Ghost of the Night
A lone dispatcher, was sleeping in his office chair. It had been a slow day in the call center and there wasn't much to do other than stare at a computer screen, then the phone rang. Which resulted in him jerk up from the noise, and rub the sleep from his eyes. Then lazily with a push of a button, he answered the call.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” asked the half awake dispatcher. This better not be a prank call. the dispatcher thought. On the other end of the line was a female, who was desperately trying to form words to the dispatcher.
“Ma'am, calm down. Tell me what's going on.” the dispatcher said. Trying to ease the female on the other end of the call.
“Get the cops here right now, my friends are being held hostage here at the dock!” said the female trying her hardest to keep calm, it was easy to tell she was very upset from the shallow breaths she was taking followed by her crying over the phone.
“Alright ma’am, I have a squad car in route to you! Can you tell me how this happened?” asked the now alert dispatcher trying to buy time to keep the female calm, while police were on their way!
* * *
“Attention, all patrol units we have a code 207 over at the Atlantica City harbor, the reported party has informed us that the hostages are being held in warehouse thirteen. Swat and aerial units are in route. Any other units available identify and respond code three,” sounded a police scanner.
A dark figure stood at the top of a building listening in on the police chatter.
“Ise, are you getting this?”said the figure.
“Yes I've heard every word, I have pulled up some surveillance footage of a stolen delivery truck that drove into warehouse thirteen earlier. I also have info on the caller. Her name is Rebecca Stern, she says she managed to escape her captors from the truck.” “Unless that's what they want us to think.” Ise said over the two way radio.
“What do you mean?”
The figure inquired.
“That warehouse is owned by Debra Warren.”
“The Debra Warren, the one who founded and Has been the face of N.W.O ever since?”
“The same!”
“Isn't she serving a life sentence in federal prison?”
“Yeah well, who’s to say she didn't lend the key to someone in the group.”
“Does rebecca stern have any ties that we know of?”
“No, her rap sheet is clean, but they could have let her escape so she could call the cops though, something doesn't seem right, till I know more were kind of in the dark.”
“Ok, she mentioned her friends are being held captive. Any idea who they may be?” asked the figure.
“Give me a sec, I am checking her social media profile right now,” said an annoyed Ise over the two way radio. “She currently has two friends on her social media profile, who also happen to be the captives. One is a Samantha Rodriguez, she is the daughter of a rich family known here in Atlantica.
This could be a plot to squeeze money from her parents but again I am unsure. The second friend is a Sarah Smith. Not much is on here other than she lives with her parents and is listed as middle class; so she could be collateral damage.”
“Ok, can you send the Night Wing over here?” asked the figure. “How far are the police out from warehouse thirteen?”
“The police are five minutes out, but you should be able to beat them there in two minutes,” Ise explained over the radio.
* * *
Several police and swat vehicles had surrounded the warehouse’s perimeter, but unknown to them, the figure had already made his way inside while monitoring the police chatter.
“Swat is in position, ready on command!” shouted an officer.
“Hold position no one moves until we get the negotiator over here,” commanded the police captain.“ The two hostages are Samantha Rodriguez, and Sarah Smith their parents have been notified and are on their way here, they want the release of Debra in exchange for the girls!”
* * *
“Alright guys, cops are here, if they do not respond to our demands within the hour, we blow them away, until debra walks away a free woman no one will stand in our way!” said one of the masked gunmen as he looked outside the blinds with one foot on the crate labeled explosives.
“What should we do about swat Irvin? They're out there too!” said Miller.
“Miller, Tyrone, and I will guard the doors! The moment they make a move on any of the doors, open fire with your rifles. All of us have armor piercing rounds, so quit worrying!” Irvin pointed a thumb behind him. “Cooper over there will watch the girls to make sure our insurance stays where it needs to. Were not going till they release Debra!”
Unaware to the four gunmen, the dark figure soaked in every word of the conversation. In order to keep from alerting the four gunmen, the figure resorted to contacting Ise via a small communication device on his right arm.
“You get all that Ise?” typed the figure.
“Yes I did! This has to be the sorriest excuse for a trade I have ever heard!” replied Ise.
“Wouldn't be the first time I've heard desperation this bad but, anyway!” The Figure typed again.
“Run a background check on all those names see what comes up on law enforcement databases.” the figure typed.
“Sure thing give me a moment and….. Got it! Here's what we have. The leader’s full name is Irvin Ivanov; demolitions expert, did work with the Mexican drug cartel back in the day and then out of nowhere you see his face next to Debra, Irvin is also known to have a short fuse but is even more dangerous when he has a gun in his hand, here's a note on his file. ‘the more angry he gets the more accurate his shots are.’ he's also wanted out of Michigan for murder.”
“Here’s the second name, Miller Fuchs was in the army for a year but was dishonorably discharged for reasons that are listed under black ink, but his name pops up again for arms dealing and later being a scout for the NWO’s tactician for future attacks.”
“Tyrone Lopez our third guy was a prominent gang member here, he was affiliated with the Rileys but was in the wind once their gang was taken out because of you, all the gang members except Tyrone are in jail and there is still an active warrant for his arrest here.”
“Lastly Cooper, I can't find any ties to the NWO...wait, hang on a sec???”
“Whats up?” the figure typed.
