A New Kind of ordinary

Cahpter 5


[Hey. Its Mystic. And its November twenty second when we arrive in Japan. Oh how I missed it. It was snowing and every thing was busy. We checked into a hotel and then went around. We haven’t been in Japan for sixteen years. And yet we still remembered it like we had lived here our whole lives. We hardly ever spoke in English the whole time so I will translate for any thing needed. The first thing we did was get some food. We went to a Japanese restaurant. We ordered a platter of oden. It’s a stew with chutes, vegetables, meat and fish. And was served with rice. I haven’t eaten this good in a long time. We even talked in our native tongue to each other.]
Hanna; I haven’t had food this good in a long time.
Mystic; I know what you mean. This was a great idea to come here.
[After desert we went and walked around. The tourists here looked so lost and pathetic with their translation books. There was this woman who said so many wrong thing to some guy Hanna tapped her on the shoulder.]
Hanna; Are you looking for some thing?
Woman; Oh yes. Thank god some one who speaks English. Can you tell me where Naori road is?
Hanna; You keep going this way until you get to Kori street and then take a right and keep going straight till you see it.
[She thanked her and left.]
Mystic; Did you hear what she said to that guy?
Hanna; Im surprised she didn’t get beaten up.
[We walked through on of the parks. There were several painters. Hanna always dreamed of doing that. Sitting by the edge of the lake and paint the sunset. Maybe she’d get a chance to do it while we’re here. The trees were free of there white and lavender blossoms, now just bare branches. We walked through the woods for about five miles until we reached our old village. The houses were still standing. We went into Hanna’s old house first. It brought back many memories. I picked up a picture of her family. There was her, her mother her father and who was this. It was black boy about twelve I guess.]
Mystic; Whose this?
Hanna; Oh. That’s my step brother.
Mystic; Your step brother?
Hanna; He was born in America and came here with our father. He met my mom and they lived here.
Mystic; What happened to him?
Hanna; Im not sure.

Mystic; Is he still alive?
Hanna; Im pretty sure.
[I looked at her like she was crazy. What the hell was she doing here if she had a brother?]
Mystic; Then why don’t you see him?
Hanna; He hates me. He escaped when I parents were killed. Once I came back and found him he blamed the whole thing on me and my mother. He never did like my mother. He said they only came here for me and it was my fault they were killed.
Mystic; What a bastard.
Hanna; He died when my parents did. He just chose to stop living. I mean he loved me when we were still a family. He even gave me my first harmonica. He loved the blues. But he just stopped. He doesn’t love any thing any more, not the blues, not me.
[She was crying silently. She went to her old room and I waited and then followed her. I remembered her room. She had gotten a lot less girly.]
Mystic; I forgot how much you liked pink.
Hanna; Na my mom did all this stuff. I was into every thing my brother was.
[She took a box out from her bed and opened it. There was a knife, a feather, a bullet, a card and a locket. She opened it. It had a picture of me in it. She quickly closed it and blushed. It was amazing what she did when she was only four. In one corner of her room there was some African relics. A spear, a mask, a blow gun, a hide drum and a bow. This one wasn’t African at least I didn’t think so. This was a Japanese relic. It was a yumi. A very long bow manly used by woman archers way back in the warring states era. I picked it up.]
Hanna; My mother was a marks man. She could hit a quarter half a mile away.
Mystic; Where was your father from?
Hanna; Botswana. Rather poor village. He taught me many African languages. Like Swahili. My brother taught me English.
[She closed her box and went over to her closet. It had all her old toys. A set of princess dolls, a hula hoop, a ball and a cup all that kind of stuff. She pulled up a loose floor board and took out a metal box with a lock on it.]
Hanna; Where did I put that key?

[She got up and looked around. She got up on the bed and reach on top of one of the rafters and took out a small key. She sat on her bed and opened the box. It had money in it, and lots of it. A rock I had given her as a kid. An old flower I had given her. Every thing I had ever given her was in that box. It really puzzled me.]
Hanna; I had the biggest crush on you when I was a kid.
Mystic; Really, I couldn’t tell.
[She laughed embarrassed.]
Mystic; What happened?
Hanna; I don’t know.
Mystic; How long did you have a crush on me?
Hanna; Im not sure.
[We went over to my house. She packed all her valuables in a box. But before she went she grabbed a small box off her dresser and her yumi and blow darts. And I swore I saw her slip that locket with my picture into her pocket. We went to my house. It was the same as I remembered it, but the door was hanging off the hinge when they had busted it down. There was my mothers rocking chair. My fathers work bench. He made swords and other things. My mother nearly skinned me alive when I was playing with one of his katana’s. I went down to the closet and opened it. Swords of all different kinds in there.]
Hanna; I forgot your father was a swords smith.
[I tossed her one and she unsheathed it as quick as lightning. We were both masters of the sword. There was also a machete in here. I told her to keep the sword. I was taking one. We went to my room. I had a poster of my favorite anime as a kid. It was called Case Closed. I had action figures of all kinds, comics mostly manga, I had just learned how to read. I had several hidden things in my room. I had a journal with the chicken scratch I had used. Every thing was written in Japanese. Most of them were of Hanna. Like I had our names together. My father had a problem with this. He didn’t like me being around Hanna because of her father. I closed the journal. I also had a special box hidden in the floor board, It had an arrow head, a shark tooth, oh god my teddy bear, and a picture of Hanna. I hid the teddy bear when she wasn’t looking. I looked at her picture. We were both in it. She looked so cute, and I had definitely changed. I mean of corse I grew up, but our eyes never were the same. My eyes got cold and hard as did her’s. They didn’t have that same quality. But now I could scare just about any one. I went to check out my attic. There was the usual junk and then I saw a small safe in the corner. I brought it down to the living room.]
Hanna; What’s that?
Mystic; I don’t know. That’s why Im gonna find out.
[I put my ear against the door of it and turned the knob. I worked on it for nearly half an hour, but couldn’t get it open.]

Hanna; Let me.
Mystic; Be my guest.
[She took a hair pin out of her hair and put it into the key hole. In thirty second the lock clicked open. I shook my head in disbelief and opened it. There were several things in it. There was some papers and a key. There was also an envelope with letter in it. It said Ryosei on the front.]
Hanna; Open it.
[I did and read:
Dear son.
If you are reading this I am no longer here. And Im willing to bet Hanako is reading over your shoulder....]
Mystic; He knows me all too well.
[I continued:
In the safe you fond this in there is a key to my most prized possession. The Mithrall Master Sword. This sword is worth more than any other weapon in the world. Its power is beyond imagine. Many seek it and none have found it. I leave it to you. It may seem surreal, but it is true. There is also more. In this safe is the deed to a mansion in Wusashi. We inherited it just after your fourth birthday. It is yours now, you and your wives. I wish you and Hanako all the happiness in the world.
Sincerely Kenji.]
Hanna; Wow. He assumed much considering that he hated me.
Mystic; Tell me about it.
[I took out a map and the deed, plus and envelope stuffed with cash. We went back to the hotel room and I observed the map. ]
Mystic; Up for a quest?
Hanna; You bet. That sword sounds awesome. Why would your father think we would get married?
Mystic; You don’t remember?
Hanna; No.
Mystic; Remember when we used to climb that tree near the edge of the village?
Hanna; Yeah.
Mystic; Remember when you carved our initials in the bark?
Hanna; Oh yeah. Your dad was so mad. Why did he hate me so much?
Mystic; I think it was because of your father.
Hanna; My father?
Mystic; My parents were sort of racist.

[Later we went back to the village again to go see the other houses. The village had been abandoned by its other occupants. All except for one. There were lights on in one and smoke coming from the chimney. We were curious so we knock. The door opened a fraction of a inch.]
Maeko; Yes.
Hanna; Maeko?
Maeko; Hanako! Ryosei! Its good to see you again.
[She opened the door all the way. She was about eight months pregnant. I had, had enough of pregnant women for a while.]
Hanna; Whoa.
Maeko; I know. Please come in. My husband is away right now.
[We walked in. Her house was warm and cozy.]
Maeko; Its been a very long time. What brings you here?
Mystic; We wanted to come back and see what was left of our village.
Maeko; Oh yes. After Bio-tech took every one.
Hanna; How do you know about Bio-tech?
Maeko; I know about every thing. I know that you escaped after you got your powers. I know that one of the agents captured you and sent you to the hospital. I know that they recently captured you and put you into suspended animation.
Mystic; How?
Maeko; Well after I eluded capture I spent my life trying to find out who they were. After that I found out about the UWPA they killed my parents too. So I wanted revenge I guess you could say. I became a Bio agent at a young age. They taught me every thing about them selves. I became their most trusted agent. I know almost every thing about them except for one thing. The V chip. I know what its designed for, but I don’t know what they plan to do with it. I made a deal with the doctor in the UWPA I would turn over all info I could to him and so I did. Two other agents are stalking two of yours. The one stalking Nina, she already convinced him that you are the good guys. They brain washed those two into thinking you’re an organization bent on world domination. Im sure she warned Maria. They put us on this mission to either kill or capture you. This is where I quit and never go back.
Hanna; You don’t think they will track you down and kill you?
Maeko; No. They don’t have any more track of me. I cut off all contact with them nearly a week ago.
Mystic; Wow. Does that mean you have a power?

Maeko; Of corse, but they pulled my power out of me and twisted it to make it stronger and different. I have almost the same power as you Hanako.
[She brought a tea cup to her with her mind.]
Maeko; They originally wanted to make one as strong as you. Im no where near and lets thank god. But now their trying to ,how can I say this, breed these kind of humans.
[he pointed to her pregnant belly.]
Hanna; No.
Maeko; Im afraid yes. That’s why I got me and my baby out of there.
Mystic; Have they managed to succeed through any of this?
Maeko; Im not sure and won’t find out for another month or so. I was their only test subject. You’ve gotten most of their ideas when you stole their plan in the machine room and boy were they mad when they found the orb gone.
Hanna; What about it?
Maeko; It was much more than a battery it was the core of the entire ship. It powered every thing with more than electricity. It also has this mind blowing signal that can warp just about any thing to follow orders. Most of their plans are mind over matter. Nearly half the agents there are brain washed, but when you stole that orb they started thinking for them selves and abandoned ship. Bio -tech really wants you now Hanako. And they are fixing to break out a war over your base.
Mystic; Who is the leader of Bio-tech any how?
Maeko; His name is captain Alex Render. But every one calls him Cyclo.
Hanna; Now we no why he calls them renderers.
[We thanked her for her information and left. It was odd how all most every one we knew was sucked into this some how. All the secrets being kept from us. The secrets we were keeping from each other. Hanna and I followed the map my father had left us and I have to say we were extremely lost. This guy was not straight forward. Hanna finally exasperated grabbed the map from me. She looked it over and then turned it over. There were f%$#@! Directions on the back. She rolled it up and smacked me over the head with it.]
Hanna; Ok Sherlock lets read the directions!
Mystic; Chill, don’t have a fit. It says. Follow the river to a mouth that has teeth, but doesn’t make a sound? What the hell is this?
Hanna; It’s a riddle. Gee your father would be proud to know how smart his son is.
Mystic; Would you shut up?
Hanna; Only if you make me.

[I was on the verge of doing just that.]
Mystic; It’s a cave.
Hanna; Huh?
Mystic; It’s a cave. Look right there. If you follow the river it leads to Jakin cave.
Hanna; Oh. Good job.
[We followed the river till we met the cave. He was right about the teeth. The stalagmites and the stalactite huge and sharp. Hanna looked for the next clue.]
Hanna; Travel west until you see the object with a face and hands, but no body.
Both; Clock.
[She tales out a compass and we travel west until we cane see the big clock over the city.]
Mystic; Now travel south east till you find a place with many message stones. Find mine and follow the note and bones .
Hanna; The grave yard.
[I nodded and we followed the map until we reached a grave yard. There was only one person there lighting incense and saying a prayer. It was a Buddhist tradition to light incense and then say a prayer. It was said that the smoke carries the prayers to the next world. We looked all over the place and finally found my fathers grave stone. It said you are not far and don’t be mad, but go back from the start, and go to the place where you left your heart. And the bones on the top pointed to our village far off. We sighed and started walking back.]
Mystic; Place where I left my heart?
Hanna; I know.
[She dragged me to the tree where we carved our initials in the trunk. There was a hole in the tree below it with a note in it. We climbed to the branch and took it out. It said. Look straight north until you see the tree with a lantern stuck in the top branches. We looked north and saw the tree with a blue lantern in the top branch. We climbed down and went to it. It was next to an old tool shed. What was that doing way out here away from the village. We read the last clue.]
Hanna; This was my old work shop. Near you will see a pile of wood lift up a log and enter.
[I shrugged and lifted one of the logs. The entire first row came up on a hinge and inside was a small flight of stairs.]
Mystic; Very clever.

