Chapter 4. Uncovering The Past.

  It was a week since the last time the voice talked to Kael and his dinner with his father. He still couldn't forget that fateful day. But today was the day that he went to meet up with his uncle and Katrine's dad, Mark, since he had something important to show to Kael regarding mag-tech. Even though past two weeks were extremely eventful for Kael he still had kept his interest in mag-tech, it got even stronger after the first time the voice appeared and the unfortunately disappointing showcase of "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" that was at his school a week ago. Today was also exactly 15 days since Katrine potentially saved his life, in Kael's mind these two weeks were more eventful than everything else in his life. For now he left school, said his good-byes to his friend's, Adam and Artyom. And his probably most disliked person, Artyom, whom Kael started opening more and more, which Artyom was extremely happy about. Since that's what he wanted all along after meeting Kael. After school he was immediately heading to Mark's house, the same house Katrine lived in. He prayed that she wasn't home as he didn't want another awkward moment or a potential verbal fight with, but seeing how she changed over the past two weeks he realised that their relationship was slowly but surely healing. Then Kael remembered the voice's words... It was true, it hurt him more than he'd ever like to admit. Even worse, he was the one causing this pain for himself with his current actions. He quickly brushed those thoughts away, for now he had to see what his uncle got from someone related to the mag-tech, since he had to wait a week until the ground was clear he expected that it was something grand. After 15 minutes of walking he finally arrived at the address, he rang the gates bell. After a while he heard his uncles voice.

  -"Who the hell is there? If you're handing out flyer's, you can shove one up your arse as well!"

  It startled Kael slightly, he heard Mark get riled up before when he was still fighting with Katrine every time they met, but it was long time since he heard his uncle get mad about such a trivial thing as someone handing out flyer's, it made Kael chuckle a bit at his uncles reaction to him ringing the gates bell. After Kael gathered his courage and calmed down he replied to Mark.

  -"Hey Mark, it's me, Kael. You wanted to show me something right? After all, I had to wait a week before you could show me that, soooo I'm here."

  After those words there was a stretched silence from his uncle, he thought that Mark didn't expect him to come to his place right after school. After a longer while of silence he got a reply.

  -"Come in kid..."

  After that the gate's bell buzzed, signalling that it was open, Kael pushed the gate open and headed to the main door. When he was mere steps away from it, Mark popped his head out looking around, it seemed he searched if anyone else was around. When he saw Kael he beckoned him to come in with a wave of his hand. Kael, not understanding what Mark was doing, froze in place for a couple of seconds before finally understanding and going inside the house. Inside all the blinds were down, there were stacks and stacks of paper laying around. Ad's, letter's, tax information, and more. Kael even saw some... More "interesting" things amongst these papers which made his face go slightly red, but brushing it off quickly he made his way to the living room where Mark was waiting with an open laptop. It seemed as if he was searching for something on the device that he wanted to show to Kael. After a couple of minutes of silence Mark beckoned Kael to come closer.

  -"Check this shit out kid, my insider found this in one of the recently opened passages in mag-tech structure... This shit gotta be thousand's of years old..."

  When Kael came towards him and looked at the laptop he saw what his uncle was referring to. It was a painting, similar to those ones found in caves from tens of thousands of years ago. But it was different, it was highly detailed, way too detailed for it to be a normal painting. When he looked closer he saw figures of... People, it was definitely a battle, no doubt in that. But why were they fighting against each other? And why was it depicted in a mag-tech ancient structure? When Kael looked even closer he saw that one of the sides in battle resembled humans extremely closely... But they were different, they had longer ears, they looked like the popularised "elves" from fantasy media. But they were fighting humans? When Kael clicked towards another photo he saw the other side of the painting. Those were indeed humans, but they were different... They had animalistic features, wolf ears, tails, and similar other of many different animals well known to him... Who were those people… When Kael looked over the other photos they all depicted large scale battles between the "beast-humans" and "elves". But when he clicked on one of the photos he froze, he tried to take a step back but accidentally fell over. It wasn't another photo depicting a battle, it was a larger figure than the others in the paintings. It depicted a woman wearing something similar to a japanese kimono, but it was pitch black, the crimson accents gave it a formidable look. The woman herself was seemingly a wolf subtype of a "beast-human" having pitch black wolf ears and tail along with dark hair. But what scared Kael was what she was holding in her hands... Those were "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness"...

