncoming rain. One of the dark birds flew on the porce and stood at the glass door, peering inward curiously. It tilted its head and blinked, as it seemed to gaze back at the silverhaired man staring back at it. It then cried once and spread its massive black wings to take off.

The sounds of wings beating. Lee felt himself tense up when he heard the faint noise of the murder of crows flying. And soon, the view of the dreary, dead landscape outside was darkened with a storm of black wings and feathers, all flying to find shelter before the rains came again. Lee closed his eyes and gripped tightly to Anna until the noise was gone. Only then did he open his eyes to look down at the young girl in his arms.

"He's gone," he repeated as he cradled her. "He's gone."