[We went down the steps and closed the top after us. I switched on a light. There were many swords and weapons, but there was a chest in the way back against the wall. We went over and there was a lock. It said this lock can only be broken by a blade of true heart. I grabbed on of the swords on the selves and un sheathed it. I swung down hard on the lock and the sword snapped. This was crazy.]
Hanna; You know he thought I would be here through this whole thing.
[She grabbed two swords and threw me one. We both unsheathed them and swung at the lock. The lock snapped off. I lifted the lid and inside was the Mithrall Masters Sword. I took it out and unsheathed it. It was a beautiful pearly white metal, as light as a feather, as hard as diamond and I could actually feel the power in the sword.]
Hanna; What’s this?
[She picked up a slip of paper in the bottom. I read it.]
Mystic; You have found your treasure and Im sure with your mind like mine, you couldn’t have made it here with out your wife. Oh my god.
Hanna; Come on. Keep reading.
Mystic; I know Hanako very well so lift the bottom of the chest and she may have her prize.
[She lifted the bottom of the chest and gasped. There was pearly white yumi, some arrows and a mithrall dagger.
Mystic; If she is any thing like her mother she loves archery. I hope you two are very happy together and I am sorry for my harshness towards you. Be there for each other no matter what, Love Kenji.
[We both sat down on a crate.]
Hanna; Even your father who hated me thought we were going to be together.
Mystic; I don’t believe this. What ever happened?
Hanna; Im not sure.
[We left and went back to the hotel. The same question burning inside of me that always has. It was mauling me from the inside out. We sat down with not much to do. I had to ask her.]
Mystic; How come you don’t love me any more?
[She pondered the question with sad eyes and I almost wished I hadn’t asked.]
Hanna; We changed. I changed. I thought I loved you for the longest time and I think I still do, but I found a stronger love. Some thing I had with Nathan that I didn’t have with you and could never have with you.
Mystic; I don’t get it.
Hanna; Here.
[She leaned in and she kissed me very passionately. It felt very good. I didn’t want her to stop, but some thing was amiss. She parted from me.]
Hanna; Couldn’t you feel some thing that just wasn’t right?

[She was right. There was some thing strange about it, but I still wanted her.]
Hanna; If some thing goes wrong I don’t want to risk our friendship, because you’re the dearest friend I have. I have told you things that have never reach another humans ears. And that night when we were drunk it nearly did destroy our friendship. Now do you understand?
[I did, but it still hurt.]
Mystic; Yeah. I do.
[She looked in my eyes to make sure I wasn’t just saying it.]
Hanna; I need a drink.
Mystic; Me too.
[It was impossible to get drunk in Japan. They sold it like it was bottled water, but it was god awful. Sake was the most disgusting alcoholic beverage in the world. Hanna how ever could drink enough of any thing. I was designated walker and baby sitter, She drank nearly three bottle of sake on her own. And there was no stopping her. It was so sad. A nineteen year old alcoholic. Even though Im twenty I didn’t really feel like an adult. But I sure had to act like one to night. I helped her walk back to the hotel and I put her in bed. She put up a fight as usual. Except this time she had an unusually good memory. She back handed me in the face and sent me staggering into the wall.]
Hanna; How do you like it!?
[She could even guilt me when she was drunk. I just forced her into bed and I was half way there when she passed out in my arms. She made things much easier when she was unconscious. I went to the bath room to looked at my face. I had a gash on my cheek and nice black eye coming in. Oh well. I probably deserve it for some thing. I wiped my face and put a patch of gauze on it. I went to bed. I woke to Hanna throwing up in the bath room. I just thought of staying in bed and ignoring her, but never the less I got up and got her a wet towel. I made her a prairie oyster. It’s a good drink for hang overs other than that orange shit she always makes. They are the same amount of nasty. I hid my face as well as I could, but it was no use. She was soon babbling apologies. I disregarded them. It was like a routine every time one of us got drunk we always ended up hurting each other. After breakfast we went out to the woods to test out our weapons. Hanna wanted to test me. The threw a log at my head and I sliced it in half with no effort. Then she threw a rock at me. I was surprised when my sword cut that in half too. She could also slice threw any thing with her dagger. It was just as powerful as my sword. ]
Mystic; Do you know archery?

Hanna; Of corse. Watch this. You see that knot in that tree.
Mystic; This one?
[A tree about twenty feet away.]
Hanna; No. The one seven trees behind it.
[I could barely see it. It was about half a mile away.]
Mystic; No way.
Hanna; Just watch.
[She loaded her bow and pulled back. This was a very powerful bow. She almost struggled to pull it back. She released and it shot through the air so fast I couldn’t see it. I heard it stick the tree. We ran over to it and it was in the middle of the knot.]
Mystic; Awesome.
[I couldn’t pull the arrow out though. It had sunk in very deep. Hanna grabbed it with both hands and gave an almighty tug. It came loose. These were some quality arrows. It was undamaged.]
Mystic; Now when you can hit a quarter a mile off....
Hanna; Im working on it.
[We wanted to see how far this thing could shoot. She tide a red ribbon to the end of an arrow and shot it as far as she could. We pursued it. We found it three and a half miles away in the snow.]
Mystic; Damn. My father knew what he was doing.
[We brought our weapons back to the hotel room and went around the city. We looked up our old sensei who taught us swordsman ship. He was glad to see us. He wanted us to demonstrate for his new pupils. I had the least amount of desire to do this, but Hanna dragged me into it. We had a small sword fight in the room. It was pretty sweet. Me and Hanna had never fought each other before. The class applauded and we bowed. He thanked us and we left.]
Hanna; Maybe we should have a sword fight. What do you think?
Mystic; Your creation against my fathers.

Hanna; Excellent. [We went back to the woods and she took out her hand made Mithrall katana. We made some boundaries. We bowed and drew our swords. Hanna was under me before, now lets see if she got any better. She struck first and our swords locked together. We swung out and reconnected. We jumped back and she leapt forward fast. I barely had a chance to block so she was bearing down on me. It was amazing how fast you could move in sword to sword combat. I threw her back and struck straight down. She blocked moving her hand to the dull side of the blade. She threw my sword back and slashed at my stomach. I flipped back to avoid it. But she was on me in no time with a down ward slash. I thought she had missed but my shirt had a huge tear in it.]
Mystic; Aw this was my favorite shirt.
Hanna; Then you shouldn’t have worn it.
[To true. I side slashed and she jumped and stood on my blade. I had a hard time getting it back. She jumped back while I was pulling and I lost balance. She rushed me and did and upward slash. I cut the front of her shirt and it was wide open. She had an undershirt on, damn. She discarded her ripped shirt as did I. ]
Mystic; Are we playing strip tease or some thing?
Hanna; If you can slice it off, it stays off.
Mystic; I like.
[Except for the fact that it was freezing out side it was a fun game. She jumped in with a melee attack. She was hacking relentlessly at my sword. While I was barely able to block. She had gotten much better. She did a low swipe and I jumped over her. I had forgotten about her sheath. She thrust it upwards into my stomach and I staggered back coughing. She came down again on what I thought was a miss. My wife beater now split to where it fell in the snow. The wind was frigid against my bare chest. She was smiling. She apparently liked what she saw. And even though I was used to taking my shirt off I blushed at the way she was observing me. I rushed back into battle with my own melee attack. She ducked for an over swing and got me in the gut again with the hilt of her sword. I staggered back. She swung and I ducked, but she stopped in mid swing and gave her and upwards slash and backed off. Her under shirt fell to the ground. Her lacy bra was the only thing protecting her from the cold. As delighted as I was I had to ask.]
Mystic; Why did you stop in the middle of the swing?
Hanna; Cause I was about to take off your pony tail.
[My eyes widened and I felt my hair. The ends were gone, but it was still in tact. I felt a rush of gratitude towards her, but she didn’t give me a chance to say a thing. She was already rushing me for her lost shirt. She was faster than ever and after a low swing I was standing in my boxers. It was on now. We connected swung out and connected. I swung down with all my strength, but she swung up and my sword went flying from my hand. And her sword was pointed at my throat.]
Hanna; I win.
Mystic; Congratulations.

[She sheathed her sword and helped me from the ground. It was freezing and it started to snow. We gathered up our cloths and walked back to the hotel. Several guys lost some teeth as they whistled and touched her on the way back. Several women just got a bird from Hanna after ogling me. When we got back we got dressed and Hanna was evening out my hair for me. I thanked her for sparing it. If it was one thing I was touchy about it was my hair. I hadn’t cut it since I was fifteen.]
Hanna; Done.
Mystic; Thanks. How did you get so good?
Hanna; Practice. You when you can dodge bullets it makes it a bit more interesting to use your sword instead of your guns.
Mystic; I see.
[That night we got some room service and watched a movie. It was good to see a Japanese movie with out it being dubbed in English. The next day we went to go check out that mansion my father left me. It said on the gate Forbidden, beware and stuff like that. We broke in to see what it looked like. It was huge. It was a beautiful house gone to seed. Dead vines over took the walls. The gardens were filled with dead weeds and the branches of the trees in the yard were gnarled and untrimmed. We went in after Hanna picked the lock. It was very nice on the inside, but very dusty how ever. There were several paintings on the wall of my grandfather and mother, my aunts and uncles and my whole deceased family. They had a library, many dens and living rooms. A dinning room, a big kitchen. There were large barrels in the corner filled with aged and spiced sake. Now it was like straight liquor. On the second floor there were five bedrooms and two bathrooms. On the third floor five bedrooms, a study and a bathroom. And an attic on the fourth floor. We went up there and it was full of dusty antiques. Hanna opened a box and found several fancy kimono’s. There was old armor and old rusty weapons from the war. Some from Pearl Harbor. There was a painting of a man and his wife. The man looked a lot like me. And the woman like Hanna. We both looked at the picture and then at each other.]
Both; Na.
[I found a lot of old cloths. Back from Feudal Japan. When guys only wore kimono’s. We took some of the stuff down stairs and looked at it. I looked at some helmets, while Hanna went to the bathroom. I heard some thing behind me. I turned and the picture on the wall was moving like it had just been touched. I got up and looked around and found nothing. It must have been a rat or some thing. Hanna came back in one of the kimono’s. Damn she looked fine!]
Hanna; What do you think?

Mystic; Very nice. You should bring that one home for Nathan.
Hanna; For Nathan? Maybe what’s underneath.
[We laughed and she went back to change.]
Mystic; Hehe that dirty son of a bitch.
[I never really liked Nathan. I liked him much better than Bobby though. Magic and Voodoo have never mixed and never will. She came back and was walking to the couch and she tripped over absolutely nothing.]
Mystic; A bit clumsy?
Hanna; What the? It felt like some one stuck their foot out in front of me.
Mystic; Uh huh...... Maybe we should leave.
Hanna; Why are you scared?
Mystic; No. But I think some one else is living here.
Hanna; What? Like a ghost?
Mystic; Yeah.
Hanna; Oh come on. Ghosts don’t exist.
Mystic; Of corse they do.
Hanna; Oh please your full of it.
[I wasn’t ghosts did exist. It was well know to magic people. Hanna should have been able to feel it too, but I think she was trying to ignore it.]
Mystic; Im serious.
Hanna; Have you ever met a ghost?
Mystic; As a matter of fact yes.
Hanna; Oh really.
Mystic; Yeah, don’t you feel it?
[She stopped as we heard some thing else. It was the chandler. It was about to fall. The link snapped and I pushed Hanna out of the way.]
Mystic; Look out!
[We landed two feet away from where it fell.]
Mystic; Now do you believe?
Hanna; Uh huh. Lets get out of here.
[The doors swung closed as we were about to leave the study. We backed up, there was a dusty mirror and there were words appearing in the dust. It said you won’t get out alive Kagawaki.]
Mystic; Kagawaki? Who’s that?
Hanna; That’s my mothers maiden name.
[She was terrified, holding onto my arm. My hand was starting to lose its feeling.]

Mystic; But why? What do they have against your family?
Hanna; I don’t know.
[Book came floating from the upstairs hall. It went over the side of the rail and landed at our feet. It was a photo album. I picked it up and opened it. We sat on the couch. It was that woman and that man that looked like us. I turned the page, their wedding, a party, their child and then a grave stone. It said RIP Ryosei Kagawaki.]
Mystic; That was my great, great grandfather. I was named after him, but that means.....
Hanna; We’re related.
Both; Ewwww!
Mystic; I don’t get it. If we were related then how come my father wanted us to get married?
Hanna; Take a look at our culture back then. It was considered normal. But I don’t get it, Why does he want me?
[She page turned by its self. This album was made by the wife. It was a picture of her baking a cake. Then she was putting some thing white on the cake, it was some sort of powder. Then there was a picture of her dead husband on the ground. This woman was sick. She killed her husbanded by poisoning him and she took souvenir photo’s.]
Hanna; Ok. I think he wants revenge cause my great, great grandmother killed him.
[She was about to hyperventilate.]
Mystic; Ok just calm down, we’ll figure some thing out.
[She took a deep steadying breath. We looked around for a way out, but every thing was sealed up tight. ]
Hanna; We’re doomed.
Mystic; Lets check upstairs.
Hanna; Im not going up there with the psycho ghost.
Mystic; Then you can stay down here.
Hanna; Up we go.
[We climbed up the steps. My hand was falling asleep.]
Mystic; I was wondering if I could have my hand back any time soon.
Hanna; Sorry.
[She let go and there was a stair case to the roof. We climbed up and broke down the door. I stepped out first and looked over the edge.]
Mystic; We should be able to climb down on the drainage pipe.

