The tales of squad 13

The scarlet flames underneath the blue sky

"What do you mean, there is an entire organization of artifactors?"Julian Gromel took a deep breath of fresh air. There was no difference between the air on either side; He just found a blue sky more enjoyable than a blood-red one. Julian dodged a couple of people who hurried along, hoping to reach a bar before the bells hit midnight. Luckily, the clouds hid the moonlight, and no one noticed the dark smears of blood on his face. Carmilla had pulled the hood of her jacket past her face, hiding her bleak features in the shadows.

"Shh, not so loud!" The purple-haired woman whispered through her teeth. "We can't have anyone knowing about that other side." The young man nodded. That seemed logical; If people knew there was an entire side with a bloody red sky instead of a deep blue one, they'd freak out. To say nothing about the powers active on the other side.

"Still, it surprises me there were other people besides me who could use Artifacts. I always thought I was the only one." Julian wasn't lying. When he started his mission, he was the only one. Whenever he encountered anyone on the other side, it was in a flurry of drugs and flying debris. After which they ended up dead.

"Of course not. There is a whole group who can use them. You've seen the news, right? Those disappearances are not natural, no matter what anyone says." Julian bit his lip. He wisely left the fact he was indirectly responsible for some of those incidents in the shadows as he just hummed and nodded. However, he wasn't stupid; People disappeared left and right and yet, he had only killed about twelve people in the five years he'd been visiting that other side. And there had been hundreds of cases in that time.

"I... still don't see the link." They waited at a crossing. While there weren't any cars out at this time of night, they still had to adhere to the rules. If the police camera's caught them, they'd have to pay a hefty fine. Julian kicked the can of a fizzy drink towards a nearby trash can while Carmilla leaned against the streetlight.

"Everything will become clear in due time. The walls have ears, you know." When the streetlight bathed the two in an unnaturally bright green hue, they swiftly crossed the street. After they had walked for a few minutes, Carmilla suddenly pulled Julian into a dark alley. It took all of his efforts not to scream out in pain as he used his injured arm to keep himself from falling face-first into a bunch of trash bags.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Julian straightened his back and glared at the female next to him. Carmilla looked past his shoulder with worry before she relaxed and moved deeper into the darkness of the unlit alley. The blue-eyed man rolled his eyes and followed her, his shoes making a squishing sound whenever they encountered filth that hadn't completely dried yet. As they waded through the stench, Julian inspected his left arm.

While nothing seemed broken, it still stung whenever he used those muscles. If he wasn't careful, it'd get infected, and then his troubles would start for real.

"We'll take care of your shoulder when we get there." Carmilla glanced over her shoulder and saw how Julian plucked the remains of his shirt from the wound. The blood had already clotted, with only a couple of spots still leaking fresh liquid. The pain had already subsided into a dull ache. They continued to wade through the filth-covered alley until they hit upon a wall. Julian let out a deep sigh.

"...You sure we came through the right alley?" Carmilla didn't react. She grabbed her gun and started tapping against the flakey white paint. Ignoring the filth at her feet, she stepped back and forth and listened closely. Julian shivered as he sat upon a nearby trashcan. An idea he quickly stepped away from when he felt how fatty and slippery the thing felt.

"Ah, it's here... I swear, they don't need to change the thing every time..." Carmilla rubbed the dust of a peculiar brick. Julian didn't see anything different from it, except that it had lost more of the white lead paint than the rest. Carmilla grabbed the back of her gun and rammed it against the stone. Instead of hitting back, the brick sunk into the wall. Julian didn't have time to ask anything.