Fall Foretold

The Master Key

Her eyes opened halfway and closed themselves back. She couldn't tell what she was seeing but the sirens and hasty sounds in her ears were half clear. Her brain wasn't processing it, though. She passed out.

She woke up, again. She could see a man's face looking down at her. Whoever he was, he was wearing a stethoscope. There were ladies around her. She couldn't understand what was happening. She passed out again.

*****

"Laura's not in school?", Jackson asked, looking back. Laura's seat was empty.

"Felix is not in school?", Joe asked, staring at Felix's seat. His seat was also empty. "What happened?"

"Oh, Felix?", Jackson said. "Davis attacked us. Apparently, he thought Felix was the Shadowmask because of his expression when Laura introduced us to him. He talked about some sort of destiny stuff, claiming it wasn't about Laura. I had called John Cage, already. He was about to shoot Felix when the cops showed up. Felix passed out. You should have seen the way John shot the gun out of Davis' hand. Accuracy!"

"Wow!... Well, Laura's also in the hospital", Joe said. "She jumped off a building, yesterday, at night"

"Are you kidding?! Why would she do that?!!", Jackson almost yelled.

"Don't shout. She's under control", Joe said, calmly. "She didn't break any bones"

"That's not an answer to my question", Jackson persisted, curiously. "How did you get to know that she jumped? and why did she do it?"

"I guess I was there when she jumped. She wanted to see the Shadowmask for some reasons. I didn't want to face her. I would get nervous so I stayed hidden"

"And she threatened to throw herself off a building if you didn't come out, I guess... and you still refused to show up. Am I right?"

know.. ishe jumped and I caught her. She already passed out in midair, though. I just laid her in front of the hospital and... I left"

"That's cruel, mean and evil as crazy!", Jackson said.

"We will go check Felix, after school, right?", Joe asked.

"And Laura, too. Then, you'll tell her everything"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I tried it once and I failed. I'll only panic again"

"No one's asking you to tell her you love her. We already told her"

"What? You'll be making things worse and complicated. She won't talk to me anymore, even if she wants to. She already introduced Davis to us, remember?"

"Yea, that's what we are discussing. She already broke up with him... Even before he attacked Felix"

"If I'm not to tell her about my feelings, what did you mean by everything?"

"The secret, Joe. She already suspected who everything in school, yesterday"

"What happened in school, yesterday?"

"Oh! You definitely looked wild. Your eyes were glowing and she saw it. That's when the principal called us to his office; Felix and me. John and the other criminal guy was here to see us, then they told us you were possessed or something and we should keep you in check"

"I didn't do anything, did I?"

"No. We told Laura about it so, in case you turned out harsh to her, she would know it's not really you. Then, she told us that you didn't talk to her, the previous day, while she was trying to tell you something".

"Oh!", Joe said, reflecting. "That's dumb of me"

"Yea, I know. She said she was going to walk to you and ask you why you've been acting weird and keeping secrets. That was when she suspected that we knew the secret"

"That doesn't matter", Joe replied. "Cyrus has already used her as bait and he's in jail now. If she knows the secret, they can get it out of her and she'll be a tool against you"

"If you think this is her character and she's wrong, then you are mistaken. No relationship will work out for you if honesty is compromised. Tell her the secret and tell her you love her".....

★

HIGH SCHOOL GIRL JUMPS OFF A BUILDING, AT NIGHT, AND GETS SAVED BY THE SHADOWMASK

Nurses claimed to have caught a glimpse of the mysterious vigilante, Shadowmask, as he dropped an unconscious girl at the entrance of the hospital. The girl has been treated and is currently having her rest, as she is totally unharmed.

A security camera captures the same girl on a multistorey building, moving back and forth and yelling some words into the air. The security camera is unable to catch her voice, as the loud music from Helen Store overshadows it. She throws herself down, suddenly, and the Shadowmask is seen, jumping up with the girl in his arms.....

