Prologue

It was a cold, snowy night somewhere where the land met the sea. Thick gray clouds blocked out the starry sky and the wind brought white snow that powdered the land. White-topped trees formed a forest that stretched to a mountain on one side and the sea on the other. After midnight the temperature took a dramatic dive and the wind suddenly got angry. Snow fell harsher on the trees. They, too felt the anger in the wind as they swayed back and forth.

It was the kind of night that no sane person would be caught in, alive or dead. However, there were two souls that had more pressing matters to be concerned with. The first of the two souls was a woman; a truly wicked person who had scorched the hearts of many. After a life time of cruelty and selfishness, the spirit of karma had finally caught up with her.

Karma came in the form the second soul. He was a man that she had wronged. A strong, devoted gentleman with solid features and an unbreakable will was the kind of man that attracted her.

One day she appeared in their mountain village, starving and near death. The man and his family took her in. She was kind, gentle, sensitive, and caring. She had been adopted and was one of them. But after a while, accidents began to occur, the children began getting hurt, livestock slaughtered, a fire was even started near their home. As family members turned against each other, the woman turned cold and lecherous. She waited until she thought the man was weak with worry, then tried to seduce him. Having misjudged him, he became furious and realized that it was she who tried to destroy his family.

She fled into the night and the man gave chase. Sword in hand, he would make her pay for what she did. No matter how quickly she trudged through the snow, she could not get away from him. The snow began to fall harder and the wind began to aimlessly cut all who would venture into the cold. The woman stumbled through the icy brush and fell down a steep slope and burning was the fresh cut on her arm from the fall. She bled, but continued to flee.

This was not the first time that she had to flee. She had deceived many, many people before this family, and after each betrayal, she fled and took a new name. With a guilt list consisting of lying, stealing, murder, prostitution, and arson, she knew she couldn't keep going. On this ice cold night, she knew that her long, sad life was about to come to an end.

The woman came to a frozen lake. It looked so beautiful. Like a glass dance floor with the swaying trees as spectators. She was tired. Tired of running, tired of lying, just damn tired. She fell to her knees and steadied her breath. He would be upon her any moment and then it would finally be over. She wondered what sort of Hell she would endure for her life of atrocities. It was then that she remembered a prayer that she had overhead in her travels. It was called the Hymn of the Hollow. She had recited it to herself several times and knew it perfectly.

She knelt down on her knees and brushed her long, tangled hair out of her face and looked straight ahead. When she spoke, she did so with something similar to a Russian accent. Her breath was shaky and she shivered intensely from the cold. She steadied herself.

 

“What once was pure has been destroyed

Where light once was, there is now a void

 

The light is broken by way of despair

The dream of life, now a nightmare

 

Though danger thrives and sin is real

The spirit is sick and I seek to heal

 

So I'll travel beyond, and I'll face my fears

I promise to fight through the blood and the tears

 

I pray to the Hollow, Please hear my voice

I will face my Hell, for it is my choice

 

Hear me, Eve, for I swear I'll succeed

This single chance is all I shall need”

 

As she spoke the words, her life flashed before her eyes. She had never truly done anything good and she did not feel like this was the time to ask for forgiveness. But this prayer was said to be for people like her. People who needed a second chance at life. If this worked, then she might have had a chance at redemption. If not, she had nothing left to lose.

In a deafening instant, the wind stopped. For a few silent moments, the snow fell and to her it looked so beautiful and peaceful. It made her sick to her stomach. She hated all things beautiful. She heard his footsteps, approaching behind her. They were slow, steady, and cautious. She kept her eyes forward and had no intention of running away again. She made this clear to him. She leaned forward, exposing the back of her neck, in a bowing position. The man approached from the side and looked down upon her. He raised his blade above his head, took aim, then claimed her life with a single fateful slash. Then, darkness.

 

It was the kind of darkness that had no up, no down, no anything. In this darkness, the wicked woman's soul poured out. It manifested as a thick red vapor that expanded in all directions of the void. It was a ghostly stream, representative of every foul action that she had ever committed. Her soul wandered aimlessly through the void. As it did, a tiny speck of light materialized. It wasn't very bright, but it stood out against the red soul. It flickered as if it had a life and it too wandered the darkness.

A pale, glowing hand reached up into the darkness, spreading light in all directions. Decorated in silver bracelets and a marvelous sapphire ring, the hand took up the light and pulled it into the abyss. When deeper depths were reached, other small lights began to appear. One by one they spotted the darkness; ten, one hundred, ten thousand, and eventually into the hundreds of millions. Stars. They were stars. The light in the hand was a star as well.

The glowing hand was attached to the arm of a woman. A multicolored, jewelery-decorated tail identified her as a mermaid. She sat at the edge of a pool of stars, her tail dangling among the lights. Long, wavy, dark brown hair draped over her pale shoulders. Her blue eyes were supernatural and wise. Her vibrant red lips curved into a warm smile as she gazed upon the light that she had retrieved. She held out her palm and tossed the light to the other side of the pool. It hovered for a moment, then began to take shape. As it did, the being reached up and took a hold of the red vapor.

“I wonder what you'll become,” she said, expressionlessly before sending the vapor away. She then looked at the light in her other hands.

The light expanded and grew, forming arms and a pair of legs. Soon a figure made of pure light hover before the cosmic mermaid.

“Awaken, child,” she whispered. Her voice was soft and melodic, creating waves of energy with her breath. “Awaken. It is time.”

The figure became more detailed; a young girl, about ten years old. Her black hair fell just below her shoulders and her hazel eyes were sleepy. She looked up at the goddess, then at the galaxy far below her. Her body was still engulfed in light. The goddess raised her hand and the young girl grew and grew, the stars around her shrinking to the size of drops of water. She was soon able to sit in the galaxy, just as the mermaid did. It was warm and very comforting.

“What has happened?” the young girl asked. She spoke with the same accent that she did in life.

“Who you once were has perished.” The goddess still smiled. “You are the single pure piece of a wicked person. You are the part of her that only ever wanted to be loved. Before she died, she prayed for her soul. As I said, you are what remains.”

The girl was obviously confused. She looked down at her glowing feet, then to the mermaid's tail.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“The real question is 'who are you''? Do you remember what your name was?”

“I-,” she tried to think. “I- she never kept one name for very long. She forgot her birth name a long time ago. She has been dozens of different people, each one worse than the last.”

The girl shivered at the thought of her former life's actions. But at the same time, she felt a deep, dark, empty sadness behind it all.

“I ask again,” the mermaid said, “who are you?”

She thought for a moment, then the girl said, “She never kept a name for herself for very long, but she did always want a daughter. She had a name chosen for a long time.”

The mermaid tilted her head to one side in interest. “Pray tell.”

“Estelle. She always wanted a daughter named Estelle. So I guess you can call me that.”

“Does that mean that she is your-”

“No,” she knew she shouldn't have cut her off, but she had to say this now. “I could never imagine calling someone like her my mother.”

“I am pleased to meet you, Estelle. I am known by many names, but you can call me Baba. I am a deity of Eve's Hollow and a bridge between realms.”

Although Baba smiled, the girl still looked sad. Estelle closed her eyes and in the darkness of her mind, she could see herself performing the actions of her former self. She could see them as if she were there and it hurt her to remember.

“So vivid,” Estelle said, her breathing quickening. “These memories are so vivid in my head. So much pain. So much fear. What did I do?!”

“Calm yourself,” Baba said. “You are remembering your past life. Usually when one passes to a new life, they are left with no memories of the old. Because of unique circumstances, you must live with them. I am sorry for this.”

“Then who am I? Am I Estelle? Am I this evil woman?”

“Honestly, I think you are both. You are a separate part of her where you used to reside inside of her. Now that she is dead, you are able to become your own person. As I said before, you're the only pure piece of her left. But as for who you really are, that is ultimately up to you.”

“I remember it all. All of her life. ” There was a few moments of silence. “What will happen to her?”

Baba looked away and off into the depths of intergalactic space. This was the first time that she did not smile. “I can't say, honestly. What becomes of her depends entirely on her. However, she invoked a prayer of redemption for a second chance and you're getting it.”

“Second chance?” Estelle asked.

Baba nodded. “She spoke the Hymn of the Hollow during her final moments that, for normal bad people, can grant a second chance at life. But in order to do this, the person must be able and willing to change their ways. I looked into her soul and saw that her wicked path was long, twisted, and consistent. This is why she won't be getting the second chance.”

“What must I do then? For this second chance?”

“Please know that nothing is free and something like this can come at a heavy cost. You must venture through Eve's Hollow. There, you must slay the demons of your former self while at the same time facing your deepest and darkest fears. I know that those fears are real and so do you. In Eve's Hollow, they become even more real.”

Although separate from her former self, Estelle found that she shared many of her former life's fears, including: rejection, discrimination, and perpetual loneliness.

“What happens then?”

“In the process of slaying your own inner demons, you must collect five keys,” Baba told her. “Individually, they will show you glimpses into other realms. Together, they form a way out of Eve's Hollow.”

“What is this place like? Eve's Hollow.”

“Frightening,” the goddess said sternly. “Those who have traveled there for their trials and failed have become part of a collection of deranged, Punished souls that can never escape the city. If you follow the path of darkness, like you-know-who, you too would become a part of the Punished. Through your trials, you can earn a chance at freedom. This place will test you spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is very easy to fall into despair and so, you must never allow yourself to sink to those depths.”

The young girl took a few moments to think. In her mind, she recalled memories. More than three decades of abuse, torture, pain, and suffering. If there was a Hell, Eve's Hollow couldn't be worse than the life that she lived.

“Am I to face this alone?” Estelle asked.

“Of course not,” Baba said. “I'm glad you asked that. Others who have traveled to Eve's Hollow in the past for this sort of thing have always been offered a guide. You are no different, Estelle.”

“A guide?”

“Indeed. Sending you there alone would be a cruel and atrocious act. Someone who knows the Hollow, knows its horrors and tricks, can help you survive. Your guide is a man that I once knew.”

“I can't imagine anyone would want to be saddled with me.”

“Estelle,” Baba said, gazing into the girl's eyes. “You should learn the lesson of self confidence as soon as possible. The two of you have similar spirits. Both on the light side and the dark.”

“What does it matter that our spirits are similar?”

“Because no one's spirit is like his.”

“How am I special?”

“I don't know. That's something that you have to find out. I only know that you are. Right now you have the memory of a full life, but you are still a child, especially compared to me. I don't have to give you this opportunity, but I didn't want you to float in the void until the end of time. I think that you deserve a chance at life. Your circumstances worked out in your favor and if I were you, I'd start counting my blessings.”

Baba's words were true and they stung. Estelle felt guilty.

“Take my word for it,” Baba continued. “It would be a long, difficult struggle, but the pay off would be more than worth it. Trust me. You want this man on your side.”

“Who is he?” Estelle asked.

“He is known in Eve's Hollow as the Supernova Samurai. He is a powerful warrior that wields lightning. His roar is loud like thunder. His skill with his sword is deadly and precise. Sometimes he can be... difficult. He knows that he is to be a guardian, but not yet to whom.”

Baba held her hand out. In it, materialized a crystal snowflake on a silver chain. In the center of the snowflake was an oval sapphire set in silver. The charm lifted from Baba's hand and went to Estelle. She took it and held it up by its chain. The snowflake fit in her small hand. Over the light of the stars below them, it sparkled magnificently. It was both unnatural and very stunning.

“Thank you,” Estelle said. “Thank you for this chance... and I'm sorry if I offended you.”

Baba shook her head and smiled.

“When you meet Supernova for the first time, it is imperative that you show him this charm,” Baba said, seriously. “When he sees it, he will know that he is your Guardian and that you are you.”

“Who else would I be?” Estelle questioned.

“You'll find out soon enough. Now, it is time for you to go. Go to Eve's Hollow and seek out the Supernova Samurai. With him, best your trials and obtain the five keys. It is important for you to know that my words are not commandments, only recommendations. Once you leave here, you will be free to make your own choices in Eve's Hollow. Are you ready?”

Estelle shook her head. “But I don't have a choice at this point, do I?”

Baba gave her a smile. “Just remember that no matter how low you get, you can always fly infinitely higher. You are not bound by your past. Everything moves forward or it dies.”

Following her cryptic words, Baba raised her hand and touched Estelle on her forehead. A warm, blinding light flooded their galaxy and in an instant, Estelle was thrown into a blurry vision. She saw herself floating above a massive city. There were five distinct towers among the buildings. Even higher than they was a star that shone so brightly that Estelle almost couldn't look at it. There were faces, hundreds of thousands gathered to watch this star. Just as quickly as the vision began, it ended. Estelle's vision went black.

 

When Estelle had awoken, she felt as if she had been buried alive. She gasped for breath. She was no longer warm and comfortable. The heat that once surrounded her body was replaced by a gripping cold. She was lying on her back in what she perceived to be total darkness. The ground was hard and her body felt numb. She closed her eyes, although she wasn't sure for how long. When she opened them again, she saw a dim light above her.

Estelle slowly sat up, feeling a bit nauseous. She could breath easier and she was still cold, though interestingly she was not bothered by it. She was sitting on a wooden park bench that was painted black and green. She put her feet on the ground and tried to stand up. She fell back almost instantly but caught herself. She sat and took in her surroundings.

The first thing that she noticed was that she was dressed. She wore a dark blue jumper dress with a black, long sleeved shirt underneath it. She also wore black leggings and black knee high boots that were slightly too large for her.

The bench that she was sitting on lay just off of a stone path that snaked through a thick forest of dead trees. The light was coming from a lone lamp post that stood next to he bench. The sky was foggy and red. She wondered if this was a fiery sunset. It didn't appear to be real. This red was a very bloody red. The forest was dark, creating a suffocating thicket of black with long, twisted branches reaching up toward the red, sky.

She remembered what happened. Dying. Being alone. The mermaid. She felt more real at this moment than she had at any other recent point in time. She wondered if the memories were all dreams. She felt as if she had been asleep for a very long time and felt alive. If there was any uncertainty about the mermaid's reality, then it was swiftly destroyed when Estelle found the snowflake in the pocket of her dress. She pulled it out and examined it under the light. It sparkled brilliantly and still glowed a bit. The blue crystal in the center was so beautiful, even in the gloom.

After she felt a little more stable, Estelle rose to her feet, placed the snowflake in her pocket, and began to walk down the path. It was eerily quiet and as she moved away from the bench, it got darker. She could still make out the path, but the trees around her were so thick that she could barely make out their trunks. She kept her eyes forward and walked down the winding path. The Supernova Samurai. That's who she was supposed to find. He was supposed to help her. Where would she start though?

The path widened and she passed a few more benches. The trees were now fewer in number and she could actually see between them now. Estelle came to a large, iron gate. She opened it and it wailed with rusty discontent. She walked forward and gazed upon a stone fountain with a sculpture of a man and a woman pushing against each other. The water had long since dried up. Up close she noticed that both figures were smiling. She was quite drawn to this piece and she didn't know why.

The fountain sat in the middle of a small courtyard. A road went through this courtyard, in one side and out of the other. A tall brick wall stood opposite Estelle. She moved to the road to see if she could get a better look at where she was. She walked passed some abandoned cars. They looked as if they had been there for a very long time. As she passed a large white van, the road came to the top of a hill. She walked over to the guard rail and her heart sank in her little chest.

Far across a great chasm lay a massive black city. It was tall, wide, and deep. She felt an empty sickness inside when she looked at it. It was real. Truly and honestly. Eve's Hollow. Seeing it with her own eyes solidified reality even further. The red sky stretched on forever and in all directions, making Estelle fell very small. There stood five towers that rose high above all of the other buildings in the city, just as she had seen in her vision. She recited what Baba had told her in her head; find the Supernova Samurai. She knew what to do, she just didn't know how to go about doing it. Estelle remembered many things from her past life, one lesson in particular was to push her feelings out and face the world cold. No fear, no emotion, no weakness. It was the last feeling that she remembered before dying. Estelle took a deep breath, straightened her dress and walked down the road that lead to Eve's Hollow.

Chapter I - A City Like Hell

 The walk around the chasm and into the great city was far and provided Estelle with much time to think and reflect on the past of her former self. She had reached the end of the road and entered the outskirts of Eve's Hollow. Up close, the skyscrapers were even more massive. Many of them were broken and crumbling with windows broken out and doors barricaded. The streets were lined with abandoned cars as well as countless other belongings that were once the possessions of the people of this place. So far, she hadn't seen any other people or the “Punished souls” that Baba had warned her about. She trekked on, moving into the shadows of this concrete jungle.

As she advanced, she came upon a series of fire engines that blocked an intersection. If she wanted to continue, she would need to get past it. For a place so large, the silence was nerve-racking. She took a deep breath, then grasped the ladder of one of the fire engines. She climbed to the top of the vehicle and crawled forward to see what was on the other side. Estelle stood to her feet and what she saw in front of her made her sick.

The wall of fire engines hid the scene of a terrible massacre. The corpses were many in number and not a single one was identifiable. Estelle saw bodies torn to pieces, arms and legs scattered across the intersection. Cars were flipped over with bodies hanging out of some of them. The blood was everywhere, dark from age, but plentiful in quantity. These people were slaughtered, but by what?

She slowly and carefully made her way down the other side. Estelle carefully stepped through the mess of dead people, avoiding scraps of flesh and pieces of bones. She was very shaky now. She moved forward and stepped on something hard. She quickly stepped back and looked down at a dismembered hand grasping a revolver. Looking at it, then looking at the carnage around her made her think that the gun would be of no use to her. It didn't help this poor soul. However, she felt it was better to have it and not need it as opposed to needing it and not having it.

Hesitantly and cautiously, Estelle knelt down and picked up the hand. It was cold, rigid, and clammy. She grabbed at the fingers and forced them to unbend with a sickening crack. She pulled the gun away and tossed the hand aside, shuddering. She held in her hand a Smith and Wesson model number 13 handgun. She opened the cylinder and checked the chamber. She had four shots. She knew that she'd have to make them count. As she looked down at the gun in her hand, she experienced a flashback of her past life.

In this particular twisted memory, she held a gun very similar to the one that she had just found. The difference was that in the memory she had the weapon trained on a young couple, terrified, begging, and innocent. Estelle shook her head and forced herself to focus.

“What was wrong with you?” she whispered to herself.

Just then she heard voices. Instinct took over and she hid herself behind a car. She peeked over it and saw two figures entering the intersection. They appeared to be men. At first relief flooded her body. These were the first living people that she had seen in this awful place. Her initial intention was to approach them, but she hesitated as they approached. They were dressed in dark green military combat uniforms. They carried guns and one of them seemed to be ill tempered. They stopped walking only fifteen or so feet from where she was.

“What a mess,” the first man said. He had light brown skin and dreadlocks that feel just to his shoulders. He was thin but, through his clothing seemed muscular.

“A mess?!” the second man shouted with a laugh from his chest, “this was a goddamn slaughter! Never put it past the boss to use people to get what he wants.”

The second man was slightly shorter than the first. He carried a shotgun. He sported a short Mohawk and had light skin. Estelle noticed that the first man seemed far less happy about whatever it was that they were doing.

“So, what are we doing here, Mike?” the first man asked, inspecting one of the bodies.

“We're gathering intel for the report on the boss's machine,” Mike said kneeling next to a body as well. “Come here, Harrison.”

The first man, named Harrison moved over to the body that Mike was inspecting. They spoke a little quieter so Estelle had to listen harder to hear what they were talking about. Mike picked up the arm of the body and showed it to Harrison. He showed him thin, dark markings on the skin.

“This machine,” Mike started, “is a real game changer. Nothing like it has ever been seen in Eve's Hollow. It was made to kill either mass amounts of people or one really big son of a bitch. These lines are in the arms are from the veins in the body exploding. As a result, the burn marks follow the path of the veins and show on the outside of the skin. It works on people and the Punished.”

“I don't get it,” Harrison said, “why were there people here? Why didn't he just test it on the Punished?”

Mike stood up. Harrison followed. “He wanted to know if it killed them both and materials for the machine are difficult to find so he knew he had to test it in one shot. So he rounded up some survivors to lure the Punished, then trapped 'em all in here with those engines. Then, while the Punished were feeding on the helpless victims, he used his machine. Tore everyone here apart. The lucky ones ended up like this fella.” Mike gave a kick to the corpse that they were examining.

“I wouldn't want to be on his bad side,” he added with another laugh.

Harrison said nothing. He seemed to be in deep contemplation. Estelle did not have a very good impression of Mike, but she felt that Harrison was a more compassionate person. The girl watched intently. Estelle was still getting used to being in her physical form. According to her memories, she had not been a child in several decades. To make matters worse, the only human interaction she could recall were undesirable memories from that life. She didn't know what to do. She pondered for a moment. One side of the box said that she might be able to approach them and because of her appearance, they'd safeguard her. Another side was that these men could be dangerous and there's no telling what they'd do with or to her.

“What was that?” Mike said turning in Estelle's direction.

She caught her breath in her throat and ducked down behind the car. She looked around and found the source of the sound. A low gurgle-like moan was coming from the lone survivor of the massacre. Estelle crawled under the car as Mike approached the man. There was a great deal of his abdomen missing. He lie on the ground, clutching what was left of his innards.

“H-help...h-help...me,” he pleaded. “P...p-lease.”

Bang! The shotgun blast echoed off of the surrounding buildings. It scared the poor girl half to death. Estelle's heart jumped up in her throat and clutched her chest and tried to steady herself.

“Let's get outta here,” Mike said. “Blast will attract the Punished. We got what we came for.”

The two men wasted no time and swiftly left the intersection. Estelle waited until they were out of sight, then another minute just to be on the safe side. Then, she crawled out from under the car. She stood over the specimen that Mike and Harrison were inspecting. She saw the burned veins in the arms. It looked terrible. She imagined what it must feel like to have your blood boil, then catch fire. It must have been awful.

Estelle approached the man that Mike had slain. Of the many ways her past life had taken a life, a shotgun was not one of them. In the past she had never felt anything for the people that she wronged, but she felt a deep sadness for this man. That sadness washed over her as she saw pieces of the individual victims.

A screech then tore through the air. Estelle spun around in all directions, searching for the source of the noise, but it reverberated off of the buildings and made it difficult. She looked everywhere but didn't see anything. A terrible chill crawled up her spine like spiky, crawling fingers. She knew right then that she needed to leave. She chose the left side of the intersection from where she entered. There was an eighteen-wheeler blocking this part of the intersection with heavy stone blocks built up so the victims of the massacre couldn't crawl through. Estelle thought to climb atop the truck to get a better view and hopefully find her heading.

Afraid, she climbed to the top using a ladder that was fixed to the side. She crawled forward a bit, then stood to her feet. Her plan for feeling nothing and facing the world cold, blew up in her face as fear wrapped its cruel clutches around her throat. On the other side of the truck stood a crowd of the most ghoulish people Estelle had ever seen. Their skin was a sickening shade of gray which darkened near the shoulders and head. It was tight too, as if the skin had been stretched over their bones. Their eyes and mouths produced a ghastly orange glow. There must have been a hundred of them and they all looked irritable; slouching, breathing heavy, moaning and grunting. She felt as if they couldn't wait to attack something. Could these be the Punished that the goddess had warned her of?