[I turned to see a box floating in the air. It flew at Hanna and she was knocked down the stairs back inside. I went back and the door sealed its self.]
Mystic; You ok?
[I helped her up.]
Hanna; Ow. Ya.
Mystic; Well there goes my plan.
[We walked back to the stairs. Hanna tripped again, but this time she fell down the steps. She hit the ground hard and slid into a book case. It came crashing down on her.]
Mystic; Hanna!!!
[I slid down the banister and lifted it off of her. I dug her out of the books. She was unconscious, cut and bruised in several places. I was pissed. I looked around.]
Mystic; What do you want from her!? She didn’t do any thing to you!!
Ryosei; If I were you I’d stay away from that girl.
[There was that guy who looked like me. He was floating several feet up.]
Mystic; Why? What do you want?
Ryosei; That girls life. Every woman from her side of the family was an evil heartless wench. She is the last of her family and I will make sure that she never spawns another harlot from her side again.
Mystic; She’s not like that! She’s different!
Ryosei; And what makes you say that? Hath she not already broken your heart into a thousand shards? Yes I know about that. That woman is an evil femme fatale sent from the fires of hell just to torment you. And she will continue to do so if you choose to protect her so inanely. Do your ancestors proud and smite her. Cast her back into the depths of hell and gain your self some honor.
[I looked at Hanna. He.....he was lying. She would never...... how did he know? How? I don’t care. I wouldn’t let him.]
Mystic; Never.
Ryosei; What?
Mystic; Never! I won’t let you hurt her again!
[I picked her up and brought her to the couch. I knocked over a vase next to the wall and picked up the pedestal. I drove it into the door like a battering ram. It didn’t give. I did it again with more force. No. Again. I kept this up. But I heard some thing. I turned and their was an ax floating above Hanna. It swung up.]
Mystic; No!!

[It came down and I closed my eyes. No. She couldn’t be. I opened my eyes to confirm it. Hanna was holding it off between her hands. I went and grabbed the handle and pulled it away.]
Hanna; That’s it. We are out of here.
[She grabbed the katana off of the floor and drew it. She sliced at the door several times and sheathed the sword. It was still in tact what the hell? She touched it and it collapsed in several pieces.]
Mystic; Wow.
[Objects started flying around the room. Not just at her, but at me too. We ran as the ax came flying at us along with other weapons. We ran for the door and it was starting to close. We wouldn’t make it. Hanna pushed me and I flew out of the door just as it closed on her. The ax and the other weapons stuck into the door. I could see the blades on the other side.]
Mystic; Hanna!! Hanna!!
[I banged on the door and tried to break it down. I heard no other sounds and became more desperate,]
Mystic; Hanna!
[My hits became feeble and I sunk to the ground sobbing.]
Hanna; Save the crying for my funeral.
[Only she would say some thing so insensitive. I looked up and she was levitating from the roof. Her arm was dripping blood and so was her head. I threw my arms around her completely irrational. I realized what I was doing and let her go.]
Hanna; Lets go before he comes after me again.
Mystic; Yeah.
[We went back to the hotel. I was fixing her wounds. I was wrapping her arm.]
Mystic; Any other wounds?
Hanna; Yeah. I got this big gash on my back.
[I finished her arm and raised her shirt. My god. I had never seen so many scars in my life. The only time I had seen her with out her shirt we either drunk or fighting. I hadn’t noticed before.]
Mystic; Good god.
Hanna; You finally saw my scars. Yeah I got these from that guy in the basement.
[I tried not to make a big thing about it. I just helped her wrap up this wound. I could only think of the pain. It couldn’t nearly have been worse as in the lab. I wanted to ask her so many questions, but I knew better.]
Hanna; I’ll answer any question of yours if you answer mine.
[This girl could read minds.]
Mystic; Ok. Shoot.

Hanna; What did they do to you in the lab?
[She had to ask that question. Was it worth it? There was only one way to find out.]
Mystic; Probably the same thing as you. First they did some tests on me. Then they turned me over to the renderers. They hooked me up to a car battery and turned it up.
Hanna; Uh huh.
Mystic; Then when I tried to escape they beat me up. I mean like played soccer with my body. Then they strapped me to a table and poisoned me. I know they did that to you, I threw up blood for two days. They gave me some sort of drug, took blood and tissue samples. They cut my arm open and took out pieces of my muscle, skin and bone.
[I felt her cringe.]
Mystic; And then they wanted to see if I could stop an attack with any powers I had gotten. The renderers threw knives at me. Nearly skinned me alive. Then they threw me back in with you guys.
Hanna; Yeah. It was so horrible. I get nauseous just thinking about it. Your question.
Mystic; What did that guy do to you in the basement?
Hanna; Well. I had dated him for about two years and he asked me over. I really thought I loved this guy and I thought he loved me. He slipped me some thing and I woke up tide up in his basement. The first thing was his boss called and said they didn’t need me and he could do what ever he wanted with me. The first thing he did was rape me three times.
[It was my turn for a cringe. I dropped the bandages and then picked them and up and finished her dressing.]
Hanna; He had to subdue me first so he took a stun gun too me. No it wasn’t a stun gun. It was a cattle prod. He left me alone for a while and came back drunk. He had a bull whip and he started beating me like a rug. He stopped after I fell unconscious. I woke up bleeding badly. He had hit me over the head with a club. He made it sort of a routine. He’d rape me, beat me and go to bed. Some times he used this sort of stick with a piece of glass on the end like a sickle. He’d hook on to me and drag it down in my flesh. And some times he’d use a heat gun. He’d string me up by my wrists and do all of this stuff. He fed me about every ten days or so. The day I went crazy he wouldn’t stop beating me. He always stopped after a while but he was high or some thing and was about to kill me. I could feel the whip hitting my friggen bones. I just snapped and killed him.

Mystic; What did you do to him?
Hanna; I strung him up took that sickle and field dressed him right there. I can’t remember what after that.
Mystic; My god. The lab is flesh wound compared to that.
[I looked at her scars. I could envision it all. It made me sick to my stomach. I tide up her bandages and lowered her shirt.]
Mystic; Well Im skipping dinner. You?
Hanna; Oh yeah. I want a drink.
Mystic; No way. That’s the last thing you need. Alcohol, injuries, and depression don’t mix.
Hanna; I always found they mixed perfectly.
Mystic; Yeah like oil and water. How can you drink that stuff any how?
Hanna; After a few you can’t taste it any more.
Mystic; Back to the subject. No drinking for you.
[We did go to a club. Tokyo night life is pretty sweet. I thought about the time zones and realized it was about six in the morning over in America. At the end of the our vacation we caught a plane back to America. It would take forever to get rid of the accent I picked up. We were the first to get back to the base. Even the doc and Flex were still gone. We went to our rooms to unpack. Quite frankly I couldn’t have planned a better vacation. Sword fights, ghost fights, treasure, weapons, memories and new property. Now I can sell that old mansion for some serious cash and then its some one else’s problem. The first thing I hit was the gym. If it was one thing I missed it was working out. The first thing Hanna hit was the showers. A few others arrived after a couple of hours. First Nathan and Derek. Then Nina, Raven, Rose and a new boy. Then Kenya and Bobby. Maria came back in the morning with a Latino boy. Looks like they managed to find two new recruits. Me and Hanna had to interview them. We brought them and their recruiters into the meeting room.]
Hanna; Ok stand, state your name, power and previous occupation if any.
[First the Latino boy.]
Arturo; My name is Arturo Garcia. My power is speed and I was a......Bio-tech agent.
Hanna; What?
Arturo; A Bio-tech agent.
Hanna; I heard you. Sit.
[He did. Hanna was making her first impression. That she was the mean heartless bitch she wasn’t.]

Hanna; Ok. You.
Brock; Uh. My names Brock, my power is ice and I was also a ...Bio-tech agent.
Hanna; Oh my god. Sit.
[I shared her frustration. How could we be expected to trust any of these people? They had worked for Bio-tech. Maeko spoke of these two.]
Mystic; Didn’t Maeko say she knew these two?
[I spotted the recognition in their faces. It was kind of stupid , but as it gave them hope...]
Hanna; Get that look off your face son.
[I could have laughed as he dropped his head.]
Hanna; Brock. Arturo can you leave us for a second?
Arturo; Huh?
Hanna; Vas!
[He jumped and left. I had the feeling this kids English wasn’t to good. Nina and Maria remained in the room with us.]
Hanna; How can we trust these boys? You got proof they really left Bio-tech?
[They both slid a Bio-tech communicator to her.]
Hanna; Ok. Have they given you any information?
[They gave us some of the information that Maeko gave us.]
Hanna; Ok. I’ll give them a chance, but I want you to keep a close eye on them and I will be keeping a close eye on you.
[They nodded.]
Hanna; Does that boy speak much English?
Maria; He understands it well enough. He just has a little trouble some times.
Hanna; Ok. Get them back in here.
[They both came in and sat down.]
Hanna; Ok. I’ll give you a test. You pass and you might be on our team, you fail and then its later.
Arturo; Huh?
[Hanna dropped her head in frustration.]
Hanna; Adios.
Arturo; Oh.
[If this wasn’t so serious I would be laughing my head off. The doc and Flex came back an hour later. Hanna had the unpleasant task of telling them about the new recruits. She came out of their office.]
Mystic; Well?
Hanna; Well. They were pissed. But they’re gonna give them a chance. Lets go.

[We went to the training room window. Brock was in there first. I heard the doc speak.]
Dr .T; You have five minutes to destroy all the drones. If you make it you go onto regular training. Barely pass you move onto harder training and if you don’t make it its either expulsion or parol with extreme training.
Hanna; No pressure though.
[The kid looked petrified. The buzzer rang after the rules. The drones started popping up. He raised his hands and made ice shoot at them. The drones were soon cut to shreds. They fired at him and he made an ice shield as he ran. This kid was good. What did they teach these people at Bio-tech? After the above ground drones he made an ice spear and killed the ones under ground. Small daggers of ice got the ones over head. The buzzer sounded and we all looked at the clock. Three minutes twenty seconds. Some applause for the newb. The doc congratulated him and reset every thing. Then Arturo went in. I was wondering how this kid was gonna pull this off if his only power was speed. The buzzer sounded and he went to the weapon rack. He grabbed two long daggers off of the shelf and took off. The boy was nothing, but a blur. He zipped by all the above ground drones and they collapsed where they stood. He wasted every single one of them in no time at all. I wondered if it would beat Hanna’s time. The buzzer sounded and he stopped. He was out of breath and we all looked up at the clock. A minute flat. Even he didn’t beat Hanna’s time. There was a lot of applause for him.]
Flex; Well done.
Arturo; Gracias.
[He and Brock were both in. Me and Hanna gave them the rules. She gave them their uniforms, there weapons, and showed them to their rooms. She showed them every thing and she had to stop several times because Arturo couldn’t grasp the English. After that we all went to the rec-room.]
Hanna; How was your vacation?
Nathan; Typical. Turns out my sister got some powers now. She can jump higher than me.
Derek; Hey that’s nothing. My little brother is like invincible or some thing. He stuck his hand in the fire place and it didn’t do any thing. And then he cut him self and it healed right before my eyes.
Nina; Justin has been doing very well with his powers also.
Hanna; Looks like we got a new generation coming at us.

[Bobby sat down next to Hanna and gave her an envelope. She opened it and read it her eyes widened and her smile became more pronounce.]
Bobby; Thanks to you my brother got a job, he stopped drinking and hell now he even pays some of the bills.
Kenya; How did she do that?
Bobby; She beat the crap out of him.
[That was worth a laugh.]
Raven; You sure do have a way at solving problems.
Rose; Yeah just don’t solve mine.
Hanna; Ha, ha.
[The others spent the rest of the day goofing on the newbs. I was walking to my room later and I saw Nathan standing in Hanna’s room. He was staring at something in horror.]
Mystic; What are you doing?
Nathan; Nothing.
[He tried to hide what ever it was behind his back and he dropped it inconspicuously into the trash can. He left and I picked up box out of the trash can, I nearly dropped where I was standing. It was an opened pregnancy test. I was just completely stunned. Not to mention nauseous. I put it back and walked back to the rec-room in deep thought. I sat down next to Nathan. He had the same look I had. I sat back, but couldn’t stop fidgeting. I was biting my nails and tapping my fingers. Pregnant. How? Well I knew how. But man this was so screwed up. What if she was? Oh man I’d have a kid. Im twenty I don’t want a kid, Im too young to have a kid. Oh and Hanna she’s just nineteen. She came in with Maria and they were talking in a low voice. Was she talking to Maria about it? I had to ask her, but no way. I wasn’t gonna ask her some thing like that. She would tell me. I think. Oh man this was just so wrong. She looked over at me and then back at Maria. They were talking about me I could tell. Ok just calm down. Your being paranoid, just calm down. Didn’t work. I got up and went to the gym. I was punching the bag, I was so nervous my hands were jerking so I couldn’t hit straight.]
Hanna; You ok?
[I jumped.]
Mystic; Yeah. Im fine.
Hanna; You seem kind of jumpy.
[I wasn’t gonna say no I wasn’t. Even a blind person could see I was jumpy.]
Mystic; I uh got to tell you some thing.
Hanna; What?