STREET CAMERAS CAPTURE MYSTERIOUS INCIDENT, AS TWO MONSTERS ARE SEEN FIGHTING ON THE ROAD. WHILE ONE DISAPPEARS, THE OTHER SHAPESHIFTS INTO THE SHADOWMASK.

Multiple new headlines from Planet News articles have stopped opposing the Shadowmask since Davis took over.

"I have it, right here", Davis said, addressing every member of the staff. "If you want to see it and confirm, it's not a big deal. You can just come over and take a look. As a matter of fact, I will paste it here so you read it whenever you walk by. The only part of the contract that concerns you is what I will address, now. Manipulating news against the man in mask will no longer be tolerated. Any false information given to the public might lead to a lawsuit. Beware. Till Mr Ashwood returns to the firm, I'm the boss. His signature is right here.... and this is not for my sake. If any of you happens to be following my blog, you'll know he is in trouble and what we do here is to help"

★

He looked up at the hospital, staring at it, as hard as possible. Seeing through things and tracking items had never required staring. All he needed was to create an image of whatever he sought and his eyes would see through walls to find it. Even if his father was dead, his eyes should definitely catch it, if his body was inside. He walked into the hospital.

"Good day, sir. Are you here for a treatment?"

"I'm in search of someone. He should be here. I was told he was brought here"

"Ok, sir. Can you come closer, please?"

"Oh, ok", Npama moved closer to where the lady stood, as she picked a file.

"What's the name of the missing person?"

"Piccolo. Piccolo Madrid"

"Ok", the lady replied and began to go through the files. She moved to the computer system beside her and typed something in. Npama couldn't tell what she was doing but he knew she had to be helping him out. He wasn't familiar with computers. "I'm sorry, sir. There's no record of Piccolo Madrid here."

"No. He's here", Npama replied, staring around. "I've gone too far, already. He has to be in here"

"I'm sorry but if he is identified by the name you gave me, I should be able to find him here"

"What if he wasn't identified with that name? What if they gave him another name?"

"Does he have any other name?", the nurse asked. Then, a thought hit her. "You can go up. There are rooms for unidentified patients, on the left side, you can check each room for the man you seek"

Npama smiled. "Ok. Thank you", he replied and followed the directions. It was strange to him, walking through the hospital and enduring the horrible smell of the drugs. He opened the doors, doors on the left side, checking the rooms, carefully, as directed. He kept opening doors till he got to one that seemed empty.

He walked slowly into the room and found a man on a wheelchair. His back was turned but from what Npama could see, the man was looking familiar. He'd desperately wanted it to be his father but putting all of his faith in it could break his heart. There were still many doors ahead. He walked slowly to the man's front.

"Papa!"

The man said nothing. His eyes were open and he looked stiff. He didn't move any part, neither did his eyes blink. He shook his old father, violently but the man remained there. His father looked older than he was when he was taken from Zulu. His hair had turned completely grey and his face was slowly wrinkling.

"Hello? What are you doing here?", a man walked in, with a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

Npama didn't know how to react. "He shook his father. "Piccolo Madrid!"

The doctor had pulled out his phone, holding it to his ear. The old man who had remained stiff on a wheelchair shook slowly, as his bones cracked. Npama stepped back. The doctor also stepped back, wondering what was happening. Two huge men in uniformed dressed rushed in.

The old man stood up from the wheelchair and staggered, falling on his son. The two huge men were startled. "Let us go. I have come for my father"

★

“What are you going to do with it?”, John said, as Cedric stared at the key in his hand.

“We can’t stop the Unchaining. You were there when Mario said it”, Cedric said. “We could just throw danger away, instead of waiting for it to attract more”

“Do it then”, John said and Cedric threw it back, immediately.

“It’s your fault if a kid picks it up”, Cedric said, smiling. “Let’s enjoy the night”

“I got no choice now. My girl's out of town. Vacation”

“You told her to go, didn’t you?”

“Yea, I did… Now, I can’t even tell why. The Unchaining is surely happening soon. I’m almost sure she would be coming for that key before the month ends”

“If she would come tomorrow, I don’t give two pennies. This night isn’t passing by without a bottle of tequila. I planned a surprise party for myself”

“Are you kidding? Who’s gonna be surprised, then?”

