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JackCain · (09-05-2017)

Chapter One

The Origins of Kate

"Calm down," he said slowly.

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Somewhere away from civilization up on a hill was an old four story building that looked abandoned. The outside scenery was nothing short of a message that would read 'death' as it was covered in dead trees, plants, flowers and the like -- the inside was far worse.

The building was discovered in the late 1990s by a lady pilot flying her private plane around the United States. It was curiosity that caused her to write down the location and come back to it a few days later. There was just enough room for her to land the plane down safely in the backyard that use to have a black gate.

She began her hunt by searching through records thanks to search engines, message forums, and connections she had. The results came up with little information. While the information she collected left her at a few dead ends and didn't give much answers, a group of owners were found.

There appeared to be at least twelve on some sort of board that approved this building project which would explain its origin wasn't a home, but some sort of business. Due to the new information, she had to go about searching its records in a different way.

The average person would probably give up and move on with their life, but Kate couldn't get away from the knocking on her heart. It was no longer curiosity, but necessity.

A few weeks had gone by and her sleepless nights caused her brain to play tricks on her; however, after much searching she found a family that had ties to its beginning:

"Ravenhill." she said with relief.

Kate thought it would be smooth sailing and would finally be able to get some much needed rest, but it wasn't so. The name echo'd every minute in her thoughts. She had no idea why the name kept playing on a loop. This caused her even less sleep than before and motivated more searching -- this time on the name Ravenhill.

Kate was financially stable to the point she really didn't have to work another day,
but she chose to. After coming into work with bags under her eyes, wrinkled clothes, slurred speech, and often thirty minutes to an hour late, her co-workers began to worry. They tried to find out the reasoning, but she gave no answer except 'stress.'

Three months passed by with this odd behavior, and then she finally stopped showing up to work. Her phone had been disconnected and house -- abandoned. According to everyone in her life, Kate simply vanished off the Earth. And no one -- not even with the police search -- were able to find out her whereabouts or what took place.

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Kate was lying in a bed with white sheets and black straps holding her body down. An odd shaped white mask covering the forehead to the bridge of her nose, with two small slits at her eyes. Her mouth and nose were inside an oxygen mask that was attached to several green tanks. Coming from her right arm was a I.V. giving her some sort of medicine; from her left, draining blood.

Moans and light screams barely would get beyond the mask from complete exhaustion. When she found some sort of strength, she would simply wiggle and try her best to break free from the straps.

"Calm down," he said slowly.

He lifted the mask covering her eyes so she could see, but was blinded by a bright light above her.

"Do you know who you are?"

She nodded to affirm she knew her identity.

"Ah -- very good." He gave a light chuckle. "Very good indeed."

Her dry lips opened and tried to speak but was unable to get out a sound. She paused for a brief moment or two, and tried again.

He sat down beside her on a rolling chair, and said, "Shh, don't talk. You're too weak, but I do need you to nod yes or no to a few questions. Later, we will talk."

His fingers held her eyes opened one at a time and looked in them with a flashlight. He sat back down to begin to questioning.

"We've established who you are. Now, do you know where you are? Hm?"

She shook her head.

"No? -- Okay. Do you know how you got here?"

Again she shook her head no.

"Lastly, then I'll let you rest -- Do you know my name?"

His eyes went from somewhat opened to a squint awaiting her answer. She didn't respond with her head, but her eyes grew large and brows lifted in terror. Their faces told a story we would later find more about. Kate's face exposed fear, and the man's displayed intense joy. He gave a simple smile.

"And that is?"

Her eyes started to twitch as she thought back to a cloudy few days, or months. Kate's head started to shake; she didn't want to respond. He leaned forward and placed his face next to hers, and repeated the question. Her eyes began to water and a whimper came from her throat.

"Go on, Miss Shanks. Tell me."

His eyes grew in anticipation for her reply.

"Ravenhill," she said breathlessly. Apparently she wanted to say something else but couldn't get enough strength to have sound with her lip movement. Ravenhill placed his ear near her mouth as she whispered, "I -- hate you. I hope you -- die."

He smiled, and looked at her directly in the eyes.

"Miss Shanks," he said followed by a short pause. "I'm already dead."

The mask came back across her face as her eyes slowly started to shut thanks to the medicine he was giving her. It was a short time before she finally blacked out.

Ravenhill moved to another room that could easily be labeled as a science lab.
It had several chalk boards covered in messy formula's that the average person would probably consider "tongues" along with papers with drawings covering the rest of the walls. The rest of the room had tables with various tools, beaker with liquids, and testing tubes on them. There were no computers.

He began writing down notes from his experimentation on Miss Shanks, but it was a doctor scribble and hard to make out. Each time his pen hit the paper and completed a single word, his eyes would would give a intense yet happy look for a quick second. Ravenhill's mind seemed always running; adding to the mind or bringing knowledge mixed with memories was his drug-of-choice.

It was his alone time in this room that he spoke to himself like he were two separate people.

"Yes, this is good. I'm getting closer."

"A thirsty man in the desert will see a body of water and think, 'I'm only but a few steps away,' but reality sinks it. The eye brings the water into an illusion that it's close, but then after those steps are taken reality comes back. The water could be miles away."

"This is true. I may think I'm closer but until I actually can touch it, it could be much further."

"Miles -- or a few steps," he says with a big smile thinking he's a few steps from whatever it is he's talking about with himself.

"I need more bodies, more samples. If I'm going to. . ."

"Didn't we receive a flyer about an organization where people fight?"

"Yes," he says slowly.

"So why not fight with the body while working with the mind? Maybe we'll find allies."

He stops writing and begins looking for his mail. After throwing several pieces back onto the floor, he locates the flyer that reads:

XWF
This is the place where you'll change the world
You'll make friends, and more enemies
Enjoy your freedom
Sincerely, an anonymous friend

"Well then..."

"It looks like we're going to be fighting for a higher cause."

An evil-like grin moves across his face as he gazes out at the wall. He leaves the room and revisits Kate, who is still unconscious. He holds up the paper like he's actually talking to a person who is awake.

"You won't be alone much longer. We're going to fight and finally find the answers we've been searching for, my dear. Come, let us go and see what world awaits us."

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