Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yu-Gi-Oh! Lament of the Condemned Souls ❯ Blood Red ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sorry it's taken so long. Life has been hectic and I got writers block. -Tear, tear- Let it be known that this chapter was actully supposed to be the fifth chapter, and the fourth chapter was supposed to be laid back. Unfortunately every time I tried to write the chapter, it came out really bad. Soooo, I just decided to heck with that! And I just put some of the chapter four stuff in chapter five and called 'chapter four'. So please don't mind if it's rather off-topic from the last chapter...It's supposed to be that way....really!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! I just own this crappy plot, so steal it and the computer will come alive and bite your hands off. ;)


Chapter four: Blood Red

“Mr. Kaiba.”

Kaiba looked up sharply, his icy blue eyes roaming his clean desk until they landed upon the intercom. He paused, taking a moment to consider whether or not it was actually worth answering.

The walls were grey, the light from the large windows to his right casting a low glow on them. Outside was a view of the entire city of Domino as his office was on the top floor of the building. His office was equally as clean as his desk; no personal items cluttering around nor the touch of any décor. The only sign of a real person there was a small frame with a picture of a boy in it.

“Mr. Kaiba!”

A slender finger shot out from the paperwork to the button. “What is it?” he questioned gruffly.

“Ms. Yuu down in marketing found something in the car garage. I’m here now with her.”

Kaiba pinched his nose in annoyance. “Would you mind elaborating, Mr. Shdmitt?”

Yhana Shdmitt was a good employee and had worked for Kaiba Corp. for officially three years. He was a good man and a hard worker. Kaiba even found himself, on occasion, striking up personal conversations being at ease with the man’s personable personality. However, it was times like these that he found the man’s flare for suspense unhelpful.

“Sir,” there was a pause. “I’m not quite sure. It-it looks hand-made.” There was a brief silence. “But it’s stuck to one of the pillars. There’s a bunch of wires sticking out of it,” he paused and then as an after thought added, “and it’s lumpy.”

Kaiba frowned, sitting up in his chair, more alert. He switched the intercom to the speakers in the building. “This is Kaiba speaking. I am ordering an evacuation of all floors. Please avoid the elevators and go in a neat and orderly fashion down the stairwells and out of the building. I repeat, I am ordering an evacuation of all floors. Please leave the building in a neat and orderly fashion.”

He switched back to the private intercom where Mr. Shdmitt was waiting. “Mr. Shdmitt, if you didn’t hear the announcement, please evacuate the premise. Just leave it behind for the security to look at.”

There was silence in response.

Kaiba frowned and looked at the intercom, as if it was responsible for the silence. “Mr. Shdmitt?”

There was hiss of static and screams came through, making the hair on the back of Kaiba’s neck rise. “Oh God!” came the shriek of the intercom. “It’s blinking! It’s a fucking bomb!”

Kaiba’s eyes widened at the confirmation of his suspicions. Swallowing thickly he allowed himself a single breath to calm himself down. “Yana. Get out of there.” He quickly switched to the speakers. “Code five! This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill!”

