Chapter 3: Chapter Three
He was very surprised that he managed to really enjoy himself in the bar; despite the raw adrenaline he felt fighting alongside David and the others. He has had quite a bit to drink but it is allowed – he cannot remember the last time he has done this.
It is just so good to chill a little sometimes and he is pretty sure that he needs it. Already the relaxation has been enough to make his body realise he is really tired and the aching has begun. He welcomes this, knowing that it is a sign that he has taken things too far of late and has simply blocked out the pain he has been feeling because there simply wasn’t enough time to feel it.
He vows to do this more often. But, like the “I’ll never drink again after that”, hangover vow, he doesn’t manage to keep to it. Of course, there is a story to why he doesn’t but this will come later.
4.
Tuesday 27th April 2010
00:10
Gary cannot, at the moment, comprehend how much trouble Isabelle is actually in. He is still expecting her to come through the door at any moment. This is not likely.
Six minutes after Gary got into the house, she was still where she had been for a couple of hours. By the time Gary starts to really worry about her she is still there. She is currently tied up in the basement of a disused building, struggling in vain to get free with only a vague recollection of events leading up to this moment.
She is not in possession of all the facts either. For instance, she has no idea what her boyfriend’s job entails and how he has become part of a group, led by David Oswald, which stops the people who currently have her imprisoned in the substandard accommodations she is currently residing in.
She also has no idea that the men who grabbed her have had their humanity almost snuffed out by forces of great darkness that she was not even aware existed.
The third and final thing that she does not have a clue about is what they want with her. This is the only thought that is conscious in her mind and, is the thought that is the most frightening to her.
So how did she get here?
She had been walking home a little late after one drink too many (maybe two) with one of her friends from work. The thought highest on her mind was whether or not she would manage to get back to the house before her workaholic boyfriend stumbled in with apologies that he had a lot on at the moment. She had almost not heard the noise that came from the alleyway she passed by.
She did not consider herself to be a very brave person so decided to continue walking on her way. Whatever was going on in there had nothing to do with her and she was sure that it was nothing really. But suddenly she heard a voice that sounded more like the way a snake would speak English, if it were able to do so, than a human voice.
It said her name.
“Isabelle!”
She spun round at the sound of her name, spoken in such a horrifying way. Her body started to cool immediately and goose bumps appeared on her arm. Not that she was even remotely aware of this. Her body had simply numbed. She was not a superstitious person but she did not think that it had sounded remotely human. She had seen enough horror movies with Gary (or not seen them, as the case may be, with her face driven into the crook of his arm, asking for him to tell her when the bad bit was away) to know that this was not a good scenario.
Just about then she spotted something that put a lump in her throat and, in a more rational setting, she would have known for a fact that it couldn’t be her heart. But there was no rationale here right now, in this place. The main street that she was on, usually bustling with life at this time of night, was completely devoid of anyone except for her. It was almost as if there was some sort of bad feeling associated with this street, something that had warned off everyone except for her.
Foolish Isabelle, she thought.
The voice came again, as horrible as before. “Isabelle!”
She is still unsure about whether the voice had rooted her to the spot because the hypnotic snake like sound had transfixed her or it had frozen her with some sort of incomprehensible fear.
Now she struggles with her bonds, fearing that her next few minutes might be her last, spent in a stinking disused basement.
The time that she was transfixed would have been enough to make an escape if she had been able to. But she had stayed too long. Suddenly dozens of pairs of arms shot out from the darkness. She could not make out much but could see that her attackers were which had covered their faces.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone