Beyond Darkness

Parallel-dimes

"Mikhael"

The man said and it made him sneer inwardly. Michael did not want to react.

He had decided that he would act proactively. He was shown into one of the small rooms the warehouse had housed. There were a lot of rooms, some small, some big, maybe this was a supposed secret base. What could he understand he was? Why did he come across two different parties in one place, under one roof? Two parties who hated each other and despised each other every chance that they could get. Why on earth had he witnessed a weird-looking passage between those two men? Why did they want to know what happened to him and Orion so desperately? Why were they looking at him with some sort of suspicion when Michael talked about Orion? He had been sure not to take his name, but was he really just avoiding Orion from those vultures? Or was he saving himself from them? It was unclear in his mind and one thing that he did not want to think about anymore, and especially here. He needed to find Orion and he had to warn him. But what would he say to him?

It made him shiver, but he wasn't there to think about that. He entered the room and took a seat. The room was decent enough. It had a desk but the thing that he found odd was that both sides of the desk had two chairs. So it was like a small meeting room? He didn't know. His gaze fell on the file placed on the desk. It had Michael's last name on it. Knowing what he would find inside, he still reached over, gingerly slid the file closer to him and stared at the name scrawled in permanent red marker.

"Go on, open it." A voice said from behind him. Sanders. Michael turned around and stuck out his tongue at him. Sanders, after recovering from what had just happened, started laughing as he came and sat across from Michael. Michael's attention was now back on the file. He looked up at Sanders, who also had a file in his hands. Michael did not pay much attention to it. Michael traced the name Angelo on the file's front, the bright red marker had been dull and was fading now. It was an old file. It was just basically Michael's old life. Michael looked up at Sanders but he wasn't paying any attention to Michael. He took a deep breath and gathered enough courage to open his file. At first he closed his eyes as he felt the anxiety rise in his chest and his breathing turned labored. Michael opened his eyes and the first thing he saw were a couple of pictures. They were stapled to the side in a plastic ziplock. Michael pried open the bag and took all the photos out. He slowly went through each one, his anxiety climbing higher with every photo until he came on to the last one. Michael was now staring at the photo which was not only the most treasured memory but also the most painful. A beautiful woman with caramel hair cascading down her shoulders was staring back at him, her eyes were a violent shade of brown and she was hugging a young Mikhael Angelo. He was smiling, holding a little girl who was looking at him instead of the camera. Michael closed his eyes and there he was, when the photo was being taken. He and his older brother had broken into their dad's office to find this polaroid camera.

"Mikhael!" His older brother called out to him after they had reached their father's study. He remembered looking behind him and finding him on the lookout. Apparently, he thought he had seen his uncle come out of the study and he had left the door ajar. They had entered and looked for the Polaroid camera that had gotten confiscated by their uncle for taking pictures of a meeting. Once they had found the camera, they had run back to their mom, who was out in the woods. They had planned a picnic but father had to cancel at the last moment. They had run towards their mum and she had enveloped Michael in one of her warmest hugs. Then they had all enjoyed different types of sandwiches and sweets his mom had prepared. Then Michael's older brother had used the Polaroid to click everyone's picture and then he took their picture. Michael remembered his brother shouting, a smile and him, his mother and his younger sister had been captured by the lens of that fragile little camera. It was the only living memory and it was here, in a zip log back attached to a file inside. Michael felt moisture prick at his eyes.

"Angelo?" Sanders asked with worry etched on his face. Michael might've been hallucinating but this time the worry on his face seemed genuine. He wiped his eyes and then said that it was nothing. He nodded and went out of the small office. Michael was alone now, maybe that prick had actually gone out to give Michael some space, but whatever it was, Michael felt relieved that he was left alone. This time his tears fell freely. He kissed the photograph in his hand and then placed it against his chest as the memories started flooding back in.

He picked up the file and started leafing through it. There was basic information about him, where he lived, his stats, whereabouts, everything that belonged to Nat in this file. He observed his handwriting and his initials on certain pages. Nothing in this file had been messed up. He looked at the pictures again. Some of them were scrappy, but then he counted the number of pictures and then matched them with the number on the sticker on the ziplock bag. A few were missing. He went through the whole file again but didn't find those pictures. He had to ask Nat about this.

He held the file by it's spine and shook it for a last try to see if there was anything that would fall out. He shook it but nothing fell out. He sighed and kept the file on the desk and leaned back on the chair. He was so confused as to why he was here and why both the main directors of two rival governmental agencies were here together in a place so secluded? His head started throbbing and he massaged his temple as if to relieve the pain. It didn't help much after all.

There was a knock on the door and Nat came in, "Angel? You okay?" Michael shook his head and then placed that picture on the desk. Nat placed a hand on Michael's shoulder and picked the picture up. "Your brother took this?" Michael nodded. "Nat, Have you found him?" Michael looked up at Nat. The answer was evident in his eyes, but then Nat shook his head. At least he was truthful with Michael. Michael nodded and smiled. "Why am I here, Nat?" Michael asked. He was tired of not getting answers. He was tired of everything going on now.

Nat left the office and then a few moments later he came back again with a few loose papers. He sat down beside Michael and then placed the papers in front of him. "I'm not supposed to show this to you yet." Michael took the papers and looked through them. He remembered everything because he had seen this and heard this everywhere. "Are these official statements?" Michael asked. Nat's face held worry and stress. Michael found it odd because if there was someone who could stay calm in any situation, it was Nat. No one else could hold his own ground like Nat did. "Nat, there are more, aren't there?" Nat nodded. His shoulders drooped and, for the first time, Nat looked a lot older than he actually was. The stress and the confusion were evident on his face. Michael read through those documents and then he picked up the photo that was among the documents. It made Michael's heart beat quicken, "Is that a scene? Nat? When was this?" Nat just looked at Michael, "Three days ago." Michael closed his eyes. "You know, I've been out of the game, Nat. Is this why I am here?" Michael placed the papers on the desk.

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Orion~

It had been an hour now, Orion had circled the perimeter and had calculated all the escape routes, not that he couldn't escape from this place, but it had seemed super sketchy and he was invited by someone whom he had never expected. Orion was finally retreating to the spot where he had parked his bike. He wanted to make a normal appearance and then decided to drive down the road that led to the main door. It was also the path that had more cameras pointed at most. He did want to let the name of his agency down by showing up out of nowhere. Orion knew he didn't have any weapon on him except for his trustworthy knife laterally trapped in his chest. He knew that a knife could not do as much damage as he could do with an actual gun, but he had left it at home as the call that he received was a formal and cordial invite, even though being from a rival, it was still an invite and Orion was going to be respectful about it. It was what he was taught by his mentor who was like family.

A few moments later, Orion reached the place where he had parked his bike, and mostly laid it down and covered it with leaves. It might all be just useless, but he didn't want to get bruised enough and went to him again relentingly asking to save his life. He definitely also couldn't just check in to a hospital anymore, no matter the immunity he had. Orion didn't want to blow everything up anymore. He had worked long and hard enough and he did not want to mess it up anymore. He knew he certainly wouldn't get anymore chances. Orion revved the engine of his favorite ride. It was his one and only Harley Davidson Street 750. Light, but a beast nonetheless. He mounted the bike and rode it to the front gate of the warehouse. He parked it on the side of the warehouse and knocked on the door. He hadn't removed his helmet. The door opened and it revealed the same exact person that had called him. Orion removed the helmet and the man softly smiled at him. Orion smiled and extended his hand. "Thank you for coming, please come in," he said softly. Orion walked in.

As he walked in, he noticed the division of the place, the place was divided by separators and the place itself looked more like a secret base rather than just a warehouse. The place was big, the ground, funnily enough, was cemented and then carpeted. The ceiling was naturally high but the place didn't feel so dark because of the LEDs everywhere. There were several sections turned cubicles. Maybe they did serve as small cut-away offices. It had a remote homey vibe despite the fact that this place was situated in the middle of the woods, and was owned by god knows whom. Orion was actually impressed by this whole situation going on. He was led to the back where there was a little desk but the chairs were facing each other. Maybe someone else was there too. He had to be aware of things here. The man made him sit down in the chair opposite him. He sat down in front of him. Farrowly, his posture was fairly relaxed and his manner was soft. Orion felt like he could trust this guy based on how he just smiled at him. "I have some questions, if you don't mind," he said. Orion nodded.