The Hats in Mysteries.

A boy's favor

In a foggy place, out in a dawn atmosphere street, down where the street lamp was still lighting in the small golden fire, echoing footsteps paced along the street. A young boy dressed in simple black pants and a white shirt was walking exhausted alone in the road. He exhaled and inhaled nonstop as he kept strolling the empty street with his brows getting soaked in sweats. He wiped off his head but still, they kept pouring over his hair.

Stopping by a pole of street light, he caught the rod to catch up his breath, he was getting heated up with exhaling for his air. Suddenly, a cold wind blew from his back, pushing him a little forward. He was standing still when a friendly voice called,

“Joe….. how are you?”

“Huh?” this boy Joe standing by the pole got shocked out of his skin when he heard this unfamiliar call from behind his back. He veered and found another boy standing right in front of him.

To Joe’s surprise, he was a completely different outfit boy. He was wearing a complete suit which was in dark maroon color. Over his suit, he wore a big heavy coat with the same color and over his shoulder, there were black furs attached to his cape that fell loose on over his back hanging to the floor.

With golden embodies of leaves designing his suit’s cuff adding over with three golden rings over his coat cuffs. Furthermore, there was a long yellow lace designing the borders of the coat till the end edges that went all around his big coat. This suit was seen decorated in a fabric design of cosmos that shone in little shine by the street light.

Over his legs, he wore two high boots from his feet till his tights were seen clipped over his dark pant. Over his toes, his boot’s clips were golden which were attached around a pure crystal.

His hands were covered over with brown gloves. On his right hand, he was holding a hand clock, the other was holding a long new pencil that was red in color.

Over his head, he wore a big top hat that covered him from his hairs and eyes with only his lips visible. Even his hat had decorations on the left side. A crystal clipped over white folded clothing and a thin golden chain. He said to the youth,

“I should congratulate you for completing your very first mission at such a young age. It wasn’t excepted from you four after all. It’s getting interesting”.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” yelled Joe questioning however that young tall lad didn’t answer him a bit. Instead, he went on,

“About all, I came here to ask you a favor”.

“A favor?” surprised Joe. The boy nodded as he continued, “Yo see there is a person I want him to be gone. Since you have become one of my favorites I decided to choose you personally for this task. Will you agree? Cause if you don’t wish to do it, I don’t mind at all, my friend”.

At first, Joe wasn’t ready however his curiosity made him think about giving a try. He stood straight and answered, “Okay, if we both are in the same field and there might be some answer to it, what is the favor alike that you came personally to me?”

“How gentle and cautions boy you are, Joe” praised the big hat boy “I like your type…..”

“Get to the point” insisted Joe.

With a little cough, the maroon-suit young lad began to explain to him what his favor meant.

There was a person inside this mission escape game who could play like a professional candidate. He is well aware of what to do, when, and where to do what. Often, he would win the game however, he didn’t escape or quit the play. But instead, he keeps playing nonstop and then vanishes all of a sudden.

For a couple of times, this young boy tried his level best to catch him and punish him or kill him for surpassing his way, unfortunately, he slips off his hands like a soaked soap. He knows very well when to escape his grip and when to return. At some places he appears from the other side then he vanishes away with no trace of return, “so you see, I am having some troubles and I hope you support me little with this madness. He’s a fly that can’t be squashed”.

“So where can I find?” asked Joe in puzzlement.

“I don’t….. anywhere you can” replied the boy “but up to when you see that brat man, kill him for me or at least wound him”.

“What’s the reward?” asked Joe in a fuss, “I am sure you have got even that in your procession.”

“I can’t mention that now when your track be cleared from him I will give you what you deserve the best”.

“Mmmmm?” thought Joe for a while and then asked, “Are you like a fairy grandmother who completes wishes in limitations?”

“Huh?” surprised the lips of the boy when suddenly he started laughing “HAHAHAHAHAHA! “OOOO! Joe, you are so funny. I am glad that you are the right person”.

This started annoying Joe.

When a statement is puzzling you and you have to hear it nonstop it surely starts to annoy you.

Joe replied asking, “Do you least know his name?”

“Yes, I do by his title” replied the boy as he took hold of his hat with his right hand that was holding his pencil, “He is known as ‘The Saber’ that will help you.”

“And you are?” he asked.

Unexpectedly, the boy looked up at him with his eyes. The youth named Joe was surprised to find his eyes ball dark blue color in a fascinating type. The eyes had a smooth liquid floating inside them that made the eyeballs unique from a common look. It appeared as though a pure dark blue liquid was nonstop circling inside his eyes.

This complexion turned Joe lose his words of speaking. The youth smiled at him answering, “Mine is called “The Timer”. Do me that favor, okay? Bye….” suddenly, the earth under Joe’s feet spilled open talking him into darkness, as he swiftly fell into it before even realizing his position.

His scream echoed aloud. He was pulled deep into the darkness blinding his sight to pitch-black while he was dragged into the unknown.

