Heaven, Hell, and Earth

Chapter 34

After a dream like that, there was no way Alastor was going to be able to go back to sleep. It was such a bizarre image. So very realistic and unlike anything his mind has ever created before. Now he had dreamt many times of being able to go outside without anyone staring at him or treating him different, but he had never once dreamt of Charlie like that. He always viewed her as the girl he grew up with. He had never knowingly thought about her as a man thinks of a woman. It made him restless and irritated.

"This is crazy." He thought. "She's a sweet little darling, but nothing I would be attracted to. That isn't to say that she's ugly, I just don't want to view her in that manner.
Even though she has invitingly soft skin, perfectly, silken hair, and cute little eyes that switch between forget me not-blue and garnet-red."

Suddenly he felt flinch from inside.

"I need some air."

He put on a shirt and left his room to walk about the bureau, searching for a window so he could open it up and clear his head. Unfortunately the bureau had very little windows, which at times like these, could be frustrating. How else could you calm yourself if you couldn't get a breath for fresh air?

"I can't believe I'm thinking like this." His thoughts continued. "I can't be falling for Charlie. That's just asking for trouble. Besides, it's not like she'd actually want me. She has this ridiculous obsession with wanting to have a human life. To live in a human world with a human partner. Which is foolish because she's not even completely human. She just looks like one. Point is though, the only way I'd ever have a chance with her was if I could somehow look completely human too. But that's impossible."

He needed a drink. He went to look for Husk's liquor cabinet, which he always kept pad-locked but a long time ago, Alastor figured out how to pop open the back door. He had just swiped a bottle of an especially strong blend when he heard a peculiar noise coming from below. To be precise the underground section of the bureau which was divided up into two levels. The first level was at the very bottom and it was where the world's most dangerous supernatural criminals and monsters were kept locked up for deprogramming. The second was where they kept private information, weapons, and experimenting under wraps.

Alastor feared the maybe there was break in, so he slipped downstairs to investigate. When he reached the second level, he followed the noise into a large room. Or rather, a large lab where machinery mixed, mushed. and mashed ingredients in big vats while data was being recorded via automatic computer. At the center, he spotted Moxxie working over a smaller vat, pouring drips and drabs of ingredients inside.

"Late night experimenting again, old boy?" Alastor called out.

"Ahh!" Moxxie jumped up, startled. "Don't sneak up on me like that. You cause me to make one false move and we could all be blown to the moon!"

"Sorry. But what are you doing down here at this hour?"

"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to make myself useful. I'm working on a formula that's supposed to instantly remove toxic fluids that are injected. Like venom bites or infected wounds. If I get this right, one drop will cause all the toxic fluid to just fizzle and spew out of the wound before contamination can take place."

"Clever."

"Now why are you down here?"

"I had a very odd dream that disturbed me somewhat. I couldn't go back to sleep. Then I heard noise coming from underground and thought we might have a jailbreak."

Alastor casually crossed the floor of the laboratory, approaching the walls which were lined with shelves filled with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Moxxie's completed formulas that he had invented himself. So many bottles and jars full of strange-looking liquid that could either cause great harm or great help. Some were medicines created to cure supernatural ailments. and others were used as weapon fuel or paralyzing poison. Good think Moxxie always remembered to label each one.