His voice was drowned out by a mammoth roar as the building shook furiously. He felt the ground come out at him and lost his footing as he was thrown back against the cracked wall, his chair crashing into him. His head slammed into the wall, black spots dancing in the corner of his vision. There was a sickening crack and pain exploded in his leg. Crying out, he fell to the floor darkness clawing at his sight before it took him completely.

~~~

Yugi’s head drooped as he sat in the white chair in the pristine white room. Everything about the room was bland and sterile, providing nothing to help keep him awake. The dull rhythmic sound of the heart monitor did no favors either.

On the bed next to Yugi was a still and pale Honda, wires jutting out of his mouth, nose, and arms. It was frightening for Yugi to look at his friend, who was so outgoing and moving, now as he lay still and vulnerable. It was almost as if he were witnessing something he shouldn’t be.

He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, going over the past few hours. Honda had to have surgery to stop the internal bleeding and it had been touch and go for a while; but when the doctor came through those doors and spoke those sacred words, he could think of nothing better than hearing the news that Honda would be alright.

Honda’s parents had arrived moments before they had been allowed to enter Honda’s room. Jou had been put off at first, exclaiming that his parents never cared before, but after seeing Mrs. and Mr. Honda’s tear-stained faces, he quieted. They had waited patiently while the two adults visited their only son and when the two came out of the room, they offered words of comfort.

“Honda would’ve been surprised to see them,” Jo had remarked after the two left. “They never seemed to care before.”

“Sometimes it just takes extreme situations for someone to realize what they’ve been doing wrong,” Anzu had answered back. “Or missing.”

The doctor gave permission for all three of them to enter Honda’s room and visit him for as long as they liked, as long as it didn’t last the entire night. Jo, on the other hand, had a different idea of what the doctor had said.

After only an hour of sitting in the room, Jo had declared that he would get some supplies and food so they could be prepared for the night, possibly even two nights. None of them had objected, and he had walked out of the room with a mission, but more than that something to do that would make him feel important.

Anzu quickly got restless soon after, not even able to look at Honda’s wan face or the tubes coming out. After much pacing, Yugi had finally asked her to talk to the doctor about Honda. She had looked relieved and had told him she would figure out everything about Honda’s condition and would come back with a detailed report.

Yugi yawned widely, stretching out as he looked at the closed door. He was the only one left now, but he knew they would be returning soon. Leaning his head against Honda’s bed, careful to avoid touching his friend or the tubes, he closed his eyes. He would just lay there for a couple of seconds…

…

The door slammed open, a reverberating thud echoing throughout the tiny room. Yugi jumped up, but his legs were caught between the bed and the chair and he tumbled down, the chair clattering beside him. His eyes widely looked around, his heart racing at the sudden noise.

“Anzu?”

Anzu stood in the doorway, sweat glistening her brow as she stared wide eyed wild at him. Her chest was heaving as if unable to get that cleansing breath, and her body was trembling.

Yugi stood up, concerned at his friends’ behavior. “What’s wrong? Is it Honda?”

She wordlessly marched over to the bed and grabbed a remote. Turning towards the TV hooked up to the wall she pressed on the on button. She dropped into the chair with tear-filled eyes.

With a sinking feeling, Yugi turned toward the TV. There in the news was the answer to his friends’ weird behavior. In bold letters the headline read: Bomb attack on Kaiba Corp.

Thirty Days : Five hours : Fifty seconds

The first thing he noticed was pain throughout his body. He couldn’t move for several moments, his eyes seeing red behind his eyelids. Hissing in pain, he opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. Everything was unfocused and a wave of nausea came over him. Biting back bile, he blinked rapidly in attempt to see clearer.

The room looked decimated as he looked around. A part of his window had caved, only a portion of the area still open to the outside and glass littered the floor. His desk had tipped over and was upside next to him and his chair was lying contently on his legs.

Understanding that he had to move, he reached out with his left arm to grab one of the legs of his desk. Immediately there was fire in his ribs and he winced back, clutching the aforementioned bones.

Grumbling, and biting his tongue, he reached out again and in one fluid motion got himself into a sitting position. It was only after he was sitting up did he allow a shaky breath to exhale. His hands shaking slightly he reached towards a small box lying forgotten on the ground. He pressed the intercom button one-two-three times before he realized that it wasn’t working.

Cursing at his foggy mind, he looked towards the door out of his office. It was several feet away, but manageable. He pushed the chair off him with much effort and allowed it to clang uselessly to the side. Being careful not to turns his upper body as to not aggravate his ribs, he used the legs of the table to push himself him.

Shooting pain ran up his leg and he gasped in agony, clutching the knuckles until they were white, forcing himself not to black out. Panting raggedly, he looked down at the injured leg only to stare morbidly as he saw his left foot jutting out at an odd angle.

He didn’t dare touch his foot, but instead looked around for any item that be used as a crutch to help him get out. Looking out at his decimated office, with papers singed and flying, he found nothing sturdy that could handle his weight.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up again, being weary not to put too much pressure on his injured foot. He stood for several moments, testing his body’s ability to adjust to the injuries. He wobbled a little as he hopped around the desk, still using it as support. Looking in dismay at the several feet that now seemed daunting, he noticed that there was way he could get support from the wall. He was simply have to hope that he didn’t fall. Gritting his teeth, he stood straight and hopped towards the door.

Halfway there, his body was unable to cope under the strain of his injuries, and started to give out. He could feel his right knee start to buckle and in a last ditch effort to reach the door, he flung himself forward, managing to grab the doorknob. Half on the doorknob, half off, he managed to steady himself, gasping for breath as he did so.

He closed his eyes, tempted to just succumb to the darkness, but he knew better. He had to get out of the building.

He slowly opened the door, leaning heavily against the doorframe. His face fell when he saw the mess the top floor had become. Chunks of floor were missing, as it had caved into the floor below. Paper still flew around whilst burning; more so now that he had allowed more air into the room.

“Hello?” Kaiba called out, coughing as he did so. “Is anyone still up here?” He looked around, thankful to find no one.

Coughing harshly, he covered his mouth with his shirt to protect himself from the smoke and dust. Looking over to the stairwell he was dismayed to see it covered with debris. It looked impossible to move, especially in his condition.

Letting out a groan, he slid against the wall to the ground. His eyes swept the room again, landing upon one of the larger holes in the floor. The floor slab was slanted downwards into the floor below, however the slab only went halfway down.

Curiously, he scooted closer, being careful to mind his foot as he dragged it across the ground. Avoiding the burning paper, he slowly made it to the edge and peered down. There was a desk still standing up right at the moment. As he thought about it, the desk would make a good medium between the slab and the ground.

‘Durable,’ he thought. Glancing around once more for any personnel, he got to work. Grabbing one of the nearest holes to him, he put his hands in to secure his hold. Sliding his body off the edge, he put his good foot in a similar hole further down and let his left leg just swing idly. In a corner of his mind, it reminded him of the vertical walls Mokuba used to climb.

Wincing at the pressure in his upper body and the strain on his arms and ribs, he slowly started to ease himself down. Looking at the desk, it couldn’t be more than six feet from the end of the slab and as he looked more closely there were more notches further down that he could grab onto.

The building suddenly rumbled and shook as if it were an angry beast. Pieces of the ceiling came crashing down, unable to handle the strain and the holes Kaiba was holding onto crumbled under the force of the impact.

Kaiba immediately felt a sense of weightlessness as he felt himself fall. Crying out, he desperately tried to cling onto something else, but the piece chunks of slab came down with him.

He landed hard on the desk.

Blinking rapidly, he felt tears start to sting his eyes as the pain numbed his body. After several moments he let out a shaky sigh, his teeth still clenched in pain. “Fuck!”