They hadn't seemed to notice her and she knew she should slowly back down and get far away from the truck as possible. That's the funny thing about fear. It stops you even when your logic and reasoning are processing. Estelle could not move. These creatures inspired disgust and dread. She was mesmerized by their collective glow. She stared into the crowd and saw men, women, the disabled, and the elderly. They all had this sort of sway about them and they didn't seem to notice anything.

“LOOOOK!” one of them bellowed.

Estelle was shaken down to her very atoms. All of a sudden, a hundred heads shifted up at the same time. A hundred pairs of glowing eyes were fixed on Estelle.

“Protect Eve!” shouted one.

“Protect the Hollow!” screeched a woman somewhere in the crowd.

“KILL the girl!” the first one snarled.

“Kill the girl! Kill the girl! Kill the girl!”

The Punished broke out in a chant, which erupted into a frenzy. All at once, they charged the eighteen-wheeler, dark gray hands reaching for Estelle. Reaching to catch her, then eliminate her. The force of the hundred Punished rocked the trailer that Estelle was standing on. She lost her balance and was thrown from the top of the truck. Pain pulsed through her back. The fall knocked the wind out of her and she struggled to breath.

Through teary eyes, she could see the trailer still rocking. The screaming coming from behind it. They were coming for her. She rolled over and tried to get up. Her right shoulder blade seared and she could not move her right arm very well. Using her left hand, she rose to her feet and hurried off in the direction that Mike and Harrison departed. She had just reached an opening in the pile of cars on that side of the intersection when she heard the truck trailer topple over. It came with a loud crash, followed by the raging screams of the Punished. Estelle quickly passed through the opening and ran for her life.

Estelle didn't bother to take in her surroundings as she sprinted down the street. It was a towering hallway of darkness with a bloody red ceiling that stretched on forever. She dodged cars and what she took for corpses. For a moment she thought that she had lost her pursuers. They did catch up though and she was nearly out of energy. She heard their cries behind her and knew that they were fast approaching. She figured it would be better to stay off of the streets, so she cut down an alley.

Even when she was alive, she had never seen or heard of a city so massive. It seemed that she could run forever and that it would only be a matter of time before the Punished caught her. She pushed that terrible thought out of her head and slowed down to catch her breath. She hid behind a dumpster and held her gun tightly. Across from her a corpse sat against the wall, still and quiet. This was obviously going to be a lot harder than she thought. How was she going to find a single man in a city of this magnitude? She felt like she deserved this. Images of blood on her hands flashed in her head with cruel audio of her murder victims. She grounded herself.

She closed her eyes, listening to the distant sound of the Punished bypassing the alley that she had chosen to hide in. Sitting in this lonely alley, she could think of a world of wrong that her past life had committed. It seemed as though Estelle was receiving karma for it all. If she was so pure, then why was she being punished for the actions of her past life? She began to feel angry. Estelle contemplated this for too long and was awoken from her thoughts by a low moaning accompanied by creaking.

At first she thought that the Punished had located her. She peeked around the dumpster and there was no one there. She looked down the alley and still there was no one. She sat back, gun ready and realized that the sound was coming from the corpse that sat directly across from her. Estelle didn't pay much attention to it because she thought it was dead. This body was badly decomposed and she could not tell if it was a man or a woman. Its flesh was dried and torn. She watched the dark, mummified body begin to twist and stretch. It sat forward, then rose on shaky, boney legs. It looked right at Estelle through the dark holes in its eyes, then the orange light of the Punished appeared.

Long deteriorated vocal chords stopped it from screaming out, but it reached forward and tried to mouth something at Estelle. It grabbed at the air, intending to capture the girl. It breathed through its dusty throat and without warning, lunged. It all happened so fast and Estelle didn't even have time to react to the attack. The Punished gripped her throat with both of its hands and wrung.

In her moment of desperation, Estelle raised her revolver and blew a chunk out of the creature's head out. Skull and dust shot out everywhere and the Punished fell to the ground, dead. At least it seemed to be.

“There she is!” came a voice from down the alley.

Estelle ran before the crowd of Punished all noticed her at the same time. At first there were only three or four chasing her, but soon the entire crowd followed.

The back alley ways of Eve's Hollow were like a labyrinth, confusing and never ending. It was even darker here than it was on the street. Estelle had no sense of direction, but she knew that she could not stop. She still felt the icy hands of the Punished around her throat. If one Punished nearly strangled her to death, she shuddered to think of what one hundred would do. Desperation filled her body when she came face to face with a multi-story brick wall. She looked around for a way out. Her only hope was a fire escape ladder about one hundred and fifty yards behind her.

There was absolutely no time to think. She rushed as fast as her tired body would carry her. All she needed was to get to that ladder before they caught up with her. She could see the first few glowing faces searching for her. They saw her and sprinted. She was nearly to the ladder and completely depleted of energy. Once she grasped the cold metal bar, she was almost unable to lift herself. The pain in her right shoulder had lessened, but it still stung. With all of her will power she pulled herself up the first few bars. She was able to rest for just a moment.

The Punished pooled beneath her, black and gray hands reaching up at her. This particular fire escape consisted of a single ladder that rose to the roof of the building. Estelle estimated that the building was between fifteen and thirty stories tall; one of the smaller buildings. She was many bad things, but a positive trait that she possessed was that she was quite intelligent. She was able to accurately estimate great distances as far as she could see. She was surprised to see that the Punished had not begun climbing. She was afraid to look down to see why, and instantly regretted her curiosity.

It was not that the Punished could not climb the ladder. It seemed that each one wanted to go after Estelle first. When one man jumped up on the ladder, an angry elderly pulled him down only to fall to the next Punished who sought to kill the girl. They became more violent by the second. Estelle hurried up the ladder. Just as she did, one of the Punished escaped the frenzy and began to climb after her.

“You won't get away from me!” she screamed at Estelle, glowing holes peeking through tangled hair.

Estelle was still a good distance away, but the Punished began to file up the ladder while the frenzy moved deeper into the crowd. Once she reached the top she drew her gun. She waited until the female Punished had nearly reached the top of the ladder, then she dispatched her. Two more quickly followed. With two shots left, she hesitated to pull the trigger, but the need to preserve her life overcame the logic to save ammo, but was then defenseless.

She immediately ran to the opposite side of the building, seeking an escape. There was a large stairwell encased in glass and metal that began on the roof of this building and ascending to the rooftop of a neighboring tower. The stairs were worn out and they looked unsafe. The threat at her back pushed her forward. The structure shook as she stepped forward, creaking angrily as if being intentionally agitated. She held onto the rail as she climbed several flights of stairs.

After she felt she had gained a lead, she leaned against the railing, near a broken window. She looked out. The buildings made it hard to see. It made her feel claustrophobic. She looked down and realized that she couldn't see the street anymore. She didn't realize how high she was. Even she couldn't judge this distance without seeing the ground. The buildings seemed to sink into a hollow, black abyss. She stared into the darkness, mesmerized. She tried to imagine what it must be like to fall from this height. It was so dark that you wouldn't even see the street coming at you.

Estelle was quickly awoken from her trance when the stairwell began to shake. She looked down the stairs and saw the familiar faces of her pursuers. Having been able to rest, she was better prepared to pace herself in escaping. The Punished were more mobile now that there was more room for them to move, but she wasn't ready to quit. She had just begun. She had died already once before. The pain was still fresh in her mind and she was not willing to go through it like this. She hurried up the stairs and came out on what must have once been a beautiful rest area.

It was the roof top of another building, but this area was made to socialize. There were several sitting areas as well as refreshment stands. Long abandoned bags and personal possessions lay scattered about. A glass pyramid topped the roof. Several of the panes were broken or covered in dirt and filth. Estelle sought a way out or a place to hide. There was another bridge, but it was separated and raised tilted up on both sides like a drawbridge, held by four heavy chains.

Time quickly ran out as the first half dozen Punished came up the stairs. There was nowhere to hide on this roof, the bridge was impassible, and the only other way off of the roof was back the way she came. She tried to back away and remain out of sight. She kicked a knife on the ground and picked it up. A steak knife, it was dull, but heavy. It would work well for stabbing. She held it at the ready and prepared to defend herself. Shooting one was easy enough at point blank range, it would be a different experience to fight them like this, especially considering her size. She found herself wishing she was still an adult, but she couldn't focus on that now.

The first Punished saw her and moved in for the kill. He held his arms out, ready to kill her, but before he could, Estelle lunged forward and dug the knife into his neck. Dark blood spilled out and the light faded from his eyes and mouth. She was afraid that she couldn't kill them at first, but after her second victory over the monsters, she felt a burst of confidence.

She killed the next a little easier the same way. Blood covered her small hands. She heard more of them coming and she knew she couldn't stab them all in the neck. Four of the Punished ascended the stairs and immediately picked their target. Estelle knew that she couldn't fight them. She could hear more of them coming up the stairs. She could stay and fight or she could just end up dying. Either way, she was determined not to give up. As the Punished approached, she held her knife and prepared for pain of death.

Just then BANG! With the Punished mere yards from where the girl stood, two of their heads exploded off of their bodies. The shock wave was enough to stop the others in their tracks. The remaining two were also executed, following two more bangs. There was a third bang, followed by the sound of ringing metal. Estelle looked up to see one of the chains vibrating. The fourth shot broke the chain. Someone was trying to help her.

Another shot rang out and another one of the chains broke. The half of the bridge closest to Estelle fell just as the full wave of the Punished was coming up the stairs. Estelle rushed onto the bridge as the next shot broke the third chain. A crazed Punished woman lunged at Estelle and met with her knife to the gut. She fell atop her killer. Estelle heaved the body off of her as the last chain broke and she had access to the next roof. She wasted no time and went up the stairs as the Punished followed.

The top of this bridge brought her to a very broken looking hallway with large windows on both sides. A line of cushioned seats divided the hallway down the middle. Estelle quickly rushed down the hallway with the pack of angry, screaming animals behind her. As she ran, she heard several more shots fired off as well as the dying wails of the Punished. There was a door at the end of the hall and Estelle pushed through it, ignoring the construction warning sign.

She found herself in an unfinished section of the building. Wooden boards lined the floors, metal girders stood like pillars in a crypt, and large plastic tarps fluttered with the breeze that swept through the building. Estelle noticed a crowbar on the ground and used it to jam the door shut. No sooner did the Punished begin beating and scratching at the door, howling obscenities at the girl. She backed away from the door, making sure that it would not open then she turned and left.

Her mind was like a boulder rolling down a steep hill. Every thought and possible answer just lead to more questions and made her worries grow. Why did the Punished want to kill her so badly? Was it something she did? What if the shooter wants to kill her too? Was his next shot going to be aimed at her? How would she get away from both the shooter and the Punished? How much longer could she survive?

Trying to push the brain's most brutal questions and scenarios out of the mind is a difficult task, but Estelle accomplished this just enough to will herself onward. She kept her knife at the ready and jumped over discarded tools and building materials. She could still hear the banging behind her. Her heart pounded in time with the door. THUMP, THUMP. THUMP, THUMP.

She came upon an open section of the construction zone. The girders stood tall and the wooden supports in the floor were just being put in. It seemed that this was the end of the line, but then a shot rang out as a bullet struck one of the girders about a hundred yards away from where she was standing. The shooter seemed to be a very actuate marksman so far, so what was he shooting at? As far as she could tell, the Punished were behind her and no one else was around.

Estelle followed the sound of the impact and let herself out onto an open platform. She gazed up at the sky, then at the buildings around her. Another shot was fired, scaring her again. Her head snapped toward the direction that the sound came from. She searched the roofs of the other buildings, but saw nothing. Just then, a small blinking light appeared. Even though she still didn't know who this person was, the light was like a beacon of hope on a dark, rainy night. If he wanted her dead, he was a skilled enough shot that he could have done the deed at any point that she had been visible to him.

The light stopped flashing and another shot was fired. It struck something metal far off to her right. She moved in that direction and found a giant crane. The shooter fired another shot and the sound of the impact rang like a sorrowful bell. A series of shots were fired in a different direction. It must be the Punished. After a few seconds of silence, a few more shots were fired. Estelle saw the light flashing again, faster than it did before. After a few seconds, it stopped. Another shot was fired at the crane.

Estelle was confused at first. What was she supposed to do with the crane? She thought for a moment. She looked at the cab of the crane, then followed it up. There was a second crane near it. If the second crane were to swing a bit, the two could come very close. She followed the arm of the second crane down to its cab and everything fell into place in her mind when she saw the blinking light. She still couldn't see the person who held it, but right then she had to make the choice to trust him.

As soon as Estelle made her move toward the crane, the second crane roared to life. It slowly lurched into a rotation toward the first crane as Estelle began to climb. A chill down her spine made her look over her shoulder. She saw the Punished searching for her and they would find her soon.

Don't look down, she told herself. One hand in front of the other, she crawled up the arm of the crane. It was shaky and probably very weak. She was about half way up when the first Punished began to climb after her. The second crane had stalled and heavy metal parts within it clanked, malfunctioning. She turned to meet her attacker. As he approached, the crane buckled beneath them.

“Shit!” she scoffed.

The Punished reached out and grabbed her leg. He pulled her down to where he was and stood over her. Without hesitating, Estelle dug her knife under his ribs and into his heart. He collapsed and still clung to her as he died. She pried his fingers from her leg. With great effort, she pushed the corpse off the crane, knowing that the combined weight was straining the structure. She knew that more were coming.

When Estelle heard the sound of the second crane running again, she got moving. She climbed the crane and her foot fell between the metal rungs. She fell forward, but caught herself, looking down into the abyss. She saw pure, sinking darkness below. The gargantuan buildings around her, like ancient relatives of this darkness, made her feel like no matter how high she climbed, she would never escape. She pushed up as she felt the crane shift under the weight of more Punished. One of the mad creatures leaped to grab her. The man ended up grabbing too late and fell over the rail. He wailed as he plummeted into the black.

Estelle made it to the top of the crane just as the second one was approaching it. She could just barely hear a muffled voice from the cab of the crane.

“JUMP!” the voice tried to scream.

Estelle knew what she had to do. For a few seconds, she stood on the brink of life and death, risking new life for a chance at a better one. As the two cranes passed each other, Estelle took a deep breath and jumped. For just a moment she hovered above the streets, above the Punished. In that moment, she didn't think that she was going to make it. As fate would have it, she grabbed on to the second crane. She held herself firmly so as not to fall as her crane moved away from the first one. It buckled under the pressure of the Punished upon it. Two of the monsters attempted to make the leap to the second crane, only to fall. Their screams faded like passing sirens. The crane was too far for any of them to get to now.

Carefully, Estelle climbed down the crane. One foot in front of the other. Once she made it down, she backed away from the crane and watched the Punished gathered upon the other. They hung off, at least two dozen from the original pack and they all glared at her. They remained there, frozen in place, only watching Estelle. She backed away and then the person who was operating the crane stepped out.

He was an older man with short gray hair that was slicked back. He wore a bushy mustache and a short beard on his chin. He had a hardened demeanor and very sad blue eyes. Estelle wanted to show him that she was friendly. She approached and he drew a handgun on her.

“Hold it right there!” he spoke with a Scottish accent. Estelle froze. “Is that you, Viola? What's your name girl?”

“My name is Estelle,” she said to him. She kept her hands in plain view, knife in one hand.

“You look just like her...”

Even though his gun was pointed at her, he looked through her. Estelle tried to talk her way out of this situation.

“Who is Viola?” Estelle asked.

“What?” he studied Estelle, snapping back to reality. She gave him a weak smile. “Do you have any other weapons?” Estelle nodded. “Take them out. Slowly.”

Estelle reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out the gun, keeping her finger away from the trigger.

“It's empty,” she said.

“Drop it. The knife too.”

She did as he demanded. He was very calm when he spoke. His voice was soothing. He eyed her up and down, not saying anything for a minute. In that time, the several more of the Punished had appeared and were swarming around the crane, looking at the two. They gazed in silence with an otherworldly contempt in their ghostly eyes. Estelle was greatly disturbed by what she saw. This was more frightening to her than when they were chasing her. She looked back at the man. Their eyes locked.

“She was my brother's daughter,” he finally said. “I was supposed to look after her. I was supposed to protect her. But I failed. You look just like her. But she doesn't have your accent...”

“You can relax. I'm not armed.”

“I am relaxed!” the sound of his own shout seemed to make him question his demeanor. “I'm fine.”

“You're pointing a gun at me.”

“You think I'll let my guard down just because you're a child?”

Child. Estelle didn't like being called a child. It was true that she took that form, but she held decades worth of knowledge and experience in her mind.

“I'm not what I appear to be,” she said, hands still in the air.

“That's exactly why I'm aiming the gun at you,” the man said.

“Even though you just saved me?”

“I thought you were someone else. That you look like her is strange enough. You could easily be one of the Punished.”

“That's what the Punished look like.”

She motioned with her eyes to the creatures, still staring at them from the crane.

Without taking his eyes off of Estelle, he replied, “You must be new here. Everyone knows the stronger Punished can take limitless forms, even that of a once normal person. You are either new, deceptive, or you are new and deceptive.”

Deception was something that she knew much about. Her former life was an expert in the field. There was not a single person that she came into contact with that she had not lied to. Whether it was just to stay the night or to hide from the authorities, Estelle's past life was the embodiment of false truths. With her second chance, Estelle wanted to stay as far away from who she was as possible. She wanted to be good. If he did kill her, she would at least tell him the truth first.

“I'm here to find someone,” she said, lowering her hands. “I've already been killed once before. I was given a second chance and to get it, I had to come here. It's not you that I'm looking for.”

“Who are you looking for?”

“He is known as the Supernova Samurai.”

“What do you want with him?” He looked at her as if she'd just told a dry joke.

“You know him?”

“I know of him.”

Estelle took a couple of steps forward, eyes hopeful.

“Hold on,” the man said. “I still don't trust you.”

“Trust me?” Estelle asked. “You haven't even told me your name. Shouldn't I at least know the name of my assailant?”

The man looked at her for a moment, then looked at his gun. He lowered his weapon and straightened himself. The rifle he had used to save her was slung over his shoulder.

“Ransley. Baron Ransley. Expert marksman and two time Chesterfield Marksmanship Competition Champion.”

“Do you say that to everyone you meet?”

“Yes, I do.”

There was a hint of offense in his voice, but it subsided rather quickly.

“So sorry to have wasted your time,” Ransley said to Estelle.

Ransley sheathed his handgun, turned on his heels, and began to walk away. After picking up her gun and knife, Estelle walked after him.

“Wait!” she called. “You have to tell me more about him.”

“Trust me, it's not worth it.”

Estelle ran around in front of him. Her face was stern and her voice was a little bit hostile.

“Listen to me!” she demanded. “Since I've been here, I've been chased after by monsters, nearly choked to death, thrown off of a truck, and held at gun point. The samurai is my only way out!”

Ransley looked away from Estelle. She was quite determined and he wasn't going to get rid of her so easily. For a fleeting moment, he felt that it would have been better to shoot her. Viola's voice filled his head with shouts of disapproval and he realized just how undesirable his notion was. She would want him to help this girl. Viola was very kind like that.

“Alright,” he said after a deep breath. “I'll tell you what I know, but I don' think it will help. We should talk somewhere safe. Follow me. But if you try anything strange...”

He opened his brown trench coat, revealing that he was well dressed in dark blue slacks, matching vest, plain white shirt, and red tie. Her attention was meant to be aimed at the shoulder holster he was wearing. Along with the pistol he had trained on her earlier, he carried a second pistol on the other side of the holster, and a revolver in a holster on his waist.

“I get it,” Estelle said.

Baron Ransley walked on and Estelle followed. The two traveled the roof tops using the intricate system of bridges between the buildings. Ransley explained to Estelle that once upon a time Eve's Hollow was a bustling metropolis of business peoples, free thinkers, artists, and immigrants. There were so many people and the buildings were so high that it was too inconvenient to go all the way down to the street to go to another building. As a result, the sky bridges were built between many of the sky scrapers so that the people wouldn't need to go to the ground level. As it turned out many public necessities were contained inside of the buildings.

Eve's Hollow was not a place on Earth and it was composed almost entirely of tall and thick urban industrial-like towers, tailored to the people's liking. There were, however, places reserved for natural pleasure such as large parks and farms, though they were few.

Ransley was bringing Estelle to the penthouse of a hotel that he was inhabiting called the Queen Martha. As it turns out, he had gone out on a whim after a long period of remaining in his home. Instead of finding supplies or food, he found a girl.

The remainder of their trip was silent. Ransley had given her a small pouch of eight extra bullets, but they had nothing to talk about except for the Supernova Samurai. Estelle spent the time contemplating what this man must be like. So far what little kindness she had been shown only came after a mentally and physically exhausting gauntlet that drove her to her limits. A trait that carried over from her past life was that she never got her hopes up. For anything. Just because the goddess said he'd help her didn't mean that he actually would and she would not live her life as if he was going to. However, that did not stop her heart from wanting what it wanted. That was to be loved; not for a lie, not for who she pretended to be, for who she was, open and honest.

The walk was shorter than Estelle thought it would be. Her mind treated her cruelly, so she gave up thinking about the samurai. The sky bridge brought them to the middle level of the hotel tower that was their destination. Ransley assured her that they were safe for the time being. From the sky bridge, they entered a small, circular foyer with three elevators in a semi-circle. Ransley moved to the far left elevator on the right and pressed the button. It lit up with a ding. The gears squealed to life and the doors opened. They entered the car and Ransley pushed the button labeled “PH”.

“I'm surprised the electricity still works,” Estelle said as the elevator began to rise.

Ransley informed her that each block was built with a series of generators that connected to a grid that spread to almost every building in the city. Eve's Hollow was not a part of what was call “the real world”. As a result, the city relied on self sufficient generators in the city blocks. Many of them were down, damaged, or raided for parts, but Ransley had been able to keep the generator on his block running by doing a bit of raiding, himself. He told Estelle that he wasn't sure how much long her could keep it going. Just as they reached the penthouse, the elevator stalled and the lights flickered off. It resumed after a second or two, then they stepped out.

They came out in a long hallway with red walls, decorated with gold trim. A long decorated carpet led to a set of red and gold double doors. Various portraits of artwork lined the walls and dim hanging lights made the area look sad and lonely. The light at the end flickered on and off. Ransley approached the doors and removed a credit card-sized piece of plastic out of his pocket. The locking mechanism was automatic and needed to be opened with a card key that he held. He used it and the bolts inside of the door snapped open. Ransley pushed the door open and the two stepped inside.

Baron Ransley's penthouse was the first piece of Eve's Hollow Estelle had seen that had not fallen into disrepair. The living area was spacious with a couple of large, soft couches and a matching recliner. A glass table adorned with several guns and half-empty bottles lay in the center of the room with both couches positioned around it like an “L”. The kitchen was connected to the living room with only a small island to separate them. There was a long hallway on the other side of the living room.

“Have a seat,” Ransley said, motioning toward the couch.