“Cooper Heinz has a missing persons report out of Houston Texas, his brother filed it. He was last seen with a friend of his and get this, Tyrone no last name.”Ise finished.
“Hmmm, aright.” the figure replied.
“What should my plan of attack be?” Typed the figure.
“Well, looking at your optical feed on my computer, it seems to me your best bet is to go for the gunman guarding the girls in that secluded room over there. Knocking him out should be easy, if you can keep the girls calm and quiet.”
“Your second target should be the lone gunman guarding the garage door to the right of the building. It would be best to attack from behind to avoid him alerting the other two gunmen. My weapon of choice would be that Knockout gas container on your belt. Grab him by his mouth and put him to sleep, and keep it quiet! We don’t want any unnecessary attention”
The last two will be tricky; I would advise against going in guns blazing, so the best way for this to work is those tazer charges you have equipped on your belt! and that should take care of things,” typed Ise.
“Ok here I go, wish me luck!” typed the figure.
* * *
Samantha and Sarah sat back to back tied up in a small room, both of them were equally Petrified and crying. Neither of them could talk due to their mouths being taped shut. The masked man with the gun was just adding onto their fear as both of them thought they were not going to make it out. It was at that moment the front door opened. However, when the door was fully opened, no one stood there... Both the girls and Cooper were confused. Cooper went to investigate the door to see if maybe the wind blew it open.
As Cooper walked outside the room something black fell from above, knocking him to the ground effectively knocking the wind out of him. Before he could realize what was going on, his vision went black. Both the girls looked at each other before their eyes turned to the black figure. He was dragging the body of one of the gunmen.
The Figure then took out what looked like a zip tie and tied the man to a pipe that came out of the floor and went into the wall. The figure then turned his attention to the girls. The figure bent down on his knees and proceeded to remove the tape from the mouths of the hostages. both of them were apprehensive at first until he began to speak.
“I need you girls to stay calm. You will be out of this shortly just keep quiet so you don't alert the guards!” said the figure.
Both girls looked at each other before nodding, and then the figure left the room and closed the door behind him.
* * *
Miller stood behind the garage door, the paranoia keeping him alert! The entire warehouse was surrounded by swat trucks, police cars, and helicopters. The red and blue lights were flashing from the windows. Miller’s mind was plagued with several ‘what if’ scenarios. How Irvin said all would be fine kept echoing through his head.
Miller was starting to doubt that any of them were going to make it out at all. Even with the aid of the explosives. Even if they somehow managed to escape those news stories he had seen about that shadow like figure stopping crimes, didn't help calm his mind in the slightest. He remembered a man on the news explaining how he was being mugged at gunpoint. Miller’s memory went back to that night on the couch watching tv.
“Well I was walking home from work when that punk over there pulled a gun on me. As I handed him my wallet, he cocked the gun. I thought that was going to be it for me, till this black thing came out of nowhere and stopped him.” The man said to the reporter.
the media was all over the story as more eyewitnesses described similar situations. It was strange to see such astounding events happen night after night. They were even calling the vigilante, The Wraith.
When Miller was in the military he was very good at paying attention to details no matter how big or small they were, and that news report was no different! He knew something may go wrong with Irvins plan, though there wasn't much he could do about that if his nickname was anything to go by .
“I wont be called a fuck up anymore, they'll see!” He said under his breath.
Miller had a gut feeling that something was not right at that moment, but before he could turn around something from behind grabbed him and his gun. He tried to warn the others by yelling but something over his mouth prevented him from doing so. Then came a hissing sound that he couldn't identify where the source was. For whatever reason, Miller began to feel tired, he tried to fight it. However, it was no use as the feeling became more and more welcoming, until he let it take over him.
The Wraith grabbed his gun and gently placed it on the ground away from the man he had knocked out. The Wraith grabbed another zip tie from his belt and grabbed each hand and placed them behind his back zip tied him and then gently laid him on the floor.
* * *
Irvin and Tyrone stood across from each other periodically looking out a window to see if any of the cops outside were making any moves.
“Hey Irvin?” Tyrone called.
“What is it Tyrone?” Asked Irvin.
“Why are the cops taking so long to call us? They should have done something by now.”
Tyrone Inquired.
“I don’t know Tyrone, but stay alert! They may try to pull something...” Irvin said “Go over to Cooper to untie one of the girls to bring over here, we want the police to know we're not fucking around here!” Commanded an annoyed Irvin.
“Right aw-” Tyrone said as something impacted him.
“Tyrone wh-” Irvin said as something impacted him as well.
“The hell is this?” Tyrone said as he tried to examine what hit him.
Right at that moment both men felt a surge of pain envelope them and out of instinct both men pulled the triggers of their automatic rifles and several bullets flew in the air, making holes in the ceiling.
* * *
A car pulled up to the police blockade around warehouse thirteen. The car door opens and out steps a man in uniform with a badge on his chest. The man proceeds to make his way over to the police captain.
“Where the hell have you been?!?” Demanded Police Captain Winchester.
“I’m sorry but I blew a tire on the way here, the damn road had a pothole that rendered my car immobile till I could get it fixed!” Explained the police negotiator.
At that exact moment several gunshots rang out, the police captain grabbed the negotiator and ducked under his car for cover.
“SHOTS FIRED, REPEAT SHOTS FIRED, MOVE IN!” The police captain screamed into his radio.
