Fall Foretold

Dream or Nightmare?

"I'm on my way, already", Laura said, walking out of Helen Store; the last good store, in town, after Drake Supermarket went down. ? Hmm. You might be thinking what I'm thinking 'cause everybody's there now.

It was already late.The stars we're on vacation so the skies appeared darker. There were street lights to light up the streets. There was also light from Planet News' high-rise building.

The streets were empty but it was definitely not silent. Pop music from Helen Store filled the air. Glancing at the dark corners, she walked faster. A thug could jump out, any moment and they would be free to do anything. They could rough you up in front of a camera. The camera might have your back but they would do whatever they wanted. Screaming for help would amount to nothing when she couldn't even hear her phone ring while she held it. The vibration helped her know.

"Blah blah blip home. Blap dangerous. Blip home... stubborn blap blap", a voice howled, through the phone. The person definitely didn't say that. That was what'she heard.

"It's too loud. I can't keep shouting. I'm almost home", she screamed back, blocking her other ear with her right arm, as her bag slid down her arm.

"Whatever! Get your stubborn legs back here. It's dangerous out there", the caller replied and hung up.

Half a minute later, she had walked up to the front of the Planet News building, where the provided light was concentrated. There were less dark corners, from there but danger wasn't less possible.

Just when she felt a little bit relieved that there was less noise and enough light to see the road, three heavily built men emerged from the shadows. She was halfway hom e, already so she had multiple options; run, shout, give them what they want.

"Hey, babe", one of them said, as they approached her, slowly. "What do you have for us?"

Her heart was pounding fast. So many ideas were running in her head but she was too cautious to make any move.

Their leader seized her by the arm. She stood still, petrified, as her bag fell to the ground. The man moved his hands to her waist, pressing his chest against her.

She carefully pushed him, hoping not to offend him. The other two emptied her bag on the ground, picking out items they desired. The man held her tighter, caressing as she tried to slip away.

She screamed, now shaking herself violently as the man tightened his grip on her. He grabbed her by the neck and pushed her to the ground.

The noise of shattering glasses distracted by them. It was from the top of Planet News. They looked up and saw the broken window. A man was falling down from the top of the building.

Laura decided to take her chance. She raised her leg and threw a kick at his leg. ? She should have gone for the groin. No, she should have sneaked away.

She tried to run but the man pulled her leg back, easily. The other two joined, to keep her down so their leader would have his way.

"Leave her alone!", a thick strange voice said. It seemed clearly faked.

They turned and looked at the man who spoke. It was the same person who had fallen from the top of Planet News. He was standing firm and unhurt, wearing a mask and a cape.

While the other two gangsters kept Laura down, their leader left her and walked closer to the masked man. He looked up at the top of Planet News, where the masked man had fallen from, wondering. "Hi, clown", he laughed. "Nice jump. You can take your leave, now"

"Help!!!", Laura screamed. An heavy arm covered her mouth, holding her head to the ground.

"Let the girl go", the masked man repeated, confidently. "I won't say it again"

"What, now? You want to fight for the girl"

"No, I just need an excuse to beat you up", the masked man clenched his fist, taking a step closer.

"Leave the girl", the man ordered his gangsters. "Let's deal with this one first"

The hefty men approached the masked man, slowly. He ran forward, swiftly, lifting himself off the ground. He dropped a kick on the face of one, dropping his other leg on the second gangster. The first gangster threw his heavy arm against their thin opponent who caught it, easily, throwing a punch at the man's chest. The man was almost thrown off his feet, as the small hand hit him. The punch felt like an heavy log of wood had landed against him.

The second gangster rushed at him but the masked man was too swift in his movements. He bent, dodging the man's attack. He turned and flipped, kicking the man down. The second man was yet to recover from the punch. The masked man threw another punch at his face, knocking him out.

"You have a second chance to run", the masked man said to the gang leader who had been watching in awe. Laura was still there. After packing her items in her bag, she watched the masked man's impossible flips, impulsively, forgetting she was free to run.

"Bravo!", the gang leader had grabbed a bat. "I got no time for fair fights". He rushed at the . masked man, attacking with the bat.

The masked man bent backwards, so low that the back of his head almost touched the ground, dodging the attack and he sprung back up. The bat flung at him again and he caught it, kicked the man's groin and punched his face.

A light approached them, distracting Laura's attention. It was a police car. The cops had been roaming about in the night, due to the damage of security cameras and frequent reports of thuggery. They had come around, right in time.

The car parked, quickly, and the cops came out, hastily, pointing their guns.

"Head down! Arms in the air!", one of them shouted. That was mostly used by a famous officer, John Cage. He was the most recognized officer in Sterling after the many police escapades he led.

Back to the fight scene, there were two huge men, lying flat on the ground, and one man groaning in pain, half conscious. There was no fourth person. No masked man.

"What happened?", John asked her.

"I was attacked"....

★

He felt conscious but it was dark. His eyes were still closed. "Laura?", he mumbled. "Laura!".

