Insanity Chapter Three

Insanity

Chapter Three

~How We All Met: Part Four~

Before Day One

***

Alister Strider

            Alister sat in his room, waiting for the counselors to open the doors. His long red hair fell well past his waist, having not been cut since he got to the Ward, an institution for troubled cops.  During his time with the police force, he’d emptied his entire gun on a murder suspect; so what? He was a little trigger happy, but that didn’t mean they had to lock him up in a mental health ward.

            He looked around his white room, where the walls were padded and the only piece of furniture was his bed. A knock came on the door, and finally, the counselors opened the doors. Alister smiled, walking happily out of the room.

            “ ‘Ello, Gary! Hiya, Leo, what are you two going to do today? ‘Ey, Neal, are Sam an’ Vinni continuing that game of checkers? It’s goin’ on day three, right?” Alister called as he passed the rows of rooms on the way to the recreation center.

            His voice carried a thick Australian accent; not surprising, as he lived there all his life. It was there that he was convicted as being insane. He was moved to an island after repeatedly trying to kill himself. He didn’t mind it so much; he was an Other, and born that way.

            He sat on a couch that overlooked the recreation center, preferring to watch rather than join in on all the fun. But everyone knew him, and would sometimes come over to talk to him. He liked to talk.

            Alister was watching the checkers game when one of the counselors stopped to talk to him. 

            “Hello, Alister,” said she, “I have some good news.” 

            “Unless you’re about to say ‘at I can get out o’ here or ‘at I’ve earned an extra Jello cup, then I highly doubt it’s good news,” he said, a smile on his face.

            The counselor smiled. “Sorry, but no. You’re Uncle Ernie is here for a visit.”

            “Uncle Ernie?” Alister paused, perplexed. Then he smiled.

            He’d received a letter a few weeks ago,the first one in years. It’d had only two words on it: Uncle Ernie.

            His smile widened. “Oh, yeah, Uncle Ernie. Glad he could pay me a visit.”

            The counselor nodded. “I’ll let him in.”

            Alister waited patiently, feeling like his old self again; staking out a building or interrogating a suspect. He smiled at the memories.

            Soon, the counselor reappeared, a tall man behind him. His black coat trailed behind him like a shadow. Alister smiled as the stranger pulled up a chair in front of him, sitting down and waiting for the counselor to leave. The room grew quiet, everyone wanting to see what was happening.

            “It’s okay, folks. Just my Uncle Ernie,” Alister looked at his ward mates. “You lot remember my Uncle Ernie, right?” 

            They understood, turning and going back to what they were doing. Alister looked at his guest, taking in his appearance--his hair, his height, build, features; everything he used to take notice of as a police officer. He then made note of his posture; not welcoming, but not hostile, either. It was rather a posture one would have when they had an opportunity for you.

            Alister smiled. “You don’t look like an Ernie. Shall we start with your real name?”

            “Fang,” the visitor said, getting to business quickly. “I don’t have all the time in the world, so let’s get started. I’m with the Tower and I need a team.”

            “All well and good, but,” Alister waved his hand around, “If you ‘aven’t noticed, dollface, I’m stuck in a psych ward.”

            “Yes, I have noticed. I’m here to break you out,” Fang stated, leaning back in his chair. “That is, if you accept my offer.”

            Alister grinned. “Well, then, do I ‘ave a choice? Don’t get me wrong, the guys ‘ere are great…but I’d give ‘em up in a minute to get outside.”

            “You remind me of someone,” Fang mused.

            “The Undertaker? I get tha’ a lot. Yeah, he’s m’ Uncle, twice removed on m’ mother’s side. He visits every now an’ again,” Alister replied. He seemed to be enjoying this. “So ‘ow do you plan to get me out of ‘ere?”

            Fang reached into his pocket, pulling out a single playing card; an ace of diamonds. Alister smiled. The card was slightly thicker than it should’ve been.

            “I like diamonds; they look like speedin’ bullets,” he muttered, taking the card.

            “Is everyone in your family insane?” Fang asked, preparing to leave.

            “Mostly.”

            Fang sighed. “Get to the door in exactly three hours, twenty-seven minutes, and fifty-nine seconds,” he said, gesturing to the only door connecting the recreation center with the lobby. “We’ll be expecting you at eighteen hundred hours.”

            With that, he left Alister still sitting on the couch. 

            For most of the next few hours, Alister fiddled with his key to escape. At the appropriated time, he stood and walked to the door. Conveniently, one of the counselors had just left the room, and the door was just about to close. He charged for it, plowing through the counselors’ offices. He wove in and out of their grasp as they tried to detain him, making it to the door at the end of the hall.

            The security guards were on him the instant he burst into the lobby. But, being an ex-cop, the security guards weren’t a big problem. He floored two or three, then ran for the door, the playing card in hand. He kissed the ace of diamonds, a sign of good luck, and dropped it behind him, running out of the building as the room filled with smoke.

            Fang and the others stood by a black convertible, of which Alister jumped into the back seat. Shadow stared, annoyed.

            “You sure this is a good idea, Fang? I’m not doubting you or anything, it’s just that we broke him out of a psych ward,” Shadow stated.

            “He’s just as sane as you are,” Fang replied as he steered the car out of the lot.

            Alister laughed, much like his uncle, as the car drove through the city. The feel of the wind was like nothing he’d felt in a while.

            “Anyone ‘ave a knife?” he asked after a while.

            Raven looked over the front seat, staring at Shadow, who glared at Alister with careful eyes. 

