Chapter 16: The Docks

  Sheila?!

  I ask with a murmur in my voice.

  The look in her eyes, the dress she wore the day before she died, the hairpin I bought for her on her birthday…

  All these were signals, memoirs of her life in this world.

  The memories I missed so much.

  She was all the family I had…

  Mother died just a few days after giving birth to her. I was only six at the time.

  Father was so heartbroken, he contracted a terminal Illness and died two years after.

  All my sister ever had was me throughout our lives.

  And all I cared for was her.

  But now, her looming shadow; her ghost, stood before me.

  “Big Brother…. What happened? What did you see?”

  “I saw… I saw… I can't remember”

  Sheila silently walked around me, massaging my hurting head.

  “Remember Big brother. What did you see?”

  I tried harder, digging into the depths of my memory. I just couldn't remember what I had seen. But I had seen something…

  I know I did.

  But why?!!!

  Why can't I fucking REMEMBER?!

  His sister's figure warped and twisted, shifting between reality and the illusion.

  Slowly, her image faded as she asked for what he remembered.

  Abel couldn't even remember why he was here, why he was able to see his sister again.

  This nightmare of his had been going on for too long…

  He roared and jumped from the bed, breaking his restraints.

  “I… CAN'T…REMEMBER!!!”

  The next thing he remembered, he saw himself in his room back in the Vault. The light bulb illuminated the room as he sat up hurriedly.

  Abel’s throat was dry, his heart palpitated with irregular beats as sweat poured from his head and soaked his whole body.

  He gasped for air like a drowning man who just got out of a deep river.

  “Hold it there tiger. Calm down” a heavy and gruff voice spoke from beside him, grabbing his shoulder and stopping him from standing.

  Abel took a deep breath, still remembering his sister perfume, as if it was now stuck in his nostrils, teasing his senses.

  He turned to his left to see Mr Boris sitting next to him.

  Just across from them was Captain Rathcliffe who seemed to be pondering on something.

  “Where am… I? Is this reality or another dream” Abel looked suspiciously at the Captain, who turned to him with a small smile.

  “You guess” was his reply as he casually took a cigar and lit it.

  “How … long?”

  “Two days!” Came a blunt reply from his right side. Abel jerked at the voice as he turned to face Dorothy. She sat on his desk as she smoked a cigarette, her dead fish eyes giving an intense glare.

  “Two… What the heck happened to me?” Abel asked as he slowly got off his bed.

  “Ya might not wanna do that ey lad” Boris kept me seated on the bed with the force of his palm on my shoulder.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  His eyes gleamed as he made a look at me that caused me to look at my current state.

  That was because Abel was naked.

  “Bloody Hells!” Abel exclaimed as he gripped the bed sheets covering his body.

  Dorothy chuckled as she looked upwards and then at me.

  “It's nothing new. You know I've seen it all”

  “Fuck that… where are my clothes?”

  A pair of trousers and a linen shirt were tossed into my face.

  “Get dressed. We've got work to do” Rathcliffe ordered as he began to leave for the door

  “What about what's all this about? Why was I asleep for so long?”

  “We'll talk later, so get ready to move out”

  Boris followed after the captain out the door.

  Abel sat there stunned, wondering what the heck was going on today.

  And he'd been asleep for two days.

  Heck, that's borderline a coma.

  Just as he was to get up from his bed, a sudden thought snuck into his mind.

  He turned to see Dorothy just sitting there, a mischievous grin on her lips.

  “Uhmm! I wanna get dressed” Abel asked.

  “Awn! Still trying to cover up in front of your ex? Or is this little guy down there…”

  The door creaked open as Boris looked from behind it and at Dorothy.

  “Get ya ass out from there now young lass. Give the kid some space”.

  “Awright! What a killjoy!” she moaned from under her clenched teeth as she walked out the door, turning to give him one final wink.

  Abel sighed as he got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower…

  So many questions needed answers, and fast.

  ***

  Baltimore, Southern Docks…

  A carriage trotted along the wide and paved road that led to the biggest trade centre and the largest hub of activity in the whole of Belmont.

