บท 41: Murderer?

"Tell me." Secretary-General Barber's voice was calm and empathetic. She sat in a low cushioned chair next to the hospital bed of Carla, who had just awoken.

"What happened to you out there?" Barber's voice fell heavy on Carla's shoulders, bringing tears to the woman's eyes.

"We-we. . ." Carla proceeded to summarize her experience in the Land of Trees. A repetitive story that amounted to living in caves and warily scrounging for food — rarely finding an opportunity to slay an infamous Goblin as, due to running away, Carla and Sister Holly lacked a weapon of any sort.

Only when they felt the rumbling subside did they venture further into the jungle, eventually stumbling upon the dojo they started in alongside the corpses of plenty of people and a sea of Goblins dead beside them.

Noticing a flickering light from the corners of their eyes, the two starved women followed the light and discovered a woman they were all too familiar with and a man they'd never seen before.

From up on the ridge they stood upon, Sister Holly and Carla gazed down at the infestation of writhing green flesh below them. The disgusting Goblins hoarded upon each other, mutilating their brethren's flesh and bone in any attempt to reach the pink flesh that fluttered above their heads.

Encased in glistening light, Olive, Leon and Summer soared through the vast jungle trees when an arrow pierced Summer's shoulder and sent her spiraling towards a Goblin infested tree trunk.

Sister Holly and Carla watched the scene unravel itself in disbelief. Olive thrust her knife towards Summer's bosom, tearing her clothes from her body before further desecrating the woman's supple skin.

Olive cut herself and spread her blood across Summer's bare chest.

An explosion of blue light followed and the two voyeurs were forced to close their eyes, lest they go blind. When they reopened them, they caught sight of the demon they swore to hunt.

Cain appeared in the air beside Olive, his black arms thinned and straightened before plummeting towards the Goblin horde like a comet from space. Cain slammed into the feral beasts and unearthed some type of smoke as black clouds began to devour the jungle floor and all within it.

By the time the black clouds dissipated, nothing was left of the Goblin horde beside a few stragglers and a current of fresh blood that flowed down the jungle hillside and dripped into the Enchanted River far off in the distance.

Terrified, the two women ran.

Weeks passed before they dared exit their cave — petrified at the thought of running into him, of encountering a demon of slaughter — horrified of running into Cain.

But starvation got the best of them. There was so much fresh meat wasting away in the jungle! Spoiling under the rays of the sun!

So they forced themselves to return and, after triple-checking that the coast was clear, scrounged for some food. Day after day, the two women collected various pieces of flesh and strengthened themselves until eventually following the tracks of blood that led further into the jungle.

A few days later, Sister Holly and Carla discovered the black pyramid and the horrific state it was left in. Rotting carcasses littered the premises. Ash and bone painted the landscape all while bugs and maggots paraded vicariously.

It took a few attempts to make it to the bottom of the pyramid due to the thickness of the air and the stench that haunted it, but the two persevered and stepped into the Gate that led them home.

Eyes sunken in, fear tugging at her heartstrings, Carla begged the Secretary-General before her.

"You cannot let that monster roam free!!" Carla nearly screamed, her heart-rate increasing dramatically alongside a loud 'beep' that tracked it.

"He's dangerous!! He's a vicious, DISGUSTING demon! You must kill him!" Snot and drool ran down Carla's weathered face — the jungle had left her broken.

In response to Carla's fanatic performance, Barber merely smiled softly and grabbed hold of Carla's hand. Squeezing it firmly, Barber looked into her eyes and reassured her.

"I promise to do everything in my power to do what's right. Your words will no longer go unheard. I'm here for you, Carla. We're here for you." Barber smiled once more before releasing Carla's hand and exiting the recovery room.

The moment the door closed behind her, Barber's face erupted into a scowl. She shot a glare towards her audience, the three burly men who stood on the other side of the one-way glass.

"You better have a good excuse for why Olive Flinn's murder wasn't in the report, Sutton!"

"Especially because one of your 'men' happened to be there!" Barber's gaze grew vindictive.

The General of the US Marines, a black man with a wide build, broad shoulders, and a stern face pulled up a file on the smartpad he had in his hands.

"Leon Drayton —" General JJ Smith summarized their report of the young man, "freshman in college, prodigy baseball player with a D1 scholarship, he was actually one of the most forthcoming Awakeneds. A lot of our detailed information came from him."

"I have to agree!" Admiral Adams spoke fast, "Leon always followed orders with precision! He is an excellent soldier in the making!"

"He lied to us, Sutton!" Barber barked.

Just when the tension reached its peak in the cramped observatory, the First Sea Lord decided to mention an overlooked point.

"Couldn't it have been the girl? Or I suppose, the demon?"

SG Barber glared at Sea Lord Brown while Admiral Adams praised his commander in his heart.

"Olive Flinn, Olive Flinn. . ." General JJ skimmed her file.

"Orphan from New York, no criminal history, uncooperative in the interviews, and yet highly revered by the other Awakened."

"Olive is a tricky one!" Admiral Adams spat.

"Oh?" Barber commented from the side, hinting at the Admiral to continue.

