I watched myself slaughter Xavier, who did nothing but beg me for his life. I couldn't have been more confused. My head was throbbing like another heart. Though, I didn't like hearts. They were beyond annoying. Gross and repetitive. Like this headache, perpetuated by the atrocious images of blood and brains and death flashing through my mind. 

I snapped back into the world, the scenery slowly disintegrating. I was sitting on the bench again, looking at Xavier. I felt like myself again. But I felt like there were more than one me. 

Xavier looked at me, confused. But I couldn't look him back in the eyes. Not that I didn't want to; he wasn't an ugly guy. It was just that I kept ... I kept seeing his corpse. 

He leaned in, inching closer to me. "What's the matter? Are you okay? "Did I say something ... wrong?" He was definetly concerned; but so was I. 

What was the meaning of what I had seen? I didn't know. I shook my head. But whatever it was ... it felt familiar. Close. Intimate. Like I had witnessed it before. Expect of course, I was in truth not the witness but the perpetrator. 

'Is this some sort of Deja Vu?' I mused to myself. I was steering at the floor. But I was so focused and lost in my thoughts that I couldn't see anything at the moment. I wasn't seeing a floor. 

This was not the first time I'd witnessed this phenomenon. In fact, it had been hours since I first started feeling a familiarity to all of this. It was a tad too strange. I couldn't stress how familiar it was. Foreboding. But no ... it couldn't have been. It didn't feel like a glimpse of the future. It somehow ... felt like the past. 

"Ash," Xavied called. 

I gave my gaze to him. "I'm ... I'm fine ... I just- I just remembered something."

Xavier snorted. "You just remembered something and looked like you saw a ghost. I don't know; should I believe that?"

I scratched behind my head. "I'm fine. You have my word." In truth, I was the exact opposite of fine; which obviously meant it was an obvious lie.

Xavier stood. "I'm looking to leave. I don't know where I'm going. But don't we all?"

I looked up at him. "What about your sister? How are you gonna get her back?"

Xavier sighed. "I honestly don't know. I burned the place down and got Christopher in trouble. I think he still holds resent for me. Who knows? Maybe he even got fired."

"Then that means," I said, "you ruined your own chances. I'm sure you know well Christopher was the only person who could have helped you."

Xavier averted his eyes. "I knew that. But I blew it. It's too late now—things don't always go the way you want them to. Christopher was up to something. Plotting against that organization. He probably still is. Maybe he'll get himself new candidates; granted his previous one was nowhere to be seen and the available one almost burned all his chance of framing the organization."

Those mentioned points weren't in our favors at all. I had no idea what I was going to do. How was I supposed to help Xavier get his sister back. She wasn't biological. But she meant a lot to him. I wanted to get her back; but Xavier seemed a little ... reluctant.

What did he see in that organization? 

What was in that organization? 

Christopher mentioned demons before. His plan was apparently to bring down the organization. We could've been a part of that plan. But Xavier ruined the opportunity for us. 

I didn't quite want to be a part of anything. I just wanted to everything to go back to normal. But I guess that wasn't happening anytime soon. I furrowed my brows. I had to embrace the unexpected.

Xavier frowned. "Goodbye for now, Ash. But maybe it might be forever. I don't know when I'm gonna see you again." He turned around, and started walking away. 

"See you later," I said, "when we're busting your fake sister out of the organization." 

Xavier's gait slowed for a bit; but then they quickened again. I watched as he walked away without sense of direction. 

***

I sat down on that same bench after Xavier had left for about an hour, contemplating my life choices. The wind whistled in my ears as I sat there, thoughtful. 

My surroundings were monotonous. The sky was grey. The citizens were a bit more livlier than before, they set up little areas, and some even built stalls. It was an area in which they engaged in commerce. Trading the items they found as loot or even stupidly putting jewelry for sale. 

Something had made me smile today; so I couldn't say it was all that bad. There was a puddle of water in the distance. I watched four children gather there. The puddle was deep enough for a kid to lay down in the water. Before they started taking baths, they decided to jump in the puddles repeatedly. 

When an adult—supposedly a parent—stepped in, the group of kids scrambled, running away like stray dogs caught digging up the trash a the back yard.

A kid even fell flat to her face and cried. She cried so loud I was able to hear as if I were right next to her. One of the scrambling boys had stopped and attended to her aid. The parent took them away. 

The scene somehow brought a smile to my face. But from the time a figure walked right past me, delivering a strange energy to the air; this smile was wiped right off my face. 

The figure wore a cloak; walking through the streets. This ominous energy was familiar. All too familiar. The same energy I felt when I walked into Maynard's house. I suddenly felt an enigmatic attraction to the figure. My body moved on its own. I climbed to my feet and pursuing the strange man. 

I followed him through the crowd of people. He was rather brisk on his feet. It was difficult for me to keep up. The area were busy today granted people were engaging in trade. 

Suddenly, the creature following me began to spin. It zoomed around me, bursting through air and emitting a contrail of red light.