~~~~

The boy grinned maniacally as he stepped through the wall he had just destroyed. The remnants of the wall lay scattered around, scorched and broken.

It was a lot easier than he thought it would be, but the flames were a bother. Scoping out the room in a single sweep and finding yet another door he had to get through, he grumbled. More doors.

He walked over to the door, gracefully stepping over the rubble and flames, It was a security door and a key was needed. He scowled and looked around the room.

He doubted he could use his makeshift bombs against the door and shadows magic was out of the question. He bristled at the thought, but quickly calmed down. He would have unlimited shadow magic soon enough. At this moment, he just needed to get the door open.

His eyes fell upon a moaning body on the floor and his grin was back. He walked over to the woman and patted her down, quickly finding the key he was searching for.

Not even giving the stirring body a second glance, he walked back to the door and put the key in. Instead of opening, however, the machine promptly asked for an eye check.

Scowling, he summoned a small amount of shadows magic and sent it into the machine, which promptly reported, “Welcome Mr. Kaiba.” The door unlocked with a click and swung open.

He sauntered in, once again making a quick sweep for any threats or obstacles. When he found none, he chuckled darkly. No more doors. No more security measures to keep intruders – him – out.

He slid into the cushioned chair and stared at the giant computer screen in front of him. Knowing his mission, his fingers moved swiftly on the keyboard, bring up screens and pictures before making them disappear as quickly as they appeared.

The screen froze suddenly, stilling upon a single article.

His eyes roamed over the screen quickly reading the words, a wicked grin slowly spreading upon his face as he read the last paragraph. “Tsk, tsk,” he cackled. “You should have made it harder for me to find, Kaiba.”

There was a shriek in the other room, making his head snap in the direction of the voice. “Help me!” came the cry of a woman. The lady he had taken the key from, he reasoned. “Oh God! I’m on fire! Help!”

