Seer: The Blessed Child

Clocks

Wolf, with a bomb squad in tow, arrived outside the Starlet home to inspect the mysterious box.

Sachi along with a fidgety Nozomi, stood across the street, watching as a squad member, wearing layered body armor that looked like a green spacesuit, carefully handled the box.

For public safety, police had sealed off the street for ingoing and outgoing traffic. Curious neighbors peered out from their windows.

To her chagrin, Sachi saw a news truck parked a few blocks away with a cameraman filming the scene. She shielded her face in hopes that she wouldn't appear on camera.

Her phone in her purse rang. Fearing that it could trigger the device inside the box, she didn't answer it. Seconds later, her phone vibrated with a text message notification.

What's going on? I couldn't get through because the police sealed off the street.

"That's right Kael," she muttered. "He was going to come back to help me study." She quickly typed a reply.

I found a suspicious box outside my house. Police are checking to see if it's a bomb. I'll call you later to talk about it.

After being given an all-clear signal, Wolf crossed the street. He stomped across the pavement cursing under his breath. "The ticking sound in the box wasn't from a bomb. It's an alarm clock," he said. "This was someone's idea of a sick joke."

At the news, Sachi shuddered. She gripped her mother's trembling hand. "It's okay, mom," she said in a reassuring voice. Still trembling, Nozomi nodded.

Wolf watched with sorrow as the woman flicked her eyes back and forth anxiously. This had no doubt triggered a setback in her recovery. "I spoke with Lars. He's on his way," he mumbled, trying to ease her anxiety.

Sachi grimaced having forgotten to call her father. She wondered how this latest incident would affect him. "Just when we were finally putting our lives back together after everything."

"Who would do something like this?" she said. She thought long and hard of who could be the culprit. One group came to mind. "It has to be one of those damn Time Clockers. They're obsessed with the Time Clock Killer."

Wolf shook his head. "I'm not so sure it's them. We never made public the information about the clock at the scene of Inoue's abduction. It's most likely some sick fool trying to get their jollies off. Some will do anything for fifteen minutes of fame." "By harassing my family," Sachi fumed. "This isn't funny."

Understanding his goddaughter's outrage, Wolf thought up a plan. "I have a suggestion though you may not like it. Until the attention dies down, maybe for a few weeks, you should stay at a hotel."

The thought of having to uproot their lives only infuriated Sachi further. "No," she said, her voice raw with fury. "We can't stop our lives and let someone run us out of our home. I refuse to live in hiding."

"It was just a suggestion," Wolf said immediately regretting bringing it up. It was something that he had wrestled within his mind after Nozomi's name was mentioned in a news report bringing unwanted attention to the Starlet family.

He also had another selfish reason. He didn't want Sachi's clairvoyance to be exposed. If that fact ever got out, she can forget about ever having a normal life.

As the bomb squad cleared the scene, Wolf noticed a silver Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with tinted windows parked a few blocks down. In all the times he's driven on this street, he had never seen that car before. He made a mental note to write it down in his notepad was in the glove compartment of his Mustang.

Sniffles turned his attention away from the vehicle. Sachi held her weeping mother in her arms. Stroking her hair, she whispered in her ear. Though his goddaughter was trying to be strong, Wolf could see that she, too, was suffering just as much.

It was at that moment that he made a promise to himself. He would track down and find whoever sent that box. He would make them regret it for the rest of their miserable life.