[She picked up a weight.]
Mystic; I was...uh.... passing by your room and I saw Nathan there.
Hanna; Uh huh.
Mystic; He was holding something and he dropped it and left.
Hanna; Uh...uh huh.
[Now she was getting nervous. I just stopped punching.]
Mystic; Are you pregnant?
[Hanna dropped the weight on the ground with a clank.]
Hanna; No, that wasn’t my test!
[She sounded indignant, but I was down right relieved.]
Mystic; Thank god. Who was it for?
Hanna; I can’t tell you that.
[She picked up the weight. Was she lying? No she wouldn’t lie to me. She was still looking nervous. It made me nervous. But I just kept on punching the bad and kept my mouth shut. I felt a bit at ease at least, Nathan didn’t. He still didn’t know. He went to go see Hanna later on. He left looking relieved and Hanna came in looking pissed. She went over to Maria. Why would she tell Maria any thing. That girl was the biggest gossip spreader in existence. I usually don’t give care about spreading word, but now I felt as if I was out of the loop. Like some thing was being kept from me and only me. Damn it. I told my self I was only being paranoid again and cast it from my thoughts. Later every thing got worse. I was walking to my room when I heard Hanna and Maria in hers.]
Hanna; Im telling you, he really does.
Maria; You only did it once.
Hanna; Yeah and it only takes one time. How much longer?
Maria; Five more minutes and then we an tell. You nervous?
Hanna; Aren’t you?
Maria; A little.
[She did lie to me. She had no clue either. I heard one of them coming so I ran to my room. This sucked. I’ll never get drunk again. I’ll never have sex again. This was ruining me. There was a knock on my door.]
Mystic; Yeah?
[Hanna came in. Oh god was she about to tell me?]
Hanna; Where you outside my room a while ago?
Mystic; No.
[I was lying like a dog. She could tell.]
Hanna; Your lying to me.

Mystic; So what you lied to me?
Maria; Oh for Christ sakes get a grip! It was my test not hers.
[She had popped in for a second and then left. I felt relived and very ashamed.]
Mystic; Im sorry.
Hanna; Uh huh. Look if some thing like that would have happened I would have told you. Besides I can’t get pregnant.
[She left depressed and left me feeling foolish. Oh so foolish. Well. While I stew in my stupidity I will pass this over to Nathan.]

[Hey. That was a close call huh? That was a very scary thought. It seems like misfortune is bound to follow Hanna around every where. And this was only the beginning of her misfortune. The next day we were training in the normal way. Hanna was standing under the climbing part of the obstacle corse. This area had been creaking during training for some time, but we dismissed it. As Derek and Bobby got on the bars it collapsed. The metal bars came crashing down right on top of Hanna. Bobby and Derek got up and lifted it off of her. Every one gathered around. Mystic was holding her head elevated checking her vitals. She was alive, but her head was bleeding bad. I brought her to the infirmary and Flex told me to wait out side. After about thirty minutes she came out and gave me the news.]
Ms. Flex; She is going to be unconscious for a while. She has a concussion and may have other brain damage. I will only be able to tell for sure once her CAT scan and her ultra sound come in.
Nathan; Oh man.... Thanks.
[I walked down to the training room. Mystic was checking the rest of the obstacle corse. And the others were awaiting the news.]
Nathan; She said she has a concussion and might have some brain damage. She won’t be sure until the other tests come in.
Mystic; Every one report to room five!
[Some thing was definitely wrong. Room five was for inquiries and accusations. We were all lined up on a bench and the doc was sitting on the other side of the room at a desk. Mystic came in.]
Dr .T; Well. What have you called this meeting for?
Mystic; Upon further inspection of the obstacle corse, all other places were in tact. The only difference between the areas was an acid I found at the joints of the bars.
Dr .T; You don’t mean....

Mystic; Yes. The obstacle corse was purposely tampered with. The question is who?
[He stared us all down.]
Mystic; Any of you know who it is?
[No one said any thing.]
Mystic; Well we can find out. The training room is put under twenty-four hour surveillance from several different angles. The base is on lock down. No one is allowed to leave the base until the perpetrator is caught. Your dismissed.
[Every one left muttering suspicions and accusations. I went to the infirmary to see if Hanna was alright. Flex let me into see her. She was hooked up to a brain wave monitor, several wires coming from her body.]
Flex; Im afraid she did receive some brain damage. There is some thing else cutting off her normal brain waves. Still more tests.
Nathan; How long till she wakes up?
Flex; It could be a few days or a few weeks. It all depends on how her body responds to it. She may even have amnesia when she wakes. Im afraid I can’t allow you to stay for long.
Nathan; Why not?
Flex; Well Im not sure if your aware, but some one is after Hanna. Its made to look like they are after all of us, but all they want is her. She is much different from the rest of us and that may or may not be a good thing. I would prefer if that was not released to any one else. We can’t take any chances.
[I left after about fifteen minutes and went to the rec-room.]
Maria; What did Flex say?
Nathan; She suffered some brain damage. It could be a while before she wakes up and she might have amnesia.
Nina; Who would do such a thing?
[Many invisible fingers were pointed at Brock and Arturo. They were the past Bio-tech agents. Mystic went over the surveillance videos for the last two weeks. He called a few people to his office including me. First was Bobby, then Brock, then Arturo, then Rose and then me.]
Mystic; Ok Nathan I came up empty with the rest and I highly doubt its you.
[I was glad he wasn’t suspicious of me.]
Mystic; Ok what exactly were you doing in the training room four forty two last Wednesday?
Nathan; I was lifting weights and doing the obstacle corse.
Mystic; Was there any one in there with you?

Nathan; Bobby.
Mystic; What was he doing?
Nathan; Working on the bag.
Mystic; And of corse the obvious. Did you or did you not sabotage the obstacle corse?
Nathan; No.
Mystic; Ok. Get out of here.
[He was pissed he came up with nothing except for a few suspicions. I saw him watching those tapes over and over in the audio room. That’s when I saw it.]
Nathan; Wait a minute.
Mystic; What are you doing in here?
Nathan; Rewind that and play it at slow speed.
[He looked at me and then did it. There was some thing on the screen. He slowed it even further. He stopped it once he got an image. It was a person. He fixed up the image and we came up with Arturo we slowly put it up to where he was at the obstacle corse. He was messing with the bars.]
Mystic; My friend. I think we have just found our main suspect.
[He put Arturo in his office. For some reason he wanted me behind the two way mirror. I could here and see every thing.]
Mystic; Arturo. We have receive some evidence that you’re the one who put acid on the bars.
Arturo; No. It was not me. I swear.
Mystic; We caught you on the surveillance tape. We have enough evidence to have your memory erased and you expelled from the agency.
Arturo; I want to see this tape.
[He brought it up on screen to the slowed version.]
Arturo; How do you know that’s me?
Mystic; First of all you’re the only one who moves that fast ass hole! Second of all after we adjusted the vision....[He brought it up.] It was clearly you.
Arturo; Watch who you call an ass hole! Im telling you if that is me I don’t remember! Im serious man! I don’t ever remember doing this!
[He was desperate and for some reason I believed him. I kind of got used to telling that sort of thing from being with Hanna. He was put in solitary confinement. I went to see him after a day or so. Once he cooled off. We were stuck in a small metal room like this guy was already a convicted felon.]
Arturo; What you want, Homes?
Nathan; I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t do it.

[He got real close and opened his eyes wide.]
Arturo; I didn’t do it.
[Every word was pronounced as if I was slow. He backed up real fast and looked at me like I was strange.]
Arturo; How you do that?
Nathan; Some thing I picked up with Hanna. I believe you.
Arturo; You serious? You believe me? Dis no trick?
Nathan; No. What do think? Do you have any clue?
Arturo; Man its either the Diablo or the V chip.
[I had no clue what the Diablo was but the V chip.]
Nathan; What about the V-chip?
Arturo; I was the first test subject for the chip. It could make me do any thing and I wouldn’t remember if day made me forget. Is uh like mind control or some ting man.
Nathan; Did they take the chip out?
Arturo; Day told me day did, but Im not so sure.
Nathan; Is there any way to find the chip?
Arturo; Is almost unable to detect. Can only be detected by using a high frequency radar. An....an ahhhhhh!
[He suddenly grabbed his head in pain.]
Nathan; What’s wrong?!
Arturo; It’s the chip..... they can hear me......Get out of here!
Nathan; But...
Arturo; Now!
[I got out as fast as I could. He was still howling in pain when the doc and Flex came in. Flex sedated him and then they called me into their office.]
Dr .T; What did he tell you?
Nathan; I think he’s telling the truth. He told me it had some thing to do with the V-chip.
Flex; What about the V-chip?
Nathan; He said he was their first tester for the chip. They put it in and when they activated it they could control his movements. They could make him forget when they wanted him to and they could hear and track him. He also said they might not have taken it out of him.
Dr .T; What do you mean?
Nathan; He said. They told him they had taken it out, but he wasn’t sure. He also said its very hard to detect and can only be detected, by a high frequency radar.

Flex; Are you sure?
Nathan; That’s what he told me.
Dr .T; Thank you. We will see into this and keep you updated. We want no word of this to get to anyone else. Understand?
Nathan; Yes sir.
Dr .T; You may go.
[And so they ran tests. They did every radar scan they could even the one Arturo mentioned and they came to me with the results as Arturo was unconscious. ]
Nathan; Well.
Flex; We did find the V-chip. It was inserted into his brain and was giving off a signal and a drug to suspend his other brain waves. We have taken it out, but Im afraid that his body was dependant on the drug. He will be going through a withdrawal for a while. You are his only friend right now. He will need your help.
[After he woke up they put me in a room with him. It was my job to calm him down once he started the phase. They had him strapped to a table. ]
Arturo; What’s happing to me man? I feel so horrible.
Nathan; They took the chip out of you and your body is going to react to it.
Arturo; Huh?
Nathan; Your going through withdrawal.
Arturo; God damn it. I swore that would never happen not after I went clean.
[He was sort of talking to him self. My guess is that he had done drugs before.]
Arturo; God my head.
[I was basically talking to him until his body went into epileptic shock. If he was having a seizer he was trying to break free of his bindings. He grabbed my arm and was cutting off the circulation.]
Arturo; Help me man! It hurts!
[I didn’t know what to do. I just tried to calm him down. I feared if he wasn’t strapped to the table he might have killed me.]
Nathan; Just calm down! Your just making your self worse, just calm down. Calm down.

[He took some steading breaths and stopped thrashing. He was shaking and breathing ragged. He calmed down and tried to stay that way, but he was shaking constantly. He was trying to sleep. Arturo was a good guy. He was one of those people who could look like he was mean, but turns out he had a heart of gold. He did indeed have a fierce look about him, kind of like Mystic but he was just the opposite. He could make you laugh all the time and he wanted to be every ones best friend. He could also be serious when the occasion called for it. He seemed to like me in particular. He called me Homes all the time. It was kind of funny. I called him Speedy. I guess he was my best friend. We had kinship that I didn’t have with the others. The doc told me to release him when I thought he was sane enough. He finally fell asleep. He stopped shaking and finally looked at peace. I unstrapped his arms and legs and then sat back in my chair. I looked at my watch. Damn. It was three thirty in the morning. I was exempt from training tomorrow. I turned off one of the lights and leaned back in my chair and fell asleep. I woke up and checked my watch. It was seven thirty. Well four hours is better than none. I stretched and looked over at Arturo. Fast asleep. I got up and went to the rec-room and got some coffee and came back. If it was one thing I had learned it was never give Arturo coffee. The dude could move faster than the speed of light when he had caffeine in his system. He woke up around nine. He looked at me surprised.]
Arturo; You still here man?
Nathan; Why would I leave?
Arturo; I don’t know. When Im a burden people usually leave
Nathan; Well. Im not going to leave. We’re too tight, Speedy. Im not gonna ditch you.
[I hit the top of his fist with mine and he did the same. He had just noticed that his hands were free.]
Arturo; Hey Im free. Thanks man.
Nathan; No problem.
[He sat up and let his legs slide over the side of his bed.]
Arturo; My head is killing me man. How long till I get out of here?
Nathan; That’s up to the doc and Flex.
Arturo; Oh well. What does the crew tink?
Nathan; Their fine with it.
[he gave me a skeptical look.]
Arturo; Come on man. Give me the truth.
Nathan; Some of them still got a problem with you.
Arturo; Man I knew it. Can’t they just give brother a break man?
Nathan; They’ll come around. I’ve never know them to be too judgmental.
Arturo; What about you?
Nathan; What about me?
Arturo; How come you didn’t turn?
Nathan; I told you. Im not gonna ditch you. This wasn’t your fault.