Swat did as they were told as they busted down the door guns and shields drawn, to their surprise 3 men laid on the ground all of them zip tied, their weapons were laying off to the side in a pile. Swat moved further to a small room as they opened the door the two hostages sat there unharmed while another man slouched over zip tied to a pipe.
* * *
The Wraith stood a good few blocks away, watching the cops haul out the 4 gunmen from the warehouse. A good two hours had passed and it was about time he wrapped up before sunrise.
“Ise, anything else going on before I wrap up for the night?” the wraith said into his two way radio.
‘I've got nothing but what you stopped over any of the local police chatter, I guess we can call it a-” before Ise could finish a loud noise came from his laptop stopping him entirely from his thought.
“This alert is being issued by The National Weather Service, a tornado warning is in effect for the city of Atalantica. An F5 tornado is expected to form over the center of the city. All residents are required to take shelter immediately from the storm. this alert has been issued by The National Weather Service.” said the voice out of Ise’s computer.
About ten seconds later the storm sirens could be heard around the city.
“Where the hell did this come from!? This city is nowhere near capable of supporting a tornado, especially one of that magnitude!” said Ise clearly confused.
“Are you for real?” Asked the Wraith.
“Absolutely! This came out of nowhere, it just appeared from the north wickedly quick and now is heading this way, scientifically this should not be possible!” Ise was starting to get a bit worried.
“Alright, get you and your family to a shelter or if at all else make your way to the cavern you should be safe there, looks like I’m gonna be pulling over time today.” said the Wraith.
“But what about you?” inquired Ise.
“I'll keep in contact with you, don't worry.” replied the wraith.
“Stay safe out there!” said Ise.
“I will do my best!” the wraith assured to Ise over the radio.
* * *
The Wraith Carefully kept a close eye on the city while flying around in the Night Wing, everyone at least from afar seemed to be all rushing into either a storm shelter or hunkered down inside their home barricading it however they could.
"The winds are pretty nasty out there, are you sure your fine with flying the Night wing in this weather?" Ise said expressing his worry over the two way radio.
"its fine, so far everyone seems to be either hunkering down from the storm or seeking shelter however they can, and besides the moment I feel I can head back to the cavern, I'll initiate lock down protocol." Wraith said to Ise over the radio.
"If you say so..." Ise said still not quite sure about the whole situation.
"Are you getting anything through local chatter?" The Wraith asked.
"so far nothing but...." Ise said but stopped.
"but what?" The Wraith responded back, unsure if the radio cut out or he stuttered over something.
"I have an SOS signal coming through, patching you into the transmission now!" Ise said not skipping a beat!
"This is the fishing Vessel Oscar Mike, our engine has blown and we are currently stranded in the middle of this storm, we need immediate assistance!"
"Get me the GPS coordinates to that distress signal ASAP!" the wraith called out over the radio!
"Done!" Ise said as he directed the location of the SOS over to the Night Wing!
"Thanks Ise, on my way now over and out!"
* * *
"Captain, I don't think our message got through the storm must be blocking our signal!" the navigator working the radio called out.
"Keep broadcasting till we get a response back, I don't need to remind you how bad a situation were currently in now!" The ship captain said back to the navigator working the radio.
The ship captain, had been at sea for many years and never in his life had he been in such a bizarre and violent storm such as this one. It wasn't to say that he was never in a storm while at sea he manage to keep his boat afloat while his ship was being passed over by hurricane Sandy. However this storm was far different never had he heard of a storm that materialized that quickly not to mention the time it took the storm to hit the city was mind boggling in it of itself. Not soon after did the nation weather service put out a warning did the storm hit the city like rocket rig on wheels. something that should have taken an hour to hit the city took less than ten minutes which would scare any man shit less.
The captain of the vessel stared into the storm in both intrigue and fear, trying to think in what situation any of what he was witnessing would be remotely possible. It wasn't until the navigator called out to him again that it brought him out of his thoughts.
"CAPTAIN WE'VE GOT SOMETHING ON RADAR COMING TO US I THINK THEY HEARD OUR SOS!"
The captain looked around through the glass of the cabin on the ship looking for any boat near by but saw nothing.
"what direction?" the captain yelled.
"Directly south of us, should be visible from our starboard side" the navigator yelled over to the captain.
The captain opened the door of the cabin to the outside holding onto his hat as for it not to be lost to the wind. He looked around but no sign of any kind of boat however the roar of what sounded like a jet engine caught his ear.
Are the coastguard coming for us when did they get jet planes for sea rescue, the captain thought to himself.
The captain looked around for anything orange and white but there was nothing he could see in the sky or sea but the roar got louder as it got closer. For a brief second the captain could have swore he saw it but it did not look anything like a coastgaurd rescue craft almost looked millitary but was hard to get a good look at it due to how dark the storm made things appear. The craft approached just over the ship probably ten or twelve feet in the air then something fell from it also dark in color before the captain could get a good look at it.... It stood up and looked at him he was scared at first but then relieased who or rather what he was looking at.
Is that the wraith I've heard about on tv, the captain thought to himself.
Before the captain could say anything the wraith beat him to it and spoke first.
"you and your crew hunker down I'm getting you out of here!"
without skipping a beat the captain replied with an "OK" then heading back to the cabin.