“Me, of course. It’s my party!”

They kept chatting, as they walked to the bar. The key laid there, glowing and blinking it’s attractive gold colour, on a crossroad. Something like a thick black fume was moving, rapidly, through the air, almost as fast as the speed of sound. It zoomed across the road and past the key. The key disappeared immediately. Whatever it was, it was either similar to Melissa’s demonic abilities or it was Melissa at work.

He had planned well. For weeks, he had kept his eyes on Melissa and her diviner who seemed to be particularly focused on the key alone. They had forgotten Albert Romero and the task they gave to him. They had forgotten the clique.

Albert had managed to get into the hall, through the back. The diviner had already been suspended from his work for unknown reasons. All he had to do was to find the tunnel, get in and find the beast lock.

He easily found the hole in the ground, with a round lead cover over it. He lifted it, slowly and carefully, cautious not to draw attention. Then, he entered the tunnel and kept walking. He was already close to achieving his dreams. He would control the beast and have power over everyone, including the devil’s daughter and Lucifer, himself. He took multiple turnings and he saw a round door ahead. It definitely was the beast lock. If the weird look wouldn’t suggest it, the dark feeling was assuring it.

“Stop there, i***t”, a voice called from behind him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m unlocking the beast and there is nothing you can do about it”, Albert replied, confidently, as he turned to look at her. He walked with his back, towards the round door, slowly.

“What? You think you can just push the door open with your hands or what?”, Melissa scoffed. “So pathetic!”

“Haha”, Albert laughed and stopped in front of the door. “Have you ever heard of the master key?”

“What are you saying? There is only one key and I know where it is so when you’re done joking, come up for the punishment”, she turned her back, walking away.

“Don’t get surprised”, Albert said, loudly, making her turn back to him. “When this door opens, you will bow to me”

Albert raised a key up and smiled. “Adios!”, he said, dropping his hand to dip the key in the lock but something gripped his hand, suddenly. Something, like a thick black cloud in the shape of a huge hand, grabbed his hand and pulled him back from the door.

“You i***t!”, Melissa said, walking over to him, as the smoky hands from her back held Albert’s hands apart. Another arm, from her back, punched him out of the grip of the other arms. His fist held on to the master key. The smoky hands grabbed his leg, pulling him closer to Melissa, and it lifted him.

“You really have gone far. Where did you get it?”, she scowled.

“You’ll never know”, he replied and spat on her.

The smoky arms from her back forced his hands open. The master key disappeared as Melissa stared at it.

“Where’s the key? Where did it go?”, Melissa shouted.

Albert didn’t know, either. “The master key is special to a person alone. You can’t win this war. The master key is still out there and he will share more keys to people. They will Lynch you to death and crush your dreams…”

“Shut up!”, she howled, as the serpents from her cleavage came out, biting into Albert’s neck, repeatedly, till they chopped off his head.

★

“I heard about Laura. What happened?”, Mr. Ryan asked.

“She threw herself off a building.”, Joe replied.

“I saw the footage. You know the reason, do you?”

“She wanted to meet the Shadowmask… I had the feeling she would want to see my face. If I showed up to her, I would just be nervous again”

“Why would she want to see your face?”

“Because she was the bait. She believes the Shadowmask might have a crush on her and she wanted him to say it. Davis already broke her heart.”

“Oh. I heard about Davis, too”

“I’m going to tell her everything, dad. I will tell her how I feel and I will tell her the secret”

“Does she really need to know that you are the Shadowmask?”, Mr Ryan asked, worried.

“She already suspects that I’m hiding something and, in every relationship, honesty is required”, Joe replied. “She’s already been used as bait. What could be worse?”

“Do you really trust her? 'cause Davis just taught you a lesson, now”

“She can’t do worse by knowing my secret. I think she likes me too”

“Well, get ready for betrayal and… share your strengths, keep your weakness in your head”