Estelle sat on the couch as he removed his coat and several of his guns from his body. He went into the kitchen and emerged after a few moments with a glass in each hand. Ransley sat in the recliner and handed Estelle one of the glasses.

“Where do you get water in a place like this?” Estelle asked.

“Water was one of the precious commodities imported from the Earth Plain, so we have massive reserves of it. I know of a tank that has not been discovered yet. This place has a pretty good reserve too, but I use it to stay clean.”

“You seem to be very resourceful.”

Ransley took a couple of gulps of water and so did Estelle. The kind of silence between them was the sort that manifested when two people were trying to read each others thoughts simultaneously. Neither of them could though.

“May I use your bathroom?” Estelle asked.

“It's down the hall.”

Estelle rose to her feet and made her way down a dark, but surprisingly clean hallway. She found the bathroom, which was larger than any she had ever seen. She stood at the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. It had been a very long time since she had looked this young. The last time she saw herself, she was far older and the wear of a life on the run was apparent in the lines of her face. Now her skin was so smooth and soft again.

It threw her into strange space to think about her past life. She was still getting used to thinking of herself as a different person. She still wasn't sure who she was, exactly. She looked exactly the way she did in life at the same age with one exception. She had not noticed before because she had not seen herself in a mirror. A thin, jagged scar ran around her neck, making a complete circle around her throat. It was easy to miss at first, but impossible to ignore once realized. Estelle pressed her finger to it and at once her mind was flooded with the memory of her past life kneeling in despair as a swift, unflinching blade claimed her life.

Estelle felt a panic rise up inside of her and she reached into her pocket and felt the snowflake. She felt reassured by this. She remembered why she was there and what she had to do. Ransley was waiting in the other room to give her the information she needed. Upon the sink was a bandage roll. Estelle took just a bit and fixed it around her neck to hide her scar. She straightened up, then returned to the living room. She and Ransley sat in silence for a moment.

“So,” Ransley said. “You're looking for the Supernova Samurai.”

Estelle nodded.

“Why?”

“He's supposed to help me,” Estelle said. “Or, that's what I was told.”

“I don't know a whole lot, but I'll give you what information I have.”

He adjusted himself in his seat and took a sip of water.

“I can tell you three things,” he started. “The first is that he is very strong. He commands lightning and his voice is said to be like thunder. Next I can tell you is that he kills the Punished like they're nothing. When he fights, when he kills, he is ruthless. The third is that he survives out in the storms.”

“The storms?” Estelle asked.

Ransley looked her up and down. “You really are new in town, aren't you?”

She shrugged.

“Here, in Eve's Hollow, at random times the city is plagued by a storm of vengeful ghosts. The sky darkens three times and on the third time, the sky remains black. An evil four-faced head descends from the cloudy sky. Angry spirits then manifest from it and will brutally slay any living creature they come across. Us poor souls can survive by painting a series of symbols over the thresholds of our homes. The Supernova Samurai is able to survive in this storm. Even with his power, the ghosts should overtake him. I'd take this to mean that he is one of them or something of the like.”

Estelle looked down at her feet. She felt nervous.

“Have you ever spoken to him?” she asked.

“I have not.”

“Have you ever met him?”

“No.”

“So these are just... observations?”

“Well. Yes.”

This was helpful to Estelle and she was grateful for for this information, but it was not enough. She didn't just need to know about him, she needed to find him.

“That's all you know?” she asked him. “There's nothing else you can tell me?”

Ransley took a moment to think, then said “there is one more bit and now that I think of it, it's probably the most important.”

He finished his glass of water.

“He hasn't been seen in a very long time,” Ransley said. “The last time he was seen, he was in a fierce fight with someone who was just as strong if not stronger than he was. Their battle left a scar on the city. Their lightning destroyed everything that it struck. I'm sure that much of the city felt the shock waves. But that battle was a while ago and he hasn't been seen since.”

“How do you know all that you know about him?”

“While out on scavenging runs, I've had to lie low while the Punished wandered around me. They spoke of him and a woman named the Pale Lady who was his nemesis. I'd assume that she was the one he was doing battle with when he was last seen. All I know is that I wouldn't want my child near him.”

“I'm not-”

“What?” It appeared as though Ransley had been distracted by a thought.

“I said I'm not a child,” Estelle said firmly, determined to assert her identity.

“Well I certainly admit that you are very mature, but-”

“I am the reincarnation of a thirty year old woman and I remember every single detail of her life. I remember her birthdays, I remember her fears, I know her secrets, I was her.”

Ransley looked at the floor again, then into his empty glass. It was strange; he did not really have a reaction.

“If that's the case,” he said after a minute, still looking at the floor, “then I have one question. How did you get here?”

“You wouldn't believe me.”

“You're the one in my home, young lady. It would be rude not to answer my question. I'll judge for myself whether or not I believe you.”

After a deep breath, she said “When my past life- passed away, I was placed here for a chance at a new life.”

“Your past life?” the man cocked his head to the side.

“Yes.”

“A reincarnation?”

“I guess you could say that. My former self was a wicked person who did awful things to innocent people.”

Ransley's expression softened. “So you're a Seeker.”

“I'm a what?”

“I don't know why it took me so long to figure that out. You're a seeker, Estelle. Here, special people are brought to the city for the specific purpose of mending their broken souls when any conventional means would not work. Now, from what I've seen, you don't seem like your soul needs mending, but this past life of yours landed you in a place worse than Hell.”

Estelle looked down and struggled to find words. She thought about her past life, something that she had tried very hard not to do since she came to Eve's Hollow. Without the immediate threat of monsters to kill her, she had nothing but time to think. The thoughts came unwanted and like a boulder rolling down a hill, they were impossible to stop. With every innocent, suffering face that cycled through her head, she began to hate her former self more and more.

“You're right,” she said after a few minutes, “it is because of her that I'm here. I have to do what I have to in order to get out. My only way is finding the Supernova Samurai. If I am a Seeker, then you'll understand when I tell you that he is my Guardian.”

His eyes were fixed on her. “You're persistent, aren't you?” Ransley asked.

Estelle's eyes were fixed on his. She conveyed emotion through them. They were large and dark, deep and full of meaning. Ransley stood to his feet and walked over to the window. It went up to the ceiling. Estelle tried to imagine what the city must have looked like once.

“See that tower out there,” he said.

Estelle went over to the window. She saw a large dark tower with a glowing circle in it. That was all she could make out.

“What is it?” she asked.

“That is a clock tower. It marks the center of Eve's Hollow's north eastern quarter. That is where I've seen thunderstorms. That's all I can tell you though. And it could be that woman.”

Estelle stood next to him.

“I have to tell you though,” he continued, “the thought of a young girl down there alone doesn't sit right with me. I really wish you wouldn't go.”

“I have to,” Estelle said. “I have to find him.”

There was a moment of silence. For a moment, unbeknownst to one another, they both were realizing that this would probably be the last time that they saw each other. From what Estelle saw so far, she knew that she'd either find the samurai or she would die trying. She knew she had to get out. She wanted this new life.

“Let me give you something,” Ransley said.

He quickly walked away and disappeared down a hallway. He was gone for several minutes and Estelle took this time to take in the scenery of the city. When her past life was alive, she dreamed of a man and he cared about her for who she was and not the lies that she fed to people. In her dreams, she would be able speak to him freely and he would bear her darkest fears with her. She quickly remembered not to raise her hopes. At that moment, she heard Ransley returning.

He put his hand forward and in his palm was what he called a tantō. It was a curved, one-sided knife that measured a little under a food in length. The sheath was covered with black lacquer and a purple fiber cord wrapped around it. The wrapping on the hilt of the knife was also purple. The guard was a dark brass color. She pulled the tantō from its sheath and examined its blade. It didn't appear to have been used, ever.

“It's probably sharper than any knife you've ever used. It's handmade. Very authentic,” he said. “I know it's not much, but it's better than nothing.”

“Thank you very much,” Estelle said wholeheartedly. It felt good to say those words and actually mean it. A lifetime of hatred made her forget what it was like to be grateful. “You're the first person to show me kindness here. Goodbye, Baron Ransley.”

“Farewell to you, Estelle,” he responded.

After that, she left. She heard Ransley lock the door behind her and she did not look back. She pressed onward and entered the elevator. While she descended to the rest area for the sky bridge, she wondered why the samurai would help her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the crystal snowflake that the Goddess had given her. It spiraled on the chain and sparkled, casting sharp shapes of light all over the elevator. She was supposed to show this to him. It wasn't like her to put all of her faith into one person, but there weren't many options.

Estelle wanted honesty and truth to be the staple of her character. This would mean that she would need to come to terms with her past and truly deal with her own emotions toward her memories. She was aware of the feelings, but she chose to ignore them. In a way it was like walking around the chasm into Eve's Hollow and just choosing to never look directly at it. It wasn't good and she knew it, but she just wasn't ready to deal with the burden of her emotions. She already had so much to do, so much to think about. Part of her wanted to remain with Ransley so that perhaps she wouldn't have to deal with any of it and part of her knew that wasn't possible. Hiding from karma behind the love of fooled families was a talent that her past life had perfected and the very thought made Estelle's stomach churn.

She stepped out of the elevator and made her way back to the center of the rest area. She took one sky bridge to a rooftop. Here, there were four directions that the sky bridges climbed. Estelle found the one that most pertained to the direction of the clock tower. She put her foot on the first step, looking up. Everything was quiet. Estelle's hungry stomach broke that silence. She looked to her right. There sat a vending machine near the stairs. There were only a few bags of snacks left, but they looked intact. There was a hole in the glass on the front of the machine. Estelle felt that she should keep going. The moment the thought entered her head, she felt a hunger pain deep in her gut. The pain in her belly controlled her.

She reached through the hole in the glass and stretched upward to grab the bag. She felt the cold metal coil that held the products in place. She reached up and could feel the jagged edge of the glass digging into her arm. She reached just a little further and all at once, before she could react, the metal coil wrapped itself tightly around her wrist. With a painful jerk, the coil pulled her through the glass, shattering it, and into its body. A metal shade dropped down, engulfing her in its interior like a coffin. Poor Estelle couldn't help but scream as she felt the machine, with her inside of it, fall.

Chapter II - Grigori Estate

The dreaded box came to a screeching halt. Estelle was engulfed in complete darkness. Her body was sore from the sudden stop and her ears rang from the unpleasant sound of metal scraping against metal. Once the sound in her ears stopped, she could hear sad moaning and crying coming from several directions. The coil in the machine was still wrapped around her wrist. Carefully she unwrapped the metal. She winced in pain as the coil had cut into her skin. She could feel small a small amount of blood slowly dripping from the wound.

Once she worked herself free, she cradled her injured wrist and tried to assess the damage in the darkness. Although painful, she didn't think that it was severe. She tried to figure out what to do, but her mind felt just as claustrophobic as the box that she was trapped in.

“Are you still alive?” a young female voice called out.

Estelle was confused. Who was she talking to?

“Hello? Are you there?”

“Yes,” Estelle called.

“So you are alive,” the voice said.

“Where am I?”

“We're caught in a trap, I think.”

Too many thoughts flooded the girl's mind, but the notion that won out over all of the others is that the machine that she was trapped in was built in the form of a vending machine. Further more there was only one item to choose from and no matter how one looked at it, they would have to reach up through the glass to get it. In short, this machine was made to capture a human. If that was truly the case as Estelle suspected, then why would someone go to the trouble?

“Were you caught in a vending machine as well?” Estelle asked.

There was a significant pause, but the voice finally answered, “mine was a broken fridge with a single bottle of water on the top shelf. Seems so stupid, looking back on it.”

As Estelle adapted to her surroundings she began to hear more and more moaning and sobbing. It was then that she realized that she was among other captives. Other human beings. How many were there? Dozens? Hundreds? Her mind raced to the worst possible outcome of this situation. The worst that she had seen was the machine massacre that she had seen when she first entered the city. Would she now become a casualty in some freak experiment as well? There were so many questions and all she could do was think.

“What's your name?” the girl asked.

“Estelle,” she answered, hesitantly. “You?”

“I'm Aleena. Nice to meet you, Estelle.”

“You too. You don't seem upset.”

Estelle had noticed that despite being trapped in a sealed container, Aleena spoke very calmly. She wondered why this was. “It isn't that I'm not upset,” Aleena said. “The truth is that I'm terrified right now. However, panicking won't get me anywhere. If anything that'll get me killed faster. I want to stay alive so that I can be free. Freedom is everything. If you can't be free, you might as well be dead.”

“I suppose that's true,” Estelle said.

“So what's your story?” Aleena asked.

“I'd rather not say, if that's okay?”

Estelle wasn't comfortable putting her life, death, and rebirth on display, so she opted not to speak of it.

“Sure, sure. Lot's of people in Eve's Hollow feel that way. I'm sorry for asking.”

“Please don't be sorry. It's just... complicated.”

After a pause, Aleena said, “I understand. There must be some way out of here. If only I could see.”

Estelle heard a series of metal clanking noise. Aleena must have been trying to escape. She still gripped her wrist tightly. It had stopped bleeding, but she applied pressure to try and ease the pain.

“Did you say your name was Estelle?” Aleena asked.

“Yes...”

“Your name is familiar to me. Someone I once met was looking for an Estelle.”

“What? Who?”

“I forget his name. He saved me once though, a long time ago.”

Aleena spoke with a warm longing in her voice.

“He was brave,” she continued, “and very strong. I was alone and wandering the roof tops when the storm came. I couldn't get anywhere safe and I had nothing to draw the symbols with. I knew for sure that I was going to die. The sky turned black and they came right for me. A thousand ghostly demons. Then, as I waited for the pain to come, I was engulfed in a warm light. I opened my eyes and saw purple lightning dancing around me. Purple! The ghosts couldn't get to me through it.”

Estelle listened intently. This is the meeting that she had been waiting for. Aleena had met the Supernova Samurai.

“The lightning protected me until the storm ended and that's when we spoke. He said something about waiting for Estelle. He pointed me to the nearest Safe Shelter and disappeared into the sky on a bolt of lightning. I can't believe I actually met you.”

“Me neither,” Estelle whispered. “What are the odds?”

This gave her great hope. When first she entered the city, she acted on blind faith, but this news seemed divine and Aleena, a vessel to speak through. In this hopeless situation, she had hope.

“I'm looking for him too,” Estelle said. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, “what did he look like?”

Just then, before Aleena could answer, a sickening, metal wail silenced everything. Estelle clamped her hands over her ears. Something massive sputtered, then roared. It was the sound of a massive engine. She tried to scream for Aleena, but she knew that her voice would be drowned out. She felt a great lurch forward and then constant motion. Estelle surmised that she, Aleena and all the other people were in a large, moving container. The structure violently shook as it moved. Estelle could only wonder where she and the rest of these people were being taken.

The ride was long and violently agitating. There wasn't a single moment of rest. She was shook about inside of the vending machine and it made her feel as if her own body didn't belong to her. At one point her body went numb. She completely forgot about Aleena and the Supernova Samurai and blacked out.

What followed after that moment was a series of blurs from her slipping in and out of consciousness. The first thing that she remembered after passing out was the sound of the metal screen being opened. She was blinded by a white light. After being in darkness for so long, it was impossible to see. She closed her eyes and blacked out. The next time she opened her eyes, she was on her back, watching a ceiling of old hanging candle-lit chandeliers pass her vision. She looked to her side and saw a woman walking beside her in a white gown. Her body felt sore. She closed her eyes and slept.

When Estelle opened her eyes this time, she found herself lying in a comfortable bed. She was in a small, well lit room. The presence of a screen, gurneys, medication, and other beds led her to the conclusion that she was in some sort of infirmary. She tried to sit up in bed and winced in pain. Aside from her whole body aching, she had a bruised shoulder from falling off of the fire engine. She lay back down.

Taking it a bit slower, Estelle eventually sat up and propped herself up on her good arm. A bedside table sat beside her with a glass of water, a couple of bottles of pills, her gun, and her knife from Ransley. She was very suspicious after being captured and transported against her will, but her mouth was dry and she knew she was dehydrated. She reached for the glass of water with her left hand and that's when she saw the fresh bandage around her left wrist. She rotated her hand and the wound only hurt a little. She picked up the water and drank it all in three gulps.

Estelle sat the glass down and tried to swing a leg out of bed. That small motion drained what little energy she had. She felt dizzy again and decided to lie back down. As she looked at the ceiling fan slowly whirling overhead, she heard the door to the room open. Before she could reach over to grab her weapon, a dark skinned woman in a maid's uniform entered. She relaxed as the woman didn't seem hostile.

“Oh good, you're awake,” she said to Estelle.

She walked around the room doing various tasks.

“The ride here makes most people sick,” she continued. “I put something on your shoulder. How does it feel?”

“It-it still hurts a bit,” she replied, watching her empty several containers down a sink.

“I'll put more ointment on it, then. It shouldn't be too long before it's back to normal.”

“Where am I?” she asked the maid, still very suspicious.

“You're at Grigori Estate,” she said, moving to make a couple of the beds.

“Grigori?”

The name sent an icy chill down her spine. She knew the name from her past life. There was only one person in the world that she knew by that name. There was no way he could be here, in Eve's Hollow. She hadn't seen him in close to four decades and she didn't want to.

“That's right,” the maid said. “Name's Tabitha. I work as a maid here, as you can see. I also help with the sick, elderly, injured and... victims.”

This was the first time that she had looked at Estelle. The girl had not taken her eyes off of Tabitha since she entered the room. The maid saw a worried look on Estelle's face at the sound of ”victims”.

“From the Punished,” Tabitha said, clarifying. “We take in survivors here. That's why you're here.”

“What if I don't want to be here?”

Tabitha stopped what she was doing. “You'd rather be out there?” she asked with a confounded expression.

The thought was indeed preposterous and Estelle realized how it must have sounded.

“Not that I'm not grateful, but I was... in the middle of something when I was abducted.”

Tabitha sighed and sat down on the bed across from Estelle. She held her hands together with her fingers intertwined.

“You wouldn't be the first to use that word,” she said. “Abducted. Most folks here really are grateful for being saved. But there are a few who look up at the sky, almost like they belong on them mean streets.”

Estelle gazed at Tabitha. This sentiment that someone would actually want to be out in Eve's Hollow was perplexing to Estelle. She did not want to be there, she needed to be there. She had to find the samurai.

“Thank you,” Estelle said, “for helping me.”

Tabitha smiled at her and looked at the floor again.

“My name is Estelle, by the way.”

“It's nice to meet you, miss Estelle.”

“Tabitha, is there any way for me to get out of here?”

“I'm sorry, but the only ones who leave the compound are the Military Guards.”

“I see.”

Tabitha! Tabitha! Someone was calling her from outside of the room.

“I gotta go,” she said, dusting her dress off and getting to her feet. “It was nice to meet you miss Essie. I know you don't wanna be here, but try and make the best of it.”

With a half smile and a shrug of the shoulders, she was gone. As she opened the door, a tall, muscular man stood in the door way. Tabitha apologized to him and quickly passed him by. Estelle didn't recognize him right away. The memory of his name struck her like a bolt of lightning when he spoke.

“Mornin' sunshine,” Mike said.

He carried an assault rifle strapped to his chest. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, black boots, and a black tank top. She couldn't see his face very well when she was in the intersection, but when he approached, she observed that he had blue eyes and a very cocky smile. He had a sort of bob in his step. Estelle didn't respond to him.

“Estelle, right?” he asked. “That's what Tabitha called you.”

“And you're Mike,” Estelle said.

“That I am.”

She had hoped to catch him off guard by knowing his name on their first meeting, but he didn't seem to care. He sat down on the very bed that Tabitha had been sitting on. His presence didn't make her as comfortable.

“Sorry about the ride in,” he continued. “It's tough to transport all those people. But we do it to keep 'em safe.”

“Is that why your machine pulled me through a pane of glass?”

“You're alive ain't ya?”

Estelle didn't say anything.

“The boss wants to see you,” he said, tilting his head to the side.

“Is it negotiable?”

“'Fraid not. I'll wait outside.”

With that, Mike rose to his feet and left the room. Estelle felt like she was going to throw up. She knew of only one person with the name Grigori and it shook her spirit all the way to her past life. She felt fear and anxiety creep up inside of her. There was no escape from this. There was only one way out of the room and she had no idea where she was. She reached into her pocket and searched for the crystal snowflake. She removed it and gazed into it.

The brilliant sapphire in the middle seemed to draw all of her negativity away. While still very scared, she found the wherewithal to get out of the bed. She remembered why she was in Eve's Hollow. She had a mission to accomplish. She felt it was easier to just go along with what was happening for the time being. Estelle was sure to take her gun and her knife. She pocketed her snowflake and took a deep breath before exiting the room.

She found herself in a large hallway with elegant red, green, and gold patterned carpet. Wooden doors adorned both sides off the hallway stretching from end to end. She couldn't believe how large just this corridor was. She estimated the ceiling to be around thirty or so feet high. Chandeliers hung down and all were lit with candles. Several dozens of people walked by them; nurses, ministers, normal people. Mike stood opposite the door that Estelle had come from. She approached him. He nodded to her with a half smile and began to walk.

Before this, Estelle didn't believe that she would see this many people in one place. She remained four or five paces behind Mike as they went down to the end of the hallway and took a right turn. The connecting hall displayed arched windows that stretched up as tall as the ceiling. Mike walked over to one of the windows and looked out.

“Welcome to our home,” he said without looking at her.

Estelle peered out the window and observed a very large courtyard. She spied a tall dark wall that reached high into the air. It made the compound feel more like a prison than a place for survivors and refugees. There were several torches lit around the courtyard and a few hundred people walking around and sitting next to what she made out to be tents. That was all she could discern from so high up. Confining walls and a herd of people. This sort of situation put her on edge. Without saying a word, Mike continued walking.

Mike brought her to a main stairwell that spiraled from the ground floor beneath them then disappeared from perspective as it ascended. They were on the third floor of the estate, a floor more suitable for patients than the ground floor where at least a hundred and fifty people crowded a small in-home gymnasium. According to Mike, Estelle was getting special treatment, which was a part of the “Boss” wanting to see her. She couldn't believe how many people he had. It astounded her.

They had climbed three more levels, placing them on the sixth floor of the compound. Here was a hall that was not so crowded. There were a couple of more maids. Mike knew exactly where they were going though. The doors here were much taller than they were three floors below. Mike brought Estelle to one with a gold plaque posted on the side. In bold black letters, it read Study. Mike opened the door and looked at Estelle. She felt that fear creep up in her throat and her pulse beginning to quicken. She took a deep breath and entered the study. Mike followed.

Estelle was hit with a burst of cigar smoke. It was a harsh brand for gentlemen with earthy tastes. The study was a large, dark cylindrical room with bookshelves that sat in the curves of the study. Aside from that there was only a single desk, a cushion chair in front of it, and a large chair that was faced toward the only window in the room. Long, dark gold colored curtains billowed around it. Mike and Estelle stopped behind the chair.

“Boss,” Mike said. “Mr. Grigori. I brought her.”

“You can go,” a dark voice spoke from the chair.

