Something Strange

A week had gone by and right after they thought that the whole Others fiasco had ended, Melisa got killed. As much as Devon loathed the girl and JR loved the girl, Ed merely... knew her.

            He took a sip of his newly brewed coffee as he stared out the kitchen window at the driveway where Aaliyah was sure to park after work that night. He had had a much easier start to his days recently -- not having to worry about much until now. Though, even as he had a week of peace for a change, he felt wrong somehow. As if something wasn't right. And as if that weren't weird enough already, the pains in his arm seemed to be going away.

            During the Others ordeal a few weeks ago, his arm used to hurt like hell on a regular basis. Then it subdued, only being a now-and-then thing. And now, as he stood in the kitchen a day after Melisa had been killed, he knew that he would probably not be needing to worry about his pain at all. But the same time he didn't know that. He felt strange.

            Suddenly losing interest in is coffee, he set it down onto the island counter and headed upstairs, where he spent a while cleaning, restringing and calibrating his brand new composite bow that Ian had managed to get from some higher-up-science types he knew. In a way he felt thankful, but at the same time, he also felt a slight tinge of effort now had to be put into it as the bow now required calibration not only in the weight and balance, but also in the brand new targeting and steam-release systems. He soon grew to love it anyway.

 

JR got home right before Aaliyah arrived, which he simply took a bit solemn. She did not even have enough time to ask him how his day had been before he vanished into the house and up the stairs.

            "He's really taking this hard," Ed said as he walked over to her and embraced her. "Don't take it too personally."

            "I won't. If I were to find out that I lost you, I'd die."

            Ed smiled and escorted her inside, where he had just started dinner. He had been busy grilling some steaks. Aaliyah washed her hands and joined him in preparing the dinner by starting with the lettuce. Dinner time was their time most of the week because as it happened, both of them loved cooking as well as being in and around the kitchen. In a way it became a little thing for the two of them to spend some time alone in the kitchen before joining the others upstairs, or in the dining and living room.

            "Food's almost ready!" Ed called as he took the steaks off the pan and put the garlic bread in. "How was your day?" he then asked and proceeded to kiss Aaliyah on her cheek while she was mixing the salad with some dressing and olive oil.

            "Quite alright actually. There's been some talk around the office that some mysterious guy has been leaving signs all over the city."

            "Signs?" Ed asked, crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.

            "Yeah. I didn't want to make anything of it, but Stan - some guy who works two floors down - mentioned that that had been the second time."

            As Aaliyah said that, Ian pulled into the garage which stopped their conversation and made and get back to finishing dinner.

            "Hey," Ian said as he walked in and placed his keys onto the counter, nearest the door. "Smells good."

            "Oven baked steak. You'll love it!" Aaliyah exclaimed and hugged Ian.

            "She was just telling me about some guy leaving marks all around town."

            "Not all around town," she said and shot a smile in Ed's direction before returning her gaze to Ian's. "Rumours are that this morning he struck for the second time. Deborah Pattison mentioned something about arrows or whatnot."

            "It's already on the news..." Ian said as he leaned against the door frame. "Yeah, I've been sent to a crime scene today that had three guys lose their heads to three arrows."

            "Arrows huh?" Ed said jokingly, "wonder if he also had a fancy, special recon bow."

            "More than," Ian said and then decided that he would tell Ed the whole story later. "Let me help with the dishes."

 

Dinner was mostly uneventful as JR had decided to eat in his room, and conversation between Ian, Ed and Aaliyah was mostly stuck on trivial things such as everyday work, and workplace gossip. Soon everyone had retired to their respective rooms, though Ian stayed on the deck upstairs.

            He sipped some of his water as he yawned and decided on getting up when Ed joined him outside. It had become usual practice for the two of them to talk on the deck at night. Neither one of them could really fall asleep as required, though Ed more so than Ian due to his apparently broken internal clock. But that was of course his own doing more than anything else.

            "The rumours true?" Ed asked and sipped water of his own while leaning over the railing and staring down at their little back yard.