Arturo; Are you kidding me man? Every tings my fault. Is always my fault. Dat’s why they all leave.
[He flopped back on his bed.]
Arturo; It was my fault when my father left. It was my fault when my mom left me in a gas station in the middle of Mexico. It was my fault when dose bastard’s planted me with coke. It was my fault when I went to juvey for it. Every thing is my fault. And if it isn’t Im still the one to blame. They always find a way.
[Poor kid. No wonder he did drugs.]
Nathan; Look man. This isn’t your fault. You are not guilty. Wether or not people blame you.
Arturo; If only the rest of the world could see dat. To them Im just a good for nothing Spaniard with a speech impediment.
Nathan; Come on. Your speech isn’t that bad.
[He laughed and sat up.]
Arturo; Now see. Dat’s why I like you man.
[I left for a while to get some thing to eat out of the rec-room. I was walking in and I could hear Bobby making fun of Arturo.]
Bobby; Stupid spik. Probably didn’t even know they stuck that chip in him.
[I stopped in my tracks.]
Bobby; But that typical of some one like him.
[And what was worst the others were laughing. I could see Nina trying to ignore it watching TV, but there were tears in her eyes. I pushed Bobby up against the wall.]
Nathan; You keep running your mouth and your gonna lose some teeth buddy!
Bobby; You got a problem?
Nathan; No you’re the one with the problem man!
Bobby; Oh I forgot. You’re his pal right? Homes?
Nathan; I swear to god you say another word! How would you like me talking trash about your heritage huh?!
Bobby; What you gonna say huh?! What could you possibly make fun of me for?
Nathan; I could..,, You know what? Im not even gonna start.[I lowered my voice dangerously low.] But I am gonna say this, think before you open your mouth. There is a girl sitting over there in tears because you were just making fun of what she was. So keep your racist thoughts to your self cause I don’t want to hear them.
[I walked away and I saw him glance at Nina. His face was stricken with shame and I was satisfied. I grabbed some thing to eat and left the rec-room. I stopped in the hall and leaned against the wall.]
Nathan; Ass hole.

[Nina came out into the hall and she hugged me.]
Nina; Thank you.
Nathan; Any time.
[She walked away sniffling. I went to check on Hanna. She was still out cold. I went back to Arturo’s room. I threw him an apple.]
Arturo; How is she?
Nathan; She’s still out cold.
Arturo; You tink she’ll ever forgive me?
Nathan; With out a doubt.
[He lifted his apple.]
Arturo; I suppose they want me to eat healthy during an intervention.
[he found the whole drug thing hilarious now so I laughed with him. They let him out after a few more tests. Me and him left the lab to go to the rec-room.]
Arturo; What do you think their gonna do when I go in there?
Nathan; I know exactly what they are gonna do. Some of the guys are gonna say hey. The girls are gonna ask if your alright and the rest of the guys are just gonna stare at you.
Arturo; I’d put some money on that.
[I was never more right. We walked into the room. The first thing out of Kenya’s mouth was hey. Maria asked him if he was ok and Bobby stared at him. It got better over a certain period of time. We went to go see Hanna, she was awake, but boy was she screwed up. She did get amnesia.]
Flex; Hanna you got some visitors.
Hanna; Who?
Flex; Nathan and Arturo.
Hanna; Oh. Who are they?
Flex; Why don’t I just let them in?
[We came in and she looked rather uncomfortable.]
Nathan; Hey Hanna. How are you feeling?
Hanna; Fine. Who are you?
[Arturo looked at me.]
Nathan; Its me. Nathan. Don’t you remember?
Hanna; Maybe. You look familiar.
Nathan; Do you remember Arturo?
Hanna; Not really, but he looks familiar too.

[We spent an hour trying to stir some thing, but she was clueless. We left and Mystic had a try. I think he scared her because he was rushing out of the room. Once the door closed there was a sound of shattering glass as some thing hit the door.]
Nathan; Dude what happened?
Mystic; She thought I was a burglar.
[Well, it wasn’t too surprising. He was strange and was dressed entirely in black. It was a complete fiasco when she some how escaped and was wondering in the halls with out a clue. I took her back to the infirmary or more like dragged her kicking and screaming back to the infirmary. I went back the next day and she was sleeping. I sat down next to her bed. Have you ever just gone into a hospital room and even though the persons not awake you just can’t help, but stare at them. She stirred and opened her eyes.]
Hanna; Nathan?
Nathan; You remember me?
Hanna; Of corse. Why wouldn’t I remember you?
Nathan; Well you kind of had amnesia for the past three days.
[She raised her eyebrows.]
Nathan; Don’t you remember what happened?
[She tried and looked back. She closed her eyes.]
Hanna; Yeah. I do. I boy did it hurt. What about Arturo? Is he alright?
Nathan; Yeah, but how did you know?
Hanna; I think I heard the doc and Flex talking while I was asleep. The others understand right?
Nathan; Yeah. Sort of.
Hanna; Sort of?
[I told her about Bobby talking smack about Arturo. She just shook her head.]
Hanna; Poor fool.
[They got Hanna out after a few more days and she was back in action. She walked into the rec-room.]
Hanna; Hey. Did you miss me?
Nina; Hanna. Your all right and you remember every thing.
Hanna; Was I really that bad?
Mystic; Lets just say you gave a whole new meaning to the word clueless.
Hanna; Hey. I see you missed me.
[She took a chair. Arturo was staying back. She went over to him.]
Hanna; I know you missed me.
Arturo; You bet.

[She gave him a hug. After all he’s been through I don’t think she could have done any thing better. This next part gets pretty horrible and bloody. For you sick weirdos’ who get a kick out of that you’ll love this. Im turning it over to Mystic. The witness to this tragedy.]

[Hey its me. What’s about to happen next will probably scar Hanna worse than any thing before. She is the goddess of suffering and the angel of tragedy. I woke up in the middle of the night. I checked my clock and it was about twelve thirty. I got up to get a drink. I walked out into the hall. Kenya is up for some thing. I’ll never forget. I see Hanna slip behind him and wrap her arm around his throat. She pulled out a knife and started stabbing him repeatedly in the chest. She was covered with blood as she let his body drop to the floor. She had the most wicked smile on her face.]
Hanna; Whose next? Ah. You’ll do.
[She ran at me with the knife. I grabbed her wrist before it came down.]
Mystic; What the hell is wrong with you!!!? Help! Some on get in here!!
[She punched me in the face and I threw her off. I get up and start to run. She tackles me and stabs me in the back once, twice. Derek comes and pulls her off. She stabs him in the arm. I hear him scream. Maria pulls her arms behind her and tries to hold her. Hanna throws her head back and gets her in the face. Raven rushes at her. She grabs his arm and twists it behind his back. I hear his arm snap as she contorts it, he is screaming. I see Arturo hit her hard on the head. She hits the floor. I can fell the life flowing out of me like the blood from my wounds. Every breath I take feels like a snake striking at my lungs. She gets up and Nathan grabs her knife hand jabs a stun gun into her side. She lies unconscious on the floor. My vision starts to blur as the doc and Flex come running. Every one is rushing to me screaming, but I can’t hear what is being said. My head hits the floor and I know no more.]


[I told you it was horrible. Maria gets a broken nose, Derek a flesh wound, Raven an extremely broken arm and Mystic was in a comma on a ventilator. And Kenya. May his soul rest in peace. He was dead. We had his family flown into New York. Where he had a fancy burial. His grandmother and cousins were grieving as was every one else. The girls were crying, but Bobby. Bobby was beyond consoling. They were best friends and now he was gone. Only seventeen. After the funeral every one spent the day in a slump. Most of them couldn’t train plus we had no trainers. Mystic was still unconscious and on the ventilator. My mind was reeling from what had happened, Hanna just snapped. She was determined to kill every one had I not stunned her. I went to go see what kind of mind she was in. They couldn’t get close enough to sedate her. She had on a straight jacket, ankle cuffs, and one of those face masks. They even had to chain her to the floor. Not tie, chain. They rattled as she struggled to escape. It was alarming to see her like this. Suddenly she pulled with all her might and the chains snapped. She pulled her arms free of the cloth restraints and ran at the cell door. She ripped off the mask and grabbed the front of my shirt before I could run. Her eyes were mad and pleading at the same time.]
Hanna; Some things wrong with me! I didn’t do it. God help me I didn’t do it!
[The doc came running in. They pried her off of me. The doc kept one arm and stuck a needle into her arm.]
Hanna; No! Don’t give me any thing!
[She wrenched back her arm with the needle still in it. She threw it at the doctor and it stuck him in the arm.]
Dr .T; Damn it. What went wrong with her?
[She was calming down after the sedative started to work. They questioned her.]
Flex; Hanna. Are you aware that you killed one of your team mates and injured four of them?
Hanna; Yes.
Flex; Did you do this purposely?
[She grinned and looked up. Her eyes were so fierce. They weren’t her own.]
Hanna; Of corse.
[They were shocked to have her admit it.]
Dr .T; You do realize the penalty for such crimes is more than expulsion?
Hanna; Like what?
Flex; The penalty for such crimes is death.
[I saw some thing flinch in her eyes, but she merely lad back and chuckled.]
Hanna; No one lives forever.
Dr .T; You will be kept in solitary confinement under sedation until such a decision is made.
Hanna; What ever doc, what ever.
[They both walked out. I had heard every word. The doc passed by me and patted me on the shoulder. Flex was drying her eyes. This was horribly wrong. They couldn’t kill her, they just couldn’t. I have to make sure. That girl wasn’t Hanna. I walked into the rec-room and that’s just what I was. A wreck. I sat down in a chair and buried my face in my hands. They were all afraid to ask. Until.]
Bobby; What did they say?

[It was the first time he had spoken since the funeral.]
Nathan; She admitted to every thing and said she did it purposely.
[They were all shocked.]
Nina; Wh...what are they going to do to her?
Nathan; Right now she stays sedated in solitary confinement until they can decide wether or not to........ to...... to execute her.
[There was way more shock to this.]
Arturo; Dis is bull shit!
[Every one looked at him.]
Arturo; That girl isn’t in her right mind and you all know it! You take one look into her eyes and honestly tell me that is Hanako.
[Every one wanted to believe him, but they couldn’t. I just couldn’t think at all. I went to go see Mystic. His eyes were open, but he still had the tube in his throat that kept him silent. He grabbed a pad of paper off the table and wrote some thing down. It said ‘what’s the damage? Crew? And then Truth’ underlined three times. I sighed.]
Nathan; Kenya’s dead. Ravens got a screwed up arm. Maria’s got a broken nose and Derek’s got a stab wound.
[He wrote down two more words. ‘Hanna? Truth.’ I took a deep breath.]
Nathan; Hanna admitted to every thing.
[He’s eyes closed briefly and he wrote down. ‘Sentence?’]
Nathan; Right now she’s in solitary confinement, but they are deciding on the death penalty.
[His eyes tightened and tears rolled down the side of his face. He wrote down, ‘We can’t let that happen?’]
Nathan; Im doing my best to make sure it doesn’t. You got any idea’s?
[He wrote down one word. V-chip. My eyes widened. Then he wrote down ‘look at the blue prints carfully. And good luck. I grabbed his hand briefly and then left. Me and Arturo had a plan. He was the only one willing to help me. Later that night we snuck into the doc’s office. Arturo unplugged all the video camera’s. I picked the lock and we went in. I took out the blue prints for the V-chip and brought them up. I read them very carefully.]

Nathan; The V-chip is multi-functional. It sends out a direct signal to the brain redirecting the body. While drug stimulus are used to preoccupy the brain if and when is needed. Drugs may give the person amnesia or allow the person to witness what they are doing, while still cutting off their own control of speech or movement. The third function of the V-chip is to implant another’s mind or emotional link to that persons body, giving the sense of body repossession or borrowing some one else’s body. The first prototype for the chip did not contain the repossession body. How ever the genuine chip was fitted with all these functions.
[This was all it said. Could it be that some had indeed taken over her body? That would explain why she admitted it.]
Arturo; Hey Homes. Check dis out man.
[Down in the bottom it said.]
Arturo; Genuine chip to be placed in subject 1351420112.
Nathan; Who is that?
Arturo; Is a code man. Look.
[He grabbed a piece of paper and a pin and wrote down Mental. He counted down the alphabet and wrote a number replacing each letter.]
Nathan; My god. They must have put the V-chip in Hanna once they put her into suspended animation.
Arturo; Dude that why day had me melt the bars. Look.
[In another print it said.]
Arturo; The chip can only be activated by a sharp blow to the head.
[We got all the evidence we could. Now all we had to do was get a confession. I snuck into the stockade and climbed up on the wall. I messed with the wires and the light went off. I went over to her cell. She saw what I did.]
Hanna; What do you want?
Nathan; Give it up. Your not Hanna. I know it, you’ve been placed inside of her with the V-chip.
Hanna; Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. Your right. Im not Hanna. But every one else thinks I am. We have witnesses. Even Hanna saw what happened. She was conscious the whole time. She saw her hand rip that knife into that boys chest. She saw the blade sink into that guys back. She hear the bone of that other one snap. She felt it when Arturo back handed her on the side of the head. And she felt it when you jammed that stun gun into her side. In fact she can hear every thing right now, but she can’t do a damned thing. And she will remember it all to her dying day, which shouldn’t be long now.
Nathan; That’s where your wrong, you heartless son of a bitch! You get that Arturo?
Arturo; Every thing.
[She looked confused.]
Hanna; What are you doing?