* * *
The wraith went to work as quick as he could firing a line from his cross bow launcher and having the Night Wing latch onto the rope with its hook attachment. The Wraith made for the bow of the ship and tied the rope tightly around one of the hand railings the only way for him to get all of these people to safety was going to have to be using the Night Wing to drag the ship through the storm and into the harbor the wraith activated the ships remote function and set it to the predetermined point this wasn't going to be easy for the craft due to how much turbulence it would have to deal with.
"Ise are you still there?" The wraith said over his com link.
"yeah whats up?" Ise said back.
"getting this ship back to safety is becoming more difficult then originally anticipated can you take over controls for the Night Wing?" the wraith asked.
"gotcha, hold onto something!" Ise responded
The wraith grabbed onto the nearby rail and held on as the night wing began pulling the ship.
It was a bit more forceful then he thought it be but it was getting the job done. It wasn't much longer till the Night wing was less than a mile away from the port the wraith went to work getting the line he had tied around the handrail and began untying it. As the boat came up on the harbor the wraith pounded on the cabin door to the captain.
"You're in the docks now, get out of here and to safety!" The wraith called out to the captain in which the captain responded back with a simple salute.
Now the wraith was able to jump ship while the getting was good.
"ise I'm taking over control go ahead and sign off." The Wraith.
"I copy get out of there while you still can!" ise said with relief.
"on my way now!" the wraith replied.
The wraith engaged the the horizontal flight mode and flew off back into the direction of the cavern or in short his base of operations, which used to be an old bomb shelter dating back to world war two.
As the wraith made his way around the city and south towards the caverns cave entrance a panicked ise scream over the com system.
"WRAITH GET OUT OF THERE, A TORNADO FORMING RIGHT ABOVE YOU!"
"Taking evasive maneuvers!" the wraith said working the flight controls trying to fly opposite of the tornado but strangely enough the tornado began to follow the craft. This took everything he knew about meteorology and tossed it out the window, this storm was not natural. This was being controlled but how, and by who?
"Wraith whats going on over there?" Ise said over the com system.
"This twister is on my ass, I can't shake it, the storm is cashing me!" The wraith said trying to stay focused and fly while talking to ise.
"Did you just say the storm is chasing you?" Ise said confused.
"Yes nothing about this storm is natural, this is textbook paranormal what I fighting to get away from!"
"Make a straight shot for the cavern its your only way out of there, I've got lock down protocol ready on your mark." ise said over the com link.
"roger making a break for the cavern." The wraith responded back.
However this storm seemed to know what he was up to. The tornado while fully formed began to try and flank the aircraft then it began to do something that really began to astound the wraith.
The base of the tornado left the water and instead began to curve itself in the direction of the aircraft. The wraith as best as he could pulled the ship up and tried to flip the night wing away from the tornado, but it was no good. The tornado had gotten close enough for its winds to become better effective in pulling in the aircraft into its funnel.
The wraith flipped a switch to turn on the afterburners but that did little to nothing to bring any further away from the storm
"diverting all available power to the main thruster." the Wraith said to no one in particular.
"wra wha oing n" called ise over the com link but distorted due to the storm.
"Ise this storm has a hold of me I cant make it to the cavern I'll turn on the ship's black box once I make landfall"
"I don under yo brea up." Ise called over the comlink.
The wraith looked behind him and he saw that he was getting closer and closer to the tornado and before he knew what hit him he was sucked inside and blacked out...
* * *
“ugh…..”
The Wraith came too, he felt around his surroundings and realized he was still in his aircraft's cockpit, only it was dark. This was an unusual circumstance since the cockpit had interior lights that should have kicked in by now.
“What happened...” he grunted.
It was then he remembered the storm and the tornado that sucked him inside. It could be possible that the plane was struck by lightning and it knocked the power off, or worst case scenario the circuits were fried. He wouldn't know until he exited the plane so he reached around the cockpit until he felt a familiar lever. It was the emergency release lever. Pulling it towards himself the canopy opened and he exited the plane.
As he exited a stray drop of water fell in front of him and hit the ground, and the sound echoed around him.
“Where the hell am I?”
He decided to turn his night vision on. He felt around the grooves of his mask till he felt a faint button on his right side. When the night vision was activated he found that he was in a cave. Looking around he saw he could go in two directions but it was hard to tell which direction was the way out, or which one went deeper into the cave.
There was one way he could determine which way was the right way, in his aircraft’s storage was a device meant for mapping caves such as this. He turned off his night vision and pulled out a small flashlight from his belt and made his way over to his plane. He flashed the light around the cockpit until he found it and grabbed it.
This device was a sonic sound wave mapper and what it did was shoot sound waves around an enclosed area. When it would do that the sound waves would bounce back to the device and map that area however far it was. The wraith aimed the device in the direction his plane was facing. There is a downside to using this device, if there were any bats in this cave they would go in a sense, ‘batty’ no pun intended.
The wraith pushed a button and fired off the device. After about a minute later, the results came back. The device indicated the cave went on further in that direction. The Wraith turned around and then fired off the device again and after another ten minutes the result came back that the cave opened up in that direction. With that said the wraith left a tracking beacon in the cockpit of his aircraft for him to come back to. It would be easier to fix his aircraft once he knew where he was.
