Tares City

89. Contact With The Dead

ARROW BERLIN

"You have more coming your way, fast. They're reinforcements! Get out of there!" Arrow hears Kero say through the comms.

"No, no, we haven't even gotten close to what we came here for," Arrow responds, moving forward.

"Kid, this ain't gone end well for none of us! I can guarantee that. Fall back and we can hit again."

"No! They'll move or reinforce security and make it impossible for me to find Rockwell. Or anyone else, for that matter!" She yells back to him over the gunfight. The men of her temporary team shot back at the guards.

"Arrow, use your head! Do you really want to die trying to find this man? Kero argues. "Those are good men you're dragging down with you, Arrow. Are you putting your mission above those men?"

"Kero."

"Turn back now, Arrow. Now! Before you all get boxed in."

"I will lose my chance!"

"You don't even know if he's in there for sure. We will find another way to get to him, but we can't do that if we're dead. If you plan to eat bullets, getting to this man, fine! But give me back my men. Don't know what good this man is to you if you're not even alive to see him..."

Arrow thinks about Kero's words before letting out a curse. "ALRIGHT, FALL BACK! BACK TO THE VAN!" She gives the order. Crouched low and still fitting, Arrow and the men start pulling away from the gunfight, the guards taking a step towards them for each step they take back. A pained scream sounds from her side as one of them flies back from the bullet's impact. "SHIT! MAN DOWN!" the other yells as he grabs his friend's shirt and pulls him to cover behind a post.

"We need to break away from their sight. We can't get to the van with them on our tail like this. Break right, and help him to the van. I'll draw their fire and circle back. I'll meet you by the van," Arrow says to them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, get ready to move."

~ The ride back to the town's center was quiet and somber. On her floor lay one of the men, his lifeless body covered by one of his friends' jackets. They lost another too, from the other group. Arrow learned they weren't able to bring his body back with them, much to their regret.

She felt the sting of guilt pierce her. She didn't know any of these men's names and now two were dead. One wouldn't even receive a proper farewell. She felt sick with herself. All that, two lost and for nothing. No one said a word, but she felt as if she could hear their thoughts loud and clear. Kero was right.

~

Arrow apologized and thanked the men during the ride, met with silent head nods of acknowledgment. When Kero dropped her off at her building, all he said to her was "Will be in touch." She wasn't sure if it was her guilt or paranoia, but she saw resentment there.

Entering her room, she stops at the door, frozen by the strange box lying on her bed. She knew she didn't leave it there, and she knew she locked the door and window as well. Entering cautiously, she first checks the entire space before closing her door. She inspects the box before finally deciding to open it, finding a burner phone lying it in.

Taking out the phone, she powers it on, a million questions running through her mind. There was nothing on the device, a brand-new phone by the looks of it. As she was about to place it down, the phone began to ring, startling her.

"Hello." She answers on the third ring.

"Why do you make it a habit to poke your nose in my business?" A slightly familiar yet strange voice replies.

"Who is this?"

"What? Haven't heard my voice in so long you forget what your uncle sounds like?"

"Uncle Elmaan."

"Why are you causing problems for me, Arrow?"

"I thought you were dead for some time, you know? I haven't heard from you in so long. You just disappeared on me," Arrow says to him.

"And I'm sure you mourned me oh so deeply."

"Where are you, uncle? There is so much you should explain to me."

"Is there?" Elmaan chuckles. "Or is it just nothing that concerns you?"

"What are doing in Xylia?"

"I should ask you the same. You're a long way from the city."

"I'm looking for someone. I won't leave until I find them."

"Who? Is it me, dearest niece?"

"What are you doing here, uncle?" Arrow returns the question instead of giving him an answer.

"I'm looking for someone too."

"That's it? That's the only reason you're here?"

"No, it's not. Who are you looking for?" Elmaam returns.

"Let's meet. I would like to see you. Talk face to face," Arrow proposes to him.

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Elmaan chuckles. "Stay out of my way, Arrow. Or I will remove you myself."

Arrow stares at her phone in shock, not knowing what to think. The threat from her uncle was clear, but she knew she wasn't going to stop no matter what he promised to do to her. She knew he was looking for Rockwell as well, considering what she learned from Vanessa. She also could get that the rest of his business had to do with his creation of L-drugs.

Her uncle was a problem she didn't have a plan for; not that she had much of a plan for everything else thus far.

Deciding to forget about him for now and focus on Vincent, she pulls out the journal Dean had secured for her. Flipping through the pages for a workable lead, she lands on a home address scribbled in read and circled.

~

In a fresh change of clothes and weapons secured and hidden on her person, Arrow heads out. She had no clue what to expect, but she knew she had to do something and explore every avenue.

Managing to find a driver, she gives him the address; the man calling his price before he drove her anywhere.

The house was at the end of a quiet neighborhood at the edge of the town's busyness. What stood before her was not what she expected to see, even though she went there with little expectations.

Tall grass was growing all around the evidently abandoned house. There were missing windows on the structure, and the ones that were still there were broken.

Arrow let out a defeated sigh, seeing that this wasn't the lead, she thought. She was about to turn away when the slightest moment in the upstairs window caught her attention. She strained her eyes to see but was unable to identify anything out of the sort. The dimming light of the sun setting didn't help much either.

Taking her gun out, Arrow heads to the house, walking up the rickety porch to the front door. Slowly she pushes the door open, entering with her gun ahead of her.

She doesn't call out or make any sounds, walking through the house quietly as she searches. She makes her way upstairs, straight to the room where she saw the movement. A gasp escapes her as confusion takes over.

"Little Berlin," He says to her with an exhausted breath.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"