HOMEOSTASIS

Chapter III

"Blameless, I'll shatter through the glare."

⦻⦻⦻

His name is Michael. Not like it matters, but it's good to have a lead on their suspect. They can't scare him off.

Kate is nowhere to be found. Her phone is long dead, so they had to move along without her.

Michael woke up inside the van. They'd parked in a rural area, so nobody would hear or see him. Not like he could move around a lot, considering his fragile state, but he sure gasped and screamed as he banged one of his weak hands against the van's doors when he looked forward and was met with three masked men. They were silent, but the one with the goggles twitched every now and then.

"P-please don't hurt me! You're with him, aren't you?! Please- please!"

"Calm down, kid." Tim- no. Masky- started. "Look, we're not going to hurt you, okay? We're just after the person who did this to you. Can you tell us how everything started?"

Michael, still panting and body curved in fear, stared at them for a couple of minutes before finally taking a deep breath.

"Uhm... I-I don't know. My parents left for vacation, so I've been very scared, lately... It's not the first time they left me home alone, but it was still scary. I was sleeping in my room, and suddenly, I heard the window opening. I was sure I had locked it, but then I saw a shadow by my bed. I thought it was dad or something but with the street-light, I saw this really weird man... His eyes were wide and staring down at me, as if he had no eyelids. His skin was like... burnt. A-And he had this carved grin on his face too!"

"Carved grin?"

"Yes. As if it had been cut... He was wearing a white hoodie and his hair was black like his jeans and- please, please, just get me back!"

"We'll get you b-back, we promise." Toby replied. "You're giving us a lot of helpful details. D-Did he say anything to you?"

"He just told me to go to sleep and then stabbed me in the stomach..."

"He told you to go to sleep... when you were already sleeping? That makes zero sense."

"I swear I'm telling the truth! You have to believe me!"

Masky looked back at Hoodie for a response he wasn't sure he'd receive, but his head nodded slightly and that's all he needed to know.

"Alright. Thanks, kid. This mean man has been taking lots of lives and we plan on stopping him. You've been very helpful." As Hoodie started the car, Toby made sure to explain to the boy their next step.

"W-We're- shit!- we're gonna take you back to the hospital. If someone asks where you were, you say wh-whatever the hell you want, as long as it doesn't involve us. G-Got it?" Michael nodded profusely, holding his knees up to his chest in fear.

Alright, they have lots of information, and they're sure Kate's got more. They just need to find her.

⦻⦻⦻

They went back to the apartment complex after dropping Michael off. Of course, a whole commotion was still taking place, at both the hospital and the street.

The three proxies were watching carefully, trying to spot a white-hooded young woman, but to no avail. Kate was most likely gone already, but there was something Tim couldn't quite figure out... A strange figure was watching from a small alley. He had a bad feeling about it all, so he decided to keep a close eye on them.