CROSSFIELD TRILOGY : Volume No. 01

Chp 02: The Tale Of Tokyo

Mark took a deep breath and gulped down his saliva. Breathing heavily, he glanced sideways and saw the unconcious body of the man at which the first wolf nibbled at.Mark stared in disbelief as the wolf clutched the mans ear tightly and then tore it away, eating it directly. There was nothing he could do for the man or for himself now. Sweet dribbled down his forehead. This was death standing right in his doorstep.

Amidst the bone chilling silence, the wolf who ate the ear spoke in a low, erratic tone,"Save some of  'im for me eh Grazo?"
The wolf named Grazo smiled as he positioned himself in front of Mark. Mark could see the hollowness in his eye sockets, it was pulling him towards the wolf, as if mark was falling down a deep dark tunnel.

The wolf suddenly took a leap, galloping as swiftly as he could towards Mark. This was it, Mark thought. Memories of his mother, Janet, his father all raced through his head for one last time.

THUD!! Mark was knocked down on the grass, as the entire weight of the wolf was pounded upon him. He lay on the side of the road, the wet grass tickling the back of the neck. He did not try to resist in the least, he knew it was of no use. The nearest house he could run ti was about 3 km away from where he was. The wolf placed its front paws on Mark's chest, his saliva dropping down on Mark's windsheeter.He was now completely surrounded and seconds away from being a goner. Mark closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 'Is this how I'm gonna die? Here on a bylane near my hometown with no one to hold my hand? With no one to bid me farewell?'

Suddenly, his right hand felt a bit heavier. Through the very corner of his eye, Mark glanced.
The very hand which had been empty few moments ago, was now holding a long and slender katana (traditional Japanese swords wielded by the samurai) however, there was something about the sword, it felt as of Mark had already seen its hue grey colored fuller and paper thin blade. 'Concentrate, this isn't the time to be thinking about the damned katana' he thought to himself. Mark took a look at the wolf standing on him, he hadn't noticed the sword until now.

This. This was his moment. This was what people called Do or Die in it's TRUE sense. Mark had a chance to survive and ge was gonna do anything he could to make that chance I to the current reality!!

Mark gripped the sword with all his might and thrust it directly into the wolf's chest with as much force as he could.
Blood spurted on all directions as the giant beast's body fell sideways.

"Goddam it, Grazo" the other wolf said as it turned  towards Mark. Mark gulped, clutching the sword harder, prepared for another attack.
However, the wolf stopped abruptly, its chest suddenly bulged open! It fell on the side too, legs moving unusually. It gave a low howl and out of the blue, a dark sort of mist started coming out of the wolf's mouth. Mark watched in horror as the mist collected over the wolf's head and then suddenly vaporized all of a sudden into thin air.
Mark couldn't make head or tail, of what had just happened. He loosened the grip on the sword and turned to look at the unconcious man. However, there was only his cycle lying in the middle of the road, the bad of eggs, still clinging to the handle bars.
"What the heck? Where did he go?" Mark gasped as turned around, his eyes searching for the unconcious body of the man, just lying in front of them, a few moments ago.
                      ________________
  Mark reached home and parked the cycle under the shed. His body dripping with water, he took the bag of eggs in one hand and stared at the other. It was now empty. The sword as vanished just as abruptly as it had first  appeared. 'What if they come back at me?' He thought to himself as the disfigured image of the wolf glaring at him ran through his mind.Mark gave a glance at his watch, it stated 12:15 AM. 'Janet must be in my room now, waiting for me. I'll just tell her to leave. She will understand. She has to.'
He thought to himself. Mark was so engrossed in his thoughts, he had failed to notice the fact that there was absolutely zero movement in the entire neighbourhood.No rustling of the trees, no barking of the neighbour's dog,not even the wind blowing. It was as though the street had been paused.
"I'm home." He announced as the door closed behind him. The house was unusually silent with only the kitchen lights on. 'Great. Just what I wanted, silence at last.'

Under the dim light of the lightbulb Mark climbed the stairs towards his bedroom and made his way to his room.

He opened the door and slowly let out a breath, it was pitch dark. 'Never mind, I'll just switch the lights on' mark kept the bag of eggs on his table and stretched his arms towards the switchboard.

"I'll do that for you !" An unknown, deep voice spoke.

Click!!

Out of the blue, the lights suddenly came on, and Mark saw a dark colored man seated beside his window on his armchair. Considering that he had just been in an encounter with the supernatural, Mark didnt wait to study the mans facial features.
Putting one hand on the knob he twisted it but it didnt even hinge. "What..what have you done to the door?" Mark stammered at the man.
"Dear boy, you have to turn it the other way around for the door to open." The man spoke in a deep but gentle voice.

He did not know why but Mark did as he was told. The door opened and Mark was halfway in the corridor when he stopped abruptly and came back in the room.

"You...you arent here to kill me are you?"

"Oh no, nothing of the sort. Although, I have to admit, my entrance would be enthralling to anyone." He chuckled.

Mark relaxed a bit as he took a step inside the room. He had learnt that the tables could turn anyway and as a result, decided to keep the door open. "Who exactly are you?" He asked gathering every ounce of courage left in his body.

"Tokyo. Tokyo Fizalco, Angelic Department For Human Safety, Sector 5, East Heaven.
I've been assigned to take you in for questioning, Mark Fredrick Jefferson."
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Authors note: I know this chapter was a bit short but I'm planning to stretch the next one a bit more longer to compensate for this one :)