About half a mile later the wraith came to the end of the cave. He could see several trees from the base of the cave opening to far off into the distance. He looked above and he could see a giant rock formation right above him or so he thought seeming to be attached to something above, curious he grabbed his miniature cross bow launcher, loaded the arrow with the cable attached to it and fired above him. Once the arrow latched onto a part of the rock he activated the lift function.
before he made it to the top of the so called rock formation the Wraith took a second look and realized that it wasn't just one rock at all, it was a series of structures holding something big above it.
As soon as he made it to the top he could make out some buildings and what looked like a castle.
Did that tornado toss me all the way to Norway? He questioned himself.
However there seemed to be a wall Around the town and castle, thinking nothing of it he wasted no time getting over said wall.
When he made it over he dropped into a small dead end alleyway, he still had no idea where he was but he knew once he found a building tall enough he could get a general idea. Running through the alleyway and looking around questions started running through his mind,questions he hoped would be answered once he found some high ground. When he found a building that suited his needs he again fired the arrow and latched onto the top of the building and stood atop it. When he got the chance to see the world around him he was stunned to say the least. What ever happened in that storm began to raise more questions, than answers. He decided to try his radio to see if he could get Ise to help him out.
“Ise, it's the wraith, you there?" He said expecting to hear back.
Nothing but static greeted him. He decided to try again.
“Isaac come in, I could really use your help right now!” He said starting to get worried.
Something was up and he knew it, so he decided to look around more. The city was barren and come to think of it, rather old looking like medieval style old, and maybe a touch celtic. There wasn't much to see other than the dark buildings and empty streets. Then he looked up and saw several stars in the sky, which gave him an Idea!
There was another device he could try out, however this would be the first time it would be tested in the field. So there was a risk, but at this point he had exhausted all options of figuring out where he was, so it was either this, or nothing!
"GhOSt, activate SID assistant, alpha phase one!" The wraith said into his mask.
"Command received, and confirmed!" the device stated back.
"Booting up SID assistant!" the device announced!
SID had three different ways it was supposed to be used, the first was to enhance how the wraith would respond to a situation by updating the base heads up display; or hud for short, actively to keep him on his toes. This was referred to as the Strategic Interface Display!
the second variation was to catalog every fight the wraith came up on, by recording the movements of his opponents he had faced in the past, and saved them to be used and applied to future fights, using a unique algorithm that Isaac came up with himself. This was referred to as the Situational Information Database.
The last one was another good concept, if there was ever a situation where the wraith had found himself far away from Atlantica, this variation had the entire catalogued star charts seen around earth, with every season taken into account, to help him find his way back home, however far it was. However the only difference with how this was referred to is, that it was SID, but spelled backwards like this, Dedicated Internal Star map!It had other uses too but there where only so many names you could use with sid or dis, but those were the main three!
The one thing that gave the Wraith a small amount of hope is that the program was self correcting, if there was a time that SID gave out faulty information, all you would need to do is issue a voice command and correct the faulty info and after that, it wouldn't happen again.
"SID program active!" The program said into his ear piece.
it was currently still night time and there were plenty of stars out, that should be able to help pin point his current location on earth!
"scan current star formations, requesting current location!" The wraith stated to the device!
"Scanning!" the program responded.
hopefully this would be his ticket to finding his way home, however the device responded back faster than anticipated.
"Scan complete!" the program announced.
"Current star formations do not match any known constellations on file, as of june twenty eight teen!" the program concluded.
"what?" he said dumbstruck.
he knocked some sense back into himself!
Alright fine, the device stated that the stars don't make a lick of sense, so there's no use sitting up here like an idiot! My best option now is to explore some more! The wraith thought!
This was confusing as hell to him but he noticed the castle up ahead, and that castle had lights on. Shaking his confusion away he concluded he ought to make his way over there because lights had to mean life was there. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he became close enough to see what those silhouettes were, However as he made it close enough to make them out clearly, utter confusion hit him like a brick.
"are those..." he said having a hard time forming the word.
"Elves?" he said dumbfounded.
However before he could analyze what was going on, the sound of a female scream filled the air which promptly got him out of his daze to refocus.
I better find out where that is coming from.
* * *
"What is a Damned Dirty Demi doing here, she should know better!" said one elf.
"such filth, is not welcome in this city!" Said another.
A demi human by the name of Melody was pinned to the wall by one of three elves, who had followed her from the train station.
"Let me go, I came here to ask for help!" she yelled with a mix of fear and frustration!
"the filth do not deserve anything here!"
the elves then pulled her from the wall and onto the ground.
"There where you belong, on the ground below our feet!" they all chuckled.
we will help you with one thing though, we'll toss your corpse out of the city once we're done with it!" all of them got a chuckle out of this!
as one of the elves began to raise his fist!
"No!"
"No, Please don't!"
"Stop!"
"Someone please help me!" Melody cried out in vain, However she knew that no one would answer her call.
This is it, Amber where ever you are, I'm sorry I couldn't find you in time! she thought to herself thinking this was her last moment!
Melody closed her eyes waiting for the beating but before the elf could punch her-
A strange sound emitted from behind the elves and across the alley, as the elf went to deliver the first blow his armed stopped before he could bring it down. Surprised at what grabbed him he looked at his right arm, there wrapped around it was something that resembled a rope.