Nathan; You should never speak with out some hard facts. All I did was turn the light off on the camera. The tape was still rolling.
Hanna; You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you!
[Before I could move her hands reach out through the bars and wrapped them selves around my neck.]
Hanna; And Im gonna make your girl friend watch.
[Her eyes widened and they turned to Hanna’s. I was getting light headed trying to gain my breath only succeeded in losing it. I had never been so scared in my life. I could see in her eyes the pain, the tears and the torture. My hands dropped to my side as Arturo came busting in. He pried her off of me and I gasped. I swallowed as much oxygen as I could. Getting the feeling back into every thing.]
Arturo; You ok man?
Nathan; Yeah *cough*. You got every thing *cough* on tape?
Arturo; Yeah. Enough to keep this sucker from doing any more.
[She chuckled.]
Hanna; Don’t mess with the masters.
[She took a blade from her pocket and slit her wrists. The doc had finally gotten here. They sedated her again and wrapped her wrists to keep her from bleeding to death. Flex had suicide watch while we were being chewed out in his office, all we could do was smile as he yelled at us.]
Doc; It was completely irresponsible and.... What the hell is so god damn pleasing to you two?!
[We showed him the tape and the blue prints. We had enough evidence. They put her to sleep and did that radar scan on her and they found the V-chip in planted in her skull. I was sent to the infirmary cause my neck was killing me. Turns out she broke some thing trying to strangle me. They took it out and strapped her to the same table as Arturo. She looked dead even though her eyes were wide open. She had dark circles under them and she was muttering some thing. The doc said it was probably just a drug effect. I was to stay with her during her intervention like with Arturo. Arturo was worried about me after Hanna had pulled the chains out of ground when they had her confined. He said he’d be there in a flash if any thing went wrong. And he meant that. I was sitting in a chair next to her bed in a neck brace none the less.]
Nathan; Hanna? Can you hear me?
[She nodded.]
Nathan; Im gonna stay here with you alright. Im not going anywhere.
[She stayed silent then.]

Hanna; I killed him.
Nathan; You didn’t kill him.
Hanna; I did. His blood was on my hands. I saw and felt every thing. I felt that knife sink into his chest. Seven times. I stabbed him seven times. Then I went after Mystic. I stabbed him twice. I nearly strangled you, I broke your neck.
[She was completely calm, but tears leaked down the side of her face. I wiped them away.]
Nathan; Its not your fault. It wasn’t you, it was your hands, but it wasn’t you. There is a big difference.
Hanna; I love you.
Nathan; I love you too.
[I kissed her on the cheek and her eyes closed wearily. About two hours later she awoke suddenly, well her eyes opened any way. She started to go into epileptic shock. I tried to steady her head, but she was jerking so violently. I thought she would crack her head open on some thing. Once the seizer subsided she was hit with an attack of paranoia. She was trying to break free of her bonds and they were starting to give. She was struggling violently and I was trying to hold her down. The leather straps snapped and she pushed me off of her. She ripped her legs free and ran to the door. She was trying to break it down and was almost succeeding. I pulled her back. Arturo came in and she slipped free. He grabbed her. We each grabbed and arm like we were playing foot ball and pinned her to the bed. She was thrashing about so much I finally just sat on top of her and pinned her arms down on the sides of the bed.]
Nathan; Dude this is killing my neck.
Arturo; You know I used to do dat to my big sister when we would wrestle. Dere was only one way to get out of it.
Nathan; How...
[She threw her legs up and grabbed my neck with her calves. She was pulling me down. Arturo rescued me. He pulled her legs off and pinned them. I thought my neck hurt before.]
Nathan; You could have told me before.
Arturo; Sorry.

[We kept her pinned until she fell asleep. We got off of her and gave each other a five, both of us out of breath. We both sat down. I wondered what she was gonna be like when she woke up. Would she cry? Would she scream? Would she cease to go on living like Bobby? Would she daze? We could only wait and see. Arturo fell asleep, I couldn’t. I was too anxious to fall asleep. She was talking in her sleep. ]
Hanna; Where are you? Nathan?
[I sat next to her bed and took her hand. Her wrists had started bleeding from the restraints and her arms were covered.]
Nathan; Its ok. Im right here.
[She turned and looked at me. Her face stricken with tears. I sat on her bed and she buried her face in my chest. She wouldn’t let go so I got comfortable. She fell asleep in my arms. I look upon her. She was just so helpless and the only thing I could do was hold onto her. She was taken out of the big metal room after more evaluation. She was put on sick leave more for her mental health and emotional well being. The first thing she did was go see Mystic. He was still stuck on the ventilator and couldn’t speak. He was sleeping when she went in, I left them alone so Im giving it to Mystic.]

[Hey. Im stuck right now with a breathing tube down my throat. You find it odd that Im talking to you well look back and you’ll have seen odder things. Hanna came into see me. When I woke up she was crying on my bed. She was so sad . I couldn’t begin to understand what she was going through and that scared me. If some ting bad happened to us we usually shared the experience. I had no clue and it made me feel helpless, but she needed me so I wasn’t going to share that with her even though I couldn’t talk. I stroked her hair gently and she lifted her tear stricken face. That was a shock to my system. Her eyes my god her eyes. They had dark circles and her eyes lacked almost any luster. She looked like she had risen from the dead. She managed to muster up a smile. All I could do was twitch the corners of my mouth. She pursed her lips trying fight back the tears, but they came any way.]
Hanna; Im so sorry.
[I would have you know argued that it wasn’t her fault if I could only talk. I took out the pencil and paper. I wrote ‘its not your fault.’]
Hanna; So I’ve heard.
[She didn’t even looked at the pad. She could see the bewilderment in my face.]
Hanna; Have you forgotten? I can read souls.
[I nodded, and realized the paper wasn’t necessary.]
Hanna; I know some one else made me do it, but I still can’t get it out of my head. I saw, heard and felt every thing.
[I asked her. “ You were conscious of the whole thing?”]
Hanna; Yes. I can remember every thing.

[She had lost all emotion she was just blank.]
Hanna; That was the point of the V-chip. To make me see every thing, to make me suffer and those around me suffer. Its not just business any more. It personal.
[“Why would they want it to be personal?”}
Hanna; Cause I pissed them off. I killed their agents, I stole the orb, I destroyed their machine, I broke out of the suspended animation, I erased the generals mind, They failed to kill me so many times and I realized that’s not the point. They had many opportunities to kill me, but they did some thing worse. They let me live. They let me suffer and its not going to stop.
[Immideitly thoughts of her suicide rushed to my head and I guess she read them.]
Hanna; I wouldn’t go that far.
[My eyes flicked to her healing wrists.]
Hanna; No she did this.
[“Who is she?”]
Hanna; She was the woman sharing my body. She was the Bio-tech agent they put inside of me.
[“So their after you, well their about to get all of us. And they ain’t gonna like it.” She sort of smiled.]
Hanna; Thanks. Im gonna come see you later. Im the only one who can talk to you with out you getting writers cramp.
[I told her bye and she left. She was right though. I had a few visitors and my hand was starting to cramp up. I can’t tell you what happens out there so Im gonna turn it over to babe with power of soul searching and mind reading.]

[Hey. Right now Im in my room. Its nice and dark and I don’t have to face any one. I just sat on my bed with my legs curled up to my chest. Some times I cried and some times I just stared at nothing. I couldn’t sleep, my nightmares were plagued with blood and screams. Some times my own. I spent the next few days in my room only leaving to eat, which I hardly did. I went to Kenya’s grave once. I put flowers and touched the tomb stone with a gloved hand. I’ve had to wear that glove ever since I knocked Kenya out with my touch. I remembered every thing good as you often do in times of death. And all it did was squeeze my heart tighter. It was nearing Christmas time and the snow was falling from the smoggy sky. He was gonna miss Christmas with his family this year, but have it with his parents. I cried a little and went back to the base. Bobby was as lively as me. He would come out in the open, but he wouldn’t say any thing. Derek came into my room with out even knocking after the first two week.]

Derek; What are you doing in here?
[I didn’t answer.]
Derek; Come on Hanna you have to snap out of this, you can’t spend the rest of your life in your room. That isn’t living.
Hanna; Well maybe I don’t want to go on living.
Derek; Hey! Look this is hard on all of us! Its natural to grieve but, enough is enough! You’re the one who told me refusing to go on, refusing to live is taking the easy way out! And I know you aren’t going to take the easy way out. I won’t let you.
[I raised my head gave an involuntary gasp. He thought he had made a mistake I could tell. But I smiled with a trembling lip. He was right, I couldn’t keep living this way. It wasn’t living. I threw my arms around him and whispered.]
Hanna; Thank you.
[That day I went out to his grave again. I sat on his tomb stone.]
Hanna; Hey man.
[I just looked at the fresh snow falling on the ground. I took out my harmonica.]
Hanna; You’re my brother. I know you used to love the blues just like me. So Im gonna play you some thing, for probably the last time.
[I played like I had never played before. I played my heart and soul into my every note and breath. I heard the faint hum of an accordion behind me. I didn’t even look, I knew it was Bobby. He walked to my side and we played together for him I ended the song.]
Bobby; You think he heard it?
Hanna; Yeah. I do. May you rest in peace my brother.
[We left together. I felt unblocked some how. It still hurt, but now the pressure was off my heart and I could heal. Mystic was taken off the ventilator the next day. I was wheeling him out of his room. He couldn’t walk because of the pain med. they had him on.]
Hanna; How you feeling?
Mystic; My throat is as bad as my back.

[His voice reflected that. After a while he started wheeling him self around. It would be a while before he completely recovered I was put back in charge for training. I was surprised they hadn’t fired me. The ones who were injured had their own ways of training. Raven did every thing that he could and did push ups with one arm. Maria had no problem and Derek also did every thing one armed. It wasn’t broken, completely. The knife had gone straight through his bone. Mystic sat back in his wheel chair and watched. Like it was his favorite TV show. I had Arturo doing two hundred laps a day. He still finished before every one else. Mystic soon was out of his chair, but the doc wouldn’t let him do any thing. Mystic still didn’t understand why? He told him to run a few laps and he’d find out why. He did and he was coughing up blood. I was yelling at him.]
Hanna; You want to know why!!? Cause you got two punctured lungs you idiot!!
[He understood well enough after that. It took him a good month and a half before he was completely healed. And even then he had trouble breathing. As I had figured out I gave him some permanent lung damage. Any way lets go back a tad. To the Christmas season. We got two weeks vacation. Mystic had some of his own plans. And I got sent letters from Nathan’s family that they wanted me to come and Nathan was begging so I agreed in the end. He was very happy. Nina, Brock, Raven, and Rose all went back to Bonny’s. Bobby went to his brothers. I got a Christmas card from Greg him self. Maria went down to Georgia to see her cousins. Arturo went to go see his sister down in Mexico. Me Derek and Nathan were flying to Indiana. I was walking down the road with them. Derek was telling us of his fathers visit during Thanksgiving. It was quite appalling, but I was glad to hear of his triumph with his little brother. When we reached the village we split up. The snow was so much whiter than in New York. His mother was waiting at the door for him.]
Mrs. J; Oh Nathan. Its so good to see you. You too Hanna. I wished you would have come for Thanksgiving.
Hanna; Well I had some other things to attend to.
Mrs. J; Well come in and warm up.
Elizabeth; Nathaniel!!!
[She came running and jumped into his arms. Charity was smiling at the door way.]
Charity; Its good to see you again.
[She addressed this to both of us. And gave us each a hug.]
John; Welcome back son. You too Hanna.

[I had gotten into this habit of slightly bowing when greeting some one. It was kind of awkward, but they made nothing of it. Soon I felt more welcome and less like a stranger again. I was playing with Nathan’s little brother while he talked to his father and sister. His mother was making dinner and Elizabeth was trying to help. His little brother was so cute. I said I was sure he was gona be as handsome as his big brother some day. I made Nathan blush while his family chuckled. His mother had a surprise for me. She had signed me up to sing for the Christmas mass and she wanted me to sing Mortal Angels. I can’t believe she suckered me into that. I asked if the priest would allow it. And she said it took some persuading, but yes. Joy to the world. ]
Charity; You’ll be amazing I just know it.