  Suddenly Kael felt his heart beat accelerate and started hyperventilation, a panic attack. He quickly clutched his chest and reached into his backpack with his other hand. He quickly pulled out the calming medication injector and stabbed himself in the thigh. It was a close call, too close to comfort, if he was a second late the effects he could suffer could be severe. But he didn't understand one thing, why he suddenly got so scared and got a panic attack upon seeing the painting of the woman with the swords. It was something he could not process, his uncle seemed to have no reaction to the painting like he did. He just didn't understand why, why why WHY, WHY!? Kael wanted to scream, curse himself for having this reaction, but it'd ruin his facade, so he decided not to. Mark after a couple of seconds registered what happened and helped Kael stand up, when he did so he asked him.

  -"What the hell was that kid? Why did you get scared like that? I mean it is strange seeing such painting and shit, a large scale war between those two strange 'humans'. Kael, this is a major thing... Mag-Tech may be even older and more important than we thought..."

  Hearing this Kael nodded his head approvingly, he knew his uncle was right. But the question is... What happened to those people? Was it involved with Mag-Tech? Who was in the right and who was in the wrong? He needed to know, he was even ready to break into Mag-Tech to search for the painting himself and study it with his own hands and eyes. But for now, he had to calm down. Suddenly both him and Mark heard the main door opening and they quickly closed the laptop and sat at the table acting like nothing happened. Suddenly Katrine walked into the living room, when she saw Kael and her father conversing about seemingly nothing interesting she ignored them and went to her room. In her mind she didn't want to talk to Kael because of what happened in the past two weeks between them. She started feeling strange around him due to his change in attitude to her, he was no longer offensive towards her, and instead was neutral or even nice to her, especially back then when she potentially saved his life. She tried to avoid Kael as much as possible, to not have any awkward moments with him and to not seem weak towards him, she wanted to let him know she was still the better, stronger, smarter and similar. Kael, noticing that he shouldn't be here, said his good-byes to Mark and walked out the house. When he went out the gate, he got the same chills every time she appeared. The voice, but Kael was ready for everything, insults, mocking, he was ready. But this time it was different, when he walked the voice spoke to him.

  -'Ahhh that painting brings memories hahaha...'

  Was it happy? Kael got shocked slightly but he ignored the voice nevertheless, he didn't want it to ruin his ordinary life, he wanted to live as he lived up until now, he didn't want to get mixed into some strange shit. But he knew it was inevitable and he just could slow it down at best, but it'd still come for him whether he liked it or not. The voice seemingly seeing that Kael was ignoring her got slightly annoyed, Kael swore that if it had a physical form it would be pouting.

  -'HEEEEEY KIDDDDDDD I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR MEEEEE SO DON'T IGNORE ME FOR FUCKS SAKEEEEE!'

  Kael wished with all his heart somebody else could hear the voice so that he'd know he wasn't going delusional or crazy. But it was far from the truth, unfortunately for him, he was the only one who could hear the voice, which annoyed Kael even more. He just wanted the voice to have a physical form so he could do certain things to the voice as a retaliation for the mocking it gave him a week ago, he just wanted to get his revenge for the voice mocking his family. Kael finally noticed nobody was around, stepped into an alley and took a deep breath to calm down before comforting the voice.

  -"What do you mean by memories? Aren't you just a voice in my head? How the hell can you have memories?"

  The frustration was clear in his voice, he finally gathered enough courage to confront it in such a way. The voice seemingly sensing Kael grew up since their last encounter started chuckling which annoyed Kael even further. It was actively mocking him, giving him vague hints and laughing at his attempts to get anything out of her. Which caused so much frustration to Kael that he wished he could just strangle the voice if he could. After a couple more minutes of the choice chuckling it sensed Kael's murderous intent towards it and decided to stop, after a while it finally spoke up again.

