Light and Darkness

Light and Darkness

An eternity.

That's what today felt like to him. Around him the world seemed to have shut down completely, all hurly-burly of city life suddenly drowning in silence and falling into momentary oblivion. To him it felt as if time itself had also sunk into an eternal slumber. Even the bright illumination of the sun, representing light and hope for him, had apparently been taken prisoner by the dark blue sky, helplessly surrounded by an iron curtain of fog and an impenetrable tower of threateningly dark clouds, unable to ever appear again. Only raven-black darkness remained, joining hands with the deafening sound of silence.

As usual he was seated in one of those uncomfortable and antique-looking chairs in the public library again, reading a novel or at least trying to. Pretending to. And failing miserably. He had intentionally created an invisible barrier around himself, separating his own world swimming in blood and death from the ordinary peaceful world the other people belonged to, isolating himself from real life as much as the spacious conditions of the reading room would allow. He wasn't one of them but only a spectator, watching the normal world from a distance. It was like watching a movie or a play at a theater. A perfect fictional world you could escape to from time to time. But you couldn't interact with the actors or change the storyline.

Nonetheless this place had always been a sanctuary for him and the only quiet spot in a city being swallowed up by constant pandemonium everywhere. This was like a home for him, somewhere he felt safe. Only here he could reflect thoroughly on all the events that had recently been rolling over him like a giant wave of terror carrying away everything and everyone he cared for. The reading room was an intellectual heart endlessly pumping knowledge, education and culture through its veins, to supply all major organs with the oxygen of sophistication and wisdom while removing waste such as ignorance, loneliness and sorrow... This peaceful, academic universe always calmed him down, here he could find inner peace and let his guard down, at least a little. That's why he always came back here in the end.

On normal days his mind worked flawlessly like a computer. Total recall, a perfect memory for even the smallest details, reading information, processing it and saving it in different categories, never forgetting anything he had ever read. He had always been quick to analyze any given information and drawing the right conclusions by seeing patterns others couldn't comprehend. That's why he had survived until now, always anticipating his opponent's next moves and using that information to turn the tables in his favor. For him it had always been as natural as breathing in his cruel world, like a game of chess, a skill that he had taken for granted.

But unfortunately today was not a normal day by any means. At least not to him. This evening Eiji would return to Japan where he'd finally be safe. That's why his mind was always wandering off and why he was checking his watch lying on the table for the millionth time already. Time was apparently standing still. Or at least going by in very slow motion. His watch's ticking sounds were roaring mercilessly in his ears, echoing as loud as gunshots, tormenting him endlessly. Time was clearly mocking him, laughing at him, ridiculing him, signaling him that his futile endeavor to distract himself wouldn't be working. He had been reading the same passage over and over again. His vision became more and more blurred and unfocused because his mind was recalling too many awful memories from the last few days. His eyes were overflown with flashbacks dancing in front of his vision, completely oblivious to the text. Damn!

His latest mission to rescue Max and the other hostages had been a suicide mission from the start. Even with Cain's and Sing's help they were completely outnumbered. He hadn't actually expected to get out of there alive, only hoping to free the hostages before his demise. Of course he hadn't told Sing and Cain that... He had hoped at least they would survive since, unlike him, they hadn't been marked as the primary target. If Blanca hadn't suddenly switched over to their side he'd be dead by now for sure ...