'It was a dream?', he thought. The clock had it's long minute hand just after eleven, and it's short hour hand on nine. He was late for school ?. 'School? It's Saturday. To hell with a bad dream. Love you, Laura'. He fell back to bed.

His parents didn't knock on his door. He had been slumbering, during dinner. After the detention with Jackson, he was very tired and they could see it.

His parents sat in the parlour, eating cereals. They were watching news; Daily Planet News.

MASKED MAN RAMPAGES PLANET TOWER, JUMPS DOWN FROM 26TH FLOOR AND SURVIVES. SAME MAN, ALLEDGEDLY SAVES A GIRL FROM HOODLUMS. MASKED MAN'S IDENTITY IS UNKNOWN; NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

★

Local drums echoed from both sides. There were a total of ten drummers. A group of weirdly dressed people gathered around, watching the beautiful steps of the uniformed dancers, waiting for the main event to commence.

"Son", a man said. He sat in some sort of shrine, staring in a mirror, while his son watched him. "Son?"

"Yes, Papa", the boy replied.

"One day, it will be your turn, too", the man said and turned. "How do I look?"

"You look good... like a priest", the boy said.

"Well, that's the goal", the man said and sat beside his son. "One day, you will become Kachate VII of Zulu and you will be called a priest like me. You will be dipped in the four elements and you will receive the power to see beyond realms, travel into worlds, and read the fate of mortals and mystiques... You will these people of Zulu to a new level and keep them from falling. There are potholes around and we, only, can see. Promise me you'll be a good leader, Npama"

"I will be a good leader, Papa", the boy replied.

"Good boy", he same from the people, as the king was welcomed on his black royal horse. He stepped down from his horse and sat on a weirdly decorated seat that had been prepared for him.

"The God's have chosen a new soul to speak through. They have surrendered powers into a body. They have put their Wills in the mouth and eyes of one of ours. He has walked through the four elements and has returned as a Mystique.... This is Piccolo Madrid, Kachate VI of Zulu"

Piccolo walked out of the shrine and knelt before the king to be annointed. Young Npama stayed in the shrine, peeping as the ritual went on.

★

He put his pen and 'Diary' aside and fell back to the main news that had awed him. He spread open the newspapers before him, reading and creating a mental picture. It was just too familiar to ignore. As soon as he read the headline, he was reminded of his dream about Laura. In the story, there is another Laura, 'or the same Laura?', telling the cops about her encounter with hoodlums and the presence of a strange masked man who had fallen from the top of the Planet News building. In the same story, a reporter, named David McMidday, said the same masked man had broke down the door, asking for an unknown key, and he jumped down, through the lite windows, immediately the boss walked in. There was no explanation to how he got in or how and where he disappeared to after taking down the hoodlums.

He didn't need to keep creating mental pictures. The memory of his dream seemed like he had witnessed it all. The only thing he needed to confirm was if he was still dreaming. He dropped the papers, laid back on his bed, closing his eyes and accidentally falling into a nap.

"Who are you?", he heard and opened his eyes. He was standing. He looked around. It was dark and definitely not his room.

"Hello?", he kept turning around. He felt a soft tap on his shoulder. "Who are you?"

It was a masked man. The same one he had seen in his dream. He felt uncomfortable as they seemed to be standing in a flooded room. "How am I supposed to know?", the masked man replied. "It's your question"

"What are you saying?", Joe asked, confused. His vision was getting blurry. The darkness was slowly clearing up.

Distracted by the light for a second, the masked man had disappeared. "Hello?"

"Joe! Are you okay?!", a voice broke in his head as he returned to reality. Someone was banging the door, heavily, like there was a wild fire somewhere"

"I am fine", he replied, half conscious.

"What are you doing in there?", his dad asked, wearing a worried look.

Joe walked to the door and opened it. "Just stressed out"

"Well, your sleep has been too deep", his dad said.

"Yes. We've been here for almost an hour", his mom added.

"Uhn? Definitely not. I didn't sleep that long", Joe said and folded his arms.

"Maybe but almost a minute", his mum added. "Just take care"

"This is why you shouldn't go to night clubs", his father joked as they walked away.

Joe closed his door and jumped back on the bed. His hand touched the table, making his pen roll down. "Urgh!"

He rolled down, lazily, to the ground, and put his hand under the bed, searching for the pen. His hand hit something hard, repeatedly. It felt like a lock.

He stood up, moved his bed aside. The pen was lying there. He picked it and put it in the middle of his diary, then he checked the lock. There was a small hole in the carpet, from which the lock was showing. It was actually unlocked, hooking something. Was there a hole in the ground? A locked hole?

"They can't know", he said to himself and tore the carpet. He unhooked the lock and opened the small rusty metal door. It was dark but it seemed wide, like a room. He picked a torch and looked in. There was a small staircase to go down. He stepped in, slowly, looking around carefully. It seemed to have been abandoned for years. There was dust everywhere, cobwebs and a number of insects, but there were also objects, weapon-kind of objects, and an old dusty portrait.