However, before he could get a better look at it, the rope began to pull him instead with a force. The elf tried to fight it but to no avail, this led him to start screaming in panic as he was being dragged from his right arm on the ground until he was at the edge of the alleyway, where the darkness consumed him and then, silence...
one foot step came, then another, a sense of dread and fear could be felt by the two elves, including Melody who felt a little uneasy at the time!
the footsteps stopped, and there came a voice.
"I believe the lady said stop , you best listen to her unless you want to face the same fate your friend did over there!" came a voice from the shadows.
"who are you??" said one of the trembling elves.
"I am the ghost of the night, called the Wraith, now let her go!"
as they stood there two glowing and glaring white eyes materialized from the darkness.
"this is your third and final warning Let Her Go!"
one elf stood up feeling a sense of courage overrun him, he charged directly at the shadow in question, he lowered his left arm to deliver a running gut punch however, when his fist made contact with the wraith, there was a noticeable crack sound, which resulted in the elf screaming in pain while clutching his hand.
the Wraith looked at him his white eyes forming a scowl!
"wrong move, now you get to take a nap!" as the Wraith sucker Punched the elf into unconsciousness!
the only elf left, looked at his friend on the ground and then at the wraith as it approached them!
"you wanna be next?" the Wraith asked
"I give up I give up I give up!" he pleaded!
The Wraith stepped aside opening the alley!
the elf thinking he was sincere began to make a mad dash out of the alleyway, but before he could leave the walls the wraith snagged him by his shoulder!
"before you go, I need you to do me a favor!" the Wraith demanded!
"Anything anything!" the elf said utter terror in his eyes!
"I don't know you, and you don't know me, however, if I bump into you or any of your friends doing this again, there will be nowhere you can hide where I cant find you , be sure to tell your friends that too, do I make myself clear!" the wraith making sure his message got through to him!
"Crystal!" he said with shaking hands.
"Now beat it, before I change my mind!" The wraith pushed the thug towards the wall and he fell and got up and ran away screaming like his life depended on it!
"Are you okay mam?" the wraith inquired!
"Please leave me alone, I haven't done anything wrong to anyone...." melody said terrified!
The demi human at the time had her arms crossing over her face in complete and utter terror, only to find the Wraith to grab hold of her right hand. She thought at that moment to scream but held back. There was something about how he was pulling her up, it wasn't violent by any means, it actually felt like he was holding back and was genuinely trying to help her up, which confused her!
"Do not be afraid, I am not here to hurt you, only to send a message to thugs like him!" the wraith pointed with his thumb at the elf who tried to punch him on the ground still unconscious!
"Why did you help me?" Melody asked hesitantly.
"Simply put, its what I do." The wraith responded.
"Why me, no one here has ever treated me any differently, other than you, well except a few. " melody stated looking away not sure of what to think.
"Allow me to explain then, those who prey on the weak, who hold them face down to the ground and stand over them triumphantly, like they're some better person. When instead they themselves are weak, and do not want others to see them that way. If they wanted to show a true feat of strength then they should take on some one stronger than them, or better yet pick on someone their own size. When the strong cross the line of preying on the weak, that is where I intervene! " The wraith finished.
"What are you?" melody asked out of wonder.
"I am not sure you would, understand what I am. " The wraith responded.
"Are you an elf?" melody asked.
"No." The wraith answered.
"Then what?" melody asked trying to narrow it down.
"Does the term human sound familiar." The wraith said trying to answer her.
"Like demi human?" melody responded, clearly not knowing what a human was.
"Just human." the wraith stated.
"I don't think I have heard of just human before." Melody stated slightly confused.
"Regardless, I need you to answer a couple questions of my own." The wraith requested.
"I'll try." Melody responded.
"first, where am I? " The Wraith asked.
"This is the golden empire, one of the four empires that govern the land of Vandarria."
The wraith took a few moments to process the answer and then began again!
"second what is today's date?" The wraith inquired.
"It's june the twenty first and its the year two thousand and eighteen!"
So the calender system is the same, well that suits me just fine. The Wraith thought to himself.
"Thanks for the information, I will go ahead and be on my way!" The wraith stated making his way out of the alley.
Melody deciding to take a leap of faith stepped forward to try and talk to the Wraith One more time before he could leave.
"Wait!" Melody blurted out.
The wraith paused for a moment, almost as if it was willing to listen to what she had to say.
"what?" he asked.
"Thank you for your help, I really appreciate what you did to save me from those elves. I'd hate to be a burden and ask for a second favor, but I feel as if I have no other choice. You see my little sister, Amber has been missing for the past three weeks. I have looked all over the village for her but I could find no trace of her."
"I heard word of slavers being in town at the time."
"I hope that is not what became of her but that is why I was here in the first place, to talk to princess Gina."
"She has the authority and ability to hunt them down, that and Her and I are secret friends."
"She was supposed to meet me at the train station but instead I was met by those thugs and chased into this alley!" Melody finished!
the wraith turned back around and looked at her, the situation caught his interest.
Hmm, something about her story rubs me the wrong way, not that she could be lying to me which I know she isn't, more so this sounds way too convenient for my liking, this whole deal wreaks of a setup and if that is the case, the princess may be in danger!
"Tell me how did you speak to each other." The Wraith asked.
"We wrote letters to each other, like yesterday I received a letter telling me to meet up at the station with her!" Melody replied.
"do you have the letter with you?" The Wraith asked.
"yes, here you go." Melody replied back handing him the letter.
the wraith looked over the letter carefully...
