Visions of the Visor

Chapter 1b

The nights were quiet with no people brave enough to wonder the streets and the rails having all shut down for the curfew. It was only the Vertigo who populated the streets and even they, in their packs, were few and far between. Ethan had a gift and his gift was a crime that would send him to the Halls of Detainment for the rest of his life if he were caught. And he knew, somehow, as if from an old ancient source, that gifts should be nurtured not suppressed. So not only did Ethan use his gift, he also went as far as doing it in public. He took an even bigger risk and on some nights he would go out after curfew with his sketchbook in hand and find a place to nurture his talent. At night no one could see him committing his crime, and he found it easier to sense when Vertigo were in the area. At home Ethan had boxes packed with drawings and filled with sketchbooks. And there were times when he saw things that did not make sense to him and he wondered if he was the only who saw them. And so the sketchbooks began to fill.

Earlier today when Ethan was walking home from his factory job, he swore he saw the oddest thing. It was a little girl who strangely seemed out of place. It appeared as if no one took any notice of her and she took no notice of anyone. And no matter how hard, how long, he stared at her she would not look over at him. It was as if she was absorbed in her own world. At first Ethan was not sure what she was doing, but the longer he watched her he finally began to understand. She would take this stone and toss it out in front of her, but not too far, and then jump along on foot then two, then back to one again and so on. And when she reached the stone she stopped and picked it up. After ten little jumps like this she would turn around and repeat the whole process. Ethan realized she was playing hopscotch; it was one of those things that had been lost, it was from the time before. The time no one remembered. This is what made the little girl so enchanting.

When the curfew had descended upon the city, Ethan slipped out from his apartment home and took to the streets. Usually he would head for the underground to go to the rave where he could sit and sketch all night and into the morning, watching people, and not having to worry about the Vertigo. But tonight he braved the empty streets to return to where he saw the girl, to sketch what he saw, though he knew she would be gone. Sitting on the curb across the street from where he saw her, he still pictured her, her hair in curls with a ribbon in the back, and in a dress of the kind that no one had worn in a long, long time. She was barefoot and yet her feet were as clean as if she had just taken off her socks. Ethan drew the girl several times, but never did he see her face, nor could he image what it would have looked like.

A sound came from the alley, and Ethan lifted his head, stiffening. He rose slowly to his feet fearing the Vertigo were near. He took a cautious step out into the street to look down the alley. He felt his heart pulsing in him, his breath locked up within his throat. A small cat gingerly stepped out from behind a dumpster, its color hidden in the darkness, and then ran across the alley disappearing on the other side. Ethan wilted with relief and he knew it was time he headed back home. Drawing in a breath he turned back to cross the rest of the way across the main street. But as he did so he turned right into the face of a small child. Her face was white with blue rings around her eyes. She had a bullet hole to the temple, which had ceased to bleed. Ethan jumped back startled beyond belief, his sketchbook dropping to the ground.

"OH shit!" he said unable to get his breath back. Then he realized it was his faceless girl from earlier that day.

"Get away from here!" she gasped.

She began to pull straight back from him as Ethan only had a moment before he heard the detainment siren go off. He looked back down the alley as the shadows of three Vertigo caught his eye. "Shit--". The girl was gone and Ethan took off running for his life.