  This was Baltimore, the centre of the southern dock.

  Just southwards was the dock that held moored ships sailing to and from the Southern Seas.

  Currently, trade from each city state was done by land and sea. Sea travel was more popular due to the fact that most Inguldene City States were based near the Sea.

  The traffic was large, but mostly foot walkers. A few automated carriages pulled by steam engines and running in steel tracks took most of the road space, all carrying a bulk amount of goods to and from the port.

  Abel was in this private carriage, thinking of all that had happened these past few days.

  The captain had explained some of it. His mind was intruded upon by a Knowledge Demon; an evil spirit that existed to corrupt the mind of the brilliant with ideas and knowledge of the unknown.

  Normally, these demons were only attracted to two types of persons.

  Genius…

  And the Mentally Insane…

  Abel sighed as he knew which category he fell into.

  The captain had assured him that there was no underlying corruption or effects to his mental health.

  And the best way to stop another incident was to ignore their existence.

  ‘When you acknowledge the existence of a Knowledge Demon, that's when they gain the ability to corrupt your mind. Sis when you see them next time, pretend you don't notice them’ the Captain's voice rang in his ear.

  He looked across the carriage, his vision stopping in Mr Boris' face. His tall frame almost made the carriage small.

  Too tall. And I'm Six foot three! Abel grumbled in his heart. But what put him on alert was the person sitting next to him.

  Dorothy McGinnis.

  She wore a shirt and rugged leather pants with horse hide boots. Her dark hair and black makeup and lipstick gave her a gloomy feeling as she looked outside the window opposite Abel.

  He wasn't too comfortable near this woman. Not just that she was his ex, but because of the cause of their breakup.

  “What? Is there something on my face?” she asked in a cold voice.

  Abel shook his head and looked back at Boris.

  “So, this job… what is it about?”

  “It's a cleanup job, sumefing to do with some cultist hiding in tha docks” he replied with his street style accent.

  “Uhhh! I'm sure you can't wait for this to be over with. I haven't seen Aunty Gertrude in months”

  Boris chuckled, his face lighting up as he leaned in the chair.

  He truly missed his wife and the kids, but his duty didn't let him see them as much. At least he was paid well enough to give them the best in life.

  “Wait? I wanted to ask, just to be sure… are you two related or something” Abel asked as he looked at both Boris and Dorothy.

  He hadn't seen much of a resemblance, but it was there.

  “Mhmmm! He's the uncle I talked about!” Dorothy replied

  “Ohhh” Abel exclaimed, remembering what she had told him when they were still in a relationship.

  Boris turned to Abel and sharpened his gaze.

  “What did she say about me?”

  Abel gulped and was about to speak when the carriage stopped.

  Abel thanked the Divines for the opportunity to not speak and put on the artifact glasses.

  Artifact Name: Minims Eyes

  Type: Support

  Grade: 5 (Negligible Corruption Level)

  Number: 210

  Code: 5:210

  These glasses used to be the eyes of the trickster Fibolcious Minimus who was notorious for his ability to change his face and the perception of others to him.

  After his Death, his eyes fused with the pair of glasses he usually wore, creating this artifact.

  Though it is a grade 5, the artifact must be used sparingly as it has the effect of making one forget his or her original form after a period of long usage

  Exercise Caution.

  This was the knowledge he had gleaned from one of the books he had studied about Magical Artifacts.

  Currently, he wore the glasses and looked at a mirror before him.

  His red hair turned black and his demeanour and gaze became colder.

  “Oh! You look even hotter like this” a catcall came from behind him as the door to the right opened.

  Abel made a routine check on himself.

  His revolver was strapped on a holster, with a knife and extra rounds of ammunition.

  Boris opened the door on the left, revealing a row of houses and a few officers in uniform.

  Abel grabbed a hat next to him and placed it in his head before walking out.

  “Inspector Lucien, over here” a soft feminine voice called to him. The voice jolted his attention, his eyes jumping to look around.

  He turned to face the very familiar voice.

  It was Michelle.