Mike looked down at Estelle and made eye contact with her for just a moment. In that moment, Estelle could have sworn that she saw a hint of fear in his eyes. She understood the look of fear in human beings. She had seen it many times. He moved out of her sight and the door closed behind him, making the room instantly darker. There were two lanterns situated on either side of the desk top, giving the room a soft orange glow. In the following silence, Estelle could hear her blood pumping through her head. The chair at the desk turned around.

Sitting before her like Dracula on his throne was an older man who looked to be in his early sixties. His eyes were dark and sorrowful. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back. He wore an elegant business suit, the colors Estelle could not make out in the darkness. A gold ring on his right ring finger glinted and the light of the lanterns cast dark shadows on his face. Even in the shadows though, Estelle knew his face. That was how she was used to seeing it.

“It's been a long time.” His voice was dark and a little husky. His accent was the same as hers, just thicker and more pronounced. He sounded the same way he did the last time she saw him.

“Not long enough,” Estelle said.

Silence again. It was much heavier this time.

“Please sit,” Mr. Grigori said, gesturing to the chair before his desk. “I only want to talk.”

Estelle hesitated. Ever fiber in her told her to turn and run out the door, but Mr. Grigori's voice gripped her and pulled her in anyway. Before she could stop herself, she was already settling into the cushioned chair across from Mr. Grigori. She sat back and nervously rested her hands in her lap.

“What happened to you?” he asked. “I haven't seen you in decades, yet you appear before me from days of your youth.”

She felt an incomprehensible obligation to respond. “I was... reborn.” She tried to change the subject. “You look very much older than I remember you.”

“I appear the way I did on the day that I died,” he said, folding his hands with his elbows on the desk. “You said the prayer.”

“So did you. That means you wanted a second chance, no?”

Mr. Grigori was silent. For a moment, Estelle thought that she had upset him.

“What I did to you was wrong,” he finally said.

She never thought she hear him say such words. They came unexpected and swift like an assassin's blade from the shadows. Estelle was caught off guard.

“Do you truly mean that?” she asked.

“I do. Tell me. Why are you here?”

“Because you kidnapped me with a vending machine.”

“I mean- in the Hollow?”

Instinct from her past life told her to lie. Especially to him. There was hardly a truth that she told in her previous life, but with this new opportunity, she sought to maintain her purity of character. She opted to tell him the truth.

“I'm looking for someone,” she said.

“Who?”

“He's the Supernova Samurai.”

Mr. Grigori's eyes narrowed and he peered at Estelle in disbelief.

“Why would you be after a monster like that?”

Here we go again, Estelle thought to herself. She defended her mission once before against Baron Ransley and was prepared to do so again.

“He's my Guardian,” she responded, firmly. “I'm supposed to find him.”

“I do not want to disappoint you,” Mr. Grigori said, “but that.. beast isn't capable of protecting anyone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have witnessed firsthand the overwhelming destruction and and devastation left in the wake of this madman.”

Estelle felt her face scrunch together with confusion. Mr. Grigori still peered into her eyes.

“We have all heard rumors about the Supernova Samurai,” he continued. “The Punished speak in whispers that are heard through the cracks in our walls. I have seen it for myself though. I had been scavenging with a group of my people. We had been attacked and I was the only survivor. After leaving a refugee center, I desperately tried to reach this compound, the sky turned black. I thought it was a Soul Storm. That's when I saw the lightning. Lightning had never appeared here before.”

He took a couple of moments to think to himself.

“I had been atop a roof while I was en route and that's when I saw them fighting. Blue and purple lightning clashed in the sky. They matched the descriptions that the Punished spoke of. Their speed and strength was great. They leaped through the air as if to fly. Just as much as each other, they destroyed the surrounding environment. They fought mercilessly. As far away as I was, I could hear their roars as if they were standing next to me.

“As I watched their battle, I watched him gather his power into a single bolt of white lightning. He shot it at his enemy and his own attack was thrust back at him. His attempt in blocking it resulted in the bolt veering off into the city. The bolt crashed into the very refugee shelter that I had come from.”

Mr. Grigori let this sink in. He could see and feel Estelle's mood plummeting as if a hiker falling from a cliff.

“Did anyone survive?” she asked.

“The entire block was incinerated. The two kept fighting. There's no telling how many more perished.”

Estelle took a deep breath that she meant to silence, but she was sure he heard her.

“You are a Seeker?” he asked her. She nodded and he thought to himself for a moment.

“Listen. Estelle.” Mr. Grigori said.

He already knew her new name. This fact made her angry. She could not, however, express this anger. Everything about this man made her angry and it was a standard task to from her past life to try and appear emotionless and cold before him.

“I did not mean to disappoint you and you look as though you've been through a lot. Why don't you rest here. You've already seen what those streets are like. With monsters like them running around, you'd be safe here.”

At first, she thought he was talking about the Punished. She knew better though. He was talking about her Guardian. He was right, though. She didn't want to be there, but it was safe from the horrors that she had witnessed, as far as she could tell. Where fear should have existed in her heart, there was excitement. Where she should preserve her new life, she was willing to risk it to escape Eve's Hollow. She should remain at Grigori Estate where she can survive. However, she felt as if she were in more danger in this room with him. The notion that she'd rather be in Hell bothered her and it came in the form of guilt. What sane person would prefer the streets of Eve's Hollow? Darkness began to creep in her mind. She began feeling small and hope was extinguishing like a dying flame. She felt ungrateful for the life that she had been given.

“I'll have a room prepared for you,” he said before she could say anything. “Just... think it over. Don't worry about it.”

Estelle was at a loss for words. Instead of saying anything, she hung her head so that shadows cast over her eyes. Caught in an impasse, she drained all emotion from her heart and mentally distanced herself form the situation. She stood to her feet and walked toward the door. As she turned her back, Mr. Grigori's lips curved into a slight smile. She rested her hand on the cold knob of the door.

“Thank you,” she said.

In the silence that followed, a heavy, sinister tension manifested between the two of them. Estelle could feel a mental pressure as if someone were looking down on her from above with treacherous intent. This was another feeling that she recognized. She hated all of these feelings from her past life. Since she had come into physical being such a short time ago, the only memories she had were of Eve's Hollow and her wicked past life. In this situation, seeing no other way to diffuse it, she did what she would have done so long ago.

“Daddy...” she whispered.

The tension in the room cleared and she exited the room.

Mike was waiting for her outside. He apparently already knew that Mr. Grigori would want Estelle to have her own room. She looked at the ground and without a word between either of them, he began to lead her. The room was situated on the floor below Mr. Grigori's and sat in the middle of what was called the West Wing. There was a marble statue of an angel separating her room and the room to the right. This is how she remembered her room.

Mike opened the door for her. Eyes forward, she entered the room. Mike closed the exquisite wooden door behind her. Golden light was cast around the room by a chandelier's candles , she could see a large space with tall white walls. A patterned carpet covered the floor. Furniture included a canopy bed with the softest white sheets, a matching nightstand, chest of drawers, and bureau with mirror. A closed door on the right side of the room from the entrance indicated the closet.

Estelle walked over to one of two tall windows in the room, delicately embraced by flowing white curtains. She stood there and gazed out. Her eyes opened wide and that sick feeling crept up inside her stomach again. Out of the window of the room that Mr. Grigori assigned to her, Estelle could see the clear outline of a massive, hulking shape. It was jagged and box-like. There was a very thin outline of the structure created by the fire lights on the outside of the compound casting a shadow.

While gazing at the numerous makeshift hearths around the courtyard, she could again make out small, tightly packed clusters of survivors. She directed her sight to the monstrous shadows. One person stood behind and in front of another, creating a line from the structure to the compound. From so high up, it was hard to tell, but these people didn't look like soldiers or maids. They looked hungry, tired, and dirty – like she was. It was then that she came to the heavy conclusion that the massive structure that she was looking at was the very vehicle that transported her to Grigori's facility. That line of people was a steady river of more survivors, looking for safety. The one question that plagued her was whether or not this vehicle was a different one or the very same that she was abducted with. As must as she didn't care for Mr. Grigori, she had to give him credit for taking in so many people.

Tired of seeing the wretched machine, Estelle closed her curtains. Pushing everything out of her mind, she emptied her pockets of her gun, knife, and snowflake charm. She placed them on the nightstand. With a relieving sigh, she let herself fall into the bed. It was comfortable, soft, and warm. Her white comforter held her in a warm embrace like a mother would. It was the closes thing she knew to a genuine, loving hug. She lay on her back and stared up at the canopy, made translucent by the warm, soft light.

As Estelle contemplated her new life, second chance, and past life, she couldn't help but to feel a sense of regret for her current circumstances. In her past life, she wound up in Mr. Grigori's bed before. There she was, yet again, in a bed of his choosing. Although she had been offered a second chance and she was hopeful before, she couldn't help but to think of a darker, traumatizing past with this man who, like herself, desired a second chance. So many feelings and so many memories overwhelmed her despite her trying to keep them at bay. Like all people, though, she had her emotional threshold and it was very well met. She wrapped her arms around her chest, holding her shoulders in imitation of a loving embrace as tears began to flow down her pale cheeks.

Chapter III - The Anti-Estelle

 

Estelle felt a great weight bearing down on her small body. She was able to feel before she was able to see in this new environment. It was hard to breathe. Something heavy and iron was closed around her throat. Slowly but gradually, her eyes focused. She was set on her knees beneath a single red light in a pitch black space. Before her was a large oval mirror that stood close to seven feet tall. Estelle looked into it, but only saw her vague, unrecognizable reflection. She tried to stand, but could not move.

The iron collar around her neck was tethered to the floor by a heavy chain. She pulled at it and found that her wrists were chained together as well. She struggled with her shackles and the chains jangled loudly in the room. She was not able to free herself.

“Aww, what's wrong?” a voice cooed.

Estelle held her breath. The voice that spoke was her own. Yet, her mouth was closed.

“Can't get free, can you?”

Estelle looked around to locate the source of the voice. Her pace quickened and she could feel the heat of fear rising in her body.

“Here,” it said. “Look up.”

Estelle looked straight ahead and again saw her reflection in the mirror. She watched in disbelief as her reflection, hunched as she was, stood upright. Estelle's breathe was caught in her throat. Her eyes wide with anguish, the girl's mind struggled to make sense of what she was being forced to witness. The figure in the mirror approached until the light from the room illuminated her. The red light cast black shadows across her face, but that didn't stop her recognition.

It was Estelle. She was looking at herself in the mirror, only it wasn't her. This Estelle's hair was tangled and much longer. Dark circles around her eyes as well as the stains of tears trailing down her face gave her a truly ghastly appearance. She wore Estelle's clothes and her skin appeared to be much paler. The Anti-Estelle smiled a twisted smile and her eyes glowed with beady silver lights.

“What... what are you?” Estelle choked.

“I'm you,” the Anti-Estelle said. “The real you.”

“How is that possible?”

“How did you feel seeing Damian again?” she asked, ignoring Estelle's question. The inquiry tore into Estelle's chest like a jagged knife. She stared into the haunting eyes of her dark self in anger and contempt as she spoke to uncover deep, dark, terrible things within Estelle's mind. Estelle felt a connection to this creature that she couldn't quiet understand.

“Did you miss him?” she asked with a grin.

Under the red light, the Anti-Estelle looked like the devil. Estelle said nothing to this- this best.

“I guess you're not ready yet,” the Anti-Estelle chuckled. “Soon enough though. Soon.”

Estelle watched in confusion. In a flash of white light, the Anti-Estelle's face distorted and stretched beyond recognition, bending the entire room with her. Estelle felt her mind twist, then she blacked out.

 

***

 

Estelle awoke in the same room that she had fallen asleep in. She expected rays of sunlight to shine through the window; a predictable expectation , but her room was just as dark as it was when she lost consciousness. From her bed, she could see the bloody, cloudy sky of Eve's Hollow. She had no idea how long she had been asleep. She felt groggy, but refreshed anyway. She realized, however, that the smell of running through the city was grafted to her and her clothes. She got off of the bed and went to the closet with the intention of finding something to wear. She was utterly uninterested and a bit uncomfortable by what she found.

From left to right the closet was full of the laciest, frilliest, dresses that she had ever seen. Most of them were white or sky blue with pink ribbons and bows. Such garments made her think of spoiled little girls who always got their way. This was a distaste that she and her past life shared. The inability of her past life to get along with other females contributed to her being alone much of the time. As usual, Estelle pushed the memories of her past life out of her head. There was a knock at the door.

“Miss Estelle?” Tabitha called through the door.

A rush of warmth rose up inside of her.

“Come in!” she called.

Tabitha opened the door and closed it behind her. Carrying a bright lantern, she seemed very winded and distracted by something.

“Miss Estelle! Miss Estelle! Have you seen it?”

“Seen what? What's wrong?” Estelle asked, perplexed.

“The snow! Oh, it's so beautiful! I've never seen anything like it here!”

Snow? While Estelle had been running through the streets, she never would have thought Eve's Hollow was cold enough to get something like snow. Estelle got out of bed and walked over to the window. She parted the curtain and sure enough, in the dim light of the torches of the ground level, she could observe a thin blanket of snow, marked with trails of footprints on the ground. In the light of the fire, the snowflakes sparkled brilliantly. Estelle thought of the last time she remembered seeing snow. She touched two fingers to the bandage around her neck, then wished she could forget that memory as quickly as she had summoned it.

“Let's get you dressed,” Tabitha said, excitedly. “Then you can go out and see the snow. Hm? What's wrong?”

“It's just that there isn't anything in the closet that I like. I love this outfit.”

Estelle gestured to the clothes on her body. Tabitha tilted her head to the side.

“I got you,” she said with a smile.

Tabitha moved over to the closet and opened it. She gestured for Estelle to come over and join her. When she did, Tabitha handed her the lantern. She then reached into the closet and pushed the dresses aside, revealing a hidden door, one that Estelle would never have known about otherwise. Tabitha opened it and took the lantern back from Estelle. She disappeared into the dark room, then it lit with warm candlelight.

“Come on,” she called.

Estelle went through the door and found herself in a small washroom. It was very fancy despite its compacted size. It contained a toilet, sink, mirror, bathtub, and the object that took up the most room, the water heater. About the size of a dresser, Tabitha explained that this metal box is used to heat the water in case of a power outage at the estate. Tabitha continued to inform Estelle that she would be more than happy to wash her clothes while she took a hot bath. Tabitha could then lay Estelle's wet clothes across the water heater and they'd be dry by the time she'd be finished.

“Is it really okay for me to take a bath though?” Estelle asked. “I've seen the people huddled together outside...”

“Way I see it,” Tabitha said, “God wants certain people to have certain things. If he didn't, then you wouldn't have it. Since you got it, enjoy it.”

Estelle felt that these were very wise words and felt it would be disrespectful to argue any further. Tabitha had already sat on the edge of the tub and turned on the water. Pipes from the wall ran through the heater and through a system of size-diminishing pieces, then to the faucet of the tub. She pulled out a small piece of wood from the heater and lit it with her lantern flame. It didn't take long for the fire to catch and the water to heat up. Soon steam came off of the water gathering in the tub.

Estelle undressed and gave her clothes to Tabitha before climbing into the tub. The hot water felt nice on her skin and her body immediately began to feel release from stress.

“You just relax, and I'll bring these back,” Tabitha said.

Tabitha swiftly exited the room, closing the door behind her. Estelle took a deep breath and sunk down into the water until only the top half of her head was sticking out. She felt the warm water caress her body and felt truly relaxed, something she wasn't used to. In her bath, she had nothing but time to think. The thoughts of her current circumstances raced through her mind like a hundred rowdy stallions. Everything in her brain was a jumbled mess. She struggled to put everything together, but knew that she had to continue to make sense of things. Or else, she could loose her way.

She started from the beginning. Her past life died and attempted to get a second chance by coming to Eve's Hollow. Estelle, herself, was given this chance instead of her past life. She was told by a goddess of Eve's Hollow to find her Guardian, the Supernova Samurai. Many people know the samurai. They said that he was a monster. The Supernova Samurai is a monster. No! Baba wouldn't have instructed her to find him if this were true. She was now at Damian Grigori's estate in Eve's Hollow, wishing that she wasn't. She had to find him. She had to escape. She had to escape.

“I have to escape,” she whispered.

The realization swiftly dug into her and it made her heart thump so hard that the water shook. She had to leave the compound to find the Samurai.

She heard someone walking around in the bedroom and she immediately looked toward her gun. Before she could react, Tabitha emerged through the closet door door. Estelle sighed in relief.

“Shouldn't take long to dry,” she said. She promptly stretched Estelle's clothes out over the heater. It was very warm, but one would be able to press the flesh against it without much grievance. Tabitha sat down on a wooden stool. “You enjoyin' the bath?”

“I am,” Estelle responded. “May I ask you something?”

“What's that?”

“Do you know if a girl named Aleena is here?”

“Aleena?” Tabitha pondered for a moment. “I don't reckon I've heard that name around here before. She come in the same time as you?”

Estelle nodded. As Tabitha thought, she flipped Estelle's clothes over so that they wouldn't get too hot on one side.

“I can't say that I have,” Tabitha finally said.

“Oh...”

“Is she a friend of yours?”

“Well, sort of. I met her when I was in the machine.”

“Oh...”

Tabitha looked down at her hands.

“I'll keep an ear out for that name from now on, Miss Estelle. You know, just in case.”

“Thank you,” Estelle said. For a moment, she struggled to “So what's your story?”

As soon as she asked, she regretted it. Estelle felt it rude to bring it up and ask out of nowhere, but Tabitha was one who didn't seem to mind question.

“Was born in Eve's Hollow,” she said. “Ever since I can remember, I've always been fighting. Always surviving. I used to belong to a group of people called the Blue Key Soldiers. The Blue Key Club isn't too far from here, but the Punished make it impossible to get back. I always helped out at the club, so that's what I do here. I help wherever I'm needed.”

Tabitha smiled at the thought of what Estelle believed to be old friends. This confirmed that there were other survivors in the city. How many, she wondered. Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? The thought intrigued her very much. She'd rather explore the city and find the answer to this question than to remain in the house she was in. Estelle was particularly curious about this place that Tabitha came from – The Blue Key Club.

“Tell me more about where you came from,” Estelle asked her, shifting her weight in the tub..

“The club?” Tabitha seemed surprised. She got up from the stool and flipped Estelle's clothes again. She sat down and looked at Estelle. “How's the water? Is it okay?”

“Mhm.” Estelle looked at her hands. They were beginning to prune.

“So you want to know about the Blue Key Club? No one's ever asked me about where I came from before. The club is an old abandoned music theater that was brought back to life. It's run by a man named Gojo and his wife, Yetunde. They're a tough couple and the survivors there are tough too. I was one of 'em. We call ourselves the Blue Key Soldiers. There's about fifteen-hundred of us. I think we're one of the largest groups of survivors in the whole damn city. One of the biggest I've ever seen, anyway.”

Estelle listened intently. Tabitha looked at a high point on the wall when she spoke of her past, almost as if she were trying to project her thoughts onto the candlelit wall.

“Gojo had us divided into two groups. There's the main group of survivors who take care of daily chores around the club as well as medical responsibilities. Then there's the warriors; sort of like we have hear, who leave the club and go on scavenging missions. They're also responsible as the first and only line of defense for the club. We have a lot of fun though.”

Estelle tilted her head. “Fun?”

“Well, sure,” Tabitha said with a grin. “We can't spend all of our time fighting, you know. We have groups on patrol, but when the work is done, we dance and sing and play music. Oh, it's so great!”

Estelle had not believed that any measure of joy was possible in this wretched city. Listening to Tabitha talk about the Blue Key Club made her forget that she was even in Eve's Hollow. She wanted this conversation to continue. She realized that she had not washed her hair since she had been in the bath. The act gave her a perfect excuse to prolong the moment.

“I used to play piano,” Estelle said. “Did you play?”

“Me? No.”

Almost as if going through a transformation, Tabitha propped up in the chair, focused her eyes, and took a deep breath. She sang softly, but powerfully. She stared into Estelle's eyes with passion and gusto. She elegantly and smoothly sang through a series of scales. She sang like an angel and Estelle was enchanted to listen. Then, the verse of a song.

 

Clouds of doom fill up the sky

 

Tell me, can you hear our battle cry

 

The air is freezing, can you see the fury in our eyes

 

Of course you're scared, for none are spared

 

Life lost in a flash of light

 

Thunder is our harbinger

 

We will fight

 

Estelle sat stunned. Tabitha looked at the ground with a smile, then flipped Estelle's clothes once more, just to be sure.

“They're all dry now, Miss Estelle,” she said, breaking the silence with a shy smile.

“That was amazing!” Estelle exclaimed.

“Thanks,” Tabitha said though a chuckle. “I was one of three. Tony,Angela and myself were our own group.”

Tabitha now wore a sad expression.

“I miss them all.”

“Why don't you go back?” Estelle accidentally asked. She had only meant to think it. “I mean, I know the Punished are there, but... there must be a way!”

“Well after I got separated, I... found myself here-”

“Like me...”

Tabitha gave a half heart smile.

“My skills were very useful here. I know how to fight, but there are so many survivors here who need medical attention. I know a lot more than the others. The methods that kept the Blue Key Soldiers alive are very valuable here. I do miss my friends, but I've saved so many lives here. I don't know if I'll ever see them again, but something tells me I need to be here.”

“I'm sorry,” Estelle said, remorsefully.

“Ah! No need. This is my choice. Boy though, our soldiers are talented. Strong too. There are three squads at the top of the chain. Soul Squad, the Second Squad, and Nova Squad.”

“Nova Squad?”

“Mhm. Each of the squads have a leader that it's named after. Sister Soul leads the Soul Squad. Big Will II leads the Second Squad. And Supernova leads Nova Squad- well he used to lead it.”

“The Supernova Samurai?”

Tabitha nodded and Estelle stared at her.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“I- No. It's just- I've been looking for the leader of the Nova Squad...”

Tabitha's brow furrowed.

“The Supernova Samurai,” Estelle said. “I was looking for him when I was captured. Everyone I've met here has told me what a monster he is, but you're the first person I've met who knows him personally.”

Tabitha chuckled to herself.

“I can tell you what I know about him,” Tabitha said, “but he went missin' from the club long before I did.”

“I've been told that he hasn't been seen in a long time.”

“Mhm. He left after that woman attacked the club.”

“What woman?”

“That woman who's always trying to control Nova. The Pale Lady, he called her. She attacked our home.”

Tabitha stopped speaking for a moment. Estelle saw more than sadness in her eyes this time. There was something that could not be explained, some sense of loss greater than the weight of the world. When Tabitha spoke, she spoke as if she were staring at something in another world.

“We lost one third of our army to a single woman, Miss Essie. Supernova's powers were great, but hers were greater. There's this image burned in my head... of her standing among our dead brothers and sisters. She has this ugly black tattoo around her neck, long wavy hair, and an wicked grin. Was like she was... enjoyin' it. She kept yellin' about how she's the only one who'd understand 'im. 'These worthless vermin will never love you as I.'”

“Supernova?”

Tabitha nodded.