  -'I'll reveal more to youuuu, if you break in "there" and gather some information kiddooo...'

  Kael knew what the voice was implying by saying "there". One of the Mag-Tech structures, the voice wanted him to break in there in return for more information about itself, as Kael wanted to question it more, he sensed it went away again. He also noticed that he could now sense the voice's presence and that the voice was talking more and more, possibly evolving as time went by. At first Kael could barely move from the intense pressure he felt by the voice and the voice herself could only say one word. But now? He sensed chills going down his spine and most and the voice seemingly was able to say more and more each time they spoke, but it would also go away for longer and longer the more it spoke. Kael thought that the voice was using something that was straining it so much that it needed rest after every encounter with Kael. But that was the thought he could brush off for the time being, the real focus he had to have now was why the voice wanted him to break in the Mag-Tech structure? He heard rumors that there were a couple of people who did so and they were either imprisoned for a long time or straight up killed on the spot for trespassing, remembering those rumours had Kael feel chills down his spine. The thought of him being killed just because the voice wanted him to do something was out of the question, he wouldn't do it, he couldn't leave his father all alone. His dad already lost his wife and daughter, and losing his only son would cause enough strain on him to break and cause unforeseen circumstances. Kael didn't want that, he wanted his father to smile, be happy, laugh and enjoy life. Not to grieve another loss of his family, he suffered enough, he shouldn't suffer more. Kael knew that, but getting the answers he wanted on the other hand was also important, he needed to know who or what the voice was and he wanted to know why he was the only one hearing it. That internal struggle of Kael was cut short when he suddenly felt something sharp and metallic pressed to his back, it was a knife no doubt about it. Suddenly his right hand moved behind him on its own, he didn't control it or knew when it had happened. After the sudden move of his hand he heard bones cracking and a heavy object falling to the ground with a thud. When he looked around it was the mogger with a broken nose, unconscious on the ground, and his right hand was covered in blood. What has he done... What happened... He couldn't think, he was frozen in fear because of what had happened.

  Suddenly he decided to run from there, it was bad if he stayed there when the guy woke up. As he ran he passed by people who looked at him like a delusional person, hand covered in blood, running like his life was dependent on it, and the sheer fear in his eyes. He ran for a couple of minutes before finally arriving at his house, quickly unlocking the door dashing in straight to his room. "What the fuck just happened!?". Those were Kael's exact thoughts, suddenly he got the chills on his back again, the voice was back, he was ready to question it further and similar stuff, but one of his questions was already answered before he asked it.

  -'No need to thank me kiddo... I can temporarily possess a part of you, and that's what I did back then... But it gave me so much energy... Ahhhh I feel like I'm gonna take a nap... Oh and if you wanna know, if I grow in power i can possess more of your body for longer... Goooodnight kidooooo...'

  With the last words from the voice Kael froze in fear. He could lose his body to that voice if it grew stronger, he'd lose himself, he'd lose everything. He couldn't allow it, and now that the voice seemingly went into the slumber he couldn't question it further which frustrated him even more. He just needed answers, he needed them. He grew more frustrated and angrier with the passing minute. He felt like when he could he'd punch the voice so hard it'd rethink choosing who to appear in. But for now he should wash his hand that was covered in blood and wash his school uniform, because the sleeve was covered in blood as well. He quickly made his way to the bathroom and started scrubbing his hand with soap. But... The blood wasn't coming off. Worse, it was spreading further. His left hand, both of his arms, his face, body, legs were slowly covered by blood... When he looked into the mirror, he stumbled back and fell over, what he saw in the mirror was a man, he had an eye patch over his left eye and blood crimson right eye, his hair was dark as his own. His face was covered in blood and scars which added to his disturbing image. Suddenly the man pointed his finger at Kael and it seemed as if he was saying something. Just then Kael woke up in cold sweat in his own bed, it seemed he passed out from the shock, he couldn't believe that was just an ordinary dream, he just couldn't accept that. But now a bigger problem was that his own hand was still covered in blood and worse of all he seemed to be trashing so now his whole school uniform and bed sheets were covered in blood as well. He quickly grabbed the sheets and rushed to the toilet, putting them in the washing machine along with his school uniform and washing his right hand from the blood...