            “Why do you need one?” he questioned suspiciously.

            “You’ll see,” Alister laughed giddily.

            Shadow pulled a knife from his sleeve, handing it to Alister. He clutched another dagger in his other hand, ready for action if Alister tried anything he didn’t like. 

            Alister took the dagger, smiling. “I never really like long ‘air…I think it’s ‘bout time I forgot about the ward.”

            He pulled his long hair back, shifting the knife in hand and swiping it across his red locks. The knife was sharp enough that it cut clean through. Alister laughed hysterically as the red strands of his hair scattered over the road behind them.

***

Pawn Shop

            “Up next is Arisa,” the Undertaker said. “Arisa Bolverich.”

            Fang raised a fine eyebrow. “That’s a mouthful. Is she Russian?” 

            “By birth, but she was raised in the United States,” Undertaker read from the file. “When her parents died in a house fire, the Tower brought her over here and placed her in an orphanage for Others.”

            “How old is she?” Fang inquired.

            “Twelve,” the Undertaker said casually.

            “Twelve?” Fang looked incredulously at the Undertaker. “What is a twelve-year-old doing, applying for a job at the Tower?”

            The Undertaker shrugged. “She came in one day, saying that she wanted to apply so that, when she was old enough, she could get out of the orphanage right away. I let her, but didn’t send in the application. I haven’t even filled in her age yet. I was thinking about sending it in on her seventeenth birthday; that’s the earliest you can apply. Then, at eighteen, you get either accepted or denied.”

            Fang looked at the file skeptically. She seemed to have potential…maybe she was worth investing in.

            “We’ll see,” he said, flipping through her file.

***

Arisa Bolverich

            The children of the orphanage were lined up in the hallway, ready to greet the visitor that had stopped by. A little girl dug through her pocket and pulled out a lighter, flicking it open and breathing steadily in and out. The head of the orphanage was introducing a man to the children, but he looked disinterested for the most part. 

            Arisa had long white hair and golden eyes, and looked like a smaller version of the visiting man. She shifted uncomfortably in her pink dress. She hated dresses, but since it was the only thing the orphanage bought the girls, she had to improvise by borrowing one of the boys’ shorts. She tugged and pulled at the dress, wishing that it were longer.

            Arisa, not paying attention, almost didn’t notice when the headmistress ripped the lighter out of her hands.

            “You know what the rules say, Arisa! You can’t have that in here!” the woman scolded loudly. “Don’t you know what happened to your parents? They died in a fire! Is that why you like it so much? Are you trying to figure out how fire works?”

            The headmistress paused, calming down and turning to the guest. “This is Arisa Bolverich. She’s quite the trouble maker.”

            To this, Arisa rolled her eyes.

            “Are you a trouble maker?” Fang asked the girl.

            Arisa looked up at him. He was, of course, much taller than she, and it hurt her neck a little to crane her head that high. She was silent.

            “She’s weird,” one of the kids called. “She has no powers.”

            “Is this true?” asked Fang.

            Again, she said nothing.

            “If you’ll step this way, sir,” the headmistress said, but Fang didn’t move, still looking at Arisa. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Slowly, and ignoring the rabid protests of the woman, he pulled one out and held it out to the girl, the white end towards her.

            “Seems I forgot my lighter,” he said softly. “Would you mind?” 

            Arisa looked at the cigarette, then to the woman, who had finally shut up and was waiting for the right moment to step in. Waiting for Arisa to fail. 

            But that wasn’t going to happen today.

            Arisa lifted up her fist, flicking up her thumb to create a small flame that danced at the tip of her finger. Everyone in the hallway gasped in shock. She lit the cigarette, then shook out her hand, putting out the flame.

            Fang looked at the lit cigarette. “Pity I don’t smoke,” he said, crushing the burning death stick in his hand and turning to the headmistress. “Looks like she has powers to me.”

            “But-but-h-how?” the woman stuttered. “She wasn’t born with powers! Her parents were both normal humans!” 

            “Well, she apparently had it in her genes somehow, but it wasn’t a major part of her DNA. She died in the fire, and it activated. Why else would the Tower send her here?” Fang explained in a clipped, matter-of-face tone. “Isn’t that right, Arisa?”

            “Yes,” she confirmed.

            “Let’s go,” Fang said, walking towards the entrance of the building.

            Arisa followed obediently.

            “You can’t just take her!” the woman shouted.

            “She is now under the employment of the Tower. If you have a problem with that, you can complain to them,” Fang replied, not even turning as he dismissed her.

            He turned the corner and exited the building, Arisa close behind. She squinted as she walked outside, and saw a black convertible parked, three people inside. A man in black sat in the front passenger seat, his red eyes following her. In the back was a girl in a purple cloak and a man with fiery red hair.

            “Get in,” Fang called as he walked to the driver’s side.

            “Well ‘ello, there,” the red-haired man offered his hand, pulling Arisa over the car door and into the middle seat. As the car started, Arisa could see a crowd of people leaning out of the windows of the orphanage, including the bossy headmistress. Arisa stuck her tongue out at all of them. It’d been her dream to get out of that place. She situated herself properly between the boy and girl as the car sped away.

            “Can I get some new clothes?” she asked Fang, as he was obviously the one in charge.

                        “I agree,” Alister said. “Those clothes you ‘ave on now wouldn’t scare the fleas off an ol’ dog.”

            “What is it with you and your horrible sayings?” Shadow turned in his seat to ask, looking to Raven for an agreement.

            “No comment,” she said quietly.