“Ol' Nova negotiated a short truce with her so that we could take our dead from beneath her feet.”

Estelle now felt awful for pushing Tabitha. She imagined what she had seen in the intersection; the dismembered body parts. There were no more than a hundred or so people. What Tabitha was talking about must have been a slaughter. One third of fifteen-hundred was around seven hundred and forty. Seven hundred and forty soldiers were killed by a single person in a single battle. Estelle had immense trouble wrapping her brain around such a being, so tried to move the conversation forward.

“So... you don't know where he is then?” Estelle asked.

Tabitha shook her head.

“But we all think that he left to protect us,” she said. “It was obvious that she wanted nothing to do with the club. She kept shouting that she'd stop the bloodshed if Supernova would agree to have her. He was very mysterious and we didn't always understand his choices, but Gojo believes that he left so that he could deal with her on his own and not put anyone else in her path.

“I know that they've fought since he disappeared... Sometimes she can't find him and she'll scream and scream and scream. You can hear the cunt for miles...”

Estelle gasped at the sound of the harsh insult, ruthlessly and so easily wielded by Tabitha.

“What?” Tabitha asked with a bit of attitude. “An apple's and apple, Miss Essie. That woman is exactly what I called her. And if you're on the hunt for Nova, sooner or later, you will find yourself face to face with that-- well, you know.”

This devastating realization tore into Estelle's heart. Would she truly have to face the Pale Lady? If she was the sole purpose for his disappearance, then it would stand to reason Estelle and the Pale Lady's paths were destined to cross. Seeking to keep the conversation moving forward yet hesitant, Estelle didn't want to ask the next question that came to her mind, but she felt that she needed to.

“Is it possible that he's dead?”

“Sure, it's possible,” Tabitha answered, “but I don't think that he is. I heard a rumor around the club that when a Lightning Fighter dies, they emit a huge burst of light. This is how we'd know he were dead.”

“Lightning Fighter?”

“You sure have a lot of questions,” Tabitha mused. “You should get out of the water, your prunin' up real good.”

“Just this last question?”

She knew she shouldn't have, but Estelle put the most innocent look that she could on her face. It probably wasn't necessary, but Tabitha agreed anyway.

“I don't know a whole lot about it, but Lightning Fighting is the style of combat he uses that allows him to wield lightning. I never heard of it before I came to the club. The Pale Lady is also a Lightning Fighter, but her lightning is stronger than his. That's about all I know.”

Tabitha stood up before Estelle could ask her another question. She grabbed a towel and handed it to Estelle.

“I've got some other work to do,” Tabitha said. “I've arranged for you to have an escort.”

“Thanks for talking to me,” Estelle said. “You're the first friend I've had here.”

Tabitha gave a shy smile. She looked down, then back at Estelle. The grateful expression on her face was enough. She gave a slight bow, then exited the room. Estelle, then dried off and got dressed. Her clothes, still warm from the heater felt comforting upon her skins. She dried her hair and made sure she had her only possessions: her knife, her gun, and the snowflake charm. The pockets of her dress were deep enough to conceal them. The gun was small and fit in her right pocket. The knife fit in her left. The charm, Estelle chose to place in the front right pocket of her dress. She moved through the bedroom and out into the familiar high-ceiling hallway.

Waiting for her, across the hallway was a familiar face, but not who she expected. The short dreadlocks and darker skin immediately identified him as Mike's partner, Harrison. He wore a simple pair of jeans, black boots, and a worn out red button down shirt. He carried a shotgun casually slung on his back. He had very soft brown eyes and an easy expression. He seemed much friendlier than Mike.

“There you are!” he called. His voice was calm. “Estelle? Right?”

The girl nodded.

“Name's Harrison,” he said.

Estelle gave a small curtsy, while looking at his shoes.

“It's nice to meet you too. So, what happens now?”

“Whatever you want,” he replied, reaching into his pocket.

He handed her a couple of packaged chocolate cakes. They were slightly squished from being in his pocket, but they still looked soft and very delicious.

“I want to go outside,” Estelle said, taking the cakes. “I want to see the snow.”

“I thought you might say that. Let's go then.”

Harrison didn't even wait for Estelle to respond before he began walking. She followed a few feet behind him. She put one of the cakes in her pocket and opened the other. When she bit into it, chocolate and icing flavor exploded. It was the most delicious thing that she had ever eaten. She quickly ate the rest of it and went to work on the second.

Harrison was a man of few words, so they spent much of their walk in silence. This gave her plenty of time to think, which was what she was best at. She often took her scenario and applied the worst possibilities to it to prepare for the worst. However, Tabitha's story imbued the girl with motivation and inspiration. She. was more determined to leave the estate now. With armed security patrolling the estate, it would be difficult. However, she was hungry for her new life. The pair traveled to the bottom level. Estelle had just asked Harrison where Mr. Grigori was.

“Taking care of the usual business,” Harrison simply replied.

Two large, decorated wooden doors adorned the threshold of the estate. One of the doors was propped open and a cool burst of air filtered in. The air tickled her skin. She was very sensitive to the cold, it seemed. It made her feel safe though. It made her feel alive. Right as Estelle and Harrison reached the doorway, he stopped and turned on his heel.

“Look,” he said, looking into her eyes with a serious expression. “Like you, I'd rather be somewhere else and with someone else, no offense. I can tell you're smart. You don't need a babysitter and I know you don't want one. We'll go our separate ways from this point on.”

Estelle didn't expect this. Harrison was offering her freedom.

“What will Mr. Grigori say?” Estelle asked. “Will he not be angry when he realizes you lost me?”

“Fuck 'im. I'll make some shit up. We're good.”

With that, Harrison turned back on his heel and disappeared out the door. Estelle was left on the threshold of Mr. Grigori's estate. From here she could see the foggy red sky, shrouding the tops of buildings. She walked outside and marveled at her breath appearing before her eyes. Seeing it manifest was like taking a new breath of a new life. She came out upon a large stone staircase with black railings on either side. She descended and stepped into an inch of snow.

A white blanket covered the entire courtyard. All of the people were walking around in it, children were playing in it, and even the soldiers of the estate seemed to be lax. While most of the survivors were dressed in multiple layers of clothing, Estelle's skin was pleased by the cold. She felt it, but it didn't bother her. She knelt down and scooped up a handful of the powdery substance. She closed her palm and watched as the snow fell apart in her hand. She smiled. She forgot where she was for a moment. The high walls charmed her into a false sense of security and she knew it. For a moment, she let herself feel like a child. She kept her goal to escape in the back of her mind.

Estelle began to wander around the courtyard. She quietly observed the other survivors. Some of the children had crudely built a snowman with what little snow they could get to stick. Adults huddled together and drank something warm out of old tin cups. There extended a main path from the front steps of the estate and divided the courtyard in two halves. The path stopped at the main gates of the courtyard, on the other side of which the wall rose up. Atop the wall, Estelle could make out several people pacing back and forth. She took these men to be snipers.

The child in her felt that these armed soldiers were angels, protectors sent by Mr. Grigori to watch over the helpless survivors of Eve's Hollow. The much wiser person in her knew that he could order those men to shoot her if he was so inclined to. She wondered why the civilians were not free to go. The more she thought about it, the more it intrigued her. She found herself walking toward the wall. As she approached she saw that the wall was made of piled up cars and chunks of metal with various items filling the gaps. Everything seemed welded together in a rush. Items from cinder blocks to fire hydrants to wooden furniture were stacked, nailed together, and crushed into place.

“Not too close, Sunshine,” a familiar, gruff voice said from behind.

Estelle looked over her shoulder to see Mike standing there.

“Why is no one allowed to leave here?” Estelle asked him.

“What's the matter? Ain't ya happy here? Or you'd rather be torn apart by the Punished?”

“I'm just... curious.”

“For your own safety. All there is to it.”

Mike held an assault rifle that was strapped to his chest. He looked up at the sky, then down at his feet.

“Snow's nice though,” he said.

Estelle didn't like talking to Mike. She knew that his response would be less than helpful. She found it difficult to continue acting as a child and being carefree. Her mind drifted back to her mission. Find Supernova. Escape the compound. Estelle began to feel small and helpless as she looked around, searching for a way out. The walls were solid. She didn't even know how the machine that brought her there got inside. The sadness came again. With it a cold wind blew across the courtyard, throwing her hair in her face. With an unconscious swipe of her hand, she moved her hair behind her ear. Mike pulled his coat tighter around himself. Estelle wished for a way; any way to get out of the compound. She felt like she needed a miracle.

“I'LL DESTROY YOU!” A monstrous female voice tore out across the sky, followed by the boom of thunder.

There was a flash of bright royal blue light followed, again by the sound of thunder, shaking the ground. Before Estelle's eyes a massive section of the wall had been broken down by a collapsing beast. This beast was massive and humanoid with dark purple flesh. It's eyes and mouth glowed like the Punished. With slimy, black hands, the creature tried to rise up.

“WHEN I SAY DIE... YOU DIE!” the woman screeched.

Estelle saw a light, similar a small star, shoot at a crane situated on a nearby building. The light fixed there and a savage bolt of royal blue lightning struck it from the ground below. A person attached to the other end of the bolt swung up from it and leaped high into the air. Wild hair flailing about, the Pale Lady hovered high in the air for a few moments. With those moments, she put her hands high above her head and materialized a car-sized ball of lightning. Without mercy, she cast it down upon the monster.

The crowd attempted to disperse as the mass of lightning washed out everything with intense light. Estelle turned her back on the creature and tried to run for cover. Before she could even find something to dive behind, she felt the force of an explosion and an intense heat at her back. She was thrown forward into the snow. Mike was thrown to the ground near her. She watched as he quickly recovered. She shakily scrambled to her feet. Where the beast once was, there was now a smoldering carcass, completely unrecognizable. The corpses of nearby civilians were charred. The Pale Lady, gone.

“Shit!” Mike screamed. “The Punished are comin' through! Get inside! Now!”

Mike tore off toward the hole in the wall, the rapid fire of his gun drowning out his screams. Estelle looked in the direction that he was running and saw a flood of glowing-eyed Punished rushing over the crushed portion of the wall and filtering into the compound. The once carefree survivors fled to the mansion in a wild panic like scattering insects beneath a freshly overturned rock. The survivors were fast, but the Punished were relentless.

Screams rang out across the courtyard and Estelle froze in fear as she watched two dozen of the Punished attack and brutally kill an equal number of survivors. Men, women, and children all fell to the insatiable frenzy of the Punished. The worst realization was that the Punished were not armed and were taking human lives with their bare hands. Ripping, tearing, mutilating. The Punished tore through the people and Estelle remained petrified as they protected their Hollow.

Mike disappeared into the chaos. Many of the other soldiers were firing their weapons into the crowd of Punished. At first, Estelle wondered about all of the innocent people among the Punished. It was only after that she realized there were far fewer humans and the Punished were making their way to the house. The savagery of the Punished would get inside and kill everyone. Everyone would die. Including Grigori himself.

Estelle was caught in an unforgiving moral seesaw of emotions. She found that even though she didn't know any of these people, she didn't want them to die. The crueler side of her thought of the bigger picture. Mr. Grigori would be out of her way. For good this time. Estelle thought of Aleena's words and she began to relax. Freedom is everything. If you can't be free, you might as well be dead. She was right. Estelle already knew that she wanted her freedom. She'd even wished for a miracle. So it was delivered.

It was then that she looked toward the damaged wall. The Punished had ceased filtering through it and now the Punished and Grigori's soldiers were battling for control of the courtyard. She saw Punished rip men apart as well as the men putting the Punished down in bursts of bullets. The beautiful, sparkling snow now splashed with crimson. She looked at the hole in the wall again. There it was. The freedom that she had so desperately desired. Before she could stop herself, she ran for the breach. She whispered an apology for the lost lives of the survivors, but knew that where she was going, her odds would be far worse than theirs.

Taking advantage of the chaos, no one seemed to notice Estelle making her way to the wall. She maneuvered around the smoldering corpse of the monster and began to climb jagged pieces of metal to get through the wall. It pained her hands to have to grab the sharp holds that would lead her to freedom. Hearing more of the Punished, Estelle quickly ducked under an upside down car in the middle of the wall. After they passed, she quickly climbed through and out of the wall. Dress torn and flesh cut and scraped, Estelle took off into the city. Not really knowing where she was going, her mind only focused on escaping from Damian Grigori.

She didn't know how long she was running or how far. She knew, though, that she gone far enough when she could no longer hear the screams and the gunfire. She stopped on the stoop of a building and looked around for the Punished. She knew that they could be anywhere and attack at any time. She knew she had to keep moving so she forced herself to go. She looked up and saw that the red fog in the sky had gotten lower, further obscuring the entirety of the skyscrapers around her.

Taking it much slower, Estelle was able to rest and pace herself. She took in her surroundings and again realized how small she was compared to the great city. For an instant she wondered if she would have been better off if she had run for the house. She wondered if she would be able to find Supernova in this dreaded city. She also recalled the conversation about the Blue Key Club. That was a place that she'd love to go, but she had no idea how to find it. She wondered how Tabitha fared, especially with the breach in the wall. These thoughts plagued her. They plagued her so much so that she didn't hear the rumbling coming toward her.

Tall, slender, and seemingly made of flesh and shadow, Estelle gazed upon a creature that walked the streets of Eve's Hollow. It stood fifteen feet tall and was humanoid in appearance. It was several hundred yards away, but Estelle could see it's glowing orange eyes. She did not want to cross paths with whatever it was. She swiftly ducked into a store with a giant neon sign that read Milton's Mirrors.

The store was packed with crates and mirrors of all shapes and sizes that were covered in dusty drapes. Estelle hid behind a crate and watched as the shadow skulked by. Estelle held her breathe as it passed in front of the store, then stopped. Heart in her throat, Estelle reached for her gun, though she didn't know how much it would help. The shadow's massive head and orange eyes turned toward the mirror store.

Estelle clapped her hand over mouth as she couldn't hold her breath any longer. She did her best to silence her breathing and she held her gun close to her chest. For a minute or so it stared into the store, then moved on. Estelle decided to remain off of the streets for now. She thought that she would have better luck traversing the rooftops as she did before. Inside of the store she sought a way up.

She wondered why all of the mirrors had been covered up. The store was massive, maybe the size of a department store. Yes. A department store for mirrors. Though, in it's run-down state, it had more qualities of a warehouse than a store.

Weaving her way through the clustered mirrors and stacks of crates, Estelle found it increasingly difficult to see. Further away from the street, there was even less light. After a while, her eyes adjusted about as well as they could have. After wandering around for an indeterminable amount of time, Estelle saw a red “Exit” sign on a far wall. She thought that perhaps there would be stairs there. Paranoia of something attacking her in this darkness clumsily hurried her to the door.

She opened it and found just what she had been hoping for; a staircase with roof access. Like the rooftop stairwells, this was was wide and very tall. However it lacked the glass walls and roof. Estelle skipped steps as she ascended the stairs. Estelle counted a total of seven staircases that she climbed. Seven stories she climbed. Then she came to an old wooden door.

As she reached for the knob, a dark, suffocating tension manifested around her. She was cold now. Not like when she was in the snow. Cold as in dead. Estelle didn't want to open the door, but it was far too late to turn back. She forced herself to grab the knob and enter.

On the other side was a very long, very wide hallway. Many more mirrors were packed into this hallway. Only these mirrors were not covered. Just as before, all sizes and all shapes. Tall, small, wide, round, square, distorted, different colored frames. This was a collection that no doubt took many years to accumulate. Estelle still felt as if it was difficult to breath, but she continued, hoping for another exit sign.

Just as she stepped away from the door, heavy metal bars blocked the way back. She spun around, heart thumping. Her morale sank as the realization came over her. The only way to go was forward. She tried not to look at the several dozens of reflections of herself. She never liked looking at herself in the mirror. Self esteem issues birthed by her father helped cause this. As she moved deeper into the maze of mirrors, she found that her legs began to ail her. Her body felt heavy. This- suffocating feeling was familiar.

A red glow came about the area that she was walking into. Briefly excited, she thought that had found the exit. Strangely, the light didn't seem to come from anywhere.

“It's good to see you again,” a young voice hissed from the darkness.

Estelle immediately drew her gun and pointed it in all directions, looking for the source of the voice.

“I'm hurt that you want to shoot me!” the voice said mockingly. “Seriously though, that won't do you any good.”

“Who are you?” Estelle shouted. “Show yourself!”

“Now I'm really offended.”

The voice moved from nowhere to behind her. She quickly turned but only saw her reflection staring back at her. She looked around and so did her reflections.

“Where?”

Estelle looked between the mirrors, above them and on the ground around them.

“I've been here the whole time,” the voice said just as Estelle figured out what was happening.

Standing straight up with her gun at her side, she and all of her reflections turned to her immediate left to, with fear, gaze into a mirror in which her reflection gazed back with a malicious, sadistic grin.

“Remember me?” her reflection chided.

“My dream...”

“Was it really a dream?”

The pressure was greater on her small body. She struggled just to stand. Estelle remembered the dream that she had during her stay at Grigori Estate. She remembered the weight of being chained down and her sadistic reflection.

“Who are you?” Estelle asked.

“I'm you, stupid.”

“You're the opposite of me.”

“I suppose that's as close to right as you'll come for now,” said the Anti-Estelle. “I'm very impressed that you left your father's estate. Impressed because you've thrown all of your faith into someone you don't even know.”

“You don't have to tell me-”

“Yes, I do. I do have to tell you because you spend all of your time and hope on someone who, for all you know, could be dead. You should rely on you. Just like you did, escaping the estate.”

The Anti-Estelle walked closer to the glass of the mirror. Estelle looked into her eyes and staring back at her were small orbs of gold and orange; a fiery stare. Estelle's own eyes were very dark much of the time, ready to swallow anything she sees to commit it to her memory.

“I'm leaving,” Estelle said, turning and walking away.

“You think you're leaving me?” the Anti-Estelle asked. “You are me.”

Estelle stopped dead in her tracks.

“I'm am not you,” she said staring at the ground.

“Then why do I appear when you look in the mirror? Tell me, do you think the Punished have gotten him yet? I mean, you saw that slaughter in courtyard. Stop trying to pretend like you're so innocent. You're not so different from your past life. And you're not so different from me.”

“You don't decide who I am!” Estelle shouted. “That's up to me now! I left the estate because I didn't want my life to be what it was before! Damian Grigori in Eve's Hollow only proves that my second chance is real and I'm taking it.”

“That's fine,” Anti-Estelle said. “But are you sure his presence doesn't mean that the life you had before was actually the life you were meant for?”

Estelle's heart skipped a beat. Speaking of fate and meaning, Estelle had never considered that her old life was what she was meant for. She only ever focused on the fact that she would get to start a new one. Did his presence in the Hollow mean that her dream of a life without him was just that; a dream? Could it mean that she had a second chance to please him? The red light seemed to grow dimmer and Estelle felt the darkness creeping around her, reaching for her with invisible fingers.

“That's really fucked up,” Estelle said, looking at her counterpart with tears in her eyes. “That you would say that. That's how I know I'm not like you. Yes, I have bad thoughts. Yes, I can be selfish. And sometimes I do think I'm like my past life... But I would never try to destroy someone's hope like that! There are a lot of things I'd be willing to take for myself, but I would never steal someone's hope away!”

“You're so naïve,” she said with a mocking grin.

There was a slight pause as a new fire of her own burned and sparked in Estelle's belly.

“You're a bitch.”

Estelle drew her gun and shot at the Anti-Estelle, shattering her mirror. The gunshot echoed through the room. She must have hit something else because sparks flew out in the distance. For a moment, the red light flickered, then shut off. The lazy sound of a backup generator hummed through the air and dim florescent lights came on, illuminating the room. Estelle's heart was thumping. She looked down at her gun, still smoking, then at the mirror, annihilated.

The Anti-Estelle had failed to change Estelle's way of thinking, however she planted the seeds of doubt deeper than she wanted to admit. She felt shaky and very angry. She was having trouble focusing. Had she gotten in over her head? One thing stood out for sure to Estelle through her meeting with her counterpart: she was in need of assistance. The Anti-Estelle was right in saying that she was naïve; naïve to think that she could take on the monstrous task of finding a single warrior in a gargantuan city. She only knew one person in Eve's Hollow that she felt she could turn to.

Estelle located the next stairwell to get to the rooftops quite easily in the illuminated room. Her body hurt from being under pressure before. Her legs ached with every step up she took. Eventually she made it to the roof of the building. As she expected, there was at least one skybridge that ascended to a higher building. She made her way up, not encountering any evil and only having her sorrowful thoughts to keep her company. The thoughts were so powerful that it was like the Anti-Estelle was strolling along next to her.

From a much higher vantage point, Estelle was able to make out a building that had not been completed. From that building, she saw several cranes; including two that looked very familiar. Estelle knew that from where she was, she would be able to make her way back to the residence of Baron Ransley. Ransley seemed to be a genuine person who did want to help her. He thought it was foolish of her to seek out the samurai in the first place, but she she relied on the gentleman in him to show through and step up to her aid.

Already exhausted, Estelle painstakingly climbed up and down the skybridges of Eve's Hollow with the best sense of direction that she could muster. She encountered only one of the Punished on the rooftops. She had already passed the crane that she leaped to to escape the hoard of the creatures that had been relentlessly chasing her. From where she was, she easily knew the way to Ransley's residence.

At this point Estelle's body throbbed in pain and her breathing was heavy. When she came to the rooftop, just one other roof stood between her and her destination. The bridge that she needed was blocked by a lone male Punished. He had been slumped over a garbage can when she arrived at the top of the landing. Upon hearing her steps, he lurched up like a mummified marionette with invisible strings. He turned his glowing orange eyes at her. It took him a moment, but he slowly made his way toward her.

The entire time that Estelle had been traveling, the images and words of the Anti-Estelle repeated in her head like waves thrashing in a cave. By the time she had encountered the lone Punished, she had grown weary of forcing herself to view her situation optimistically. She was mentally and physically exhausted, psychologically tortured, and weak. She hated feeling weak and that's all she had ever been since she came to be. Weak to the Punished. Weak to Ransley. Weak to Grigori. Weak to Mike. Weak to everyone.

Self-directed furious anger filled her up and her heart began to race. Her face felt hot and every attachment that she had on her feelings was severed. She reached into her pocket and drew her knife. The curved, unused blade shone even in the darkness. Ransley had told her that this blade was most likely sharper than anything she'd ever used before.

The Punished lumbered toward her, incompetent and completely ignorant of the circumstances around him. Instinct drove this ugly ghoul and nothing more. Estelle's compassion had drained from her body and in its place, a dangerous curiosity began to form. It wasn't the kind of curiosity a child would have. It was a very adult curiosity to know what what domination felt like. Fear had pushed her through the dirt of her emotions and she came out in an underworld that she wanted to control, unlike her fear. Confidence and arrogance rose within. Her eyes narrowed and she held her knife firm.

“Diiiiiieee...,” the Punished wheezed at her.

The Punished fingers reached toward Estelle as he dragged forward. Estelle didn't wait for him to come to her.

“No,” Estelle said. “You die!”