            "Yeah. Three black crystallite arrows."

            "It couldn't have been Oracle, could it?"

            "That was my initial thoughts too, so I went to see him," Ian replied, then gave it enough time to sink in for Ed so he could see the reaction. After nothing happened he continued, "according to Oracle, he had lost his bow years ago. And the arrows was black, not red which already kind of ruled him out."

            Ed nodded then turned his head so he could face Ian. "Are you certain that his was the only Starbow though?"

            Ian gave it a long thought before shaking his head, indicating that he hadn't thought about that. "Surely he would have told me had there been more?"

            "I don't know, man. You know how big the old man is on keeping his word."

            "True..."

 

The next morning Ian found himself going to the ancient mansion again. He got out of his car and inspected the liveable areas to no avail. Just as he walked out the entrance, he noticed an extremely thin red arrow stuck in the frame, upon which grafted in binary, stood that he had gone to do something personal. Other than that there were no other clues as to his whereabouts, so Ian snapped the crystallite arrow in as little pieces as possible with his heels before walking out the door and leaving for work. Then his phone rang.

            "Hey, dude," Ian said as he pressed the answer button on his dashboard.

"Can't really talk, though."

            "Hey, yeah listen. We may not have gotten anything off Melisa's cell, but I noticed a really small engraving just this morning," Devon said over the phone.

            "I'll be right there," Ian said and ended the call. He turned a left instead of right as he changed course to go see Devon at Project Eight.

 

The building was still a mess due to what had transpired a week before, though most of the rubble had been removed already. The place still needed retiling and repainting.

            "Hey dude," Devon said as he came out to greet Ian. "I can't make out much of anything of note, except a few letters," he continued and handed Ian the piece of Melisa's cellphone's battery door.

            "Others... Afraid...?" Ian read then looked Dev.

            "I have no idea either. Could be a warning she tried to leave us before the raid. Could also be misinterpreted as absolutely nothing. I mean, look at that 'iad'..." Devon was not one to dabble in could-haves, which Ian found strange.

            "You alright dude?"

            "Yeah, I'm fine. Hey so I gotta get to work here, I'll see you tomorrow?"

            "Of course," Ian said, shook his hand, and then drove off again.

 

Ed arrived at Project Eight no more than half an hour later. He got out and headed inside where Devon was busy telling two of the remodelers what to do with a random fallen pillar who had mainly stayed intact.

            "Hey man, I got your voice mail. What'd you need to talk to me about?"

            "I got some more of your old bow for you," Devon said as he walked over to his office, Ed trailing close behind. As soon as both of them were in his office, Dev closed the door behind him and almost slapped Ed over the head before he collected himself and walked back to his desk.

            "What's the matter, man?" Ed asked, confused.

            "Please tell me the reason the tips of your bow is crystallised have nothing to do with those rumours."

            "What?" Ed asked and inspected the piece of broken bow that lay on Dev's desk. "This couldn't be mine," he then said, but almost immediately noticed the little notches he had grafted himself into the frame.

            Devon sighed and sat down. "You positive you don't know how that had happened?"

            "Positive," Ed answered as he marveled at the composite-crystal fusion on the tips. "Someone else must have had their hands on this."

            "Already sent Hugo a composite copy. No fingerprints or DNA could be pulled. Anyway, alright. Sorry, man."

            "I understand that it's hard to see someone fall before you," Ed said, "especially after you vowed never to be part of this kind of shit again. Melisa was a one-time exception, and even that did not go too well, and I feel for you, man."

            Devon sighed then looked up and shrugged. "Thanks for coming to see me."

            "Anytime," Ed replied and headed for the door, but not before he was topped by Devon pressing his hand on his shoulder.

            "And thanks for the pep talk," he said and laughed a bit. "Get out of here, you sunova'"

 

After Ed had left, Devon opened his drawer and started unloading his magnum. He counted the bullets, then threw them into his drawer and closed it. "Not again," he said, stood up and locked the drawer before he threw the key out the window and headed back to the remodelers.