This is written in latin, whats even more strange is she spoke to me in perfect english, which doesn't make a lick of sense. However, back to business, if I could find another letter that I could compare the handwriting to then I'd have something. I know in my gut this is a set up but I cant go on gut instinct alone I need more concrete proof, then I can act!
"Alright, I will look into your sister's disappearance however, something just as important has come up!" The wraith said.
"What?" Melody asked.
"Princess Gina may be in danger, if she was not going to meet you at the train station, then where would she be at this time?" The Wraith asked.
"you think someone is trying to kill her, that cant be she is an elf, like they are!" Melody said in disbelief.
"Not everything is as it seems, why would they want you out of the picture if you were nothing to them?"
"I'm not sure where you're from, but elven nobles hate Demi humans here, which is why we are only safe in Golden Bay Village with the rest of the Demi humans!"
"Then why three of them, if this was another hate crime as you say, then why is there need for three of them, when one is more than capable of holding you down."
"On top of that, why would that guy over there rush at what he was visibly afraid of?"
"Lastly how did they know to meet you at the station instead of Gina?"
"This is sounding less like a hate crime and more so like they were following someone's orders." the wraith explained.
"you know, now that you mention it that does seem odd!" Melody said as she thought more on it!
A gust of wind blew into the alleyway, and as if on cue a small letter came out of the pocket of the noblemen on the ground. This happened to catch the eye of The Wraith which he ran over to and grabbed it. The letter it self was already opened but had originally had a wax seal to close it, and the letters G.C.P. on said seal.
The wraith looked over the letter
"This letter confirms my suspicion, it was a set up!"
"Really?" Melody said amazed!
"do me a favor and hold on to this letter!" the wraith asked!
"Oh no you don't, you are not going to leave me here after what I went through, I am coming with you!" Melody Demanded!
"Its too dangerous!" the Wraith Argued!
"Its just as dangerous for me to be alone on these streets, not only that but I..." Melody hesitated.
"I made her a promise that I would be there for her when she had no one else, and to have her back if no one else would!"
that seem to catch the wraith off guard, in a way he was moved by her words.
Hmph reminds me of the pledge that Isaac and I made when we were young, to eachother makes me wonder how hes doing in my absence.
"Alright fine you have a point but stay out of sight, I will handle whatever comes Gina's way, then you hand her the letter do we have a deal?"
"Yes!" Melody agreed!
"grab onto me!" The Wraith commanded!
"excuse me?" Melody asked out of confusion.
"Just do it!" the Wraith motioned.
Melody cautiously wrapped her arms around the Wraith. The Wraith himself grabbed onto his miniaturized crossbow launcher and the pulled from his back a arrow with a cord attached to it! then with his left hand made sure he had a firm hold on Melody. which caused Melody to blush a little but she shook it off!
"I'll ask again where would Gina be?" the wraith asked.
"She would be on her way to her room, its the only balcony that faces the north of the castle!" Melody answered!
"quick question, whats your name?" The Wraith asked.
"Melody!" she answered!
"hold on then, Melody!" the Wraith said to Melody.
The Wraith fired the crossbow and the arrow flew over and hit the castle wall.
"Rappel!" the wraith said.
"what?" Melody asked.
However Melody would have her question answered as both of them flew into the air and towards the castle!
* * *
It was quiet to say the least, the hallways were barren with not a soul to be found, until the sound of two foot steps could be heard. The clang of knights armor and the clack of high heels.
"Are you sure we haven't received another letter from her?" one voice asked.
"Positive Your majesty, nothing after this morning!" replied the other voice.
"Gus, you don't have to speak so formally around me, Didn't I tell you that You're like an older brother to me, so address me as if it were so."
"Alright Gina, as you wish." Gus said petting Gina on her head.
"Do you think she could be in trouble?" Gina asked Gus.
"I don't know Gina, but this doesn't sit right with me!" Gus replied.
"alright first thing tomorrow hop on the bronze liner express to golden bay village to check up on her!" Gina requested.
"as you wish your majesty!"Gus responded!
"Gus... your tongue is starting to slip again!" Gina said waving her finger!
"My apologies , that's going to be something I will have to get used to." gus sighed.
the pair continued to walk down the long corridor of hallways until they came to the spiral stair case.
"Out of the whole castle, this is the one part I hate!" Gus muttered.
"why, because it goes to my room?" Gina joked.
"No, its the stairs I cant stand!" gus complained.
"Come on gus, no fair maiden wants to date a flabby knight!" Gina teased.
Gus stuck his tongue out, to which Gina promptly returned the gesture, which got Gus flustered, and made Gina laugh!
Gus didn't hold it against her, if you were to get to know her like Gus did, you would see she was one of the sweetest elves you could ever meet, and you sometimes would forget she was a princess.
Unlike most nobles in the kingdom, she tries to create a friendly relationship with the demi humans of Golden Bay Village. To boot even have some of them employed to work in, and around the castle. To say she was open minded would be an understatement, she loved all the different Ideas that they brought to the table, and yes that included food she was a sucker for sweets. Ever since Gina Met Melody that fateful night, a fire was set to her heart.
She made it her duty to make sure all demi humans were treated fairly, both in and out of the kingdom. She has fought long and hard to maintain a peaceful and friendly relationship with the demi humans. When nobles would like nothing more than to demolish the village and build on top of it, while running all the demi humans out of town! Which is something she has stopped multiple times when brought up on the royal court.