Using her broken emotional state as a battering ram, she charged the monster with enough force to knock him to the ground. She straddled him and he reached up to grab her throat with an angry shout. He tried to talk more, but only wheezes came out.

Estelle violently threw his hands away from her neck, but he continued to attack her. Rage building, the girl began using her knife to cut chunks of his arm away. Blood splatter sprayed on her face, but it didn't staunch the flow of hate. He screamed out in pain, but still tried to strangle her. Eventually she was able to tire him to the point that she could exploit a small opportunity to stab her enemy in his neck. His blood was dark and warm as it gushed all over her hand. The Punished man attempted one final futile swipe at her throat. Estelle ripped her blade from his neck with a scream and the man died beneath her.

Estelle breathed heavily and watched the orange glow fade from his eyes. She screamed and plunged her knife into this chest. She did this again and again until her hands were covered, slick with blood. She grunted with each stab and when she was finished, she rolled off of his corpse and tried to catch her breath. While her chest heaved up and down, tears fell down the sides of her face, mixing with the blood. Her quiet sobs were the only sound on that roof.

*** Estelle didn't know how long she had been lying there next to her kill. Her eyes stung from tears and her hands were sticky with dried blood. She shakily rose to her feet, using a crate for support and began toward Ransley's penthouse. Estelle held her knife, ready to fight again, though she lacked the energy. Ransley was correct when he told her how sharp it was. The bulk of her attempts at her fight were simply to subdue the Punished man. She needed relatively little effort to actually kill him. She knew that she'd have far less trouble with her gun here, but she knew that there would be more blood with the knife. That's what she wanted. There were no more enemy encounters on her way.

Estelle sheathed her knife when she made it to the elevator to his penthouse. It was only as the elevator hummed up during its ascension that she realized how she must appear. Still so very tired, she couldn't even think of an excuse to tell him. An excuse was something her evil past life would have given. A lie would be more accurate. Estelle wanted to be honest, but spare herself the torture of explaining the entire situation to Ransley, she would only tell him the bare minimum. She didn't have the energy to tell him everything even if she wanted to.

When Ransley opened the door to his penthouse, pistol aimed at a potential assailant, she knew exactly what to say before passing out from exhaustion.

“I need your help.”

Chapter IV - Hypocrisy

Estelle found that one of the worst aspects about Eve's Hollow was that there was no way to tell time. The sky was a gloomy red shroud all of the time. No sun, no moon, no day, no night. Once Estelle reached Ransley's residence, the immediate memories that followed were splotchy and vague. She had been at his home for what she perceived to be several hours.

Ransley, again took Estelle into his home. He treated the wounds on her hand. He gave her food and water. Ransley also provided means to clean the blood from her face. Estelle came to the realization that she had greatly missed him. He gave her his bed to rest in and she slept very well. It was a heavy, dreamless slumber. When she awoke, she left his bedroom and went out into the living room. The two couches that formed and “L” were situated on the far side of the room. She crossed the living space and sat on the couch. She listened for Ransley, but the penthouse was dead quiet.

She walked over to the window and pressed her hand against the cool glass. She looked down and could not see the street. It was just dark. Above, she tried to count the buildings that rose up around her. She had never known a city co large. She spent much of her old life in rural parts of her home country and on the run for the most part. She had only ever seen the ocean a handful of times. Eve's Hollow reminded her of the ocean. Though she had never been out to sea, she heard stories of crushing black depths beneath the water. A grave so deep and vast that it could swallow you and you'd never be found. She felt this way when she looked up at the buildings, as if she were already drowning.

The front door opened and Ransley entered the penthouse, completely unaware of Estelle's presence at first. He hurried in with his head down and his bag slung over his shoulder. He whipped it over his head and set it down on the floor before entering the living room. That's when he saw her and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“You're awake,” he said. He took a breath. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Estelle replied. “Thank you. Very much”

“I was out, uh, scouting,” Ransley said, pulling his coat off.

He threw his coat on the kitchen counter and entered the living room without bothering to remove the small arsenal of guns he kept strapped to his person. He dropped his body into the soft recliner that sat facing away from the window. Staring straight ahead, he took a deep breath.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Ransley did not look at her for a long time. This made Estelle feel awkward and nervous. He tried to choose which question to ask first. This girl had perplexed him since the moment he met her.

He simply said, “what happened to you?”

Estelle sighed. Without hesitation and without a break, she recounted the events that occurred after they last met. She explained to him how almost as soon as she had left she was captured by a vending machine that was made to abduct people. She described her awful, restless ride to the Grigori compound. She explained how the mansion was a shelter for survivors and their armed men keep them safe. Estelle retold the story that Tabitha told to her while she had been bathing. She told him of the club, the soldiers, and how Supernova was a part of it. She did, however omit her father's story of Supernova and the Pale Lady's fight.

Estelle ran him through the story of how the Pale Lady did strike down a giant beast that crushed the safety wall, allowing the blood thirsty Punished to rush into the compound. He was apparently familiar with scenes of battle, blood, and gore. His eyes were focused and empty, looking but not looking. She told him of the monster that she saw when she hid in the mirror shop. Estelle had not yet decided whether or not she wanted to tell him about her counterpart. She was afraid of the look in his eyes and did not want to say anything to make him perceive her as a threat. Fortunately he had a question for her at that point.

“How did you get all...,” he waved his hand in front of his face, “bloody?”

“I had a close encounter with a Punished,” Estelle simply answered. “I used the knife you gave me... The blood was mostly his.”

“Is that so?”

This seemed to brighten Ransley up a bit.

“Told you, didn't I?”

Estelle nodded with a half smile. During this conversation, Estelle chose to “forget” two facts. The first being the Anti-Estelle, she figured the creature may be a hallucination, a figment of her insanity. The second being that the man who lead the mansion and kidnapped was her father.

“What exactly do you want from me?” Ransley asked, crossing his arms.

“It's just- I went out there and I tried..”

“Even if the survivors couldn't to leave, don't you think you'd be safer there?”

“I may have been safe, but I wouldn't have been free.”

Ransley was surprised by this answer.

“Look,” Estelle said. “I know that this is crazy and I know that you don't agree with what I'm trying to do. But this samurai... He's my only way. I need to find him. But I can't do it alone...”

It was self explanatory at this point. Estelle wanted Ransley to accompany her. She needed him.

“What if the Supernova Samurai doesn't turn out to be who you think he is?”

“I-”

Estelle didn't have an answer.

“I don't know,” she said. “Like I said, this is my only way out so I'm trying to stay as positive as I can.”

Ransley nodded, understanding.

“I'm glad you that you chose not to engage that monster you saw in the mirror shop,” he said to her.

Estelle tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brow.

“That particular monster is known for something worse than killing,” he continued. “It has been known to... force itself on his victims. Man or Punished. Adult or child.”

Estelle swallowed hard. She shuddered at the thought of what that goliath could have done to her. She tried to keep her mind on point.

“About this club,” Ransley said.

“The Blue Key Club,” Estelle said.

“Right. The Blue Key Club. I knew about it, but I didn't know what the samurai was part of it.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“I don't. But I have ways of finding the answers to such questions.”

“What do you mean?” Estelle asked, puzzled.

“I went out to scout for a possible location of the Supernova Samurai.”

Estelle's eyes grew with hope.

“I was able to locate one place. I don't think that he's there, but I think that he might have been at one time.”

Estelle looked at him quizzically. Ransley sensed her confusion.

“I thought that it would be the best place to start looking, rather than hiking to that clock tower right away.”

The girl couldn't help but to smile. She felt a positive surge of energy rise up in her like an arc of fire shooting off of the sun.

“So you'll help me?” she asked, excitedly.

Ransley closed his eyes. “I still don't agree with what you're doing, but I can't let you go out into this city by yourself again. I wouldn't be able to live with myself.”

Estelle didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to express the amount of gratitude she had for him.

“Thank you, so much,” she exclaimed.

“Listen to me,” Ransley said, opening his eyes. “You've got to treat this more seriously.

Either of us could die out there. Yes, we can venture through the Hollow and be completely unharmed. Just as well, anything terrible could happen. You can't earn a second life if you lose it first.”

“You're right,” she replied. “I've been reckless and I realize that now.”

“I'll get you some water and we'll talk more about what I learned.”

Ransley stood to his feet and walked into the kitchen. Estelle reached into her pocket and pulled out her snowflake charm. Looking at it still gave her hope, but now it seemed less powerful. Things had gone very wrong since she had been in the city, but she knew that as bad as the situation was, it could be far worse. Ransley was going to accompany her on her search. This made her happy and she smiled a genuine smile. Ransley returned from the kitchen with two glasses; one full of water and another full of a light brown liquid that smelled flammable. He took a sip before he sat down.

He thought to himself. “Rodrick Mental Institution,” he said. “I believe that is where he made his home some time ago. We might not know exactly where he is now, but Rodrick might have clues to his whereabouts. So if you're serious about finding him, that's where I think we should start.”

“Where is this place?” Estelle asked.

“It's something of a hike, but during my scouting, I secured a route.”

Estelle gave him a smile.

“But you should know,” he continued, “that the entrance is impassable. A couple hundred or so of the Gray Skins.”

Estelle responded without thinking. “I'm sure we'll figure it out.”

Ransley gave a chuckle. “I was hoping that would have deterred you, but I should have known better. We can leave as soon as you feel up to it.”

“I'm ready now.”

“Of course you are,” Ransley said as he took a gulp from his flammable drink.

He rose to his feet and walked across the room to pick up his bag. He pulled his coat back on and slung the bag over his shoulder. Estelle jumped to her feet and joined him near the kitchen. Ransley finished his drink and sat the glass down on the counter.

“Are you going to be okay?” Estelle asked.

“Hm? Oh, yes, yes, yes. I'm fine.”

The two left his penthouse and went to the elevator. Ransley stared at the buttons and Estelle looked at the floor as the iron box descended into the darkness of the city. The silence between them was thick and awkward.

“So, do you use all those guns,” Estelle asked in an attempt to start conversation.

“Actually, no,” Ransley answered, still staring at the buttons. “I find that it's easier to stay alive when you avoid confrontation all together.”

“Then why do you carry so many guns?”

He looked at her now.

“You saw for yourself,” he said, very seriously. “When you engage one, you have to engage them all. The guns aren't for when I want to fight, they're for when I don't.”

The silence fell upon them again. The elevator screeched to a halt at the bottom level that connected to the sky bridge. There was a second set of elevators that went down to the street. They boarded one and rode it down to the ground level of the building.

“We aren't taking the sky bridges?” Estelle asked as they walked on to the street.

“No,” Ransley said. “The sky bridges require too much energy to traverse to this location. We'd be walking much longer than necessary.”

Ransley brought Estelle to a set of stairs that descended beneath the streets. The top of the stairwell was encased in a glass cylinder with an opening large enough for three or four people to fit through at a time. The stairwell was just as large with a green rail going down the middle. Ransley went ahead of her. Estelle was hesitant.

“Aren't you coming?” Ransley asked, turning to look at her.

“I just-” She took a deep breath. “I don't like being underground.”

“It will be much faster this way. Come on.”

With a look of great unease upon her face, Estelle followed Ransley underground. Ransley explained to her that this form of transportation worked very much like something called “the metro” from where he was from. Estelle explained to Ransley that she lived in the countryside of her home for her entire life, so the city and all that came with it were still fairly new to her.

She felt a tightness in her chest as darkness surrounded them. Ransley reached into his bag, retrieving a flashlight, and illuminated the stairwell. The darkness and the closed space didn't seem to bother him as much as it did her. Only the white light of Ransley's flashlight showed the way. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a long, concrete hallway.

“Even though the power is still on,” Ransley said, “a lot of areas are still without electricity. The train cars have power though.”

Their footsteps echoed off the concrete wall. After passing a set of turn styles, they descended another flight of stairs and came out onto a platform. The darkness was engulfing and Estelle felt similar as when she stood in the face of her anti-self.

“The car we want is over here,” Ransley said walking down the platform, passing four or five cars.

The tracks were separated in the middle where the platform connected to the opposite side of the space. This would give them access to the several rows of train cars. Above the platforms were metal signs that numbered the rows. Ransley flashed his light upon them and Estelle saw that the cars were numbered up to twenty-four. Ransley stopped at car number twelve, on their right side. This car seemed only slightly aged compared to the others, which to Estelle resembled rusty, orange, cans with holes for windows. Ransley pushed a button on car number twelve and the doors opened. With that, a trail of dim overhead lights flickered on.

“After you,” Ransley said, gesturing toward the open door.

Estelle entered the car and held onto a pole that was fixed in the ceiling and the floor. Ransley entered behind her and he pressed another button on the inside of the car, shutting the doors. The inside of the train car was lined with red cushioned seats on either side. There were two fire extinguishers, one at the front and one at the rear of the vessel. The floor was steel and grimy brown. Ransley moved to the front of the car where a console was placed with several levers and buttons.

Ransley flipped a switch and hit a couple of buttons. The car vibrated and hummed to life. Ransley pulled a couple of levers and the car slowly screeched forward. The screeching didn't last long and Estelle was so overjoyed that this mode of transportation didn't rattle her bones like the behemoth from her father's estate. The car rode through the darkness. Ransley explained that these cars were made to transport workers and materials throughout the city. With so many people living in Eve's Hollow, it was more convenient to give the workers their own private railway. While underground now, Ransley said that the tracks would eventually take them back above ground, then through the city. Sure enough, after a few minutes, Estelle saw the towering black spires of Eve's Hollow engulfed by red fog.

The tracks that the car was set on ascended as it came out of the tunnel. It rose high above the streets and between the skyscrapers. Estelle marveled at how vast the city was. She enjoyed flying through the air on the train. She felt untouchable by the Punished. Estelle attempted to see if she could spot anything on the ground, but they were too far up to be able to see the streets.

“I keep forgetting how enormous this place is,” Estelle said, gazing out the window.

“I don't think that there's any person who has ever crossed the entire city,” Ransley said.

“What's the story behind this place?” Estelle asked, still staring at the buildings.

“As you know, this city was once a very different place,” Ransley responded. “The sky was blue as blue could be, the clouds were fluffy, the night was crisp and diamond filled. But because of mankind's greed and selfishness, the creator of the city, Ashlyn, cursed it and all who resided within.”

“Were you here when it happened?”

“Me? Yes. When the fog came, the people mutated into what we know as the Punished. There were others though, worse monsters. And there were people who didn't change.”

“Like you?”

“Yes. And yourself. I've seen people arrive in Eve's Hollow only to fall to the ground and lose their minds. It's a terrible thing to witness.”

There was a brief silence between them.

“I've seen some very terrible things since I've been here,” Estelle said.

The train car shook on the tracks as it entered a section of buildings that rose high above the train, casting them in semi-darkness.

“You mean like that massacre you told me about?”

Ransley turned to look at Estelle. She nodded. Her heart, then sank into her chest as a realization washed over her. She spoke it out loud, more to solidify it to herself, than to inform Ransley.

“The man who kidnapped me was the same man responsible for that massacre.”

Estelle looked at the ground in a trance. She could feel Ransley's eyes staring at her though.

“How do you know this?” he asked her firmly.

“The men that I saw inspecting the deaths in the massacre were the same men who were assigned to babysit me at his estate.”

The words sounded bitter coming out of her mouth and to her, tasted twice as bad. Babysitting. Child. She turned away from Ransley and leaned her head against the window.

“I'm sorry for your friend that died there,” she said quietly. “I ran away from that man and I never want to see him again.”

“Well I think that's best,” Ransley said. “Look. We're approaching our stop.”

Rapidly approaching was a station upon a platform that was connected to a sky bridge. The buildings stood around them as if watching them approach. The train screeched to a stop. Ransley shut down the car and opened the doors for them to leave. After stepping out, Ransley closed the door using the button on the outside of the car.

The station consisted of a concrete platform encased in large glass panes with metal frames between them. The glass panes extended from the opening of the platform to the back, then up the familiar flight of stairs to a sky bridge. In the center of the platform was a series of connected seats for workers to sit in while they waited for their train. This space was broken and abandoned like everywhere else Estelle had seen.

“While you were asleep, I came through here,” Ransley told her. “Saw to it that there were no Punished and made sure it was safe for us.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Estelle said as they began to climb the stairs. “You did it alone?”

Ransley nodded

“You could have died. Why take that risk for me?”

Ransley chuckled as they reached the landing at the top of the stairs.

“Well you showed up at my door half-dead and asking for my help. I knew once I found a lead that you'd want to pursue it. You don't want my help anymore?”

“It's not that- I'm sorry.”

Estelle realized how offensive that must have sounded.

“I appreciate your help. I really do.”

Estelle organized her thoughts and wondered why she kept questioning his help. The answer came to her quicker than she had expected.

“It's just,” she hesitated. “It's just that in my past life, I- she was always on the run. She often needed the help of strangers and more than a few of them expected a kind of payment no woman should have to give. Everyone wants something.”

“I see,” Ransley said quietly. “Well the only thing I have left to lose is my life and I figured if I lost it doing some good- well, that's fine by me.”

Estelle was speechless.

Now they were traveling across a series of roof tops. There were three in total and a single steel and glass bridge stretched across them all creating a single grand walkway. The path was fifty yards wide and several hundred yards long. Seats were situated on the sides as well as trash cans, telephone booths, and one that made Estelle cringe, a snack machine.

“You haven't asked me for anything,” Estelle said. “Before I even woke up, you came out here and found a lead for me. I guess I'm just not sure how to take your generosity.”

Ransley stopped walking. Estelle did as well. She was afraid that she had upset him. Ransley stared up at the sky. The fog was moving. Ghostly shadows of taller buildings faded in and out of view.

“I'll tell you what,” he said, looking at Estelle with a soft, kind smile. “Let me entertain you with one of my old hunting stories over some tea when we get back. Then, we'll call it even. Deal?”

He held his right hand out to Estelle. She was taken aback by his gesture. She returned his smile and took his hand.

“Deal,” she said.

About half way down the walkway, Ransley told Estelle that the end of it would be the end of their rooftop travel. From there, they'd travel on the ground where it would be more treacherous. Estelle and Ransley spent the walk to the stairs at the end of the walkway in silence. He stopped her at the very top of the stairs before descending.

“Before we go any further, there is something you have to know,” he said.

“What is it?”

“The entrance to Rodrick is overrun by the Punished so we will probably have to find another way in. Once we're inside, we have to stay close, just in case there are any surprises waiting for us. Now would be a good time to take out your gun.”

Estelle followed his suggestion. He drew a handgun.

“Let's go,” he said.

Ransley took the lead down the iron stairs. Estelle realized as the buildings grew taller around them that she missed the rooftops. She preferred to be high up instead of low to the ground. Being on the ground in Eve's Hollow made her feel small and she absolutely hated feeling small. Grigori made her feel small too. She hated him just as much. She knew this was the path that she must follow, though. They reached the ground level in what was a large alley way.

The usual were strewn about; trash, debris, human corpses torn apart by the Punished. The coast was clear as far as Estelle could see. One end of the alley was far closer to them than the other. To their left was the street and to their right, the alley extended into nothingness. Ransley moved toward the street and kept to the right side. He stopped at the corner and peered out and around for any creatures that may have wanted to slaughter them.

“All clear,” he said. “It's not much farther now. A couple of blocks that way and a few more down the left, there.”

Ransley pointed down the street. Estelle took the lead this time, walking and taking in her surroundings. She still was not used to this city. She wondered if all cities were as large as this one. During her travels in her past life, she had heard tales of cities or occasionally listened to the news on a radio. These were her only sources of knowledge from the outside world. She was very embarrassed to admit that she was ignorant to many things in the city. Commodities to these people such as cars and the hundreds of stores that they could visit were fresh concepts to her. She still could not fathom how man could build such grand structures. The only things that towered over her were mountains, trees, and concrete homes, but not skyscrapers. This concrete jungle was very odd to her indeed. She knew, though, that she couldn't keep wasting time thinking about her ignorance. She pushed those thoughts away and pressed on.

After the couple of blocks, they turned down a street called Bishop Ave. Ransley told Estelle that Rodrick was at the end of Bishop Ave, at the bottom of a large hill. They were able to navigate the street without incident. There were no Punished here and stranger, there were no bodies. Estelle wondered if the people who survived here got away. There were fewer cars here as well, giving them a lot more walking room than they had before, but fewer places to hide.

As they progressed, they came to the top of a hill. Once they reached it, the road continued down at a slight angle. The buildings stopped at this point and a series of trees on either side lined the road all the way up to a large iron gate that closed off tall stone wall. More lines of trees formed a small patch of woods around them. From the top of the hill, the mental institution could be seen. It was a tall, dark structure that looked like an old, dark mansion with four prominent spires at the corners.

Rodrick's courtyard was easily visible with several more trees. The stone wall surrounded the institution. Enclosed within the gate was a large black mass, gently swaying back and forth. Estelle's heart dropped.

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked Ransley in a quiet voice.

“Mhm. I'd say that there's about two-hundred. Maybe two-fifty. This is as far as I came. But if you want answers regarding your Guardian, that's the best lead we've got without having to venture further from home.”

Estelle and Ransley walked down the hill, sticking to the right side of the road, near the trees. The hill made them walk fast, but neither were in a hurry to face the coming obstacle. When they reached the gate, the stone rose up twenty feet. Iron spikes on top of the wall lined it all the way around. Ransley and Estelle knelt down next to the opening of the wall where the iron gate was.

“So how do we get in?” Estelle whispered.

“Let's go around the side.”

They followed the wall to their right, into the trees where it was darkest. They kept the wall on their left side as they watched their step over roots, broken branches, and rocks. The broken branches left small patches of dead leaves on the ground. The rustling of their footsteps were so loud in the silence that Estelle thought that they'd be discovered by the hoard of monsters on the other side of the stone wall. Keeping low to the ground, they tried to move slower.

“There must be a way in,” Ransley whispered over his shoulder.

“Look,” Estelle said, pointing ahead of them. “What about that?”

A few feet ahead was a small hole in the stone wall. Here the wall had been broken in, as if someone took a sledgehammer and beat the wall, creating an opening just large enough for a small man to crawl through. When they approached it, it had been covered with vines, some dead, some surprisingly lush.

“We can cut through,” Ransley said, drawing a small single-sided hunting knife from the inside of his coat.

He promptly began to cut through the vines. Estelle drew her knife and did the same. She found that if her blade cut through flesh like butter, then cutting through vines was almost the same as cutting the air. In no time, the vines were cleared and so was their path. Ransley insisted that he climb through the hole first. That way if anything was waiting on the other side, he would be the only one to die. Estelle was astounded at how clam he was on the subject of losing his life.

Ransley got down on his hands and knees and crawled a third of the way through the opening. He waited and Estelle held her breath. She partially expected something to grab him and pull him through the hole. After a few moments, he disappeared through.

“All clear,” he called. “Come on.”

Estelle passed through the hole and joined Ransley on the other side. They had come to the side of Rodrick Institution. A grand lawn, dotted with large trees wrapped around the sides and back of the building. Estelle and Ransley crouched near a tree that was next to the hole. From where they were, they could see the shadows of tress in the yard toward the back, and about half a dozen or so Punished toward the front. Estelle peered toward the Punished and tried to make out individual faces.