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  It was coming off... What he saw couldn't be an ordinary dream, it just couldn't be something unrelated to him, that warrior he saw resembled his father closely, but the crimson red eye, scars and an eye patch weren't fitting for his father. He thought it maybe was his ancestor or something. But that wasn't the thoughts he needed to concern himself with, he had to ask his father when he came back if they had any ancestors that fought in the medieval times. He had to know if it was his ancestor, it had to be in Kael's mind. There was no way it was someone other than that, it probably was the voice trick to play with him. But that wouldn't make sense, it just helped him not so long ago. Why would it play tricks on him? It was a possibility since of how the voice's mood seemingly changed every time it appeared, next time it appeared he planned on sticking a pin in the voice and annoying it himself instead of the other way around. But he had to wait until it appeared again. Suddenly he heard the main door open, it was his father. Hearing his dad came back Kael rushed out of his room to greet him. But instead he saw... Katrine? What was she doing here? Why was she here? When Kael wanted to ask her something she grabbed his collar and pushed him to the wall, clearly trying to intimidate him. He could feel her warm breath on her face and the clear murder in her eyes, she wasn't in the best mood. Then she asked him.

  -"What the hell did you talk about with my dad? And don't lie to me, I clearly know that you talked about something related to Mag-Tech... TELL ME!"

  She sounded angry, frustrated and... Desperate... Like she was feeling concerned for either him or her father. Kael thought it was probably regarding Katrine's dad, since he was the only family she had left. And if something happened to him, Katrine wouldn't even be able to come out of a deep hole called depression herself. She was clearly concerned about it. Seeing this Kael felt something soften in his heart and gently pried her hands off before saying to her.

  -"Hey Kat... It's fine, okay? Me and Mark were just discussing some pictures his insider found in one of the mag-tech structures okay?"

  As he finished saying that he placed his hands gently on her shoulders... Katrine, Suddenly felt strange... That smile, the nickname, the hands on the shoulders... Those were all the same that her mom did... The same thing her late mother did... She couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears... Crying like a small child lost in an unknown place, a small girl that missed her mommy. Suddenly she lunged at Kael wrapping her arms around him and hugging him while crying into his shirt, it was all the same as she did with her mom while she was still alive... That small girl, Katrine, was just seeking warmth and comfort, nothing less, nothing more... Kael understood that feeling, he knew what was happening with her. He had the same situation a week ago with his father when he made the same meal his own mother used to make before passing away. It was all too familiar to him. But now, he was the one comforting instead of being comforted. He did the same thing his father did. He put one arm on her back and scratched it gently like you would with a small animal. While saying to Katrine.

  -"It's fine Katrine, let it all out... I had the same situation a week ago too... Come on, don't be shy, just let it out..."

  Those words to Katrine were soothing and warm, too good to be true. As she heard them she buried her face in his shirt further and continued to cry like a little girl... After all, she just wanted the comfort and warmth of another person, and since she wanted to be strong in front of her dad, she didn't want to ask him for that. She was strong on the outside like a turtle, but extremely soft on the inside. One push to the right side, and everything crumbled... As she continued for a couple of minutes she finally stepped back wiping tears from her eyes. She wanted to apologize for what she just did, but she felt the sudden need to seek comfort and warmth. Kael, seeing what she wanted to say, interjected and responded to her unsaid apology.

  -"No need to apologize Katrine, you want something to eat? We had some leftovers from yesterday's dinner, some steak with potato purée. I'll just need to heat it up, what do you say?"

  His voice was gentle, knowing how fragile the state Katrine was in. After his question Katrine nodded slowly letting him know she was keen on the idea, as Kael led her to the living room he beckoned her to sit on the couch and wait, while he himself went into the kitchen to heat up the food. After a couple of minutes he returned to find Katrine sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket, he had never seen her do it before even when they were kids, but he thought she just needed warmth. He gently placed the meal in front of her beckoning her to eat. She looked at him with still a fragile expression and slightly teared eyes.