His eyes narrowed, before turning back to the computer and pressing several buttons erasing all evidence he had ever existed.

~~~~

Kaiba hobbled towards the staircase, leaning heavily upon the pole. He had found the pole jutting out of one of the more cheaply made desks and had decided it was usable. It was providing enough support to get him around; however it seemed as if it wouldn’t last long.

He had quickly found that this floor had evacuated as well and couldn’t help but feel proud that his people had evacuated so quickly and efficiently. He would be sure to give bonuses to his employees once the building was fixed. Halting in front of the door to the stairwell, he grimaced.

It was blocked as well. From what he saw there were no more holes leading to the bottom floor and he knew that his luck had run out.

He let out a string of curses and was surprised when it was mimicked on the other side of the door. His eyebrows furrowed and he took a tentative step forward. The door rattled as if force was being thrust against it.

“Hello?” someone called from the other side, sounding awfully familiar. “Anybody there? Hello?”

His mind was too fuzzy to match the voice to a face and he wearily hobbled the rest of the way towards the door. “I’m in here but the door is blocked.” He coughed lightly, squinting up at the ceiling as dust flecks started falling down. That couldn’t be good.

The person on the other side paused before replying. “Is there anybody else in there?”

“No, it’s just me.”

“Do you know if there’s anyone on the top floor?”

“Just came from there. No one’s up there.”

A sigh of relief came from the other side of the door. “Is there any other way out?”
“No.” Kaiba twitched his nose at annoyance with the dirt. “I’ll try and remove some of the debris on this side. How’s your side looking?”

There was some more silence, and Kaiba assumed that the person was assessing the damage on that side. “Yeah, yeah! I think that’ll work. Just let me find something to lift this stuff up. I’ll be right back!”

Kaiba nodded before catching himself. Letting out a groan, he hobbled over to the doorway. Leaning heavily on his right leg, he started pushing the smaller debris out of the way. The ceiling above him gave another shudder and more dust fell upon him, this time a hairline crack appearing.

He cursed, realizing that if he were to make any progress he would have to move the bigger pieces. The largest piece blocking his way was a large, steel, file cabinet that had fallen only halfway. Squatting down near the end, he put his hands underneath it and leaned against it, pushing up as he tried to stand up. The cabinet creaked as it slowly moved upward.

As he started to stand straighter, his footing started to slip and he fumbled to keep his balance. A sudden pain ripped into his foot as he stepped on his injured foot. The reaction was instance, his legs buckled under the intense pain and he let out a yelp as he fell down with the cabinet.

There was a loud thump as the cabinet came crashing down next to him barely missing his fingers. Gasping with pain and exhaustion, he looked back at the cabinet. There was no way he could lift it back up, he would have to move it sideways.

“Is everything alright in there?” came the voice from the other side. He must be back.

“Yes,” he grumbled. His eyes scoped the area again, trying to find an alternate way of moving the cabinet.

“I found something to move the debris over here!” the voice called. “Just give me a couple of minutes to move some of this stuff. How’s it going on your end?”

Kaiba got back into position, this time lodging his foot against some debris. “Fine,” he huffed out, pushing against the cabinet again. The steel dug into his hands and rubbed harshly against his shoulders as he put all his weight into pushing it back.

He stopped halfway up, trying to catch his breath. More dust fell upon him, making him get back to work sooner. His vision was starting to blur and his head was beginning to pound again. Gritting his teeth, he shoved with all his might against the cabinet. The thud of the cabinet falling into place never came, and instead he felt himself falling backwards against the cabinet.

With a yelp of shock, he came crashing down upon the cabinet as it fell sideways. His head hit the steel frame and a tear fell from his eyes. He just laid there for several minutes staring at the ceiling, watching the cracks become larger.

“Is everything okay in there?” came a startled voice. “I thought I heard something.”

“Peachy,” he growled out, putting his hand over his eyes. “Now hurry up over there, this side is clear.”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” came the retort.

“Go faster.”

There was a loud huff on the other side. “What are you in such a rush for?”

“The ceiling looks like it’s going to collapse.”

There was a heavy silence, and Kaiba actually peeked towards the door through his hands.

“Shit!” There was more clatter, almost as if debris was being thrown this time. “You should have told me sooner!”

Kaiba rolled his eyes. “Just hurry up.” Hissing in pain, he forced himself into a sitting position. He stared at the room with blurry eyes, as he attempted to calm his breath.

There was a crash at the door, making him look up. “It’s close enough over here. Stand back.”

Kaiba grabbed his pole and stood up, leaning heavily against it. He walked a little bit away from the door and watched as the door shuddered from impact. On the third shudder, the door slammed open, smacking the wall next to it.

The ceiling gave a shudder of protest, but Kaiba paid no attention to it for his eyes were on his savior. Blond hair stuck to the boys face from sweat and the boys brown eyes were widene with shock.

Kaiba just groaned. “Jonouchi.”

“Kaiba?!”

Thirt y Days : Two hours : Ten seconds

Jo had heard it even a mile away. Somehow he had managed to hold onto the food as he ran towards the noise. He had been surprised when he saw Kaiba Corp. surrounded by police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks, but he was even more surprised when he was told a bomb went off.

When asked, the policeman told him that people were still in the building and only a handful had gotten out before the bomb went off. As it was, there wasn’t enough man power to get everyone out right away, as they could only move up from floor to floor.

Jo wasn’t sure what compelled him, but he slammed the food in the policeman’s arms, telling him to ‘watch them’, and dashed in. Through the yells and arms reaching out to stop him, he managed to dart in the building.

The first and second floor was evacuated he remembered, and quickly headed for the stairwell. Since the firemen were going from ground up, he realized he should probably start from the top. Leaping three steps at a time, he got to the top floor quickly. Panting, he grabbed the doorknob and leaned against the door to open it but it didn’t budge.