The corner of the black mass of monsters was visible as well. She was not able to make out faces, but she was easily able to see the glowing dots that were the eyes and mouths of her enemies. Seeing the Punished confused her. There was the quiet little girl in the back of her mind who was afraid of these glowing-faced beasts. But there was also the killer that she used to be. Killing that Punished before reuniting with Ransley awoken something inside of her. When she saw them, she didn't just feel sacred, she felt excited. This was not the time for excitement though.

In the darkness, Ransley could just make out the windows on the bottom level.

“Think we can get in through one of those?” he asked.

“It's worth trying. Do you think we'll be safe inside?”

Ransley waited a moment before answering.

“Well we don't know what's in there,” he said, still looking at the windows. “We don't know if anyone's moved in since your man moved out. But there's only one way to find out. Let's go.”

Still low to the ground, Estelle followed Ransley across the yard. They continued to use the trees for cover against the Punished. Once they reached the side of the building, they weren't a problem any more. They walked along the side of the asylum and the windows came down to Ransley's waist. He tried several of the windows, but they seemed to be locked and each attempted only ended with a frustrated grunt. After the fourth or fifth window, they came to one who's bottom pane of glass was broken. The space in the window was too small for a grown man, but not for a young girl. Ransley looked at Estelle and she seemed to know what he was thinking.

“Help me up?” she asked.

Ransley knelt down beneath the window and locked his hands on his knee. Estelle placed her foot in his hands and Ransley boosted her up to the broken window. Being careful of the jagged shards still left, she climbed through and opened the window from the inside. She placed her hands at the bottom and tried to open it. It didn't budge. Estelle strained and grunted and her hands began to hurt. With a shutter, though, the window came loose and she heaved it up, allowing Ransley to climb through. She was surprised that an old man like him had the strength to climb through a window. None the less, she grabbed his coat and helped to pull him through.

The inside was very dark. No lights of any kind were present. Tall shadows stood around them. Estelle heard a flick, then Ransley's flashlight lit the room. It seemed as though they chose to enter the institution through a book-keeping room. The shadows around them turned out to be large stacks of books and papers. Many stacks were sloppily placed upon desks while the rest were stacked on the floor.

“Did you hear that?!” a voice shouted from outside.

Ransley pulled Estelle to the wall and he crouched down under the window. He placed his index finger in front of his mouth and hushed the girl. As they waited, several more voices approached. Angry, hostile voices.

“I know I heard it!” another Punished said.

“There's nothing here! There's nothing anywhere!”

“STOP SCREWING ME AROUND!” another bellowed.

They couldn't determine the number of Punished that was there, but their voices began to fade away as they continued to search the outside of the building for nothing. Ransley and Estelle moved away from the window and looked at it.

“That was close,” Ransley said. “Let's get going. Gun at the ready, eh?”

Estelle nodded and held her gun up. They found the door to the room and Ransley placed his hand on the knob. He turned it and the old wooden door creaked open. He aimed his flashlight as well as his handgun out the door. He moved into the hall and quickly checked both sides.

“We're all clear,” he said.

Estelle followed him, gun at the ready. The hall was dark, but Ransley's flashlight gave away small details. The floor was black and white tiled. The walls were painted white. The ceiling bore hanging florescent tubes. They were in a hall full of other wooden doors. It was very quiet here. Ransley eased up. His demeanor relaxed.

“We'd hear their breathing if they were here,” he said to Estelle. “Let's have a look around.”

“But where do we start?”

“At the top. We'll work our way down. The end of the hallway there.”

Ransley pointed his flashlight down the hall to a set of metal double doors. On the way, they passed several benches and artificial decorative plants. They reached the stairs and ascended. They didn't need to walk up to the top floor. After reaching the next floor, the stairs were blocked by heavy debris. There on the landing, waited another pair of double doors. Having nowhere else to go, they enter this floor. At first, it seemed very much like the last floor that they were on; that was until Estelle noticed the red numbers on the doors of this hallway.

“Look!” she exclaimed.

The nearest door to them was numbered six. It was on the right side. All of the other doors were painted with red even numbers. Two all the way to ten. Odd numbers were on the other side of the hallway.

“What do you think they mean?” asked Estelle.

“One way to find out,” Ransley said, reaching for the knob of the number six door.

Holding the gun and the flashlight in front of him, Ransley pushed the door open. He was immediately met with a burst of sweet smells. He flashed the light on the ceiling and saw a florescent tube, hanging. He felt around on the wall and eventually found a light switch.

“Come on, lass,” he pleaded as he flipped it.

The light didn't come on.

“Oh well,” he sighed.

He shone his light around the room and actually found that it was empty. The room was rather small and had no windows. Ransley flashed his light only to be met with a barren wall and floor. He closed the door.

“My turn, I guess,” she said, shrugging her shoulder.

Her eyes turned to the number four door. When she grabbed the knob, it felt very warm to the touch. Looking down, she noticed a very faint glowing from the other side of the door. She pressed her palm against the door and it was also warm. She turned her head and listened.

“Do you hear that?” she asked Ransley.

“What is it?” he asked, nearing the door himself.

He listened. They could both hear a low, but consistent humming. Estelle turned the knob.

“It could be a trap,” Ransley said.

“Then you should stand back,” Estelle fearlessly said.

An invisible, compelling force drove her forward and before Ransley could respond to her suggestion, she was already pushing the door open. Ransley stood right beside Estelle, handgun aimed forward. As the door opened, warm violet light flooded the hallway. A brighter white light shone behind it, temporarily blinding the two. However, the white light faded and all that was left was the violet glow. Estelle pushed the door open all the way.

There were only three items in the number four room. First was a sleek-looking black table that was about two thirds of Estelle's height. Atop the table was a small wooden rack. What was upon this rack was what gave the violet glow. There, sat a curved sword in a black lacquer sheath. The blade must have been a little over three feet in length and the hilt was decorated with diamond-shape wrapping using a black wrap. The guard was small and circular.

Estelle couldn't take her eyes off of what she was seeing. The sword sat stationary, but around it was a violet bubble with small sparks of electricity arcing off of it. This room, like the last one had no windows and nowhere for the light to exit except through the open door. Estelle approached the bubble.

“Wait,” Ransley said.

Estelle did not hear him. She was transfixed on the sword. She reached a hand out to touch the bubble. Ransley waited behind her, nervous. As she approached, a small spark of lightning jumped to her finger, giving her a start. She jerked her hand back and looked at her finger. It didn't hurt, it only surprised her. She knew that whatever this was might injure or even kill her. But this sword could be the one that the Goddess spoke of. The Sword of the Supernova Samurai.

Taking a deep breath, and moving forward, Estelle reached out to the bubble once again. The sparks jumped to her finger tips, then surrounded her hand as she reached for the sword. Arm deep into the bubble, Estelle's hair began to stand up and float around her. She couldn’t reach the sword without completely entering the bubble. Knowing that if she thought too much, she'd question herself, she entered and took hold of the sword without hesitation.

The violet bubble that surrounded the sword receded into it, then glowed white before dispersing in a forceful burst of light. Ransley and Estelle covered themselves to the best of their abilities. The burst of light didn't hurt them, but it did leave their skin slightly hot to the touch. Ransley went so far as to remove his coat.

“My God,” Ransley whispered. “What was that?”

“I- I don't know,” Estelle said, looking down at the sword in her small hands.

The burst of light left a ring of energy hanging in the room, like a small cloud.

“Are you okay?” Ransley asked her.

“I think so. You?”

“I'm fine, just hot now,” he said, hanging his coat over his arm with a sigh. “Let's get a look at that sword you've got.”

Estelle brought the sword over to Ransley. There was no need for the flashlight as the floating ring in the room was so bright. Ransley knelt before her. Estelle grabbed the handle of the sword and drew the blade about a third of the way. It shone brilliantly. The steel was almost fluorescent. Estelle removed the entire sword from its sheath. The blade was one sided and felt heavy.

“My God,” Ransley whispered a second time. “I've never seen such craftsmanship. May I?”

Estelle handed the sword to Ransley. He examined the hilt, then the guard, then the blade.

“This is definitely of Japanese design,” Ransley said, inspecting the sword closer.

“Yapanees?” Estelle asked perplexed.

“No, Ja-Pa-Knees. The knife I gave you is a much smaller version of the same design.”

“Japanese,” Estelle repeated.

“But this couldn't possibly have come from Japan.”

“Where is Japan?”

“It's far East of where I lived when I was on Earth.”

“Why couldn't it have come from there?”

“It's too new,” Ransley said, looking down the length of the sword's cutting edge. “And the fabric used to wrap the handle is signature to Eve's Hollow textile companies. Someone in the city made this sword.”

“Do you think Supernova made it?” Estelle asked.

“As of now, there isn't any way of knowing.”

Ransley held the sword up right, then turned the blade toward himself. He held the sword out to Estelle, offering it. She took it and held it in both hands. This sword was so much larger and heavier than the knife she was used to. She actually needed to use her muscles to hold it up. She was mesmerized by it.

“I think that it definitely belongs to him though. And it looks sharp enough to cut through stone.”

Estelle returned the sword to its sheath.

“Well we aren't any closer to finding him,” Estelle said.

“Let's keep looking around. What are you going to do with that?”

“I figured I'd hold on to it. I don't know why he left this here... but he might need it. More importantly, we might need it.”

Ransley nodded in agreement. He must have cooled down because he put his coat back on. The two went back into the hallway.

“Should we try some odd numbers?” Ransley chuckled.

Rooms one, three, and five were empty. They were the same small, dark rooms with no windows in them. Room number seven, contained just what they were looking for. Of course, they couldn't have known that at first. Ransley opened this door. It was dark like the others and he flashed his light in side. The circle of light that he cast showed many items around the room. He shone his light on the ceiling and noticed a single light bulb hanging from a cord. Ransley pulled the small chain attached to it and the room lit up under a dim light.

It was quite obvious that someone was once living in this room. Against the far right corner was a double bed. To the left, a chest of drawers. Sitting next to it, and almost at the door to the room was a small wooden desk with a mirror. Upon this desk was a piece of paper. Before Ransley could inspect it, Estelle picked it up.

“What's it say?” he asked, looking over her shoulder.

Estelle read it out loud.

 

I can't stay here anymore. Lady knows about this place. She led an entire herd of the Punished to my front door.

The worst part is she didn't attack. She did it just to let me know that she was watching me. I knew better than to hang around this place.

I don't want to leave though. I've made this place my home. I've trained here, slept here, shed tears here. I even made a room for her just down the hall; for when we finally meet. I hate the Pale Lady. But other times, I am thankful for her. I know it's twisted. But I have long since ceased lying to myself; a trait of my past that I won't carry anymore.

Our time is nearing. My vision of meeting my Seeker is coming to pass. I know that Lady had a vision telling her the same thing. Lady will want to torture and slaughter the girl. I cannot let that happen. That's why I have to leave this place.

I've tried locating all of the keys, but I've only managed to track down two. Three left to go. Maybe I can find them before she arrives in the Hollow. If not, my job will get much, much more difficult.

I have to protect her.

I've left my sword here. I've erected a shield around it. Hopefully the energy signal that it gives off will make her think I'm still here. I only need long enough to find a suitable home. Shit, I still have to find the door for these keys.

The Hollow is merciless, but the Pale Lady is naturally cruel.

 

“That's all it says,” Estelle said.

“Slaughter? Torture?!” Ransley exclaimed.

“Can't say I wouldn't deserve it,” Estelle said under her breath. “If what this says is true, then he could be the only one who can help me. I saw that woman once and she's definitely very powerful. I wouldn't stand any sort of chance against her.”

“That's a lovely letter and all,” Ransley said, “but it doesn't tell us where he's gone... Torture?!”

Estelle turned to look Ransley in his eyes

“Look,” she said to him. “I've lived a wicked life that was sustained by the blood of the innocent. I know what I have coming to me... This woman, The Pale Lady. I've heard a lot about her.”

“Yes. I've mentioned her to you before.”

“Why does she want him so badly?”

“Perhaps for the same reason you do. Perhaps she wants to escape Eve's Hollow.”

“What about the other room,” Estelle said. “The one he mentions in the letter?”

“Let's find out, eh?”

Estelle folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket. She figured that if he wasn't coming back here, there would be no one to read it. She left the room before Ransley did and he followed her, clicking the light off and closing the door behind him. He used his flashlight to illuminate the numbers on the doors. Their destination was easy to find. It was the only door with a blue number instead of a red one. Estelle and Ransley came to door number ten, across the hall. Oddly, the number ten was the same color blue as her dress.

Estelle opened the door. Ransley noticed the uniform light bulb hanging from the ceiling and clicked it on. Estelle took a step back and almost fell into Ransley.

Before them was a room designed to accommodate a young girl. The same double bed sat in this room; perhaps standard issue for the institution. Against the far wall, directly in front of them was a small dresser with a mirror on it. Their reflections stared back at them, with heavy shadows cast from the light overhead. To the left was a small desk with a stool at it. Here, there was another note. Estelle picked it up and began reading aloud.

 

This would have been where she stayed.

I guess this isn't the greatest loss that I've suffered. This place could have been our home. At least until I got her out.

I'm writing this just in case the Pale Lady comes looking for me. I want her to know that I still remember my vision. My purpose. My redemption.

We will both know when the girl arrives. When she does, the race will be on to find her. As screwed up as it is, that girl's life and death are in our hands.

Whoever wins will determine what happens to the girl.

 

Estelle took a deep breath before placing the letter back down on the desk.

“Redemption, eh? You're not taking that one?” Ransley asked.

“No,” she said, quietly. “It's meant for someone else. I get the message.”

“ What does this woman want with you?”

“Apparently she wants my life. What should we do now?”

Ransley scratched his head with his flashlight.

“I'm not sure,” he said. “If he left this place to give the Pale Lady the slip, I doubt he'd leave clues on how to find him. What about that club that he was part of?”

“Yes,” Estelle said. “The Blue Key Club.”

“That's right! I've never been there, but I think with a bit of scouting, we could find it.”

“People know him there. Maybe someone can point us in the right direction.”

“I agree,” Ransley said, moving into the hallway.

Estelle reached up and pulled the chain on the light bulb to turn it off. She moved to the door and prepared to walk out. As she turned to close the door, just for a moment, she thought she saw her reflection grinning at her with dim, glowing eyes. Before she allowed herself to question it, she closed the door.

“Let's get out of here,” Ransley said.

He began walking and she followed. They backtracked down the hall and went through the double doors. They went back down the stairs and into the hallway, then exited through the same window that they entered through. Once outside of the building, they hugged the wall and looked around for any carnivorous creatures that might want to devour them. It was clear so they moved away from the safety of the shadows and used the trees for cover just as they had done before. Just as Ransley reached the hole in the wall, he heard Estelle grunt, a thud, then heavy, rattled breathing.

Ransley spun around and drew his knife. He lunged for the Punished that held Estelle against a nearby tree. Before he could get to her a second grabbed his face and pushed him to the ground. Estelle was pinned against a tree with a female Punished trying to grab her neck. She had dropped the sword and was just barely able to hold death's hands away from her throat. Ransley was in a very similar predicament.

The male that was desperately trying to strangle Ransley was large and heavy. Ransley found himself not able to raise his knife.

“Kill you! Kill you!” the man chanted with a wicked grin. The flesh of his lower jaw was missing, revealing a broken jaw and jagged teeth. The orange glow of his eyes stared into Ransley's, threatening to devour his soul. Ransley was just barely holding him back.

Estelle was able to see the man on top of her friend. Thinking quickly, she dropped her body weight and was just able to slip from under the woman as she crashed head-first into the tree. Estelle reached for the closest weapon. She unsheathed the Supernova Samurai's sword and didn't hesitate, stabbing the male Punished through the back and out the abdomen. He arched his back and wailed in pain, throwing Estelle to the ground.

Reacting like a cat, Ransley pulled the man to the ground, dragging him on to his side. Like a seasoned killer, he plunged the knife into the beast's head.

“BLEED!” the female cried with rage as she lunged at Ransley.

He turned, ready to kill her. Before she could reach him, BANG! She fell to the ground, dead and Estelle stood frozen, gun aimed at the air.

“Let's go!” he said loudly. “That will have attracted the others. Let's go! Now!”

Estelle dropped her gun back in her pocket and picked up the sheath for the sword. She grabbed the hilt of the weapon and slid it out of the carcass that it was stuck in. She followed Ransley through the hole and disappeared to the other side just as the Punished came rushing around the side of the building. Ransley and Estelle kept their backs to the walls next to the hole, both with weapons raised in the likely chance that some came through.

“Run,” Ransley said in a hushed breath.

Staying low and as silent as possible, the pair hastily made their way back up the hill and away from Rodrick Institution. Continuously looking over their shoulders for any pursuers, they kept their weapons close in hopes that they wouldn't have to use them again. Ransley ducked behind a car at the top of the hill and Estelle followed suit. They both looked around, naturally afraid and understandably worried.

“We should get back to the alley,” Ransley breathed. “Make our way up to the rooftops.”

“Alright,” Estelle said, out of breath and sheathing the sword.

They backtracked between the cars and back to the alley that they had come from. Just as they had reached the entrance to the tall, dark gap between the buildings, Ransley caught the sound of someone shouting from a distance. He grabbed Estelle, and swiftly pulled her into the alley. He held her wrist as he ran and ducked behind a couple of large wooden crates.

“What's the matter?!” she asked, flustered.

He pressed his fingers against his lips and peeked over the crate. Estelle hadn't heard the shouting earlier, but in the darkness, looking out at the open street, several male voices boomed out. Beams of light swayed across the street and onto the alley wall. Neither Estelle nor Ransley could make out what the men were saying to each other, but soon they emerged; a dozen or so armed men, just like Estelle had seen at the Grigori estate. She thought of them. Where they out looking for her? Her thought process brought her to the conclusion that they were hostile. She looked at Ransley and the look in his eye indicated that he thought the same.

Three of the men turned down the alley way, flashing their lights into the darkness. Before Estelle ducked her head, she saw the men wearing thick clothing with black vests and helmets. It seemed that the lights were fixed to the guns. The men were silent and all that could be heard was their footsteps. They were steady and careful. Estelle looked at Ransley again. He held one of his handguns up next to his head, ready to aim. Estelle mimicked him.

The men stopped short of the crates. Their flashlights waved passed them and around them.

“He really wants her back, doesn't he,” one of the men said.

“I've never seen him so angry,” the second said. “Hey, don't light that, we're on patrol.”

“Fuck you,” Mike said. “I'll light up wherever I want.”

Estelle's heart dropped in her chest. They were Grigori's men and he was indeed looking for her. At first, one would suspect that her well-being was being looked out for. However, Estelle possessed memories from her past life that indicated Girogori was a strict and vengeful man. She recalled that after his first wife died, he took another. This woman wasn't put off from him like Estelle was. She was the sort of woman who married for wealth and power; both of which Grigori possessed in life before the Hollow.

Grigori's second wife took a lover and attempted to elope with him, using her husband's money. Once he found out what had happened, he used every resource necessary to find the couple. Estelle learned through her eavesdropping that Damian Grigori had close ties with mercenaries of the land. These mercenaries of his found his wife and brought them back to Grigori's home.

So deep within enemy territory, neither of them had a chance. Dreams of freedom and what could have been were their only saviors when Grigori had them in his clutches.

He had his wife's lover tortured to death in front of her and his wife was never heard from again. Despite her swift disappearance, Damian Grigori was remarried within the month. Estelle knew what he was capable of when he wanted something. She was determined not to return to him. She held her breath as the men hovered in the alley. Her and Ransley's attention was shot toward a shuffling and moaning coming from down the alley.

“LOOK!” a call came from the darkness.

Two sets of dim lights stumbled forward from the shadows. Both pairs of eyes were focused on Estelle and Ransley. If either of them attacked, then they'd be found out by Grigori's men. If they did nothing, they might be attacked by the Punished.

“I got 'em!” Mike called, followed by a “click” and several burst of gunfire.

The sound scared Estelle and she clapped her hands over her ears. The Punished fell backwards and died before the sound of the gunshots finished echoing off the walls.

“It's fine! It's fine!” Mike yelled out. “Let's go boys. We gotta find this girl.”

Their footsteps faded as they walked away. Ransley peeked over the crates as to ensure the men had gone. Estelle felt fear and anxiety grow within. Grigori sent his army into the city to find her. Was she really worth the manpower? Did he want his daughter back safe from harm? It's what a logical, rational, good man would wish for. But Estelle did not know Damian Grigori to be a good man.

“What's wrong?' Ransley asked, placing his hand on Estelle's shoulder.

She flinched at his touch, but quickly regained herself.

“I'm fine,” she said, pocketing her gun. “Are they gone?”

“Yes. The last of them has passed.”

“We should go then,” Estelle said, rising to her feet.

Without waiting for Ransley, she walked toward the ladder. As Ransley followed, the caw of a crow called out down the alley. It was loud and echoed, just like the gunshots. Next came the fluttering of wings. Finally the black bird showed itself. Elegant and graceful, the crow perched on a low rung of the ladder. It made soft cooing noises and tilted its head, looking around. The crow hopped back and forth on the bar, seeming to want to communicate with them. At first, Estelle was worried that the crow would bring the men back, but they did not appear.

“What does it want?” Estelle inquired.

“I'm not sure,” Ransley replied. “Should I kill it? It could bring more of the Punished.”

“No, no,” Estelle said. “Wait. What? Look! The sword!”

Estelle turned toward Ransley. A violet aura around the sword had appeared. It was faint, but it glowed warmly

“The bird!” Ransley exclaimed, pointing at the crow.

The same violet aura surrounded the crow.

“What does this mean?” he asked.

“I don't know,” Estelle replied.

Both the crow and the sword began to resonate. They gave off low vibrations, creating a quiet hum. All of a sudden, the crow leaped up and flew down the alley way, leaving a dim violet aura trail behind it.

“I suppose we're to follow,” Ransley said.

An invisible force grabbed hold of Estelle and pulled her forward before Ransley had even finished his sentence. They followed the aura trail into the darkness of the inner alley ways. A brisk jog was enough, but Ransley's age stopped him from keeping up with Estelle. She wanted to break out into a sprint, but Ransley called to her.

“We still don't know what out here!”

He was right. Estelle slowed her pace and turned to wait for him. Once he caught up, they found the trail beginning to disappear. It faded like a candlelight reaching the very bottom of a wick. The trail was still easy to follow though. A distant caw ahead of them also helped to keep them on track. They jogged after the trail for several minutes, turning down separate alley ways and before long, they didn't know where they were in the city.

“This is madness,” Ransley said, out of breath. He leaned on a trash to recouperate. “How are we going to get back?”

Estelle walked ahead of him and peeked around a corner.

“And the stranger thing is,” Ransley continued, “I have the oddest feeling that we are being watched.”

“Ransley,” Estelle said.

“I'm certain no one is out here though. We haven't seen a single Punished.”

“Ransley,” Estelle repeated, still looking around the corner.

“Hm?”

“Look...”

