TRIBULATIONS

9.

A knock interrupted his thoughts.

Pierre's dark brown eyes lifted themselves and lingered on the door that had been knocked on. "Who is there?"

"Ravena."

Pierre relaxed visibly, "Come in, Rav."

The door opened, Ravena entered with her uniform she wore when out in the field. She closed the door and bowed slightly at Pierre causing him to shake his head. "I told you to stop doing that, you're my friend. Sit."

He gestured at the chair in front of his desk, Ravena ignored his words and complied. She sat down and sighed, "..It's serious."

Pierre raised an eyebrow at her words, his stomach churned. "..How serious?"

Her lips were in a thin line as she blinked slowly at him. "..Depends on how you interpret the situation."

Pierre had his full attention on her, to make matters worse, his eyes darkened as he beckoned for her to drop the bomb. "Speak."

Ravena lifted a hand to gently tuck her hair behind her ears. "Upsiders traveled through the gateway. The Rowlers; Specifically Brenden, troubled them before I came. One of the Upsiders is heavily injured, he was shot and one of Brenden's men most likely punched at his wound."

"He lost a lot of blood and has a fever. I had Annabelle treat him and the other Upsider is waiting with him. They don't seem to be in good condition." She added.

Pierre thought about the matter, Ravena said most likely because it probably was her senses. Upsiders..?

Something must be wrong with the Upside city, that must've been why Arnold has been contacting Pierre very often for the past few days.

Pierre thought about it and came to a solution. "Let the other rest and bring the other one for questioning. Their story will determine if I should have mercy and let them stay here for the meantime."

Ravena nodded in understatement. She stood up and eyed the stack of paper with the number three marked on it. "..Wait a few weeks, maybe even a month or two, then you may read it."

Pierre wasn't sure if her pitch black eyes were boring into his soul, but that was how it felt like. He wanted to ask how she knew, but forgot that the members, including him, suspected that she was an Alien. Edena was a superhuman and yet her eyes weren't pitch black.

They found Ravena two years ago, then she was suspected to be twenty eight. She was completely naked, blood stained her skin and she was kneeled down as she feasted upon a man's chest. Edena was a superhuman and yet she did not eat humans.

She definitely was an Alien. There were already allegations that Alien's lived upon us. Pierre was certain that this was not her original form.

Books state that centuries ago, People suspected that Aliens or Extra celestials were real. That was in year.. 2023? Even below that year, but that was what Pierre had read. It could be wrong, but who knew.

Ravena smiled at him politely, excused herself and left.

☠

Bennett sat next to Arthur's motionless body with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands propped under his chin. He had a concerned glint in his eyes. It was bizarre how close they've gotten in a short amount of time, here he was, praying that Arthur woke up.

He suspected it had been an hour since the red headed woman left him here with a nice woman named Annabelle.

Arthur shook his head, his eyes were moving while they were closed and he coughed from time to time. If that happened, Bennett would get up and take the water bottle that had a straw in it and he would make sure that Arthur was hydrated enough.

"..Where.." Bennett heard a tiny brittle voice and his eyes immediately snapped back on Arthur's body. His shirt was long discarded and Annabelle wrapped his stomach around with a bandage, the blood seeped through though.

Bennett lowered his voice, careful in-case Arthur was overstimulated. "..Hey.. We made it, we are in the Undercity."

Arthur's lips perked up in a satisfied smile. "..Really? Mh.. That's nice.."

His eyes closed, and he fell into a deep slumber.

Someone gently placed a hand on Bennett's shoulder causing him to jump in his seat, startled. A white headed woman with sharp red eyes and a slim body stood in front of him. Bennett started to worry about his appearance.

He washed himself up two days ago. Arthur and him had walked to the nearest lake, stripped of off their clothes and washed their bodies up. In the mean time, they had already washed their clothes with the water, wrung the water out of the clothes and let them dry under the scorching sun. Although after today, he was sure that he had his better days than today.

Bennett glanced at Arthur's weakened body and the woman sighed. "It won't be long, if something is wrong, Annabelle is here."

Bennett was reassured, so he stood up and followed her.

☠

The white headed woman led Bennett through a shabby hallway.

They stopped in front of a massive pickel green door. Bennett gulped and his eyes stared at the woman who suddenly turned around. She examined his state before saying, "I can't go with you any further."

She walked past Bennett who's eyes followed her retreating figure. He sighed, his hand was shaking as he knocked very loudly.

A low pitched smoky voice answered, "Come in."

Bennett felt his stomach anxiously turn. Hesitantly, he turned the door knob and the door swung open making a creaking noise. Bennett's eyes landed on a burly Man sitting behind a desk. He wore dark blue glasses and his hands were propped under his chin as he intimidatingly looked at Bennett.

The Man was very.. Big. His shoulders were broad, his skin enveloped with eye catching Tattoos. His arms were buff and his veins were protruding but not to the point where it was psychically painful to look at. He wore a white dress shirt, it looked very tight, his nipples were even peaking through the shirt. His brown hair was wavy and puffy, his beard dark brown or black—Bennett wasn't sure. But at least it looked clean and soft. His dark brown eyes kept a watchful gaze on Bennett.

"Sit." The Man commanded. Bennett sat down, and trained his eyes on anything other than the man's intense stare. "What's your name?"

"Bennett Thunderstorm," He looked at the man and carefully added, "Sir."

"Age?"

"Twenty nine."

The Man immediately squinted his eyes questionable at him. "What business do you have in Mispair?"

Bennett's leg was bouncing, he was afraid of the man sitting in front of him. He'd never seen someone with tattoos, let along with this much tattoos!

"We weren't safe in the Upside city. There.. Something happened in the city and we couldn't stay there any longer."

Pierre was curious, the boy, Bennett, seemed like he was telling the truth. So Pierre decided to trust him a little bit. "Explain everything."