As both of them came near to the end point of the spiral stair case, Gina stopped to take a breath and looked behind her to see a huffing and puffing gus slowly following her.
"You keep this up I'll have you do laps up and down these stairs till your not huffing and puffing anymore!" Gina Joked.
"shut up!" Gus retorted.
Gina laughed.
While they were enjoying each others company a audible crash could be heard coming from Gina's room, which Gus heard and he immediately snapped into action as he dashed towards her door.
Gina thinking nothing of it and completely oblivious to what was going on, decided to joke again.
"There you go gus that's the spirit!" Gina joked.
"Not now Gina!" gus responded in a serious tone.
this got Gina's attention, to which she responded.
"whats going on?"
Gus put his ear on the door and could hear what sounded like muffled voices behind the door, and then quietly he responded back to her!
"I think there is someone inside your room!"
"Be careful Gus!" gina said with a bit of worry in her voice.
gus slowly opened the door and he reached for his sword on his right side and slowly and carefully made his way inside when he was met with a bit of a surprise!
"No one tries to hurt my Gina and gets away with it!"
"Melody, what are you doing here?" Gus said dumbfounded
Melody looked at gus and responded.
"Oh hey gus I am just sitting around waiting for Gina, also watch your step!"
Gus not understanding what was going on made his way inside when his foot made contact with a snake dagger, he picked it up and saw that venom was still on the blade.
"This scum bag here was trying to kill Gina!" Melody said with her foot on the cloaked figure.
gus walked over to the figure and removed the hood.
"Oh my, that's Kade Ross!" came a voice from the doorway.
"Gina is that you?" Melody called.
"who else would it be Mel?" gina said as she opened the door fully!
both the girls ran and embraced each other.
"what are you doing here, Melody?" Gina asked.
"well I followed what you told me to do in the letter you sent me!" melody responded.
"what letter?" Gina said confused.
"this one!" melody said handing over the letter in question.
Gina looked over the letter that was handed to her and realized it wasn't her hand writing!
"I never sent you this letter!" Gina said confused.
"then he was telling the truth then!" Melody blurted out.
"who was telling the truth?" Gina asked.
"The......" Melody said looking around.
"where did he go, he was here a moment ago?" Melody said confused.
"who?" Gina asked again.
"He called himself The Wraith, he saved me from being killed in an alley way, and put a stop to that kade guy there, before he could kill you!" Melody explained.
"Really, what was he like?" Gina asked fascinated.
"He was tall and clothed in dark armor, as hard as stone and he had two glowing white eyes!" Melody explained.
"So tall, dark, and handsome!" Gina said trying to visualize him herself!
"Are you sure that you didn't imagine all of this, when you were little you had quite the imagination." Gus stated thinking this was too far fetched to be true!
Melody tilted her head to the side and looked at gus.
"You think I knocked him out myself the only thing I did was was kick him when you two arrived..." Melody explained
"If you don't believe me then look at whats his names wrists, he called it a zip tie." Melody pointed at Kade.
sure enough gus moved up the sleeves of the cloak and there was something indeed there!
"what is this?" gus said amazed.
"he called it a zip tie like I said before." Melody clarified.
"what is a zip tie?" Gina asked fascinated by the almost see through object before her.
"He said that it was tough enough to keep someone from breaking them with their strength, but easy enough to cut through with something like a sword!" Melody explained.
then all of a sudden Melody reached around her person until she pulled out a letter!
"oh, I almost forgot he told me to hand you this letter, he found it on one of the Nobles that tried to kill me!" Melody held out the letter.
Gus grabbed the letter and looked over it.
"G.C.P I know that some how, but I cant quite remember where I know that from!" gus said puzzled.
"well given what we know now, it would be wise if you'd stay the night in the castle to keep you safe!" Gina stated.
"Probably the best course of action, I'm going to get some more guards up here to throw this dirt bag into the dungeon, its also probably a good Idea if both of you sleep in here tonight!" gus stated.
"Are you sure, I don't want to impose..." Melody stated
"well at least we can hold that sleepover you proposed to me sometime ago." Gina responded.
"I was eight when I said that." Melody sighed.
"well better late then never." Gina joked nudging Melody with her elbow.
"I'll be back up to keep an eye on you two!" Gus said as he made his way down the stairs.
"so while gus is fetching the guard, can you tell me anything else about this wraith fellow?" Gina inquired.
"well, I will try to explain my first encounter with him as best I can!" melody began.
* * *
Meanwhile just outside Gina's bedroom!
The wraith stood nearby the balcony to Gina's bedroom, making sure that Melody was safe and that the wrong Idea wasn't made instead, but melody handled herself well!
Good with Melody safe I can start making my way back to the Night wing! The wraith thought.
He made sure he went back the way he came, and hopped from roof to roof while also making sure he wasn't seen.
As he made it to the edge of the castle town he checked to see if the beacon he left behind was still transmitting, which sure enough it was. After a good ten minutes he was back in the cave that he walked out of. Once there he made his way back to his jet and closed the canopy. There wasn't much else he could do other than get comfortable and fall asleep. He knew he'd regret doing this later but that was a problem for him to deal with tomorrow, all was quiet as he closed his eyes and fell asleep until a voice called out to him!
"James......."