Hostel M2

M2-Part XV

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Under the still moon skulking the sky, sirens blared around the building of the prestigious Hostel M2. The flashing red lights bounced off the walls of building with static radio sounds and scattered conversations being heard around. Masked men in fire hazard suits walked back and forth the building as the cops patrolled the scene.

Seated at the rear of an ambulance van were Henry and Professor Parker who was being taken care of by a medical staff. His arm had been bruised with several cuts resulting from the splinters of glass while he had tried carrying the body of Marcello out of the building. Henry had a pack of ice over his forehead which ached badly from all the commotion of the night.

Two ambulance vans had left the school earlier, carrying the priest and Chris. Nobody could tell for sure what the fate of the two was considering the state in which they were before they had been taken away. Chris had remained quite lifeless since the possession and in Henry's head, he still replayed Chris' growling voice of rage and the image of his blackened eyes still possessed his imaginations.

"Happy now?"

Henry turned his gaze up to see the blurry image of a figure standing before him which was dressed in fluffy sweaters and a head gear to go with it. It took him some seconds before he could finally recognize Detective Miles who had his hands buried in his side pockets.

Henry looked away without a word; it wasn't the perfect time to start drawing conclusions, not with the resounding of Chris' roar playing in his head. From the corner of his eyes, he could see his professor weary look as he stared into thin air.

"I heard your friend fell victim this time," the detective continued after he had taken the cue of their silence, "friends! I did mean to say."

Professor Parker swallowed at the detective's comment, he signaled to the medic he was fine and he could leave and then glanced at his arm covered in bandage before picking up his jacket off the floor of the van's rear.

"I'm sure you both know you got a lot of explaining to do regarding this mess." Detective Miles pulled his hands out of his pockets, "how long would this have to carry on? Taking the law into your hands and putting lives at risk," he scoffed, "you could get sued for-"

"Shut up Detective," Henry muttered, cutting the officer off. Professor Parker turned to him quite surprised at Henry's reply. A wave of pain shot through his head as he rose from where he sat, ice pack in one hand.

"If there's anyone getting sued, it'll definitely be you and your wife here for not getting on top of your game," Henry said, nodding in the direction of the approaching Detective Maloney. "If you had fished out the 'inside man' by now, maybe this wouldn't have happened, right?"

Henry scoffed, "I sure would love to listen to your own version of what must've gone on here today, perhaps 'inside man' caused a landslide?"

"At least I'm not the one who lost a friend here today!" the officer said with a raised eyebrow. Without a warning, Professor Parker's fist connected with the officer's jaw, knocking the breath out of him.

"Hey!!!!" Detective Maloney yelled and then picked up the pace to where his partner stood with his face cupped in his palms as he cursed under his breath. "We got a problem here?"

Henry smirked and then dropped the pack of ice back into the ambulance van. "Yes, we're all good here."

Maloney looked at his partner who had a bruised lip now and then back to the duo of professor and student who left the scene without another word. The two made their way away from the hostel which had news vans, patrol teams, fire service buses and ambulance vans pitched in front of it. The temperature had dropped further and winter's darkness enveloped the earth.

"That was one punch you threw there," Henry said as they got into warmth of the car. The thought of it made the corner of his lips want to twitch in a smile.

"Marcello would've gone farther," the professor replied with a disturbed mind and a weary heart. He gave a heavy sigh before sliding the keys into the keyhole. A call came through; he looked at the picture of the beautiful woman being displayed on the phone's screen with caller ID Lara before ending the call. The engines revved and they crawled of the parking lane towards the exit, heading for the hospital.

The ride was an almost silent one, except for the humming sound of the car's engine as they sped through the roads. No radio, no loud music over the earphones, no conversations or even Chris' absurd ramblings, just turns and halts at the traffic lights for the next twenty minutes that followed. After what seemed like eternity, they arrived at the county's hospital. Professor Parker led the way in, after a little conversation with the lady at the reception; they took a seat at a corner of the sparsely populated waiting room. For a while, no one said anything to one another until the professor finally broke the silence.

"They've been in the E.R since they got here." Professor Parker ran his sweaty palms through his hair in anxiety which he tried pretty much to control, "he'll probably have to go through surgery or something."

Henry allowed the lump to pass through his throat before he spoke again, "he'll be fine, professor."

"Of course," Professor Parker scoffed, "of course he'll be fine. Marcello's one tough idiot, always has been."

"How long have you known the man?"

"I lost track of that." They both burst into a short fit of laughter before Professor Parker continued, "I grew up in a small community in Alaska, Chena, just at the outskirts of Fairbanks now. Nice little town it was but no one moved in or left, until a small Texan family pulled up a few yards from the farmhouse where we lived. Marcello was first out of the car and after a quick look around him, the fella yelled in excitement," Professor Parker gave a smile, "in that instant, I knew I had found the perfect partner for all my adventures."

"Good to know the man did have his days because I don't see that smile no more," Henry said, smiling.

"I know," he paused, "things changed when he claimed he could relate with the nether realms."

"Must've been creepy to hear that."

Professor Parker nodded, "it was. My wife made me promise to stay away from him, said it was better for both his safety and ours but the truth is, Marcello had always had my back. She'll kill me when she finds out what happened."

"I won't want to witness that talk."

"Me too."

There was an outstretched silence between them except for the slight sound of the television. Henry watched an elderly woman being led to her room to get his mind off the question which bugged his mind but as hard as he tried, it still overpowered him.

"What do we do about-" he heaved a sigh, "-the apparition?"

The professor sat up right from his slouched position on the chair before he answered with sheer determination in his voice.

"I just accepted the devil's offer into the ring, and I hope he can roll."

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