Growling, Jo slammed himself against the door, but whatever was behind the door was keeping it shut. “Hello?” Jo shouted. “Is anyone there?” He paused, listening intently with his ear against the door. The policeman did say they had some advanced warning. It was possible that everyone had gotten out of the top floor. “Hello?”

Muttering a curse when no one answered, he stepped back from the door. He would check the next level and see what was going on from there. Maybe someone there would have some insight on if anyone got out of the top floor.

With a nod to himself, he turned and jogged back down the stairs to the next level.

He stopped at the door and his face fell. There was debris in front of the door, blocking the way. Angry with his luck, he slammed himself against the door again. The door barely budged.

“Hello?” he called out. “Anybody there? Hello?”

He was relieved when there was a reply. “’m ‘n ‘re bu’ the d’oor ‘s block’d.” The voice sounded familiar, but it was heavily slurred. He was no doctor, but slurred speech was never a good sign.

“Anybody else in there?” he asked, frowning in thought.

“Nno,” came the slurred response. “Ju’ me.”

“Do you know if there’s anyone on the top floor?”

“Jus’ ca’m fr’um th’er. No wu’n’s up ‘her.”

He sighed with relief. “Is there any other way out?”

“Nno.” There was a small pause. “I’ll tr’y an’ ‘move s’um of th’ debr’s un thi’ sid’. Ho’w yo’ur sid’ lo’okin’?”

Jo winced, barely able to understand the voice. “Yeah, yeah! I think that’ll work. Just let me find something to lift this stuff up. I’ll be right back!”

He jetted off to a lower floor, praying that there was no debris blocking the way. Stopping for a second to let out a breath of relief, he went through the open door and looked around. The room was messed up. Paper was strewn everywhere, desks were overturn, and flames still licked the ground.

After walking around for several seconds, he noticed a pole sticking out of one of the desks. Realizing that it could work, he grabbed the pole and tugged at it. It was stuck pretty tight, but after several tugs, grunts, and curses, he finally managed to pull it out.

Not sparing a moments thought towards the floor, he dashed back up. He reached the door when there was a loud crash, making him almost drop the pole in surprise.

“Is everything alright in there?” he asked, eyes wide.

“Ye’,” came a grumble after a moments pause.

“I found something to move the debris over here!” he called. “Just give me a couple of minutes to move some of this stuff.” He looked at the larger chunk and placed the pole underneath it for leverage. “How’s it going on your end?”

“Fin’,” came the huff.

Jo just took the answer in stride, focusing more on clearing his side. It would probably take a little bit longer than he originally thought, but he could still do it.

He was jostled out of his thoughts when he heard a yelp from the other side and another large crash. His eyes widened and he paused to stare at the door again.

“Is everything okay in there?” he questioned, a little scared to hear the answer. “I thought I heard something.” He trailed off.

“Pea’ch’,” came a growl. “No’ ‘urry up ov’r ‘er, th’s sid’ ‘s cle’r.”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” he retorted, annoyed at the tone of voice. It wasn’t like he was a fireman or anything.

“G’ fas’r.”

He let out a loud sigh. “What are you in such a rush for?”

“Th’ ce’lin’ lo’ks’ li’k ‘ts goin’ t’ co’apse.”

Jo just stood there in shock, staring wide-eyed at the door. He was surprised the squeak swelling up inside him didn’t come out. “Shit!” He turned back down towards the debris and started throwing it across the room as fast as he could, not carrying where it fell. “You should have told me sooner!”

“Jus’ hur’y up,” came the annoyed response.

Jo didn’t let the tone of voice get to him again, instead focusing on getting as much stuff out of the way as possible. He finally got down to the last chunk. Mustering all his strength, he picked it up with a grunt, and threw it aside with all his strength.

There was a loud crash as the debris landed on the stairs and proceeded to decent the stairwell. Praying that no one was on the stairs, he turned back to the door. “It’s close enough over here. Stand back.”

He braced himself before slamming himself against the door. It groaned with protest, but didn’t open. Making a noise of frustration, he slammed himself against the door again. It shuddered, but didn’t move. With an almost animalistic growl, he slammed into the door as hard as he could.

The door slammed open, making a loud crunch as it hit the wall behind it. He stumbled in the room, barely able to keep his balance. After catching his footing, he looked up and his jaw dropped.

There in front of him was Kaiba. However, it wasn’t the fact that the CEO was still in the building; it was the state the man was in that shocked Jo.

Kaiba’s hair was matted to his head crusted there by what he assumed was blood. He looked pale, dark circles sticking out in contrast against his wan face. His eyes went down Kaiba’s body to the foot he seemed to be favoring and flinched, pushing away a wave of nausea. ‘God,’ he thought. ‘That’s not normal.’

The groan snapped him out of his trance. “Jonouchi.”

He looked back up at the face, jaw sliding down this time. “Kaiba?!”

The ceiling above them shuddered again and dust fell upon them. His eyes went to the ceiling then to Kaiba. “Okay, time to go!” He strode over to the frail looking CEO. He wrapped his arm around Kaiba’s back and grabbed his arm with his other hand to move it over his own neck. “Come on.”

He felt Kaiba lean against him, but he was paying more attention to getting out of the room. The ceiling crackled again, and he sped up some more, practically dragging Kaiba to the door.

“Just a little bit further,” Jo whispered more to himself than to Kaiba. There were at the door when he heard the sickening crunch and he knew there was only a couple of seconds for them. He threw himself and Kaiba out the door just when the ceiling came down upon the ground.

Dust flew everywhere and for a moment Jo couldn’t see. He heard groaning next to him and he looked to the side to see Kaiba glaring at him.

“What?” Jo asked, confused. “What’d I do?”

Kaiba just let out a sigh and got to a sitting position. “Le’ ju’s go ‘lre’dy.”

Jo winced, realizing it was worse hearing Kaiba slur the words in front of him. It just sounded wrong. Getting up, he helped Kaiba to his feet, careful to avoid the injured leg. Going into position as a makeshift crutch, he helped Kaiba hobble to the stairs. The stairs looked daunting from Jo’s perspective.

“Erh, we can do this,” Jo encouraged, earning a scoff from Kaiba. “Lets just take it slow.” He paused. “Real slow.”