Ransley stood and joined Estelle at the corner. They both moved around and into the alley there. This alley led back to the street, which relieved Ransley. The trail above them extended across to a very large, white marble building. Large steps led up to a landing that used several pillars to hold up a large triangular roof. In the center of the triangular roof, was a massive engraving of a set of scales and the word “JUSTICE' beneath it. The trail led to the top of this roof and that is where the crow patiently perched.

As they gazed up at the bird, their eyes drifted around the roofs of the surrounding buildings. Almost every roof that one could see from the ground was covered in crows. Hundreds, maybe thousands of crows. If a group of crows was called a murder, then this would be a slaughter. As Estelle stared up at them, she swore she could feel the weight of them all pressing down upon her.

“The courthouse,” Ransley said.

“Should we go in?” Estelle asked.

“We don't know what's in there,” he asserted. “It could be trap. It could be a monster.”

“Or it could be the samurai,” Estelle said firmly. “We'll keep quiet like we've been doing. How will we know unless we look?”

She was eager to find him. Too eager. She knew that, but somehow she knew she was close to her goal.

“You can stay here while I go,” she continued. “Would that be better?”

“Of course not! All I'm saying is we need to have some kind of idea of what we're getting ourselves into.”

“I get that but-”

“I DO hear someone!” a raspy voice called from the darkness.

“You're mad, I tell you,” a second said to the first. “MAD! MAD!”

“Sounds like the Punished,” Estelle said.

“I've never eaten someone,” the first wretch wheezed. “But I'm told human flesh is quite delicious.”

“Alright,” Ransley said. “Let's go to the courthouse.”

They briskly walked down the alley and out on to the street. The courthouse was massive and the steps rose high above Ransley. They looked around and watched each others backs. The black mass of birds still watched them as they reached a very large set of wooden double doors.

“Wait,” Ransley said, “do you hear that?”

Estelle listened and there was only silence. “Hear what? I don't hear anything.”

“That's what worries me. The air is so still here. When I was a hunter, the air got very still like this when a large predator was around. Like everything around held its breath. And these crows...”

Ransley looked at more clusters of crows on the side of the street that they had just come from.

“I fear something is about to happen here.”

“Are you still with me then?” Estelle asked, looking up at him.

“I haven't abandoned you now and I'm not going to.”

Estelle gave him a smile. Ransley then pulled on the brass handle of the door and pulled it open. Ransley was only able to open the door enough to squeeze through, the hinges heavily rusted. Being the gentleman that he was, he held the door for Estelle, who easily passed through. Then he squeezed through with Estelle helping to hold the door open. Once he was inside, the door fell shut. They were in pitch black.

Ransley drew his flashlight. The beam of light revealed that they were in the main foyer of the courthouse with a circular fountain in the center. A statue of Lady Justice stood elegant, holding a pair of scales in her hand. On the other side of the fountain was another set of doors. While they made their way to them, Estelle noticed how empty this place was. In her travels so far she had seen many areas that were jam packed with a great number of items. This place didn't have much of anything. Estelle let that emptiness fill her and she tried to center herself.

“Estelle,” Ransley called, nearing the door. “Do you hear that?”

“More silence?” Estelle jested.

“No... Screaming,” he said.

“What?”

Estelle rushed over to Ransley, who had his ear against the door.

“Do you hear it?”

Estelle did the same as him. At first she didn't hear anything. Then she heard a shout followed by a scream of pain. She backed away from the door as her blood ran cold. Ransley looked at her with deathly seriousness.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

Estelle thought for only a moment. She drew her gun and held it to her chest. Ransley did the same, dual-wielding pistols. He gave Estelle his flashlight then pressed down on the handle of the door. He cracked it open and Estelle peeked through. He opened the door a bit more and she disappeared through to the other side. After a few seconds, she called to him.

“Come on.”

He went through the door. They were at the beginning of a large and long hallway with several doors on either side. This corridor was empty and suffocating at the same time. The screaming was getting louder, accompanied by groans. The shouting voice was a recognizable, furious female. At the end of the hall was a set or doors and bright light flickered through its cracks. Accompanied by the sound of surging electricity and that suffering scream, The Pale Lady roared at her victim. The air around this room felt hot once they approached the doors. One of them was already cracked open. Estelle pushed it open a bit more so that she and Ransley could spy on the events in progress.

Turning off the flashlight, the room appeared dark at first. Small orbs of light came into view that aimlessly hovered around the courtroom. From what Estelle could make out, the judge's bench sat at the far end of the room, tall and wide, made of wood and elegantly carved. Everything else in this room had been destroyed. Burned and crushed, then pushed aside to create a circular clearing. The piles of broken wood, metal, and concrete sat in mounds around them. Estelle still didn't see much else though.

“I love you,” the Pale Lady said softly. “I know you know that. Monsters like you and I understand each other. We belong together. You know what they all say, right? About how you're a bloodthirsty killer? Just like me.”

“Bullshit, Lady,” a heavy male voice breathed. “And I'm not like you, crazy bitch.”

“You ain't seen crazy yet, honey. You can lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself. You love the slaughter just as much as I do.”

The male voice was silent. Estelle, on her hands and knees moved into the room and ducked behind one of the debris piles. Ransley followed close behind. The mounds were large and would easily conceal them. However, it was still too dark to comfortably maneuver. So they waited.

“Be with me, Nova,” she said.

“No,” he responded firmly.

They heard a loud thud and Supernova grunt.

“FOOL!” she roared.

They heard a few footsteps.

“Maybe you'll be more susceptible in the Craze.”

“That...,” Supernova's voice fell off. “That isn't fair. Even for you, Lady-”

“Hiro-Ti Ka,” the Pale Lady hissed.

A bolt of blue lightning lit up the room, arcing from her fingers to the chest of the bound Supernova. In the few moments that he was being electrocuted, Estelle saw that he was tied to a chair with his hands behind his back. The room went dark after the bolt ceased.

“How close to death do you have to be to fall into the Craze, Supernova?”

The Pale Lady's voice was alluring and playful. His breathing became heavier and he coughed more frequently. Estelle's eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness. She could now make out their individual silhouettes, moving like shadow puppets in the dark. Estelle could only watch as the Pale Lady grabbed hold of Supernova and delivered punch after devastating punch to his face.

“Don't act so weak,” she said after her assault was over. “I know you can take more than this. I've beaten you, shocked you, sliced you up. Mmm, we've had some great times, haven't we, baby?”

“Ugh, if that's what you want to call it. I mean the Ferris wheel thing was pretty cool-”

She punched him again. “Don't talk about the Ferris wheel!”

Estelle had no idea what to do in this situation. He was real. The Supernova Samurai, in the flesh. He was real and he was in danger. Estelle knew, though, that any interference on her part would not end well. Begrudgingly she decided it would be best to just wait.

“I don't want to kill you,” the Pale Lady said. “Thus far, I have fought you successfully without taking your life. But you always seem to get away from me.”

“You just love to hear yourself talk, don't you?” Supernova choked.

“You're always alone. You wouldn't be with me. You always fight alone. I'd fight beside you. Why can't you see that?”

“I do,” he slowly replied. “But you're torturing me to get what you want. You don't care about what I want. You don't care about anyone or anything but yourself. You are selfish and cruel. You are a psychopath with no regard for human life.”

“Anything else?”

“You murdered seven-hundred and fifty of my brothers and sisters.”

“I let you take them away, did I not?” the Pale Lady asked, seriously.

“You let us take most of them.”

“Oh... Right.”

The Pale Lady walked away from Supernova. Her back was to him as well as Estelle and Ransley. She disappeared from sight, but Estelle could still see her victim. Estelle figured this would be the best time to act. She thought that while the Pale Lady's back was turned, she could free Supernova from his bonds. She wasn't sure if she'd even get that far, but this person was vital to her trials. She held her gun, ready and prepared to move.

“You know the girl is here,” The Pale Lady said.

Estelle froze.

“My vision came to pass, so I know yours did as well. I saw her.”

Her voice sang out from the darkness like an evil seductress.

“If you want me to yourself so badly,” Supernova said, “why tell me this?”

“So that you know how serious I'm going to get. I know I've shed your blood all over this city, but I never once thought of taking your life. It seems I may no longer have a choice.”

“Do you truly feel so threatened by my Seeker?”

This question seemed to agitated her.

“I know my truth,” she snapped. “But I know that soon I may not have a chhoice. I might just fucking kill you.”

A bright, deep blue light appeared in the Pale Lady's right hand. It shone so bright, it lit the whole room up. If the Pale Lady hadn't had her back turned, she might have seen Estelle and Ransley. For the first time, Estelle could actually see the samurai. Long dreadlocks covered his face. The light that the Pale Lady held pulsated and she grasped it. The light transformed into a thin beam that then formed the shape of a sword. She swung the light and flung it from the blade.

“Thank you for showing me this technique, Supernova,” the Pale Lady said in a monotone.

“You stole it from me,” he replied. “Not that I mind I guess. That's how you're supposed to train.”

Estelle's eyes were locked on the blade that the Pale Lady just materialized. She created a sword out of light and held it in her hand as sure as Estelle held Supernova's blade.

“Stealing techniques is your own method of training, if I remember? You didn't break to the power of lightning. Perhaps you will yield to steel. Do you still not have your sword? If you did, maybe I'd let you fight for your freedom.”

The sword. Estelle clutched the sword in her hand. She thought of bringing it to him. If he had his weapon, could he defeat the Pale Lady?

“We don't have to fight though,” she continued. “We could get the keys together and leave Eve's Hollow.”

After a moment of silence, the Pale Lady turned around. Estelle had realized that she had been staring at the Pale Lady the entire time. While Lady's eyes looked away, somewhere between stealing techniques and leaving Eve's Hollow, the Supernova Samurai had vanished.

“NO!” the Pale Lady screeched.

She ran over to the empty chair and with a frustrated stomp, incinerated it. She looked all around the room and Ransley and Estelle ducked behind their mound. She paced before the judge's bench, temper flaring. The anger and anxiety radiated from her like she was on fire. The room violently shook and the Pale Lady looked up just as the ceiling above her collapsed. Concrete and steel beams rained down creating a mountain in the center of the room. As the dust cleared, Ransley and Estelle tried to make something out. All they could see was the shadow of the Supernova Samurai out from the hole that he just created. He then vanished.

“We have to go,” Ransley whispered to Estelle, grabbing her arm.

Fearing what was behind them, Estelle and Ransley fled the room and back down the hallway. Once outside they searched in all directions for the samurai. Ransley grabbed Estelle's arm and pulled her behind one of the tall pillars. The alley that they had come from was now infested with the Punished. They sneaked off to the right side of the building and made it to the final pillar on that side just at the Pale Lady rushed out of the courthouse.

“NOVA!” she roared. “GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!”

The Pale Lady threw her hands up in the air.

“Tsu! Ten! RAH!”

A burst of white light, then the Pale Lady was enclosed in a cylinder of dazzling royal blue light. White streaks denoted the energy flowing upward. Two white bolts of lighting flailed around her, its origin at Lady's heart. The Pale Lady balled her fists and screamed at the top of her lungs. The ground around them shook as the force of her light grew.

“COME! BACK!!!”

She opened her palm and aimed it straight ahead. A beam of royal blue light shot forward like a cannon. The force of the blast pushed Estelle and Ransley over. The beam hit a building across the street and continued to relentlessly charge through four more before finally dispersing. The ground quaked as all five buildings fell in anguish to the Pale Lady's attack. Dust and smoke shot up in the air, temporarily obscuring vision across the street. Estelle looked at the Pale Lady, who was now silent.

The Pale Lady held her head down, fists still clenched. The energetic force that surrounded her died down and the lightning from her heart disappeared. Estelle could see that she was breathing heavily and this was the first time she was able to get a good look at her. She was dressed in a long black coat and her wavy, dark brown hair hung down to the small of her back. Her flesh was pale like the light of the moon. Like Supernova, her hair covered her face. The Pale Lady, head held down descended the steps of the courthouse and disappeared into the dust of the wreck that she created.

“Let's not wait to see if she comes back,” Ransley said.

He followed the building around the side and Estelle stayed close behind him. In the back of the courthouse there was another set of stone steps that fell to the street level. They used it and made their way back to the alleys. Using the closed spaces for cover would be a good idea. They stopped after moving passed a few buildings to rest.

“Are you alright?” Ransley asked Estelle.

“I'm fine. You?”

“I'm a bit too old for this,” he jested, out of breath. “At least we know he's alive.”

“Barely,” Estelle said. “After what that woman did to him, who knows if he'll last out here.”

No sooner had she said that did they hear a burst followed by a shock-wave.

“She's back!” Ransley said.

“No,” Estelle said, “it wasn't her. This way!”

Estelle ran through the alley and turned a corner. She ran the length of this alley until she came to an intersection. She looked forward, then down the left. It was when she looked to her right that she saw the aftermath of the explosion. Blood and body parts of the Punished were scattered about. A clean path on the ground stretched through the alley, but organs and gray skin was seared into the brick walls.

“Bloody hell...,” Ransley said once he had caught up to Estelle.

“Come on,” she whispered.

She walked slowly down the alley, staring at all of the disgusting carnage that lay around her. Apparently the rumors of Supernova's strength were accurate. It was very difficult to count, but Estelle estimated that there were no less than two dozen Punished in this alley. From what she could tell, the Supernova Samurai killed them all in a single attack. After seeing the Pale Lady level five buildings, Estelle did not doubt either of their powers. She felt compelled to get to him.

She hurried through the slop, stepping on burnt body parts and kicking bones. Ransley kept up with her and they came to an intersection in the alley. They heard what sounded like shuffling and a rush of wind. On solid ground, free of dismembered beasts she moved forward and into a dead end. A single fire escape was fixed on the far wall. It was immensely dark here. Estelle knew that she heard something, but she didn't see anything.

“Nothing,” Ransley said, pulling his flashlight out.

He shone his light around the alley, revealing a few dumpsters and an abandoned car. On the left wall of the dead end was an iron door that stood opened. A square window had been cut out and replaced by thick bars. Ransley shone his light in and found an empty hallway. As he searched the dead end, the light flickered, then died.

“Great,” he sighed. “Now what?”

“Ransley,” Estelle said. “Look.”

Casting their gaze heavenward, they saw that the slaughter of crows had returned. Still and silent, they gazed down at Estelle and Ransley with beady, glowing eyes. They were bright, like stars and for a moment, Estelle thought that the crows resembled the night sky from her home world.

“Oh...” Ransley's mouth hung open.

Something heavy dropped on the fire escape. The sudden sound of metal ringing out scared Estelle and made her jump. Her eyes were met with a pair staring right back at her. These eyes were angry and violet, like the aura of the sword. Like everything else in Eve's Hollow, his eyes glowed. His eyes were different. They had a soul in them, unlike the Punished. Although faint, Estelle was able to hear the steady, but heavy rhythm of his breathing.

“Supernova,” Estelle called out.

Silence.

“Supernova Samurai,” she said. “I'm-”

“I know who you are,” his dark, husky voice vibrated across the air. “My Seeker.”

The sword resonated in her hands and produced a dim violet aura.

“I brought your weapon to you,” Estelle said, hopeful to gain ground.

“You should have stayed away,” he said coldly. “It's dangerous.”

“But I can help you,” Estelle pressed.

“I don't need any help,” Supernova said. His words were followed by coughing.

“Then what do you call what just happened in the courthouse? I take it you were humoring the Pale Lady?”

“I managed to get out, didn't I?”

Estelle was getting frustrated. Why was he being difficult? Didn't he see how much of a good thing this was?

“And she is a very good reason why you should stay away from me.”

“But I came a long way to find you...”

“You've wasted your time, effort, and pointlessly risked your lives.”

His discouraging words wore here down like a jackhammer into solid concrete. She gripped the sword, desperate to hold on to a bit of hope.

“We're supposed to find the keys...”

“I am in the process of finding the keys.” Supernova's voice was louder now. “It is dangerous work for a child. If you know what's best for you, you'll stay with him and wait for me to find you.”

“But, Supernova! Baba said-”

Just as the Goddess's name passed Estelle's lips a harsh wind swept through the alley and with a woosh, the glowing eyes; the Supernova Samurai, disappeared.

“Some Guardian,” Ransley chuckled.

Ransley's joke fell on deaf ears. Estelle felt a fresh wave of grief come over her. She held the sword tighter, needing to hold onto something as the hole in her heart threatened to devour her. Baba assured her that Supernova would help her, not pass her off. Ever since learning of her origin, Estelle only wanted to earn her new life. Truly earn it. She wanted to help him. Did he expect her to sit patiently at Ransley's penthouse while he earned her life for her? She hated that idea. But he didn't even give her a chance.

In some twisted way, Estelle felt that this was more karma for crimes committed in her previous life. Estelle wanted a chance, but in her past, she stole the chance of a full life away from many people. They didn't have that chance. Estelle didn't get hers either. Her head fell, the negativity winning. She looked up and saw that the crows were gone as well. The aura around the sword dispersed. The alley was quiet. That was the only reason they were able to hear the men on the street, not far from where they were. Estelle knew that they were Grigori's men, still looking for her, even after the Pale Lady shook the city.

“We should get going,” Ransley said. “Estelle?”

It didn't seem as though she was listening. She picked her head up and looked at him. He couldn't see her expression in the darkness nor could she see his.

“There,” she said, quietly. “That hallway.”

Estelle pointed at the open metal door on the side of the Alley. Perhaps there was a staircase that led to the roof. They could get back to the penthouse that way. Ransley didn't waste any time and immediately entered the hallway. Estelle followed closely behind him and as soon as he was through the threshold of the building, Estelle swung the door shut behind him. At her feet was a heavy iron pipe. She stuck it through the handle of the door and the metal loop that was meant to chain the door shut, trapping Ransley inside.

“What are you doing, girl?!” he exclaimed. “What's this about?”

“You don't owe me anything,” Estelle said. She held her head down again. The despair she felt, in her perception was larger than the city and twice as deep.

“Oh, come now!”

“You've done more than enough for me and I can't ask you to risk your life for me anymore. Now that the Pale Lady knows I'm here and knowing what she wants to do to me... I can't let you be involved in this anymore. You're a good man and the only person to show me true kindness. A man like you shouldn't have to risk his life for me. I'm not worth it.”

“Is this about what he said?! Don't listen to him!”

“I have to go.”

She turned.

“Estelle, wait! Wait!”

She was gone. Without thinking, her feet carried her back down the alley, toward the street, and way from her only friend. She couldn't rely on the Supernova Samurai. He wasn't a monster, but he obviously had some sort of reckless death wish. She wasn't going to wait around for him to save her. She couldn't. The circumstances left her with a questionable guardian and still she needed a way out. Estelle was acquainted with only a single person who had any sort of drive to leave Eve's Hollow. She felt that he would be a better choice to rely on. Both her rational and her irrational mind carried her to this person now; this person that she had vowed to stay away from.

Making sure not to appear threatening as she waited at the opening in the alley. She kept her hands out of her pockets and held the sword at her side as the flashlight beams danced down the street. Before she knew it, Grigori's men had surrounded her, forming a wall of soldiers. Neither Mike nor Harrison were among these men. After confirming her description among each other, Estelle was given a ride in the center of a convoy of trucks. At least the ride to the estate was better than the last one.

 

Estelle found herself sitting in Mr. Grigori's study once again. Cigar smoke burned her nostrils. This time the man stood in front of his desk. He leaned back against it with his hands on its edge. Estelle looked down at the carpet and this cylindrical room felt very small. Mr. Grigori's men allowed her to keep the sword at least. He studied the her, making sounds as if he were going to speak, but then remaining silent.

“You met him?” Mr. Grigori said, finally. “You saw him in the flesh?”

“I did,” Estelle said, still looking down.

“Why are you here then? Was I not right about what he was?”

“He- I wouldn't call him a monster,” Estelle said. “It just seemed like... he didn't care for me. At all.”

Mr. Grigori was silent again. He cocked his head to the side.

“I mean, I just asked for a chance,” she continued, absentmindedly. “I wanted to help him find the keys...”

“What keys?”

Estelle hesitated to answer, but did. “Before I was brought here, the Goddess told me to find five keys to open a door out of Eve's Hollow. But he didn't want my help and told me that he was finding them on his own.”

“You're sure?”

Estelle looked up and met Mr. Grigori's eyes.

“He told me that it was dangerous work. That it was too dangerous for children, like me.”

Her head dropped back down. She had said it so spitefully and didn't even realize it until she sat in silence once more. Mr. Grigori didn't say anything for several moments. Estelle was was very uncomfortable not knowing what he was thinking. One thing she knew was that if he displeased her, she could always run away again. After all, she would not be there if she had not willingly walked into the soldier's line of sight.

“You said that he was being tortured before,” Mr. Grigori said after several minutes. “So he's weak right now?”

“I suppose so. He was coughing a lot. What does that have to do with-”

“You shouldn't have let him go so easily.”

Estelle's brow furrowed, but she still did not look at Mr. Grigori.

“I tried, but he wouldn't even speak to me,” she said. “Besides, you're the one who told me he was a monster,”

“You told me that he was collecting the keys for you. He could have killed you if he wanted to, even after being tortured. I stand by what I said. The man is a monster.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You need to get those keys because I don't believe he can be trusted to get them. What if he does get them and decides to leave on his own? What if that's why he doesn't want your help?”

“I... I didn't think of that,” Estelle said after thinking her heart couldn't sink any lower. “I can't believe it.”

“Listen,” Mr. Grigori said in a soft voice, leaning forward. He placed his hand on her shoulder

Mr. Grigori watched his daughter. The dark, sad aura emanating from her was heavy.

“I'll never get out of this place.”

“You need to try again,” Mr. Grigori said to her.

Estelle instantly looked up at him, eyes full of hurt and sorrow.

“It's simple isn't it?” he continued. “All you have to do is persuade him to allow you to accompany him. Help him get the keys, then we will use them to leave Eve's Hollow together.”

Estelle was exhausted and confused by her emotions. All she really wanted to do was sleep. She couldn't imagine leaving Eve's Hollow with Mr. Grigori, but his way seemed to have a good chance of working. If only she could persuade Supernova.

“But... we don't even know where the door is,” she said.

“Yes. But he does. As much as I hate the idea of throwing you to that wolf, Eve's Hollow is not the kind of place to be picky about options. I believe that if he wanted you dead and out of the way, he would have ended you. If he's looking for the keys on his own, you wouldn't even be necessary, but he still spared you. My men will find him, just as they found you. Once we do, we will escort you to him and you can do whatever you need to in order to get on his side.”

Estelle didn't like the idea of deception. However, at this point, she truly didn't see another way out. How would she even convince him to let her accompany him? This whole idea made her head and heart hurt. She just wanted to lie down and rest for a very long time. She could not escape this situation though. She wanted her new life. Even if she did deceive the samurai, she would be doing the work to get the keys. She wanted her new life and she wasn't going to wait for Supernova to deliver it when he was ready. Perhaps she could even manage to get ride of Mr. Grigori once she had the keys. She didn't have anything to lose.

“I'll do it,” she said firmly.

 

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.07.2014

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