Nathan; Yeah. [He was going to say some thing else, but Im sure he stopped because it would make his mother and sisters giggle and his father look stern. He was still a bit touchy about me. I don’t think he thought I was good enough for his son. But I didn’t let it get me down. My dreams were still plagued with these disturbing and perverse thoughts. I had enough to bring me down. What I did made me feel dirty and unclean. Like I was some sort of diseased person among a sea of healthy normal people. That I wasn’t good enough to be here and I was contaminating them. That was how Mr. John saw me. He thought I was some one who had corrupted his boy’s mind and wanted more than just that. He just made me feel worse. After dinner I went to my room. It hadn’t changed at all. The antique pitcher was still in the same place. The cross and the picture of the seraphim angels in the house of god. The patch work quilt on the bed and the rocking chair next to the window. Such modesty made me feel at peace. Like every thing was stripped away and now its fresh. I put my bag down and sat down on the bed. I wondered what would happen while I stay with them. Would the bad luck that followed me intervene or would I for once get a chance to rest. Unfortunately I have no such luck. I got into my pajama’s and went to sleep. A silver flash of a passing dagger and piercing scream the ring through my mind as the blade rends through his flesh and the warm crimson blood rushes forth staining my hands red and sullying my soul a dark and sinister black. I wake up with a start. My heart pounding and my body covered with sweat. I close my eyes and regain control. It was just a dream. Even though it was real. Oh man this sucked. I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I got up and put on my kimono to cover my night cloths. I walk into the kitchen and the fire is still glowing slightly. I added a few logs and stoked it until it was blazing again. I looked into the fire. I reminded me of the lights flashing before my eyes while my body was getting used to being with out the drugs of the chip. I sighed. I needed to get a hobby to do in front of the fire. I had the feeling I would be right here a lot. My knife was dull. I took it out and my sharpener and started to sharpen my blade. It made a small sheen sound. After about an hour I was willing to bet I could split a hair on my blade. I ran a thumb across it and it started bleeding. I put it in my lips and then put away my blade. I went back to bed hoping the dreams wouldn’t come. My watch said two thirty. I rest my head on my pillow and lulled my self to sleep with gentle thoughts. I woke up with a six year old girls standing over me. It startled me. Her face was right in mine.]
Hanna; Oh my..... Good morning.
Elizabeth; Good morning.
[I sat up.]
Hanna; Is there some thing you wanted?
Elizabeth; Breakfast is ready.
Hanna; Thank you.
[She left and I got dressed. That was a pretty freaky way to start the day. I went into the kitchen and sat down. After we prayed I picked up my glass of milk and took a sip.]
Elizabeth; Are you and my brother having sex?
[I spat out my milk as did Nathan.]
Nathan; *cough* Where on earth did you hear that?
Elizabeth; No where.
[Nathan’s face went straight to his parents who made them selves busy with breakfast. I can’t believe they were talking about us having sex. It made it seem so nasty. Elizabeth was still looking at me expecting an answer.]
Hanna; No we’re not.
[I couldn’t help, but shoot a look at his parents. After break fast there was little work to be done. I chopped wood while they tended to the cattle and horses. I remembered chopping wood a long time ago. I had to heave it over my shoulder and bring it down as hard as I can. Now I barely lifted it over the log and sliced right through it. I piled it in front of the house in the big pile and went back to chop more. I saw Nathan and his father arguing while working. No doubt about me. I sighed and went back to chopping wood. I saw Derek doing some stuff too. The other men of the village had helped out his mom while he was away. Garret was still a bit too small to do every thing him self. After the wood I went to milk the cows as instructed. There wasn’t a lot to do in the cold weather. After the cows I emptied the last of the milk into the vat. I cleaned out the bucket and put it up. I finished all those cows my self. Nathan had come to help me.]
Hanna; Its all done.
Nathan; Dang. That was fast.
Hanna; What were you and your father so hot over?
Nathan; What Elizabeth said a breakfast. She doesn’t even know what sex is so I know it came from them.
Hanna; Doesn’t believe you huh?

Nathan; Not a bit. He made the most horrible remarks. Im sure your going to get one.
Hanna; Well that’s something to look forward to.
[We went inside. After a few minutes his father came in too. Mrs. J made some tea.]
Mrs. J; I made you the most lovely costume for your part.
Charity; We wanted you to be Mary.
[His father took his chance and murmured.]
John; But you have to be a virgin for that part.
Mrs. J; John!
[He threw me a look and all I could do was stare. I finally understood. He thought I was some sort of tramp. I may have been with a few guys, but I had some dignity. I stood up and went to my room.]
Nathan; I hope your happy!
John; As a matter of fact yes.
Mrs. J; Sit down John. You should be ashamed of your self.
John; Its that girl who should be ashamed. I was only speaking the truth.
[I heard them argue. I snuck out of my window and went to that branch in the tree out side my window. I brushed the snow off and sat down. It was cold outside, but not as cold as it was in the house. Mystic had given me back the flute I put on his bed. I took it out and played a small sad tune. I was depressed. The doc and Flex wanted to put me on some thing, but I refused. The music was so lovely it could make the ice sickles melt right off the branches. I heard Nathan open my window. He climbed through it and jumped into the tree.]
Nathan; Im sorry about my father. I didn’t know he would be that rude.
Hanna; Its fine.
Nathan; But its not.
[I sighed.]
Hanna; There’s nothing I can do about it, so why let it bother me.
Nathan; It does.
Hanna; I know. Some times its hard to heed my own advice.
Nathan; Come back inside, its too cold out here.
Hanna; Its colder in the house.
Nathan; Come on.
Hanna; Alright.
[We got out of the tree and went back inside. I hesitated to go back into the kitchen but did.]
Mrs. J; John has some thing to say don’t you John?

[he didn’t say a damn thing. I just closed my eyes and shook my head, dismissing it entirely. I knew he wasn’t going to apologize to me. Two days had passed and he was always making remarks about my virginity behind my back. Loud enough so I could here him. It was two more days till Christmas and I was just getting more depressed. That night Nathan came into my room and sat down on my bed.]
Nathan; You know when I invited you here I didn’t know my dad was gonna be such a jerk.
Hanna; I know. Its not your fault. But what right does he have to accuse me of some thing he has no clue wether or not I did.
Nathan; Its not just you. He’s been getting on my case too. Saying the outside has changed me for the worse. He thinks every one out there is like you.
Hanna; Like me?
Nathan; You know what he thinks you are. You just have to ignore him.
Hanna; Well you think after saving his life twice and your mothers life he’d be a bit more friendly or at least grateful. I mean its not asking much for a bit of respect. [I could feel tears in my eyes.] Damn it. I said I wouldn’t let this get to me.
[I wiped tears from my eyes. Nathan put a comforting arm around me.]
Nathan; It doesn’t surprise me that it does.
Hanna; But Im the strong one here.
Nathan; With strength comes weakness.
[Some times he says some really wise things and I wonder if he’s holding out on me on his knowledge.]
Nathan; You deserve a break for once on being the strong one. Especially right now and after what happened. It will just keep stretching you until you break. You just have to let some one else carry the weight for a while.
[I knew he’d be willing. He’s the only one I could tell. My fears, my dreams, the nights when I can’t sleep and sit in front of the fire. And so I did. I spilled guts and poured out my soul for him to see and hear. I was weeping in his arms on the bed by the end of it.]
Nathan; Its ok. Every things going to be ok, I promise.
[His ignorance was comforting in a way. I was fatigued and emotionally drained. After laying in his arms that’s where I fell asleep and boy did we have a rude awakening.]
John; Out!!
[We both jumped. Nathan had fallen asleep too. His father was at the door fire in his eyes.]

John; Get out.
[Nathan got up and I rushed to get my day cloths. He left while I changed and then went into the kitchen. Mr. John was waiting for me.]
John; Listen to me skimpy little jezebel!
[I was appalled by his words.]
John; You do not lay a finger on my boy and you stay away from my family! I want you out of this house and I want you out now!
Hanna; I don’t know what you think happened, but I can assure you it wasn’t that!
John; Don’t give me that bull crap missy! Now I want you out as soon as possible!
[I was stung by the injustice of it all. I did the only thing I could think of. I went to my room and packed. Tears of anger and disgust rolled down my cheeks. I threw my bag over my shoulder and went to the kitchen. I ran into Nathan.]
Nathan; No, please don’t go.
Hanna; I have to. On your fathers orders. There’s no place here for a skimpy jezebel like me.
[I gave his father a cold hard stare and left the house. I stopped by the door to regain my composer.]
Nathan; What is wrong with you!?
John; There is nothing wrong with me, its that thing you brought into the house!
Nathan; She isn’t a thing she’s a person!! And you should show her some respect!!
John; Now you listen here boy!
Nathan; No!! You listen! What you did was horrible not to mention cruel!
John; Oh what are you talking about?!
Nathan; I was in her room trying to comfort her! She was in there crying because of what you said!! She fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake her up so I didn’t leave!
John; That girl is a monster!
Nathan; You want to see a real monster! Look in the mirror!
[That shut him up good. I got up and started walking out of the village. Nathan came out of the house about five minutes later. I was already on the snow covered dirt road, by the time he saw me. He came running and I quickened my pace. He reached me out of breath.]
Nathan; Come on Hanna you don’t have to leave.
Hanna; Yes I do. If I don’t some thing bad will happen.

Nathan; Like what?
Hanna; Like you don’t want to know.
Nathan; Where are you going to go?
Hanna; Im gonna stay in the motel in town.
Nathan; Im coming.
Hanna; No your not. Your staying here.
Nathan; But why?
Hanna; You have to stay here. If you didn’t it would break your mothers heart.
Nathan; It would be his fault any way.
Hanna; Just go back. I’ll be back soon enough.
Nathan; You promise?
Hanna; I promise.
[I start walking into town. He walks back into the village. It was so cold and my shoes are wet on the inside. I get to the hotel and they think Im Amish from my dress.]
Manager; You know you need money to stay here?
Hanna; Im well aware of that.
[I put a wad of cash on the counter.]
Manager; Oh. We’ll show you to our finest suit.
[A bell boy took my bag and showed me to a room on the third floor. It was nice. I dropped my bag and took off my wet things. I placed them by the heater to dry. I sighed and sat on the bed. I decided it was time for a little miracle working. The next morning I put on some regular cloths except I made sure they would blend with the surroundings I was going to be in. I left for Nappanee again. I pretty much snuck in. Nathan’s father was working by him self today, and that was perfect for me. I had my sword with me. I followed him around. He was shoveling snow from his walk way. He would soon need the hoe to break the ice. I got it from the shed and leaned it against the house and disappeared. He turned to go to the shed, but saw the hoe right there. He scratched his head and shrugged. He picked up the hoe and started working again. Later he was passing hay into the buggy. His back was starting to ache. Behind his back passed nearly half the bales. He looked back in amazement, he couldn’t remember doing that much. I could tell he was thinking. He shook his head and drove the buggy to feed the cows. I started throwing hay to the cows. I think he thought Nathan was doing it, but when he parked the buggy after wards I was gone and Nathan was no where to be found.]
John; What is this?

[Next he milked the cows. He needed another bucket and I dropped one behind him. He turned and his eyes widened. He looked all around and found nothing. Next he went to chop more fire wood. He was getting tired from lifting the ax and bringing it down and he still had a lot to go. I took my sword and with a few swift cuts it was all done the next time her turned around.]
John; Sweet Jesus.
[ Then he went inside.]
John; Joe.
Mrs. J; Yes?
John; Was Nathan inside all day?
Mrs. J; Yes dear why?
[He walked into the kitchen.]
John; Some thing strange is going on. I was shoveling the walk and I needed the hoe from the shed, but when I turned it was right there against the house. Next I was putting hay into the buggy and after I only passed, but seven bales it was all loaded. Then I was driving the buggy to feed the cows and some one was throwing hay off to them and I thought it was Nathan, but when I went to check their wasn’t any one there. Then I went to milk the cows and I needed another bucket and It dropped right behind me. And still no one. Then I went to chop the fire wood and after doing five logs I turned and the entire stack was cut. He went inside and I was watching through a window, they were all amazed.]
Mrs. J; But how is that possible John?
Elizabeth; Maybe it was an angel.
[That’s when I saw Nathan’s face break into a smile.]
John; It may just have very well been.
[I still stuck around. The baby started crying in his crib. I looked at him through the window and made some funny faces and he stopped crying and started laughing. His mom came in and found he wasn’t crying any more. He was also looking out the window. She looked out and saw nothing. She was getting a bit freaked too. My hand prints had fogged on the window. She went into the kitchen.]
Mrs. J; John. I went to check on the baby and he wasn’t crying any more. He was looking out the window and when I looked there was nothing except some hand prints on the glass.
John; Oh my god

[It was the work of angels in their house, it was the work of a mortal angel to me. I left and came back the next day and did the same thing. I helped him with his chores with out him knowing. I helped with the baby with out Mrs. J knowing. Elizabeth was in her room and she got up to go get some thing and tripped on the loose board. I caught her before she fell by the back of her dress and when she turned to look I was gone.]
Elizabeth; Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
[Mrs. J came in.]
Mrs. J; What is it sweety?
Elizabeth; Mommy. I tripped and I didn’t fall. Some one grabbed me before I fell and I look and they were gone.
[Mrs. J looked at the window and saw my fogged hand prints on the glass.]
Mrs. J; It truly is an angel.
[The next day was Christmas eve. I went into costume and went to the church that night. I was no longer Mary, but Gabriel. The priest nodded at me. Every one started coming in for mass. There were some other angles to be singing with me. Charity was Mary and Matthew was baby Jesus and a local boy was Joseph. Nathan’s family came in. They saw me and smiled. All except his father. I would change his mind soon enough. The priest began the mass and we waited. Through the gospel and the sermon then was our part. We reenacted the day in Bethlehem. The three wise men played by some other boys. After it was my turn to sing. First I sang Oh Holy Night. Then Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, a few more Christmas songs then a few from my past. What Made It Special. And finally Mortal Angels. I saw some thing dawn on Mr. John’s face as I sang. He listened to my lyrics and he was drinking in every word. After I finished they applauded and we bowed. After I got out of costume the Johnson family was waiting for me.]
Mrs. J; That was beautiful dear.
Hanna; Thank you Mrs. J
John; It was very good. Please come to our house for Christmas dinner,
[I smiled at him and he smiled back. I went to their house for dinner. After dinner they let me stay the night. I was in my room when John knocked on my door.]
Hanna; Yes.
John; Can I talk to you?
Hanna; Sure.
[We sat in the kitchen.]
John; Ok spill it. You’re the one who was doing all that stuff around here.
Hanna; Why I don’t know what your talking about?
[This puzzled him. I couldn’t help, but smile.]
John; Well thanks any ways.