~~~

A large man walked through the streets cluttered with people buying trinkets and souvenirs at the bazaars and outlets. So it came as no surprise than no one gave a second glance as the man suddenly veered off the main road into a deserted alley.

Taking large strides, he quickly reached his destination. He stopped and leaned against the wall, turning back towards the main road.

A small shadow appeared next to the large man, and a tan hand moved out to give the him an envelope. “Bobosa,” came the deep, rich voice. “I’m afraid I need you once again. The time is coming and we must make sure it happens precisely as it happened before.”

Bobosa did not take the envelope, questioning his will to take the task, before looking back at the man. “If time repeats itself, shouldn’t we be doing something to stop it?”

“No,” came the sharp reply. “You must not mess with the events. They must happen exactly as they happened before. You must do this.” The shadow shifted. “There is a plane ticket in the envelope. You must be on that plane.”

Bobosa did not hesitate this time and he grabbed the envelope. He did not even give a second glance to the man that had given him his assignments. It was his job now, and he could only follow the orders blindly, giving a silent prayer that his work would someday –somehow- change lives.

The shadow moved into the light revealing a slender man wearing white robes and a turban. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer. “Time and time again it will repeat while the sky slowly turns Blood Red.”

Twenty-nine days : Twenty hours: Two seconds

~~~

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