  -"Tha-Thanks... I-I... I'm sorry for wha-what I've done back there..."

  Her voice was low and quiet, opposite to her usual fiery and dominant tone. Kael seeing this shook his head, she didn't have to apologize, he knew what she was feeling a little too well. She was just a small and fragile child, even though she was the same age as Kael, it was clear she wasn't as mature as him which fired some strange instinct in Kael to keep her safe. As he left her alone to eat he quickly went to his room to study for school. He still was somewhat happy that his relationship with Katrine was healing steadily, even if it was through such awkward and small moments that were meaningless to most people. As he finally returned to his room and closed the door he felt the chills run down his back... The voice... It was back again, Kael was ready for everything, but he didn't want to scream or go ballistic as to not startle the already fragile Katrine.

  -'Damn kid you found yourself a nice bride if I do say so myself heheheh... Although I'd say some other women would be jealous of her later on...'

  What...? That was the immediate reaction to the voice from Kael... He felt his face go suddenly scarlet from the voice's teasing, he thought it would come to scare him even further and similar, but instead it was saying such extravagant things!? What in the world does that woman think!? Kael didn't know how to respond, he choked on his own words not knowing how to respond, he wanted to strangle the voice, once again, for the teasing it gave him. But for now he had to calm down and quickly think of an answer to this, since he needed to somehow retaliate, but instead the voice was the first one to speak again.

  -’If I were her, I’d immediately ask for a ring, maybe a ruby? Amethyst? OHHH OR A SAPPHIRE! But for a few reasons I can’t… Besides the obvious…'

  Kael hearing the words question buried his face in his pillow and screamed, he was so embarrassed, he was so ashamed. Not only the teasing but such words from it too? It made Kael want to dig a deep hole and bury himself in, the voice seeing his reaction started laughing like a maniac, that woman was constantly putting Kael on edge even though she was just a voice in his head. As she continued to laugh Kael finally said with his voice shaking and stuttering.

  -"The he-hell y-you want from me now...?"

  The voice hearing his question went quiet as to quickly assess the situation and form a response. After a couple of seconds Kael could swear he heard someone clicking their tongue but there was no one around so the only suspect was the voice.

  -'Nothing much kiddo, just wanting to congratulate you on finding a nice and cute bride hehe... Gotta say if i had physical form I'd be jealous of her... Oh and make sure your bed smells nice, cyaaaaaaaa!'

  After that the voice disappeared, for now. The bed smelled nicely? Just what the hell could she mean? As Kael was thinking about this he heard a sudden knock on his door, when he went to open it he saw Katrine, she was still wrapped in a blanket from before. He noticed she seemed to have eaten the warmed up leftovers from yesterday and was looking slightly sleepy. When she looked up at Kael she asked in a low and definitely tired voice that was clearly distinguishable.

  -"Can I sleep here...? Please just let me take a nap... I swear I won't do anything and say anything to anyone..."

  Kael hearing this just couldn't object and stepped aside to make room for Katrine. When she saw this she entered the room and made her way to his bed laying down and falling asleep nearly immediately. Kael wasn't even slightly shocked, the emotional breakdown she had moments ago must have taken its toll on her and her body. She was just tired from holding up her own facade and it suddenly broke. He knew that feeling a bit too well. As Katrine was sleeping Kael made his way out of the room quietly and sat down on the couch, as he did so he got a message from his father. Upon picking up his phone and checking what the message was it read. "I won't come back home today kiddo and I'll be gone for 3 days, work trip :/". 3 days… He had to wait three days for his father to come back. He thought none of it until he saw that Katrine had left her phone on the table as well. Suddenly it vibrated as well, when Kael picked it up out of curiosity he saw a similar message sent by Mark. "I'll be gone for 3 days sweetheart, don't do anything stupid :*". Then something in Kael just snapped. The phone fell out of his hand and hit the floor, and immediately after Kael slammed his fists on the table, his veins were clearly distinguishable.

