UNDERGROUND LIBRARY

                            Chapter 3
     "We are gathered here to pay our last respect to a very prestigious member of our organization, our very own, Jean-Paul Marco."

This was followed by a long silence. It looked as if Mr. Andres had lost the light in his voice. It sounded it ached to say each word. And his facial expression, oh, that was nothing to write home about. The sudden and unfortunate demise of Jean-Paul had darkened the weather in EW and the whole of Slashers; he could tell from the atmosphere. Even the Dodo birds, which were endemic to the town, had disappeared. The ominous silence at the funeral grounds reminded Pierre of the aftermath of a rainstorm, which flooded a third of the town, two months ago.He almost fainted at the sound of what came next.

     "We all know Jean-Paul was a man of integrity, who would not stoop as low as committing suicide, in addition to the fact that a important mission was in his hands. I hope whoever did this is never forgiven. May justice be served."

Ghosts- a thing Pierre had never thought existed. Well this could be attributed to the fact that it something the people of Slashers never spoke of. The name of that town-- Slashers - had quite an interesting tale around it. When he first arrived with his wife in the town, where they intended to begin a new life, Slashers was merely a village. It was after some time that development and industrialization began to hook it like opium. At that time, the headquarters of EW -the only storey building around - was the only thing the people were proud of. Due to the fact that it contained libraries, it was well preserved and improved. He was later on told that the town derived its name from an invasion that took place years before Pierre arrived with Susan. Before that, the town had no particular name, anyone called it anything. Anyone called it anything- until some people ransacked the town and raided it of whatever it had. Few people who managed to survive the attack and escaped said the invaders used long, sharp blades to slash anything that came in their way, including people.
After that incident, the town became commonly referred to as "the town that was slashed" and it later on became Slashers.
Though the younger generation, when told these stories, thought of the history attackers as phantoms who could easily come back for them, it was seen as a mere fairytale.
Now it was time for everyone to say his last words to the deceased. Pierre hated the idea at first, but got over it when his wife began to make a big deal out of it.

In the casket, Jean-Paul looked very peaceful, contrary to the look on his face when he realized Pierre had poisoned him. Pierre had proposed a toast in Jean-Paul's own house - for their first success - and had volunteered to prepare the drink himself. He was sure wherever, he would be very restless, thirsty for blood; to take revenge. Well, Pierre could worry about that later, when he arrived in the other world. Now, he was on his way to claim his own; the Crescentia was all his.

     "Rest in peace, brother. I hope we meet again, not sooner, but later." He turned away to hide the grin plastered on his face as he whispered those words and walked away.
                       **********
     "EW is planning on going to Matanceros, to retrieve the Crescentia." Kiko, the leader of the group announced to his members.

     "One of the two men assigned is dead, so we have only one person in our way."

Miya retorted. "But Kiko, can't we just go ahead of them, instead of attacking? We agreed that there will be no more violence and killings and by the way......." Her words fell on deaf ears as he continued,his icy blue eyes swaying from left to right, as they ways did when he was addressing his group. Kiko was to Miya, a god, despite his stubborn nature. Aside their endless missions, she had another, a very difficult one for a girl. She had been in love with Kiko ever since she joined the Rebel Gang, after being abandoned by her parents, but unfortunately for her, he had a heart of stone.