Hanna; Why don’t you like me?
John; Its not that I don’t like you its just.....well I guess you could say I was trying to blame the wrong person for something she didn’t do. I just always thought Nathan wouldn’t go to the out side. That he would stay here and learn every thing it takes to be a man. Turns out he’s learning that stuff from you and I guess it made me angry. I guess you could say I thought you were taking him away from us, but when you brought him back he was different. And I thought he was changed for the worst. He’s actually changed for the better.
Hanna; Im not trying to take your son. I just saw more in his future with us than staying here. He’s got some thing great in store for him while he’s with us and I may or may not live to see it.
[John looked at me startled.]
John; What do you mean?
Hanna; My time on this earth is short and there is nothing any one can do. I haven’t told Nathan yet, but now he knows.
John; What do you mean?
[Nathan stepped out from the hall way, he looked real down. It was true. I had predicted my death before hand and there was nothing I could do about it. I went to my room later and Nathan came in.]
Nathan; What’s going to happen?
Hanna; In three months time I will be gone. I will be dead.
Nathan; No. It can’t be true. You can’t die.
[He was on the verge of tears.]
Hanna; Come here.
[He sat next to me.]
Hanna; I know its hard, but it will happen and no one can do any thing about it. I would need a miracle.
Nathan; Miracles happen every day.
Hanna; Yes they do. Now is not the time to grieve though. Save it for when Im dead.
[he couldn’t save it. I put my arm around him and he cried.]
Nathan; I don’t want to lose you.
Hanna; I won’t be gone. I’ll always be with you. You won’t hear me, and you won’t see me. But you’ll know that Im there.

[He went back to his room after he calmed down. My demise was already hard on him and it hasn’t even happened yet. It scared him and it scared me, but I had known about it for a long time. I’ve had time to deal with it, but he only had three months. It was Christmas and I was determined to make the best of it. I know they didn’t believe in Santa Claus , but I had bought Nathan something any way. I went into his room after he fell asleep and put it on his bed stand. I kissed him on the cheek and went back to my room. I fell asleep. In the morning Joe cooked a big breakfast and she asked me to say grace. I did and in the end I said Happy Birthday Jesus. It made them all smile. Nathan was wearing the present I gave him. It was some silver dog tags. On the front they had his name and on the back was Nate Dog and a small silver cross. After breakfast, me and the younger ones went out side. We went to the brook to skate. With out skates. They had mastered this as did I. Charity was teaching Elizabeth. I was on the snow bank and Nathan was out on the ice.]
Nathan; Can you skate with out blades?
Hanna; A little.
Nathan; Come on.
[I slid out on the ice very gracefully.]
Nathan; Ok how well can you skate?
Hanna; Very well.
[I raced out on the ice and did a figure eight. Nathan came out to meet me while Charity and Elizabeth watched. I raced in a circle and did a triple axle. ]
Nathan; You want to play a game of horse?
Hanna; Of corse.
[It was a bad pun, but I couldn’t resist. He raced in a circle and did a triple axle. Then a double axle and landed on one foot. I stood back and watched him as he hit the ice. I slid by and helped him up.]
Nathan; H for me.
Hanna; Your turn.
[He raced across the ice and then did a figure eight backwards. The one thing I had never mastered was going backwards. I did my best and I hit the ice.]
Hanna; Can’t go backwards too well.
[he helped me out. After many tricks we were neck in neck with H-O-R-S each. This next one would get it. I did my favorite sure to get him out cause now we were just showing off. I gained some momentum and spun. I went up and down with my leg erect like I was on a pottery wheel. I finished off with a single axle and that was it. He bit his lip and raced out. He had a nice take off, but lost balance some where in the middle. He slid at my feet. I helped him up.]
Hanna; That’s horse.
Nathan; I give you the victor.

[He lifted my hand and we bowed to our audience. They laughed and clapped. He was racing out and I froze. A huge tunnel of light and color raced before my eyes and I saw Nathan on the cracking ice and falling into the frigid water. I came back and saw Nathan about to do it. ]
Hanna; Jump!
[He did and he hit the snow. He got up brushing the snow off of him self.]
Nathan; Why did you want me to jump?
[I picked up a rock and threw it on the ice. It cracked where it landed. He shivered at the thought of what might have happened. We stayed away from that part. I took Elizabeth while Charity got a chance to skate. She was very graceful. Nathan took her hand and spun her on the ice like a figure skater. After that Nathan took Elizabeth. He put her on his shoulders and skated around with her. Soon Charity and Elizabeth went inside to help her mom make ginger snaps. Nathan stopped by me and took my hand. We skated hand in hand. He took me in his arms as we skated together. The sun started to set and the ice sickles on the tree glistened and sparkled. We ended in a small spin. He looked into my eyes, his eyes were so deep and so blue. I could see my empty ones in his full ones. He kissed me. A snow ball hit the back of my head. I turned and Derek was standing at the bank another snow ball at hand a smirk on his face. I looked at Nathan and we slid into the snow. We bombarded him with snow balls. I levitated one behind him.]
Hanna; Derek! Behind you!
[He turned and I shot it in his face. He looked back and brushed the snow out of his face.]
Derek; Your gonna pay for that.
Hanna; How?

[He picked up a rock and threw it at the tree over us. An avalanche of snow fell on us. We got out and charged. It started to get colder and dark so we said good bye and went inside. We hung the wet things by the fire. Elizabeth came up to us with a plate of ginger bread men. We took a cookie thanked her and sat down. Joe brought us some cider with a cinnamon stick. Then we had Christmas dinner, There was small bird, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mash potatoes and all that good stuff. I haven’t had a meal this good in the longest time. After dinner Elizabeth wanted me to read to her. She came back with a book about the Christmas events. I read to her while she sat on my lap and looked at the pictures. She fell asleep and I closed the book and gently lifted her. I took her to her bed and covered her up. She was so cute. I looked at her and then went back and sat by the fire. I had finally found some thing to do by the fire. I whittled. I had whittled a lot over the days. I was on a project to make a nativity scene. So far I had the wise men, Mary, and a few sheep. I was working on Jesus in the manger. I sung under my breath. Away in a Manger. Nathan came in and sung a bit with me. He had a nice voice. But after a while he just listened.]
Hanna; And fit us for heaven. To live with you there.
Nathan; That was nice.
Hanna; Thanks.
Nathan; What are you making?
[I showed him. I was nearly finished with it. He looked at the other figures on the hearth.]
Nathan; Wanted to thank you for the dog tags.
Hanna; Thanks. I made those too.
Nathan; You did?
Hanna; Yes. Im good with metal.
Nathan; I wanted to give you some thing.
Hanna; What?
Nathan; This.
[He gave me a small black box. I opened it and there was a beautiful silver ring with small diamonds on the top.]
Hanna; Its beautiful.
Nathan; It’s a promise ring. If...
[Be fore he could voice any doubts at all. I put them to ease. I slid it on my middle finger. He smiled. I leaned over and we kissed. I finished the figurine and placed it next to the others. I started on Joseph. ]
Nathan; Does it bother you?
Hanna; What?
Nathan; Knowing when your going to die.
Hanna; A little, but Im not going to waste my time left so it makes me feel better. As long as your with me I don’t wait in vain.
[He looked at me face expressionless, but his eyes full of pain, concern and love. ]
Hanna; Im just glad I get to spend Valentines day with you.
Nathan; Me too.

[I was jerking at his heart strings so I stopped. I was hurting because inside it was hurting him. I didn’t know how to make him forget. Later on he went to bed. Sleep was far from me. I hummed as I whittle silent tears dripping onto the wood. I looked at the half finished figure and hated it. I don’t know why, I just did. I threw it into the fire and watched it burn. I gathered my others and put them in my bag and went to bed. I prayed the lord my soul to keep and then to spare Nathan the pain some how. I made the sign of the cross and went to bed. I woke an hour before day break. I just got up and got dressed I went to his room and he was gone. I walked into the kitchen. Not there. I put on my snow things and went out side. He was in the branch I usually sat when I went out side. He was just staring out to the horizon in thought. I leaned against the trunk of the tree and played my flute. I pretended I didn’t notice him as he looked down at me. It made me think of Mystic. I couldn’t tell him. No way. It would tear him to shreds. This is how it was gonna happen. We would all be running from a self destructing base. I alone would stay to make sure they all got out. Nathan wouldn’t leave so I use a psychic blast to push him far away and then it would blow. I walked out onto the ice and skated a bit, still playing. I felt an arm come around my waist. I looked up at Nathan smiling at me. His hair was getting long again and his side burns were growing onto his face. It was about three quarters of a year ago that I took him from his home. Him and Derek. I gave them both hair cuts, new cloths. I taught them how to shoot stab and kill and neither one of them have yet. I taught them how to drive and not just modesty is beautiful. I gave him his first kiss and I gave Derek the confidence to face his father. It all came back to me how much I had done with these two simple boys. And it made me smile. He skated with me like we were dancing more than skating.]
Nathan; Do you know how to salsa dance?
Hanna; Yes.
Nathan; I need to take you one day.
Hanna; You can salsa dance?
Nathan; Yes. Arturo took me to one of those clubs.
Hanna; Oo. I see.

[We went in before the others woke up. I made breakfast for their family. Mrs. J was very grateful. And it was a good thing I was a good cook. Other wise well, that would have been more of a hindrance than a help. After that I helped them with the chores. Nathan and I were due back to the air port that night. Said our good byes and left. When they returned to the kitchen they found my present. The nativity scene on their mantle. The plane ride was god awful. There were the two worst things sitting next to me. The woman who never shuts up and the crying baby. They both finally fell asleep. That was the reason we took a night flight. I had to talk to the manager of the air port many times, because of my guns and knives. I had to fill out stuff and show them my badge many times before I got my bag back. But this time.]
Hanna; What do you mean you can’t find it!?
Manager; Please lower your voice.
Hanna; Lower my voice! I have an AK-47 in that bag and two Uzi’s, I have grenades and knives! If that falls into the wrong hands you can just say good bye to your air port.
Manager; Please mam you must calm down we are doing all we can to locate your bag.
[It took them two hours to find my bag. We left and boy I was pissed. They wouldn’t give me back my Glock at the screening process. We made it back to the base. We were the only ones and probably would be the only ones here for New Years. All alone in the base, damn it. Why did he have to be Amish? Why couldn’t he be from some other part of Indiana? I loved him any way and still would. We went to bed after a while. It was the twenty seventh the next day. I had already read most of the library. Nathan was trying to find some thing on TV and wasn’t succeeding so he gave up and got a book instead. The next day he came up to me.]
Nathan; You need to get dressed, we’re going out.
Hanna; Where?
Nathan; Salsa dancing.
[I smiled and went to my room. I put on a short red dress with a slinky bottom. It went off the shoulder. I put on a little perfume and a bit of red lipstick. And my dancing shoes. I came from my room and Nathan was waiting. He was in a button down black shirt, some black slacks. The collar was put up slightly and the top buttons undone. Damn he was looking sexy. He looked me up and down. I took his breath away. I walked up to him. He had on after shave. He smelled so good.]
Hanna; Lets go.

[I put on my good jacket and we took the corvette to the Icy Tequila. We stepped in and there were a few people on the dance floor dancing close to an upbeat song. The guy at the door took our coats. Nathan took me out on the dance floor. I was wondering so I started dancing. So did he. He was a natural, more than that he was good. Then a song came on this was my favorite. And in his eyes so was his. He had this sort of beat him his body I had never felt or seen before. He took me into his arms and we ruled the dance floor. He spun me in and out. He picked me up so many times and we did some of the most amazing things. I had never enjoyed my self more in my life. After the song ended their was applause for us. We sat down at a table to catch our breath. We both got a drink. When they came his was a soda and mine was a martini. I think it took him that long to realize it had alcohol. I took a few sips and put it down. I was eager to get back on the dance floor. So we went back. We danced for hours. We finally returned to our seats. I finished my drink and got another. He was getting nervous, so the next dream I ordered had a fancy name, but no alcohol.]
Hanna; You want to try it?
Nathan; I don’t drink.
Hanna; Then you’ll love it.
[I smiled at him and he tried it. He liked it. In fact he ordered one. Then we went home.]
Nathan; Did you have a good time?
Hanna; The best. I had no clue you could dance like that.
Nathan; Does it surprise you?
Hanna; A little, but it’s a nice surprise.
[He had more surprises for me. New Years I got a couple of bottles of champagne and brought them back to the base. We were to be the only ones there until the third. We each had a few waiting for midnight. I turned on the TV for the count down.]
Both; Three, Two, One. Happy New Years!
[We threw confetti and then kissed. We kissed a long time. Im going to turn this over to Nathan for a while. K? Later.]

To be continued...

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RosettaMoon: I know I said it sucks, but come on even you have to admit it's getting juicy.