  -"YOU TWO OLD FUCKS, YOU PLANNED FOR THIS ALL ALONG DIDN'T YOUUUUUUUU!?"

  Kael screamed with his heart full of anger and shame, those two old pricks have planned this all along in his mind. He knew that his father often joked when Kael's gonna bring a girl back home and he also sometimes heard Mark saying to Katrine to hurry up with getting a boyfriend because he didn't want an old lone lady as a daughter. But little did Kael know, it wasn't a scheme planned by their father's, there was a different reason for them being gone at the exact same time for the same length of time. But for now he was angry and speculated that their father planned for this to do something stupid, he didn't know the truth but he knew his own truth which was enough for him. He swore that if his father came back he'd scold him so much that his father would rethink every life decision up until now, but he had to calm down for the time being. He didn't want to wake up Katrine by screaming, not in her fragile state. If he did so, the consequences could be severe. For now he decided to go and drink some water to calm his nerves. As he did so he suddenly felt the voice, it came back again. And this time Kael didn't get the chills. The voice... It was becoming stronger... He knew it was, it was too frequent, stayed for too long, and his body's reaction was growing weaker and weaker when it appeared. It meant that it was growing stronger within him, then Kael remembered that the voice once stated that the stronger it gets, it'll be able to control more of his body for longer. Today it was just his right hand striking a thug that threatened him with a knife, tomorrow it can be his legs, the day after can be his legs and arms... And within a week... He can completely lose control for a longer period, and that time will only grow longer as the time goes by. Kael had two options now, go on a deal with the voice and do its bidding of breaking into mag-tech eventually, or fight a losing battle for god knows how long. He was losing something either way, he would either lose his ordinary life he built for himself, or he'd lose his body. But for now he decided to ask the voice.

  -"You've grown stronger again huh? What do you want now? Tease me? Torment me? Mock me? Or control me?"

  His voice was visibly tired and frustrated, he was becoming adapted to the voice which he didn't want to do. He got no response, the voice was there, he knew it, he felt it. There was no doubt, but there was just silence. Suddenly his right hand moved like it had a mind of his own and went to Kael's throat staring to choke him, he never felt he had such strength in his hand. He thought it was probably the voice's influence, but for now he had to fight his own right hand that was choking him. He tried to pry it off with his other hand which proved useless, then he saw a knife on the counter. With no options left and not wanting to lose consciousness, he reached for the knife and stabbed his own right hand. It caused him severe pain, after all it was his own hand that was just controlled. He wanted to scream but he grit his teeth, he pried the knife deeper into his right hand, he felt the tip of the knife go all the way through and press against his own throat. And then, his hand came back to his control, it slumped to his right side bleeding large amounts of crimson red blood. Kael quickly pulled the knife out of his hand which shot pain all over his arm, he wanted to scream, but he kept his mouth shut. He reached for the cabinet where the first aid kit was, he opened it and pulled out the kit. He quickly opened the first aid kit, pulling out a needle along with stitches and quickly began sewing up his hand from the sides. The pain was unbearable, but if he didn't stop the bleeding now, it could be extremely bad for him. After he sewed up his hand he applied sanitizer which burnt like hell, after a couple of seconds of excruciating pain he applied a gauze and wrapped a bandage around his hand. He did it, he saved his own life just now. As he calmed down he heard the voice... It was laughing, laughing like it has seen the funniest thing ever. Kael was enraged, he picked the knife up and started swinging it randomly while panting like a wild animal, he wanted to kill the voice, if he only could. After a while the voice spoke up.

  -'HAHAHAHHAH YOU DUMB LITTLE HEIR, YOU THOUGHT I'D KILL YOU!? OHHH C'MON I NEED YOU TO BE ALIVE, AND KILLING YOU WOULD BE A SUICIDE FROM MY PART HAHAHA!'