“AHAAAA!” screamed out Joe pulling himself up and sitting. He soon realized that he was in his patient room.

Exhaling and inhaling nonstop with his head hung, while drops of sweats were dripping off his hair, he could hardly catch up with his sense as his vision was going blur. He threw his head over his hands contesting inwards, “What the heck was all that? That boy? Was it reality or illusion in my eyes? I can’t understand! I can’t understand what is happening around me! It’s all just enigmatic. It keeps growing like this from time to time….. What is fate playing with me?” he sat there for clearing his mind out of doubt as puzzles pieces kept rising within him.

Out of nowhere, a voice spoke, “So, you are finally awake Joe Austron.”

“What?” shocked Joe by hearing this, “it seems clear that you are having troubles in a nightmare after the accident, right?”

Joe was stunned by this he turned towards the window turning blank. The light outside the sky was still dim representing drawn before the sun break. A candle was lighted in his room to evade the darkness from the patient room however, in this room there was another person who was seated on the single chair beside the half-opened window. Joe was fixed on him.

This man was sitting straight with his right leg over his left, facing him, he had a clipboard on his lap with a pen in his right hand. He spoke up, introducing “I am Zen and I am a policeman who has come to investigate about your accident. Please co-operate. I will only take a few minutes of your time, will it be possible.” This astonished Joe as though a lighting blot has hit him.

A policeman has come up for an investigation about a case that wasn’t even committed to being a form of crime. Someone was going to be blamed, someone was going to be prisoned, someone was going to be put in-game, lose credits, without any reasons, and gets blindly guilty for an event that hasn’t even taken a place on one road.

Zen, the policeman wore a blue uniform. His hands were covered in white gloves his uniform had five stars on his left chest, proving him to be a high-ranked policed officer. A four-star was stamped on his shoulders, black buttons closing his coat from the high neck to his waist. He wore blue pants at the ends of it he wore black shoes. A police cap covering his head with a medal clipped on his cap center. His hairs were grey in color with silky blue thread that fell from the back of his head from under his cap. His eyes were violet in color, shooting a keen scent on his surroundings, on his reply, Joe nodded victimized.

He grew worried about the investment.

How will he confess his truth?

How will he inform them about the miserable school?

Everything was smoothly slipping off his head.

The policeman Zen opened a paper and queried, “So let’s start as you have agreed to it, tell me, Mister Joe, when was the time you got hit? Do you at least know what the time was before the tragedy took place?” the victim was frozen by the question. He didn’t understand what he should speak or what to reply to him.

Filled up in anxiousness, the boy didn’t have his guts to open his mouth all he did was shake his head as ‘no’.

The policeman Zen said, “Alright, it was said that you were unconsciousness after the hit for three whole days so probably you will be having a gap in your memories. Let’s not worry about that. So tell let continue” he ran his pen on the board as he questioned on, “Do you at least remember the driver who hit you? His or her face? Do you at least recognize what vehicle it was, a steamed car or a horse cart, do you remember anything?”

In the reply, Joe turned straight to his hands and shocked his head again. He felt embarrassed by his reply.

He felt even his ‘No’ answer as a lie. It didn’t please him. He never liked to be dishonest or untrustworthy.

Now in front of the higher officer, he wasn’t even able to respond well.

Meanwhile, the policeman ran his pen on the board saying, “one last question, do you remember where the accident occurred, near your school or between the house and school’s road….? Then we are done” for a while there was a pause when Joe spoke up,

“sir…. I am sorry.”

“Sorry?” repeated his word to the officer Zen questionably “why? Is everything alright?”

Joe gulped replying, “There wasn’t an accident. There was no accident. No one was hit. None was killed. It’s a false case. I am telling you the truth, sir. I am not injured by an accident, it was a mission. A strange task was given to us to complete it. That’s all. Please believe sir! Believe me! I am speaking the truth! Please don’t blame anyone! THIS CASE IS A LIE!!” he screamed with all his might and fell on his blanket crying like a child from being despaired of his condition. He was worried and petrified due to which he kept crying nonstop on his bed.

By viewing this Zen was solid in his writing. He was looking at his paper and then gazed up at the boy when suddenly his expression turned grave. He closed his pen, saying, “So this wasn’t the truth after all. How lame”. This shocked Joe when suddenly he heard a page getting torn off from a book followed by that same page sheet tearing into two half and then continued tearing the whole paper.

The boy raised his head in confound as tears were still floating down his eyes. He gazed his sight at his left and found Zen tearing that piece of paper into millions of pieces. Once he was done, he threw the bits of paper into the basket beside him. He closed his book and asked a question,

“Answer me, Mister Joe Astron, did you complete the first mission given by the WIC company?”

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Joe in shock when he saw the police officer opening up his high collar buttons on his neck and revealing his form.

“A belt on your neck?!” exclaimed Joe in astonishment, "Are you from......."