"She's got a fiery temper and a natural tendency to question authority. She finds it hard to trust others so prefers to work by herself, but most of all, she possesses grit. She refuses to yield to anything or anyone." The Admiral surmised his experience with the young girl.

"She's an orphan for crying out loud! Of course she doesn't trust anybody!" Barber rubbed her temples.

'Men!' She screamed in her mind.

"What I want to know is why she'd kill someone — especially her supposed girlfriend!" Barber narrowed her scope of question for the idiot Admiral.

"Clearly the jungle broke some of them —" Sea Lord Brown added, "and from what it sounds like, Miss Summer was bound to die regardless. Olive could have seen it as granting mercy."

"And that includes stripping her clothes and spreading her blood over her?" Barber snapped, "You're all hopeless!"

"It was a sacrifice." General JJ connected the dots.

"Bingo!" Secretary-General Barber applauded before further announcing her thought process.

"The reports all coincide that Cain disappeared for multiple months, months in which Miss Flinn hunted alone. Then, when desperate times came-a-knocking — Cain reappeared not only larger, but also insurmountably stronger than when he vanished."

Secretary-General Barber paused and studied the reactions of the three men around her.

"Okay, but then why didn't Leon report it?" Sea Lord Brown asked.

"Who knows." Barber shook her head, "The two could be working together. Miss Flinn could possess some sort of mind-altering or illusion based Ability and if not, then Cain could possess one. From the reports, Cain has already demonstrated at least three Abilities — he's clearly in another league from the human Awakened."

"Illusion…?" Admiral Adams muttered to himself.

"General JJ, pull up Church's file." Admiral Adams interrupted.

"Church O'Brien. A U.S. Army Veteran, retired Ranger, served six years before requesting permanent leave after HQ fed him false info… leading to the deaths of half his squad. No marital record on file and no descendants. Has a mother in up-state Missouri." General JJ summarized.

"His Ability you oaf!" Sutton growled.

"Reported to have —" General JJ paused as he saw the length of Church's threat analysis "also killed a man during the fifth summoning… and can wield a massive snake made of smoke and create explosions from bones?"

"That's the fascinating part —" Admiral Adams expanded, "I was part of group five and the man Church killed didn't exist!"

The three adults gave the Admiral odd looks.

"Don't look at me like that!" Sutton protested, "I was too panicked to see it at the time, but I kept a record of group five from the moment we hit the pyramid and our numbers were correct. All fourteen of us were present. The man Church killed could not have been real or, at the very least, could not have been part of our summoning."

"A man who's shown multiple Abilities without ever confirming a single one of them with somebody else…" Barber thought aloud.

"Or an Ability so versatile that its effects can vary so much." Sea Lord Brown finished Secretary-General Barber's thoughts, "Such as illusions."

"Fox!" Barber shouted randomly in the observatory room.

Not a moment later, a man in black burst into the room and lowered his head towards the Secretary-General.

"Your orders?" The man code-named 'Fox' asked.

"I want surveillance on Isaac Carlin, Church O'Brien, Lily Atwool, Olive Flinn, Leon Drayton, and most importantly, I want eyes on Cain! I want to know when they eat, when they sleep, who they talk to, where they go!"

"I. Want. Everything."

"Understood?" Barber ordered.

"Yes, Secretary-General!" And Fox bolted out of the room.

"And Sutton —" Barber stared viciously into the Admiral's eyes, "go talk to your boy!"

***

Meanwhile, halfway around the planet, Cain and Olive's flight finally landed.

Stepping off of the commercial airplane, the sun above scorched their skin and cooked the air. With an endless sea of sand awaiting them, Cain adorned a pair of aviators and strode through the Egyptian airport.

Hailing a local taxi, Cain's skin sizzled against the obscenely hot metal from his seat-belt.

Beside him, and sweating profusely through her tank-top already, Olive glared at the pale demon next to her.

"Egypt?" She pestered.

"Really?"

"What?" Cain asked, innocent.

"Can't handle the heat?" Cain teased.

"Don't like Egyptians? Oh my god are you racist??" Cain gave her an exaggerated expression.

"What are we doing here?" Olive asked sternly, ignoring Cain's teasing.

"Well you see…"

'Not only does this place check my sightseeing box, but it's also home to some of the most gruesome tragedies and unjust deaths in Earth's history! Surely a Lost Soul jackpot!' Cain answered himself in his head.

'But what do I tell Olive?' Cain mused.

'Although I taught her about Runes and Circles, the concept of 'affinities,' and mentioned the name of my trustworthy servant, Baku, I decided not to tell Olive anything about my unique System.'

'Not the Shop or the Domain — as far as Olive's concerned, when I teleport I'm supposedly going back to Hell… not some stingy cabin in the middle of nowhere. I also didn't teach Olive about the difference between mana and Spirit since — it sort of feels like bragging.'

'It feels good being humble.' Cain smirked.

"We're here to look for Lost Souls. I'm curious to see if any are here from ancient times."

Olive felt the sweat drip down her back. She already had swamp-ass between her legs and sweat stains under her breasts.

She was dying.

'Why did I come?' Olive cursed.

///LostNoteFound///

Thanks for the power stones! Romance_guy, hooverfh, and DevilGod_of_Chaos! You guys (presumably) are very cool and I bet you get mad cash-money ':)