  Kael, hearing the last part, had an idea, stupid, idiotic idea. But he knew that it might work. Suddenly he put the knife to his throat pressing ever so slightly, the voice seemingly seeing what its host was doing stopped laughing abruptly. As it suddenly stopped laughing it started to back-pedal, fear clearly distinguishable in its voice.

  -'H-hey hey hey kiddo! IT WAS JUST A PRANK M'KAY!? I DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT YOU, IF YOU'D STARTED PASSING OUT I'D LET GO, PL-PLEASE RETHINK THINK, KAEL PLEASE! BESIDES THERE’LL BE GREATER CONSEQUENCES IF YOU DO THAT!'

  The desperation was clear, Kael smirked. He was the one holding the leash just now, he started laughing. He won, he won a small meaningless battle. For him it was like he just saved the world, he still had a nasty open wound on his hand, but he stitched and bandaged it up. For him pressing a knife to his throat was a small price to pay to get back at the voice. He was happy, for the first time in so long he was truly so happy that he had achieved something, even if the price was threatening to kill himself, as he calmed down he spoke to the voice in a low fierce tone.

  -"I own this body and I CONTROL it... And YOU have to listen to me, not the other way around? Understood...? Because, from what I've seen, if I die you die too... So let's work together, you have no choice but to accept."

  He was the one finally standing on business, he gave the choice that was a loss either way, not the voice, but himself. He was happy that he finally took the steering wheel and gave instructions and demands. Voice seemingly hearing his statement sighed, it knew she had lost, had no other choice but to submit to Kael. He was right in every word, and who knew how long it'd take for her to find another host. With gritted teeth and frustration clear in it, the voice said to Kael.

  -'You win this time kid... For now, I will cooperate with you fully... Buuuuuut you have to break into that Mag-Tech structure where the painting is...'

  Kael, hearing that froze, just when he thought he was holding the leash, a sudden collar was fastened around his neck. Just when he thought he won, he was stabbed from behind. He had to accept this task, there were no questions about it. He had to, but the voice never stated when he had to do it. But Kael knew the sooner the better, he put the knife down on the counter and sighed deeply. He wanted to ask the voice more questions, but it was gone. Which frustrated Kael, the voice came and went however it liked, he slammed his injured hand on the counter which made some blood spurt out from the patched wound. He was exhausted, he wanted to go to his room and lay down and just pass out and sleep. But then he remembered that Katrine was sleeping in his bed, not wanting to wake her up, so he decided to sleep on the couch. It wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, but it was the only one he had at hand, since he didn't want to sleep in his dad's bed out of pure respect towards him. As he set up the couch to a makeshift bed, he laid down. His right hand was still hurting extremely, but his exhaustion was the first priority. He quickly adjusted his bandages and finally closed his eyes ready to sleep, suddenly he heard some strange noise. It was something similar to footsteps. Was it Katrine going to check up on him? He thought he should get up and see... But then... He realised he couldn't move, none of his muscles responded, he couldn't scream, move, or even lift a finger. He could only watch and listen as the footsteps got louder and louder, as he was sure the person walking was next to him. He felt his head be forcefully turned... It was the same warrior he saw in the mirror today, the same bloodied warrior. Missing left eye, dark hair, crimson red right eye, and covered in blood. He had a long black jacket, what seemed like a black leather chest plate and black cargo pants along with military standard boots along with a black mask covering his lower face, all were covered in blood. And he had something on his hip...

  Those were... "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" along with two revolvers hanging low, the warrior was the wielder of those swords, which scared Kael even more. He was so terrified he wanted to scream and run, but he couldn't do anything but watch as the warrior leaned down to him. He was staring into the warrior's crimson eye, he couldn't feel his breath or hear his heartbeat, yet he seemed so alive. Suddenly the warrior said to Kael in a low and raspy voice, evident after hundreds of battles.

  -"You and I aren't that different..."

  Those three words struck Kael like a train, he wanted to run away but none of his muscles responded to him, he wanted to scream but his mouth didn't open. Suddenly the warrior straightened up and reached for his swords, when he unsheathed them he raised them high and struck them down onto Kael. That's when Kael woke up, cold sweat all over his body.